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*Actual tassa ( one of the Indian musical instrument)  being played at a family member's Indian Wedding in Trinidad*

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REFLECTION

Caribbean Civilization is an interesting topic when coming to understanding your ancestors and the way of life they carried hundreds of years ago.  It was exhilarating to find out more on what was taught in high school and growing up generally. It built on prior knowledge of Columbus and Indian Indenture ship both  regionally and locally. It had a significant imprint on my mind as it was based on revisionism. This is where recorded events were revised and evidence was displayed in order to prove what was wrong or right, myth or truth and good or bad. It enabled me to appreciate more, the many different cultures and how they were either interconnected or entirely different and the origin that these cultures came from. It gave the history of each segment of each country, island, heritage etc. Thus, it makes learning about the broad spectrum of ‘Civilization’  and well in this case some of the forms of culture before and after emancipation period.
I liked the course because it gave me the opportunity to interact with people from all over the region. For example: my class had a guy from Antigua,  a girl from Tobago and another guy from Barbados. They all shared along with the rest of us Trinidadians, the differences in their way of life as well as similarities concerning music, dance, and language.  I strongly believe that this will shape me into a more knowledgeable individual due to the absorption and exposure I had to the course. This could not have been made possible by my very amazing classmates and lecturer who made the entire course and material meaningful and most importantly enjoyable.

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LANGUAGE

India has a significant impact on the Caribbean islands and countries with their native language Hindi. However, Trinidad, Suriname and Guyana also adapted their dialect of the Hindi and was widely spoken. It is known as ‘Bhojpuri’. It was used on the sugar estates and even after emancipation. Some elders still speak with their comrades or old friends who know of the language and are able to converse in the language.

In Trinidad, Guyana and other neighbouring countries where East Indians have impacted in more ways than one, place names in the various countries are names came from India or Hindi names of villages and names of streets and centers. The Hindi language is not presently spoken in a wide forum. however, it is taught at Hindu primary schools or Hindu denominational schools inclusive of Hindu secondary schools. it is taught in temples or even privately in different institutions. it is not used in general conversations among people as it is used in India. This is so because English is the mother tongue of Trinidad and Tobago whilst in other regional countries, Patois or Bhojpuri is spoken more often.

The immigrant indentured labourers spoke a number of Indian languages, and a few spoke ‘Tamil’, a Dravidian language. By the middle of the twentieth century, English was in common use, although ‘Bhojpuri’, a language of northern Bihar, was still understood by many. At that time, too, ‘Standard Hindi’  began to be taught in Hindu schools. Sanskrit continues to be used in Hindu religious services. Muslim Indo-Trinidadians learn and use Arabic for religious purposes. all of this results in dialectal variations and creations of a totally new language due to the mixing or combining of languages.

Citation

THE EXPERIENCE OF INDIAN INDENTURE IN TRINIDAD: ARRIVAL AND SETTLEMENT." Ressources Documentaires Et Cartographiques Sur La Caraïbe - Caribbean Atlas. Web. 7th July, 2017.

*Below is  a pic of the Hindi alphabet chart*

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DANCE

The Indian Indentured Laborers not only gave their work on the plantations or towards music. They contributed greatly to the art form of dance. With this art form come the sharingof dance costumes as well as general Indian or authentic wear. These are known as: saris, shalwars, and for men it is known as kurtas and jubbas etc. In Indian dance, there many styles and classes of dance. They are: Indian film, Classical which entails: Bharatnatyam, Odissi and Khatak, not forgetting folk and tribal types of dance. There was an exhibition of Indian dance in the year 2011 sometime in May commemorating Indian Arrival Day,  in Trinidad and Tobago. It was titled ‘Celebrating Indian Dance in Trinidad and Tobago’.
It was mentioned by, Kathak classical dancer and choreographer, Satnarine Balkaransingh, the feature speaker for the event, "Indian dance has undergone identifiable phases in growth and development. These phases can be classified into four steps. The first being the period of Indentureship (1845-1920), the second phase, Post-Indenturship and the Introduction of the Hindi Film era (1920 -(1935) -1962), the third phase is Post Independence from (1962-1980) and the final phase looks at what we see from the 1980s all the way up to the present."
It was also mentioned that when the  Indian immigrants first came to Trinidad in 1845, they binfluenced and shared folk dances like the), Kollatam (stick dance) Jharoo (broom dance Nagara or Ahir (bare back), Jharoo (broom dance Banjara (gypsy) and Kat Ghora (Sumerie or Burrokit). Jharoo (broom dance With the folk dances they also brought along their musical instruments such as the Dholak or double mouthed hand drum, the Dhantaal, Dhol (Bass), Tassa (Kettle drums) and Jhanji (cymbals). All of these dances are then modernized or personalized by locals and created ‘Chutney’ dance. This is recognized throughout the country and Suriname and Guyana by various local and regional dance groups that travel to and from to perform for many different events and forums.

