Ensuring the legacy lives on
ROWING up with a father who was a hardcore propagator of the Tamil language, Athie Nadasen Odayar knew his future lay in vernacular classes. And he did just that with no questions asked.
It was the right move, as Odayar, now, 94, is doing what his late father did eight decades ago – trying to ensure Tamil not only survives through the generations, but thrives.
“My father (Sanasy Thiruvengadam Nadasen Odayar), was born in the district of Mayavaram in Tamil Nadu,” he said. “He attended the village school for six years, and when he was about 12 years old, he was persuaded by his uncle, Soobiah Odayar, to accompany him to Natal.
Odayar said his father served at the Umbilo Ambalavanaar Alayam before leaving to Pietermaritzburg to find work.
“In 1907 he returned to Durban and found employment as a laundry worker in Merebank and this was where he met my mother Ammakanoo. Together they opened a string of businesses that are still run by our family today.
“At that time, Merebank was a small, rural community with many of the homes made of brick and iron.
“We did not have electricity or running water, but the one thing we prided ourselves on was our culture,” said Odayar.
“Informal Tamil classes were run in the community at the homes of a few women. My teacher, Mrs Govender, would gather us outside her home. Seated on her veranda we would eagerly write our answers to her questions in the sand.
“You see, many of us could not afford books or pens and the sand was the next best thing,” he explained.
Seeing the eagerness of the children and dedication of the teachers, Odayar’s father decided to form a proper body that would serve the community with all cultural activities. This decision led to the establishment of Merebank Tamil School Society (MTSS) in 1936.
Sanasy Odayar’s first task was to find a proper place to hold classes, and being a trustee of the Merebank Indian Association, he managed to rent classrooms at the Merebank Government-Aided School.
“During the day we would attend our English classes and in the afternoon my father rented the school for Tamil classes.
“It was a lot better than sitting on Mrs Govender’s veranda,” Odayar laughed.
After a while, the Tamil classes began to clash with the school activities.
“Sometimes classes had to be cancelled because of the school’s activities. This was very challenging.
“My father then donated a plot of land in Lake Road to the organisation for a Tamil school to be built, but the building was destroyed by fire in 1967. Classes were then moved to Alipore Primary School.”
Odayar said the organisation then negotiated with the then Durban corporation for an alternate site at the corner of Himalaya and Dacca Roads adjoining the Merebank Shri Parasathie Temple.
“We paid R2 400 for the land. Unfortunately, plans had to be abandoned and the property was acquired by the corporation.
“Fresh negotiations had to be initiated with the corporation for another site and the society finally settled for the site in Burdwan Road after negotiations over about eight years.”
Odayar, who has been the treasurer of the MTSS for the past 72 years, said parents were eager to send their children to Tamil school.
“Swami Premanantha of the South Africa Siva Sithantha Kahazagam, used his kombi to fetch pupils. As the organisation grew, we introduced music classes and also purchased buses to get children to classes.”
Odayar’s son Morgan, an MTSS volunteer, said children these days were generally involved in various activities, including sport and extra tuition for school work.
“The numbers for Tamil classes for Grade 10 to 12 were dwindling because students were going for additional classes.
“So we decided, with the help of a retired professor, to offer tuition after Tamil classes,” he said.
The tuition is free and meals are provided for pupils.
“It’s all about keeping up with the trends, and since making this change the organisation has seen an increase in the number of pupils attending.”
Morgan said the organisation did not take any donations from the public but ran the society solely from the funds generated from the hire of its hall, which is used for weddings and concerts.