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Blood sweat tears of an indentured family
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Transcript of Blood sweat tears of an indentured family
STORY OF GIRMIT
FROM BASTI
TO BOTINI
GROWING UP
IN SABETO
FROM FIJI TO
BRISBANE
FROM 1906
TO 2013
BLOOD,SWEAT & TEARS OF AN INDENTURED
FAMILY
Plight, Problems & Progress of an Indentured Family
The determined, dedicated, diligent & devoted discovers
define their destiny.
Life and Living of Sarju Mahajan & Gangadei Family
Growing up in Fiji
D R R A M L A K H A N P R A S A D
2
Dr Ram Lakhan Prasad 2013
Over a hundred years of colourful history of an immigrant family from Basti in Uttar Pradesh in India to Botini in Fiji and then to Brisbane in Australia.
Plight, Problems and Progress of an Indentured
Family in Fiji from 1906 to 2013
Blood, Sweat & Tears of an Indentured
Family.
3
Sarju Mahajan Gangadei My Grand Father My Grand Mother
Bhagauti Prasad Ram Kumari
My Father My Mother
4
STORY OF GIRMIT
Blood, Sweat & Tears of an Indentured
Family.
Plight, Problems and
Progress of an
Indentured Family in
Fiji from 1906 to 2013
5
Episode One
Root, Boot and Toot
The subtitle of this episode is Root,
Boot and Toot because my grand
parents came from a village called
Basti in Uttar Pradesh of India and
this was their root. However, while
my grand parents were working on
the sugarcane plantations of the
Colonial Sugar Refining Company in
Fiji as indentured workers from 1906
to 1916 after being uprooted from
their root they were treated very
badly by the overseers on the farm.
My grand parents were beaten,
whipped and kicked by the boot of
these cruel sirdar.
6
But their life became better when
they received their freedom and
established their own farms. Their
wagon of family life began to toot
with joy and pride.
This is a sad and tragic true story of
my grand parents, Sarju Mahajan
and Gangadei from 1906 to 1986. It
is full of emotive events that go on to
show how their blood, toil and sweat
went on to make valuable
contribution to develop their family
life first and then assist the country
and the Colonial Sugar Refining
Company prosper in Fiji.
In order to get these detailed
episodes from them I had to do my
share of service to them by showing
my love and compassion for them.
When I used to read the chapters of
the Hindu Epic Ramayan to them
every evening they would narrate
7
their stories of migration from Basti
in Uttar Prades in India to Botini in
Fiji very slowly and gradually after
the conclusion of the reading.
In the process of that narration they
laughed, cried, got angry and showed
intensive remorse. Sometimes while
telling their tragic stories they
became so emotional that I had to
leave them alone to cool themselves.
When slavery was abolished by the
revolutionist William Wilberforce
from this world then the attention of
the large farm owners in the British
colonies turned to India. By 1879 the
turn of Fiji came to recruit young
and healthy vulnerable Indian by
deceitful methods and questionable
means to ship them to Fiji to work
on the farms of the then Colonial
Sugar Refining Company.
8
Fiji is a nation of over 300 islands in
the South Pacific Ocean. Fijians,
Indians, Europeans, Chinese and
others have been living in
reasonable harmony for over two
centuries. Fiji‟s climate is tropical
with adequate rainforests and pine
plantations. Indians do cultivation
of sugarcane and there are coconut
palms galore. A country of
uncertain political and economic
future but has to support at least
three quarter million people. This
country is my motherland and I
have a special feeling for the place.
The Fijian Chiefs ceded Fiji to the
British Government in 1874 but the
natives were not culturally ready to
participate in the economic
development of the country. So the
British Government in conjunction
with some multinational enterprises
went to other colonies to bring
9
people who could be manipulated to
help them achieve their economic
goals.
The Colonial Sugar Refining
Company with the help and support
of the British Government was
willing to exploit the situation and
enter the scene of the so-called
economic development of the
country. The Company hired
cunning recruiters (Arkathis) to visit
various villages and cities of India to
recruit young and healthy Indians
who could work on the sugarcane
plantations and orchards belonging
to them.
They in turn recruited Indian Priests
and Village heads to do the initial
ground work for them because the
people there could trust these men.
Thus began the Indenture System for
10
the Colony of Fiji in 1879 . It is
commonly known as Girmit.
Gangadei my grand mother
Gangadei was my grand mother. She
was a pretty girl and was as calm as
her name sounds. She was born in
Sitapur in the district of Basti Uttar
Pradesh (North India). She was the
last of the four children of the
farming family. Very little else is
known about her childhood but she
was an intelligent and a strong
woman.
She was a twelve-year-old girl when
she accompanied a group from her
11
village to go to the annual Ayodhya
Festival, a religious gathering of
villagers. This festival used to be so
crowded with people that once one is
lost it would be impossible to locate
them easily.
It was in that massive crowd of
people that my grand mother got
separated from the village group.
She felt alone and frantically began
searching her group but alas there
was no hope. Tired and hungry she
decided to sit down in a corner
completely disappointed. At that
time her condition was like a fish
detached from water.
Where could she go? Who would
help her? What should she do? She
was confused and did not know what
to do. She had lost her thinking
power altogether in this confusion.
„Into thy hands Lord, I commend my
12
Spirit.‟ Nothing remained in her
own hands, everything in His.
A yellow robed pundit of middle age
saw my grand mother‟s condition
and expressed his wish to assist her.
Such people were respected in the
village and she felt at ease to talk to
him. He spoke kindly, “Beti, why are
you crying? Have you lost your
way? Have you lost your family
members? You don‟t worry because
as a holy man I am here to help
you.”
My grand mother felt that this help
was god sent and she greeted the
pundit with respect and told him her
sad story. Punditji realised that my
grand mother was in real need for his
assistance and this made him very
happy. The pundit however, hid his
real eager feelings and expressed his
concerns and pseudo sadness as if
13
his own daughter or sister was in
trouble needing his assistance.
He pacified my grand mother and
expressed his sorrow. May have shed
some crocodile tears and said,
“Well, whatever was to happen has
happened but now you do not have
to worry any more. I am here for
you. I am calling a rickshaw to take
you home.”
