The London Declaration 'Towards a reading society', adopted at the UNESCO World Congress on books, points out that "all developing countries should give priority to literacy and education and for that purpose encourage indigenous book publishing".
In a small country like Fiji, writing in vernacular offers tough challenges to those who want to publish their works in Fijian and Hindi languages. Readership is very limited. There is a narrow market if an enthusiastic young author produces a novel, a book of short stories, plays or poetry. A disadvantage he will face is that our younger generation would prefer to read a book written in English rather than the one printed in Fijian or Hindi because of the reading taste he has developed for the English language. There is no doubt that English is essential for him if he is to get a suitable job for his livelihood but it does not mean that he is to ignore his own mother tongue.
Professor George Milner, a scholar from England and champion of the Fijian language and culture who visited Fiji many times created a sensation among the educated Fijians in 1981 when he said "the Fijians are in danger of being cut off from their cultural roots because Fijian children get too much education in English. Many Fijians and Indian children can read and write in English but not in their own native language." There is no evidence to support the argument that what he said 28 years ago is still relevant but it is evident that in some schools overdoses of English are still given to students of both communities. Also amongst some parents in both the communities is an elite minority that does not think it necessary for their children to learn Fijian and Hindi. Perhaps this kind of attitude might change now as the Ministry of Education has made it compulsory for every Fijian and Indian student to learn Hindi and Fijian. But just learning the language is not sufficient. The students should be trained to cultivate a taste for book-reading and along with it a sense of appreciation of what they read.
The 1969 Education Commission made a strong recommendation for the production of local literature in Fijian and Hindi but unless people who are interested in the romance of writing develop a strong passion in them and get involved in this kind of activity, no recommendation shall bear any fruit. Now our Department of Culture and Heritage has provided us very inspiring objectives in its program Literature and History.
Included in them are the following two: (a) to encourage the development of more professional writers in the Fijian language and (b) to assist organisations intending to stage book fairs, exhibitions, forums and workshops for Fijian literature and history. These are very laudable aims but the question is whether we have sufficient books written in the Fijian language which may be displayed in the book fairs.
The Curriculum Development Unit has been producing Fijian and Hindi books for use in primary and secondary schools but all those publications do not present us a total picture of Fiji's literary scene. On the other hand, if an independent writer wants to publish his works, no publishers will take it up because of uncertain marketing outlets. Imagine the plight of such a person. He has to muster his own initiative, drive, knowledge, finance, time and expertise. He does not have a large market from which his potential customer would emerge nor does he have any assurance that at least some return could come from his initial outlay. Indeed, no local author has the requisite sponsor, guarantor or a market to venture into such a field. Inevitably, the whole business of writing becomes of spare time, hobby type, secondary-income consideration, something into which the whole undivided effort of the author can not be put.
The Hindi language scenario is quite interesting. Hindi paper-back novels and books of short stories and poems were imported by many of our Indian booksellers from India in large quantities about 25 years ago. Those books quenched the literary thirst of Hindi lovers but now CDs, DVD films, TV serials, etc, have invaded our homes. As a result they have eclipsed the culture of reading and writing. But our people are perhaps aware that a bookreading community is an enlightened one.
Writing is a lonely business but in Fiji it is more lonely because of the lack of a literary climate. In other countries there are hundreds of literary associations and societies, writers' clubs and guilds.
In Fiji, we had Fiji Writers Association based in the University of the South Pacific but its sluggish activities remained confined to the university campus. Now there is a Pacific Writers Forum. The majority of its members, it seems, are university lecturers and students, and most of them write, not in Hindi and Fijian, but in English. Many societies such as Hindi Mahaprashid, Fiji Lekhak Sangh were formed to promote Hindi writing but they died natural deaths.
In our country literary conferences, seminars and workshops are far between. Opportunities such as providing awards, literary prizes, scholarships, fellowships are almost non-existent.
Despite all these disadvantages, pains and problems, some individual writers continue to produce 'something' literary because something, as they say, is better than nothing, There is an urgent need to form a Fiji book development council and the government should take the initiative to establish it.
* Jogindar Singh Kanwal is a retired principal of Khalsa College, Ba and author of many Hindi and English books. He is the chairman of the Multi-Ethnic Cultural Centre, Ba. These are exclusively his views.