MOONSAMY MOTTAY NAICKER FAMILY HISTORY OF TIN TOWN, OTTAWA

      

 (Mr M M Naicker and his wife, Algamma)

MR M M NAICKER ALSO PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW JHUGROO PRIMARY SCHOOL 

(Special thanks to Krish Naicker for all the information and photos. His peseverence has made this article possible.)

By Subry Govender

One of the residents in the Tin Town area of Ottawa who played a pivotal role in the building of the new Jhugroo Primary School is Mr Moonsamy Mottay Naicker, popularly known as M M Naicker.

Mr Naicker, who was a builder by profession, worked very closely with Mr S S Maharaj, Mr Sivasunker Badlu and other pioneers in the construction of the school.

Mr Naicker lived with his wife, Algamma Kathiruvalu Iyemperumal, and seven children not far from where the new school was being built in the late 1950s. Their immediate neighbours were the Munsamy (Zadick) family, Manna Dutt family, Duttoo family, Subramoney Govender family, Narain Naicker family, teacher H A Beharee family, S S Maharaj family, Ismail Sayed family, and several other families.

(Mr Naicker (4th right) with three of the voluntary workers involved in the construction of the new Jhugroo Primary School. On the first left is Mr Dilinger Govender, Mr Sivasanker Badlu and Mr Ismail Sayed.) 

Mr Naicker was recognised for his efforts in helping to build the new primary school when his name was included in the plaque containing the names of most of the voluntary builders.

After the construction of the Jhugroo school, Mr Naicker used his building expertise in the construction of the Umdloti Siva Soobramaniar Temple in Umdloti Drift, Verulam, and the Natal Tamil Vedic Hall in Carlisle Street in Durban.

                                                                                                              (Mr M M Naicker)

Before Mr Naicker and his wife,  Algamma, moved to Tin Town, Ottawa, they lived with their families in Verulam. Their parents had come down to the former Natal Colony in the early 1900s as indentured labourers from villages in the districts of Kanchipuram and Chingleput (now called Chengalpattu) in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Their parents had worked at the Grange and Starr sugar estates in Verulam and at the Tongaat Sugar Estate.

(Mrs Algamma Naicker- right - with Mrs Naicker - mother of Narain and Moscle - and Mrs Michael Souce of Uplands. They were part of a group of ladies who used to cook the lunch for school children who attended the old Jhugroo Primary School.)

Here in Ottawa they bore nine children but two of them passed on soon after birth. The seven surviving children who went to the local schools and grew up into adults in Ottawa were Devennamah (Mumoo), Savithri, Krishnavelli (Baby), Indrani, Dhramasilan (Barry), Krishna and Kogielambal.

 (Eldest daughter, Devenamah Ramsamy, also known as Mumoo. She played a pivotal role in supporting the family with her other sisters after the loss of her father when the other children were very young. She passed on in March 2012.) 

I interacted with Krishna, who is the only sibling living in Ottawa today, about their family and the joys of early life in the village.

 

According to Krishna (or Krish), who was an active soccer player for Ottawa United and later a football official, nearly all of his sisters and brother Barry moved out of Ottawa after becoming teenagers and entering married lives.

Mumoo moved to Tongaat; Savithri moved to Phoenix; Krishnaveli (Baby) moved to Cowies Hill in Pinetown; Barry to Brindhaven in Verulam; Indrani to Terrance Park in Verulam; and Kogielambal, the youngest, to Brindhavan.

The two eldest, Mumoo, and Savithri passed on in March 2012 and September 2014 respectively.

(Savithree Naidoo - the second eldest daughter. At the time of her passing in September 2014 she was survived by three children, grand-children and great-grand children.) 

Growing up in Ottawa for all the Naicker children was a “humble beginning” like the children of most other families.

(Three daughters - left to right: Indranee Pillay, presently residing in Trenance Park;  Kogie Arujnallam (Brindhaven); and Krishnavelli Naidoo (Cowies Hill).

(Barry Naicker during his teenage years in Ottawa played football as a goal-keeper for the local team. Barry, who now resides in Brindhavan, Verulam, is a trustee of the Shree Emperumal Temple in Brindhavan.)

Recalling the early lives of the children, Krish said:

(Krish Naicker - who lives in Munn Road, Ottawa.)

“Life was difficult where parents had to support their large families. The parents made sure that each family had food to eat.

“All my sisters and brother went to the old primary school on the Main Road or the new Jhugroo School that my father helped to build. Due to financial constraints some of my sisters had to leave school after Grade 6 and had to work to help in the family's financial needs.

“Flash Clothing, owned by Mr S. S. Maharaj, provided employment for them and other members of the community. Three of us -  Dhramasilan (Barry), Kogielambal and me - were able to complete matric (Grade 10).”

