#girmitya

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Girmitya women and children gathered outside their accommodation.

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by Sacintya Mohini Simpson.

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“my existence is a product of colonialism, the history of the Girmitya is silenced through the larger history of India and that is unfortunate. our ancestors have become footnotes, reduced to mere statistics. for their descendants, home is still a complex term, fraught with identity crisis. but no forms of remembrance remain for the women and men and children who crossed the oceans to this island, unknowingly leaving behind all sense of belonging, only to retire into permanent displacement.” - Hemanshi Kumar

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Thoughts on Indian Independance Day - from a Girmitya descendant.

As a Girmitya descendant, my feelings/thoughts on Indian Independence Day have always been a bit messy. There’ve been years when I’ve felt very strongly about it and there’ve been times when I’ve felt almost completely disconnected from it but August 15 has always been a day when my ‘annoyances’ have surfaced, one of them is the feeling of not being ‘Indian enough’. 

I felt like I’ve always had to prove how Indian I am and also I feel like there’s a certain view in which India Indians view Girmitya descendants. Its like we’re are not Indian enough hence not good enough. 

One thing I am grateful for is the fact that Girmityas broke away from the shackles of caste - they had no choice but to forge a new brotherhood to survive. I’ve asked myself why I feel so strongly about this and its because in so many ways I am Indian. I feel strongly about certain Indian values and staying/being connected to my culture. 

The thing is, even ‘my culture’ is messy. What is my culture? I know virtually nothing about Fijian culture, everything I do know is Indian. This feeling of ‘not enough’ has had me constantly doing research about Indian culture so I come across as ‘Indian’ to others and today I’m asking myself why. Do I even want to be seen/perceived as ‘fully’ Indian? Honestly, I don’t know. This doesn’t take away the fact that I do have a lot of pride about being Fijian Indian. My culture is unique. My ancestors did back breaking work to survive for little to no money and yet they chose to stay in Fiji. Maybe they didn’t have the means to go back or maybe they just didn’t want to. I’ll never know but I’m glad that they stayed. 

There are certain things/events that have occurred in India that have bugged me for various reasons because ultimately, its where I come from and I don’t know if my fellow Fijian Indians have been/are affected the same way I have. I think whatever happens – good or bad, it’s a reminder to keep learning and to better understand myself. To sum it up, when I think about Indian Independence Day today, it doesn’t have any effect on me. At least I don’t think it does. 

What I do think about is Fiji and how Girmityas made a life for themselves in this land that they found themselves in. I think about how my life could’ve been very different if one of my forefathers decided to not to board that ship to Fiji. 

My annoyances stem from the fact that Girmityas have been and still are overlooked by India and unfortunately, I don’t think this’ll change. Its sad because its very much a part of their history but it is simply not talked about and very honestly even if it was, I don’t think it would make much of a difference to the larger population. 

Indian Independence Day has me thinking about how we as individuals can be independent, there are the obvious ways but I think most important is to be independent in the way we think – to break way from whats been passed down to us and think from a detached viewpoint, think about how we can improve while still honouring our roots. 

I realise that I have many identities and they come together in a messy way. I also have a lot of learning to do. 

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map of Girmityas in Fiji.

source: A History of Indian Immigration and Settlement in Fiji - K.L.Gillion

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girmitya women preparing food.

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Girmitya women and children outside their accommodation. life for the Girmityas was incredibly difficult, children were largely left to fend for themselves and look after each other during the day while their parents were working in the fields or on the plantations.

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a plethora of my thoughts.

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Indian indentured labourers sitting in a hammock outside the 'lines'. (Chalo Jahaji)

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another common word is 'Coolie' which the British used to describe indentured laborers.

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