THE calm expression on his face spoke of nothing else but the mere enjoyment of village life bliss since moving back home 10 years ago.
Seated crossed-legged across from me, Jovesa Rokotakala expertly rolled his tobacco in a piece of white paper with his back turned to the rest of the men in the house, as if to say: "Please don't ask for my tobacco!"
"Au sa mai yabahi 'ini 'u qoi i nahoro (I have spent 10 years in the village now)," said Mr Rokotakala.
While explaining more about himself, he slowly turned to face the crowd in the house.
With a smile on his face and the tobacco roll firmly wedged between his lips, Mr Rokotakala giggled as he saw other men watching him, he was certainly teasing them.
"I just enjoy the village life. I left my job in Lautoka with the Fiji Electricity Authority after working there for about 10 years as a linesman from 1970 to 1980."
"That was a very difficult job because we had to pull the line from pole to pole and dig about seven feet underground to install tall posts," Mr Rokotakala said.
"We didn't dig using machines but used our hands and digging forks and crowbars to do the job."
He added that they used to work late into the night.
"As long as there were lights provided for our work, we had to work in the night, and it used to be fun because we had a lot to eat too," he fondly recalls.
"We have worked all around the Western Division, even up in Monasavu, and when it's during the cold season, work is difficult," Mr Rokotakala said.
After leaving the FEA, he travelled to his village for a holiday.
"When I came back to visit my relatives during my leave, I fell in love with my childhood home again and decided to stay on.
"I never returned again to work, stayed back home in the village and started my farming again, something I used to do during my younger days," he said.
"I still farm today and do little chores around the house and help my wife.
"We have six children and they are all married now and have their own families too," Mr Rokotakala said.
If weather permits, Mr Rokotakala visits the farm every day to collect food for the family.
"Most of the time it is windy in the village and gets very cold, so I am being careful and need to look after myself well," he said. "So when it is cold, I don't go to farm but stay home and help my wife or attend to the vegetable garden near our house."
There are days he goes fishing with other men in the village especially upon the request of his wife.
"If she wants to eat fish then I go fishing but I do everything at a much slower pace now than before when I was much younger and fitter," he said.