After the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire around 1838, European plantation owners in Guyana, as well as throughout the Caribbean, looked to India for cheap labor. The myriads of stories passed down from generation to generation about the East Indians’ journey from India to Guyana help us fit pieces of a puzzle together and get a clear picture of the chain of events that made Guyana what it is today.
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My Arrival Day Sentiments are Bitter/Sweet – by Romona Chanderballi
As mentioned in our previous article, Indian Arrival Day, the attitude of the descendants of colonized East Indians of British Guiana towards their colonial past are wide and varied. Some are thankful for the voyage that brought them a new life and new opportunities while others detest the compromising and sometimes harsh conditions to which their fore parents were subjected during their voyage to the new world.