India China Institute is excited to host the screening of the recent research documentary of ICI’s past fellow Joe Thomas K called “Those 4 Years“.

The Nilgiris have gained the distinction of being a geographic indication for tea, today. Somewhere behind the present glory is a remote connection with the Chinese which remains forgotten. “Those 4 Years” is an amazing journey into the lives of those Chinese who came to India around the middle of the 19th century… speaking a language unknown to their neighbors when they first arrived. The film journeys across three countries and reams of colonial office records to retrace the places those people came from, the means and mode of their arrival, and how many of them ended up making India their home. It is a history of people, plants and places – as it catalogues their contributions to plantations, locates places and sites associated with their earliest arrival and stay and, more remarkably, manages to locate some of the descendants of those Chinese who arrived in India over 150 years ago.

Read the reviews below:
“Tracing 19th Century Connections in South India” — The Hindu

“Film traces history of little-known Indian-Chinese group” — China Daily

“The Chinese touch behind Indian tea: documentary shows sweeter side of historical ties”– South China Morning Post

In Conversation with Film Director

Joe Thomas Karackattu
Associate Professor
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS

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