It's very much in keeping with the Scottish character, which is, I think, a nomadic character - going off, doing things, coming back.

Dundee - Blogger JOST A MON: The Jutewallahs of Dundee - Blogger

The industry endured a steady decline from the 1870s onwards, prompting many workers to migrate from the east coast of Scotland to the south of Asia. The mills were incredibly noisy and many workers went deaf; the dust and fibre in the air destroyed their lungs. We interviewed an Indian whose father had studied medicine in Edinburgh and whose parents are buried in the Scottish Cemetery. It's easy to laugh at that thought but these people had a real go and had interesting lives, and I admire them for that. On one hand, jute gave people a whole new life, but at the same time it also reduced life for many people, and gave them a really tough time," he said.The Hooghly was the centrepiece of the world of jute, providing berthing for ships bound for Dundee as well points of disembarkation for the Jutewallahs arriving to take up their new jobs and accommodations along the river banks. Today there are Scottish veterans forming the Calcutta and Mofussil Society: veterans of the Indian jute industry who like to congregate in places like the Monifieth Golf Club, to partake of Indian food, speak Hindi, and reminisce about their days in the East. Hollywood actor Brian Cox spent nearly a week in Calcutta in the first week of April, shooting for the documentary Brian Cox’s Jute Journey as its anchor. I was taken in by the amazing grace of Indian women who can take on the most menial tasks and impart such respectability to it,” marvelled Cox.

Brian Cox: Jute Journey (BBC 4 Tuesday 6 June 2023)

The idea of filming at the club was to capture what the social life of the Scots living in the city must have been like,” ventured Archer. Calcutta’s first mill opened in 1855; seventy-five years later, the city was producing 70% of the world’s jute products. They could get used to the heat and humidity, mainly because they were constantly changing their clothes. From planting to maturation was ninety to hundred days, by which time the jute had grown over seven feet high.For many of them, the move to India paved the way for a lavish lifestyle of parties and luxurious living. We went to some jute mills on the other (Howrah) side of the Hooghly, based on the memories of a Scot back home whom we had spoken to before coming to India,” said Archer.