Senior citizens acknowledged for their contribution to Fiji
Three senior citizens were acknowledged for their contribution to the nation during the Girmit celebration in Ba.
They were present monuments, Shawl and food packages.
Kamla Wati, 100, originally from Votualevu, Nadi and now resides in Sigatoka Valley road where she was married to at an age of 13. She lives alone after her lone daughter passed away a few years ago.
Her parents’ names were Shankar Singh and Rani Kumar.
She used to do farming – Sugar cane, pineapple, and rice. She is a pure vegetarian, she cooks her own food. She is able to walk, sew, and does gardening too.
Gaytri Devi, 85, was born in Vitivanua in Tavua on August 16, 1936 to parents Omkar Maharaja and Subeidi who had a 52 acre farm.
She was the fifth eldest of 11 siblings.
She attended Rabulu Primary School until Year 2 and dropped out because there was no transportation at the time.
She got married to Mahesh Sharma
and moved to Nukuloa in Ba. Mahesh later passed away in 2004. She is part of the Varoka Nari Sabha.
She has seven children, seven grandchildren, and 11 great grandchildren.
She can do things such as planting and flowers.
“I feel great and proud to see this happen to me,” she said.
“For them to garland me and then ushered to a place to get food.
“We were given this accolade and we bless those organizers.”
Bindra Mati, 90 was born on
March 3, 1932 in Namunamu in Rakiraki.
She was born to Saraswati and Thakur Muni Singh. She has roots from Bengal and Jaipur. Her grandfather, Loma Singh who came at the age of 17 from Rajasthan to work on plantation at the age of 17.
Once they settled for work in Nausori Loma Singh had managed to save a lot of money where his close knit family invested in a bus company which operated in the larger Nausori area.
She attended Tavua Bhartiya School where she finished until Year 4.
She married Kamla Prasad at the age of 16.
She had nine children, five boys and four girls. She now has 24 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
“This is something great to celebrate, it is part of our history, I am thankful to the organisers for hosting this event,” she said.
“What a good crowd and grand celebration to be given a shawl by the Minister at the event and I blessed him.””
For them to garland me and then ushered to a place to get food and proud for the exchange. We were given this accolade and we blessed those organizers. Gaytri Devi