CELEBRATING GIRMIT: SOME ARTIFACTS, EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS OF GIRMIT AND PIONEER INDIANS IN FIJI

 

CELEBRATING GIRMIT: SOME ARTIFACTS, EQUIPMENT AND

 TOOLS OF GIRMIT AND PIONEER INDIANS IN FIJI

 

Thakur Ranjit Singh

The greatest Fiji Historian and Girmit son, Professor Brij Lal said our Girmitiyas were ordinary people who did extraordinary things in extraordinary circumstances. We have inherited their trait to never give up and we never compromise. There is a kind of dignity within us, where did it come from? It comes from people who travelled thousands of miles in difficult circumstances, but never gave up. This is the legacy of Girmit that I think we are celebrating, not those horrible things we read in books many years ago.

And in doing so, they developed and used items before the modernisation to make their living-the artifacts, tools and equipment to make their living. 

This article illustrated and explains some of them. They are not exhaustive, but includes many.

 

Dhenki (pronounced as “dharki” as well)

This traditional rice husker was constructed using a wooden beam and a stone bowl. To work this machine one had to step on the rear end of the beam, which had crude cuts to provide some grip. Once stepped on, the beam was then released, allowing the front of the beam to fall into the stone bowl containing the grains of rice. This process was repeated until all the grains were husked and ready to be separated from the chaff using the soop. Length: 2.3m.

Soop

Originally known as the kula in India, this type of basket was woven from strips of bamboo and was brought to Fiji by the Girmitiyas who later called it 'soop' in Fiji Hindi. After the rice was separated from the stalks (threshing) and husked using the dhenki (rice husker), women used the soop to shake and toss the rice so that only the grain was left as the chaff blew away into the air.

Hasua

Fiji Indians call this agricultural tool the hasua. There were two variants of this sickle. One was constructed from a curved metal blade attached to a wooden handle and the other was forged entirely out of metal. The hasua was generally used by Girmitiyas to harvest crops like rice and wheat.

 Chakki

The chakki is a grinding tool made from naturally occurring stones with rough surfaces and was used to grind spices and grains. It consists of a stationary stone disk on the bottom, upon which another stone disk is rotated using an attached wooden handle.

Crosscut saw

There was more than one type of crosscut saw used during indenture. This two-person crosscut saw was symmetrical and had a peg-tooth design which ran the entire length of the saw. The tooth side of the saw was slightly crescent-shaped. The attached wooden handles allowed labourers to each pull on their end and thus accomplish the task of sawing timber.

 

Hand rice pounder

Although it required more labour than when using the dhenki, this simple but carefully designed tool was also used to husk rice. It basically works like a mortar and pestle. The object shown is the pestle, while the mortar part of the pounder (not shown) is generally a stone cylinder, but in some countries in Asia it is also wooden. The thicker part with a metal ring on the end is what goes into the rice-filled mortar. The narrow section closer to the top of the pounder is where women would hold it.

Kurpi

The Kurpi was fashioned out of tin and steel with a curved wooden handle attached to it. When not using their bare hands, women would squat in fields using this type of traditional hand hoe to clear the weeds.

Wood planer

This type of wood planer from the Girmit era has been used throughout the centuries across many cultures. It is a woodworking tool which was simply used to smooth out rough or uneven wooden surfaces.

  

Sil-Lohra

Sil -Lohra and Karahi

Sil is only useful with a lorha.

An East Indian utensil made of stone and is used to grind seasonings and spices. The sil is the flat stone where the seasonings or spices are placed on top of.  The Lorha grinds the seasonings on top of the sil. 

Their union is so essential that even in Hindu weddings, the bride and groom have to touch their foot to sil - lorha when going round the fire in "bhawar" to symbolise that one is useless without the other.

Karahi and Channa- (Puri waala -Above Sil-Lohra in the photo above)

The black Karahi or what Chinese call a wok, is used for deep-frying/making Puri during weddings and other functions. Puri is taken out from the boiling oil/Ghee with the help of channa, a metal scoop with holes , that collects puri, but lets the oil dring back into the Karahi. A Chimta may also be used.

Mathni

 

Churning of milk-dahi to extract butter and then by product Matha-buttermilk -used for making lassi and other drinks.

Coal-Iron

 Hurricane Lamp

Hand-pushed grass -cutter

Benzine/kerosene light

Cane-top, grass -chopper

Normally cane tops are chopped, and mixed with molasses and fed to cattle

Coconut Scraper

Used for scraping coconut to make into sweets or squeeze for coconut milk

Kerosene Primus

Used for cooking food

Grog Pounder

Either made of iron, or wood, used for pounding Kava, yagona

Lentil Mincer

Used to mince lentils, dhal and other grains to be used to make into other food. May also be used to mince meat.

"Negro" Cast Iron pots

Used for boiling milk and other food items

Mohar (Mohur)

The Mohur is a gold coin that was formerly minted by several governments, including British India.

It used to be worn in thick black thread around neck of women and were passed down the generations during weddings. Like a new bride gets one or some from the woman leader of the family. 

 

Assorted Displays 

Conclusion

The above has been an illustration and explanation on the early tools and equipment used by the pioneer Indians in Fiji.

This would give good exposure and information, especially to many in the new generation in Fiji Indian Diaspora, who may not have used or seen these items. 

Once again, a salute to those Girmitiyas.