Krish recalled the environment in which they lived and said their area was known as “Tin Town” because the houses were initially built of wood and iron.

“Most of the houses were similar to tin shacks you see in our present-day informal settlements. The tin houses were well spread, where each family had extra land to do some gardening.

“I remember every house was well kept with a garden surrounding the houses with a few fruit trees, especially mango trees visible in almost every house. I can still remember when grandparents carried ripe mangoes to sell.

“Friday was the cleaning of the house where the fireplace and the yard were swept and sprinkled with water mixed with cow dung.

“I remember the pit toilets and no running tap water. The river was the main source of water. I remember my sisters and brother carrying water from the river to the house. Washing of clothes was done in the river. Swimming and playing in the river were some of the past times in the late 50s and early 60s for most youngsters in the area." 

       SOCCER WAS THE MAIN SPORT IN OTTAWA

“Fishing was also a past time that we enjoyed. Once the Jhugroo School was built, it had soccer and netball fields. Soccer was the main sport we played in Ottawa. All the youngsters would gather after school and played football well into darkness.

“I also remember Mr S S Maharaj taking us with his VW Kombi to the lagoon regularly on a Sunday and teaching us swimming. He gave most of the children costumes and taught us swimming.

“Religion was an important part of every family and on Sunday's we used to go to the Divine Life Society for our weekly prayer services. The Divine Life branch in Ottawa was initiated by Mr Moon Subrayen, one of our teachers at the Jhurgoo school.”

Krish also had good memories of the building of the new Jhugroo Primary School and his father’s involvement with Mr Maharaj and Mr Badlu.

“My father was a builder by trade and started work at an early age. In the 1950s the community decided that the old primary school in Ottawa was too small to accommodate all the children from Ottawa and surrounding areas like Mt Vernon (Riet River), and the Ottawa Sugar Estate, Sacks Estate and other sugar estates.

“Mr S S Maharaj was instrumental in spearheading the project. Land was donated by the Jhugroo family. He recruited my father who was a builder and Mr Baldu to plan and run the school project. 

“The community then came on board to build the school. Labour was voluntary and they only received a meal for lunch and probably tea during the breaks.

“Mr. Bob Khan was the cook and we looked forward to the meals that were prepared every weekend for the workers. I remember going to the school site most weekends when the building started.

“I remember Mr S. S. Maharaj was the first to get up on a Sunday and rally the community to the building site as early as possible. After Saturdays hard work and a few happy hours after that kept my father in bed sometimes for a few more minutes, but he had to wake up when Mr S. S. Maharaj would go past our house calling my father's name. It was dedication and hard work that the community endured.

“They were able to achieve a monumental task in building the school. 

(Mr M M Naicker and Mr Sivasanker Badlu, at the opening ceremony of the new Jhugroo Primary School in 1962.)

"Jhugroo School is a symbol to the Naicker family and most of the families in Ottawa. A plaque was erected with my father's name and others at the entrance of the school to honour them for their dedication in building the Jhugroo School."

(Krish Naicker (5th from left standing) seen with the top Ottawa United team in 1977 when they won the Mahomedy Cup. Players from left Dennis Ragavan, Jay Inderjeeth, Krishna M Naicker, Parsu Pillay, Adam Sayed, Mark Moonsamy and Timol Rughabeer. Bottom Row from left to right. Ezra George, Aboo Padvattan, Ronnie Govender (Goalkeeper), Soobrie Padvattan and Royappen Micheal.  They are seen with their mnagement members and officials.) 

Krish Naicker, who was active official in the promotion of Football in Ottawa, added:

“My father used to always say that education is key to the upliftment of a human being and the community.”

Mr Naicker passed on in April 1966 while Mrs Naicker passed away on May 23 1992.

Krish has built his modern house in lower Munn Road on land his father purchased from the Munn Family. He is married to Evelyna, an educator who also grew up in Ottawa. Her father, Krubanundan (Koopa) and mother Mogie Archary worked at Flash Clohting. They used to stay next to the Main Road in the Uplands area of the village. They were related to Mr Michael Souce and his wife. 

Krish says he wants to pay tribute to his parents and other members of the community who were instrumental in promoting civic and caring qualities in them.

“I want to thank my parents for caring and supporting us in those difficult days. They instilled discipline and love in us. I learned from my father that we should be a service to the community. He spent most of his working life in building schools and temple halls on a voluntary basis. 

"I became active because of his teachings in the community, civics, and sporting bodies (forming football clubs in senior and junior levels). I was also actively involved in political struggles against discrimination and oppression.”

According to Krish, most of their fourth-generation descendants of the extended Naicker family have taken advantage of tertiary education and have advanced to become involved in the educational, academic, engineering, accounting and other professions. They have moved to different parts of the country and overseas to pursue their professions. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com Feb 16 2022 Nov 10 2023 Dec 14 2023