FIVE YEARS AGO I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OF INTERVIEWING THE MUSICAL GENIUS, NDABKONA PATRICK NGCOBO, WHO DIED AT THE AGE OF 43 IN HOSPITAL ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1.
IT WAS A VERY SAD OCCASION BECAUSE I HAD SPOKEN TO HIM AT A TIME WHEN HE WAS ILL AND ALMOST FORGOTTEN BY THE COMMUNITY HE HAD HELPED TO PROMOTE TAMIL MUSIC. HIS LIFE WAS A FASCINATING ONE.
THIS IS THE ARTICLE THAT I HAD WRITTEN:
PATRICK NGCOBO FORGOTTEN BY THE PEOPLE
By Subry Govender
A musical genius, who played an important
role for more than 20 years in promoting Tamil music and even travelled to
India to qualify as a Karnatic singer,
has become a forgotten personality - marginalised and disregarded by the
very community he had become part of.
The fascinating and enriching life of
Ndabkona Patrick Ngcobo, who in the mid-1990s learnt under the tutelage of the
great south Indian musician K J Yesudas in Chennai, took a downturn four years
ago when he became ill after being diagonsed with TB.
Nobody keeps in contact
"Nobody keeps in contact with me. I am
forgotten you can say," the 39-year-old musician and singer told me in an
interview at his one-room home in the former "Indian-African" area of
Gillitts, west of Durban.
He lives in his humble abode with a family
member. His mother, two sisters and their children live in a wood and iron
house next door.
To get to his house, I had to park my car
on top of a hill and walk down a steep embankment. For anyone who lacks
fitness, the walk down the embankment could be quite a task.
"Thank you for coming, Subry,"
Patrick Ngcobo greets me with a wide smile.
"I thought you will not find this
place."
We sit down on two chairs outside his house
and Ngcobo relates his cross-cultural life - of how he became interested in
Indian - particularly Tamil music; of how he rose to become a sought-after
singer for musical shows at temples and special functions; his travel to India
to further his music and learn the Tamil language; and becoming a presenter of
Karnatic music on radio.
Grew up in an Indian-African community
Patrick Ngcobo was born to working-class
parents at Gillitts in 1971. He was the eldest of three brothers and two
sisters. Gillitts was a mixed community of African and Indian people and he
became very interested in Indian music through the inter-action of his family
with the local Indian people.
As a young boy he used to sing Chutney
songs and became quite popular among the locals.
He attended the Botha's Hill African
Primary School but only completed standard five.
"From my early life I only became
involved with the Indian community. Because of the poor conditions at home, I
started work at the age of 16 for Nithia and his family in Chatsworth - selling
potatoes and tomatoes.
ASHWIN MAHARAJ
"I worked here for a year before
moving to Wyebank where I stayed with a friend called Ashwin Maharaj. He and
his family treated me very well and I stayed here for for five years.
"Ashwin then found me a job with
Toolrite Precision in Pinetown where I worked as a cleaner and machinist.
JEEVAN GOVENDER
The
factory was owned by Jeevan Govender and he also invited me to stay with his
family.
"Mr Govender was very good to me -
giving me time off to to continue with my singing career."
Ngcobo said his career in Tamil music took
a dramatic turn for the better when Mr Jeevan Govender invited musicians, Krish
Murugan and his brother, Tony Murugan, to listen to him singing Tamil songs.
"They were amazed and immediately
invited me to join their band, the Nilavani Entertainers. I was with the band
from 1988 to 1993. We used to sing for special functions and at temples. At
that time I received payment of about R30 for singing at special functions.
K J YESUDAS
"In 1991 K J Yesudas came on a tour to
South Africa and I was invited to sing at one of his shows at the City Hall in
Durban. He was really stunned that I could sing so beautifully in Tamil. He
immediately invited me to visit India so that he could take me under his
wing."
He said in 1993 the late Sunny Pillay's
son, Karthigasen, who had just returned from India took him under his wing and
began teaching him the intracies of Karnatic and other music.
"I was with him for a year. It was a
learning experience for me," said Ngcobo.
(PATRICK NGCOBO WITH K J YESUDAS)
THREE YEARS IN CHENNAI
"One of the people who attended the Yesudas show at the City Hall
was Mr Siva Govender of Clairwood. He was also thrilled with my performance and
he said he would help me with my travel to India. In February 1994, Mr Govender
made arrangements for me to travel to Chennai with his cousin, Nanban Nayagar,
who was a Nagaskaran musician.
"We spent nearly three years in
Chennai, learning under Yesudas and performing in various shows. I even won a
first prize at one of the shows," he said.
GRASS-CUTTING BUSINESS
On his reurn in 1997, Ngcobo returned to
work at Mr Jeevan Govender's factory while at the same time performing at
special shows - promoting the Tamil language and music. He learnt to speak
Tamil fluently during his stay in Chennai.
He performed all over the province and in
1999 even travelled to Brazil with Mr Satchu Anamalai to perform in Rio De
Janerio.
While his talents were recognised and
appreciated by the community, he found that he was not making any headway in
building his future. He resigned from Mr Govender's factory in 2000 and started
his own grass-cutting business.
"I was doing very well and I even
bought a house in New Germany. My musical career also became more enjoyable
when in 2004 I was contracted by Lotus FM to present the Karnatic show for one
hour on Sunday nights.
"I married my second wife, Veronica
Mabuza in 2006 but unfortunately she died a year later.
"At this time I became ill and spent
three months at McCords Hospital. But despite my sickness I continued with my
singing and presenting my radio show.
"But in 2009 things took a downward
turn when my business began to suffer and people were no longer contacting me.
My radio programme was also cancelled in March this year with the managers not
telling me why the programme was being done away with.
SEGAI KISTEN
"I was forced to sell my house and
move here to Gillitts because I could not afford it any longer. I built this
one room house only recently. One good thing about this place is that I have
returned to my roots.
"What is really affecting me is that
no one from the different organisations or the musicians keep in contact with
me. Only Segai Kisten of Mount Edgecombe is in touch with me.
"I am really disappointed and
disillusioned. It seems people forget too easily."
Ngcobo said his health had now improved and
he would like to continue singing and performing at special shows.
"What I really would like to do is to
travel to India to record Illairaja and A R Rahman songs for movies. Singing is
my life and that is what I would like to continue to do. I would also like to
continue with the radio show on Karnatic music." ends - ms/pt/dbn
