Auckland pays
homage to Girmitiyas with Professor Brij Lal
Thakur Ranjit
Singh
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| President of Fiji Girmit Foundation of NZ, PUNDIT DEVAKAR PRASAD (left) with the keynote speaker and Chief Guest of Fiji Girmit Remembrance Day in Auckland in 2014, PROFESSOR BRIJ V. LAL. |
It was a fine memorable afternoon on Fiji Girmit Remembrance Day on 18 May, 2014. No sooner had
the audience in a completely full and decorated Skipton Hall in Auckland
settled down for the programme to begin, than the silence was shattered by
Punjabi dhol. This rhythmic beat made them stand up with reverence and respect.
The dhol heralded the entry of children and ladies carrying wreaths. National Anthem of Fiji, India and New Zealand respectively echoed and reverberated in a pin drop silent hall. It was an emotional tsunami, engulfing all who had gathered to pay homage and tribute to their Indentured Girmitiya forebears, and celebrate the fruits of their sacrifices and vision.
The dhol heralded the entry of children and ladies carrying wreaths. National Anthem of Fiji, India and New Zealand respectively echoed and reverberated in a pin drop silent hall. It was an emotional tsunami, engulfing all who had gathered to pay homage and tribute to their Indentured Girmitiya forebears, and celebrate the fruits of their sacrifices and vision.
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The beat of Punjabi Dhol heralds the entry of ladies carrying wreaths in memory of Girmitiyas.
|
The Chief
Guest for the afternoon, Professor Brij
Lal lit the candles, followed by other elders who later placed the wreaths
in memory of the departed Girmitiyas. The Master of Ceremonies for the
afternoon, a well-known Jaycee from Fiji, Nek Mohammed called on the president
of the organizers, Fiji Girmit
Foundation of New Zealand, Pundit Devakar Prasad. In his welcome speech,
Prasad laid the future vision of Girmit Foundation, which would not only become
an umbrella body encompassing all Fiji Indians in Auckland, but also has vision
of promoting our history, heritage, music, culture, education, and
preserving our history for coming generations.
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| Elders with wreaths to lay in memory of departed souls of Girmit: From left: PUNDIT HARDEO RAM SEWAK SENIOR, PUNDIT SHARDA NAND MAHARAJ, GOVIND PRASAD, NARAIN PRASAD and an elder lady. On the stage, on the lectern is MC for the afternoon, NEK MOHAMMED. |
Pundit Devakar
took the opportunity to respectively introduce the visionary leadership of
Foundation. Thakur Ranjit Singh (Secretary) Krishal Naidu (Treasurer)
Executives: Harnam Singh Golian, Master Shiu Charan, Rajendra Prasad
(author), Pundit Ram Kumar Sewak, Radha Kanhai Reddy, Pradeep Chand, Satya Dutt
and Vijendra Prasad, and latest people to come on board, Nek
Mohammed, Rita Singh and Suresh Prasad Kanhai.
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| Some of the Executives of Fiji Girmit Foundation of NZ with the Chief Guest: From left, MASTER SHIU CHARAN, PUNDIT DEVAKAR PRASAD, DR. PADMA LAL, PROFESSOR BRIJ LAL, RAJENDRA PRASAD, KRISH NAIDU, THAKUR RANJIT SINGH AND PUNDIT RAM KUMAR SEWAK. |
The musical
portion of the afternoon began with beautiful Girmit songs and the afternoon
brought back memories of Girmit with melodious numbers taking us back to those
cane farms and “ coolie lanes” (accommodation barracks). This fitted in well
with the theme of afternoon and motto of Girmit Foundation: reconnecting, reclaiming, and restoring Indo-Fijian History. The
items which helped doing these included bidesia, kajri, sohar, alha and other
music unique to Girmit era. The most notable one is bidesia, which is a
lamentation, or “bilaap”, which is expression of deep sorrow of separation from
the loved ones.
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| Bidesia-the song of lamentation: Swatna Lal (on harmonium) presents an emotional composition of the author of "Tears in Paradise", Rajendra Prasad. This bidesia is a lamentation or "bilaap", which is an expression of a deep sorrow. |
Other items
which helped to reconnect and reclaim our history, included oratory on Girmit
and a talk by Pundit Ram Sewak Senior, a well-known Ram and Krishna Lila
convener of Fiji. He spoke of those tough times and how our people have come
out of the whole situation, culturally richer and far better off than their pioneer
forebears, never losing hope. This was later echoed by other orators, who
reminded us of those dark days, vision of our forebears and their emphasis on
education to liberate their new generation from the bondage of colonizers. We
were reminded to move ahead and not let the dreams of our pioneer Girmitiyas go
in vain.