Whatever my grand mother longed
for, this middle-aged Brahman was
prepared to deliver so she fully
trusted him and agreed to return
home with him. The pundit made a
signal to a nearby rickshaw operator
who was eagerly waiting for him.
They sat in it and left the busy
festival ground to a destination
unknown.
14
My grand mother was eager to reach
home but instead she arrived at a
Coolie Depot and then she realised
that this fake pundit was an agent
(Arkathi) to recruit workers for the
Indenture System. She cursed herself
for trusting him but it was too late
now. She was a prisoner in this
Coolie Depot from where it was
impossible to escape. There were
various other unfortunate souls
sitting and cursing their fates there
and were unsure of their future.
The next day all the recruits
appeared before the resident
magistrate to register themselves as
slaves to work in a foreign land.
After the registration for girmit they
were put on a cargo train bound for
the port of Calcutta.
When my grand mother reached the
Depot in Calcutta she could not
15
believe her eyes when she witnessed
the dilapidated nature of the place.
Her worry and sadness multiplied
manifolds but she could not do
anything else but cry.
The late Sir Henry Cotton in his
report to the British Parliament
writes this on Girmit Recruitment
Procedure:
In too many instances the
subordinate recruiting agents resort
to criminal means inducing these
victims by misrepresentation or by
threats to accompany them to a
contractor’s depot or railway station
where they are spirited away before
their absence has been noticed by
their friends and relatives. The
records of the criminal courts teem
with instances of fraud, abduction
of married women and young
persons, wrongful confinement,
16
intimidation and actual violence- in
fact a tale of crime and outrage
which would arouse a storm of
public indignation in any civilized
country. In India the facts are left
to be recorded without notice by a
few officials and missionaries.
The new recruits suffered great
injustice at the hands of the clerks
and agents at the depot. Men and
women were forced into small rooms
like animals. Men and women were
compelled and forced to get into
pairs and then they were declared
wife and husband. Those that did not
agree were locked together and the
men were instructed to make the
women agree. Those who failed to
come out as pairs were punished
severely.
This pairing that turned into
illegitimate marriage gave the agents
17
publicity that the indenture system
was conducted with the consent and
willingness of wife and husband.
This was far from the truth. In most
cases the forced pairing led to social
disaster and in some it turned out to
be a blessing for the recruits because
they could share their sorrows and
grief.
It was in this Calcutta Coolie Depot
that my grand mother met my grand
father. My grandma‟s case was a sad
one. She worried a lot about her
future and the forced pairing so she
decided to choose my grand father as
her husband because he was from the
same district (Basti) and he was
strong and handsome.
That was the beginning of their
family life and the authorities
registered their marriage. At least
this staying together and the
18
possibility of being able to share
their pains, aches, friendship and
difficulties made them feel a little
better and bring some happiness in
the wilderness.
C F Andrews wrote this in his report
that those who were all chaste and
honourable women became mixed up
almost from the first day with the
other class. How many of them
remained chaste, even upto the
voyage, it was impossible to say.
My grand father was Sarju who was
born in Dumariaganj in Basti Uttar
19
Pradesh in India. His father Shankar
had a farm where he grew mangoes
and other fruits but since there were
four other brothers in the family my
grand father at the age of fourteen
was asked to work for a landlord in
the next village of Senduri at almost
no pay but only keeps.
One day my grand father was caught
putting a few ripe mangoes in his
bag to take home so he was branded
a thief. This stigma became
unbearable for a growing and honest
young man of fourteen. He knew he
would be ridiculed if he went home
so he left this landlord in search of
other jobs elsewhere.
He walked a long distance in search
of work, which was not that easy to
find. He reached Kashipur but he had
not even reached the town when he
20
was spotted by a cunning recruiting
agent (arkathi).
After noticing the predicament my
grand father was in, the recruiting
agent took advantage of the
situation. He started a friendly
conversation with my grand father,
which went somewhat like this:
“How are you my friend? Are you
looking for work?” asked the agent.
“What kind of work sir, and what
would I get as wages?” my grand
father wanted to know.
“Well, my friend, this is not work at
all,” the cunning agent said in order
to trap my grand father.
“In fact, you are indeed lucky and
certainly you are destined to
becoming very rich and famous
21
soon. There is a beautiful island off
the coast of Calcutta known as the
Ramneek Dweep or the paradise in
the Pacific.
A very rich landlord resides there
and he needs the services of a
security guard to look after his home
and the farm. You will get full
uniform, food ration and a
farmhouse to live in. You will only
work for twelve hours a day with a
gun hanging across your shoulder
marching up and down the entire
property. You cannot find such a
lucrative job anywhere here because
you will just enjoy your daily tasks
and even earn money. What else do
you want?”
My grand father felt very good and
began imagining himself as a
security guard with a gun hanging
across his shoulder marching up and
22
down the property in the day and
enjoying life in his farmhouse at
night. This sounded like heaven to
him. He began to dream about his
future life full of fun. He was not
prepared to hear any more but to
sincerely thank the agent and agreed
to travel immediately. The agent felt
good to trap another recruit.
Seeing that my grand father was
tired and hungry the agent took him
to a nearby eating-house and fed to
his hearts content. Then they got into
a rickshaw to start their journey to
the dreamland. But when they
reached the coolie depot my grand
father‟s hopes were shattered and he
felt disappointed with himself for
believing such stories of the agent
and falling into his trap.
When my grand father saw the
crowd of people he regretted his
23
every move. He too joined the other
unfortunate victims in the depot to
hang his head down and cry. He too
felt like an animal in a strong cage
unable to find its way out.
He began thinking that his village
was much better place to live a free
life than this dungeon. He was told
by some recruits that he will be in
Fiji where he would work long hours
on sugarcane farms owned by white
men. He will have to sweat from
head to tail twenty-four hours a day
and tolerate the harsh treatments of
the field officers. He was not able to
imagine the reality of the situation
then but when in Fiji he told me all.
There was nothing he could do to get
out of this depot because of very
tight security there. At last one day
he too was presented to the office of
the magistrate who asked him only
24
one question, “Do you agree to go to
this island to work as a labourer?”
