"Look around you, we are not the same...and yet we are" are words at the opening of Joe Thomas Karackattu's film 'Those 4 years'. This documentary, which delves into the fascinating subject of the 19th century Chinese connections in South India, had its first physical screening in the city on Thursday evening.

The film follows Mr. Joe Thomas, an associate professor, department of humanities and social sciences at IIT-Madras travel through the Nilgiris in India, as well as to Hong Kong and Malaysia to explore the lives of the Chinese who had come to India.

The film follows two important connections that Tamil Nadu has with the Chinese - the descendants of those who came with the East India Company's efforts to introduce tea in India, and stayed back after their contracts were over, and secondly, the plantation workers ( Cinchona, and tea) who were sent to the Nilgiris from the Straits Settlements. "The plantation workers (for Cinchona primarily) came to Madras Presidency in 1864 and then went on to work at the plantation sites in the Niligiris in 1865 and worked until 1869 - the latter is the basis of the title - Those 4 Years," he said.

In an interactive session following the screening, Mr. Joe shared anecdotes as to how he went about shooting the film, obtaining permissions, and how the filming experience came together. "The idea of conveying research through a visual medium is something I find very important. A lot of people are interested in knowing about these bits of micro-history, and being able to convey non-fiction through this medium helps me tell these latent histories to a wider audience," he said, speaking about his film.
The Association of Asian Studies is screening his documentary as a part of their annual Conference in Boston on March 18, followed by a screening at Penn State University on April 1 and the University of Pittsburgh on April 3.