I've always been interested in the history of Indians in South Africa. I feel an almost physical pull towards anything that will give me more information on the subject. So when I heard about the book, ‘Inside Indenture’, I knew I had to read it.

Not that ‘Inside Indenture’ is a book that you can “just read”. I've spent hours going through this book again and again, and found myself attaching new meaning upon each read. It almost felt like a magnetic force was at work, as the combination of historical facts and photographs transported me to a bygone era.

‘Inside Indenture’ is written by Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed. They have put together – in my opinion - the best book on Indenture ever.

For a long time I, and many other people out there, had a very romantic idea of indenture. I thought that my ancestors came to South Africa, worked out their period of indenture, and then were free to work as they pleased in South Africa. I also thought that the plantation owners were kind, generous people. I'm sure that there must have been some kind, generous owners, but they would be the exception. The truth is: indenture is a polite word for slavery, and the indentured had very tough, physically demanding lives.

I love the cover of the book. It features a series of photographs of Indentured Indians, but there are no names, just numbers - very similar to mugshots of criminals. Only, these were not criminals. The authors have given identities to some of these people. The simple act of putting a name to a face changes the way I look at the photographs. It's as if I can see some of their personalities shining through when I say their names.

Go through the book and you'll come across names of prominent Indian families, like the Bodasings, Nulliahs and Saibs, whose histories are steeped in Indenture. You will learn about the legendary John Rangiah and the Baptists.

Being a Muslim, I found the chapter, 'When the Coolies made Christmas', especially intriguing. The authors are referring here to the Muslim month of Muharram, during which the Martyrdom of Imam Husain is commemorated. Imam Husain was a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and replicas of his tomb, or Thaziyah, are made by different groups of people and immersed in water after public processions. During the indenture period, this commemoration was not limited to Muslims - it was open to all the Indentured. The book contains some very interesting photographs of that time.

I could go through each chapter of this book and tell you what I liked about each of them, but that would end up being a very long book review. ‘Inside Indenture’ is beautifully written, and I commend the authors for putting together such a comprehensive text.

Go out and get a copy of 'Inside Indenture'. It's a wonderful book to show to our children as they are growing up. To show them where we came from.