When I was almost three years old, my mother and I got on a plane and crossed the Atlantic Ocean. We emigrated from Suriname (in South America) to the Netherlands (Europe). A year later, my father was able to join us.

You see, moving is in my DNA.

My ancestors ended up in British Guyana and the Dutch colony of Suriname. After the abolition of slavery (1833 in Guyana and 1863 in Suriname), former slaves obviously refused to work on plantations, so the British and the Dutch (let’s not forget about the French) found a new commodity: indentured laborers in Asia. Mostly from North India, in my case, though I can’t say that with absolute certainty since I’ve very limited information on my lineage.