Banjara by Shana Chandra

Shana Chandra’s debut novel, Banjara, brings a long-erased history to the forefront. Chandra traces the Indo-Fijian Girmitiya experience across generations, through an incredibly moving story of survival and inherited longing, and frames the novel as a love letter to ancestors whose stories live on far beyond history books.

The novel moves between two timelines: Avani, a woman deceived into indentured servitude in Fiji, and her great-granddaughter, Meera, who is trying to understand her family’s history while navigating her own coming-of-age journey across India and Aotearoa (New Zealand). Though the timelines are more than a century apart, the two women's lives are deeply connected by displacement, memory, and culture.

One of Banjara’s greatest strengths is how it explores the lasting impact of colonialism. Chandra doesn’t treat the past as a closed chapter, but as something that continues to press forward into the present, shaping identity, relationships, and belonging in the present day. Dance emerges as a powerful recurring motif: serving as a bridge between the two perspectives, and as a way for women across generations to reclaim their agency and happiness.

The novel’s alternating perspectives keep the pacing engaging, making it a quick, yet emotionally rich read. Avani’s sections in particular form the emotional heart of the book. Her story is both devastating and full of hope, and captures the solidarity and strength that emerged among women living under colonial rule. I found myself wanting more of her world and would gladly read a book entirely from her perspective. Banjara is an important voice in the canon of Indo-Fijian history, reminding readers that the stories of those who came before us will continue to shape us for generations to come.