“Yes sir!” answered my grand father
as the recruiting agent had instructed
him.
Thus his five-year contract (girmit)
was signed and sealed. He was a
slave. Similar fate awaited thousands
of others who were waiting to get on
board a cargo ship Sangola Number
1 in 1906.
There were women, children and
men. Everyone‟s heart was filled
with pain and sorrow and the eyes
were wet with tears. Some were
sobbing for their relatives and family
members, others missed their
parents, and yet there were others
who lamented the loss of their
motherland. My grand father
25
described that inhumane coolie depot
as the hell on this earth.
The Clerk of the Court in a
communication admitted that it was
perfectly true that terms of the
contract did not explain to the coolie
the fact that if he or she did not carry
out his or her contract or for other
offences, like refusing to go to
hospital when ill or breach of
discipline, he or she was to incur
imprisonment or fine.
According to Richard Piper, Indians
in India believed in very strict caste
system but all caste restrictions were
ignored as soon as an immigrant
entered the depot. For the poor
unfortunate who happened to have
some pride of birth, there was a
bitter but unavailing struggle to
retain their self-respect which
generally ended in a fatalistic
26
acquiescence to all the immorality
and obscenity of the coolie lines. The
immigrants were allowed to herd
together with no privacy or isolation
for married people.
My grand father and grand mother
both admitted that no one who
survived at the end of the journey
could distantly have faith in the caste
system. They were all simple human
beings and to call himself or herself
Brahmans, Chatriyas, Vaishyas or
Sudras or even Hindu or Muslim was
foolish to say the least.
Sarju and Gangadei were two of
those unfortunate souls who fell
victim to the Indenture System of
1879 onwards. Indians lived in
poverty but they were subsistence
farmers enjoying their lives with
their respective families and so were
27
Sarju and Gangadei who were just
healthy adolescents.
The late Sir Henry Cotton explained
that the recruiter or arkathi lay in
wait for wives who had quarrelled
with their husbands, young people
who had left their homes in search of
adventure and insolvent peasants
escaping from their creditors.
When one form of slavery was
abolished in the western world then
another kind of deeper slavery began
from the Indian Continent. This was
called Girmit or the Indenture
System. The dreadful life of the
recruits and the atrocious treatment
they got from the overseers was
inhumane and cruel.
Rev Andrews mentioned in his book
that before they had been out at sea
for two days in the stormy weather a
28
few of the poor coolies were
missing. They either committed
suicide or hid themselves in the hold.
They were dragged by the officers
and kept alive but they too lost their
battle with life.
Upon entering the depot my
grandparents were issued with two
thin blankets and a few eating
utensils made from tin. At dinner
time all the recruits were made to sit
on the ground in a line and served
dhal and rice. Some hungry recruits
were frantically eating but there were
others who were submerged in deep
thoughts about their losses of
religion, family members and
national pride.
My grand father sat there quietly for
a while because he could not collect
enough courage to eat such food in
such a situation. The clerks advised
29
him that it was no use worrying
about petty religious, social and
family matters any more. Life for
him had changed and he had to
accept it. There was no return to
their usual families. This was a hard
fact of the system.
He prayed hard. „O Lord I give you
my heart and soul; assist me in my
agony; may I handover all my future
into your safe and powerful hands.‟
Twamewa Mata ch Pita Twamewa Twamewa bandhushch Sakha Twamewa Twamewa Vidya Dravinam Twamewa Twamewa Sarva Mum Dev dev
Whether his prayers were heard or
not but time and days kept moving.
They do not stop for anyone or any
event. The recruits were loaded on
the cargo ships and were allocated a
small place on the deck that was
dirty and wet. The mood, condition
30
and situation on the ship were so
drastic that the recruits began to feel
ill. Some kept vomiting for a long
time and those that could not tolerate
the unhealthy and un-socialised
circumstances jumped into the sea to
end their ordeal.
The recruits suffered for days and
could not eat the poorly cooked
khichdhi that was dished to them
daily. If the weather became bad and
the food could not be cooked they
were given dog biscuits. The recruits
had to suffer the heat, rain and cold
on the deck. The journey was long
and dangerous.
Many of the human cargo lost their
lives through hunger, torture and
suicide because they could not bear
the cruelty and suffering onboard the
ships. However, both Sarju and
Gangadei survived the atrocities and
31
were united as a family unit to work
on the sugarcane farms in Matutu in
Sigatoka.
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya said
that the condition under which the
labourers lived on board the cargo
ships were not good at all. There
was not enough care for the modesty
of the women, and all castes and
religious rules were being broken
and it was no wonder that many
committed suicide or else threw
themselves into the sea.
The sea journey of the coolies lasted
a few months and at last the boat
anchored near a small island in the
Fiji Group in November 1906. This
was Nukulau, a quarantine station.
It was here that the recruits were
washed with phenyl and examined to
give them certificate of fitness so
32
that they could be auctioned. My
grandparents were bought by the
Colonial Sugar Refining Company
based in Sigatoka and were
transported to Matutu where they
were given eight feet by eight feet
grass huts that were not fit for human
inhabitation but there was no other
choice.
These huts had wet and hard floor
and a few blankets were allocated to
them. Their first ration of rice, dhal,
sharps, salt and oil was also handed
to them. If they completed their daily
tasks well for a month then they
were paid ten shillings for that
month.
My grandparents recalled that the
white men who were called
Kulumber or Sirdar allocated daily
tasks to the workers or girmitiyas
and if any weaker person was not
33
able to complete the tasks
satisfactorily they were beaten with
whips, fists, kicks and sticks. They
had to tolerate all the injustice
because there was no place or
institution to register their
complaints.
Despite the fact that my grand
parents were both strong and good
farmers and managed to complete
their daily tasks well, initially they
too suffered a lot of beating and
injustice at the hands of the white
men. However, one day towards the
second month when the Sirdar was
abusing my grand mother, my grand
father could not tolerate it any more
because enough was enough for him.
He was using a long handled hoe to
complete his task and used this to
beat the hell out of the white man.
This kind of self-defence happened a
34
few times and then both my grand
parents were free from any violent
attacks but the verbal abuses never
ended.
