Introduction Interwoven Representations of Past and Present

October 1993. The Indo-Fijian taxi driver who drove me from the Suva bus terminal was amiable, although rather low in spirits. He spoke of how tough things had been in Fiji over the past years since the coups of 1987, economically and in terms of ethnic relations. Many Indians had left, he said. For those who had no option but to stay, things had not been easy. I was struck by a sense of heaviness, depression and sadness, and an underlying tension.