Mr Fix-it with a conscience
MARRYING the same woman four times is not the only unconventional thing that Pietermaritzburg-born luminary Babu Baijoo has done in his life.
He ignored conventional wisdom and chose a career in electronics, in spite of his family’s pleas for him to do medicine.
Equipped with an Irish diploma in electronics, Baijoo was a highly rated technician when television became the latest fad in 1976.
A visionary and humanitarian, Baijoo applied his verve to fixing TV sets and radios, uniting businesses and helping the Msunduzi Municipality develop financial muscle.
Last year he stepped out of public duty as the municipality’s Speaker, a post he had held since 2010.
The municipality had been in deep financial trouble since 2006 and was sinking quickly.
Baijoo, Mike Tarr, Chris Ndlela and Mxolisi Nkosi were part of a team tasked by the ANC to revive the fortunes of the capital city.
When Baijoo left office last year, the municipality had financial reserves of more than a billion rand – it had received a clean audit for the first time in the 2014/15 financial term.
He rates those achievements among his highs in public office.
Baijoo was appalled at how businesses in Pietermaritzburg were divided along racial lines and set out to make a difference.
In 2002 the fully integrated Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce and Industries was launched. He served as its president in 2004.
He also worked on achieving Baijoo chaired the Irish branch.
His mother, Ishwardevi, urged the 19-year-old Baijoo to go to Ireland in 1967 and suggested he study medicine, but he opted for a three-year electronics diploma.
Mini cars were the popular mode of transport for students of that era. Baijoo bought one for £15 (R246) and made a lot of beer money fixing students’ cars.
He met Vija at a wedding and she joined him in Ireland in 1973. They married at a Hindu temple in Ireland and followed up with an Irish civil ceremony.
When the couple returned to South Africa in 1976, they were told their marriage was not recognised, so they did their nuptials at the old Indian Affairs Department, tying the knot for the fourth time in a religious ceremony at the insistence of their parents.
By then TV sets had become popular and Baijoo secured work with Dix Radio and TV in Pietermaritzburg.
Highly skilled, Baijoo nevertheless at times had to carry the tools for less experienced colleagues simply because some families did not approve of a non-white person fixing their appliances.
Baijoo branched into business in 1980 with help from his former boss, Paul Eckstein.
He eventually shut his business due to health complications and a flood of Chinese products on the market. But he remained active in politics and involved with the various business chambers.
He now works as a project manager for an electronics company and catches up with old friends for a game of thunee.