My grand father encouraged other
workers or girmitiyas to stand up for
their self-defence but only a few
could do this to protect their self-
respect. One of them was Tularam
who converted to Islam and became
Rahamtulla. He was my grand
father‟s jahaji bhai or ship mate and
established himself as a farmer in
Botini later.
Instances of such deep friendship
were many in those days of the
indenture system and these lasted for
the life time of the workers. The
friends could stand for each other in
times of hardship and any other
difficulties.
35
On the CSR plantation they were
made to work hard, for long hours
and suffered cruelty and abuses of
the sector officials if they made the
slightest of mistakes. Like many
other workers or Girmitiyas they too
were whipped, kicked and beaten by
the Sector Officers. There was no
one to hear their complaints and thus
they could only blame and curse
their ill fate and they could do
nothing to escape these hardships.
Whilst in Matutu my grand parents
had many good friends and one of
them was Rambadan Maharaj who
after his girmit became a
shopkeeper. The two families
interacted with each other long after
my grand parents moved from
Matutu to Botini.
The families despite their difficulties
met regularly to continue with their
36
cultural activities. My grand father
with the assistance of Rambadan
Maharaj had developed a great love
for the Hindu Epic Ramayan. He
could recite the couplets of Tulsidas
from memory and explain the
meaning to his friends.
My grand parents completed two
difficult and deceitful contracts of
five years each and gained their
freedom from bondage in 1916. This
freedom from slavery was a lot
sweeter than the sugarcane. Their
happiness was so great that it
outweighed the sorrows and
sufferings of their indenture.
By 1916 the Indenture System had
stopped but my grand parents
continued to grow sugarcane and
other crops in Matutu until 1928 and
then moved to Botini in 1929. Their
37
first son Hiralal was born at the end
of the indenture system.
My father Bhagauti Prasad was born
in Matutu, Sigatoka in Fiji on 27th
June 1918 and my mother Ram
Kumari was born in Nabila in
Sigatoka Fiji, on 24th July 1924.
They got married in 1936 and lived
happily in Matutu for a while and
then shifted to Botini when the
Second World War began.
They were one of the fortunate ones
when as a result of their loyalty and
hardwork they were rewarded by the
CSR Company with a lease for a
large piece of land in Matutu and in
Botini in Sabeto to continue
sugarcane farming. They had to cater
for their family of three sons and five
daughters by then and despite the
option to return to India they chose
to sign further contracts to supply
38
their own sugarcane from their farms
to the company.
There were valid reasons not to
return to India at that time. Firstly,
they did not have any contacts and
did not know if their family
members were still there in the same
village. Then there was this fear that
they might not be accepted in the
community because they would be
regarded as outcasts. Of course,
although one way passage on a ship
was provided, they did not have any
other needed financial means to
travel and settle in India.
However, my grand father went back
to India to pay respect to his birth
place in 1952 but had to return to Fiji
to continue his family life because
very few of his family members
could be located in Basti by then.
Frequent hurricanes, floods and
39
internal infrastructure developments
in India had dismantled and
disintegrated the family. This was
another price that the girmitiyas had
to pay and the loss of their root was
unbearable.
My grand father then put his eldest
son Hiralal on one of the three farms
in Botini and managed the other two
himself with his other children. His
second son Bhagauti Prasad
managed the farm in Matutu until the
farm was sold to Rambadan Maharaj
when the world war two started.
His second son Bhagauti Prasad who
had got married to Ram Kumari
daughter of Bali Hari from a nearby
village called Nabila, joined his
father Sarju to manage the farms in
Botini later.
40
World War two had just begun.
Soldiers from various countries
began to arrive in the country.
Camps soon got established in
strategic places in the main island
and the army personnel began
patrolling the areas on foot and on
various types of vehicles. They were
there to keep peace but they were
definitely disturbing the peace of the
village people.
Inhabitants of the small village were
all cane farmers who were brought
from India as indentured labourers
by the Colonial Sugar Refining
Company. After completing their
hard earned indentured contract of
five or ten years they were free to
settle as cane farmers or return to
their motherland India.
Many chose to settle in this village
on land allocated by the CSR
41
Company. They had to enter into
another one-sided contract to keep
supplying sugarcane at stipulated
price to the mills owned by the
Company. A monopolistic situation
gave no other choice to the poor
farmers.
On many occasions upon supplying
tons of sugarcane to the mills the
farmers were told that they can not
be paid because their product was
dirty and it would cost the company
more to clean the mills than to pay
the farmers their share. The farmers
had no alternative but to accept this
wrong and sinful decision. There
were no organizations of farmers to
give them legal assistance until early
1950s. In order to subsist they had to
do some mixed cropping.
CRS Company believed that they
were doing the farmers a lot of
42
favours because they had used
recruiters to enrol them from various
cities and villages of India, which in
those days, like Fiji, was also a
British Colony. They emancipated
the labourers from stark poverty in
India and resettled them in Fiji to
prosper.
The village of Botini in Sabeto
valley was the salad bowl of the
country where farmers boasted
growing best vegetables and other
crops. Surrounded by the mountain
range known as the Sleeping Giant
or Mount Evans and the winding
Sabeto river the villagers had great
prosperity at their feet at all times.
Naturally they lived in good homes
and had all the conveniences. The
farmers worked very hard and lived
in a united community that soon had
their own educational and religious
43
institutions for the development of
their children.
It is in this background that my
father Bhagauti Prasad, the second
son of Sarju, having worked on the
joint farms for several years began to
do farm work on his own piece of
land that was allocated to him by his
father, my grand father Sarju. This
new venture began in 1949. He was
married with four children by then
and the family lived at this new
location until 1983 when they sold
the property and moved to Nasinu
near Suva.
They had two sons and two
daughters at that time: Ramlakhan,
Vidyawati, Vijendra and Shiumati.
Other five daughters were born later.
So a family of eleven members
enjoyed their family life working
hard on their farm and living a happy
44
life. Sarju Mahajan and Gangadei
kept a watchful eye and kept
blessing them to move on with their
life as best as they could.
