FOR 82-year-old Robert Ram Bali of Olosara, Sigatoka, the story of Girmit is not just history — it is his family’s legacy.
A proud fourth-generation descendant of girmitiyas, Mr Bali said his roots reflected the very spirit of unity that had shaped Fiji for generations.
Born to an Indo-Fijian father and an iTaukei mother, he believed his family’s story was proof that different cultures can live together in harmony.
Even more remarkable, he said, was that his grandfather was believed to be the first Indo-Fijian baby born in Fiji during the Girmit era.
Mr Bali said his great-grandparents, Daya Ram and Maikee, were among the 462 indentured labourers who arrived in Fiji aboard the Leonidas on May 15, 1879.
The couple left India on March 3 that year while expecting a child.
“What I heard from my parents, my father and from my father’s family, is that when my great grandmother, Maikee, reached Suva she started having labour pain,” Mr Bali said.
“She was quickly rushed to the health facility where she gave birth to my grandfather, Mahabir Dayaram.”
Mr Bali said records supporting the claim were available in published history books and at the Fiji Archives.
Reflecting on his upbringing, Mr Bali said Fiji’s strength had always been its multicultural unity.
“My father was an Indo-Fijian and mother was iTaukei. We lived a beautiful life together.
“My mother was accepted by my grandparents and so was my father accepted by his iTaukei in-laws.
He said intermarriages since the Girmit era helped strengthen peace and understanding among communities.
His father, Ram Bali, married Helen Danford of Namosi, who had family links to the Tui Namosi.
Today, Mr Bali runs a taxi business from his Seaview Drive home alongside his wife, Kui Makaili Bali, who moved to Fiji from Tuvalu as a child.
Together, the couple has built a large and thriving family — 12 children, 45 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren — a living legacy that stretches from the decks of the Leonidas to modern-day Fiji.
