FORMER TEACHER AND SON OF INDENTURED PIONEERS OF THE NORTH COAST VILLAGE OF OTTAWA - HARRIPERSADH BADRI MAHARAJ – HAS ENTERED THE RIPE-OLD AGE OF 100

                                                                     

(Mr Harripersadh Badri Maharaj at his home in Essendene Road in Overport in Durban)

(Mr Maharaj - right - in his early years walking in Durban's former West Street with a friend.)

By Subry Govender

 

A second-generation descendant of a pioneer indentured family of Ottawa – north of Durban - who dedicated his life to education, culture and spirituality - has entered the ripe-old age of 100.

Mr Harripersadh Badri Maharaj, who was born on February 2 1925 in what is now Kissoon Road in the former sugar cane village, now lives in his family home in Essendene Road in Overport in Durban.

(Mr Maharaj seen here with his son, Naresh, 69. Naresh assisted this correspondent in the interview with his dad.)

I had the opportunity of talking to Mr Maharaj about his life with the assistance of one of his sons, Naresh, recently on Good Friday, March 29 (2024).

Although he has entered his 100^th year, Mr Maharaj recalled without any problems his early life, primary and high schools, higher education, his work as a teacher in several parts of the then Natal Province, his marriage, his move to Durban while in his 20s, involvement in cultural and spiritual activities and his retirement in 1985.  

Mr Maharaj was part of a family of eight children – four brothers and four sisters –  whose indentured ancestors settled in Ottawa after working in the nearby sugar estates in the late 1890s and early 1900s.

While his brothers continued in the footsteps of their father, Mr Badri Maharaj, a land owner in Ottawa, and a Hindu priest, Harripersadh was encouraged by his father and siblings to complete his education and enter the academic world - away from the rough world of a labourer in the sugar cane fields, factories and industries.

At that time in the 1920s there were no schools for Indian children in Ottawa and young Harripersadh attended the Verulam Indian School that was situated near the Dykes sugar factory in the town. There was also a school for African children nearby. He remembers the main road being hardened dirt with the tarring being completed in 1934.

 

ASSISTED BY HIS ELDER BROTHER, MUNOO MAHARAJ, TO COMPLETE HIS HIGH SCHOOL AND TEACHER'S DIPLOMA

 

(Mr H B Maharaj - second from left standing - in his early years as a teacher in Durban)

After Harripersadh completed his standard six in 1939, he attended Sastri College in Durban where he completed his high school and also qualified as a teacher in 1944 at the young age of 19.

“My brother, Munoo, who together with my father encouraged me to concentrate on education, helped pay for my studies at Sastri College,” recalled Mr  Maharaj.

“I was indebted to my brother because he made sacrifices for me to qualify as a teacher.”

He joined the teaching profession in 1945 and was posted to Port Shepstone where he taught at the local school for Indian children.

“Here I taught as a general teacher for four years, covering all subjects. During my stay in Port Shepstone I used to occasionally endure the long train journey to visit the family home.” 

In 1949 he was transferred to the Talwant Singh Primary School in Verulam where he taught for three years.

(Mr H B Maharaj and his wife, Chinthamoni, whom he married in 1945)

In May 1950, during the year of his return to the family home in Ottawa, he married Miss Chinthamoni Maharaj of Umgeni Road in Durban in a traditional Hindu ceremony at the family home. He was 25-years-old and she was 18-years-old at the time. It was an arranged marriage by both families.

Mr Maharaj and his wife lived in his home village for two years after their marriage. Here their first-born child, Jaywant, was born in 1951 but passed on two years later due to some health complications.

 

                            MOVED TO DURBAN IN 1953 

 

Mr Maharaj and his wife moved to Westville in 1953 after he was transferred to the Westville Hindu Primary School that was managed by the local Sanathan Dharma Sabha.

Initially they lived in a house near the N2 bridge where the Westwood Mall is now situated. Two of their four children were born in Westville. They were Ramesh (aka Prem) in 1953, and Naresh in 1955. The third, Suresh (1957), and fourth, Vinesh,(1961) were born on a property built by the family in Sydenham in Durban.

Being forced by the then notorious apartheid residential legislation, Group Areas Act, Mr Maharaj, in the 1960s, purchased a house in Essendene Road in Overport, where over time the house had been reconstructed into the present  family home.

