FILTA – Much More than Tennis
FILTA (Fiji Indian Lawn Tennis Association) had the second re-union of its members a few days ago here in Auckland. The members, who still keep in close contact, are spread all over the world. They had their first re-union in 2008 in Nadi, Fiji and it was then decided that they would have their second one in Auckland. The success of these re-unions where the members come from different countries to spend time together and ‘reminisce about the good old days’ is proof of the camaraderie and friendship fostered by FILTA.
FILTA was formed in 1945. In those days tennis in Fiji was a ‘European sport for European eyes only’. We are told that a wooden fence was put up around the tennis court in Nadi so others could not watch the white men and women playing the game! Divakar Rao who grew up in Nadi in the 1940s and later became a member of the FILTA recalls how they ‘made inroads into what was then the private domain of the elite CSR sahibs’.
So the aspiring Indian tennis players had to overcome hurdles everywhere. But they were a brave and determined lot. When there was nowhere for the Indians to play tennis, Dr.Mukherjee built a tennis court next to his residence in Nawaka, Nadi. Thanks to people like Dr.Mukherji, ‘Indian tennis sprouted in the West and finally germinated into FILTA in mid-forties’.
When I arrived in Fiji in 1966 self government had just started but vestiges of colonialism were still there. Some of the members of FILTA had risen to important positions by then. Subri Pillay was the District Officer in Nadi. He was one of the first locals to hold that position as until then officers were posted from the United Kingdom to be the DOs.
Later, when we started living in Lautoka, Narain Nair was the District Commissioner Western (the first local to be made a DC) and Moti (later Sir Moti) Tikaram was the judge at the high court in Lautoka (again the first local to be a high court judge). So it can be seen that the members of FILTA held very important positions in the soon to be independent country.
I consider myself fortunate to have met some of these pioneers. Among them the person I saw most was Mr. Ganeshwar Rao who used to be in Lautoka in the early 1970s. These FILTA members had some remarkable qualities which I admire, the most outstanding being their courage to stand up for what they thought was right and fight for it.
Mr. Rao was one of the few teachers brought from India by Indian religious and cultural organisations in colonial Fiji to teach in Indian schools. He was very different from the rest of the Indian teachers who led rather quiet lives and confined themselves mostly to home and school. Mr. Rao, however, had varied interests. He was interested in tennis, chess, cars, motorcycles and the list goes on.
If we did not see him driving his car around, we saw him going past in his motor cycle. He was one of the few teachers from India in Fiji in the 1950s and 1960s who owned a car. Here he was similar to Swami Rudrananda of the Ramakrishna Mission who had a Rolls Royce to take the devotees to the Ashram and back. Mr. Rao was using his car for his own pleasure unlike Swami Rudrananda. Nevertheless, he was making a point just like Swamiji and sending clear signals to the vested interests and the colonial government.
There is the story about Mr.Rao’s fight with a white sahib in the middle of a bridge. In the colonial days in Fiji many of the bridges had only single lane. So cars on one side had to wait till the cars which were already coming from the opposite side crossed the bridge. Mr. Rao was already on the bridge from one side when another car from the opposite side drove into the bridge. The other driver expected Mr. Rao, an Indian, to go back and give way to him. He had clearly underestimated Mr.Rao who stood his ground and refused to budge. Finally the whiteman who was in the wrong had to pull back and let Mr. Rao go.
Another time I am told that a missionary went to the school where Mr. Rao was teaching and wanted to talk to the teachers. He told the staff how they were all sinners and they had to repent and ask for forgiveness and so on. Everyone listened quietly. After some time, Mr. Rao, who followed the teachings of Swami Vivekananda (Swami Vivekananda had said: ‘You are souls immortal. Sinners? It is a sin to call a man so’) decided that he had had enough. He said to the man: ‘I am not a sinner. You may be one.’ And he asked his colleagues: ‘Are you sinners?’ No one said anything and the silence seemed to indicate that they agreed with what Mr. Rao was saying. The evangelist realised that it would be wise to leave before he encountered more arguments against him.
Another of the FILTA members I got to know was Mr. Ram Lakhan who used to be the post master at Nadi before moving to Canberra. I have fond memories of a visit I paid to him and his wife with whom my daughter used to stay while attending school in Canberra. There he kept up with his interest in tennis but collapsed in the tennis court one day while playing the game he loved and died.
After the Silver Jubilee in 1970 FILTA slowly ceased to exist because the need for it was no more and so it amalgamated into other bodies. It also has New Zealand connections. Not only was the second re-union held in Auckland. One of the persons who used to be with the early Indian tennis players from Fiji, who played in Auckland while studying here, was Dr. M. Satyanand, the father of the current Governor General. So FILTA is not only important for multicultural Fiji. It also has connections to multicultural New Zealand of the 21st century.
FILTA is an important part of the history of colonial Fiji and students of Fiji history need to know why FILTA was established and what purpose it served other than the obvious one of providing the young tennis enthusiasts an opportunity to play the game. FILTA was important in the transformation of the segregated Fiji of the colonial days where discrimination was a daily affair to a multicultural country with equal rights for everyone.
The most visible aspect of this change perhaps was the declaration of Diwali a national holiday in the early 1970s. So from then on, on Diwali night, as the poet (Sam Simpson) noted, ‘the island air [had] an eastern accent’ with everyone joining in the celebration and hoping to usher in prosperity.
