A couple of months ago, I was flying from Cape Town to Johannesburg on a FlySafair flight. Next to me sat an Indian lady and her husband, business owners who regularly commute between the two cities, splitting their time between a factory in Johannesburg and a wine and horse farm in the Western Cape.

I was working on my then-latest story, Book of Conspiracy, when I noticed her quietly (and very politely!) reading over my shoulder. That small moment sparked a conversation that changed everything.

We spoke about writing, stories, and history. Then she asked me a simple but powerful question: “Why don’t you write a book about how Indians came to South Africa?”

That question stayed with me. I began reading about the SS Truro, the first ship that brought indentured laborers from India to Natal in 1860. I learned about the five-year contracts, the unimaginable hardships, the courage it took to leave everything behind, often forever.

And then I asked myself: If you had to leave your home, your country, your entire world... what would you take with you? 

 From that question, a story started forming. A story about love, resilience, identity, loss, and hope. A story about the men, women, and children who crossed the ocean and planted new roots in South African soil.

That story became my latest book: Songs of the Sugarcane, The Untold Story of the First Indian Families in South Africa.

To the Indian people of South Africa, this book is my tribute to your ancestors’ courage and to the legacy you continue to build every day.

To anyone interested in how one of South Africa’s most influential communities came to be, this book is for you.

And finally, to the Indian lady and her husband on that FlySafair flight, I hope, somehow, you read this. I hope you find your way to Amazon. Because this book is dedicated to you, for inspiring its very first spark.