A History of the Present : A Biography of Indian South Africans, 1990-2019

A History of the Present is the first book-length overview of Indian South Africans in the quarter century following the end of apartheid.Based on oral interviews and archival research it threads a narrative of the lives of Indian South Africans that ranges from the working class men and women to the heady heights of the newly minted billionaires; the changes wrought in the fields of religion and gender; opportunities offered on the sporting fields; the search for roots producing local histories that tell of nostalgia, longing and identity; and the links with India and a myriad of transnational organisations.Indians in South Africa appear to be always caught in an infernal contradiction; too traditional, too insular, never fitting in, while also too modern, too mobile.Can we speak of an Indian 'diaspora' in relation to a people divided by migratory experiences, region, religion, language, ethnicity, caste, and economic status?While focusing on Indian South Africans, this study makes critical interventions into several charged political discussions in post-apartheid South Africa, especially the debate over race and identity, while also engaging in discussions of wider intellectual interest, including diaspora, nation, citizenship and race.