Panch Prakaar Ke Prem : Pancham Prem

p]}c] p—¿]r ¿† p—em] : p}c]m] p—em]

p—em] A¿ AEs]] m]IQ] »l] hE j]o hr m]Os]m] mo »l]t]] »øl]t]] hE aOr v]h s]B]I m]]n]v] ¿† j]Iv]n] ¿I b]ig]y]e ¿o am]n] cOn] so B]r ¿† l]]K]o\ K¶ix]y]} l]] s]¿t]] hE ] h} ag]r hm] s]]D]]rN] wn]s]]n] [s] p]iv]ˆ] m]n]o B]]v]n]] ¿o p]Ure t]rh so s]m]J] ¿r [s] p]r idl]o j]]n] so am]l] ¿rno l]go\ t]b] ] p—em] A¿ wb]]dt] hE ] p—em] hm]]re il]yo ait] ÛoSq p]Uj]] hE ]

iv]SN]U B]g]v]]n] no ws] D]rt]I ¿† rc]n]] ¿† s]m]y] m]]n]v] s]m]]j] ¿o p—em] ¿rno ¿] s]b] so [–]m] d]n] idy]] T]] t]b] t]o y]h hm]]r] j]nm] is]¢ aiD]¿]r ho j]]t]] hE i¿ hm] p—em] ¿† p¶j]]rI b]n] ¿r ap]no s]]re j]Iv]n] ¿o s]]T]* b]n]] lo\ ]

p]oT]I p]Zå p]Zå j]g] m¶a] p}izåt] hua] n] ¿oyo

Zf]W aX]r p—em] ¿] j]o p]Zå] t]o p}izåt] hoyo

hm]]re jOso l]]K]o\ l]og] hE\ ij]n] mo ¿W p—¿]r ¿† t]m]og¶n] B]re p]zåe hE\ loi¿n] j]b] t]¿ [n] s]b] mo more jOso QI¿ s]m]y] p]r ws] s¶s]ijj]t] x]bd ¿] s]hI $]]n] n]hI\ ho j]]t]] t]b] t]¿ hm]]r] s]]r] j]Iv]n] n]Irs] aOr duK]o\ so B]r] hI rheg]] ]

jOso j]]n] a]id ¿iv] n]]m] p—t]]p]], B]y] is]£ ¿r [l]q] j]]p]], QI¿ vOso hI m¶Jo j]b] morI p—eim]¿] no a]j] so 55 v]S]o* p]hlo ws] p]iv]ˆ] aOr p]]v]n] x]bd ¿] a]B]]s] idl]]y]] T]] t]b] mO\ B]I ap]no b]hut] so av]g¶N]o ¿o Cozå ¿r ws] p—em] ¿† s]]g]r mo g]oto l]g]]no l]g]] T]] ] ws] K]oj] ¿e j]iryo hm] ¿o morI j]Iv]n] s}G]n]I no y]h ait] iv]iD] so s]m]J]]y]] ¿I m]]n]v] j]Iv]n] ¿o s]»l] b]n]]no mo p—em] ¿e s¶ndr nOy]] p]r s]v]]r ho ¿r ¿† hI hm] ap]no j]Iv]n] ¿o bohd s¶K]m]y] b]n]] s]¿to hE\ ]

mor] p]hl]] p—em] p]rm]]tm]] so hua] ] ws] p—em] ¿† j]iryo hm]]re r]X]S]I g¶N] dUr hoto g]yo aOr mO\ ap]no j]Iv]n] ¿o s]mB]]l]no s]v]}rno mo p]Ure t]Or so ¿]m]y]]b] hono l]g]] ] p]rm]]tm]] so p—em] ¿rn]] ws] ¿il]y¶g] mo s]b] so s]rl] ¿]m] hE b]s] hm] ¿o ¿†v]l] ap]no m]n] mo y]h Q]n] lon]] hE i¿ hm] ap]no [t]p]Ì ¿rno v]]lo p]r ap]n]I s]b] ¿÷C in]v]C]v]r ¿rno ¿o s]d] tOy]]r hE\ ]

p]rm]]tm]] t]o K¶d py]]r ¿] s]m¶ndr hE ] vo s]b] so s]B]I h]l]]t]o\ mo p—em] ¿rto hE\ ] duK] ¿I b]]t] hE i¿ hm] hI [n] ¿o ib]s]]r deto hE\ aOr ¿†v]l] ap]no in]j]I sv]]T]o\* ¿† il]yo [n] so l]g]n] l]g]]to hE\ ] y]h ¿hn]] hm]]rI s]b] so b]zåI B]Ul] hog]I j]b] hm] p]rm]]tm]] ¿o ap]no ¿oW K]]s] m]t]l]b] so p—em] y]] B]i• drx]]no ¿I s]oc]to hE\ ] hm] ¿hto hE\ i¿ he B]g]v]]n] hm]]r] y]h ¿]m] s]»l] ho j]]yo t]o hm] a]p] ¿I p]Uj]n] ¿re\go y]] »øl] c]Zå]yo\go ] ¿y]o\ n]hI\ hm] ap]no p]rm]]tm]] so ib]n]] ¿oW x]t]* ¿† p—em] ¿re\ ?

hm] ¿y]o\ n]hI\ [s] p]rm] ip]t]] p]rmox]v]r so s]d] hI Aes]] snoh ¿rto rhe\ i¿ ¿B]I [n] so Aeso [qp]q}g] sv]]l] ¿rno ¿I j]Ðrt] hI n] p]zåe ] p]rm]]tm]] t]o   p—em] ¿] p—t]I¿ hE aOr ag]r hm] [n] p]r ap]n]] s]cc]] p—em] j]t]]yo\go t]o vo hm] ¿o ib]n] ¿÷C m]]go hI s]b] ¿÷C deto rhe\go ] y]hI iv]D]]t]] ¿] iv]D]]n] B]I hE aOr y]hI hr m]]n]v] ¿] is]£}t] hon]] c]]ihyo ]

p]rm]]tm]] so p—em] ¿rno v]]lo s]d] s¶K] cOn] ¿I j]Iv]n] ib]t]]to rhe hE\ ] [n] so p—em] ¿rno mo hm] s]b] ¿] ¿ly]]N] hog]] aOr hm] ¿o b]hut] x]]int] im]log]I ] j]r] ws] aor ap]n]] ¿dm] b]Zå] ¿r t]o deiK]yo ] a]p] B]I A¿ K¶x]I aOr s¶K]I B]• ho j]]yo\go ] ws] iv]x]y] p]r ij]t]n]] ¿h] j]]yo v]h s]b] ¿m] hI  rheg]] ¿y]o\i¿ p]rm]]tm]] so p—em] m]]n]v] ¿] A¿ b]hut] hI p]iv]ˆ] irx]t]] hE ]

dUs]r] p—em] hmo\ ap]no sv]y} ¿† a]tm]] so ¿rn]] c]]ihyo ] a]tm]] ¿] ¿B]I j]nm] n]hI\ hot]] aOr n] ¿B]I ws] ¿I m³ty¶ hot]I hE ] y]h an]]id aOr am]r hE ] y]h s]d] rhno v]]l]] in]ty], p¶r]t]n] aOr aj]nm]] hE ] x]rIr ¿† n]]x] hono p]r B]I a]tm]] ¿] n]]x] n]hI\ hot]] ] wt]no m]htv]p]UN]* aOr K]]s] v]st¶ ¿o ap]no p]]s] rK] ¿r hm] [s] so ¿‡so dUr rh s]¿to hE\ ] ap]n]e a]tm]] so p—em] ¿rno v]]l]] ap]no a]p] ¿o x¶£ aOr p]iv]ˆ] t]o rKog]] hI p]r [s] ¿† p]Ure j]Iv]n] mo s¶K] x]]int] ¿] r]j] hog]] ]

ap]no a]tm]] so p—em] ¿rno v]]l]] vy]i• ap]no a]p] ¿] B]il] p—¿]r so rX]] ¿rn]] B]I s]IK] j]]yog]] ] [so s]cc]]W, acC]W aOr s¶ndrt]] ¿I QI¿ p]hc]]n] hog]I aOr v]h ap]no ws] n]]x]v]]n] x]rIr ¿I deK]B]]l] B]I b]]rI¿I so ¿rno mo s]m]T]* ho j]]yog]] ] v]h j]h} acC] so K]]yog]], ip]yog]], rheg]], im]lo j¶log]], s]t]s}g]t] ¿reg]] aOr ¿m]]yog]] v]hI\ v]h ap]no s]B]I t]rh ¿† $]]n] ¿o b]Zå]yog]] ]

ap]no a]tm]] so p—em] ¿rno v]]l]] s]d] t]nduÎst] rheg]] aOr [s] ¿† x]rIr mo Aes]I t]]¿t] a] j]]yog]I ¿I v]h ap]no a]p] ¿o D]ny] s]m]J]no l]gog]] ] ap]no a]tm]] s]e p—em] ho j]]yo t]o hm]]r] p]rm]]tm]] aOr hm]]re a]s]p]]s] ¿† s]B]I l]og] B]I K¶x] ho j]]yog]] ] x]rIr aOr [s] ¿† ¿]m] a]no aOr l]]no v]]lo s]B]I l]]B] [Q]yo\go ] h} A¿ p]to ¿I b]]t] y]]d rK]no ¿I hE i¿ ¿hI\ Aes]] ¿rno so a]p] ¿† m]n] m]indr mo aiB]m]]n] t]T]] bob¶in]y]]d aiB]l]]S]] n] B]r j]]yo ] ap]no s}y]m] aOr a]tm] s]mm]]n] ¿o b]c]] ¿r rK]n]] p]zåeg]] aOr in]sv]]T]* Ðp] so ap]n]] rhn] s]hn] ¿rn]] p]zåeg]] ]