Bhagauti Prasad Ram Kumari My Father My Mother
45
Episode Two
The Prasad Family of
Sabeto
In the first episode of this eventful
story of my roots I managed to
present the plight of my grand
parents who had come to Fiji under
the indenture system and established
themselves as successful farmers in a
place called Botini in Sabeto. In this
section we keep moving ahead. This
part will focus on my parents-
Bhagauti Prasad, my father and Ram
Kumari, my mother and this will
show how I am linked to this
historical development.
My grandfather Sarju Mahajan was
a person who believed in the four
eternal truths of life and used to say
that there was sorrow in Life; there
46
was a reason for all sorrow; that
that sorrow would definitely end and
that there was a way to end that
sorrow. He died in 1966 at the age of
ninety but when he was living he
used to ask me in the evenings to
read and recite the holy books to
him. He would listen intently and
correct my pronunciations and other
mistakes. Thus, through these
readings and recital of episodes he
instilled a love of reading and
religion in me.
Sarju Mahajan, my grand father
My grandparents retired from all
farming activities in 19 60 . By this
47
time they had developed a wealthy
life and left the last farm to my uncle
Chetram. My grandfather then
devoted most of his time in charity
work helping religious organizations
and schools. From ordinary Sarju my
grandfather was known as Sarju
Mahajan by then.
My grandfather was a generous man
all his life and became a money
lender to help people who needed
funds to build their houses and buy
necessary commodities for their
farms. He did not charge any interest
but people paid him in kind when
they returned his money to him.
He lived a happy life until 1975 and
passed away at the age of 83. My
grandmother lived for another few
years and left this world in 1979 at
the age of 85. They had contributed
48
immensely for the family, friends,
relatives and the community.
Like Balmiki, the original writer of
the epic Ramayan, my father,
Bhagauti Prasad also became a
reformist when he was told of the
five precepts of life. He agreed to
abstain from killing, stealing,
adultery, lying and liquor.
Jaan aadikavi naam pratapa
bhayea sidha Kari ulta jaapa.
(Ramayana Chaupayee)
Bhagauti Prasad's father was Sarju
Mahajan who had come with his
wife Gangadei from Basti in UP
India in 1907 as an indentured
labourer to work for the Colonial
Sugar Refining Company of
Australia. Ram Kumari‟s father was
Bali Hari but my mother‟s mother
49
Shiu Pali died when my mother was
born.
My mother was brought up by her
step mother, Dukia. Very little is
known about my maternal
grandmother but her father
Shiubaran, who was from a village in
Calcutta, died in Nabila during the
great flood and epidemic in 1926.
Despite his many shortcomings my
father tried to lead an eight-fold path
by being of right understanding,
thought, speech, actions, livelihood,
effort, mindfulness and
concentration.
By bringing about so much of
transformation in his life he led the
family through a lot of troubles to a
peaceful and fruitful end. He too
died on April 12 1988 at the age of
about 70. He was diabetic and had a
50
heart arrest because of diabetic coma
after a very short illness in Suva
hospital.
When I visited him in the hospital
the day of his death on April 12 at
midday he had asked me for five
things. Firstly, he said I should recite
a few slokas from Geeta or
Ramayana, our Holy books.
I recited this slok for him and he
listen to it very carefully and even
explained the meaning to me.
Yada yada hi dharmasye glanirbhauti
bharat
Abhyukthanamdharmasye tadatmanam srajamehyam
51
Paritranaaye saadhoona vinaashaaye ch dushkritaam
Dharmsansthapanarthaye sambhawaami yuge yuge
Secondly, he said that life was very
short and it was very important for
the head of the family to try to keep
everyone happy and peaceful
through good guidance and strong
bond of love and affection. He said
he was able to perform this task well
and he wanted me to do the same.
Thirdly, he asked me not to perform
any unnecessary cultural and
religious rituals after his death but to
cremate him and throw his ashes into
52
the sea. He said that antim sanskaar
was the final ceremony that you do
for the dead body at the cemetery
and there should be no other
religious rites after that because
while the dead body has been turned
into ashes the soul has migrated to
the realm of heaven to be either
reincarnated or resting in peace
forever.
Then he said that he was very sorry
if he failed as a father to develop and
guide his nine children in the right
direction. He said he had done his
best but he wanted every one of his
children to ensure that their children
were developed with good parenting
and excellent education.
However, he was happy that he had
thoroughly reformed himself after
some wrong doings of the early days
and had shown his children the right
53
path of life. He truly repented his
misdeeds and had never forgiven
himself for his poor role model. This
he said was his praayschit.
Lastly, he said that it was my duty
to look after my mother after his
death even if she was to create
problems for me. She needed to be
tolerated because she was an
illiterate person.
This was the premonition of his
death because that afternoon when I
was travelling back to my Nadi
home I got a message that he had
passed away. I was happy that I was
able to spend the last hour with him.
He taught us to give charity to the
deserving, observe the precepts of
morality, cultivate and develop good
thoughts, render service and attend
on others, honor and nurse parents
54
and elders, give a share of your
merits to others, accept the merits
that others give you, hear the
doctrine of righteousness and rectify
your faults.
He said that every human being was
equal and must be treated as per the
work they do. He did not believe in
any sects or caste systems. He gave
me the three Ds of his family life:
daya, daan and daman - kindness,
charity and control.
I am truly proud of my father who
taught me a lot of things about life
and living .The three warnings that
he gave me are still fresh in my
mind. Firstly, he said that we all are
subject to decay or destruction and
we cannot escape old age, condition
of being frail and bent down. But we
should try to lead a healthy life
55
through balanced diet and reasonable
exercise.
Secondly, he said that we all are
subject to disease, and we cannot
escape sickness. While living we
should be thoughtful of others, be
kind and considerate. Avoiding poor
eating habits and doing a bit of yoga
always helped us to be free from
illness.
Thirdly, he said that we all are
subject to death and we cannot
escape from dying. Death is certain
for us but living should be
rewarding. If that was our
understanding then what reason is
there for us to hate each other and
create enmity? Love and friendship
were the cornerstone of human
living, he assured me.
56
He wanted us to wake up to our
responsibilities and be freed from all
fears. He said life was too short to
get bogged down in petty things so
we must perform well to be loved,
remembered and honored as parents.
