They Came in Ships An Anthology of Indo-Guyanese Prose and Poetry

by Benjamin, Joel; McDonald, Ian; Kallicharan, Lakshmi; Seawar, Lloyd

• ISBN13: 9780948833946
• ISBN10: 0948833947
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-02-01
• Publisher: Peepal Tree Press Ltd.

Summary

From 1838 until 1917, Indians arrived to work as indentured labourers in Guyana. The majority never returned to India and today over 50% of the Guyanese population is of Indian origin. This anthology of prose and poetry shows how the Indians changed the character of Guyana and the Caribbean and how, over 150 years of settlement, Indians became Indo-Guyanese. Ranging from the earliest attempts at cultural self-definition in the 19th century (and early narrative images of the Indian presence in non-Indian writing), to the creative writing of the 1990s, this anthology provides a fascinating insight into the transformation of an ancient culture in the New World. Extracts from novels, short stories, essays and poems explore the experience of plantation life, of relationships with other ethnic groups, issues of gender within Indo-Guyanese culture and the adjustments in cultural practices which separation from India and involvement with the new environment required. Brief introductory essays by Jeremy Poynting set historical contexts, and there is an invaluable bibliography of Indo-Guyanese writing. This is the only anthology of its kind.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 7
Introduction	p. 8
The Life History of An East Indian in British Guiana	p. 17
The Conspirators	p. 23
A Tale of Love	p. 29
India - The progress of her People	p. 44
The East Indians in British Guiana	p. 51
Bharat Lakshmi	p. 57
The Building of Greater India	p. 64
Extract from England's Heartprobe	p. 68
Growing Up	p. 73
I am a Coolie	p. 85
The Common Experience of Bondage	p. 88
At Homes, Tagore and Jive	p. 93
The Creole Style Temples	p. 98
Hospitality	p. 111
Rice Cutting	p. 114
Pa's Death	p. 120
Cent and Jill	p. 129
So You Want to Be a Coolie Woman	p. 135
My Mother Was A Splendid Teacher	p. 141
Ramphal's Cremation	p. 144
Tomorrow is Another Day	p. 152
Berbice Crossing	p. 158
Poetry: Introduction	p. 171
A Tropical Morn	p. 176
To the Kiskadee	p. 177
Krazbi	p. 178
To India	p. 179
The Weeding Gang	p. 181
The Stars	p. 181
Albion Wilds	p. 183
The Flute Divine	p. 185
Tales Under the Sankoka Tree	p. 186
So Let Me Serve	p. 187
New Land	p. 187
Per-Ajie: A Tribute to the First Immigrant Woman	p. 189
Days of the Sahib	p. 191
No More Kitchree for the Groom	p. 193
Maha Kali	p. 194
Oh! Prahalad Dedicated Day	p. 196
I, Wifeless	p. 196
Barriat	p. 198
Ocean	p. 200
My Brother With the Lightning of His Hand	p. 201
Creole Gang	p. 203
Limbo	p. 203
Babu	p. 205
The Temple	p. 206
Let Me Describe Myself	p. 207
Nigger Yard	p. 209
The Arrival - Part One	p. 214
Words and Legacy	p. 216
Drowning Cats	p. 216
The Husband	p. 217
To An Island	p. 219
Evolution Song	p. 220
The Hidden Sun	p. 221
Seafarer	p. 221
Individual Legends	p. 223
Drought	p. 224
I Will Call You Back	p. 225
Matin Mornings	p. 227
Let the Past Go Pass, My Love	p. 228
Rain Storm	p. 228
Dusk and the City	p. 229
Demerary Telepathy	p. 230
Visit I	p. 231
Visit II	p. 231
Visit VI	p. 232
Diaspora	p. 233
My People	p. 234
From Suite to Supriya	p. 236
Never From Rain	p. 240
Beggarman	p. 240
Voices	p. 241
Music Is Not from Drum Alone	p. 240
Does Anyone Hear the Song of the River	p. 242
Chile Is Who You Fooling	p. 243
Deceived or Deceiving	p. 245
Call Me the Need of Rain	p. 246
Bones	p. 247
Beast	p. 249
Earth Is Brown	p. 250
This Listening of Eyes	p. 251
Where the Light	p. 252
How Can You Walk	p. 253
I Read the Hot-White Longing	p. 253
These Desperate days	p. 254
Ole Man	p. 256
Thoughts	p. 257
Vivah Sanskar	p. 260
For Ma	p. 262
Men and Women	p. 262
Coolie Odyssey	p. 263
Afterword: Tiger in the Stars	p. 271
Bibliography of Indo-Guyanese Imaginative Writing	p. 277
Index of Names	p. 299
Acknowledgements	p. 302
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.