Durban - Some people spend weeks, if not months, tracing their family roots, while others are reunited with the simple stroke of a pen.
So when a mysterious handwritten letter in Hindi arrived at the Kharwastan, Chatsworth, home of Sharmila and Prakash Seetal 25 years ago from family in India, they were rightfully sceptical.
But after their suspicions were allayed and they visited their long-lost relatives eight years ago, the couple have now encouraged their two sons to keep the doors of communication open.
Sharmila, a Hindi-language teacher and community radio presenter, said: “I was the only one in the family who understood Hindi, and the letter was addressed to my husband’s dad who passed away.
“On his trips to India, my father-in-law, Padavath Seetal, used to visit family there but we did not know who they were.
“When he died, his family wanted to reach out to us and subsequently wrote to us,” Seetal said.
“At first, we were sceptical. We assumed someone was trying to take us for a ride,” said the 55-year-old.
Not easily convinced, the couple asked a friend in India to visit the city of Gorakhpur, where the letter was sent from, to see if the letter writer was legitimate.
After their friend made contact with the family, the Seetals remained somewhat reluctant to write back, but they did.
“We eventually responded, informing them that Prakash’s dad had died years earlier and that we would like to get to know them as well.
“Months later, they responded, saying my father-in-law’s cousin, Mahabir Yadav, was still alive at 90 and wanted to know us. So we gave them our contact number.”
In 2009, after months of speaking on the phone and exchanging letters, the couple decided to take their first trip to India.
“They kept pestering us to visit and we finally gave in.
“They lived in a village and we had to travel 13 hours by road until we reached their home.
“When we arrived, we were struck at how beautiful the village was,” Seetal said.
“We were greeted by Prakash’s uncle, who burst into tears.
“He told my husband he looked identical to his father and welcomed us inside. We also met the uncle’s son, Ramprakash Yadav, who wrote to us.”
They spent five days there - meeting various relatives.
“The experience was amazing. They were so welcoming. They cooked special non-vegetarian meals for us, oiled my hair and took good care of us.”
Said Prakash: “We found out that on my dad’s last trip to India, he bought and donated the farmland to them and built the house many of them are living in. He also bought them cattle to sustain themselves.”
Prakash said his dad, who was in the transport business, came to South Africa with his parents.
Although they were lucky to unearth Prakash’s family roots, the couple have not returned to the village but keep in contact with their relatives.
The couple’s sons have the numbers of their cousins in the village, so they too can keep in touch.
“It is important to know who your family is because you can proudly tell others about your roots,” said Seetal, who is trying to trace her family roots.
Armed with their indenture numbers, she hopes to send another friend from India to a village to track her family down.