LEVELLING WIND Come let us mock at the great That had such burdens on the mind And toiled so hard and late To leave some monument behind, Nor thought of the levelling wind. — W.B. Yeats LEVELLING WIND REMEMBERING FIJI BRIJ V. LAL PACIFIC SERIES For our Naati-Pota Jayan Kenneth, Maya June, Ash Arjun and Ella Saras To the Future The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them Czesław Miłosz Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] Available to download for free at press.anu.edu.au ISBN (print): 9781760462666 ISBN (online): 9781760462673 WorldCat (print): 1122806386 WorldCat (online): 1122806645 DOI: 10.22459/LW.2019 This title is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). The full licence terms are available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Cover design and layout by ANU Press This edition © 2019 ANU Press Contents Glossary . ix Acknowledgements . xvii ‘For the loser now will be later to win’ . xix Doug Munro Ni Sa Bula / Namaskar / G’Day . xxiii Past Present: Indenture and its Legacy 1 . Memories of indenture . 3 2 . ‘Such a long journey’: The story of indenture . 21 3 . The Tamarind Tree . 45 4 . ‘A most callous indifference’ . 63 5 . Transitions and transformations . 77 6 . Illusion of hope: Aisha and Bhaskar . 113 Padma Narsey Lal 7 . ‘The burden of remembrance’ . 135 8 . Frequent flyers . 149 9 . Mr Arjun goes to Australia . .161 10 . ‘The children of the wind’ . 181 Future Tense: Witnessing History 11 . While the gun is still smoking . 201 12 . The road to independence . 225 13 . Where has all the music gone? . .. 251 14 . Towards a united future . 277 15 . George Speight’s putsch improbable . 299 16 . Laisenia Qarase’s missed chance . 323 17 . A coup by any other name . 349 18 . Entrenching illegality . 389 19 . The strange career of a ‘clean‑up’ coup . 421 20 . Between a rock and a hard place . 453 Retrospection 21 . Exile and a land of memory: Brij V . Lal, Indo‑Fijian scholar activist . 477 C .K . Chen 22 . ‘Of exits and entrances’ . 495 In dialogue with Doug Munro 23 . ANU made me, but which ANU is mine? . 515 Bibliography . 537 About the author . 563 Glossary F – Fijian; H – Hindi; L – Latin aamaa bivah (H) a special kind of ceremony related to the mango fruit aapas ke baat (H) private matters adda (H) gathering place adharmic (H) morally inappropriate agua (H) leader ahirwa ke naatch (H) a special kind of Ahir dance, with a man dressed in women’s clothes, performed at festive occasions and at weddings; also lehnga ke naatch aja (H) grandfather angrezi saheb (H) white men arkatis (H) unscrupulous recruiters Arya Samaj Noble Society, Indian Hindu reform movement awa-gawa (H) come and gone aya-gaya (H) came and went baanar sena (H) Lord Hanuman’s monkey army babus (H) clerk, an educated Indian man badhiya (H) good Badi Beemari (H) Influenza Epidemic of 1918 badmaash (H) hooligan badmashi bund (H) stop this nonsense bahini (H) sister ix LEVELLING WIND bahut accha (H) very good bahut badhiya (H) very nice baigan (H) eggplants bajuband (H) armlet bakeda (H) crab (Labasa word) baksheesh (H) freebie bandar (H) monkey barbaadi (H) harm belo (H) guest-receiving house; a traditional storage house for farm implements, fertiliser and weedicide beta (H) child bhajan (H) devotional songs bhaji (H) vegetable bhaloo (H) bear bhandara (H) feast bhauji (H) older sister-in-law bichwa (H) toe-ring biraadri (H) brotherhood bure (F) thatched house chaachi (H) aunty chai (H) tea chakka panji (H) hoi poloi chamar (H) tanner, low caste chandali (H) stupidity chaplusi (H) wanton behaviour chautals (H) Holi, or Phagwa, festival songs chini-pani (H) sugar has turned to water chori (H) thievery chuttar pani (H) washing your bum with water after visiting the toilet Court-Kachehri (H) law courts, judicial proceedings dabe (H) flood (Labasa word) x GLOSSARY dada (H) older uncle, brother dai (H) mid-wife dakua (F) Fijian hardwood dalo (F) taro damanu (F) Fijian hardwood dandtaal (H) iron rod musical instrument desh (H) nation devtas (H) gods dhandha (H) occupation dharamshalas (H) established centre for spiritual instruction dhibri (H) wick lamp dholak (H) Indian drum dhoti (H) a traditional men’s garment; a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth, usually around 4.5 m (15 ft) long, wrapped around the waist and the legs and knotted at the waist dil roye, beta (H) the heart cries, son din maro (H) to shirk work Fiji-Baat a mixture of various Indian languages interspersed with English and Fijian words Finis coronat opus (L) the end crowns the work gaand ke andha (H) blind as an arse gaar (H) arse ganja (H) marijuana ganwaar (H) country bumpkins gatka (H) stick fighting game