In 2017, while traveling to the Gir Forest with my family, I noticed that our local guide, a man of African descent spoke Gujarati fluently. I was intrigued by the fact that even though we shared the same language, I could not connect to his culture or where he came from. I felt like both, an insider and an outsider.
A couple of Gujarati jokes, a little garba here and there. Instantly, we became friends.
He decided to show us around his village which is located in the Junagadh district of Gujarat, situated on the outskirts of the forest and is populated by the Siddis.
The Siddi community is an indigenous tribal group of African descent, living in various parts of India, mainly in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. This group of people were made to work as slaves by the Europeans during colonisation.
Even today, most Indians treat them as outsiders and continue to discriminate against them because of their color and race.