t]Is]r] p—em] a]p] ¿o ap]no g³hl]X]m]I so ¿rn]I hE ¿y]o\i¿ v]hI a]p] ¿† a]tm]], p]rm]]tm]], s]m]]j], D]m]* t]T]] G]r g³hsT]I ¿I s]hI s}rX]¿ hE ] iv]S]N]U B]g]v]]n] no ap]no l]X]m]I ¿o rc] ¿† p—em] so B]r idy]] T]] p]r s]]re B]Um]nzl] ¿o y]h B]I b]t]] idy]] T]] ¿I [n] ¿] n]]m] lono so p]hlo l]og] l]X]m]I ¿o y]]d ¿re\go ] ws]il]yo a]j] hm] s]b] n]]r]y]N] ¿o p¶¿]rno so p]hlo l]X]m]I n]r]y]N]  ¿I p¶¿]r ¿rto rhto hE\ ] t]o hm] s]b] ¿o ap]no a]p] ¿o p¶¿]rno so p]hlo ap]no g³hl]X]m]I ¿] m]]n] ¿r ¿† [s] ¿o [p]y¶• Ðp] so p—em] ¿rn]] j]ÐrI hE ij]s] so hm]]re j]Iv]n] ¿]l] mo am]n] cOn] B]r j]]yo ]

ap]no g³hl]X]m]I ¿o s]hI p—em] ¿rno v]]lo ap]no s]b] so b]hum]Uly] rt]n] ¿o y]h m]hs]Us] ¿r] de\go i¿ [s] ¿I B]I ¿W ij]mmod]iry]} aOr m]h]n]t]] hm]]re s]m]]j] no b]n]]yo hE\ aOr yo s¶K]I G]r g³hst]I ¿† il]yo m]]n]] g]y]] hE ] jOso ap]no p]it]dev] ¿† s]cco p—em] ¿] j]v]]b] p]iv]ˆ]t]] so de¿r ap]n]] aOr ap]no p]irv]]r ¿] rX]] ¿rto rhe ] y]hI A¿ m]]n]n]Iy] g³hl]X]m]I ¿] x¶B] ¿m]* hE aOr y]hI [s] ¿] [–]m] D]m]* b]n] j]]t]] hE ]

ap]no g³hl]X]m]I ¿o p—em] ¿rno v]]lo ¿† G]r g³hsT]I mo ¿B]I D]n] l]X]m]I ¿I ¿m]I n]hI\ m]hs]Us] hog]I ] G]r ¿I l]X]m]I so p—em] ¿] s]hI aT]* hog]] s¶K]I p]irv]]r, s¶ndr h]v]B]]v], ait] s¶ndr sv]]sT] aOr sv]]B]]v] ¿† b]cco, ÛoSq a]c]]r iv]c]]r t]T]] G]r a}g]n] mo s]d] am]n] cOn] b]n]] rhn]] ] ap]no aD]]*ig]n]I ¿o p—em] dx]]*no v]]l]o ¿o yo ¿rno ¿† il]y]e ¿oW sp]SqI¿rn] n]hI\ ¿rno ¿I j]Ðrt] hE ¿y]o\i¿ y]h B]]v]n]] v]]st]iv]¿ aOr s]d]c]]rI hE ]

Aes]] b]rd]n] hr sˆ]I p¶ÎS] ¿o p]rm]]tm]] no yo s}s]]r rc]no so p]hlo idy]] T]] ] jOso ws] s}s]]r mo s]b] pozå p]ODo hv]] mo J]Um]to rhto hE\ vOso hI hr p]it] p]tn]I ¿o B]I ap]no p]iv]ˆ] p—em] so ap]n]] s]]r] j]Iv]n] ¿o s]]T]* b]n]]no ¿I B]rx]• ¿oix]x] ¿rn]I c]]ihyo ]

ij]s] no B]I ap]no p]tn]I ¿] m]]n] m]y]]*d] rK]], [s] ¿] s]hI wËt] i¿y]] hE t]T]] ij]s] no B]I ws] s}s]]r mo ap]no p]tn]I ¿o t]he idl] so p—em] i¿y]] aOr [s] ¿] p]Ur] py]]r aOr m]]n] p]]y]] hE v]h p¶ÎS] ¿†v]l] m]h]n] hI n]hI\ hE p]r [s] ¿] j]Iv]n] s]]T]* ho g]y]]   hE ] [s] ¿† ij]ndg]I mo j]h} s¶K] x]]int] rhI hE\ v]hI\ [n] ¿† b]]l] b]cco B]I ait] iv]©]n] aOr p]irv]t]*n]x]Il] hoto hE\ ] hm]]re g—\T] p]it] p]tn]I ¿† p]iv]ˆ] p—em] ¿† idl]c]sp] ¿h]in]y]o\ so B]re p]zåe hE\ ij]n] s]b] ¿] an]u¿rN] ¿r ¿† hm] m]]n]v] ap]no p]Ure j]Iv]n] ¿o s]hI is]£\]t]o\ so B]r s]¿to hE\ ]

ab] a]t]I hE c]OTo p—em] ¿I ¿T]n] ] a]p] no ap]no p]tn]I so p]iv]ˆ] p—em] ¿r ¿† j]o rt]n]o\ ¿o j]n]m] idy]] hE vo a]p] ¿† ap]no b]cco hE\ ] ws]il]yo hm]]re c]OTo   p—em] ¿† as]l]I aiD]¿]rI hm]]re b]cco hE\ ] hm] ap]no b]cc]o\ ¿o ij]t]n]] B]I p—em] ¿re\ v]h ¿m] hI hog]] ] [n] ¿† j]Iv]n] mo py]]r B]rno so [n] ¿] rhn] s]hn], ix]X]] idX]], m]]n] m]y]]*d], K]]n] p]]n], lon] den],p—dx]*n] aOr p]Ur] B]iv]Sy] s¶s]iËt] hot]] hE ] j]o B]I b]cco p—em] mo p]l]to hE\ vo s]d] p—em] hI b]}qto i»re\go ij]s] so hm]]re s]]re s]m]]j] aOr m]]n]v] j]]it] ¿] x¶B] l]]B] hog]] ] hm] ap]no b]cc]o ¿o iv]xv] x]]int] ¿] p]]Q p]Zå]no mo s]m]T]* ho\go ]

j]h} hm] ap]no b]cc]o\ so p—em] dx]]*to hE\ v]hI\ hm] ¿o ws] b]]t] ¿I s]]v]D]]n]I rK]n]I p]zåeg]I ¿I ¿hI\ hm] ap]no [lqe l]]z py]]r so [n] ¿o ib]g]]zå t]o n]hI\ rhe hE\ ] ap]no c]]yo mo [t]n]] hI x]k¿r CoizåYe ij]s] so a]p] ¿o c]In]I ¿I b]Im]]rI n] ho j]]yo ] j]h} a]p] ¿o b]cc]o\ so p]Ure p—em] ¿rn]] hE v]hI\ [n] ¿o ws] ¿† b¶re as]r so b]c]]n]] B]I hE ] ap]no p—em] p]r iv]x]v]]s] ¿re\ aOr ap]no b]cc]o\ p]r p]Ure t]Or so in]g]r]n]I rKo\ t]B]I a]p] ¿] c]OT]] p—em] ¿o s]»l]t]] im]log]I ]

hm]]r] ¿hn]] hE i¿ a]p] p]hlo p]}c] v]S]o*\ mo ap]no b]cc]o ¿o Qos] py]]r ¿re\ i»r b]]rh s]]l] hono t]¿ [n] ¿o ap]no g]lo so l]g]] ¿r rKo t]T]] [n] ¿† ix]X]] idX]] mo l]go rhe\ aOr [s] ¿† b]]d [n] p]r AEs]] py]]r drx]]no ¿I ¿oix]x] ¿re\ i¿ [n] ¿o ap]no p¶ÎS]]T]* ¿o b]n]]no mo ¿oW idk¿t] ¿] s]]m]n]] n]hI\ ¿rn]] p]zåe ] vo A¿ s]»l] wn]s]]n] b]n] ¿r s]hI t]Or so ap]no s]m]]j] mo G¶l]im]l] j]]yo\ ]

hm]]r] p}c]m] p—em] s]b] p}c]o so hon]I c]]ihyo ] hm]]re p}c] hE\ hm]]re s]go s]mb]nD]I jOso hm]]re m]]t]] ip]t]], B]]W b]hn] aOr hm]]re c]]c]] c]]c]I t]T]] hm]]re im]ˆ] s]K]] aOr s]m]]j] ¿† any] s]Ën] aOr deiv]y]} ] j]b] a]p] wn] s]b] so ap]n]] p—em] dx]]*yogo t]b] a]p] ¿o B]I py]]r, wËt], m]]n] m]y]]*d] t]T]] s]hy]og] im]l]t]I rheg]I ] a]p] ¿† s]B]I duK] dd* mo s]]im]l] hono v]]lo s]d] a]p] ¿† s]]T] rhe\go ] s}s]]r mo a]p]s]I B]]W c]]r] b]Zåeg]I, D]m]* ¿] m]]n] hog]], s]m]]j] ¿] ¿ly]]N] hog]] aOr iv]xv] x]]int] ¿]y]m] rheg]I ] t]b] hm] s]b] yo s]IK] lo\go ¿I i¿s] t]rh dux]m]n]o so B]I im]l] ¿† rh] j]] s]¿t]] hE ] hm]]re p—em] mo vOs]I ¿Im]t] aOr t]]¿t] ho j]]yog]I ¿I hm] ap]no p]Ure v]]t]]v]rN] ¿o ¿ly]]N]¿]rI b]n]]no mo s]»l] ho j]]yo\go ]

wn]s]]n] ¿† idl] aOr idm]]g] s]b] acC]Wy]o\ ¿o K]oj] in]¿]l]no ¿I X]m]t]] rK]to hE\ ws]il]yo hmo ap]no j]Iv]n] ¿]l] mo ap]no iv]vo¿ ¿o p]Ure t]Or so wstom]]l] ¿r ¿† A¿ Aes]] [ic]t] r]st]] in]¿]l]n]] c]]ihyo j]h} hm] ap]no s]B]I l]og]o\ so ait] p—em] B]]v] so im]l]j¶l] ¿r rhn]] s]IKo\ aOr ws] p]iv]ˆ] Wx]v]rI den] ¿] p—c]]r ¿rto rhe\ ] hm]]re ¿÷C s]b] so b]zåe dux]m]n] hm]]re J]UQe ah\¿]r, hm]]re B]y], hm]]re ap]no a]p] mo a]tm] iv]xv]]s] ¿I ¿m]I aOr hm]]re andr ¿I p—ots]]hn] ¿I n]s]m]J] hE\ ] wn] s]b] p—]¿ëit]¿ d]n] ¿o lo ¿r hm] c]lo t]o hm] B]I ap]no G]r g³hsT]I t]T]] p}c]o mo p—em] ¿I p¶ny] p—it]m]] ¿o B]r s]¿to hE\ ]

a]ao c]lo hm] a]j] s]b] yo s}¿lp] ap]no a]p] so ¿r lo ij]s] so hm] ap]no p]rm]]tm]], a]tm]], g³hl]X]m]I, s]n]t]]n]o\ aOr s]b] p]nc]o\ so s]hI t]T]] [p]y¶• p—em] ¿rno ¿I Q]n] lo ij]s] so hm]]r], hm]]re p]irv]]r ¿], hm]]re D]m]*, dex] aOr s]m]]j] ¿] t]T]] s]]re s}s]]r ¿] p]Ure t]Or so ¿ly]]N] hot]] rhe ] T]ozåI ¿oix]x] t]o ¿r ¿† deiK]yo i¿ a]p] B]I ap]no ¿r ¿m]l]o\ ©]r] ap]no j]Iv]n] mo ¿‡so hiry]]l]I l]] s]¿to hE\ ]

