 1860 was an important year in India's national consciousness. For the first time, Indian labour was shipped to work on English sugar plantations in South Africa. The first ship carrying indentured labour, Teruro, left the Madras port and landed on the shores of Durban on 16th November 1860. Later, more ships travelled for Durban from different ports of India. Till 1914, a total of 152,184 people came in as indentured labour to South Africa. The reasons for them to leave India were many. India's textile sector was hit by a flood of cheap clothing from Great Britain resulting in large-scale unemployment. Agriculture too was ravaged by increasing lagann or taxation. In recent such circumstances, India fought its first war of independence against the British Raj in 1857. The uprising was brutally snuffed out. Villages and towns were ravaged, forcing many Indians to emigrate and work in sugar plantations abroad. Sugar plantations were the main drivers of this movement of labour from India to places like Mauritius, Fiji and others. As slavery was banned in Great Britain, a new way of indenturing was devised to bind the worker to the job and his employer. Not all who came to Natal were labourers. Many came in as passengers searching for fortunes in a land that held great promise. Indians in South Africa may have been civilisationally distinct from indigenous people but due to complicated historical and political circumstances they found themselves on the wrong side of the racial divide. Appetite hit Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi hard when he came as a barrister to fight a court case of a wealthy Indian family in South Africa. His transformation from Mohandas to Mahatma took place in South Africa. The turning point in his life came in Peter Maritzburg when he was thrown out of the first-class compartment of the train. Gandhi had a privileged education that gave him the confidence to look his oppressors in their eye but those who came as indentured labour or as passengers too opposed the hated policies of segregation. Organised political resistance to the white regime in South Africa came from Indians. Inspired by the Indian freedom struggle against the British rule South African Indians actively fought for their rights. Many of them were at the vanguard of the resistance. They provided vision and direction for a nonviolent movement. In 1948 the independent government in Delhi raised the issue of mal-treatment of Indians in South Africa compelling them to admit for the first time that they were its citizens. The heightened consciousness deepened the desire for freedom and equality. The Indian National Congress worked together with the African National Congress in putting together the charter but unity with the indigenous people came at a price. Severe repression followed leading to the arrest of people of all races. In 1956, 156 Congress leaders were arrested and put on trial for high treason. The accused faced charges which claimed that they had participated actively in the campaign to drop the freedom charter. Combined with the slogan, freedom in our lifetime, the charter was considered revolutionary as it would involve the overthrow and destruction of the existing state. The Rivonia trial took place in South Africa between 1963 and 1964. Ten leaders of the African National Congress were tried for 221 acts of sabotage designed to overthrow the apartheid system. Ahmad Khatrada and Billy Nair were the two Indians who were tried along with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and others. The list of Indian freedom fighters in South Africa is long. 150-year celebration is giving an opportunity for multiple storylines to emerge so that heroes can find their rightful place in history. It is also helping put into context the contribution of the comrades of Nelson Mandela in successfully putting an end to the apartheid regime. In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected as the president of South Africa. Creating South Africa as a multiracial democratic society was a big project. President Mandela, showing sagacity and resolve, steered a careful course and ensured the country did not lapse into a civil war. He accommodated not only his oppressors, the whites, but also the Asians and other ethnic groupings. In 1990, India conferred its highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratma on Nelson Mandela. After the end of the apartheid regime, India restored full diplomatic status with South Africa by opening the High Commission in Pretoria. Nelson Mandela too visited India soon after he was elected president. It was his way of expressing his gratitude to India for its support. An inclusive and resurgent South Africa provided opportunities to Indian businessmen and professionals. India's new economic policies set off a new breed of entrepreneurs with a global vision. Indians returned to do business with South Africa after a gap of close to 80 years. India's prowess in information technology is much sought in South Africa. Leading IT education company, NIIT, and software giant Tata Consultancy Services, or TCS, set up their offices in South Africa. NIIT is mandated to train 10,000 students over a period of five years. The first batch is on its way to India to acquire IT skills and get on-the-job training. Indian pharmaceutical companies also established themselves to supply inexpensive medication for HIV AIDS as well as many other serious ailments. Diamonds have lent great sparkle to India's relationship with South Africa. Now Indian companies like the Kotharis have created a polishing facility in Johannesburg to add more value to South African diamonds. Substantial Indian investment has come in the area of tourism. The Taj Group has recently opened its first hotel in Cape Town. Indian industrialist Vijay Malia has a sprawling game reserve in Mabula, near Johannesburg. India was the first country that was visited by the unified multi-racial cricket team after the lifting of the ban. Since then, the relationship in cricket has blossomed. There are many more reasons for South African Indians to remain committed to building a nation where they've toiled, struggled and fought alongside their black brethren to end the most hated regime in the world.