Multi-dimensional perspectives of South Indian coolie life in selected memoirs by the European plantocracy of colonial Malaya

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper traces the multi-dimensional aspects to South Indian coolie life in nineteenth and early twentieth century Malaya to interject into decades of scholarship that has trained on a homogenous focus on plantation fieldwork. In search of the nuances of diasporic diversity, I located three memoirs written by European planters of the Malayan plantocracy, set in rubber plantations and selected primarily for their reflections of South Indian coolie life from various socio-cultural angles. My reading of the three memoirs uncovered a host of various micro-narratives surrounding South Indians in the plantation, including references to cattle rearing, legacies of ancient ayurveda practices as well as the participatory communal network between coolie women as wage earners, wives, midwives and mothers. I conclude by arguing that such a host of eclectic tones can effectively bring other stories, to the surface and dismantle monotonous perceptions of South Indian coolie life in Malaya.