BURIED in the archives repository at Pietermaritzburg is a letter that discusses the correspondence between the Transvaal Tamil Benefit Society and the Commissioner for Immigration & Asiatic Affairs in 1936.
The Transvaal Tamil Benefit Society appeals for the Principal of the Doornfontein Indian Tamil School, Mr Thiagarajoo Suppan, to be granted permission to remain in Transvaal to mitigate the stipulations of the Asiatic Registration Act of 1906, of the Transvaal Colony, specifically aimed at Asians (Indians and Chinese) that required every Asian male to register himself and produce on demand a thumb-printed certificate of identity.
Reading against the archival grain of The Transvaal Tamil Benefit Society appeal merges the desperation of the Tamil community to retain the services of the Tamil Language teacher to ensure their children "don't suffer" the indignity of not being taught their mother tongue language.
The letter foregrounds the continued need of the Tamil community to ensure that their cultural identity is retained in their African homes since the first indentured workers arrived in South Africa on November 16, 1860. It is significant to note that of the 152 184 indentured workers that arrived in South Africa from 1860 to 1911, 101 468 or 66.6% of indentured Indians disembarked from the port city of Madras (now Chennai) after being recruited from the principal areas of Tamil Nadu in the South of India.
Further insight into the preservation of the Tamil cultural identity in South Africa is beautifully afforded to us in the autobiography of Coolie Doctor Dr Kesaveloo Goonam described in the 1920s. In the first chapter, she writes about her influence to learn the Tamil language coming from one of its finest orators, Mulukmahomed Lappa Sultan, who spoke the purest Tamil and who often chided her if she had not attended Tamil School in the afternoon.
Dr Goonam goes on to describe the rich traditions of the observing of Pongal and Deepavali in central town where her family had lived. She describes how “family and neighbours of various faiths would come together where they would sit cross-legged waiting for Fakir Charcha to serve his famous mutton pilau on banana leaves.
”In South Africa, the essence of what could be termed as Tamil cultural manifestations such as music, song, and dance, are fostered mainly through religious ceremonies and festivals like Muhurram, Kavady and Thimidhi. Other cultural markers are found in food like Vada, Rasam, Sour Porridge, Pulisadam and Sweetrice (Sakkarai Pongal) that form a rich part of an ubiquitous South Indian heritage here in South Africa.
In colonial Natal, the dominant caste arriving from Madras was Paraiyar. Tamil Christian Indians came mostly from Madras where two-thirds of the three million Christian population of India resided in the 1900s. Between 1860 and 1866, Christians constituted 5.5% of the Indian population of Natal. As indenture continued, this proportion dropped significantly with Christians only constituting 1.3% of the total number of indentured workers. Tamil speaking Muslims also made up a small percentage. Among these, names like Sheik, Mahomed, Syed and Abdool dominate the statistical data.
In South Africa, apart from personal devotion, these ritualised practices have become part of the process of mobilising identity. The narrative for almost all these performances came from dramatized stories of the Mahabharata, Ramanayana and Puranas in both Hindustani and Tamil. The festivals mirrored festivities in India, where chariot processions were an important part of cultural life.
In one of the largest plantations, Mount Edgecombe, Tamil religious dramas were staged in the form of vibrant Therookhutu and Kollatam performances. The festival saw as many as 40 000 people converge on the Mount Edgecombe Estates during these times.
The commitment of the ex-indenture towards rebuilding their culture in their adopted African homes close to two decades after their arrival by 1880 saw the growth of Indian cultural organisations and the building of places of worship with Tamil-managed temples dominating the urban and rural landscape.
Among the “free, ex-indentured” and “passenger” Tamil Indians in Natal, there emerged leaders who felt the need to promote Tamil culture more effectively and responsibly. For this reason, cultural organisations were being formed wherever there was a sufficient number of families living in any particular area as a recognizable cultural unit. These bodies set about finding ways and means of promoting and nurturing their cultural heritage.
