Touching tribute to sacrifice of Girmit ancestors
May 17 2010
An Auckland accountant has formulated a unique way to keep his family networks connected . . . and at the same time pay tribute to his ancestors who were among the pioneers of the first Indians brought to Fiji from India to work on the sugar cane farms.
Satendra Kumar, originally of Sigatoka, Fiji, has penned a book which not only lists names and contact details of family members going back six generations – starting from his maternal grandfather (nanaji), but attempts to tell the how and why of “Girmit”.
The book, The Legacy of Ram Prasad – Trials and Tribulations of a Girmitiya, tells the story of Kumar’s Nanaji, Ram Prasad, who is believed to have been coerced into boarding a boat bound for Fiji shores in 1901.
The book was launched in Manukau last week by prominent retired school principal Chandra Prakash at a function attended mostly by families and friends.
Mr Prakash commended the vision and the initiative taken by Kumar to publish the book to strengthen his family networks and at the same time reminding the current generation of the struggles the pioneers had to endure to secure a better future for their descendants.
He paid tribute to the mammoth hardships faced by the indentured labourers and why it was important for the younger generation to remember the influence of their forefathers in whatever was being enjoyed by the current generation.
Kumar, who lives in Mangere with his wife and sons, said he hoped the book would help his network of family members – spread across the globe – to be able to stay connected for a long time to come.
“Too often we have noticed that families lose contact with each other, especially once they migrate and become engrossed in their hectic lifestyles,” Kumar said.
“Often when families live very far apart, children born in respective families sometimes never get to meet or get to know each other.
“This book is aimed at connecting everyone and at the same time telling the story of Girmit of our ancestors. It was a different world then, and it is something the younger generation needs to cherish and respect.”
According to the book, Ram Prasad, who lived in Gokul, in Mathura district, in Uttar Pradesh, was forced on to the boat by unknown assailants who grabbed him while he was away from his home following a scuffle with his zamindaar’s son.
Once on the boat – the rest as they say – is history. Bundled together with scores of others, they didn’t see land for weeks before landing in Fiji and began their “slavery” under the harsh conditions imposed by the plantation landlords.
WHAT IS GIRMIT?
When the Indentured labour system was introduced by the British government in the 1830s, each labourer was required to sign an employment contract called the “The Indenture Agreement”.
For the Indian labourers who did not understand the English well, pronunciation of English words became a challenge.
In Fiji, the Indentured Labourers had to use the term “Agreement” as this was what bound them not only to their employers, but also to their destiny. Unable to pronounce “Agreement”, they settled for “Girmit”, as it is known by Fiji Indians today.
The first batch of indentured labourers was brought from India to work in the sugar cane plantations in Fiji in 1879. They first landed on Fiji shores on May 14 – the day of the first military coup carried out by Major-General Sitiveni Rabuka in 1987.
An Auckland accountant has formulated a unique way to keep his family networks connected . . . and at the same time pay tribute to his ancestors who were among the pioneers of the first Indians brought to Fiji from India to work on the sugar cane farms.
Satendra Kumar, originally of Sigatoka,...
An Auckland accountant has formulated a unique way to keep his family networks connected . . . and at the same time pay tribute to his ancestors who were among the pioneers of the first Indians brought to Fiji from India to work on the sugar cane farms.
Satendra Kumar, originally of Sigatoka, Fiji, has penned a book which not only lists names and contact details of family members going back six generations – starting from his maternal grandfather (nanaji), but attempts to tell the how and why of “Girmit”.
The book, The Legacy of Ram Prasad – Trials and Tribulations of a Girmitiya, tells the story of Kumar’s Nanaji, Ram Prasad, who is believed to have been coerced into boarding a boat bound for Fiji shores in 1901.
The book was launched in Manukau last week by prominent retired school principal Chandra Prakash at a function attended mostly by families and friends.
Mr Prakash commended the vision and the initiative taken by Kumar to publish the book to strengthen his family networks and at the same time reminding the current generation of the struggles the pioneers had to endure to secure a better future for their descendants.
He paid tribute to the mammoth hardships faced by the indentured labourers and why it was important for the younger generation to remember the influence of their forefathers in whatever was being enjoyed by the current generation.
Kumar, who lives in Mangere with his wife and sons, said he hoped the book would help his network of family members – spread across the globe – to be able to stay connected for a long time to come.
“Too often we have noticed that families lose contact with each other, especially once they migrate and become engrossed in their hectic lifestyles,” Kumar said.
“Often when families live very far apart, children born in respective families sometimes never get to meet or get to know each other.
“This book is aimed at connecting everyone and at the same time telling the story of Girmit of our ancestors. It was a different world then, and it is something the younger generation needs to cherish and respect.”
According to the book, Ram Prasad, who lived in Gokul, in Mathura district, in Uttar Pradesh, was forced on to the boat by unknown assailants who grabbed him while he was away from his home following a scuffle with his zamindaar’s son.
Once on the boat – the rest as they say – is history. Bundled together with scores of others, they didn’t see land for weeks before landing in Fiji and began their “slavery” under the harsh conditions imposed by the plantation landlords.
WHAT IS GIRMIT?
When the Indentured labour system was introduced by the British government in the 1830s, each labourer was required to sign an employment contract called the “The Indenture Agreement”.
For the Indian labourers who did not understand the English well, pronunciation of English words became a challenge.
In Fiji, the Indentured Labourers had to use the term “Agreement” as this was what bound them not only to their employers, but also to their destiny. Unable to pronounce “Agreement”, they settled for “Girmit”, as it is known by Fiji Indians today.
The first batch of indentured labourers was brought from India to work in the sugar cane plantations in Fiji in 1879. They first landed on Fiji shores on May 14 – the day of the first military coup carried out by Major-General Sitiveni Rabuka in 1987.
Leave a Comment