Anecdote of love, music with Baravilala

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Master Iliesa Baravilala with a list of the top iTaukei songs he composed. Picture: REPEKA NASIKO

Songs of heartbreak have always dominated the national soundscape, but many do not know the stories behind those sweet tunes.

And legendary composer Iliesa Baravilala is one of the best tellers of the stories behind some of Fiji’s most famous songs.

Baravilala was the headteacher at St James Anglican School in Levuka back in 1994 when he went to open the school mail on a Saturday morning. Among the letters was one in particular addressed to him from the Savusavu Post Office.

“I had never received a letter from Savusavu before and I wondered who on Earth could have sent it,” Baravilala said

“I opened it and started reading. It was from a woman from Domokavu in Vaturova in Cakaudrove Province and she was wondering if I could compose a song about her.

“I wrote back to her that I would not be able to accommodate her request because I did not know who she was and that I’d never met her.”

Two weeks later, Baravilala received another letter from Adi Naulu Kalisiana, the woman from Vaturova who’d written earlier.

This time, however, the content was deeper. The two exchanged letters for some time until Baravilala was convinced her request was genuine.

He decided he would compose a song as per her request.

A classic hit mostly played at iTaukei functions is Mai Sawana Vanuabalavu which was first recorded at the South Pacific Recordings (SPR) studio and sung by the staff of the then Lautoka Teachers College (LTC) in 1997.

Many Fijians have little idea that the tune was composed in the Old Capital after a few exchanges of letters between Baravilala and Adi Naulu.

Baravilala says he did not take the request too seriously until a sentence in one of Adi Naulu’s final letters clearly explained she had returned to her village in Domokavu with her heart buried in Lomaloma Bay on Vanuabalavu.

“I knew straight away that the request was from the heart and the relationship she went through had not been easy,” he says.

Adi Naulu explained in her final letter that she had spent some time at Sawana Village on Vanuabalavu and fell in love with a man from the village; somehow things did not work out and the relationship came to an end.

She explained it was not what she’d expected because she knew he was the man of her dreams and that she’d fallen in love with the Sawana villager.

She was also overwhelmed with the love the villagers had shown her during her stay there.

This is the story behind this renowned number which has received almost a million hits on YouTube.

The retired schoolteacher said the song was first sung by Levuka’s very own son, Jimmy Subhaydas.

However, a few months after completing the lyrics, he felt the need to have it properly sung by a vocal group. This was made possible when he was transferred to the then Lautoka Teachers College in Natabua. It was there that he assembled the staff of LTC and herded them into SPR studio to record Mai Sawana.

“Many other bands have sung this number and I have always gotten accolades for it,” Baravilala says.

“I had already composed many other songs before this request came and I did not realise how much of an impact it had on people, particularly those of Sawana in Vanuabalavu.

“I’m glad people loved the song as it is and that is what matters the most.”

Nearly three decades after this number was first composed, Baravilala has yet to meet the woman who wrote to her from Savusavu.

While age is catching up slowly, he still hopes that one day he will meet Adi Naulu in person.

He says a number of his family members have caught up with her in Vaturova and while he would love to travel to Vanua Levu to meet her, his frail condition won’t allow him that luxury.

Instead, Baravilala hopes Adi Naulu will be able to make it to Viti Levu.

He agrees it would be nice to meet her so they can reminisce about the song that continues to make people happy in Fiji today.

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