The first Hindi movie to arrive in Trinidad was Bala Joban in 1935. Local dancers of Trinidad and Tobago, Alice Jan and Champa Devi became famous and many others were inspired to dance. The inspiration was facilitated through dancers Manna Day and Troupe, Ram Gopal and Vijayanti of India. Then afterwards many other local dancers made it big due to this influence

Citation
"Trinidad Express Newspapers: | Nalis Holds Indian Arrival Exhibition." Breaking News, Politics, Sports, Entertainment, Carnival, Video, Weather and More: Trinidad Express and TrinidadExpress.com, www.trinidadexpress.com/sunday-mix/Nalis_Holds_Indian_Arrival_Exhibition-124118029.html. Web. 6th July, 2017.

*Below is a pic of myself doing an Indian Dance  at a friend's  Indian,Hindu wedding, dressed in a costume influenced by the Indian wear from India*
*Dholak and Harmonium also seen in background*

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IMPACT OF INDIAN CULTURE FROM INDIA ON THE CARIBBEAN.

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IMPACT OF INDIAN CULTURE FROM INDIA ON THE CARIBBEAN.

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INTRODUCTION

Between 1845 and 1917 a total of 143,939 Indians migrated to Trinidad under the system of Indian indenture-ship. The majority of these indentured labourers were taken from the agricultural and labouring classes of the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar regions of the North of India. 'Approximately 85% of the immigrants were Hindus, and 14% Muslims. Despite the horrible conditions experienced under the indenture system, most of the Indian immigrants chose to make Trinidad their permanent home after the proposal of the indenture-ship system contracts they were given. For the indentured immigrants, life on the sugarcane estates was bound by the terms and conditions of the contract which they had signed; though most were illiterate in all of the three languages in which the contract was formulated.' However, the Indians were not free during their periods of indenture-ship. They could not ask for  higher wages, leave the estate at all or without permission, live off the estates, or refuse the work assigned to them.  The arrival of the Indian indentured labourers into Trinidad was seen to provide the solution to the existing economic and labour crisis at the time. there was also the   introduction of a whole new perspective to the social and cultural aspect of the Trinidadian society. The Indian culture had a great impact and vast contribution of the Indian diaspora with regards to music, dance, food, way of life, language, clothing and a lot more things in that area. Thus, the Indian indenture-ship period has had a significant display in  the Caribbean with Culture in many ways. Some of the ways that left an impression that will be discussed are: music, dance and language along with many others that go hand in hand.

Citation
"Caribbean Literature and the Public Sphere: From the Plantation to the ... - Raphael Dalleo." Google Books, books.google.tt/books? Web. 5th July. 2017.

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MUSIC

As made mentioned in the ‘Trinidad Express’ and article by Mark Fraser, ‘ In the case of the East Indians, they came with their religious and folk songs which they played and sang among themselves.’ Thus in time, as technology stepped in and the era of recorded music existed, they would listen to popular songs from India and create their own versions as well as create their own songs inspired by the original song form the native land. The local Indo-Trinbagonian musicians would began to express themselves in a manner more at home to them. In their own sense of style and originality. For example the famous ‘Sundar Popo’ and his original songs in a folksong genre depicting past events of historical nature.The diversity of Trinidad and Tobago’s music as it exists today is a result of the mixing of the people who were here originally and those who came either as settlers, African slaves or indentured labourers from India, China etc. Over the period of time, they influenced into life onto these lands where some adapted their cultural expressions to this place. Musical instruments such as the harmonium, dholak, table etc. was introduced as part of the classical part of music and traditional type of singing and musical existence that is used in religious institutions, more so temple and Hindu schools for leisure, art form or worship. This was greatly and solely influenced by India.

Out of this derived chutney music in the Caribbean region. It was made known in the early 1900s and coming into its own by the 1940s. It spread widely to the Indian communities across Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname, among other Caribbean islands where local bands such as 'Karma',  'Dil-e- Nadan' etc perform regionally, locally and somewhat internationally now.. Thus, the culture of the Indo-Trinbagonians left their communities and ventured to the wider society where it was, though initially shunned, embraced by the wider population.

Citation

"Trinidad Express Newspapers: | The Indo-Trinbagonian Influence on Our Music." Breaking News, Politics, Sports, Entertainment, Carnival, Video, Weather and More: Trinidad Express and TrinidadExpress.com, www.trinidadexpress.com/featured-news/The-Indo-Trinbagonian-influence-on-our-music-261187051.html. Web. 6th July, 2017.

*Below is a picture of the Indian musical instrument, the Harmonium*