In this espisode of the History Watch Podcast series, Professor Gaiutra Bahadur of Rutgers University is in conversation with Dr. Audra Diptée. Together they discuss the story of and challenges in writing her book “Coolie Woman” which was shortlisted for Britain’s Orwell Prize. Their conversation covers the historical trajectory of her great-grandmother who left India alone and pregnant in the early 20th century to go to British Guiana (modern-day Guyana). Together Bahadur & Diptée consider the ways in which the very remarkable story of her grandmother was, in fact, a very ordinary history of Indian women travelling to the Caribbean under the indentured labour system. They also discuss the challenges of recovering lost voices and the ways in which the politics and power of historical memory operates in the present day.
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