IT was a long day for me, the afternoon ending with a visit to the Indian Parliament and witnessing a sitting of the Lower House.
The visit to the Parliament ended the day’s official tour for a group of foreign journalists and from there it was time to make a move.
After a courtesy call at the Fiji High Commission in New Delhi, it was time to go back to the hotel, the grand ITC Maurya.
I was actually looking forward to meet Samisoni Nabilivalu or Red Child, known for his song Gone Sisi, at the hotel that night.
The last time I met him was in 2012 when he left for India.
Nabilivalu had worked with me for The Fiji Times before he received an Indian Government scholarship.
He arrived at the hotel and after exchanging some gifts, we decided to go for a walk along the busy road in New Delhi’s diplomatic enclave.
Since it was quite long that he had a taste of the BH cigarettes from Fiji, it was one roll after another as I passed some packets to him.
After a few kilometres walk, we headed back towards the hotel and it was now time for some serious talk.
It was good to hear from him about his life there, his studies and his plans for his musical career, since he was in the land of music.
Nabilivalu rents a flat in a house occupied by a Fijian couple, which is about 10 minutes walk from his university.
“I pay 8000 rupees ($F251) rent every month and 200 rupees ($F6.30) for the electricity, and water is free,” he said.
“After paying all that, I don’t have much left from the allowance I get.
“But I manage as my parents send money over and luckily I just have to walk to the university and back home.
“Food is cheap here and I manage. Sometimes my landlord gives me something and most of the time students from Tuvalu and Fiji get together.
“We take turns in cooking at each other’s place as we don’t live far from each other, so food is not much of a problem here.”
Nabilivalu said he was also fortunate to be friends with some Fijians of Indian descent who were living in New Delhi for some time.
He said one of these friends, Satendra Prasad, had motivated him to pursue his musical career while studying.
“Since coming here in 2012, I have been learning to play the sitar (Indian musical instrument) and the tabla.
“I don’t learn the tabla frequently but I do know how to play a few raags (tune) on the sitar.”
Nabilivalu says he wants to learn all the tunes by the time he completes his studies next year and returns to Fiji.
“I want to record an album here because this is the place to do a recording.”
Asked what he was thinking of doing this time, he replied, “Of course it’s going to be rap but I want to make it a bit different.”
“I want a fusion with the sitar and the tabla. I had a sitar but it broke so I have problems in learning as I don’t have anything to play when I’m home.
“There are a lot of recording studios here and the cheapest would be about 1000 rupees ($F31.40) or so for one hour, which I think will be just enough time for me.
“But I don’t have the money to pay for the recording studio and for other things associated to doing an album, probably a single.”
Nabilivalu said he was hopeful that someone would assist him in making his dream come true — to record an album in India.
He said he was aware that rappers around the world and those from Fiji were doing good.
“Apart from successfully completing my studies, it’s also my aim to do an album here in India because there’s a lot of potential here and a lot of recording studios that do a very good job.
“I’m very hopeful of successfully completing my studies.”
Nabilivalu said he was looking forward to returning to Fiji as he was no doubt missing his family and friends.
He said life was never meant to be easy and he was happy with his stay in India so far.
“And one more thing that I want to say is, please give my loloma to all the gang at work,” he said as we parted ways.
Nabilivalu, is also known as Red Child by Fiji High Commission staff in New Delhi, and other Fijians studying there.
He prefers to be known by that name as far as music is concerned and said he would return with that name.
