Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Guyana - We Indian's don't seem to care

A month ago I saw this girl on a dating site. She claimed in her profile that she was an Guyanese East Indian. Her profile looked right. Photos looked good. So I thought why not contact her and see whether she is interested in me.

Pretty quickly she responded back and gave her phone number. I called her and we started to talk on the phone. By now, I've gotten pretty good at charming women on the phone at least. She expressed a desire to meet somewhere in Midtown Manhattan for lunch. Within the next couple of days we decided a time and went out for lunch.

The girl was pretty interesting to talk but not really my type. Nevertheless, its always fun to hold a conversation with an absolute stranger and we talked for about an hour or so. She told me that she was born and brought up in Guyana. A country in South America east of Venezuela. She also mentioned that 53% of population of Guyana is East Indian. This was unbelievably shocking to me. I am the kinda guy whose pretty much read all history there is to India ever written anywhere. Well, more or less. I was really curious to know the history behind this and started off reading about Guyana over Wikipedia.

As the story goes, Indentured Labor traveled with the British for construction and farming from India to Guyana and another country called Suriname. These people are their descendants. Slowly and gradually the population of East Indians out there has grown to a little over than 50%. In Suriname its around 70-80%. We practically run the governments out there. The president of Guyana is a guy called Bharat Jagdeo. Wow, just imagine....

I knew this kinda story with Mauritious, Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies, but South America ? No way ...

I just wish the Indian Govt establishes ties with these far and forgotten countries and gets them some attention in mainstream Indian media. It will be also great if history books taught in the school would cover this aspect of Indian history rather than just giving us an overdose of Shivaji and that fucked up asshole Gandhi.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please look into your self before uttering some words.

As what have you done so far being an INDIAN.

Anonymous said...

lololo

l_0oio0_l said...

Well its surprising you didnt knew abt Guyana.... try to hear their music... its called Chutney Music.... and u will realize that its all Indian mixed with carrebian spice.... and u will know abt kanchan and babla and all songs in mithunda's movie.... chk it out! ... yeah probably its new for you .... not for everybody tho [:)]

Anonymous said...

You wanna know how Indians went to guyana...try this page. It was tough. many died on the way and others struggled to survive!

http://www.guyana.org/features/guyanastory/chapter50.html

Anonymous said...

Dude... You need to read up more considering your arrogance. Surprised you didn't know about Guyana and the Indian link. Lpz stay humble. It'll suit you

Anonymous said...

i am glad it was a good awakening for u. These Guyanese Indians are our ppl. Our Indian govt has no policy to reach out to them at a national level or maybe even establish people-to-people contacts. We have ignored them for far too long !

Anonymous said...

Actually I prefer it this way, the last thing we need is India's influence in Guyana, our Indians hmmm my people are much better off without India, for EG have you ever seen a Hindu temple and a Mosque side by side in India???
not only that what about their cast system they have over in India I don’t want that happening in Guyana we have issues of our own than to let that kind of mentality being introduced to Guyanese Indians so as for my opinion and mine only please leave us Guyanese alone to evolve in our own way we seem to be doing fine by ourselves so far without India. Look at how that Indian from India above describe one of their greatest leaders (Gandhi)

Anonymous said...

You are idiots. Native Guyanan indians have nothing to do with the continent of India. You are invaders and destroyers of the local culture, and as such hated and reviled by true native inhabitants. Go home.

Anonymous said...

I believe its the divide and conquer policies at work. We should not be too hasty in our judgment about a relationship with India. One Billion plus Indians are better united than divided. I have to commend the English for having the ability to create friction between 1 billion plus Indians and its still going strong. Those idiots Indians still can't resolve their differences. The more educated they become to blend with the supposed superior race, the more stupid they become. I have a question for you too! Also, I will give my answer and you can post your. How do you control and use 1 billion plus intelligent Indians? You separate the leadership and cause fights amount the stupid ones. Happy Thanksgiving to all the Indians. Smile by an Indian person

Anonymous said...

fuck that man Guyanese and Trinidad people are just indian posers and they don't know anything about REAL INDIANS cultures, they have NO culture of their own, they are CULTURE STEALER'S, they piss me off on how disgraceful and disrespectful they are, how dare people call them indian

Anonymous said...

