“The Indo-Trinidadian family retains much of their cultural heritage. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?”
SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL PROCESSES
KIRTI SUDAMA
ESSAY QUESTION
“The Indo-Trinidadian family retains much of their cultural heritage. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?”
In the year 1845, the first set of indentured labours set foot on the island of Trinidad under the European rule, to work on the plantation estates. Among these labours were the East Indians. They were brought under a contract which the conditions were that they would be paid, given a home to live in, be able to grow their own food and would have the opportunity to travel back to India after their five (5) years of service. Within time, the East Indians learnt of the European deeds and their ways as many of these indentured labours were treated the same as the African slaves. At the end of their five year contract, some of them choose to stay as they were granted a sum of land by the colony but some left. When the East Indians came, they brought with them many things such as their culture, religion and practices, clothing, tools, utensils, musical instruments and many more just to name a few. To argue the point of whether or not the Indo-Trinidadian family retains much of their cultural heritage would be to a certain extent as over the years, many of these have retained their value where as some has been modified.
To begin with, Religion can be looked at as the most important aspect of the Indo-Trinidadian culture. The main religion of the East Indians when they came was Hinduism. Hinduism is a religion that stem from the Vedic religion. Within this religion, there are many different religious books and stories that teach Hindus about life and living. There are also many different Gods that they pray too which each play a different role in the lives of an everyday person. The widely known book that was brought by the east Indians is the Ramayan, which speaks of the story of Lord Ram and Devi Sita. This book is still used widely by all Hindus of
KIRTI SUDAMA
ESSAY QUESTION
“The Indo-Trinidadian family retains much of their cultural heritage. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?”
In the year 1845, the first set of indentured labours set foot on the island of Trinidad under the European rule, to work on the plantation estates. Among these labours were the East Indians. They were brought under a contract which the conditions were that they would be paid, given a home to live in, be able to grow their own food and would have the opportunity to travel back to India after their five (5) years of service. Within time, the East Indians learnt of the European deeds and their ways as many of these indentured labours were treated the same as the African slaves. At the end of their five year contract, some of them choose to stay as they were granted a sum of land by the colony but some left. When the East Indians came, they brought with them many things such as their culture, religion and practices, clothing, tools, utensils, musical instruments and many more just to name a few. To argue the point of whether or not the Indo-Trinidadian family retains much of their cultural heritage would be to a certain extent as over the years, many of these have retained their value where as some has been modified.
To begin with, Religion can be looked at as the most important aspect of the Indo-Trinidadian culture. The main religion of the East Indians when they came was Hinduism. Hinduism is a religion that stem from the Vedic religion. Within this religion, there are many different religious books and stories that teach Hindus about life and living. There are also many different Gods that they pray too which each play a different role in the lives of an everyday person. The widely known book that was brought by the east Indians is the Ramayan, which speaks of the story of Lord Ram and Devi Sita. This book is still used widely by all Hindus of
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