A¿ b]]t] aOr hE ij]so mO\ ¿hn]] [ic]t] s]m]J]t]] hU\ ] ap]no j]Iv]n] ¿]l] mo mO\ no B]I ¿W g]l]it]y]o\ ¿o i¿y]] hE p]r more ¿÷C s]b] so s¶ndr $]]n] [n] g]l]it]y]o\ so ¿÷C s]IK]no so hI a]y]] hE ] ag]r a]j] t]¿ a]p] ap]no j]Iv]n] mo ¿†v]l] ¿}qe hI b]oto rhe t]o ab] j]]g]no ¿] s]m]y] a] g]y]] hE ] ¿b]Ir j]I so ¿÷C s]IK] l]Iij]yo aOr ap]no j]Iv]n] mo p—em] ¿] p—dx]*n] ¿r ¿† s¶K] x]]int] ¿] an¶B]v] ¿Iij]yo ]

j]o t]o¿o ¿}q] b¶vO t]]ih b]ov] t]U »øl]

t]oih »øl] ¿o »øl] hE v]]¿o hE iˆ]x]Ul]

REFLECTIONS : SWEET AND SOUR MEMORIES OF THE PRASAD FAMILY OF BELLBOWRIE.

REFLECTIONS : SWEET AND SOUR MEMORIES OF THE PRASAD FAMILY OF BELLBOWRIE.

(Part Three)

A year passed reasonably happily in Sabeto making us experience various aspects of difficult rural living. We managed to get a transfer to Nakaulevu Primary School in Navua in 1965 and started teaching there by occupying a public quarter (house). Our family life changed a lot for the better and our first child Praanesh was born on 6^th March 1965 at CWMH Anderson Maternity Unit under the care of Dr DJ Lancaster.

This was the most wonderful moment of our life. We had become parents to a very beautiful and healthy baby boy and we started looking after him with all our love, care and interest. We decided that all our children would have an eight-letter first name because the figure 8 was good sign for us and gave us eight most needed attributes of humanity that our children had to master. These included: academic, brilliant, courteous, dexterous, effective, faithful, graceful and honest.

Praanesh for us really meant our life and soul.  He was all we had until 30^th June 1967 when our life was filled with our first daughter Praneeta. She was as pretty as her name and as precious as the most expensive diamond in the world for us. Her arrival made us richer and gave great solace, satisfaction and sense of fulfilment to us. We were blessed with a son and a daughter to make us a complete family but we had wish for more.

In those two fruitful years of our early-married life, we made a lot of progress and enjoyed our service to the people. We managed to buy a freehold land at Lami near Suva from one of our friends, Mahesh Prasad of Nakaulevu.

He immediately transferred the land in our name by allowing us to meet regular payments for the next two and half years to enable us to obtain housing loan to build our first home on our land.

This kind gesture made us borrow two thousand pounds from the Home Finance Company of Fiji and start building our own first home. Saroj’s Dada Durga Prasad made the plan for the house and it took almost six months to build.

We hired a carpenter by the name of Suruj Bali and helped him erect the house slowly. After our hard day of schoolwork, Saroj and I worked with the labourers every afternoon and the weekends.

We were transferred to Suva’s Nehru Memorial School in 1967 after my retraining at the University of the South Pacific as an English Specialist Teacher. While our house was being built, we rented the Sharma House at 6 Nabua Road. To supplement our income we had to do extra tutorial and other work.

Saroj and I taught children after school and I worked as a bookkeeper for a few Suva business people. I worked as an insurance agent for Life Insurance Corporation of India. The income from these additional sources gave us enough funds to keep building our first home.

Some envious people who reported our supplementary work activities to the Education Officials could not tolerate our progress and hard work. We were given a punitive transfer to Taveuni but we objected, appealed, and got that move changed to Nakaikongo in Nausori. My fight with the corrupt officials of the Education Department began that year and I turned to become a very active member of the Fiji Teachers’ Union.

By this time, our home was ready and we had moved in but travelled daily to and from Nakaikongo. The school was across the Rewa River and we had to cross the river on a hanging bridge by walking the muddy path for a kilometre to reach the school but we managed and survived the ordeals. We had to wear gumboots to make this daily trip safely.

Because of our good work in 1968, I was appointed as Head Teacher of Rishikul Primary School and then within a year because of our financial difficulties I asked for a transfer back to Nakaulevu so that we could rent our house and release the pressure of meeting various outstanding payments. On 29^th September 1968, we were blessed with our second daughter whose birth gave us a lot of hope, happiness and faith, hence the name, Harshita. She came as the Goddess Luxmi amidst us and solved many of our financial difficulties.

We began enjoying our public service at Nakaulevu and on various occasions, my grandfather (Aja) and Saroj’s grandmother (Iba Nani) used to come and live with us to help us look after our children. Our house cleaner and maid Daya was a great help to us as well.

Accidents do happen, when one day while playing with a few coins at home Harshita, at the age of 18 months, put a shilling coin in her mouth, and it slipped down her throat. When we rushed her to CWM Hospital Dr Shiu Ramrakha, the surgeon tried to pull it out but when that was not possible he pushed it further down into her stomach so that it could come out the other end later. It did after a day and we were relieved. We kept this coin as a souvenir until the floods of 1972 swept it away to the Pacific Ocean.

As Head Teacher of this school, I helped the village in many of their reforms and organised a variety of programmes to enrich the school generally. The country became independent on 10^th October 1970 and I actively participated in the politics of the nation as well as the Union, thus gaining a lot of respect and honour from the community we were serving.

As if our family life was not yet complete, so we decided to have another child and consequently Saroj gave birth to another son on 29^th September 1971 and we called him Rohitesh. He was our last born and very delicately handled at all times. As per our wedding pledge, we began the process of raising our four children with great care and responsibility. We decided that we would do everything in our power and means to ensure their best growth and development.

Life progressed very well for us and in May of 1972, I went to Russia (USSR) as a guest of the Federation of Labour for five weeks and thoroughly toured Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and Orissa. This trip was very educational for me because I gained a lot of experience and knowledge about political parties and unionism. On my return journey, I visited the unions and political parties in India and Singapore.

While I was away, Saroj managed the family and the schoolwork with great skills and responsibility. We were fortunate to get her grandmother who kept her company during this difficult time. Other family members also came to her help.

In October 1972, Navua faced its biggest natural disaster when hurricane Bebe brought flood to the area. Our house went under water and we suffered a lot of loss to our properties. Our car was swept away and we took refuge in the school building with our four children and other village people. I had to go out in small boats to rescue stranded people whose homes were uninundated.

Navua bridge was destroyed and all transportation to and from Suva stopped but after the floods receded Saroj’s parents managed to travel to us and brought the needed food and water for us and helped us clean the house. They took our children away with them and looked after them for a week.

Later that year I was selected to represent the Fiji Teachers’ Union to conduct a job evaluation exercise for the teachers of Fiji to improve their terms and conditions of service and salaries. The team spent three months doing this project and came up with an historical report that gave the teachers of Fiji greater respect and place in the community and improved their salaries as well as the terms and conditions considerably.

I continued with my interest to improve my qualifications and by this time, I had completed a few requirements from Massey University as well as from the University of the South Pacific (USP) towards my Bachelor’s degree. Then the Fiji government recognizing this effort, awarded me an in-service scholarship in 1973 to complete my studies at the university. The scholarship was for four years but I completed my Bachelor of Arts degree with a Graduate Certificate in Education in three years and was posted as Head of Department Languages to Gospel High School in Suva.

                   

We moved into our own house in Lami and Saroj while teaching at Suva Grammar School was also awarded the same scholarship by the government in 1976 to complete her studies. She completed her Bachelor of Education and was appointed Senior Lecturer in English at Nasinu Teachers’ College in 1978.

I was promoted as Senior Education Officer to work at the English Department of the Curriculum Development Unit of Education Department. Everything began to move very well for us professionally and financially.

Our four children were attending Suva Grammar School by now and we had sorted and eased many of our financial problems. However, to get into better financial position we reorganised our life a little. All our children were doing well and we had reached prestigious positions in our work situation.

  

Therefore, we decided to sell our Lami home in 1979. We made good profit out of this deal and moved to our new home in Laucala Beach Estate.

This was a very large and prestigious home located in a very elite suburb of Nasinu. We enjoyed living happily in it for five good years. By now, we had a new car AQ361, a Toyota Cressida and kept two pet dogs called Lucy and Rodger, German Shepherds. Unfortunately, they were poisoned by some people and had to be cremated in the property.

While living there I formed an association of residents to look after the interest of the area and help beautify the place. Dr Timoci Bavandra was the President and I was chosen the first secretary of the Laucala Beach Estate Residents’ Association. We planted many trees along the road side to beautify the estate and enable walking people to get some shade.

I was elected to the Executive Council of the Fiji Teachers’ Union as their International Relations Officer and from 1979 to 1984 went on various overseas assignments to USA, Canada, South America, Japan, Hongkong, Singapore and New Zealand. These trips, though they were educational and beneficial for me, became very taxing for Saroj and my family because I could not give them enough attention as a husband and as a father.