I have found that Indians from India look down on Indians from colonies like Guyana and Trinidad (that think they are somehow superior).

Anonymous said...

Why are some Indians, hating on guyanese or surinamese people. Gosh........... my ancestors were really poor who gave from India, and got fooled from the white man into working at plantations. I do not understand why some Indians do not like West Indian people. Yes we do have culture, but you wouldn't like it, if you were in thte same situation where your parents had to leave a coutnry to get any job to support their family. I mean, I have lots of east indian friends and their all very nice to me, so why cant u? The reason for the abandoning of the caste system, was simply because almost all the indentured labourers were poor, so it didnt make sense to restrict people from certain jobs if they were all poor. I mean if the indians got high paying jobs, it would be better for them, than to struggle and live paycheck to paycheck. Guyanese people are not culture stealers. My ancestors came from India and treid to pass down as much knowledge as possible to future generations, which does not make us culture stealers. The Indian governement should get more involved with Guyana........ together we can unite and educate people about the Indian diaspora. I mean we Indians should help each other out, not single out and crush each other. I just hope more Indians are educated about diaspora. It it part of India's secret past and MUST BE HEARD!

Anonymous said...

FYI the indian people in Guyana are both Muslim and Hindu and to the idiot who said that Guyanese people behave badly.....well at least they are not makeing nuclear weapons and trying to blow up the planet like the war mongers on your side of the Planet .... so back off and go eat some curry you uneducated idiot.

Anonymous said...

One of the major consequences of British colonization and imperial oppression of Indians in the Caribbean is the deprivation and erosion of their cultural and social heritage.Although Indians have contributed significantly to Guyana’s economic and social development, they continue to struggle for their heritage survival and national representation. Most importantly, Indian women have been relegated to subordinate positions as their presence continues to be limited in the social and political fabric of Guyana. Both men and women suffered tremendously at the hands of the colonizers, but Indian women suffered doubly in the patriarchal society....
from the women who courageously traveled across the treacherous ocean (the kala pani) to Guyana as laborers on sugar plantations to those striving for higher education and participation in national life. They formed roots in another land, raised their children under harsh colonial conditions and post independence turmoil, and made sacrifices to give their children a better education. Their daughters continue to face many challenges where their womanhood is still under scrutiny.

Anonymous said...

Be careful with propaganda here. The person who opened this blog may not even be an Indian. I have seen this plot on other parts of the internet.

Anonymous said...

Why is she not your type? British left a legacy of prostitution in India. Likewise, they are trying to tarnish the character and reputation of innocent Guyanese ladies, in particular those from East of Venezuela. This divide ad rule is to put India against the British Colonies.

See how hard the British has been trying to propagate this false theory elsehwere.

If it's an Indian guy writign ehre, I am sure he is only acting as a stooge i.e. working for the British without knowing how he is being used. Why in the first place was he chatign her up like that? Isn't it because it was all planned out in obtaining a desired response? Who is the guilty?

Pinky said...

The time will come when white cunts will be on the streets in abundance, worse than the imposed Indian prostitutes. There will no longer be the utilization of Indian slave labor or the control or appropriation of resources belonging to them.

Those Indian men, who are ignorant of history or just marry them for papers, will think twice. Even the white men will run to the Indian women since they too will be close enough of being on the street in prostitution. This is the future and the Laws of Nature.

Harshal said...

Hello
I'm the person who wrote this blog post.

As claimed by some anonymous poster in the comments, I'm absolutely Indian. I live in India and love it too.

Secondly, as according to a comment as to why the guyanese girl I met was not my type, she was just not my type. I didn't like her in the way expected over a date. That's all.

Some commenter mentioned that we Indians look down upon Indians who have traveled to Guyana or Trinidad. This is crazy! There is absolutely nothing like that. Most people don't even know about Trinidad and Guyana and their links with India, let alone looking down upon them. Whoever wrote that post must be really guily conscious about some or the other thing.