I also tried my best to bring up four
of my children making it sure that
they were well educated, well
catered for and lived with a lot of
love around them. Of course, as my
father never spared a rod for my
growing up I too tried my best to
discipline my children and I do not
regret taking that action.
Our mixed farmstead in Botini had a
variety of crops like rice, peanuts,
pineapples, vegetables, fruits and
sugarcane. Working hours for the
family members were long and even
the children and women had to
perform all the tasks. Women took
57
turns to cook for the whole tribe and
whoever was not on culinary duties
had to work in the field.
The thing that added more happiness
to the growing up process was the
strong social structure of the family.
There were many uncles and aunts
nearby to baby-sit and the
grandparents were always around to
look after the baby.
My mother had never been to formal
school and was illiterate but she was
very protective of her family. My
father had completed his education
up to class six and was a regular but
a critical reader of various epics and
religious books.
He later became the president of
various religious bodies in the
community and was a very respected
leader in the village. Ironically he
58
was addressed as Sardar as were the
early sector officers during the
indenture system. He retired as a
farmer, sold his Botini farm in 1974
and went to live in Nadera in Nasinu
near Suva city.
As a person my father achieved a lot
in his lifetime. He often said that it
was a sad thing that we loved
ourselves more, and our country and
community a lot less. We have tried
to make ourselves rich, secure and
great, not our country and
community. We should always
remember to give a lot more of our
time, effort and resources to our
country and our community. We
must ask our nation and our society
to forgive us for this selfishness. By
giving we receive the richest
blessings of the God Almighty.
59
As the years passed, my eldest uncle
Hiralal claimed his share and moved
to a nearby farm with his family and
began the farm work independently.
As explained before, my grandfather,
Sarju Mahajan, donated this property
to them. Sarju Mahajan had three
sons and six daughters. Hiralal,
Bhagauti Prasad, Chetram were the
sons and Sukhraji, Shiuraji, Dhiraji,
Mangali, Mahadei and Ramdei were
the daughters.
My village of Botini in Sabeto; a
village rich in culture, community
and control, a place where people
lived in harmony and all sorts of
cultivation was at its peak, an
environment that boasted self-
sufficiency at all times.
People lacked nothing and enjoyed
life to the fullest. Our farm was
made up of a thirty-hectare of native
60
lease that had rough terrain but the
soil in the valley was very rich and
alluvial for any crop to flourish.
A small stream of fresh water ran
across the property and big trees of
na-ivi, coconuts, mangoes, and other
fruit trees were growing well along
both sides of the stream. Fish of
various types and eels swam in that
stream and during my childhood I
loved fishing there with an old man
called Sahadatt, who lived as a
hermit in a small thatched house
that my father had built for him. He
was like a caretaker or a watchman
for our farm. He cooked his own
meals and many times made me
enjoy the good taste of the eel curry
that he so tactfully prepared.
On our farm of sugarcane,
pineapples, rice and mixed
vegetables there was always plenty
61
to do and enjoy. The hilltops were
overgrown with guava trees that
were always laden with fruit for us
to pick. Anything that we wanted
was on the farm; sugarcane to eat,
pineapples to slice, delicious
coconuts to drink, mangoes galore,
citrus fruits of all kind, pawpaws,
melons, cucumbers, rockmelons and
many others. That was self-
sufficiency at its extreme.
It was against this backdrop that my
parents were always eager to
practise great experiments on their
farm and the Agriculture
Department of Fiji assisted them
with advice and seeds and seedlings
of potatoes, citrus fruits and other
vegetables. The vegetable section on
our farm produced enormous
amounts of beans, cabbages, corn,
cucumber, melons and similar crops
that were delivered to Lautoka and
62
Nadi Markets every Friday on our
Ford Six truck.
Such were the rural and village
luxuries I enjoyed on the farm when
I was a primary school child at
Sabeto Primary School from 1946
to 1953 and a secondary student at
Natabua High School from 1954 to
1957.
I worked on the goat and cattle
farms as a herdsman and acted as a
cowboy on many occasions. I also
did a lot of ploughing, planting,
weeding, hoeing and harvesting
using our pairs of oxen and finely
bred farm horses. No work was hard
for me and I worked in the
vegetable gardens, fruit, and
pineapple and sugarcane farms. So
much so that my father had to ask
me to slow down and concentrate on
my schoolwork so I had to divert
63
my energy and move on in this
progressive direction.
As I mentioned before, my mother
never went to school and did not
have any reading and writing skills
but she had many good human
qualities. She was a very powerful
woman who controlled her children
well. She was an excellent cook and
displayed extreme passion and
understanding when she interacted
with her children. She could not
help us with our schoolwork but she
guided us to lead a good life. I
always had a great admiration for
her commitment and empathy.
People say I have learnt most of my
values from my mother and they
may be right because a lot of my
social communication style, my
general human interaction and my
daily conduct come from my
64
mother. I am proud of the fact that
despite her illiteracy she was able to
do so much for me. I am reminded
of the opening line of
Ravindranath‟s poem: Amma teri
mamta ka nahi koi mol.
My family members called me
Lakhan in those days but my mother
called me Badkana, which meant
the eldest. My formative years were
of average academic standard but I
began to excel from Class six
onwards and was a role model for
many village students. I was always
among the top three students at
school but my sporting activities
were limited to some soccer and
hockey games only. I loved sports
and athletics but there weren‟t many
opportunities to participate and
compete in those days.
65
My reading activities were limited
to reciting from the Holy Books-
Ramayana and Bhagwat Gita for my
grand parents and parents, the
Jungle Book and the New Method
Readers. There were no public
libraries in those days and the
school library had only a limited
collection. I did not have the luxury
of bedtime story reading.
However, whenever we got our
supply of bread and other goods
from the town shops, the items were
wrapped with pages of old
newspaper. My father collected
these for us to read and at times he
tested us by asking us to read the
news items aloud to him and explain
those in his vernacular language,
Hindi. Stale news but it gave me an
opportunity to learn about other
countries.
66
While at primary school I
participated in a lot of dramatic
activities at the local temple where
the religious drama activities of
Ram Lila, Krishna Lila and Lav
Kush Lila were dramatised on stage
for the public to enjoy. These were
conducted at the hall at nights for
weeks and I enjoyed acting the role
of Lord Rama.
