Vassanji’s The In-Between World of Vikram Lall: A Relevant Account of the Indian Diaspora

M.G. Vassanji is a prestigious literary member ofIndian diaspora. The In-Between World of Vikram Lall is Vassanji’s fifth novel. It is an attempt to discuss the ambiguous situation of Asians of Kenya who are neither indigenous Africans nor European colonizers. It makes clear that many of them can’t find a familiar refuge on the Indian subcontinent nor in the colonial home country.The story revolves around Vikram Lall whose grandfather, Anand Lall, was brought from India as an indentured worker to Kenya to help build the East African railway. Though his grandfather played a significant role in the development of Kenya, the status of his family remains enigmatic unsettles. One of the most impressive thing about this fine novel is that it gives voice to a people who have tended to keep their heads down and their mouths shut –and were not infrequently booted out – Vikram Lall says proudly that he is the third generation African; a boast from the time when people said such things, and believed them. He is the son of a grocer, who was himself the son of a Punjabi labourer, an indentured ‘coolie’, brought to East Africa to build the railway line from Mombassa to Kampala, through 600 miles of the loveliest terrain in Africa.