Diaspora is a new and powerful word in current Indian vocabulary. The diasporic Indian community, increasing and ever more visible globally, is being courted and feted by the government of India as never before. An annual Pravasi Bhartiya Divas celebrates their achievements in business and commerce, the creative arts and literature, public service and scholarship and sports alike. Now, there is a designated minister of state to look after the affairs of Non-Resident Indians. But, while diasporic Indians share a common ancestral culture, they are not a homogenous group by any means. Products of many crossings over many centuries, they vary in their historical experience, their social and cultural outlook and in the extent of their closeness to India and things Indian.

This collection of linked essays is about the experience of one distinct diasporic community, the Indo-Fijian, which emerged from indentured migration in the 19th and 20th centuries. Indian indentured immigrants to Fiji were a part of over a million Indians who were sent to the 'King Sugar Colonies' in Africa, the Indian and Pacific oceans and the Caribbean. Some returned when the agreement - girmit under which they went, expired. But most - out of inertia, a reluctance to make a long, trauma-inducing journey back to India or because they saw better opportunities and new freedoms - settled in their new homelands.