Understanding the Migrant Experience Through Neil Bissoondath's on the Eve of Uncertain Tomorrows

In 1995, the Government of Trinidad proclaimed May 30 as the Arrival Day, thereby acknowledging for the first time the arrival of Indian indentured laborers in the Caribbean, who later came to be recognized as the Indian diaspora.In the early nineteenth century, hundreds of Indians were enticed into being indentured laborers or were kidnapped and forced into it. They were parceled to different British colonies in Fiji, Surinam, Guyana, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Trinidad. Their journey to the tea, sugar, or rubber plantation sites narrates a heart-wrenching saga of inhuman treatment equivalent to that meted out to cattle. The wretched condition in which they survived, their inability to raise funds to return home, and the deceitful agreement fabricated by the plantation owners shattered every hope of return or freedom. Illiteracy became the biggest impediment in their endeavor for a better life and they eventually compromised to a life of slavery. Their inability to find their way back home led to the severing of all ties with their homeland. Once some change in living conditions took place, these immigrants became owners of some plantations and with it the desire to return also receded.Even after settlement of more than 150 years, Indians in the Caribbean were considered third-class citizens or outsiders by the Europeans and the Africans settled on these islands. They deliberately kept the Indians away, not only from schools and offices but also from the civil services and public sectors. In spite of frequent cross-cultural encounters and restrictions, Indians created a niche for themselves in politics, education, sports, and most importantly in agriculture. Moreover, their perseverance and understanding of the agricultural land and its conditions helped them achieve better financial position than the indigenous people. Hence, from the painful and degrading experience of indenture, Indians were able to find a foothold which gave them an indispensable place on the islands to which they had been brought. A major role in the improvement of their condition was played by the Canadian missionaries who refurbished their spirit and encouraged in them educational, social, and religious awareness. With the road for a better life clear in their minds, these Indians worked for a prosperous future on these islands and decided not to return home even when they had earned enough money. With the memories of homeland still engraved in their minds, they set to create a new India on these islands by keeping alive the art, music, cuisine, culture, language, and religious beliefs of Hinduism and India. However, their decision to stay back led to the creation of an unbridgeable riftbetween them and the homeland.Once the indentured system ended, most of the Caribbean countries were unable to provide economic and political stability. In such situations, the prosperous and strong Indian communities were charged of illicitly accumulating wealth and marginalizing the local population. Growing insurgency and social inequality contributed to the migration of the second or third generation Indo-Caribbean people to Canada and England. Indians were deliberately marginalized from the citadels of the Caribbean politics. Although Indo-Caribbean people prospered economically, their identity and social lives were frequently challenged. The period was full of social and political uncertainties for them, and in these stifling conditions, these people sought assistance from Canadian missionaries for better life prospects. Many of them converted to Christianity which helped them get jobs in churches and avoid the hostility of Afro-Caribbean community. The pan-Caribbean migration to Canada started before the Second World War, but it was mostly scattered. Large-scale migration of the Indo-Caribbean people started after the 1960s when the policy of immigration to Canada was simplified and the government offered permanent settlement to the people who were on work permit. …

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