Son of indentured family turns 99

SUBRY GOVENDER

A second-generation descendant of a pioneer indentured family in Ottawa, north of Durban, who dedicated his life to education, culture and spirituality, recently turned 99.

Harripersadh Badri Maharaj, who was born in what is now Kissoon Road in the former sugar cane village on February 2, 1925, now lives in his family home on Essendene Road in Overport, Durban.

I had the opportunity to talk to Maharaj about his life with the assistance of one of his son’s, Naresh, recently.

Although he turned 99, Maharaj recalled, without any problems, his early life, primary and high schools, higher education, his work as a teacher in several parts of the then Natal province, his marriage, his move to Durban while in his 20s, his involvement in cultural and spiritual activities and his retirement in 1985.

Maharaj was part of a family of eight children – four brothers and four sisters – whose indentured ancestors settled in Ottawa after working in the nearby sugar estates in the late 1890s.

While his brothers followed in the footsteps of their father, Badri Maharaj, a land owner in Ottawa and a Hindu priest, Maharaj was encouraged by his father and siblings to complete his education and enter the academic world – away from the rough world of a labourer in the sugar cane fields, factories and industries.

At that time, in the 1920s, there were no schools for Indian children in Ottawa and young Maharaj attended the Verulam Indian School that was situated near the Dykes sugar factory in the town. There was also a school for African children nearby. He remembers the main road being hardened dirt with the tarring being completed in 1934.

After Maharaj completed his standard six in 1939, he attended Sastri College in Durban where he completed high school and also qualified as a teacher in 1944 at the young age of 19.

“My brother, Munoo, who encouraged me to concentrate on education, paid for my studies at Sastri College,” recalled Maharaj.

“I was indebted to my brother because he made sacrifices for me to qualify as a teacher.”

He joined the teaching profession in 1945 and was posted to Port Shepstone where he taught at the local school for Indian children.

“Here I taught as a general teacher for four years, covering all subjects,” said Maharaj.

In 1949, he was transferred to the Talwant Singh Primary School in Verulam where he taught for three years. In 1950, a year after moving back to the family home in Kissoon Road in Ottawa, his parents arranged for him to marry Chintamony Maharaj of Umgeni Road, in Durban.

He was 25 years old and his wife was 18 years old at the time of their marriage, which was held according to Hindu customs at the family home.

Maharaj and his wife lived in his home village for two years after their marriage. Their son, Jaywant, was born in 1951 but he passed on two years later due to some health complications.

Maharaj and his wife moved to Westville in 1953 after he was transferred to the Westville Hindu Primary School that was managed by the local Sanathan Dharma Sabha.

Initially, they lived in a house near the N2 bridge, where the Westwood Mall is now situated. Two of their four children were born in Westville. They were Ramesh (aka Prem) in 1953 and Naresh in 1955. The third, Suresh (1957), and fourth, Vinesh (1961), were born on a property built by the family in Sydenham in Durban.

In the 1950s, being forced by the then notorious apartheid residential legislation Group Areas Act, Maharaj purchased a house in Essendene Road in Overport, where over time the house has been reconstructed into the present family home.

Maharaj continued in the teaching profession, and in 1967 he was transferred to the Nottingham Indian Primary School, near Mooi River, for four years. He thereafter returned to Durban and taught at the Ocean View Primary School in Chatsworth; St Aidan’s Primary School and the College Vale Primary School in Asherville until his retirement in the mid-1980s.

In 1985 he stepped down from the teaching profession at the age of 60, after he was offered a retirement package .

During his early years as an educator and for more than 30 years, Maharaj participated as an active member and official of the Friends of the Sick Association (FOSA) and the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society.

“I remember that in the 1950s and 1960s, we as FOSA members played a very important role in promoting the health of the people affected by TB. The people who were involved in the FOSA branch in Verulam included Mr YS Chinsamy, Mr RL Beharee, Mr JS Singh, Mr Bob Singh, Gurudeen Singh, Miss Indira Beharee and the Sharma family. I recall that we used to distribute an amount of three pounds to all families affected by the TB pandemic,” he said.

Maharaj was also fully involved from an early age as a member and official of the Shri Sanathan Dharma Sabha, which is affiliated to the South African Hindu Maha Sabha.

“Until recently, I was the longest serving member of the Sanathan Dharma Sabha,” he added.

He also recalled his life as a youngster. Maharaj is the only original resident of Ottawa left.

“At that time there were not many families, but I recall that there were two shops – one owned by the Hans family and one owned by a white person called Mr Dinshaw. I also recall that there was the Michael Sousa family who lived on the main road, near what is now known as Kissoon Road. The other families were the Gobindu Sarkar, Badloo, Subramoney and Dilicor Sarkar families.”

According to Maharaj, the residents of Ottawa and other areas made tremendous progress in their lives because they contributed to the development of education in their communities.

“During my life I noticed that our families paid a great deal of attention to building schools and creating opportunities for young people to complete their primary and high schools and for many to enter the teaching profession. Our families adopted the philosophy of ‘each one, teach one’ and this paid off for the people.

“I want to emphasise that this concentration on studies and education is as valid today as it was in our days. Opportunities must be created for all children and there must be an open society for all.”

Despite his involvement in teaching and the education field for more than 40 years, his four sons became business people after completing their tertiary studies. They are involved in service stations, automotive components, international logistics, medical goods and pharmaceuticals.

Maharaj also has nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

One of his granddaughters has followed in his footsteps as a teacher in Dubai. Another grandchild is working as a dentist in Ireland, another is a doctor and one is a financial advisor.

Maharaj says life for him has been tough but productive and rewarding. He is very happy that all his children and grandchildren are successful in their lives, while at the same time culturally conscious of their roots and backgrounds.

He has managed to cope with old age despite the absence of his wife, who passed away seven years ago, in 2017, at the age of 85.

“I have to be grateful for the 67 years we spent together,” he said.

Govender is a veteran journalist. He is writing the history of pioneer families of Ottawa where he grew up and worked in the local sugar cane fields during his school holidays. His early life in Ottawa is included in his autobiography, “Coolie Journalist”, to be published soon.

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