East Indians in the West Indies by William T. Gunraj

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 7, 1908

East Indians in the West Indies

By William T. Gunraj

WILLIAM T. GUNRAJ

(One of India's Sons)

Come walk with me, and let us witness a rather imposing spectacle. The moon shines full, and throws its silvery rays on all sides, displaying the luxuriant verdure as if it were a fairy scene. It is the month of February. You see before you a huge pile of wood and a number of men assembled around it. I can imagine the thoughts passing through your mind. What is all this about? Is this a funeral pyre? or is it the prelude to some cannibal feast? Let me endeavor to explain. These men are East Indians, who have come to this colony to labor on the sugar plantations. They have assembled on this occasion to celebrate their annual Phagwa Festival. They have lighted the pile now, and how lustily they sing, and in what perfect harmony their voices blend.

This ceremony is called “burning the ho-lee.” After the pile is burned, they retire into the village, and there spend the balance of the night in singing, accompanied by the beating of drums and the tinkling of cymbals. With the dawn they begin throwing mud at one another; when they have had enough of this, they bathe, and put on new clothing. The men then stroll about in bands, singing, beating drums, etc. With a reddish liquid made by mixing a red powder with water they drench one another's garments. They spend money freely in the saloon, and their songs are profusely mixed with curses, and unworthy of any interpretation. This festival is celebrated exclusively by the Hindus, who form the bulk of the population in this colony, as well as in the island of Trinidad. They need the third angel's message as much as any other people; nay, they need it more, for they are sunken more deeply in the mire of sin and superstition. Sad to say, our people have not done much for them, there being only one native conference worker in this colony, and he the only one in the whole of the West Indian Union Conference.

As I see ministers, missionaries, and Bible workers coming to labor among the English-speaking community, and my people (equaling all the other nationalities combined, in this colony and Trinidad) being passed by and neglected, I have been impelled to appeal for help. A people prone to superstition, idol-worshippers for generations, with no higher aim than to eat, drink, and accumulate money; a people, capable of being highly educated, among whom shine some bright instances of genuine conversion,—such are the people that need your help.

We need workers; nay, we beg for even one truly consecrated American worker, who will adapt himself to our needs, learn our language, and work for this hitherto neglected people. We also need some industry that can supply labor to those who are converted to our faith. Can not some American family who has some of this world's goods come over and help us in this? The Sunday laws and Sunday-keeping customs are discouraging to Sabbath-keepers, and make it rather hard for one to earn the necessaries of life.

Will not some heart that overflows with the love of Christ respond to this appeal? God grant it.

Georgetown, British Guiana.