Girmit Gatha
Family histories, ship lists and memories of the plantation lines.
Sunday 9 am
On air now · Girmit Radio
Songs that crossed the kala pani.
हमारी आवाज़, हमारी कहानी
Bhajans at first light, golden-era film songs through the afternoon, folk tunes and open-line talk in Fiji Hindi. One station for the Girmitiya family, wherever in the world it now lives.
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The programmes
Shows worth setting a reminder for.
Purane Geet
Golden-era film songs from the fifties to the seventies.
Weekdays 10 am · Sunday 12 pm
Fiji Baat
Open-line conversation in Fiji Hindi about the week's news.
Weekdays 1 pm
Lok Rang
Bidesia, chutney, kajri and the folk songs that crossed the ocean.
Saturday 4 pm
Farmaish
Your dedications, read out and played. Send yours any time.
Sunday 4 pm · Weekdays 8 pm
Qawwali Night
Long-form qawwali and Sufi recordings, played in full.
Saturday 8 pm
The week on air
All times are Fiji time.
- Overnight
Night Lamp
Uninterrupted music through the night.
- Devotional
Bhajan Prabhat
Bhajans, kirtan and Ramayan chaupai to open the day.
- Breakfast
Subah Savera
Morning music, weather, community notices and birthday calls.
- Classics
Purane Geet
Golden-era film songs from the fifties to the seventies.
- Talkback
Fiji Baat
Open-line conversation in Fiji Hindi about the week's news.
- Hits
Drive Masala
Today's Bollywood, bhangra and island favourites for the road home.
- Devotional
Sandhya Sangeet
Evening aarti followed by ghazals and light classical.
- Requests
Farmaish
Your dedications, read out and played. Send yours any time.
- Late night
Raat Ki Rani
Slow songs and old ghazals for the quiet hours.
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Why “Girmit”?
The word is the English “agreement”, worn smooth by the tongues of the people who signed it. Between 1879 and 1916, more than sixty thousand men, women and children left India under five-year indenture contracts to work the sugar plantations of Fiji. They called the contract the girmit, and themselves the Girmitiya.
They came mostly through the depots of Calcutta and Madras, speaking Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Tamil, Telugu and more. In the plantation lines those languages met and became Fiji Hindi. The songs came too: bhajans, bidesia laments for the home left behind, wedding songs, the Ramayan sung in a circle after work.
A radio station is a small thing. But a language stays alive only where it is spoken out loud, and a song only where it is sung.
This station is named for them. It plays what they carried, and what their children and grandchildren made of it since.
- 1879The Leonidas arrives
The first ship of indentured labourers reaches Levuka on 14 May.
- 1884Wreck of the Syria
The ship strikes Nasilai Reef within sight of land. Fifty-nine people are lost.
- 1916The last voyage
The final indenture ship lands, ending 87 voyages across 37 years.
- 1920Indenture ends
All remaining contracts are cancelled on 1 January.
- TodayGirmit Day, 14 May
Marked each year in Fiji and across the diaspora.
From the studio
The latest station news and community notices.
Welcome to the new Girmit Radio website
Listen live from any page, check what is on air, watch videos and send a song request, all in one place.
Read moreHow to send a song request
A song for a birthday, an anniversary or just because. Here is how to get your dedication read out on air.
Read moreGirmit Day is marked on 14 May
The date remembers the arrival of the first indenture ship, the Leonidas, at Levuka in 1879.
Read more
Coming up
Where to find us off the air.
Sample event: Live outside broadcast
The morning show comes to you live from the market. Drop by, request a song and meet the presenters.
Sample event: Community music evening
An evening of film songs, folk music and qawwali from local singers, recorded for broadcast.
Sample event: Girmit Day gathering
Songs, stories and family histories to mark Girmit Day.
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Request a song
Farmaish — send a request
A song for your nani, a birthday, an anniversary. Tell us who it is for and we will read it out on air.