None of the people had any idea that they would be undertaking a ship journey that would last months. In fact, many had never been to a big city like Calcutta either and had never interacted with Europeans. They were not prepared for the journeys they undertook, emotionally and physically, and so, many died on the way. Of those who survived the first voyage of Fatel Rozack arriving at the islands in 1845, the first person to register his name at the arrival desk was, curiously enough, a man named Bharat. His name was penned down as Bhuruth Suroop. These colonial mis-spellings of Indian names still survive and one can find surnames such as Persaud instead of Prasad, Capildeo instead of Kapildeo, and so on. Even though the community is 2.5 million strong today, it has remained ignored for most part in India. However, the community never lost its touch with India.
Garima Garg, ‘A Voyage Less Ordinary’, India/भारत