While working as a Senior Lecturer Saroj did a wonderful work in keeping the children at school and looking after their interests at home. I have never felt more indebted to her in my entire life for sharing this great family and personal responsibility.

As a compensatory gift, I took her on a world tour in 1983 December school holidays just before we moved to Ba. We went through America, moved to Canada, then to UK. We returned to Fiji through Dubai, India, Singapore and Australia.

However, some form of madness had entered into my mind temporarily and I began to act indifferently towards my family for a while. During these spurts of lunacy I even began to act violently towards my wife and children.             

Saroj felt the need to reinstate my original conduct and asked and assisted me to learn to control my deteriorating temper. Consequently, after some therapy I gained my previously ingrained loving behaviour and kinder disposition to the advantage and benefit of my family but it had tarnished my relationship somewhat and took long to re-establish. We managed to overcome the setback gradually.

Things kept moving well from my rejuvenated self and as time passed and situations improved, I was very well established at Laucala Beach Estate. We regained our bond of love and passion and started living a family life that excelled every aspect of our living. We have never looked back to those few darker days of our life but it did leave a bitter taste in our relationship.

No amount of apology and feelings of sadness and sorrow would make me completely get over it. It is even harder for the other members of my family, especially Saroj, to forget those temporary but treacherous episodes but I know that she, being a person of great wisdom and compassion, has forgotten those events but I rightly think that she would not be able to completely forgive me for my trespasses. Life went on and we made our needed amends for the better living.

My parents who were living happily in our Sabeto home had earlier decided to sell their property because their native lease was going to expire soon. They moved to Suva and after living with us for a while in Nakaulevu. We helped them relocate in Nadera.

I helped my parents buy a Crown Land in Nasinu from Housing Authority and they moved there to build their own house. My parents were no longer the hard working, carefree and independent farmers. They had to adjust to a new type of urban living because Nasinu at that time was fast developing into a busy satellite town.

My parents had difficulty adjusting to this new environment and unusual situation in Nasinu because they no longer had the luxury of a regular income and they had to look after the increasing needs and demands of their five grown up daughters. They had to make new friends; found it hard to get around because the type of transportation had changed; various types of noise were bothering them; they were getting frustrated with life generally and above all the cost of living was a lot higher because self sufficiency of the farm was gone.

However, we had to find some means of earning for them and guided them.  Therefore, my father began to act as an intermediary or a middleman at the Suva Market and then he started lending money to needy people who he could trust. Thus, the difficulty of irregular income was somewhat resolved. The increasing educational, social, cultural and travelling demands from the five daughters had to be met adequately.

Gradually my father was able to find good husbands for four of his daughters and was happy to marry them into good homes. We were happy to see that the burden of looking after the family had eased and my parents began to relax.

Time moved on and because we were thinking of migrating to Australia eventually, we decided to sell our Laucala Beach property as well. We managed to find a good buyer in 1983 and made reasonable profit on the sale of our home. Around this time, Praanesh was sent to Brisbane to complete his High School studies at Indooroopilly State High School. He lived at 19 Warren Street with Saroj’s parents but later moved to a rented accommodation when he was at Queensland University of Technology doing his mechanical engineering degree..

My transfer as Head of Western Division Advisory Unit of Secondary Schools happened in June 1984 and I had to stay in a government allocated house in Ba. This happened while my family had to stay in Suva because my children could not be disturbed from their school and my wife could not get a transfer. I commuted to Ba every Monday mornings and returned to Suva on Fridays. This continued until the end of the year when our children finished their studies in Suva.

Saroj was transferred to Ba as Head of Department Languages, Praneeta and Harshita were sent to Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School but Rohitesh began attending Xavier College in Ba. Harshita could not settle comfortably into the boarding life in Brisbane and had to return to join Rohitesh at Xavier College.  I continued doing my work as Divisional Education Officer Secondary Schools in the Westerm Division looking after all the secondary schools from Sigatoka to Raki Raki.

I was invited to join the Rotary Club of Ba in 1985 by one of Saroj’s uncles Dhijendra Singh and eventually became the President of that successful Club in 1986. This turned out to be the door to my retirement and change of work because I was offered a lucrative position of Director Human Resources with the Motibhai Group of Companies in Nadi. I took an early retirement from the Government of Fiji and joined this Group of Companies in 1987.

We had to move to Nadi into our new company residence and were allocated a new 929 Mazda company car. Saroj was transferred as Head of English Department in Nadi. Harshita and Rohitesh went to Natabua High School to complete their respective forms five and six education.

We experienced the brunt of Fiji’s first coup-de- tat in May 1987 but felt no disadvantage at all. Life continued as usual for us until we were ready to send our remaining children overseas. In 1988, Rohitesh went to Brisbane Boys’ Grammar School and Harshita was sent to Victoria University in Wellington New Zealand to continue her tertiary study.

By this time, Praanesh was attending Queensland University of Technology as an engineering student and Praneeta was a first year science student at the University of Queensland. All our children were reaping the benefit of Saroj’s responsible motherhood and excellent child rearing.

After completing his studies, Praanesh got married to Ranitta, daughter of our College mate Regina Prasad. This was our first big function and we tried to do our best despite the death of Saroj’s father a few weeks before the wedding. Both Anand and Regina, our daughter in law’s parents were very supportive.

Time kept moving and we were able to conduct successful marriages for our daughters Praneeta and Harshita. Their weddings took place in Brisbane and we travelled from Fiji to perform the important duties. We were very pleased with the ceremonies and the contributions of the respective families in making the events turn out well. Harshita travelled from Wellington with Naresh Patel and his family to get married.

Saroj too was promoted to her former position of Senior Lecturer English at the Lautoka Teachers’ College. She had to buy a car to travel the distance from our Mountain View Home to her work place every day and visit schools to inspect the work of her students. After our Cressida was sold after ten years at the same price that we bought it off as new from Automotive Supplies, her white Toyota Corolla BU152 began giving her the same service.

In the meantime, I decided to continue my studies as well and finished up with my double degrees of M.B.A. and D.B.A. majoring in Human Resource Management from California in 1991. We made serious efforts to reapply to migrate to Australia when Praanesh was married and with Ranitta they acted as our sponsors.

We went through many hassles to get through this application because the Australian Authorities in Canberra declared us obese and over weight. Because of this declaration and the strictness of their representative doctor Shamma Raj, we had to go through a rigorous weight loss programme to arrange a loss of over 20kg each. We learnt at that time that other applicants who were more obese than we were, managed to get past this hurdles because they had different doctor to provide them the certificate of health and fitness. I managed to do so but Saroj had to be helped with a strong logical and medical plea from her private doctor Rodney Gerona of Sigatoka.

Finally, we were given all clear to migrate to Australia in 1994 so I gave my intentions to resign from my work and moved to Natabua where Saroj was allocated a government quarters (residence). I still worked with the Company until I helped them find a replacement for me. On 31^st January 1995, we flew to Brisbane to settle down as permanent residents.

We faced many problems initially but as soon as our home was completed at 95 Church Road in Bellbowrie, we began to feel relieved. All our children were well settled in their respective families except Rohitesh who was still with us. He was a great help to us until we found work for ourselves. Saroj began teaching at Leichart and I became a senior lecturer at the Brisbane Education and Training Centre, a reformatory for students needing rehabilitation.

We began enjoying our new life in Brisbane because of our determination to move ahead with vigour and control.

Saroj completed her Bachelor of Teaching (EC) from QUT, I did a few management, and computer courses at the training centre of the Australian Institute of Management where I was admitted as Fellow.(AIMF)  Consequently, we were able to secure good jobs for us. Saroj started working as a Group Leader at Graceville and I continued working with Education Queensland.

Then in 1996 came the big day for Rohitesh who got married to Tania and they moved to live in Sydney. At last, we felt very happy indeed that we were able to complete our parental responsibility with ease and were able to settle all our children in their respective family life. Wherever they were, they kept a very careful care of us and we enjoyed their love and attention very much.

Life in Brisbane kept moving well and we enjoyed our new style of living. Although we had our own worries, we were able to overcome these with careful and strategic planning. We sold our first home in 1999 and with the profit we bought our Bushlark Court home. This move eased a lot of financial pressure from our life.

My work situation became well established. I was confirmed in my appointment and was enjoying good income to support the family so Saroj could take a retirement. She needed to rest after so many years of hard work and dedicated family work. From 2000 she became my fulltime carer and an excellent domestic engineer for the Prasad Family of Bellbowrie.

We decided to reorganise our finances again and sold our Bushlark Court property. With the saving, we bought a piece of land at 76 Ghost Gum Street and built an affordable retirement home there in September 2001. This home turned out to be an ideal one for us because it was out of flood zone and was a lowset home to relax in old age.

We had achieved all our aims and were ready to retire so I took my long service leave in December 2005 and retired with lump sum superannuation to pay off the mortgage that we had on our house.

However, Naresh and Harshita met that wish of ours thus leaving our superannuation fund intact to use during our retirement. They paid our mortgage of almost $90K.

Praneeta and Shalendra decided to get married in 2008 in Brisbane and they settled with their children in Moggill. They are a great source of inspiration and assistance to us because they live only two blocks away from us. We are always looking forward to their company with pleasure.

We have been enjoying the income from our pensions from the Australian and Fijian Governments and living a happy life visiting places and people. Our children are our greatest support; they are our valuable assets and we are loved, cared and looked after in all our needs by all of them. This is heavenly pleasure on this earth for us. We thank our children for their support.

Our joy and satisfaction comes from the unconditional love that our eight grand children shower on us and the kindness that our children bestow on us at all times. Nothing gives us more pleasure than to witness that they all are happy, fruitful, and well settled and flourishing in their own homes and living a life that they rightfully deserve. Our daily prayers include our hope and wish for their continued prosperity and welfare.

We now do not worry too much about the past events because God Almighty has given us all we asked for and we are fully content with everything we have. Our retirement is peaceful, enjoyable and harmonious. We wake up every morning, relax and say a few quiet prayers for the continued peace, prosperity and progress of the Prasad Family. Life is moving on smoothly.

Our day finishes with a game or two of scrabble in the harmony of the melodious tunes from various albums of ghazals, bhajans, kirtans and old songs. Listening to various kinds of music has made our life very meaningful so we keep listening and enjoying. 