My grand father was the director
and my father was the president of
the Sanatan Dharam Mandali of
Sabeto. After the stage work was
over we had our dinner there. We
enjoyed the dhal, rice and chatnee
prepared so skilfully by my grand
father, who was a great cook in
times of need.
During my school days I used to
work on my father‟s farms of rice,
pineapple, sugarcane and lentils and
67
go to the markets with my father to
sell the items on Saturdays at the
CSR Compound in Lautoka where
the market day used to be organised.
These were one of the most
interesting selling experiences and
interactions with the business and
other communities and I learnt a lot
from these interactions and
activities. My father had a lot of
regular customers only because his
produce was always clean, fresh and
well displayed. My father was
fundamentally a different type of
vendor for the customers because he
cared about them and gave them
tender loving care and good service.
The days when our supplies were
more than the demand we were left
with some of our produce, which we
had to throw in the nearby paddock
where the cows enjoyed eating
68
them. My father would not sell them
cheaply or give these free to anyone
but he was very happy to witness
the scene when the cows of Maan
Singh Dairy farm munched the
vegetables away slowly with
interest.
This paradigm of circumstances
confused me in the beginning but
when I understood the ethic behind
feeding the animals I could see that
as a Hindu my father was doing
nothing more than just feeding the
sacred cows.
Milking of cows and goats was one
my favourite past times. Then the
rule was to boil your milk and
extract the butter fat from the
yoghurt the next day using a
bamboo extractor in a large four-
litre container.
69
Of course, it was my duty to get
fresh green para and guinea grass
for my cows and goats in order that
they continued to provide us with a
lot of fresh milk. These were
difficult chores but interesting and
soothing to my soul.
One of the ideas that got ingrained
into me after my father constantly
and continuously motivated me was
the concept of hard and quality
work so whatever I did, I did it well
and with all my interest. There was
no farming activity that I could not
perform but while doing those I
never faltered in my studies. My
commitment to all my tasks was
very solid and deep.
It was through these quintessential
paths that my grandparents and
parents built for me, that I found my
upward mobility easy and smooth.
70
My grandparents and parents were
poor in the beginning but that was
no excuse for their inadequacies. As
the transformation of circumstances
developed, they learnt to persevere
and cleared the slippery rung of
their ladder of progress through hard
work and determination. I shared
the same anxiety, ambitions and
adaptations to move ahead with
pride.
It was examination time at school
and I had to study hard so I carried
my notebooks with me when I was
grazing my cattle in the field. I was
so engrossed in my studies that I
forgot to keep an eye on the
animals, which wondered onto a
nearby vegetable area and destroyed
a lot of our seedlings and crops.
My father was furious to see the
destruction and I remember getting
71
the brunt of his full anger when he
used his whip on me instead of the
animals. I regretted this but never
again did I falter in my farming
duties and chores that were
allocated to me. The paradox of this
event is that you have to be cruel to
be kind.
My father was a disciplinarian and
always wanted his children to do the
right thing and do well in every
human activity. He loved his
children very much and would do
anything to keep them happy. He
wanted me to be someone to
remember because I was the eldest.
His happiness was beyond his
control when he learnt that I was
going to be a teacher. He was
overwhelmed to hear that news
because that was his objective. It
turned out that I was his only child
72
out of the nine that had developed a
profession. Later in life he told me
that he was very happy that I had
achieved good results in life and
met his expectations.
In those days as a reward for good
work for the whole month I was
allowed to accompany some of my
friends to Nadi town to see Hindi
movies in the old wooden theatre of
Harry Uraia. We used to travel by
bus but later the open-air theatre
came to our village and they used to
screen the Hindi movies at the
temple grounds and we used to
enjoy the Saturday evening
programs.
My father was one of the first
persons in Sabeto to have a radio
that needed a wet-celled battery to
run and the battery needed to be
regularly charged at a charger that
73
was located about five miles away
from our house. I used to carry the
battery on my shoulder to have it
charged and then bring it back. In
this process the battery water on
many occasions spoilt my clothes
but the enthusiasm and anticipation
to listen to the one fifteen minute
Hindi program on Tuesday and an
hour‟s evening Hindi program on
Saturday kept me going to the
charger and back.
The radio station was called ZJB
and the announcer and presenter of
programs was Chandrika Prasad
Sriwastow who had a wonderful
radio voice. The program was
largely made up of news items but if
time permitted we were lucky to get
a few old songs such as „bachpan ki
mohabbat ko dil se na bhula dena’.
74
During this period of my adolescent
development I was working very
hard with my father on the farms to
learn all the necessary tricks and
traits of planting rice and vegetable
and rearing goats and other animals.
Since my mind, body and soul were
all busy concentrating either on the
farm or on schoolwork I had very
little time to develop any serious
hobbies of my own but I did
manage to go swimming in the
Sabeto River and learn some
wrestling skills from my father.
I began driving the family Ferguson
Tractor and the Ford Six truck from
the age of twelve when I was in
Class eight. It never occurred to
anyone that these were dangerous
and unlawful activities.
75
By 1952 my parents were well-
established farmers and began to
pay more attention to my education
and my progress improved
considerably. My other brother and
other sisters were at school as well
but I was the centre of attraction all
because I was the eldest and I used
to bring good school reports home.
This put me in a hyper drive to
accelerate my efforts at school. My
father told me that the world out
there was becoming dangerous and
complex everyday and one has to
get ready to face it head on.
World War Two had begun.
Sounds of guns, dynamites and
other ammunitions were
frequenting the atmosphere. Nights
were darker because of the curfews
imposed but sometimes the
searchlights would beam in the sky
76
to spot the flying objects. My father
was very fond of helping the
soldiers and the infantry and he
grew a lot of vegetables and fruits
to sell these to them. He joined the
soldiers as a volunteer and enjoyed
his service until 1944.
These are some of my early dismal
recollections of 1940s. My parents
were blessed with the firm
upbringing practices of my
grandparents and that is one of the
reasons for their continued success.
