7/12/2016 A Skit and Slides Tells the Story of Bitter Migration, Lest Others Forget

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A Skit and Slides Tells the Story of Bitter Migration, LestOthers Forget

The Sanathan Dharam Mandir located off South Post Oak on Players RoadBy Jawahar MalhotraHOUSTON: Around the time the United States was struggling with the practice of slavery that brought about theCivil War in 1860, a new form of slavery – indentured labor – had established itself in British Guyana in SouthAmerica. The abolition of slavery and emancipation on May 5, 1838 in the British West Indies, saw thebeginning of the indentured labor system, under which many illiterate laborers were brought in from anotherpart of the vast British Empire – India.

7/12/2016 A Skit and Slides Tells the Story of Bitter Migration, Lest Others Forget

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The President of SDM, Vishal Chattor with the Public Relations Officer Ram Sharma (left).At that time, the British were at the zenith of their Empire, stretching all across the globe which led to the phrase“the Sun never sets on the British Empire”, but they needed hardworking people who could tolerate the harshconditions under which many of the crops in the Colonies were grown. Between 1835 and 1918, 341,600indentured laborers from India were imported into British Guyana. Although there were also Chinese migrants inGuyana, the British considered them not suitable for working in plantations and so the preference was towardsthe Indian workers.During roughly the same period, from 1879 to 1916, 60,965 laborers on 42 ships in 87 voyages left fromCalcutta and Madras for Fiji; 143,939 came to Trinidad; in Jamaica 36,412; Grenada 3,033; St. Vincent 2,472;St. Lucia 4,354; and St. Kitts 337. Of the French colonies (now Overseas Departments) Martinique received 25,509; Guadeloupe 45, 844 and French Guiana 19, 276. Suriname, while under Dutch rule, imported a total of35, 501 immigrants.

7/12/2016 A Skit and Slides Tells the Story of Bitter Migration, Lest Others Forget

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A skit was performed showing how the Indians were tricked into going across the waters and later, after theirarrival, mistreated by British agents

And many more went to all over Africa, South Africa, the islands of Mauritius, Maldives and Reunion and thosein the South Pacific. Altogether, more than 2 to 3 million Indians were taken overseas as indentured laborers

7/12/2016 A Skit and Slides Tells the Story of Bitter Migration, Lest Others Forget

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and then their later generations settled in and became a significant part of the fabric of the country. For many of these people – especially in Fiji, Guyana, Suriname and the West Indies – May 5 commemoratesthe anniversary of arrival of the first immigrants to the countries and is called Girmit Day after the term theilliterate peasants used for the English word “agreement” under which they came.

The simple temple has a large collection of idols depicting many gods and goddesses.Many were recruited under false pretenses from among the poor countryside of modern day Uttar Pradesh andBihar by Indian and sometimes British agents who promised them an easy life “sifting sugar”. Once on boardthe ships, many of them died due to sickness and overcrowding – many had never seen the ocean before –and often by committing suicide by jumping overboard. After three months on ship, they landed and were givena number and an easy to pronounce English name.It was just this story of being duped to sign up and go across the Black Waters (kala pani) that the amateuractors at the Sanatan Dharam Mandir portrayed (as Tara Chatarpal narrated) for a room full of people, mostlyfrom Guyana, and their children at the Indian Arrival Day program held this past Sunday, June 26 at the templeon Players Road in South Houston. There were also other dances and activities in the main hall, one side of which also doubles as the temple altar with idols arranged in three rows. The event started in early morning andended at noon with prasad (religious offerings) and lunch. Organized by the temple, the program featured early morning puja; breakfast; a devotional hour; followed by aSong of Indenture by Shomie Ramprasad, Ram Sharma and Jasodra Sharma; dances by three young kids andpresentation of awards. In between, SDM President Vishal Chattor dressed in a white kurta, dhoti and Gandhicap spoke about the significance of the day and Public Relations Officer Ram Sharma in a kurta­pajama andloosely wrapped white turban emceed the event. Dr. Prahalad Ramcharan, a professor at Baylor College ofMedicine and Texas Chiropractic College gave a slide presentation on the origin of Girmit Day and the horrors

7/12/2016 A Skit and Slides Tells the Story of Bitter Migration, Lest Others Forget

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and travails the laborers had to endure. Vipin Kumar, the Executive Director of India House, was an honoredguest who spoke about what he had learnt at the program and invited the audience to visit his facility on WestBellfort. Pandit Sase made the closing remarks.And through the slideshow and skit, the sadness and despair of their forefathers who lived it came through forthe people and children who sat on the carpet and listened. It brought out how clueless the poor, illiteratepeople who endured the terrible voyage by ship only to find brutal conditions in the fields where they had towork for endless hours for a shilling (about $2) a day, 6 days a week. “It was nothing short of slavery,” said oneGuyanese man at lunch.Alone, angry and frustrated, these people were tortured but one thing they nurtured was their religion, findingsolace in the Gita and Ramayana. It is their Hinduism that endured through the centuries and held themtogether in temples, just like at the SDM and another temple in Katy mostly frequented by Fijian Hindus.

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