This is heaven on this earth for us. We wish for no more pleasures in our life. We have had it all and the only thing left is to thank everyone for making our life so pleasant and worthy. This we keep doing everyday in our prayers.

I am a proud product of a variety of education, economic, social and political institutions and have been in constant interaction with multiple intelligentsia but my greatest knowledge and all relevant information came from my family members. Whatever I gained in knowledge and skills from them could not have been delivered from any other source.

My wife, Saroj has been my most effective and real mentor. My four children, Praanesh, Praneeta, Harshita and Rohitesh, have given me ideas in abundance, practical hints and useful tools of living. I have learnt many skills of applied economics, investment techniques, frugality and excellent family relationship ideas from my daughter in law Ranitta and my two sons in law Naresh and Shalendra have enriched my total personality, my ability to tolerate things and my response to modern living.

My intelligent response to the future, my vivid realization to deal with the current circumstances and my enhanced feelings of love and affection have all delivered to me by the healthy and meaningful interactions with my eight grand children- Jaya, Meera, Hamish, Jayden, Anjali, Sonali, Elliott and Charlotte. My life would not have been complete without their enthusiastic contribution and participation.

They deserve my hearty appreciation in my total enrichment. We could not wish for any more joy than this. They are all very resourceful and intelligent to keep us enthusiastically interested in their welfare at all times.

                       

       oOo

We love all our children and grand children so much but are unable to adequately and truly express our internal feelings simply because our vocabulary is limited, our writing style is basic and our feelings are never ending.

This presentation is definitely not complete because there are many links to add and many gaps to fill. These could be done by my respective family members as the time and occasion permit them to do so.

I have done my share to give the reality a beginning but the real pleasure would reign when our children and grandchildren prosper to multiply their respective talents, contributions, participation and prosperity to surpass my very humble living, simple successes and probable prestige.

I would be gone but I know that despite some of my sour displays, I would not be forgotten for my personal duties and contributions in making this family worthy of its name. Although I will not be there to witness all the intriguing future developments, my soul will feel the joy of progress of all our people. I will rest in peace to witness all the enhancements of the Prasad Family.

I am confident that each and every member of this family would contribute to make this a flourishing enterprise and create their own respective financial, social and cultural niche in the community. My each day is a miracle that intoxicates me to want more but I have learnt to be contented.  I greet each morning like a new pleasure, new discovery and new chapter of my remaining life. Come what may, I am ready and prepared for it.

We, Saroj and I, after a lot of trials and tribulations, have at last learnt to mind our own business, rest in peace but give our richest blessings to everyone in the family to keep moving ahead with added vigor.

On my own part, I sometime find it very difficult to reconcile some of the real sour events of my life. When I am alone I shed a few tears to wash my sins but I know fully well that they are hurting and making me suffer a lot internally. I do get some consolation and contentment from the belief that our entire life itself is full of various kinds of sufferings, difficulties and problems. We must learn to find our own solutions and overcome all our worries, sorrows and sadness.

I fully understand the thoughts of many people reading this that I resemble that legendary Tom Cat that turned vegetarian after eating so many rats and mice and went to pray at the temple to ask for mercy. I feel that the proverb Nabbe chuha khaye ke billar bhai bhaktin fits my predicaments well but what more can I do? I am only human and to err is human and forgive divine.

If I am given another life I wish to correct some of my sour points to relive a sweeter and more meaningful life. Although each of my days turns out to be a miracle that intoxicates me, I want to experience more so that I can greet every morning like a new pleasure.

I want a rebirth, a resurrection, an extra ordinary sensation so that I can live another life that is a lot more different from the one I already had. Even though I had full contentment, I want to do more, appreciate more and contribute more. There should be no brooding over any unpleasantness. Life without any qualms and without compromises is possible. Is it possible? I will tell you when I return. I will make it a possibility.

I would like to outline three of my last wishes that need to be told so that my family members do the right things after I am no more.

Firstly, I do not own many properties and as such everything that I associated with during my life time and are left behind, they all jointly belong to my family members. Each one is free to take whatever they want and whenever they want.

Secondly, I am a human being and I cried when I was born because I did not know what lay ahead for me. In fact what lay ahead of me has been outlined in the previous pages. Death for me is not to be mourned because it is a rejoicing episode of life that ends all our worries, calamities, difficulties and sufferings. Therefore, it is fitting that upon my death there is no mourning and that I should not be accorded any unnecessary religious customary and traditional rights.

At my funeral a few presentations of truthful words from my children for the people who gather at the Centenary Memorial Gardens and then my last right will be the incineration of my body. Just play or recite the Gayatri mantra one hundred and eight times. The incineration of my body should be the final right for me. That is why it is called Antim Sanskaar. The final Ceremony.

There should be no customary and traditional ceremonies for me after I am gone. Just celebrate the truth, goodness and beauty of my living. This is the procedure that I would appreciate but if anyone of my children feels that I need more traditional and customary departure then they are free to do so.

Thirdly, I only wish that I am forgiven for all my trespasses, sins, errors and sourness that I inadvertently may have caused to my loved ones during my entire life.  I seek the understanding of everyone for my good, bad and ugly deeds, words and thoughts. Lets us all see what tomorrow brings for us. Rejoice my sweetness and forget my sourness.

The Gayatri mantra that I intend to be recited at my departure is:

AUM BHOOR BHUWAH SWAHA,
TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM
BHARGO DEVASAYA DHEEMAHI
DHIYO YO NAHA PRACHODAYAT.

We wish to finish this section of our presentation with our universal prayer.

Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life, 
Remover of pain and sorrow, 
The Bestower of happiness, 
Oh! The Creator of the Universe,
May we receive thy supreme  sin-destroying light,
May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.

REFLECTIONS: Sweet and Sour Memories of The Prasad Family of Bellbowrie.

REFLECTIONS: Sweet and Sour Memories of The Prasad Family of Bellbowrie. By Dr Ram Lakhan Prasad. 

(Part Two)

I need to continue with my sweeter part of the memories and forget about the religious aspect that does not do any anyone much good.

It was examination time at school and I had to study hard so I used to carry my notebooks with me when I was looking after and grazing my cattle in the field. I was so engrossed in my studies that I forgot to keep an eye on the animals, which wondered onto a nearby vegetable area and destroyed a lot of our seedlings and crops.

My father was furious to see the destruction of his flourishing crops and I remember getting the brunt of his full anger when he used his whip on me instead of the animals. I regretted this but never again did I falter in my farming duties and chores that were allocated to me. The paradox of this event is that many times you have to be cruel to be kind.

My father was a disciplinarian and always wanted his children to do the right thing and do well in every human and social activity. He loved his children very much and would do anything to keep them happy. He never spared the rod because he did not want us to be spoilt. He wanted me to be someone to be remembered and be a role model because I was his eldest son.

Life had a way of making its own scars, without too much conscious effort. The scars of physical beatings that I have on my body are reminders to me that I made a few unforgiveable mistakes that my father needed to correct and I have no regrets. Had my father not disciplined me at that time, I would have taken a different path altogether and ventured into many more errors.

His happiness was beyond his control when he learnt that I had passed all my examinations at my High School and I was going to be a teacher. He was overwhelmed to hear that news because that was his objective. It turned out that I was his only child out of the nine that had developed a profession. Later in life, he told me that he was very happy that I had achieved good results in life and met his expectations.

In those days as a reward for good work for the whole month, I was allowed to accompany some of my friends to Nadi town to see Hindi movies in the old wooden theatre of Harry Uraia. We used to travel by bus but later the open-air theatre came to our village and they used to screen the Hindi movies at the temple grounds and we used to enjoy the Saturday evening programs. It is through these participations that I developed my love for old movies and songs. If we had enjoyed a particular film the previous week, we used to re-enact it in the village grounds or school.

My father was one of the first persons in Sabeto to have a radio that needed a wet-celled battery to run and the battery needed to be regularly recharged at a charger that was located about five miles away from our house. In my enthusiasm to listen to the Hindi Radio programs I used to carry the heavy battery on my shoulder to have it recharged and then bring it back. In this process, the battery water and acid, on many occasions, spoilt my clothes but the enthusiasm and anticipation to listen to the one fifteen minute Hindi program on Tuesdays and an hour’s evening Hindi program on Saturdays kept me going to the charger and back.

This radio station was called ZJV and the announcer and presenter of programs was Chandrika Prasad Shriwastow who had a wonderful radio voice. The program was largely made up of news items but if time permitted, we were lucky to get a few old songs.

Later in my working life when the radio station was institutionalised to become Radio Fiji I used to present various weekly programs in English and Hindi. Many of my radio plays and short stories called the Geetoon Bhari Kahaniyaan were regularly used for the Hindi listeners who enjoyed them tremendously. Over the years radio programs became a source of misery for me. When songs were played I felt like I was part of the scene in it. Most old songs depicted a lot of negative feelings.

The ‘Education and Society’ program in English and the ‘Sikhcha and Samaaj’ episodes in Hindi became very popular for the listeners. I became a regular contributor for the notable women’s program when I produced a series of advice for parents. Mrs Vaishnoi, the famous Bahenji of Radio Fiji kept using my snippets for a long time. These snippets were later developed into a Handbook for Parents with the help of my wife Saroj.

The same Chandrika Prasad Shriwastow later became the General Manager of FBC and he offered me a lucrative job with Radio Fiji but I had to decline his offer because I was promoted as a Senior Education Officer in the Ministry of Education in Fiji.

During the period of my adolescent development, I was working very hard with my father on the farms to learn all the necessary tricks and traits of planting rice, vegetable and rearing goats, and other animals. A lot of my religious learning was in the company of my grandfather Sarju Mahajan who sang bhajans and kirtan and recited words from the scriptures.

Since my mind, body and soul were all busy concentrating either on the farm or on schoolwork I had very little time to develop any serious hobbies of my own but I did manage to go swimming in the Sabeto River and learn some wrestling skills from my father who was a wrestling coach to various youths of the village.

I never missed an opportunity to go to any social or religious gathering in the community with my grandfather and my father. Most of the time they were asked to speak at such meetings because of the respect the community held for them. One evening when my father was asked to speak at a religious function, he put me to test by telling the people that instead of him his eldest son was going to say a few words that night. I could not disappoint my father so I stood up and recited all the things that my grandfather had taught me.

