MANGLEN PILLAY – A SOUTH AFRICAN FIRST GENERATION DESCENDANT OF INDENTURED LABOURERS WHO HAS ACHIEVED THE RIPE OLD AGE OF 100

MANGLEN PILLAY - WHO SET ASIDE HIS ENTIRE LIFE TO THE PROMOTION OF THE TAMIL CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND TRADITIONS.

(MR MANGLEN CHETTY WITH THE AWARD GIVEN TO HIM BY THE CKAIRWOOD TAMIL INSTITUTE) By Subry Govender

(Manglen Pillay with his surviving brother, Dennis Pillay, and sisters, Dulcie and Mammy) A first generation descendant of early Indian immigrants, who grew up committed to the promotion of the rich language, music, culture and traditions of his forefathers and mothers and who has been a strict vegetarian all his life, will reach the golden age of 100 on September 18. Mr Manglen Pillay was born in Grangetown, Verulam on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast along with an elder brother to his parents, Subramaniam and Meenachie Pillay. When he was two-years-old his parents moved to an area at the corner of Essendene and East Streets in Durban before settling in the then historical “Indian” district of Clairwood. The rest of his siblings, five brothers and five sisters, were born in Clairwood. All of them were brought up as strict vegetarians and musicians, committed to the Tamil language, culture and traditions.

(Manglen Pillay with members of his band From (l to r) A Govindsamy, S V Freddy Naicker, C N Naidoo, M. Subramani, Manglen Pillay , K Govindsamy.) “I am still a vegetarian and I continue to play the Sithar, Harmonium and Violin at functions in a nearby temple,” Mr Pillay told me in a recent interview at his humble home in Overport, Durban, where he has been living for the past 70 years. Although he has reached the ripe-old age of 100, Mr Pillay, a bachelor all his life, is still healthy, strong and has clear memories of his roots, his early life growing up in Clairwood, his involvement in music and sport, his work as an architect and artist, and his association with his struggle activist cousin, Kay Moonsamy, who passed on recently at the age of 91 on June 21. Mr Pillay’s father came to the then Natal Colony in 1898 at the age of 12 with his father and mother and another brother from the village of Orathur in the district of Kancheepuram and Changalpattu in Tamil Nadu in South India. “I was told that another four brothers and one sister of my father were born here after he, his brother and mother and father came down on the ship, Congella, in the late 1890s. “After my father worked in odd jobs, he specialised as a chef and worked in many establishments before joining the Marine Hotel in Durban. After my father married in the early 1900s, he settled down in Grangetown in Verulam. But when I was two-years-old my parents moved to an area in Durban before settling in Clairwood. “Although my father worked as a chef he did not earn enough to feed and educate such a huge family of 12 children. We were very poor and had to make do with whatever our parents provided us. But I was fortunate that I attended school in Clairwood and completed my education as a draughtsman and architecture at the Sultan College in Durban.” He taught as a locum teacher in Clairwood for a short while before joining an architectural company, known as Raman and Company, in Durban as a plan drawer in 1933. He worked here for 10 years before starting his own company in 1946 with offices in Hoosen’s Building and later moved to Rajab Building in the former “Grey Street” complex. “I can recall that I drew plans for the Vijay and Rani theatres and also for houses in Asherville, Merebank, Mobeni Heights and other areas in Durban.”

(Manglen Pillay playing the harmonium with band members, Ratty (thubla), Maggie (vocalist) and Nanda (violin)) At the same time while working as an architect and artist, Mr Pillay also concentrated much of his time in promoting Tamil music and culture. “I started playing the Sithar from the age of 12 because my father, who was also a musician, encouraged all his children to take a keen interest in music. Later in life I also started to play the violin and the harmonium. “In 1935 I launched the Odeon Band with Shunmugam Peters, who I met while training as a wrestler and boxer. I remained in this band for 10 years and thereafter in the late 1940s I became a founder-member of the Thirukural Society of South Africa, which we established in my office in Rajab Building. “Up to this day I still participate in functions. I played the harmonium during Sivarathrie for eight hours last year and in June this year I played at the Ramdass Temple again here in Overport.”

(Manglen Pillay (third from left adults) with students and fellow teachers at the Lingham Tamil School in Wentworth.) Although not politically-involved, he did, however, make available his office in Durban to be used as a half-way house for the storage of political literature and books that were scheduled for organisations such as the Natal Indian Congress and the South African Communist Party. “This arrangement for me to make available my office was made by my cousin, Kay Moonsamy, just before he left the country and went into exile. I would pass on the books to Mr G S Naidoo, who was an attorney, and Mr George Naicker, who was a political activist at that time. They would then pass on the books and political literature to Dr Monty Naicker and the other people.

(Manglen Pillay with his late cousin, struggle veteran Kay Moonsamy, and Mr Moonsamy's daughter, Ragini.) “But sooner or later the security police came to know about the goings-on and my office was raided by them on several occasions,” he said. The recipe for his long life? “I believe being a vegetarian, being involved in sport, hard work and playing the sithar, violin and harmonium has contributed to my long life. I also did not meet the right woman. I don’t know how long I am going to live but I want to say that my philosophy has always been: ‘be good and do good’.” Despite his strong attachment to the Tamil culture, language, music and tradition, Mr Pillay has not made any trips to visit India or his roots in Orathur village in Tamil Nadu. “I don’t know why I did not think about visiting the land of my parents but I did send my nephew on two occasions to India. I think I am now not at an age where I can travel freely.”

(Manglen Pillay - a drawing by artist M R Pillay of Manglen Pillay working in his office in Hoosen's Building, Queen Street, Durban in 1950.) Mr Pillay is very saddened at the high rate of violent crime that people have to put up with in his neighbourhood and other areas in and around Durban. “I stay with my nephew and you know we cannot leave our house or we cannot leave anything outside our home. There are criminals all over and the attacks on homes is very high.

“In our early days we could go everywhere and there was no problem. Life was really a pleasure in our days but now we live like hostages in our own homes. We have to lock up and live like prisoners. We have been living here for 70 years but now we are thinking of selling this place and moving out,” he said with sadness written on his face. Mr Pillay is one of four members of his large family of 12 siblings still around today. He has one brother, Dennis Pillay, who is 92-years-old and lives with his family in Silverglen, Chatsworth; and two sisters, Mammy, 80, and Dulcie, 78, who still live in Clairwood. The extended family have organised a birthday celebration for Mr Pillay at the NPS Hall in Asherville, Durban, on October 1. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com Sept 6 2017