The Way We Were

GROWING UP ON ITS IDYLLIC ISLANDS, BHAICHAND PATEL SAW A SIDE OF FIJI THAT NEVER MAKES IT TO TOURISM BROCHURES. FROM SUGARCANE FIELDS TO BOLLYWOOD MOVIES IN TIN SHACKS, HE PAINTS A VIVID LANDSCAPE FROM MEMORY

 

- Bhaichand Patel

Fiji has amazing white-sand beaches. It is a great place to snorkel in the lagoons or go further out, beyond the coral reefs, and scuba dive in crystal clear waters. The more timid can grab a cocktail made from local rum and tropical fruits and watch the sun go down in shades of scarlet and gold. Honeymooners come here from all over the world. The place is beautiful and the people are the friendliest in the world. That’s the tourist picture and an accurate one.

There is also another Fiji with a bustling economy that makes it the most prosperous country among the island states of the South Pacific. It is home to over three lakh Indians. Their Hindi may be shaky but they speak Bhojpuri fluently!

The country has sugar plantations, acres and acres of them. You can’t miss them as your airplane descends at the international airport. And it is the sugar industry that has an India connection. Soon after the country became a British colony, in 1874, the Australians arrived hoping to grow sugarcane but, to their chagrin, found that the natives were unwilling to work on their plantations; they were happy cultivating coconuts and cassava or going out in their canoes to catch fish that lie in abundance in the sea surrounding their islands. Cutting cane is a very strenuous activity.