Dr Kumar Mahabir
Editor-in-Chief and Chairman, Indo-Caribbean Cultural Centre Co. Ltd.
Assistant Professor, University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT)
May 22, 2011

Belize is located in Central America, Guadeloupe in the Northern Caribbean and Suriname in South America. Belize is English-speaking, Guadeloupe is French-speaking and Suriname is largely Dutch-speaking. Yet, all three countries belong to the Caribbean and have descendants of East Indian indentured immigrant labourers domiciled in them.

Saisbhan Jokhan
Curator of the Indian Caribbean Museum of Trinidad and Tobago

The influences of the Indian Immigrant are not only in the type of foods they introduced into the colonies or the type of clothing they wore. They go beyond food, clothing, language, religion and cultural art forms and include the names of places which are similar to those in India.

It may be interesting to note that at one point in time the present day town of St. James was referred to as 'coolie' town since there was a thriving sugar-cane plantation in that area, and many immigrants from India lived there after indentureship was terminated in 1917. Some of the streets in the heart of the town can bear testimony to this Indian influence as is evidenced by the names of some of the prominent streets such as Banares Street, Agra Street, Bombay Street and Lucknow Street to name a few.