The reason I though of writing this blog post is just to document an interesting person I met, and the interesting things I learned from her about her culture and past.

It was an absolutely innocent blog post, and I don't know why people are so outraged over it.

Pinky said...

That girl is not here to speak for herself, but I am sure she too has thoughts about that date.

Firstly, you men from India are quick to say I love you just to get into the pants of women. You do it to women from India too. I heard complaints from them. Once that is accomplished, they are let go of.

Ignorance of Indians from Guyana and Trinidad is just an excuse. You people feel because they are far off from India unlike countries like Malaysia, Fiji, Mauritius, they have lost it all. These poor people for Guyana and Trinidad also being ignorant of this fact get caught into the trap of defending themselves other than posing challenges and admitting to the fact that they have some better qualities and attitude than the people from India. No wonder that girl was so interested in chatting!

Anonymous said...

CULTURE STEALERS HA!

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3520

Anonymous said...

Well, one Indian guy asked me why are Guyanese people so dark skinned, and I tod him it's because we are less tainted...Idiots who think we r stealing their culture should be happy we did not steal "selling our daughters to become whores". or exploit our bodies to give the whitemen babies!!!!Indians nasty & think they r better,guess what? ur not....God Bless Guyanese!!!

Anonymous said...

this is inregard to punky what makes you think us fiji folk are not far off from india? that has to be the most stupid comments ever posted regarding us. To all carribean indians out there dont worry about the prejudice you revievve from people from india i have been through it from those dickheads be proud with what your forefathers retained not wanted and on who you are i reckon us folk should unite more

Anonymous said...

i meant pinky not punky

Anonymous said...

they even stereotype us with the whole dark skin crap too i told them to see how much shit is stuck up their arse and that black dont crack

Anonymous said...

I once heard a joke from a guyanese guy who said that noone likes his people because south americans dont want to call guyanese people south american and indians dont want to call them indians, and thats just it! The majority of guyanese people came to guyana as indentured servants because they were known in india during that time as the lowest caste in the hindu caste system; they were the dalits, or the untouchables, they were very dark skinned and considered very low class which was why they were indentured. so it was then that they were moved or shipped out of the country to guyana, but cmon guys its been years, youre no longer indian youre guyanese so please start your own damn culture you are NOT indian!!!!!!!! you are GUYANESE!! and leave our culture alone we kicked you trashbags out for a reason!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I am of Guyanese descent and am glad to see that there are people from India who are attempting at relations cross-culturally.

First off, people who are Guyanese are not "culture stealers". We can't help the way our ancestors got to where they are. They did with what they could with the little resources they had with them, and the land that was available to them along with the culture. One can expect that when a a group of people is in diaspora, there will be some blending of other cultural influences. To say that Guyanese people are culture stealers would put a huge mark on American culture, because then we as United States citizens would be the absolute worst!

Unknown said...

HI,
I am from India, my wife is from Guyana. I think Indian Gov should try hard to reach to colonies like this. I been to Guayna it is beautiful, I felt that I am in sme part of UP..

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ray said...

Valid or not, there's not a lot of love between East Indians and West Indians. I've never heard anyone say anything about 'culture' stealing.

Indians don't have this hostility towards indians who grew up in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Europe...

However, I've heard comments that west indians have too much 'black culture', which is seen as being weak in family culture and values.

Case in the point, they share the same kind of dancing... wining, clubs...

Right or wrong... that is the perception.

West indians are actually kind of unique in that way. They have adapted their culture much more than Indians that went to Africa, East Asia...

You can go to Malaysia/Africa and the Indian culture/values are still reasonably strong. You couldn't say the same thing about west indian culture which has blended in a lot of the 'black' culture.

As a result, a lot of east indians view west indians more as black than Indian... and yes... east indians do tend to look lowly upon blacks.

Jay said...

hey man,,what you said about allright..but don't say bad words for our great mahatma gandhi & shivaji.