Howdy and hope all is well with everyone.
It's the month of May - a very unique month in the calendar. It means many things to many people, especially if you're of East Indian descent. For the East Indians from Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and other West Indies countries, it means the celebration of the experiences of our Indentured Ancestors who were brought to sweat and toil in the sugar plantations in those colonial states over 171 years ago.
The first boat that brought our Indentured Ancestors to the shores of British Guiana at Highbury, East Berbice, was the Whitby, followed by Hesperus om May 5th 1838. After over three months of sailing in the sea and suffering tremendous hardships on the boat at the hands of the British, including the deaths of loved ones, they finally reached land. Thank God.
Then they were placed at different sugar factories throughout British Guiana to sweat and toil, for their mediocre living. Recounting their excrutiating painful experiences while working on the sugar plantations in B.G., is not an easy task. One can just image how they survive such extremely difficult living and working conditions. But, survive they did. They braved all challenges thrown at their footsteps and came out victorious. For this, I humbly bowed to my ancestors for keeping the memories alive. God bless their souls.
On another aspect of our history, someone pointed and asked me, why are celebrating May 5th as the East Indian Arrival Day? As a matter of fact, if truth be known, many of them were forced/lured into coming to work in the sugar plantations. It's not like they "arrive" as tourists or to enjoy a life of luxury and easy living.
Considering the unbearable circumstances they had to live through, which we all know, it sounds almost hypocritical that we, the direct descendants of our Indentured Labourers, are celebrating their arrival in the West Indies and on May 5th. Do we know what was going through the first batch of Indentured Labourers' mind? Can we describe their state of mind on that day when they landed at Highbury? Do we really understand the deep pain, anguish and suffering of the first batch of our Indentured Ancestors, starting on the boat?
What about those Indentured Labourers who came in subsequently after, in the following year, year after that, etc. How does the celebration of May 5th cover their 'arrivals' to toil on the sugar plantations? It's amost like a cheap lie, is it not?
Recall history, the Indentured process started in 1838 and went on until about 1920, when the system officially came to an end. That is what we should be celebrating - our FREEDOM from the draconian Indentured system, not our arrival to sweat and toil on the sugar planations at the mercy of the British landlords.
It's still not too tale to correct this mistake or injustice. We should open this dicussion for debate across all walks of life, not just let the political leaders of the day or East Indian leaders of the day speak and decide for all of us, without proper reseach in a matter of such importance.
Below are some images of the celebration in Highbury, East Berbice of last year's event. Photos courtesy Mr. Vince Ramsaroop.
The stage with the banner.
Lovely young ladies beautifully dressed in Indian garments.
Women at the forefront, marching ahead with replica of Whitby.
Section of the crowd, including the late Shri Prakash Gossai.
