Paul Theroux's "Fong and the Indians"

Fong and the Indians by Paul Theroux


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read this because it was written by one of my fave authors. It's really light reading, having finished the book while in transit to & fro my usual destinations. Its narrative's dated (though not much, as there are very relevant sections up to now), having been published first in 1968, when I was still 2 years old. A lot of sociopolitical upheavals and changes happened worldwide since then. The book covered the western world's fears then about communism, corruption, coup d'etats in Africa, plus post colonialism issues among other things (some of which still rage up to now). But still I enjoyed Theroux's satire -- I always learn from him. It's a good introduction for me about Africa, particularly East Africa, which apparently is also inhabited by immigrants from Asia, including Indians (those from the country India), Greeks, Persians (now Iranians), Chinese, among other countries that we don't usually associate with Africa. They have since then built and developed communities and businesses in the continent (remember even Gandhi himself lived and worked as a lawyer for some time in South Africa). I remember reading from another book (by Laurence Bergreen) that this part of Africa has been visited often by Chinese mainland sojourners even before the tragic circumnavigation of the globe led by Magellan. The history of Asian migration to this part of Africa goes back that far, I can guess.

Before starting to this this book, I didn't really think that the "Indians" referred to in the title are those of India "Indian" kind. It's also interesting to note that those characters represented in this book come from the emerging and leading countries in the world now (i.e. China and India). I can just imagine that eventually, the whole African mass will have its turn of being the continent that will be leading in terms of economic growth and development in the next few years, given its resources and manpower. Certainly, the investments and courage poured in by those who came way ahead will pay off really well. This book talks about immigrants, including Chinese and Indians, in a strange country that have exhibited roller-coaster love affair with these foreigners. Despite hardships and challenges, they have stuck up and stayed for good (until some deportation happens from time to time). They saw something about the promise. Great things are indeed to come to all those who take courage and lead immigrant lives in strange lands. And why is this? Get ideas from reading this book.

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