After I finished speaking I was amazed by the applause I received from the audience and the palm of blessings was placed on my head by my father who on our return trip home said three very important things about public speaking that I always kept in my mind as my powerful rules and styles of effective communication.

Firstly, he said stand up tall when you are asked to speak in front of an audience. Secondly, he mentioned that you must speak up clearly and loud enough so that everyone can hear you. Thirdly, he told me to sit down and stop speaking if you have nothing more useful to say.

Ever since then, whenever I have spoken in any public or private gatherings or meetings I have always kept these appropriate lessons of effective communication at the back of my mind and have never failed in any public speaking duties. Of course, I have added my own ideas to public speaking to my father’s teachings.

After a few years, pineapple farms flourished as did the sugarcane farms and I was very interested in harvesting pineapples and sugarcane for delivery to the Colonial Sugar Refinery in Lautoka on the family truck.

Coincidentally the registration number of our truck was the same as my Teachers’ Personal File number (TPF3408), which was allocated to me when I graduated as a teacher.  I began driving the family Ferguson Tractor and the Ford 6 truck from the age of twelve when I was in Class 8. It never occurred to anyone that these were dangerous and unlawful activities.

By 1952, my parents were well-established farmers and began to pay more attention to my education and my academic progress and prosperity improved considerably. My other brother and sisters were at school as well but I was the centre of attraction all because I was the eldest and I used to bring good school reports home from a very reputable high school. This put me in a hyperactive drive to accelerate my efforts at school.

My other siblings were given the same opportunity but because of various reasons were not able to follow the same path. My sister Vidya had an accident and had to leave school after completing her primary school education. She was married away to a village farmer and has led a reasonable family life.

My brother Vijendra did not want to proceed any further after completing his junior high school because he secured a good job in the technological and airline industries. My relationship with him is very vivid and worthy of mention. We were born six years apart but that made me love and protect my little brother a lot more during our living in the village setup. He in turn was my greatest little helper.

                            

My only brother Vijendra has been a great support for me throughout my life and he still is in constant touch to ensure that I lead a healthy life. Our growing up together was very meaningful and we developed an excellent rapport within the family.

My second sister Shiumati failed to complete her primary education because she had to care for our mother who had taken very ill after a few pregnancies that went wrong. She too was married to a farmer in Sigatoka and has lived a good life.

However, my other sisters Kushma, Kusum, Upma and Sarla all completed junior high school education and were gradually all married to lead a happy family life as well. They all keep me informed of their progress and I continuously visit them to bless their respective families. I sincerely honour their respect for me and try my best to ensure that they lead a comfortable life of their own. They are rich in family and cultural matters. Like me, they too are great believers in the power of prayers.

Although we left Fiji with good memories of everything, we were left with a bitter taste in our thoughts forever. I can speak very highly of my own siblings but one bad egg gave me a different feeling altogether. I usually forgive people for their trespasses and forget the wrong that they have done to me but these incidents and episodes are unforgiveable and thus cannot be forgotten that easily.

                              

My personal relationship with my only brother Vijendra has always been very cordial and serene. We grew up together in Sabeto and have very fond memories of our interactions that we always share when we meet every now and then. He is a very successful businessperson living a happy family life with his wife Nirmala and the families of his two sons, Manish and Sanjay in Los Angeles in the United States of America. He is very thoughtful and shows extra care for our health and wellbeing.

We are proud of the fact that we have always conducted ourselves in the community as the legendary characters of Balmiki, Ram and Lakhsman of the holy book Ramayan. The love, respect and the mutual feelings that we have displayed for each other have been exemplary and very commendable.

Many people in the village and the family members had great appreciation for our brotherly conducts. We were true role models for other children of the village then and are still keeping those essential elements of brotherhood and goodwill flourishing. We are thankful to our grandparents and parents for inculcating these cultural and social values in us.

I was the first child from the village to pass the then challenging Primary School Leaving Certificate and be selected to attend the prestigious secondary school called Natabua High School. The joy that this sweet success gave me was very odd because I was happy on the one hand and uncertain of my future on the other. However, my parents and the rest of the family were very enthusiastic and provided an affirmation to my commitment so I had no choice but to go ahead with added vigour. From 1954 to 1957, I studied at this school and did reasonably well to keep my parents and the family members happy.

I travelled to Natabua by bus every morning and returned by bus after school around five. These travelling experiences gave me many advantages. While sitting in the bus for about an hour I remember revising some of my schoolwork and catching up with my required as well as other readings. I read many classical readers written by Charles Dickens, RL Stevenson, Jane Austin, James Joyce, Walter Scott, George Orwell, Rudyard Kipling, D H Lawrence, Lord Byron and the Bronte Sisters.

Later in life, my best-loved books came from GB Shaw, V S Naipaul and Lewis Carroll. These literary interests provided me with many opportunities to search for new directions and pathways. Paradoxically this anguish was quite exhilarating because I was constantly seeking and gathering many worthy symbols, ideas, omens, themes and guidance from my literary pursuits.

I read the books and was always interested in the various ideas, imagery and plots contained in them. I never failed to compare my own situations and circumstances after reading the novels. Therefore, the learning from my reading was not only enriching my vocabulary but also the style and structure of language. The varied backgrounds and settings in each novel gave me a lot of insight into different situations and circumstances that human beings interacted with in different and difficult situations. My extensive reading habit made me a better student and an improved human being.

Studying the works of Shakespeare and the early poets was my deeper interest. My collection of Shakespearean plays started from Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, King Lear and Hamlet. However, I was introduced to other Shakespearean plays as well later in life. Shakespeare enabled me to look at the larger picture of conflict, love and politics.

I never got enough of Shakespeare and the more I read the plays the better my understanding became. Love of style and vocabulary made me act in the plays at school. Fictions, non-fictions, myths and legends gave me a lot of knowledge, imagination and interest.

My poetry studies included Tennyson, Elliot, Blake, Wordsworth, Browning, Hopkins and WB Yeats. I searched for ideas; rhymes and rhythms that made me love the words and structures used in them. I liked reciting important and valuable stanzas from selected poems. I loved to visualize the settings in all the poems and to see the meaning and manner of presentation in all of them.

Whilst at school I studied subjects such as English, English Literature, History, Geography, Commercial Studies, General Science, Mathematics and Book Keeping. I did not have any favourite subjects but excelled in all of them. At school, I participated in drama activities, Hockey and Soccer and kept my academic position in the first three boys in my class. There were no girls in our class initially but later we had the opportunity of interacting with at least three of them in the whole school.

While at the school, I had the proud privilege of being educated by such prominent teachers as Rohan Prasad, Parshu Ram, John Ram Sharan, CP Balakrishanan, CM Dass, Sursenap Ram Sharma, Govind Sami Naidu, Khalil Mohammed and F E Joyce. The school provided us an all round balanced and quality education with equal emphasis on drama, art and sports.

These were great educators ready to impart the best knowledge to their students. They were wonderful guides, excellent friends and very effective personal trainers. I owe a lot to the super gurus who developed a love of learning and knowledge into me.

I acted on stage in two Shakespearean plays Julius Caesar (Cassius) and The Merchant of Venice (Basanio). Our school drama club had presented these on stage at the school hall and in a few theatres in Lautoka and Nadi. Acting in these plays built my confidence and self-esteem and I became a better public speaker.

I was a Non Commanding Officer (NCO) in the Natabua Cadet Squadron. This was part of the total education at Natabua. Our commanding Officers were our teachers who taught us the discipline required in the army. Our field exercises included jungle training and platoon marching exercises with our rifles that had their firing pins removed and the bullets in the magazines were blanks.

One afternoon I was disciplined for poor performance when I giggled at the way the Commander gave us the command and his large belly shook heavily. I was given the task to march from the school ground to the Natabua Junction with the rifle hanging across the shoulder. This took me about an hour to complete and I was very exhausted at the end of it. I had to be taken to the sickbay for treatment because I had dehydrated badly. 

I represented the school four times in Oratory contests in Lautoka’s Globe Theatre and came back with a Shield once and a Trophy twice. We also took part in various debating competitions at times. Presentations of speeches and debates were of very high quality and we always had a full house in the halls. My topics for the oratory even then used to deal with rural versus urban life, war and peace and the need for happy family life.

Life at this prestigious High School was full of fun and we had fantastic opportunity to develop various important skills and talents. I was intrigued by the display of honesty and integrity by one of my favourite teachers at school. His name was Rohan Prasad, a Science and Maths graduate from Auckland University. His teaching style was unique because he practiced discovery method and believed in discipline and democracy in the classroom.

He was greatly instrumental in motivating me to become a teacher myself. His love of Hindi Language was great and I am thankful to him for encouraging me to keep up to date with my Hindi Language studies. Literary works of Prem Chand, Kabir, Rahim, Tulsidas and Soordas made us appreciate the various aspects of total human living. We enjoyed the dohas from the olden and golden books.

Kabir’s couplets had a very powerful influence on my personal development:

Aisee Vani Boliye, Mun Ka Aapa Khoye
Apna Tan   Sheetal Kare,   Auran Ko Sukh   Hoye

Literally translated it goes like this:

Speak such words, that ego's ploy
Body remains composed, giving the listener joy

This Doha is a gem. It deals with human psychology, metaphysics and a basic tenet of the Indian philosophy. The ancient poets of the Vedic literature have laid tremendous emphasis on speech. They have mentioned in innumerable shlokas that our speech has a direct connection with our actions. They proclaimed that sound and sight are the underlying source of all vibrations. This has been scientifically proven repeatedly.

We know that all sounds create vibrations and these vibrations affect both the speaker and the listener. Soothing, compassionate and loving words breed togetherness, while harsh speech breeds hatred. We also know that human speech is one of the main ingredients that differentiate humankind from the rest of the animal kingdom. Very early in my student days I learnt that the word listen can be altered into silent without adding or subtracting any letter so in order to listen well one must be silent.

Thus, Kabir, in this Doha crystallizes the power of the spoken word. He teaches us to speak in such a manner that keeps us harmonious and composed thereby making the listener feel a sense of joy in the communication.

