SHE arrived in Fiji in 1906 at the age of nine with her girmitiya parents.
Bachauri Jagannath had travelled on the SS Fazilka and settled at Wainikoro, Macuata, with her parents as they worked on farms under the supervision of the colonial administration.
Her contribution towards Fiji, particularly on Vanua Levu, remains evident today with the establishment of the Old People’s Home, now known as the Golden Ashram in Labasa, Vanua Levu.
Last week, Minister for Women Mereseini Vuniwaqa acknowledged her contribution at the groundbreaking ceremony of the new extension at the home.
She said such contribution had served the community well, even five decades after its establishment.
Her grandson and Labasa businessman Paul Jaduram said his grandmother travelled from Udaipur in India and never returned to see her other siblings who remained there.
“My grandmother, had a foresight for the elderly people in the community which prompted her to begin raising funds,” he said.
“Some ways in which she pursued this venture of raising funds was through selling sweets at bazaars and selling old clothing at the municipal market and bazaars and sangam mela. This was done over several years.
“She took this opportunity to approach the colonial administration requiring a piece of land to build the home for the elderly. Through the assistance of the government, this home was completed for 7000 pounds which would be approximately $21,000. The home was constructed by Jaduram Construction Company.
“I am proud to mention that I personally contributed to the electrical wiring of the home at the time of the construction.”
For the pioneer Mrs Jagannath, married life started at a very young age of 13.
Mr Jaduram said four years after she arrived in Fiji, she got married at the age of 13 and had a daughter — Jagwanthi Jagannath — who became the mother of the well known Jaduram family.
“My grandfather was Jagwanti Jagannath and he was a big time businessman. Their daughter was born in 1910 in Wainikoro where they lived,” Mr Jaduram said.
“They moved to Labasa and my grandfather built and opened up businesses in town and he even owned a lot of land including ground two of Subrail Park. “They purchased and built shops in town and their first general merchant store served the local communities.” In those days, because of segregation, Mr Jaduram said those living in the Fiji Sugar Corporation compound and government quarters at Vaturekuka and Vatunibale were served by Morris Hedstrom Supermarket which was located at Vulovi (opposite All Saints Secondary School).
“The communities living in the town area and towards Naseakula Village and beyond had to shop in town so my grandfather built a few shops and he used one for his own business.
“This shop served the people on one end of town and my grandfather built a house for us by the riverside, along Jaduram St and we used to help him in the shop.
“But for my grandmother, she used to travel a lot, ride on horses or walk to rural areas to visit the women or attend to midwifery duties.”
And Paul and older brother Tula used to accompany her, walk through rough terrains of virgin forests crossing rivers and creeks for the sake of their granny.
“It wasn’t easy, she used to collect all the unused clothes and other home items and we’d carry it with us and walk to communities in rural areas,” he said.
“Sometimes, they’d call her in the middle of the night or early hours of the morning to attend to an expectant mother who needed urgent delivery of a baby.
“So we’d accompany her to carry all her stuff and those were sweet days of our childhood, helping our granny.”
Mrs Jagannath was also the first president of the Bachauni Mahila Madal, a women’s group that attended to development issues in Labasa.
She was also the fi rst female president of the Labasa Advisory Council during the British Colony.
Mrs Jagannath’s legacy is also immortalised in a medal she received.
She was the first woman in Fiji to receive the Medal of the Order of the British Empire by Queen
Elizabeth II.
