Indi-Caribbean Cache Show [V] January 11, 2009

The Show - The cable show Caribbean Caché is scheduled to launch on Sunday and will run Sundays from 9 to 10 a.m. on Comcast cable Ch. 76 in Broward and Ch. 79 in North Miami-Dade.

Article: Indo-Caribbean residents seek limelight with S. Florida cable show; Displaying culture
Two Trinidadian residents of Indian descent are kicking off a new cable show called Indi-Caribbean Cache. Shamila Forbes, 8, of West Palm Beach, does a native Indian dance at The Lemon Tree Restaurant in Sunrise. Forbes was part of the entertainment on the show that was being taped at Lemon Tree and will be aired on Comcast. The show will highlight events and news topics prevalent to a growing group within the Caribbean population of South Florida. (Sun-Sentinel/Ginny Dixon / February 24, 2008)

Read more With Photos: http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/click/2008/03/stereotypes.html

SUNRISE - The Caribbean sound of soca music greets the patrons who walk into Junior Janglee's restaurant, D River Cook.

Inside, the shelves are lined with the latest Bollywood movies, direct from India, for customers to buy. The flat-screen television is tuned to cricket whenever there's a match.

Janglee, 28, is often found behind the swinging doors. In the kitchen he helps prepare Indian veggies like Bygan Choka, or fried eggplant, as well as stewed oxtails, Trinidadian style.

People of all backgrounds file in and out for such specialties as roti, a traditional Indian bread eaten with curries, and "Buss up Shot," a flaky pastry often used to soak up gravy.

While the number of Caribbeans in South Florida has grown, the increase is fueled in part by Indo-Caribbeans, who trace their roots to both India and the Caribbean. Because of the spike in their numbers, Indo-Caribbeans like Janglee are marketing their unique blend of culture to assert their presence.

On Sunday, a community cable show will debut to further highlight the community. "It's about time we get recognized," said Indira Ramcharran, of Coral Springs, who was born in Guyana and has lived here for 26 years. "We've been in the shadows for the longest."

The majority of Indo-Caribbeans hail from Trinidad and Guyana, countries where they outnumber Afro-Caribbeans, according to the U.S. Department of State. Most are Hindu or Muslim and retain strong ties to their respective religions.

Between 1838 and 1917, more than a half-million Indians arrived in the British West Indies as indentured servants to make up for the shortage of cheap labor after slavery was abolished. Today there are more than 520,000 people of East Indian ancestry in Trinidad and Guyana, and more in Jamaica, Suriname and throughout the Caribbean.

The newer Indo-Caribbean residents are relocating from the Northeast, attracted by South Florida's comparatively affordable housing prices and the warm climate.

The exact number of Indo-Caribbeans here is hard to determine. They are not counted as a separate group in the census. Many identify themselves as West Indian or mixed race and say they're mistaken as being South Asian.

"In the last census, people could pick up to six races, which made the categorization of folks pretty complicated," said Oliver Kerr, senior research associate at Florida International University Metropolitan Center.

Still, Kerr said, there is anecdotal evidence that shows a surge in South Florida's Indo-Caribbean community.

Some point to the crowds at local cricket games, Hindu festivals and mosques as proof their numbers are growing. Others point to an increase in local roti shops, Indian dance troupes and boutiques. At Champa Chamelee Indian dance classes in Margate, artistic director Radhika Deonarine said there's been so much interest in her classes that she sometimes has to turn prospective students away for lack of space.

YouTube - Champa Chamelee Dance Group A devotional dance dedicated to Lord Krisna. The dance was performed at a divali show in florida. The dance was a hit in the show. It's a typical Indian dance.
(6:10)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkew4PBzk04&feature=related

"The majority of my students were born here, but their parents are from the Caribbean," said Deonarine, who moved here from Trinidad in 1993 and has a dance troupe of about 25 girls.

Sometimes seen as an insular group tied more to their respective religions rather than their nationality, some Indo-Caribbeans say they want to break away from that notion. Getting others to notice their commonalities within the Caribbean community and educating outsiders is the aim of a new cable television show, Caribbean Caché, set to debut on March 23 (08).

Co-host Shama Harrysingh, of Boca Raton, said that when she first moved to South Florida 11 years ago she found people were hungry for information about Indo-Caribbean issues and happenings. She wrote for Caribbean Contact, a newspaper that covers the local Trinidadian community, and until two years ago she hosted a Hindu radio program on 1170 AM. She had already started taping the television show when she accidentally bumped into Sharm Maraj at his Caribbean-Chinese restaurant in Sunrise and learned he had been working on something similar. They teamed up.

Maraj, a former resident of Queens, N.Y., said he wants to spotlight a range of happenings, including Hindu festivals and reggae concerts.

"It's not just Indian culture, it's Caribbean culture," he said.

At the taping, hosts tried to showcase different segments of the culture.

One dance troupe performed modern Indian dance fused with Caribbean moves. The Champa Chamelee troupe performed Indian folk dance.

"I try to keep it traditional," said Deonarine, adding that at times she fuses devotional spiritual dances with modern moves to make it more adaptable for second-generation Indo-Caribbean students.

Keeping with tradition, Mark Baboolal, 22, and his fellow drummers with Petrotrin Boodoosingh's tassa group filled the room with Indian beats that he said he learned from his granddad.

MySpace.com - Profile for Petrotrin Boodoosingh Tassa Group with pictures, videos, personal blog, interests, information about me and more.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=243119833
Music (1:35)


YouTube - Petrotrin Boodoosingh Tassa Group, Major League Tassa Group & Mirage Tassa Group Queens, NY. (3:24)


The time is ripe for this kind of cultural programming, said Maraj and Harrysingh, who eventually would like to expand their broadcast beyond the selected 32 cities they now have from north Miami to north Broward. Future shows will include interviews with leaders in the Caribbean, local artists and religious festivals, they said.

"We just want to stick to our goal," said Maraj. "It's about promoting and preserving our culture."

Georgia East can be reached at [email protected] or (954) 356-4629.

Indo-Caribbean residents seek limelight Last post: Mar 19, 2008 - The cable show Caribbean Caché is scheduled to launch on Sunday and will run Sundays from 9 to 10 a.m. on Comcast cable Ch. 76 in Broward
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Views from the photo staff | Sun-Sentinel Blogs - Mar 20, 2008 Two Trinidadian residents of Indian descent are kicking off a new cable show called Indi-Caribbean Cache. The show that was taped at Lemon Tree Resturant in Sunrise.
http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/click/2008/03/stereotypes.html

The Story of India - Beginnings
Mon, Jan 5, 9:00p - 10:00p 2009 | TVPG | 60 mins
Michael Wood's journey through the history of India reveals the richness and diversity of its people, culture and landscape. http://www.comcast.net/tv/tv-listings/search/?q=india+carribean

The audience - According to 2006 census estimates, these figures are based on census samplings and are not an exact count. Community leaders think the numbers are much higher.

Broward: 228,477
Palm Beach: 88,580
Miami-Dade: 17,990

Contacting TV and radio stations:
AM Radio | FM Radio | TV networks | Local stations | Cable networks Information: http://www.southflorida.com/movies/sfl-tvradiocontact,0,3558703.htmlstory

Official Website: http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/click/2008/03/stereotypes.html