The Indentured and Their Route: A Relentless Quest for Identity

Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel noted: 'An executioner always kills twice; first, with his sword, then through forgetting.' The same is true for indenture.

The indentured system, known disparagingly as 'Coolitude', was similar to Negritude. They were two sides of the same coin, the Black slave on one side and the Brown indentured on the other. Their suffering, due to their inhuman bondage, represented one of the greatest tragedies of human history.

When slavery was abolished and erased from our collective memories, UNESCO and the African States reminded us of the Slave Route. The moment has come to do the same for indenture.

It is the search for identity of the indentured that offers a possible response to the dialectics of coolitude versus nationalism. It does not involve the re-writing of history but its re-interpretation.

Identity in this case served as a saviour. The quest for identity continues in one form or the other. When it is not denied, it flourishes into India's great diaspora. When banished into the night, it results in conflict and war.

Multi-talented Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee has distinguished herself as a successful diplomat, powerful speaker on public affairs, acclaimed writer and on the boards of major Indian corporations. She is the president of the India Habitat Centre.

Her major passion in life continues to be India and the World. Of Bengal by birth, heart and conviction, her book Bengal and Its Partition is considered a fundamental read.

The Indentured and Their Route is a labour of love, dedicated to India's lost children. It is a story waiting to be told.