by 
(Dr. Surendra Prasad)

Three sugarcane farmers, all three brothers living on a single farm in the village of Toge, Ba, some 12 miles from the Ba township, have begun to dismantle their homes and to seek shelter with their families elsewhere.

On Sunday November 26, a group of some forty neighbours, relatives and friends gathered from early morning (6.00 am) at the Narayan brothers' family farm in Toge to start the sad and unpleasant task of dismantling their 41-year old family house.

In blistering heat, they toiled to bring down the very strongly built house, constructed in 1959, with 2 rooms and a `sitting room', with later extensions for 2 additional rooms and a kitchen.

The three brothers, who have lived on their farm since their birth, were greatly saddened to be compelled to leave their farm, which has been in their family since the 1920's; first settled on by their grandfather, Mr. Ram Bharos and their father, Ganpat and their uncles. `We are very uncertain about our future and that of our children', said the eldest brother, Mr. Jagat Narayan, aged 53. His other brothers, Murari Lal and Vijay Narayan, were equally devastated, never really believing that the day would come when they would actually have to leave their farm and home. `We hoped against hope that things would be sorted out' said the youngest brother Vijay, who, apart from his son, looks after three children of his dead younger brother, who also has a share in the farm.

While it was a greatly moving experience to bring down a house that has stood proud for over 40 years, it was also a heart-warming thing to see the neighbours and family members work so hard and unselfishly to assist the family to move on with their shattered lives. `Life has to go on', said the brothers' 70-year old widowed mother, whose face was lined with infinite sadness and grief at having to leave the village she has known for some 55 years and move elsewhere. She has gone to live with her son, who works for the Fiji army in Suva, as a temporary measure. She went very reluctantly, with there being absolutely no other choice for her at this point in time.

People came from far way to help out, including someone who came all the way from Sydney, Australia to help his sister who is married to Vijay Narayan. Others came from Suva, Tavua, Nadi and Rakiraki. Armed with various tools, including axes, knives, hammers, crowbars, chain saws and whatever else that came to hand, the people toiled throughout the long and hot day, stopping occasionally to drink water and yagona, which was flowing copiously. The women and children all helped out, cooking food, making tea, loading furniture and household effects onto the truck and 2 vans and kept on working throughout the day.

It was a scene that will remain in the memories of all the people who were present, as it evoked such an emotional outpouring of grief. The indigenous owners of the farm told the brothers that they (the owners) needed the land; and that was it. All attempts to request them to re-consider fell on deaf ears; the villagers said that they `had no choice in the matter' and did not elaborate further. `All we want to do is to continue farming on this land and to pay whatever rent is decided upon', said Murari. `We don't know any other way of life'.

The concrete, iron and timber dwelling took a lot of effort to pull down, with some 40 adults toiling throughout the extremely hot and humid day, and completing the enormous and sad task by 6.00 pm. They then loaded all the materials onto a large truck, given by a generous businessman from Ba, to take away the materials for possible use in re-building a dwelling once some land is procured for re-settlement.

The emotional attachment that the poor and largely illiterate farmers have to the land they have cultivated for decades was graphically demonstrated by the grief-stricken sobbing and crying that permeated the difficult task all day long, particularly from the women and the older generation. The farmers' mother who is over 70 years and has lived on the farm for some 55 years was besides herself with grief, shedding silent tears and just shaking her head as, bit by bit, the house was brought down. The offer by the brothers for the villagers from Toge and Balevuto koros to buy out the buildings for a reasonable sum went begging.

Of the three brothers who lived on the farm since their birth, two will live somewhere in Ba with their relatives while the third will move to Nadi, assisted by his wife's family, also from Ba.

It was a truly remarkable sight to see so many people struggle so hard and for so long to assist in the house-dismantling process. There was sheer determination, grit and selflessness to see the task through and as quickly as possible. Many of the neighbours would expect assistance of a similar kind when it came their turn to leave their farms and to re-settle wherever destiny would lead them.

Dr. Surendra Prasad
Toge, Ba
26 November, 2000