FILTA (Fiji Indian Lawn Tennis Association) had the second re-union of its members a few days ago here in Auckland. The members, who still keep in close contact, are spread all over the world. They had their first re-union in 2008 in Nadi, Fiji and it was then decided that they would have their...
FILTA (Fiji Indian Lawn Tennis Association) had the second re-union of its members a few days ago here in Auckland. The members, who still keep in close contact, are spread all over the world. They had their first re-union in 2008 in Nadi, Fiji and it was then decided that they would have their second one in Auckland. The success of these re-unions where the members come from different countries to spend time together and ‘reminisce about the good old days’ is proof of the camaraderie and friendship fostered by FILTA.
FILTA was formed in 1945. In those days tennis in Fiji was a ‘European sport for European eyes only’. We are told that a wooden fence was put up around the tennis court in Nadi so others could not watch the white men and women playing the game! Divakar Rao who grew up in Nadi in the 1940s and later became a member of the FILTA recalls how they ‘made inroads into what was then the private domain of the elite CSR sahibs’.
So the aspiring Indian tennis players had to overcome hurdles everywhere. But they were a brave and determined lot. When there was nowhere for the Indians to play tennis, Dr.Mukherjee built a tennis court next to his residence in Nawaka, Nadi. Thanks to people like Dr.Mukherji, ‘Indian tennis sprouted in the West and finally germinated into FILTA in mid-forties’.
When I arrived in Fiji in 1966 self government had just started but vestiges of colonialism were still there. Some of the members of FILTA had risen to important positions by then. Subri Pillay was the District Officer in Nadi. He was one of the first locals to hold that position as until then officers were posted from the United Kingdom to be the DOs.
Later, when we started living in Lautoka, Narain Nair was the District Commissioner Western (the first local to be made a DC) and Moti (later Sir Moti) Tikaram was the judge at the high court in Lautoka (again the first local to be a high court judge). So it can be seen that the members of FILTA held very important positions in the soon to be independent country.
I consider myself fortunate to have met some of these pioneers. Among them the person I saw most was Mr. Ganeshwar Rao who used to be in Lautoka in the early 1970s. These FILTA members had some remarkable qualities which I admire, the most outstanding being their courage to stand up for what they thought was right and fight for it.
Mr. Rao was one of the few teachers brought from India by Indian religious and cultural organisations in colonial Fiji to teach in Indian schools. He was very different from the rest of the Indian teachers who led rather quiet lives and confined themselves mostly to home and school. Mr. Rao, however, had varied interests. He was interested in tennis, chess, cars, motorcycles and the list goes on.
If we did not see him driving his car around, we saw him going past in his motor cycle. He was one of the few teachers from India in Fiji in the 1950s and 1960s who owned a car. Here he was similar to Swami Rudrananda of the Ramakrishna Mission who had a Rolls Royce to take the devotees to the Ashram and back. Mr. Rao was using his car for his own pleasure unlike Swami Rudrananda. Nevertheless, he was making a point just like Swamiji and sending clear signals to the vested interests and the colonial government.
There is the story about Mr.Rao’s fight with a white sahib in the middle of a bridge. In the colonial days in Fiji many of the bridges had only single lane. So cars on one side had to wait till the cars which were already coming from the opposite side crossed the bridge. Mr. Rao was already on the bridge from one side when another car from the opposite side drove into the bridge. The other driver expected Mr. Rao, an Indian, to go back and give way to him. He had clearly underestimated Mr.Rao who stood his ground and refused to budge. Finally the whiteman who was in the wrong had to pull back and let Mr. Rao go.
Another time I am told that a missionary went to the school where Mr. Rao was teaching and wanted to talk to the teachers. He told the staff how they were all sinners and they had to repent and ask for forgiveness and so on. Everyone listened quietly. After some time, Mr. Rao, who followed the teachings of Swami Vivekananda (Swami Vivekananda had said: ‘You are souls immortal. Sinners? It is a sin to call a man so’) decided that he had had enough. He said to the man: ‘I am not a sinner. You may be one.’ And he asked his colleagues: ‘Are you sinners?’ No one said anything and the silence seemed to indicate that they agreed with what Mr. Rao was saying. The evangelist realised that it would be wise to leave before he encountered more arguments against him.
Another of the FILTA members I got to know was Mr. Ram Lakhan who used to be the post master at Nadi before moving to Canberra. I have fond memories of a visit I paid to him and his wife with whom my daughter used to stay while attending school in Canberra. There he kept up with his interest in tennis but collapsed in the tennis court one day while playing the game he loved and died.
After the Silver Jubilee in 1970 FILTA slowly ceased to exist because the need for it was no more and so it amalgamated into other bodies. It also has New Zealand connections. Not only was the second re-union held in Auckland. One of the persons who used to be with the early Indian tennis players from Fiji, who played in Auckland while studying here, was Dr. M. Satyanand, the father of the current Governor General. So FILTA is not only important for multicultural Fiji. It also has connections to multicultural New Zealand of the 21st century.
FILTA is an important part of the history of colonial Fiji and students of Fiji history need to know why FILTA was established and what purpose it served other than the obvious one of providing the young tennis enthusiasts an opportunity to play the game. FILTA was important in the transformation of the segregated Fiji of the colonial days where discrimination was a daily affair to a multicultural country with equal rights for everyone.
The most visible aspect of this change perhaps was the declaration of Diwali a national holiday in the early 1970s. So from then on, on Diwali night, as the poet (Sam Simpson) noted, ‘the island air [had] an eastern accent’ with everyone joining in the celebration and hoping to usher in prosperity.
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