You know you are a Fiji Indian when …

The Fiji Indian is a unique beast.

Armed with a rich cultural heritage dating back thousands of years, he was chucked into the middle of the South Pacific where western civilisation was still in its infancy.

First brought into Fiji as indentured labourers by their colonial masters in 1879, Indians served their “girmit” of hard labour, struggled against all odds and survived, prospered and played a significant role in the progress of the island nation, as is evident today.

Many of Fiji Indian sons and daughters went on to make their mark in the history of the country and Mahendra Chaudhry went on to serve as the fourth Prime Minister of the country.

The indenture system during the “girmit” years had two positive effects on subsequent generations. Firstly the need for people of different castes to live work and eat together led to an end of the caste system.

Another positive was the development of a new language, known as Fiji Hindi that was formed from different languages and dialects of India.
Thus was born the Fiji Hindi, understood by all if Fiji Indian descent, no matter where in the world they are.

The speakers of these languages originated from different regions in India that supplied a lot of the indentured labourers.
For the most part, these people came from in certain rural or village areas. The language was further heavily enriched by the inclusion of many Fijian and English words.

The language is now the mother tongue of almost all Fiji Indians and is the manin language of not only all the Fiji Indians but also of all Fijian communities where ethnic Indians are in a majority.

Over the years, many left Fiji in search of better living conditions and social justice and this exodus has gained pace with the series of coups starting in 1987.

And many found have found success and fame throughout the world – in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
In New Zealand, Indians of Fiji origin have achieved some of the highest offices in the country.

• Sir Anand Satyanand became the first person of Fiji Indian descent to be appointed Governor-General of New Zealand, serving for five years until 2012.
• Dr Rajen Prasad, former Race Relations Conciliator in New Zealand, is currently a Labour Party MP.
• Dr Ajit Swaran Singh is a district court judge in Auckland.
• Jai Ram Reddy, former Leader of the Opposition in Fiji, and member of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, also lives in Auckland.
• Rocky Khan is the first of Fiji Indian origin to don the coveted black jersey of the All Blacks sevens team.

Outside New Zealand, some of the prominent Indians of Fiji origin are:

• Lisa Singh, of Tasmania, is a senator in Australia.
• Bobby Singh is a retired American and Canadian football guard.
• And one of the best known Fiji Indian faces in the world is that of golfer Vijay Singh.

Singh has won numerous golfing titles around the world, mostly on the US PGA Tour, and was the first to topple Tiger Woods from his No.1 perch in 2004 and remained in the top spot for 32 weeks.
These are just some of the names which come to mind, and if current indications are anything to go by, there will be more names added to the list.