We were asked by our teachers to experiment ourselves and rediscover the power of the spoken word. We have been trying our best to do this. In this process, we have enriched our life with not only Kabir but also Rahim. These activities made me come alive with new ideas like these:

Dheere Dheere Re Mana, Dheere Sub Kutch-hoye
Mali Seenche So Ghadha, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoye

Of course, Dohas of Tulsidas and Soordas have always intrigued me. All the love for such ingrained interest is rightfully dedicated to my favourite teacher Rohan Prasad.

At the end of my four fruitful years at Natabua, I became a well-developed student with excellent records in Literature, Mathematics, Social Sciences and Accounting. I passed my Fiji Junior Certificate and Overseas Cambridge School Certificates in the B Division and was advised to take teaching as a career by my careers’ teachers. I just followed their advice.

At Natabua, I cannot forget the healthy contributions of my friends such as Reginald Vinod Nand, Uttam Chandra, Ameer Khan, Moti Chandra, Kantilal, Asmatullah Khan, Sadik Koya, Shiu Charan, Purushottam Reddy, Shikandar Khan, Parmanand and Babu Bhai just to mention a few that we managed to keep in touch with after leaving school. They all turned out to be great scholars and leaders in their respective communities.

It was at this High School where I understood that a best friend was hard to find and lucky to have and no person would be useless as long he had a few faithful and honest friends.

It has been this bond of friendship that has allowed us to explore our depths with non-judgmental feedback and supportiveness over the years.  I was often told and believed that good friends are like stars. You do not always see them, but you know they are always there.

All my friends were great and we still honour each other’s words, thoughts and deeds. A lot of my personal development is a credit to my friends and colleagues.

I loved Khalil Gibran’s words on this issue, “For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness. In addition, in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."

My teachers contributed a lot through their motivational pursuits and excellent guidance and I owe them a lot for all these developments. What I am today is the direct result of good family life education, excellent primary education at Sabeto Indian School and a balanced educational development at Natabua High School.

My initial professional preparation at Nasinu Teachers’ College was very good foundation to proceed in the pursuit of excellence in educational field. One of my mentors of the training days was a person called John L Stevens, who in many respects guided me and provided me with excellent opportunities to further my teaching career.

In 1958, I went to Nasinu Teachers’ College to be trained as a teacher. I stayed there for two years and graduated to teach as a primary school teacher. I was posted to teach in Vanualevu, Labasa in 1960. I was put on an annual salary of 240 pounds, which was high up in the ladder of salary scale for civil servants.

Life at Nasinu Teachers’ College was very difficult for the first year because I was a rural youth and in the beginning, I was not able to freely and confidently socialise with the other urban-based students. However, when I gradually learnt to assimilate and meet the challenges facing me I began to mix well with everyone. Two years moved very fast and I made many friends whilst there.

It was at this institution that I began to behave like an adult because my colleagues were all very responsible and mature individuals. My close friends such as Keshwa, Hari, Prushottan, Shiu and Chandraiya were in my team of socialisation. It was here that I had made some very good friends from the Fijian community and started appreciating their culture and customs a lot more sensibly. Netani Rika, Ilaitia Damu, Mereoni Samusamuvodre and Susana Sotutu were my favourite from whom I learnt the Fijian language and culture to get by in the community.

My first year was spent in serious studies and getting to know the environment and the colleagues. Whilst at Nasinu Teachers’ College, I continued my studies from London School of Accountancy as an external student with the help of the Vice Principal John L Stevens. He was instrumental in guiding me to complete my Diploma in Accountancy in November 1958. This boosted my ego and my status at the College so much so much that I was elected as the Treasurer of the Students’ Council in 1959. This was a very responsible leadership position and I managed to perform the tasks and resonsibilities with dignity and dexterity.

While the lecturers at the college prepared us fully by giving us the skills of teaching, they also provided many opportunities for us to participate in sporting activities, hobbies and fine arts. I played soccer and hockey for the College B Teams that met every Saturday at the Albert Park Grounds. The rationale behind all these activities was that we needed to be trained in body, mind and character in order to ably fit into the society that we were posted to as qualified teachers after our professional preparation.

After introducing us to the initial theoretical teaching skills, we were sent to do our teaching practice for six weeks twice a year at selected nearby schools where experienced teachers became our mentors and we learnt to put the theory into practice with their professional guidance.

During the first year, I did my practical teaching very successfully at the St Columbus Primary and Samabula Government Primary Schools in Suva. In the second year, I taught at Naitasiri Baharatiya School in Nausori and at Deenbandhu Primary School in Suva. The associate teachers as well as the Head Teachers of these schools provided many valuable professional and technical tips to teach effectively and efficiently.

During the second year at College, I met my dream girl, the person of my life and fell in love at first sight. She became the reason for my existence and I used to find excuses to keep her in sight at all times. While supervising the duties of students as a Member of the Students Council I made frequent trips to the college library every morning just to get a glimpse of her and exchange a few words. As a religious fundamentalist then, I had faith in my new relationship and it was this faith that gave me a priest-like integrity to keep moving with determination towards that lovely destination.

She came to me as a divine gift like a fresh pink lotus and a pure gift of love and I accepted her as my saviour, my guide and my everything. She opened my eyes to the new world of love, beauty and wisdom. Definitely, this was for a reason and that was that we were made for each other. We were the soul mates and cared a lot for the happiness and peace of each other.

These interactions and exchanges kept increasing and we were fortunate to share the same table in the dining hall for a year. Our conversations and chats were professional and we kept developing our affection for each other because a lot of our likes and dislikes seemed congruent and matching. I developed a liking for a Hindi song all because of her. This explains my true feeling for her.

-        Rahoon kaise main tum ko nihare bina re mora mun hi na mane tumhare bina.

 ‘rhU\ ¿Es]e m]E\ t]um] ¿o in]h]re ib]n]] re m]er] m]n] hI n]] m]]n]e t]umh]re ib]n]]

j]][U\ ¿hI\ B]I t]o m]n] y]hI\ CUq j]]y]e a\iK]y]o\ s]e a\iK]y]o\ ¿] t]]r qUq j]]y]e

m]E\ t]o b]n]] p]p]Ih] t]ere py]]r m]e\ , j]I[U\ ¿Es]e m]E\ t]um] ¿o in]h]re ib]n]]

a]¿e b]s]\t] n]W ¿il]y]o\ s]e K]el]e, c]nd] ¿e G]r m]e\ l]]g]e is]t]]ro\ ¿e m]el]e

¿Es]e deK]e\g]e n]y]n]] n]W c]>]dn]I, n]W c]un]rI m]e\ t]um] ¿o is]\g]]re ib]n]]

rhU\ ¿Es]e m]E\ t]um] ¿o in]h]re ib]n]] re m]er] m]n] hI n]] m]]n]e t]umh]re ib]n]] ] ’

In return, she gave me her favourite couplet that has a lot of meaning in our life.

-        Jeewan ke safar me rahee milten hain bichad jaane ko

Aur de jaaten hain yaaden humko tadpaaneko

Very few of our friends and colleagues knew that we were developing our romance to lead us to the ultimate ending of making a family life together. When the year ended, I graduated and she was left to complete another year at the College. I was sent out on my teaching assignment to Labasa the main town on the island of Vanualevu but regular telephone calls and letters kept our love lamp alive and active. In those days, two of my friends who were working for the telephone company helped me get free telephone calls once a month.

I was no actor or artist as such but I kept my dramatic skills alive at Nasinu by acting on stage as the lead role in the epic play Chandragupta and toured to perform at all centres of Fiji during the school holidays. I also acted in short plays at the Lilac Theatre. Andrew Gaya Prasad and Ram Harakh directed our stage shows and radio plays and provided us with many dramatic and acting skills, which further improved our role and image as teachers. The continued participation in these dramatic areas developed our communication skills, our confidence and improved our social living skills generally.

I did multiple radio plays, presented many short stories known as Geeton Bhari Kahania for Radio Fiji, and wrote other short stories and poems in various Hindi newspapers like Jagriti, Shanti Dut and Fiji Samachar. It is not my natural inclination to bend the truth but I did this under the pseudonym of Ghayal and made many real stories look like fiction. Truth bending was something I had to do as an outlet to my emotions.

After spending two long years at the College, I graduated as a primary school teacher in December 1959 and when I reached home my parents, who had organised a big party for me, welcomed me. My father was very happy to see me as a teacher because this was his dream. His happiness at this party was unmeasurable when he kept telling the family members and friends about the great work I had done to fulfil his dream and ambition. His joy turned into sadness when I told him that I had to go to Vanua Levu and teach in Labasa but he accepted it as my duty to serve the community.

I began teaching at Vuo Bharaiya School in Vunika in Labasa in 1960. I developed a very intimate relationship with the community and whilst I lived in the public quarter in the school compound I spent most of my after school hours at the homes of mature people like Shiu Narayan, Shareef, Santram, Krishna, Shree the taxi driver and many others. They were all mature adults with strong family ties and were my regular partners during fishing trips, picnics and all other outdoor and religious village activities.

An old man Nagu was my immediate neighbour, who visited me regularly in the evenings with the pretext of lighting my Tilley lamp to give light in my dark home. This kerosene lamp needed methylated spirit to heat it before it could be lit. Nagu used to light the lamp and then drink the left over spirit but I caught him red-handed one day and showed him the warning on the bottle that read: is ko pine wala andha ho sakta hai. He immediately replied that ho sakta hai lekin hoga nahi.

I met this old man after eight years in Vunika and he was as strong and bright as he was when I saw him using methylated spirit as his fuel. His son Subramani became a good friend of mine who accompanied me on my shooting, hunting and fishing trips.

As a young man, I played soccer for the Wanderers Team and enjoyed hockey for the Teachers’ Team. Later I organised an association of young people to play soccer and other sports at the school grounds. These events became a good source of get together for the young people and a revenue earner for the school committee.

As I lived in a public quarter (house) on the school compound, I had to do my own cooking and looked after my housework. I smoked very heavily and got into a company of people who were very heavy drinkers of all sorts of alcohol. In 1962, my salary was revised to three hundred and eighty pounds annually but in those days, this was not enough to live as lavishly as I was living. Therefore, in four years when I completed my country service in LA and returned home to Sabeto I had a debt of over 1000 Pounds in Labasa. This was paid later when I got married.

