RODNEY BAY, ST. LUCIA, July 7, 2006: Jennifer Gaston and Fleming Victor Luther Salapuddi, both St Lucians of Indian origin, are successful professionals. Ms. Gaston’s family came to this island over a hundred years ago, part of the indentured labour shipped by the British to man their plantations, while Dr. Salapuddi came in the 1970s, one of the first Indian doctors to come to work in the Caribbean. Ms. Gaston says her grandfather came from India, and settled in St Lucia. “St Lucia is has a population of about 160,000 of which less than 20,000 would be of Indian origin with no distinct African culture or Indian culture,” she says. In St. Lucia, there is no celebration of Indian festivals except St. Lucian culture. Indian expatriates celebrate their festival privately.
In St. Lucia, over the last 25 years, Dr. Salapuddi has seen life become more and more comfortable. There is an Indian factory in Fort Vieux (a town in the southernmost part of St. Lucia) which imports everything they need from Guyana, a small Hindu temple in Fort Vieux and even vegetables like drumsticks and jackfruits which the locals don’t know can be eaten. For entertainment, there are two theatres in the capital which once screened popular Hindi films. “In fact, people used to sing Hindi songs here without knowing what they meant.” Now, it is not so, says Ms. Gaston. The music in St. Lucia today, the songs that the younger generation listens to, are those which are constantly played over radio stations, are heavily influenced by contemporary tastes in Europe and USA. She regrets the passing away of a culture that was folk-influenced songs to the current trend.
(St. Lucia is an independent nation located in the Southeastern Caribbean approximately 1,300 miles from Florida. It is part of the Windward Islands which in turn are part of the lesser Antilles which are part of the West Indies)