Sunday, December 11, 2016

Ni Sa Bula, Fiji, Nadi - नमस्कार फ़िजी, नांडी!



And so here I am in Nadi, Fiji. I had a 6-hour stopover here before I fly into Apia, Samoa...


After getting off the plane, I proceeded towards transit security check. And just there was a group of Fijian singers, serenading incoming passengers with a wonderfully beautiful song. Unfortunately I could not take a video of the song but found a similar video on YouTube, which embedded here...

I spent a while taking a good look at the terminal, checking out the shops in the departure lounge before finding a quiet corner to sit. Fortunately, I had newspapers for company, to spend the six-odd hours here...


Catching up on Fijian news...


It's Bollywood all the way in Fiji, talking of my favourite topic of India's soft power...

Fiji has a strong Indian diaspora community, a community that was tricked into coming to Fiji by the British colonials over 150 years back, with the promise of a prosperous life. The innocent village folk from Gangetic belt, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were made to sign agreements that pushed them into indentured labour - the labour agreements gave them the term girmitiyas. And they were forced into hard labour - clearing the land for sugar plantations and then cultivating the land. These poor girmitiyas earned so little and barely survive. 
At the end of the term of their agreements, they had to buy their fare back home, which very few could afford. So the vast majority were forced to stay back even though they missed home and hated living in these harsh conditions. The colonists, in turn, got an assured supply of labour. The girmityas ended up shedding "Tears In Paradise" - there is a book by the same name, authored by a Fijian Indian, Dr. Rajendra Prasad that details the account of how his forefathers landed up in Fiji and the tortures faced by the girmitiyas here in Fiji. I was anguished by some of accounts detailed in the book.
Can that be termed as an historic human rights abuse that calls for an apology from the erstwhile colonists? Yes, I would say! And there is merit to calls by Shashi Tharoor for reparations.
Today I made that journey and see Fijian Indians everywhere here at Nadi Airport. Each one has an untold story, a painful story running through generations. The success of the diaspora here, despite the odds makes me salute them, respect them from the core of my heart!


Fiji makes moves towards solar energy...


All about the girmitiyas - a tale of lies, tears, despair and toil...


These stories of the migrants are gut-wrenching...



And Fijian Indians are a significant part of the Fijian population, constituting nearly 38 percent...
And Hindi has evolved into Fijian Hindi or Fiji Baat that is spoken by all Fijian Indians, irrespective of their origin within India...


Bollywood gossip is big here...



It appears my flight to Apia is getting delayed...
But I will have to hang around over here...


I plan to return here to Nadi on Friday. And Neeti will also fly in on Friday and we would spend a few days exploring Fiji. Till then vaka-viti or अलविदा!

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