gau-mata (H) mother cow ghar (H) house ghoos (H) bribe ghoos-khori (H) corruption girmit (H) indenture, from Agreement girmitiya (H) indentured immigrant xi LEVELLING WIND gitbit (H) speaking rapid-fire gram devtas (H) village deities gulgula (H) Indian sweet hajam (H) traditional barber (by caste) halal (H) permissible haram (H) forbidden haramil (H) bastard hathi (H) elephant havans (H) prayer offerings around fire hum log (H) us people huqqa-pani-bund (H) social ostracism iTaukei (H) Indigenous Fijians izzat (H) collective honour jaanwar (H) animal jadu tona (H) magic, witchcraft jahajibhai (H) ship mate, brotherhood of the crossing jhanjhat (H) trouble Jhankar (H) a weekly film magazine jhatka (H) the method of slaughter demanded by many Hindus, Sikhs jhumka (H) earring kab (H) when kabarsthaan (H) graveyard Kai Idia Indo-Fijians Kai Viti (F) indigenous Fijians kaitani (F) foreigners kaka (H) uncle, father’s younger brothers, cousins kaki (H) father’s younger brother’s wife kakkus (H) outhouse kala pani (H) dark, dreaded seas kanganis (H) middlemen (Ceylon and Malaya) kasbighar (H) brothel in the estate lines xii GLOSSARY kekda (H) crab, see bakeda (Labasa word) khabardari (H) alertness khuda hafiz (H) goodbye khula (H) freed population koi bat nahin (H) don’t worry koros (F) villages kul (H) clan kulambar (H) CSR overseer kurmi (H) cultivating caste kurta (H) traditional Indian shirt kushti (H) wrestling kuti (H) rudimentary hut for religious gathering lakdi ke mithai (H) an Indian sweet made of flour and sugar lathi (H) walking stick lathials (H) guards lehnga (H) long skirt worn by women lehnga ke naatch (H) see ahirwa ke naatch lovo (F) a banquet cooked in an earth oven maan maryada (H) respect madarasa (H) Muslim centre for spiritual instruction mahajans (H) money lenders mai (H) mother mai-bap (H) mother/father, parents, benefactors maistries (H) middlemen mami (H) mother’s brother’s wife mandali (H) village society mandir (H) temple mardaanagi (H) Indian manhood masala (H) fertiliser, also spice mataqali (F) Fijian landowning unit mausi (H) mother’s sister mircha (H) chillies xiii LEVELLING WIND mohur (H) single string of gold sovereigns mulk (H) homeland murgi chor (H) poultry thief, petty person mutimilelie (H) may you be mixed with earth namaste (H) respectful greeting narak (H) hell nathini (H) nose-ring neta log (H) leaders, community elders ojha (H) sorcerer orhni (H) shawl worn by Indian women paal (H) stitched sacks for mat pagri (H) turban palki-bearers (H) men who carried people on wheelless vehicles panchayat (H) village council pankah-pullers (H) fan pullers to keep dignitaries and royalty cool patoh (H) daughter-in-law pawan-bans (H) children of the wind Pawan-putra (H) Son of the wind, Lord Hanuman payal (H) anklet pet khalas (H) the stomach’s gone pet puja (H) self-interest phua (H) father’s sister poora barbadi (H) total loss poora jad pulai (H) everything poorbea (H) eastern pothis (H) primary school texts prashchayat (H) penance primus inter pares (L) first among equals pujas (H) devotional prayer offerings pukka jungali (H) complete country bumpkin qassai (H) butcher qauwwali (H) Urdu songs xiv GLOSSARY qoliqoli (F) foreshore Ram ki marji (H) God’s wish Ram-Ram (H) Hindi words of greeting or farewell rara (F) manicured open lawn rasmo riwaz (H) our own way of doing things ratoon (H) second and subsequent cane crop sab chalta hai (H) anything goes sadhu (H) holy man saheb (H) master sala chutia (H) you arsehole salwar kamiz (H) Indian women’s dress samaj rakshak (H) guardians of the community Sanatanis (H) orthodox Hindus saris (H) Indian women’s dress satua (H) type of homemade sweets shabaash, beta (H) well done, son sharif (H) honourable sher (H) lion shuddh (H) ‘proper’ shukriya ji (H) thank you, sir sirdar (H) Indian male foreman suar ke baccha (H) son of a pig sulu (F) kilt-like garment worn by Fijian men suluka (F) rough, handmade cigarettes wrapped in pandanus leaves sundar (H) nice tabua (F) whale’s tooth tamasha (H) sideshow tanoa (F) kava bowl tapus (H) islands taukei (F) indigenous Fijian owners of the land tehsil (H) subdistrict xv LEVELLING WIND terminat auctor opus (L) the author finishes his work terra sacra (L) sacred earth tharia (H) bowl vanua (F) land, province vulagi (F) foreigner, visitor yaar (H) mate yaqona (F) kava xvi Acknowledgements This book, coming at the end of my professional career, has long been in the making. It began when I went to The Australian National University in 1977 to do my doctorate on the social origins of Fiji’s Indian indentured migrants. A decade or so later, military coups and the convulsions they caused drew me to the study of Fijian politics.