An Indian-origin woman in Fiji turned 101 today as the country celebrated the 134th anniversary of the arrival of indentured labourers from India.
Deogi Nair, hails from Chennai travelled to Fiji with her parents, Vellu and Amalu Nair, who came here to work under the indenture system.
Mrs Nair said, the only thing I want to tell people is to love one another and be good to one another as that's the only way to a lovely future,", the Fiji Times reported.
When asked about her long life and her birthday coinciding with 'Girmit Day', she replied, "It's all through the grace of God and I thank Him for my long life.
Fiji, an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, celebrates the anniversary of first arrival of Indian indentured labourers on May 14 every year, the day also popular as Girmit day.
"I'm very happy that I was born on the day when the first group of indentured labourers came to Fiji from India."
She also mentioned that she never went to school as there was none at that time.
"I don't know how to read and write. We lived very near the sea when I got married and everything was very good at that time, as everyone was good to each other," she said.
"But there were a lot of cyclones and floods at that time and I still remember the tsunami that hit Fiji in the early 1950s."
Ms Nair had cataract surgery on her eyes some years ago and has a clean medical sheet, it said.
She has no medical problem, has good eyesight and hearing, and is fit enough to go for afternoon walks in the neighbourhood, it said.