In 1912 the Hindu Sudha Sabha and the Hindu Youngmen’s Society in Durban came together to form the Natal Tamil Vedic Society while at the same time, an independent Youngmen’s Vedic Society was inaugurated for younger members. In 1916, a Hindu Tamil Institute was formed in Durban specifically to promote the Tamil language. The establishment of schools became the focus of the community in the hope of nurturing the Tamil language while also hoping to use education to escape the poverty cycle that trapped many generations of indentured workers.
Prior to the 19th century, the provision of quality education for indentured workers remained paltry for close on 30 years from 1869 to 1899 with only limited primary schooling on offer. The census of 1904 shows that only 5 211 (5%) of 100 918 of the Natal Indians were literate in English. By 1927, the Cape Town Agreement threatened Indian people without educational qualifications, with repatriation. The need to educate the community by 1929 became a priority to break the cycle of poverty and also to remain in the country.
In the classrooms, learning and speaking Tamil was never a part of the formal structure of education. From places like Clairwood, Cato Manor, Clare Estate, Verulam, Tongaat, Umzinto, and other settlements of indenture, Tamil was passed on orally and always taught as secondary to English. By the 1930s, Tamil communities in places like Magazine Barracks held evening classes for children and adults in their communal Drama Hall. In places like Clairwood, teaching Tamil fell to the responsibilities of elders and was often taught in garages or community halls after school hours.
Four decades later, it was only in 1977 that Indian cultural leaders made representations to the apartheid government for the inclusion of Indian languages in the primary school curriculum. In 1993 and when all Indian primary schools fell under the control of the House of Delegate’s (Indian body in the Tricameral Parliament of South Africa, 1984 to 1994) Department of Education the introduction of Indian languages into the official curriculum became a reality.
Thirty years into South Africa’s democracy, the propagation of the Tamil language, culture, and identity is sadly left to the tenacity of individuals where established cultural bodies are sadly a shadow of their former selves. Thankfully, we were able to turn to individuals like Mala Lutchmanan, who carried the torch of Tamil in our African homes.
Awarded the title of “Valar Thamizh Maamani” (Progressive Tamil Gem) by the 2019 International Academy of Tamil Language and Culture in Chennai and the author of 14 Tamil South African publications, Akka Mala Lutchmanan worked tirelessly towards the propagation and promotion of the Tamil language and culture. The award acknowledges the work done by people in the Tamil diaspora.
Lutchmanan said she regarded this award as an honour for the Tamil community in South Africa. “It feels great that South African Tamils are on the world map. It’s an award for all South African Tamils…”
As we welcome the Tamil New Year, Visuvaavasu Varusham, on April 14, let us prepare our kolams and sakkarai pongal with the devotion of our ancestors carrying the torch like Akka Mala Lutchmanan in nurturing Tamil language, culture and identity to reignite hope and new beginnings in our African homes.
Thenkizhakku Then ChittuA honeybird is flying in from the southeast…
Sembaruthi Poo MottuA hibiscus bud is blooming…
Sellam Konjudhe ThalaattuA little child is being put to sleep…
Ethanaiyo Kaalam Vaaradha VaanavilLike a rainbow that hasn’t appeared for centuries,
Vandhadhu Pol Nee Pesu Talk to me.
Uchiyil Neendum Aakasa Meenenna, Thullidudhe Un AasaiLike a divine fish swimming in the sky, your desires leap.
Mazhai Adikkum Un Sirippil, Sedi Mulaikkum Naan Poovaaga
Your laughter brings the rain, and I turn into a flower from the plant.
Veyil Adikkum Naal Varaiyum, Kudai Pidippen Un ThaayaagaUntil the sun shines, I will keep you close like your mother.
Nee Nee Sollum Kadhai
The story you tell,
Naan Naan Kaekkum Vara
The boon I ask for,Naamavom Maaya Paravaigale
We will become magical birds.
Thenkizhakku Songwriter Yugabharathi
Selvan Naidoo, 1860 Heritage Centre
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.