2009 · Mansi Shah

(via Harsh)

Neera Kapur-Dromson, a fourth-generation Kenyan of Indian origin, has wrestled with kindred issues of identity, roots, cultural clashes and self-creation as long as she can remember.

An Odissi dancer, who was born and bred in Kenya, Kapur-Dromson was puzzled to find that despite living in Kenya for over 100 years, Indians were almost non-existent in histories of the east African country. In memoirs and biographies, like those of Karen Blixen (of the ‘Out of Africa’ fame) or Elspeth Huxley’s books, the Indian is shown just as a worker, sans family or individuality, an invisible nameless being. This disturbed her and goaded her on a long-winded trip into the memory of four generations and three countries. This inner voyage crystallised in her first book, From Jhelum to Tana, entwining personal history with defining historical events in Kenya that impacted on the lives of Indians living in that country.

In this conversation with Manish Chand, Kapur-Dromson speaks about the mingling of Indian and Kenyan cultures and languages, the contribution of the Indian diaspora in awakening political consciousness among Africans and the need for Kenyans to move beyond Bollywood and clichés to understand Indians and their culture better. “It is important for people to know where and what backgrounds they come from,” she says in this interview.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q) How did you put together this narrative of four generations of your family in Kenya? Were there any written records that helped you write this book?

A) I read many books on and about Kenya – all kinds of books, both historical and narrative. I found little mention of the lives and times of Indians in Kenya. I was a little bothered at first as even in my own family, I did not find any written records. No diaries, with the exception of one or two of my grandmother who started writing late in her life… so I did not have access to immediate firsthand information. However, I talked to a lot of people, especially the older ones who still remember stories narrated to them or what they themselves witnessed. Some people absolutely refused to part with the information…why talk of old times, they asked me. Let these be buried. With others, information differed each time. However, my mother has been a mine of information. The book then became an absolute priority as I felt that if I don’t do it now, even more will be lost. Amadou Hampate Ba, a very important African writer once wrote, “In Africa when an old man dies, it is as if a library has burnt…” so you can imagine the urgency of the task.

Much of the history written about Kenya was, for a long time, from the Western, mainly the British point of view. And in these documents, the Indian way of life is quite negligible. Even in memoirs and biographical books, or novels, like those of Karen Blixen (of the ‘Out of Africa’ fame) or Elspeth Huxley’s books, the Indian is shown just as a worker, without family or individuality, an invisible nameless being. The socio-cultural profile had been entirely ignored. That disturbed me. Another good reason for writing this book, I was persuaded. This information gap had to be bridged.

Fortunately, historians like Dana April Seidenberg and Cynthia Salvadori, socio-political writers like Dharam and Yashpal Ghai, and now writers, journalists and activists like Pheroze Nowrojee, Rasna Warah, Zarina Patel and Zahid Rajan, Salim Lone – all residing in Nairobi – have made contributions to correct our history in Kenya.

However, little has been written about lives of ordinary Indians. That is why I have written a story about simple people living in this part of the diaspora, about their day-to-day lives.

Filed Under: Diaspora, Literature
Tags: Africa, Kenya, Manish Chand, Neera Kapur-Dromson