My teaching service in Vanualevu was very interesting because I loved the community and served them well and in return, they gave me good respect and treatment. I used to visit friends in various areas to go for pigeon shooting, pig hunting and fishing trips to the ocean. There never was a dull moment and everyone in Vanualevu was so kind and considerate to me. Some of my weekends were spent in driving taxis for friends and I loved this part time job.

During these school holidays, I used to go home to Sabeto and it was here that my father taught me many additional skills of farming. These very interesting and adventurous activities gave me a lot of confidence and self-esteem. Of course, it also provided special bonding with my father who began treating me like his friend and shared many ideas about family life. I would have been a lot poorer without these social interactions.

While serving in Vanualevu I began studying for my degree from Massey University of NZ through correspondence and completed History I and Education I despite so many difficulties of delayed posts and scarcity of textbooks. This was difficult but very encouraging step for me when one of my teacher friends Deo Narayan a graduate of Auckland University acted as my tutor.

One of the advantages of studying history was in the models of action that great men had taken through the centuries. The actions of great people made us realize the importance of peace, war and conflict. As a history student, I learnt to be more pragmatic, cold eyed and calculating and these traits helped me to cull out my future even better.

After serving Vuo for three years, I was transferred to Tabia Sanatan School and developed an excellent relationship with the community there as well. Like the Vunika community, the Tabia people were very helpful to me as well. My relationship with them was very family-like.  I bonded well with Udho and Madhai families and the Jwala Prasad family treated me as their additonal relative. It was here that Kamla Prasad became my adopted brother and later I arranged his marriage from our home in Sabeto to Maya, daughter of a Lautoka businessman.

My service in Tabia taught me to be more confident, trusting and independent all because I had wonderful motley of people around me after school. The people were kind, faithful and very helpful to me. They were always prepared to take me into their family and give me all the respect. One of my village friends Hari Prasad was my great pig and pigeon-hunting companion during the weekends.

It was with him that I found out how to brew your own liquor. He had an outlet up in the hills in the forest near a running stream. His container of fermented mixture with fruits and other ingredients was placed on one side of the stream. The thin bamboo sticks with punctured knots were fixed to the spout of that container and pasted with clay so that they transferred the steam from the kettle through the stream to condense into drops of alcohol in a container.

The container was heated to let the steam evaporate and pass through it. These connected bamboo sticks were made to pass through the cold running water of the stream. On the other side of the stream was a large plastic container where the steam condensed and turned into liquid that was our homebrewed alcohol that we enjoyed after the hunting spree that gave us good roasted pork and chargrilled pigeons.

Time was still flying while I was having fun with friends in Vanualevu. My future was calling me to stand up and be counted. We all have some dark sides in our life and it is human instinct to detect our weaknesses at the right time and quickly find that important button which opens the door to our brighter side. I was a bachelor  for four years in Labasa but because of the company I kept and the communal activities I did, I never faced any social or communal problems.

By now, people began to call me RL and I served the Education Workers Society as their secretary and then Executive member of the Fiji Teachers’ Union Labasa Branch until my transfer to Nadi's Sabeto Muslim School in 1964. The communal and social interactions enabled me to spill out what was in my heart. In fact that was the best thing I could do. I was in love and I needed to settle down. There was no such thing as success unless a man was also ‘settled’.

God is never cruel and there is always a reason for all things. Love is or it is not. I knew this because for me love was flourishing. I began to see a different man in me. A person who was ready and prepared to enter a very vital phase of living. Since I had been raised to believe I began to see things clearly for my new life. There was a lot to do, think, ponder, cogitate, reflect and wonder.

It was at this time that I began to feel that if there was God then he would not tolerate such atrocities that were happening in the world. I wanted to rebuke him and question his existence for not being able to provide peace, prosperity and progress for the people. Then I was terrified as well at the thought that I might be cursed as a punishment for my disobedience and disloyalty. So I joined in harder prayers to say that I took back what I thought and said about God.

I was 24 years old and had never questioned the inevitability of marriage. Of course, it was the duty of my father to find me a wife. Sometime back, he had asked me to settle down and I had confessed to him that I had found a girl that I would get married when everything turned out good. He left the matter of marriage to me. Life is too short to live without our own desires, let alone the desires of another.

This is where my married life began with my wife Saroj. Our marriage date was auspicious because everything was done by the religious books but my family did not follow traditions blindly. We got married a day after my 24^th birthday on 19^th January 1964. After our marriage, we lived at the family home and started teaching at Sabeto Muslim School. This life was vivid, strange, and at times tumultuous but I began to see beauty in it. The beauty that had more faces than beaches have grains of sand. There was no return from this aspiration and bliss.

Actual preparations for my wedding ceremony started early in January when my parents began conducting various cultural activities for this important event of my life.  Since their eldest son was getting married, they had invited all the family members and the entire village rallied behind the family to see that everything was conducted well. It all started with the Tilak ceremony when my father in law, Chandar Pal Sharma came with some of his male family members to confirm the marriage.

Among the Hindus, this Tilak ceremony holds an important position when the selected male family members from the bride’s side visit the groom’s residence and perform the cultural rituals. After all the rituals, the bride’s father offers gifts to the groom and his family members.

The bride’s brother marking formal engagement places a ceremonial tika on the forehead of the groom. This was done for me in 1964 on 11^th January in the evening when the Sharma Family members Pt.CPSharma, Pt. KPSharma, JPSharma and Vinod Sharma came to our residence to conduct the ceremony.

These were the first twenty-four fruitful years of my life and I dedicate these good years to the healthy interaction with my grandparents, my parents, my family members and friends. I was betrothed and ready to lead a family life of my own with my soul mate Saroj.

I was a role model for many young people in the village and to my only brother Vijendra and my six sisters Vidya, Shiumati, Kushma, Upma, Suman, and Sarla. They too in turn enriched my life through their healthy interactions and contributions. Figuratively speaking my seventh sister stabbed us in the back and this is the reason I am not counting her among my siblings.

Life after marriage in Sabeto was very interesting but difficult. Our marriage ceremony was done very well with equal enthusiasm from both sides of the families. We went through all the reasonable and sensible steps of Hindu marriage and felt extremely at home performing all the duties that the enlightened priests and our parents asked us to do.

My brother-in-law Lal Chand made me dress like a king. I had a special headgear called maur and my yellow robe with the added sashes and cummerbund made me look like a real ruler and king of Sabeto ready to travel to Nabua in Samabula to wed the queen of my heart. I remember watching everything around me with eagerness through the tinsel strings that dangled from the light yellow turban.

              

After completing all the weeklong ceremonies, the procession of some fifty family members and friends left Sabeto for Samabula. We began our journey in the morning of Saturday the 18^th of January 1964 my 24^th birthday. After a cut lunch at the foothill of Galoa Range along the cool riverside midway on the dusty Queens’ Road, we reached our destination by five in the afternoon. When the busload of people and the music cab that had carried us arrived at 6 Nabua Road the Sharma family and their representatives very warmly welcomed us.

Before sitting on the holy seat of the special mandap, I learnt many good things about my wife Saroj. A divine thought that has never escaped my mind is that she became the special person who was going to be an inseparable part of my life. She was the one whom you give any oyster and she could give you the best quality pearl from it.

This is how she was able to enrich the whole life and living styles of the Prasad Family. So I was blessed with a pretty swan that turned to be the bright light of my life and the lotus of my lovely pond.

After the wedding ceremonies were conducted and concluded we rested for the night and left Sabeto the next morning of Sunday the 19^th January with the greatest treasure of my life. Saroj had to be uprooted from her family so the departure was naturally very painful for everyone. She cried with the family and I felt her sadness but our happiness was awaiting for us elsewhere.

The journey back to Sabeto from Nabua took us to a family life that was new and exciting for both of us. We were determined to embark on this adventure with all sincerity and devotion. Many personal adjustments were needed and we were proud to accept those for over a year. That night Saroj and I prayed to the Almighty God to give us the strength to conduct our family life with dignity. The next day was Monday 20^th January and as the custom demanded, Saroj was taken back to her parents’ home by her brother Vinod in a taxi.

This break gave me an opportunity to make some serious infrastructure changes to our home, bathroom, toilets and water supply but I could not make it anywhere even nearer an urban living. After these temporary adjustments were completed, I travelled to Suva to bring my Saroj from her family. She arrived in our Botini Home on January 29^th 1964. We began living as wife and husband in our home at the farm.

My wife Saroj went through many stresses and strains while she was living with my extended family in Sabeto. Now when we look back to those days, we have some very fond memories that have definitely enriched our life.  We had many difficulties but there were more ups than downs. Saroj was one of the greatest positive thinkers and survived the ordeals of rural living and limitations by accepting the challenges happily and with dignity.

We managed to live in a rural setup with various limitations such as poor water supply, lack of electricity and no toilet facilities. Our kitchen was a makeshift shed with stone stoves that later changed into a primus and gas burner. We walked a long distance to report to work but we felt a deep sense of duty and responsibility to keep moving to serve the community and our extended family.

Our teaching assignment was at Sabeto Muslim School. Every day we walked to and from home along the dusty gravel road for five miles for good first half of that year.

My grandfather could not bear the suffering of his grand-daughter in law and paid the initial deposit of 250 pounds for our first new car, Dutsun Bluebird that cost us 750 pounds. Our travelling and life became a lot easier and smoother after we had the luxury of our new car           

            

My father was supportive of our rural living but my mother was a bit indifferent towards my wife. Maybe because of her own earlier background and upbringing. Whatever it was, we managed our early family life well for a year, which included our honeymoon to Levuka in the first term school holidays. Our stay at the Royal Hotel was very interesting and the boat trip from mainland to the old capital city of Fiji, Levuka was exciting and eventful.

Saroj still had to draw water from the deep well, wash clothes on the stone, have cold shower, cook in the makeshift kitchen, make do with the limited toilet facilities and look after the interests of her nagging mother in law and demanding sisters in law. She continued to do the schoolwork and care for my needs as well. To make matters worse she began suffering from her morning sickness after conceiving our first child.

However, her good personality and calm and collected attitude as well as her family upbringing made her bear all these silently with pleasure and tolerate all the difficulties, hardships and odd behaviour of some of the extended family members. In the process, we did learn and experience the truth of the olden Indian belief of the difficult and unforgiving mother in law.