Crisscrossing geographic boundaries, this book heralds the arrival of the globalised Indian. A fourth generation Kenyan of Indian origin, Neera Kapur-Dromson, was born and educated in Nairobi.

Torn between cultures— identity problems haunt the author and there is a feeling of being uprooted. It is about clinging to the known, while stepping boldly into the unknown. This book is a remembrance of things past; stories about the Punjabi diaspora in the late 19th century.

These sentences are the spinal cord of the book: “India is my grandmother, Kenya my mother. India and Kenya together sustained my physical and spiritual being. Kenya and India became states of my mind. Now I would like to be able to say: the whole world is my home.”

The author came to know of her great-grandfather Lala Kirparam’s fascinating journey from Karachi to Kenya when she saw a portrait of his in a relative’s house.

She began piecing together bits of information to weave a colourful ancestral tapestry. Kirparam boarded a dhow (sailboat) from Karachi in 1898 from his home town of Bhera (now in Pakistan) and landed in Mombasa where he immediately began working in the Mombasa-Nairobi rail line and eventually became a canteen contractor and a dukanwalla (shop owner).

Life began to revolve around the railway line. Opportunities were grabbed and everywhere the train stopped, a settlement arose.

The nucleus of a community began to grow by the end of the century. Asian traders soon followed, opening up small shops which stacked every conceivable item from khaki trousers to sugar. This is a story of four generations that ultimately awoke to the truth that “in future, where you live will become a matter of choice, traditions will not prevent you from integrating.” 

The narrative begins with Hardei reminiscing about the hard time she had when her husband abandoned her for a better life in Kenya. She and her six-year-old son come to Mombasa in search of him.

She is a tough lady and despite numerous obstacles she is reunited with her husband. Hardei’s character is well etched, and she stands out strong and bold in an alien country. She fights for her conjugal rights and is resigned to the “other woman” in her husband’s life.

Almost a magnum opus

Each chapter begins with an apt proverb from the Vedas, Punjabi folklore, Bollywood songs or from African tribes. This book could have been a magnum opus; it has all the ingredients that Roots by Alex Haley had. But somehow the effort seems very laboured and the background against which the narrative is set, lacks sparkle.

The period of this narrative covers two world wars, racial discrimination, colonisation, apartheid; the entire world was in turmoil but the characters do not reflect this, caught as they are in their daily battles. 

Family ties and bonds should have been analysed in greater depth against a dramatic-historical backdrop. This could have been a saga of all Indian immigrants who ventured worldwide and made these countries their new home, and yet clung on to their ancestral roots for as long as was possible.

But what is evident is the author’s sincerity in delving into her ancestry and meeting people who lived through or had chronicled that era. Neera’s description of the ochre-red dust penetrating everything in Africa grabs the reader’s attention, but as the book progresses the style becomes heavy and pedantic.

Philosophically the author writes about the Ganga of the mind, destroying the worlds of illusion. Coming to terms with her identity she concludes: “Perhaps only now our roots are being implanted firmly and we are able to interlace with others.”

Title: From Jhelum to Tana
Author: Neera Kapur-Dromson
Published by: Penguin Books India
Price: Rs.395/-
Pages: 433