The Kolkata Memorial inaugurated January this year recalls and salutes the hundreds of thousands of Indian workers who, from 1838 to 1920, travelled to the West Indies and Guyana in search of a better life – although for many, it began a far cry from what they expected.
Arriving as indentured labourers, life became one of slave-like existence with little hope of improvement, brought, as they were, to toil daily in the sugar cane fields of some Caribbean islands and Guyana as replacements for African slave labour after the abolition of African slavery.
Now, more than 170 years later, their descendants have gone on to attest to the resilience and courage that characterized their foreparents by becoming productive citizens; many remaining resolute guardians of their Indian culture.
The memorial stands near an abandoned dock site in Kidderpore, Kolkata, where it is said that labourers such as those bound for Demerara in British Guiana assembled to await their ships, to embark on what would become voyages of epic significance.
Speaking at its January 11, 2011 unveiling, Vayalar Ravi, the Indian Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, lauded the progress of the Indian diaspora, saying that many had reached outstanding levels in their adopted countries. “In fact, some have reached the highest political positions in their countries and are now shaping the destinies of their adopted countries,” he said.
According to reports, he also said: “All of them nurture within their hearts a strong bond with the land of their ancestors, India. It is the innate Indianness that each of them still carries that ensures that India’s footprint is felt all over the world.”
This bond is reflected in the wording of the memorial plaque that ends “Jai Hind”: a patriotic salutation to Mother India.
The memorial is the realisation of an idea of Guyanese-born Letter Kenny, Corentyne villager Ashook Ramsaran of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO International), who has also received India’s highest award for his involvement in the heritage of India.
On July 7-8, 2010 Ramsaran, the GOPIO International Executive Vice President, along with several Indian ministers and historians, visited Kolkata to begin the project that would pay tribute to persons such as Ramsaran’s own great-grandfather, who departed through Kolkata in 1853, headed to Demerara in the colony of British Guiana.
Ramsaran told the press that the memorial and museum would help “to physically as well as emotionally connect the descendants of those indentured workers with the story of their ancestors and their ancestral homeland.”
Writing in the Global Indian Diaspora Heritage Society (GIDHS) website, Ramsaran, who now lives in the US, said: “My great grandfather left India in 1853, and it took him over 100 days by ship to reach Guyana (originally named Demerara, then British Guiana). By contrast, it took me less than 24 hours by airplane from New York to reach to Kolkata. During my journeys to Kolkata, I made several visits to housing sites, holding areas, processing offices, and the docks that are still standing in Kolkata even more than 150 years later. All through those visits, it was on my mind that perhaps it was by beckon call and some special guidance (that) I was being led to that place, doing what should be done as a lasting tribute to all those who left those shores.
“A personal quest was quickly transformed into a universal one, representative of the descendants of those who left India from the ports of Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras) and Mumbai (Bombay). That gave me an enormous sense of courage and determination to succeed in installing the commemorative memorial, to be followed by the museum. There is an overwhelming sense of personal obligation and responsibility that I must make sure that quest is fulfilled.
“In that process, I intend to use all available support, collaboration and good intentions of the governments of India and West Bengal, governments of countries with persons of Indian origin (such as Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius, Malaysia and others), indentureship researchers and historians, authors, film and documentary producers, archivists, patrons and well wishers throughout the global Indian diaspora.
“While our ancestors left those shores with barely the clothes they were wearing, but emboldened with lots of hope, promise and courage; we, their descendants, can proudly walk today in those very same depots and docks, reminisce and marvel – while expressing our gratitude and, yes, become quite emotional at their courage and determination.
“Today we all stand tall on the broad shoulders of our ancestors, who bore the initial burden and sacrificed so much for our well-being. Our strength and freedom of spirit come from them, who bravely made the journey, courageously walked ahead of us, and cleared treacherous pathways so that we can live better lives today.” (Taken from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
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