Indian Arrival Day and the case for financial planning today

On May 30, we remembered not just the arrival of Indian indentured labourers to Trinidad and Tobago, but also the resilience, sacrifice, and silent seeds of legacy they planted in this soil allotment.

Indentured labourers were required to work every day except Sundays and authorised holidays, for nine hours a day. However, life on the estates was not always rosy. The lives of these indentured labourers were tied to the terms and conditions of the contracts that they had signed, which now dictated their very existence. One had to settle for the minimum daily wage of 25 cents for males and 16 cents for females. After ten years of residence in a colony, these Indians were awarded a certificate of industrial residence and were permitted to return to India.

However, most of the indentured labourers (approximately 110,000) opted to settle in Trinidad. Although various factors would have influenced their decision, opportunities in Trinidad were generally seen as better than what they were afforded in their native states in India. Although these labourers were provided with the option of reindentureship where they could now select a plantation of choice, many of them chose to venture on their own and by 1902 more than 50 per cent of the sugar cane produced in Trinidad came from these independent farmers.

My great-grandfather, Kunj Behari, was one of the 110,000 Indian labourers who chose to create his legacy in Trinidad as he ventured into the forests of East Trinidad and established himself in Howsen Village of Coryal.

These Indians may not have had formal education in finance but they understood the value of planning for the future. With limited resources, they budgeted wisely, saved consistently, and made bold decisions, often using their hard-earned savings to purchase land and create a sense of security for their families. What they practised without calling it by name was financial planning with their sacrifices laying the foundation for generational stability.

Many of us still live on land they toiled to own. They taught us, by example, that progress doesn’t come from chance, it comes from careful preparation, long-term vision, and disciplined action.

Today, we have more tools and knowledge than they did but the responsibility remains the same. It is now our turn to plan intentionally for our families, to protect what we have built, grow what we have earned, and ensure that when life takes unexpected turns, our loved ones are not left vulnerable. Whether it is through life insurance, retirement planning, or investments, modern financial tools can help us do what our ancestors set out to do, secure the future for the next generation.

Let us honour their legacy by being proactive, not reactive. Let us plan with purpose, just as they acted with vision. The wealth they dreamt of is now within our reach, if we take the steps to preserve it.