LABASA

September 12, 2007

This morning, I took the 9:30am bus from Savusavu to Labasa. Taking just under three hours, the ride was quite pleasant, as I was able to see the countryside of Vanua Levu. Perhaps the strangest part of the journey was when the bus drove through a massive pin tree forest: I would assume that pine trees are not indigenous, and have been introduced to Fiji for logging purposes. It was very awkward seeing pine trees next to palm trees.

After checking into my hotel, I began to explore Labasa. (Regarding the hotel, I am staying in the “dormitory,” but am the only one here. In fact, I think I am the only guest in the entire place). Labasa is predominately Indo-Fijian; and the town reflects this, as there are many temples and mosques. During the service I attended on Tuesday night in Savusavu, I was told that there are, in fact, Indo-Fijian dholak crafters in Labasa; so, I set out to find one.

To my knowledge, there are three main music shops in Labasa: South Pacific Recording Music & HiFi, Sharma Music Centre and Rohit’s South Pacific Music Center. I had seen both the SPR and Sharma stores in Suva; so those two represent the “major” chain music shops here in Fiji.

SPR did not have any locally made dholaks; but there did have a whole slew of Indian-imported ones, some as expensive as F$590. To my surprise, the Sharma Music Centre actually did a handful of locally crafted dholaks, all selling for F$125. I spoke to the shopkeeper Dinesh, a Hindu, and he said that Sharma has crafters in Nadi. He emphasized that the locally crafted dholaks are much lower quality (and much less expensive) than the Indian crafted dholaks. When comparing the two instruments, it was clear that the Fijian made dholaks were not very nice. I passed on buying on just for the sake of buying one.

Rohit’s South Pacific Music Center is owned and operated by a man named Rohit Sagadewan – the slogan of the shop is, “Advancing Labasa Musically.” Rohit does not sell Fijian made dholaks but did give me the name of local crafter, a man by the name of Lalta Ram. Rohit did not have Lalta’s phone number, so he suggested that I look it up in the Yellow Pages.

The funny thing about looking up the last name “Ram” in Fiji: pages 504 to 510 all include individuals with that last name. There were about a dozen or so Lalta Ram’s, so that was not much help. I went back to Rohit for some advice of how to contact the Lalta Ram I was looking for, and he then gave me the number of Lalta’s neighbor, a woman named Maya Munappa.

I called Maya, explained my situation, and then took a taxi over to her house. She lives in Siberia, a district of Labasa on the outskirts of the town. It was long and winding dirt road to her house; but it was in a very beautiful location, just at the foothills of the Three Sisters Mountains. Maya, her father, and I talked for about twenty minutes and then Maya brought me over to Lalta’s home.

Lalta, a slender man in his late fifties, did not speak English: fortunately, Maya was more than willing to serve as my translator. Lalta’s wife also was there, and she helped bridge the communication gap between Lalta and myself.

After explaining my research, I asked if it would be possible to purchase one of Lalta’s dholaks. He said of course, but that he did not have any finished ones. This worked to my advantage: I was able to watch Lalta complete the construction of a dholak that I picked out from a group of four or five that he was still working on. It was really neat to see the craftsman in action: I took a ton of photographs and also a couple short videos.

The wooden shell of the dholak already was completed (sanded and lacquered, that is): the heads of the drum still needed to be set to the drum, though. Both sides of the dholak are played, but are different sizes to create different sounds. To prepare one of the drum heads, Lalta reinforced the inner-side of the head with a black, tar-like goo. When I asked what that substance was, I was told that one (in the red tin, in the picture) was called “rito,” which is the ash of a burned tire; and, the other (in the yellow tin) was “loban,” automotive grease. I will try to post a video of Lalta mixing these two substances, and then rubbing the combination onto the drumhead.

The wood used for the drum is from a “sirsa” tree (they were unsure of the English equivalent), which is a local tree. Lalta said that he has experimented with thirteen different types of timber before he found the perfect one. He noted that the harder the timber, the better the sound of the drum. He did say that he has built drums from both palm and mango trees before; a very Indo-Fijian prospect. The heads of the drum are made from goatskin that first is soaked in water with “chuna” powder (limesalt; not sure what that is though) to remove the goat hair. All in all, Lalta says building a dholak only takes one day of work; I would have thought it would have been a much more extensive process.

Lalta has been building drums for thirty-six years. He is craftsman by trade; constructing drums, cabinets, tables and other such general items. Lalta learned how to build a drum from his father, who had been a carpenter. His father had taught himself how to craft drums during the 1960s. When I asked where in Indian his ancestors were from, he responded that he did not know, as it was too long ago.

Lalta says he makes dholaks for “thousands of temples” throughout Fiji. He did say he has never crafted tablas, but has repaired them before. In regards to the religious element to the drum crafting, Lalta asserted that before the construction begins, he says a special prayer. Further, upon the completion of the drum, decorations, like marigolds, are placed on and around the drum, almost as if it were a statue of a god.

The drum itself only cost F$80; much cheaper than the lower quality ones in town. Discount aside, the invaluable experience of watching a craftsman at work, and having the opportunity to interview the crafter of my drum, was truly a fantastic experience. I came to Labasa for this very prospect, and it is so great that it came into fruition.

I must admit that none of this would have been possible without the assistance of Maya. From introducing me to Lalta to translating for me, she really was the reason this excellent day happened.

If that weren’t enough, Maya invited me to say for dinner! I actually was with her and her family (husband and 14-year-old son) from about 2pm to 10:30pm. The level of hospitality was unbelievable: I really can’t even describe how much Maya and her family helped me out. She says I now have an Indo-Fijian mother! Another ridiculously great day for the books...