Bittersweet: The Indo-Fijian Experience

by Brij V. Lal (Editor)

On May 14, 1879, the Leonidas, the first ship carrying indentured Indians, arrived in Fiji with 463 immigrants aboard. They were the answer to Fiji's dwindling supply of labor. From May 1879 until 1919, 87 shiploads of Indians travelled to Fiji to work out their five years of indentured slavery-the girmit (from the word agreement). Conditions on the cane plantations were miserable and the Indians called that part of their lives narak (hell). Once the five years of servitude were over, the Indians were given a certificate of residence. Only after another five years would they become eligible for a paid ticket back to India. Bittersweet celebrates the 125th anniversary of the arrival of the first girmitiyas in Fiji and introduces the reader to Indo-Fijians. This collection crosses the generations. The writers tell of schooldays and festivals, family and village relationships, suffering and discrimination, sharing and achievements, education and psychology, sports and marriage. Illustrated with rich color photographs, the beauty of these images masks the turmoil that has marked the people of Fiji for generations.

407 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2004

About the author

Brij V. Lal AM, FAHA is an Indo-Fijian historian. He was born in Labasa, on the northern island of Vanua Levu. He was educated at the University of the South Pacific, the University of British Columbia and the Australian National University. A harsh critic of the Bainimarama government, which originated in the military coup of 2006 and retained power in the 2014 elections, he is currently living in exile in Australia.

"I am currently working on a large scale project about Australia's engagement with the South Pacific from the 1940s to the 1980s, focusing on the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu. My research on Fiji continues with a historical dictionary and a general interpretative volume for the University of Hawaii currently in preparation, along with a series of essays on the politics and culture of the Indian indentured diaspora. On the side, I continue to wrestle with the problems of writing about societies with unwritten pasts."

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of essays from Fiji pre-2004. Very insightful.