“ACTIVE LIFE STYLE” IS THE SOLUTION FOR SECOND GENERATION INDENTURED DESCENDENT WHO HAS TURNED 100

MRS CHANDERKALA DHANAI OF EASTBURY IN PHOENIX, DURBAN, WHO HAS TURNED 100

(Mrs Chanderkala Dhanai seen with family members, Dayanundh Ramsuran, and Mrs Jasoda Ramsuran at her home in Eastbury, Phoenix.)

CENTURION WORKED AS A GARDENER AT THE MOUNT EDGECOMBE SUGAR ESTATE GOLF COURSE FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS

By Subry Govender

 

A second generation descendent of indentured labourers, who worked for a better part of her life as a gardener at the Mount Edgecombe sugar estate golf course, has just turned 100 at her home in nearby Phoenix.

Mrs Chanderkala ‘Thara’ Dhanai, who was born on June 13 1924, celebrated her remarkable milestone at her home in Eastbury, Phoenix, where she has been living with her daughter, Shamala Dhanai, for the past 42 years.

When I arrived at her home on the morning of July 3 to talk to Ms Dhanai about her mother’s life, she was busy “as usual” sweeping the yard and helping with the “clean up”.

“What you have just seen is nothing new or unusual about my mother. She is very independent and helping with the cleaning up of the house, washing the pots and dishes, preparing her own food and being hands-on are all part of her life now,” Ms Dhanai told me at the start of the interview.

(Mrs Chanderkala Dhanai celebrating her 100th birthday.)

Before we could get down to details about her life, the grand centurian surprised me by saying:  “Namasthe Bhai. Can I make you a cup of tea?”

 She made this gesture while at the same time ensuring that my seat was comfortable and everything was in order.

Her life as a cleaning lady and gardener at the Mount Edgecomnbe Sugar Estate golf course began in the late 1930s when at the young age of 13, her parents made arrangements for her to marry Mr Tunniah Dhanai, who lived with his family at the sugar estate Mill Barracks with his parents and siblings.

Re-living the early days through her daughter, Mrs Dhanai said the conditions were tough and arduous because for most part of the period she had to “work without shoes”.

While her husband worked at the Huletts Sugar Mill, she had to toil at the golf course for long hours under difficult conditions for more than 40 years. She also had to take care of her three sons and one daughter. One son passed away at an early age while staying in Phoenix.

Mrs Tuniah recalled that she was born on a farm in the Chatsworth area of Durban in the 1920s along with five brothers and three sisters. Her father, Harricharan Durga, worked as a printing technologist at the then Natal Mercury in central Durban. Her mother worked as a gardener.

Her grand-father, known as Budhai, arrived in South Africa as an indentured labourer in the late 1890s. He was at first recruited to work in the sugar cane fields in Trinidad and Tobago but due to some problems, he was escorted back to the ship and told that he was being taken back to India. But on the way he was allowed to disembark at the Port of Durban. He was recruited to work as an indentured labourer at one of the sugar estates in the then Natal Colony.

Mrs Dhanai’s adult life started at the young age of 13 when she was married off to her sugar cane labourer’s husband in Mount Edgecombe.  Here, while first working at the Briardene Prawns Factory and later at the Mount Edgcombe sugar estate golf course, Mrs Dhanai  bore four sons and a daughter.

Mrs Dhani, her husband, three sons and daughter were forced to move out of Mill Barracks after he was relieved of his position at the Hullets Sugar Mill.

The family moved to Campell’s Town in Mount Edgecombe in the 1960s and Mrs Dhanai and her husband had to struggle “to put food on the table”. Her husband was fortunate to find a labourer’s job at the old Hullets Hospital in Mount Edgecombe.

In 1982 Mrs Dhanai, her husband and daughter moved to a council house in Eastbury, Phoenix, at a time when her three sons had married and started their own families.

When in 1986 her husband passed away, Mrs Dhanai once again resumed her working life after being offered a job as a caretaker and cleaner at the nearby Stanmore Primary School.

(Mrs Chanderkala Dhanai outside her home in Eastbury in Phoenix recently.)

“Here my mother worked cleaning up classrooms and the school yard and ground for more than 10 years. After the tenure at Stanmore Primary, my mother continued to keep busy by cleaning sheep head and tortoise and selling the meat to local people,” said Ms Dhanai.

“In her old age now, she still keeps busy. Everyday, when she gets up in the morning, she has a bath and then prepares her own meal. She does not like a lot of curry. My mother then helps with whatever cleaning in the house and yard.

“She is very independent and does not want to lie idle. Only last week she helped with the cleaning of sheep head and tortoise and washing dishes at a family function.

“She also sews her own clothes. She also loves doing some gardening.”

Because of her active life style, Mrs Dhanai has stayed clear from chronic medication and is not affected by diseases such as Sugar Diabetes and Hypertension.

“You know during the Covid pandemic two years ago, she was also affected. But she overcame the pandemic without any problems.

“She has found no reason to visit doctors for a long time because she enjoys a healthy life.”

Mrs Dhanai, whose extended family has reached six generations, has four children, 13 grand-children and nine great-grand-children. She also has four brothers, three sisters and scores of nephews and nieces.

“My mother, at her age, still recognizes her family members through their names.

“She is a role model to her family, friends and the community around her.”  Ends – June 3 2024 : subrygovender@gmail.com