Mr  Maharaj continued in the teaching profession, and in what he decribes as the highlight of his career, he was promoted to the position of school principal  and transferred to the Nottingham Indian Primary School, near Mooi River, for the next four and half years years. He thereafter returned to Durban and taught at the Ocean View Primary School in Chatsworth; St Aidan’s Primary School and the College Vale Primary School in Asherville until retirement in the mid-1980s.

He stepped down from the teaching profession at the age of 60 after he was offered a retirement package in 1985.

(Mr H B Maharaj as a member of the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society. He is seen here in the middle row, far right.)

During his early years as an educator and for more than 30 years,  Mr Maharaj participated as an active member and official of the Friends of Sick Association (FOSA) and the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society.

“I remember that in the 1950s and 1960s, we as FOSA members, played a very important role in promoting the health of the people affected by TB. The people who were involved in the FOSA branch in Verulam included Mr Y S Chinsamy, Mr R L Beharee, Mr J S Singh, Mr Bob Singh, Gurudeen Singh, Miss Indira Beharee and the Sharma family.

“I recall that we used to distribute an amount of three pounds to all families affected by the TB pandemic.”

 

OLDEST SERVING MEMBER OF THE SANATHAN DHARMA SABHA

 

Mr Harripersadh was also fully involved from an early age as a member and official of the Shri Sanathan Dharma Sabha, which is affiliated to the South African Hindu Maha Sabha.

“Until recently I was the longest serving member of the Sanathan Dharma Sabha.”

Mr Maharaj also recalled his life as a youngster - born and growing up in Ottawa. He is the only original resident of Ottawa who has entered his 100th year.

“At that time there were not many families but I recall that there were two shops - one owned by the Hans family and one owned by a white person called Mr Dinshaw. I also recall that there was the Michael Sousa family who lived on the Main Road, near what is now known as Kissoon Road. Other families were Gobindu Sarkar, Badloo, Subramoney family and the Dilicor Sarkar family.”

(Mr H B Maharaj seen here walking in the former West Street in central Durban in the early days.)

According to the centenarian, the residents of Ottawa and other areas made tremendous progress in their lives because they contributed to the development of education in their communities.

“During my life I noticed that our families paid a great deal of attention in building schools and creating opportunities for young people to complete their primary and high schools and for many to enter the teaching profession.

“Our families adopted the philosophy of ‘each one, teach one’ and this paid off for the people.

“I want to emphasise that this concentration on studies and education is valid today as they were in our days. Opportunities must be created for all children and there must be an open society for all.”

(Mr H B Maharaj -centre - with two friends in the early days.)

Despite his involvement in teaching and the education field for more than 40 years, none of his sons took up the career. They all pursued careers in business which involved service stations, automotive components, international logistics, medical goods, and pharmaceuticals.

                         (Mr H B Maharaj - standing second from right - with family members.)

However, he does feel that his choice of career may have influenced some of his nieces and nephews to also take up the profession.

Mr Maharaj also has nine grand-children and six great-grand-children.

One of his grand-daughters has followed in his footsteps as a teacher in Dubai. Another grand-child is working as a dentist in Ireland, another is a doctor, and one is a Financial Advisor.

(Mr H B Maharaj with his wife - centre - and his sister - left)

(Mr Maharaj with family members)

(Mr Maharaj seen here in prayers. In the background is his late wife, Chintamony, who passed away at the age of 85 in 2017.)

 

Mr Maharaj says life for him has been tough but productive and rewarding. He is very happy that all his children and grand-children are successful in their lives while at the same time culturally conscious of their roots and backgrounds.

He has managed to cope with old age despite the absence of his wife who passed away seven years ago in 2017 at the age of 85.

“I have to be grateful for the 67 years we spent together.” Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com April 10 2024

MORE PHOTOS OF MR H B MAHARAJ

 (Mr H B Majaraj seated second from right.) 

 

2. 

(Mr Maharaj walking with a colleague in the former West Street in Durban in the early days.)

3. (Mr Maharaj seated right with colleagues.)

(A trip to Cape Town with the boys in 1952)

(Mr Maharaj being bestowed with a cultural award.)