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NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 31, 2004: Well over a century after their ancestors left Indian shores to work in Trinidad and Tobago, a group of people of Indian origin are here to trace their roots and cultural ties with a country some of them have only heard of. “It’s brilliant to be in India,” said 17-year-old Vijay Ramkissoon, a singer who is part of the 13-member delegation in India participating in celebrations of India Arrival Day on May 30. The day marks the landing of the first indentured labourers from India taken to work in the Caribbean islands by the British in 1845. About 40 percent of the island’s 1.3 million people are descendants of Indian workers who were brought as contracted labour on British sugar plantations. The 5,128 sq km country, smaller than many Indian states, gained independence in 1962 and is famous for hosting the “loudest carnival” in the Caribbean.



“These are my people, this is where my roots are and I am very excited to sort of absorb all of this,” said Ramkissoon, whose great-grandparents were among the first Indians to land in Trinidad and Tobago in early 1900. The delegation is in India till June 13. During its stay, it will attend a host of cultural events and travel to Bihar, from where a lot of the first Indians went, sight-see at Varanasi, Lucknow and Agra, including trips to the Taj Mahal and Mathura-Vrindavan, the birthplace of Lord Krishna.



One of their main hosts in Delhi is publisher Richa Prakashan, who are pioneers in publishing spiritual books in Roman script for non-resident Indians. Humming devotional Hindu songs, tracking of Bollywood and speaking a smattering of Hindi, the group is a microcosm of Indians in the island nation. Though separated from the mother country by generations, they keep alive their Indian-ness. “I love bhajans (Hindu devotional hymns) specially those that speak of Ram,” said Budhram Hulass, 49, who works in the oil industry and plays the dholak, the Indian traditional drum. His grandparents went to Trinidad and Tobago from Bihar and Hulass. He is on his first visit to India, wants to go east. “I want to go and see the village that they came from. I realize how much my ancestors had to work to build a new life in a foreign country, leaving their home behind. “That toil, struggle, and the ability to survive against all odds fills me with honour, hope and pride.”

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