Visiting my family’s village
On Heritage Day on September 24, South Africans celebrate culture and a diversity of beliefs and traditions. POST reflects on the importance of heritage
THE witty Mark Twain is believed to have said: “Why waste your money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.”
While there is certainly a good deal of truth to this amusing statement, it is also true that looking up one’s family tree is not a waste of money at all.
Family history is an important part of our identity; the more we understand our heritage, the more we understand ourselves. When one know one’s roots, one feels a sense of identity that gives one the strength to progress through life. Knowing who one’s ancestors were and about one’s origins can afford one a sense of identity.
You can find out if your family belongs to a particular faith and why, or discover where a family name came from. Learning your family history is a vital part of understanding yourself.
During your search, you might also confirm something you always wondered about, or find out something that you never knew. Creating and building a family tree allows you to leave a legacy for your children and future kin. Precious family memories that can be lost forever can now be kept alive, from generation to generation.
Digging for my roots was part of an introspective quest, undertaken out of a sense of curiosity. The discovery of my ancestral roots, in a small village called Siruvallur, brought great insight to both myself and my family.
Siruvallur is located in Polur, a town in the Tiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu, India. The total geographical area of the village is 65 699 hectares, with a population of 5 265 people living in 1 269 houses. It is situated 174km from the state capital of Chennai. Most of the population depends upon agriculture and cattle farming. The predominant caste is the Yadava or Konar, comprising dairymen, cattle producers and labourers. Their traditional occupation is animal husbandry and sale of products.
My quest to find my roots began
in 2013, with old documents found in my family archive. I discovered the colonial numbers of my paternal grandparents, which helped me trace their roots from the ships’ lists held at the Durban Archives.
Thiruvengada (colonial number 138223) and Valliammal (colonial number 13822) arrived in South Africa on May 5, 1908, on board Umfoli X. They both originated from Siruvallur. Armed with this vital information, I travelled to India in December 2013 to find my ancestral village – and even my family.
After enquiring at the local municipal office, I was taken to the village, where I met some elders. After much discussion and with the aid of photographs of my grandparents, I was directed to a family whom I later found to be the remaining family members of my late grandparents. During this trip, my intention was to only establish a connection – but, in June this year, I returned to this quaint village with my wife, Nirmala, to immerse myself in the lifestyle of the villagers.
The week-long experience was not only fulfilling but provided important insight into my grandparents and their immediate and extended family. Our hosts were Boobalan, his wife and his grandson. Boobalan’s granny and my great granny were sisters.
Our hosts went out of their way to make our stay as comfortable as possible. Every day, a different South Indian meal was freshly prepared, giving us a remarkable cuisine experience of both vegetarian
and non-vegetarian dishes.
Local villagers regularly visited to see the couple from Africa. Boobalan did not hesitate to proudly publicise our visit at the local dairy co-operative, where he worked as a financial controller.
Twice a day, in the early mornings and late afternoons, he and a few other administrators received the milk produced by their cows. It was tested and weighed, and a voucher issued, which could be exchanged at the local bank for cash. Villagers who did not own cows visited the co-op to purchase milk. The surplus was sent to a factory in Polur for commercial purposes. The whole process was controlled in an efficient and transparent manner, which I later found was a typical village control system.
My curiosity got the better of me and I volunteered to assist my relative at the co-op for a day.
The village meeting point was the local temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Two other temples were for the worshippers of Lord Shiva and the Goddess Mariamma.
I was told that my relatives, including my grandparents, worshipped at the Vishnu Temple. We therefore decided to host a festival there, in memory of my grandparents.
This included a hawan (sacrificial offering made to fire), discourse and an Annadhanam (charity meal). The highlight was a South Indian devotional concert with Nirmala as the main artist, accompanied by local musicians.
For the next gathering, the milk co-op was chosen as the venue to invite the village inhabitants to and an announcement was made through a loud hailer, from a vehicle driven around the village.
This resulted in an excellent response, with attendees dressed in colourful traditional costumes. The village people were surprised that people from Africa could sing in the vernacular. This prompted me to provide a background on people of Indian origin in South Africa, since their arrival in 1860. The discussion was not only educational but aroused the interest of the local people, who had many questions.
Other highlights during our stay in my ancestral village included visiting the paddy fields and other farmland characterised by small-scale farming of cotton and mango orchids. There are over 500 varieties of mango cultivars in India, each with a unique flavour.
As an anthropologist, I was happy to have first-hand experience
of the transmission of oral tradition. This was characterised by elderly members of the village engaging in storytelling sessions under a tree, which was also a meeting place where important decisions were taken – a practice characteristic of most traditional societies. Cultural roots are the foundation of uniqueness.
Knowing where you came from, in light of traditions and customs, creates the root of finding ourselves. Culture plays an important role in shaping our principles and morals. It ties a community together and makes it distinctive.
As we get older, we realise the impact of where we came from. There is a sense of pride in hearing about our ancestors and families, and what they went through. This is why it is so important to know about our roots.
Our visit and stay at my ancestral village was an experience that will never be forgotten and I can’t wait to take the rest of my family there or maybe even retire in this peaceful and serene environment.