Lucknow, Jan 20 (IANS): Shyam Nandan, resident of Ambedkar Nagar district in UP, has been selected to present his research paper at the World Hindi Conference (WHC) to be held in Fiji from February 15-17.

Nandan had sent a research paper titled "Life-struggle of indentured labourers in Fiji's Hindi poetry" for the World Hindi Conference, which has been accepted for presentation after evaluation.

The word "girmitiya", as the indentured labourers were referred to, is derived from "girmit", meaning "agreement".

A permission letter for the acceptance of the research paper and its presentation-cum-reading in the conference has been sent by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Shyam Nandan -- an assistant professor at the Hindi department of Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Bihar's Motihari - has highlighted the struggles of the indentured labourers, their sorrows, suffering, tortures, agony and their struggle in the development of Fiji.

In his research paper selected for the prestigious WHC, Nandan has explained how life of these migrants faced various problems. These indentured labourers had to adjust themselves in relation to many dimensions like language, culture, social environment etc.

"This process of adjustment was extremely difficult and painful. These sufferings and struggles have been expressed by these indentured labourers and their descendants in their literature," he said.

Nandan explains how he was inspired to carry research on the struggles of the indentured labourers eight years ago when he participated in the World Hindi Conference in Bhopal in 2015.

"I came across this woman who sang a folk Bhojpuri song popular in many eastern UP districts where the wife of a girmitiya laments his absence. 'Kauni nagariya tu jaaye re bidesiya," Nandan said.

His research highlights how poor farmers and laborers were taken by the British under the conditionality system in their colonies by giving different inducements.

A postgraduate in Hindi literature from RML Avadh University, Ayodhya (erstwhile Faizabad), Nandan, 33, has so far published chapters in various books, written 18 research papers/articles in prestigious journals and has participated and presented research papers in 25 national/international seminars/ workshops.

He is also a nominated member of the Hindi Advisory Committee of the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas.