Rekindling nostalgia for Durban
Ebrahim Essa’s memoir is a commentary on place and people
KEEPING your “cold-blooded friends” cool this month needs to be a priority if you want to ensure their health.
Reptiles are ectothermic, so the regulation of their body temperatures is dependent on their external environment and they optimally function in habitats where the humidity is ideal for their particular species.
The South African Weather Service said KwaZulu-Natal usually experienced its hottest weather in January-February, with relatively high levels of humidity.
Jean-Pierre “JP” Wittstock, chairperson of the Association of Reptile Keepers KZN, said most reptiles exposed to a body temperature of 43-45°C for more than a few minutes were at serious risk of dying and that high levels of humidity could be catastrophic for your pet.
“If the humidity is too high, the pet can contract skin infections such as scale rot or pneumonia,” he said.
Johannesburg-based reptile breeder, Timothy Zedi, said scale rot occurred when the bedding in the vivarium was too moist, and that reptiles contracted respiratory infections when there was too much moisture in the cage and not enough ventilation.
Snakes require less humidity than their reptilian counterparts, lizards. While your iguanas may be perfectly fine with 80% humidity, you may need to check on your slithering buddies.
“Every species has preferences when it comes to moisture, so become familiar with what types of moisture your pet will need and what equipment you’ll need to provide,” said Wittstock.
He said vivariums offered different levels of heat protection.
“Glass tends to lose heat more rapidly, but is great for keeping humidity levels higher.
“Wood is great for most reptile species, provided it’s well sealed with a water-based sealant, otherwise any humidity can cause it to swell or even worse, grow mould.
“Many keepers also use large plastic enclosures which are hygienic, easy to heat, hold humidity well and are easy to clean,” he said.
However, the conditions of the environment are just as important as the correct housing.
“When it comes to in the tank, the moisture levels are controlled by ventilation, temperature and the introduction of water into the atmosphere. Use a hygrometer in your pet’s habitat to track humidity. You can maintain the appropriate level of humidity in the habitat with humidifiers, misters and aeration devices,” said Wittstock.
“An important precaution is to ensure the enclosure is never placed in direct sunlight,” he added.
And you can let your pets enjoy a swim.
“Reptiles will often lie in their water bowls to cool down and on extremely hot days, a keeper can place a few ice blocks in the water bowl to ensure that the water is kept cool,” said Wittstock.
“THIS book doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it is saying something important if you are to listen.”
That was Azad Essa speaking about his father Ebrahim Essa’s new book,
Described as part memoir, part satire and part social commentary EB Koybie takes the reader down Memory Lane, bringing a sense of nostalgia for all the bustle of Grey Street, Bakers Lemon Creams, black and white Bollywood movies and tatty Beano and Dandy comics.
This week, Ebrahim, 74, sat down with The Independent on Saturday to talk about growing up in Durban and his years in Bombay as a university student, both of which form the basis of his book.
The book took five years to complete and was edited by his son, Azad, a senior reporter for the Middle East Eye, based in New York.
Essa said while it was difficult to choose from a plethora of stories making up his early life, he zoned in on moments which also provided insightful social commentary on the times between the 1950s and 1960s.
Essa was born in 1946, early to apartheid, living first in Mayville before being moved to Grey Street because of the Group Areas Act.
In the book, Essa describes his Mayville home: “The endless empty space around the Mayville house complemented the dense bushes of wild guavas that never seemed to ripen. Father said they were bad for my asthma but I ate them anyway. The mysterious forest with its gushing waterfall, distant Sunday drums and howling afternoon winds, hung over us like a full-time conspiracy. We still loved the place. It was the only place we knew. Everything that ever happened, only happened here. It’s where I learned about tadpoles and leapfrogs. It’s where I collected Creamline milk bottles and multi-coloured grasshoppers.”
It is through his conversation with his brother, Walla, in the book, that the reader can experience Grey Street and the vibrant Casbah in the 1960s.
With the two boys sitting on their tin roof with “a paper packet of oily bhajias, buttered-bread sandwiches (smooth machine slices courtesy of Kapitan’s Vegetarian Lounge), a glass bottle of Coca-Cola and a pair of binoculars”, Grey Street and beyond unfold, including the tall fir trees on Commercial Road and escapades to the Avalon cinema.
At home, Essa was able to access imported comic books such as Tiger, and Dandy to Dell Comics’ and
brother Walla’s clothes.
It was also during these years that Essa fell in love with the old black-andwhite Bollywood movies, which titles head up each chapter of his new book.
After matriculation at 17, he boarded the SS Karanja to attend university in Bombay and the 21-day journey was an experience he would never forget.
“I was homesick and seasick, I had never even been on a raft before,” Essa said this week.
“I had to travel third class and the food was terrible,” he said, adding that one evening he had been slapped by a drunk Malay female traveller and, trying to hide from her, he asked to spend the night in the ship’s prison cell. Offering one of his packets of Bakers Lemon Creams (his family had bought a whole box for him to snack on during the voyage), as a bribe, Essa spent “my most comfortable night on the ship” in a cell.
He arrived in Bombay just one month before the India-Pakistan war broke out (1965) and not being admitted for his chosen engineering degree, Essa decided on pursuing a BSc degree.
At first he stayed in a hostel, sharing with other students, had to learn to wash his own clothes, contracted jaundice, had his appendix removed, went through a drought and monsoon and found his way to far-flung family members. But most of all, he loved walking the streets of Bombay, feeling free from the binds of apartheid.
“It was amazing that you could do anything and walk anywhere and no one would ask you anything.”
His father and well-known Durban businessman at that time, Suliman Essa Patel, bought a two-bedroom flat for him in Bombay, and the book title EB Koybie comes from an inside joke between father and son related to the flat.
Moving to his roomy flat, Essa did not want to share with a horde of other students as he had been doing, so to deter such a move, he and his father had a brass plate made up and printed with the name “EB Koybie” so other students would think Essa was renting from an owner. In fact EB Koybie, loosely translated from Memon, means “And for that matter, anybody”.
In 1969, Essa returned to South Africa, travelling on a new French liner which was a 12-day voyage – and here the book closes.
To this day, Essa retains a love for India. “I have gone back frequently, I go for the sheer love of walking the streets.”
at Ike’s Books and Adams Books, as well as online at Amazon.com. The cost is R150.