Like my grandfather, my father was
also regarded as a leader of the
extended family and whenever there
were any disputes within the families
of his sisters he was there to conduct
reconciliation and peace for them.
All my cousins respected my father
and would behave exactly as they
were told.
77
It was during the wartime that my
father was involved with the soldiers
in supplying them with drinks, fruits
and vegetable in exchange for arms
and ammunitions. He had developed
an arsenal of his own and when the
soldiers had gone he with his friends
used to play with these "toys" in and
around the village at nights.
Another secret of progress for my
grandparents and my father was self-
analysis. My father admitted that
introspection was a mirror in which
to see recesses of your mind that
otherwise would remain hidden from
you. You must diagnose your
failures and sort out your good and
bad tendencies.
You must analyze what you are,
what you wish to become, and what
shortcomings are impeding you.
78
Decide the nature of your true task
that is your mission in life. From his
conclusions I gathered that I must
endeavor to make myself what I
should be and what I want to be.
Your success in life does not
altogether depend on ability and
training alone he used to say; it also
depends on your determination to
grasp opportunities that are
presented to you. Opportunities in
life come by creation, not by chance.
My grandparents and my father for
all their progress and reformation
created opportunities. They used the
available outward means as well as
the natural abilities to overcome
every obstacle in their paths.
Today I am happy that I have been
able to raise four intelligent children
who are special to my family. Like
79
our grandparents and parents we
have always believed that our
children are the greatest assets for us
and whatever they do in their own
lives would please us as long as they
conducted themselves decently and
humanely. It is important that they
pass on the cultural and socio
economic knowledge and learning to
their children in turn. This would
make us very happy and fully
satisfied.
I always wanted success without
measure, not from earthly sources
but from God‟s all-possessing, all-
powerful and all-bountiful hands. I
am proud that God has given me all
that I needed in life because I
believed in Him.
I am not religious but I believe in the
Supreme Powers of the Almighty
God. Like my grandparents and
80
parents I am not conducting any
religious ceremonies that make no
sense to me.
I believe that you demonstrate
success or failure according to your
habitual trend of thoughts. If your
mind is ordinarily in a negative state,
an occasional positive thought is not
sufficient to attract success. But if
you, like my ancestors did, think
rightly, you will definitely find your
goal even though you seem to be
enveloped in darkness. My ancestors
alone were largely responsible for all
their progress and development and
no organization was there to help
them along. Through their karma and
impulsive actions they managed to
look after their large family.
I learnt from my ancestors that there
were always two forces warring
against each other within us. One
81
force tells us to do the things we
should not do; and the other urges us
to do the things we should do. Our
„should do‟ things are always
difficult and „shouldn‟t do‟ things
are easy. I was confused as a young
man and my one voice led me to
evil, and the other took me to good.
However, with the right guidance of
my ancestors, I soon got out of evil
world and entered the world of
goodness.
These were the first twenty-four
years of my life and I dedicate these
good years to the healthy interaction
with my grand parents, my parents
and my family members and
friends. In these beautiful years of
my growing up I was given a firm
foundation to move ahead with
faith, hope and freedom.
82
I was a role model for many in the
village and to my only brother
Vijendra Prasad and seven sisters,
Vidya Wati, Shiu Mati, Kushma
Wati, Upma Devi, Suman Lata, and
Sarla Devi. They too enriched my
life through their healthy
interactions.
My teachers contributed a lot
through their motivational pursuits
and excellent guidance and I owe
them a lot. What I am today is the
direct result of good family life
education, excellent primary
education at Sabeto Primary School
and a balanced educational
development at Natabua High
School.
My initial professional preparation
at Nasinu Teachers‟ College was
very good foundation to proceed in
the pursuit of excellence in all
83
fields. One of my mentors of the
training days was a person called
John L Stevens, who in many
respects guided me and provided me
with excellent opportunities to
further my teaching career.
Our success is therefore measured by
the yardstick of happiness and by our
ability to remain in peaceful
harmony with everyone and
everything and not by the worldly
standards of wealth, prestige and
power. We had enough money
always but we considered ourselves
only humble middle class family.
We have had everything that we
wanted in life and this total
fulfillment in our family life is the
result of our upbringing. I thank my
ancestors and my many mentors.
84
All our progress and development
are closely related to our roots and
the way we were raised and
motivated by our grand parents and
parents. They instilled a love of
honest living and disciplined life.
We have enjoyed our life both in
Fiji and in Brisbane despite some
early difficulties of new migration.
We know our future is bright and
promising because we were given a
very firm foundation by our family
members.
We lead a happy life with four
children with their spouses and
eight grand children around us. We
have a closely-knit family and share
the joys and happiness of life to the
fullest. What else do we need? We
have achieved everything in life and
are fully satisfied.
85
My grandparents and parents always
wanted our family to be happy,
prosperous and peaceful at all times
so that we can keep the name and
fame of our grand parents and
parents high.
We had a lot of faith in God and that
had paid us well in our living. We
have visited India a few times in
search of our roots there but have
not been very successful because in
a century of living in Basti things
have changed a lot due to floods,
hurricanes and infrastructural
development.
We have not given up our hope of
finding our roots and are continuing
with our efforts to find our roots and
are confident that one day we will
be able to meet members of my
grand parents' family in
Dumariaganj, in the village of
86
Senduri, in the district of Basti in
Uttar Pradesh of India.
My grand father, who came from
India with nothing but hope and
confidence in 1906, progressed well
and gave us the motivation to move
ahead. With the help of his family
he became one of the richest
farmers in Botini through sheer hard
work and diligence. He was always
proud of his progress.
He was a religious man of his own
free will and belief, very well
respected in the village and had a
very large family to support. His
greatest goal was to help the poor
and have a respectable family and
he achieved both these aims very
well.
I know that my grand parents, my
parents and we have done our best
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as immigrants to serve various
communities and countries. We
have many friends, family members
and relatives to emulate our
successes and developments. These
were our root, our boot and out toot.
I salute my grandparents and parents
for their determination, dedication,
diligence and complete devotion as
early discovers to define and develop
their own destiny and provide us the
right motivation and opportunity to
keep moving ahead.
This is the end of my narration but the history continues.
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