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| The display of Girmit Day: Thanks to Jennifer Janiff for facilitating this nostalgic display showing items used by Girmitiyas (included a billy can (sispaan), negro pots, coal iron,"soop", hurricane lamp, a karchool - or deep spoon, among others |
Fiji Girmit
Foundation of NZ was commended for taking time out to declare 14 May of every year as Fiji Girmit Remembrance Day worldwide,
and to initiate commemoration of this day in Auckland. A loud and clear reminder
went to all people throughout Indo-Fijian Diaspora:
Unite, mark and commemorate 14 May of every year as Fiji Girmit Remembrance Day, so that one day, within our lifetime, it takes the prestige and honour equivalent to similar days respectively like Independence Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day, ANZAC Day, Waitangi Day etc. where people take pride in their heritage, and pay homage to their forebears.
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| Wreath made in shape of Syria Ship which sank at Naselai Reef, with loss of many lives of Girmitiyas. |
Professor Brij
Vilash Lal, our very appropriate and distinguished Chief Guest and the keynote
speaker, stole the show. I had the honour of introducing him:
Introducing Professor Brij Vilash Lal is like showing diya (candle) to sun. With his many commendable writings, he is a son of Fiji who honestly paid his dues to his forebears.
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| A glimpse of audience in a fully-packed Skipton Hall |
Lal is
Professor of Pacific and Asian History in the College of Asia and the Pacific
at The Australian National University (ANU) and represents international face
of Fiji, having taught at various renowned overseas universities. He did his
doctorate on Fiji Girmitiya, and is widely credited internationally for
introducing the word 'Girmitiya' into discussion and writings of Fiji history. Professor
Lal is highly decorated with multiple international honours, whereby Fiji and
Indo-Fijian Diaspora are blessed with such a worthy son.
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| Another look at those who came to pay homage to Girmitiyas. |
He gave two
historical talks during his Auckland visit: one at the Calvary Indian Assembly
of God Church in their Girmit function and the other at Foundation’s Girmit Day
on 18 May. My FIJI PUNDIT blog site will facilitate separate articles to record,
archive and treasure these historical thoughts from a Maestro Historian. Had it
not been for him, the world and we would have remained ignorant of the true
History of our Girmitiyas.
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| You can remove Indo-Fijians out of Fiji, but you cannot remove the Kava basin or tanoa from any function of Indo-Fijians. So was the case at Fiji Girmit Remembrance Day, where free grog was supplied |
A very humble
Professor spoke not about Girmit, but what happened after that. And he
commenced with his lecturing hat on, and posed a question to the audience: What
makes Indo-Fijians a unique culture of people in the world? Fortunately,
Professor Lal was the most qualified to answer this. There are external as well
as internal reasons for their uniqueness. One most important external reason,
is that “…In Fiji in contrast to many other places, indenture was a limited detention, not a life sentence…” as
after indenture of five to ten years, people were free to settle wherever they
could find land. In addition, internal factors were in play: the formation of
cultural institution like Arya, Sangam, Sanatan etc., Indian newspapers, Hindi
Radio, Hindi movies and the type of education that shaped the culture and
knowledge of our people, formulated and promoted by our own people, were
instrumental in making us what we are today.
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| Networking and enjoying meal: Sitting from left, Dr Padma Lal, Professor Brij Lal and Sukh Deo. Standing, from left: Krish Naidu, Shobhag and Dr. Ajit Swaran Singh and Thakur Ranjit Singh |
Professor Lal
had come, armed with Hindi ki Pothis -1
to six and other books we used in schools in 60s. He created hilarious moments
when reciting some of poems and verses many were familiar with. An interesting
topic was old Bollywood movies that most elder people could relate to. One
other subject that he covered in his speech earlier on, was that contrary to
belief that all indentured labourers were of lower caste and poor impoverished
people, many came from middle and upper class.
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| The hudda-tassa show |
The
afternoon’s programme ended on a high note with birah and hudda and tassa (big
drums) with traditional songs, followed by a sumptuous dinner provided by the
Foundation. This occasion provided a good opportunity for all to network,
re-establish old contacts and photo session. We departed with the hope to meet in
Fiji Girmit Remembrance Day 2015.
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| Networking and meeting people, from left, Y.P. Reddy, Dr Padma Lal, Professor Brij Lal, Sardaar Harnam Singh Golian, Imraan Hussein, CEO of Shah Group of Companies/ Apna TV and Krish Naidu. |
Planning for 2015
function has already begun by the President, Pundit Devakar Prasad, who would bring
his four decades of planning abilities and programming, and hopes to make this
one a memorable historical event. Those who missed this year, see you next year,
with your elderly parents.
E-Mail: thakurji@xtra.co.nz
[About the
Author: Thakur Ranjit Singh is the Founding Secretary and Trustee of Fiji
Girmit Foundation of NZ. He is a media commentator, a journalist and blogger,
running two blog sites: FIJI PUNDIT
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| The author of this article and blogger of FIJI PUNDIT, Thakur Ranjit Singh (left) with Professor Brij V. Lal. |
