India Post News Service

There are thousands of Indians who went to different parts of the globe in search for new avenues and are now settled as diaspora all over. They know their forefathers belonged to India and that is about all. Today they are gripped with the urge to trace their roots back to the country. It is to this strong curiosity that Shamshu Deen caters.

A genealogist, he traces families for people who would like to create a link with their ancestral land. His career as a Genealogist began even before he knew that such a word existed. He says, "As a child I was always fascinated with conversations I had with my parents and grandparents about the arrival of my India ancestors to Trinidad.

But I decided to stick to bread & butter (roti & subjee) issues like a formal education and university and jobs and marriage and children and even emigration to Canada." But after doing Masters Degree in Education he felt he was cheating himself and chose to go back to his favourite subject. Born in Preysal, Trinidad, Shamshu Deen has contributed significantly to the area of genealogical research mainly for the East Indian Diaspora.

Through his book, Solving East Indian Roots in Trinidad (1994) he undertook the task of answering the question, where did we come from? According to Simon Lee (Freelance journalist, U.K.)," Shamshu Deen's work provides the basis not only for others to trace their ancestry but also for sociological and cultural studies at the grassroots level."

His studies at the University of the West Indies (B.A. History and Economics) and Manitoba (M.Ed. Special Education) helped to hone his research techniques. This as well as his ability to harvest the memories from the most reclusive minds makes him the ideal expert on genealogy in Trinidad. One of the surviving indentured Indians, 92-year-old Nazir Mohammed was selected by him on behalf of the Indian Government to receive one of the first awards at Pravasi Bharatiya 2003.

Deen also took him to his village of Hallaun, in Siddarth Nagar, UP to meet his relatives. Shamshu Deen was presented with the Aagaman Award in 1994 by the Indian High Commission, in Trinidad as well as a scholarship to India. He came to India in 1996-97 and found fourteen sets of relatives for Trinidad Indian families.

Of them, one was Chief Justice Mustapha Ibrahim and the other was Trinidad's Prime Minister Basdeo Panday. Panday's relatives were traced to Azamgarh, UP where a gala family reunion took place. Pundit Manideo Persad's feelings were the same when he met his second and third cousins in Pratapur in eastern UP this year.

''This search has completed a jigsaw puzzle. I now know my grandfather, Patishwar Tiwary, much better,'' says Trinidad & Tobago's High Commissioner to India. His search took a while though, as there were no records of his grandfather in the village.

He finally came to know of him when he discovered his grand aunt's family. His father was the only son and when he left, no records were kept of him. He wrote his second book based on this India project, Lineages & Linkages, Solving Trinidad Roots in India.

The Government of Trinidad presented him with a National Award, Humming Gold Medal in 1997. The BBC and Channel Four in England have used his services in researching documentaries on Genealogy.

He also appears regularly on local TV and radio. Currently he is involved in two major projects apart from helping hundreds of people at home and abroad to trace their not only Indian but European, Middle East, and other backgrounds.

He also helps to connect adopted children, now adults, to their biological parents. The Government of Trinidad & Tobago through its National Heritage Trust has appointed him the Chairman of the Restoration of Nelson Island where more than 120,000 of Indian ancestors were quarantined and registered on their arrival to Trinidad.

There they also awaited repatriation ships. They are also creating an Immigration Museum and Genealogical Center on the lines of Ellis Island, New York. He is also creating a Database of the arrival of all his India ancestors.

The Government and University of Trinidad and Tobago are currently speaking to him about sponsorship. The Sherlock Holmes for the NRIs says, "And so my work is far from complete. I have many more projects up my sleeve and will like to see them accomplished during the time my Creator keeps me here."