BEFORE Dayaram Fakir built a century-old legacy in Taveuni, his first steps in Fiji were taken in Nausori.
It was a place that perhaps gave him a sense of familiarity because its name carried a similar sound to his birthplace, Navsari in Gujarat, India.
According to the master of ceremony of the store centennial Larry Thomas, he lived in Nausori between 1923 to 1925.
“Perhaps comforted by the fact that the name Nausori sounded comfortingly similar to Nafsari, the place of his birth in India,” he said.
For the young businessman who had travelled thousands of miles from India, Nausori became the place where he began rebuilding his life and searching for opportunities in a foreign country.
Dayaram Fakir was born in Navsari, Gujarat, and like many Gujaratis during the period of British colonial rule, he looked beyond his homeland in search of a better future.
Mr Thomas said Dayaram first travelled to Zanzibar, now part of Tanzania in East Africa, before hearing about opportunities emerging in Fiji.
“While in Zanzibar, he heard that some people were travelling to the colony of Fiji, where new opportunities were emerging.
“Dayaram decided to leave Zanzibar and head for Fiji.”
The journey to Fiji was not easy.
He returned to India, purchased a ticket from Calcutta and began a two-month sea voyage across the Pacific.
“The journey took two months under harsh conditions, crowded decks and limited food.”
Dayaram eventually arrived in Levuka in 1923, only a few years after the end of indenture in Fiji.
His first years were spent in Nausori, where he relied on his skills as a tailor to earn a living.
“While living in Nausori, Dayaram worked as a tailor and sold clothes door to door.”
His skills were highly valued in the community.
“He was even given a block of land in exchange for sewing a suit. That just shows how tailoring was a very lucrative business.”
But Dayaram was not only focused on tailoring.
He was looking for an opportunity to establish a business.
While in Nausori, he heard stories from traders about Taveuni, an island where former indentured labourers had settled and worked on plantations.
“He also heard about the Catholic missionaries in Wairiki and that there was a shortage of traders supplying food and clothing.”
Recognising an opportunity, Dayaram travelled to Taveuni in 1926.
His arrival marked the beginning of what would become one of the island’s longest-running businesses.
“Initially, he operated under the current site under a sublease.
“Not long after, he secured a lease from the Mataitonga clan in Navarada, here in Wairiki.”
It was there that Dayaram established Dayaram Fakir Tailors, Drapers and Grocers, which later became known as the Meridian Store.
“This made him the first Gujarati entrepreneur in Taveuni.”
However, success did not come without sacrifice.
Dayaram’s wife, Diwari Ben Fakir, never came to Fiji, meaning he spent those early years alone on the island.
“His life on the island was one of solitude, endurance and determination.
“He worked long and hard hours, enduring hardships and facing challenges of no electricity, no piped water and supplies arriving at monthly intervals.”
Despite the difficulties, Dayaram continued building relationships with the people of Wairiki.
The store became more than a place of business.
It became a trusted part of the community.
After four years living alone, Dayaram was joined by his only son, Ambaram.
Born in Nafsari, Gujarat, in 1919, Ambaram arrived in Fiji as a 12-year-old boy after a difficult two-month journey from India.
“When he arrived in Taveuni in the early 1930s, he soon joined his father, becoming very quickly central to the running of the business.
The young Ambaram learned every part of the trade.
“There was much to learn. Even at a very young age, he learned tailoring, drapery work, buying and selling copra.
“He managed supply shipments from Levuka and Suva, and familiarising himself with customer service in a multicultural island community.”
Those early lessons would later allow him to continue his father’s dream.
He said Dayaram’s story represented more than the establishment of a business.
“This is the story of how one man, Dayaram Fakir, dared to venture from his home to travel to the other side of the world in search of opportunities.
“He left his wife and family to travel to a country that he knew nothing about, except that there were opportunities for business.”
He said the journey was a reminder of the challenges faced by early migrants who travelled across oceans with nothing guaranteed.
“When I read through all this information, I tried to visualise it, and it reminded me that stories like this are like watching a movie.”
“One man’s journey across the Kalapani, the black waters, in search of his fortune.”
“There were struggles, challenges, pain, suffering and loneliness, but Dayaram withstood it.”
Almost a century later, the foundations laid by a young tailor in Nausori continue through the Meridian Store in Wairiki.
A journey that began with uncertainty became a story of perseverance, family and service to the people of Taveuni.
