Achieving against the odds

AFTER cajoling and encouragement from family and associates, Dharma Naidoo, whose grandparents came to South Africa as indentured workers, has spoken about how he overcame adversity to achieve many successes.

Naidoo penned his book This Is My Story: If You Can Imagine It, You Can Achieve It, which was launched at his 80th birthday celebration last month.

He details how he radically altered his life’s course from being a farmhand, to achieving the position of technical manager at a reputable manufacturing company, and achieving academic qualifications along the way.

Against the odds, he completed his schooling, largely as a part-time pupil, and then achieved a BSC degree.

Other academic achievements include a diploma in business management from Damelin College and, in 1987, he completed his Master’s degree in business leadership.

Naidoo also dodged police officers from the security branch to advance his political activism.

Since retirement in 2005, he continues to serve humanity via the Sathya Sai’s education programmes. He is a board member on the religious organisation’s education council.

Naidoo was born in Ridgeview, on the fringes of Queensburgh. His family moved a few kilometres away to a wood-and-iron home in Cavendish.

Fond Cavendish memories include cultivating flowers and vegetables in their garden with his siblings, which his mother sold at the “Indian Market” in Durban’s CBD.

In his few years of formal schooling, Naidoo excelled. After a few months in Grade 1 (Class 1), teachers at the Bayview Primary School sent him to Grade 2. He received similar promotions when he went to school in Cliffdale.

Naidoo’s father believed that working the fields was the way to go for his children, much like the Amish lifestyle.

But a life-changing moment occurred in 1958 while he herded animals with his two older brothers. He noticed a tree with ripened pawpaws, which he couldn’t resist.

Naidoo fell from the tree and injured his right arm, which got him admitted to Durban’s King Edward Hospital.

During his five-week stay, he became friendly with 59-year-old Harry Narain Pillay, who planted the idea of working and studying in his head.

Naidoo only had a Grade 7 education and worked full-time on his parents’ leased farmland. He convinced his parents to let him live with an uncle in Mayville and find work in Durban’s CBD. His first job was as a thread-picker in a clothing factory. At the same time he enrolled for Grade 8 night classes at Sastri College.

He moved from job to job and also sold sandwiches just to ensure he could complete his schooling.

Securing a job at the University College of Durban in 1961, which was reserved for Indians on Salisbury Island, was a pivotal time. Not only did his political activism increase, he also received great support while completing matric and a BSC degree. He then got a job in the laboratory and worked with the physics department’s head.

His first job away from the university was with Beyer Cape Leathers as a production chemist.

In 1979, he joined Masonite Africa, based in Estcourt, as their plant chemist.

At retirement in April 2005, he finished as their technical manager.

Naidoo appreciated his wife Karunamah’s (“Baby”) unstinting support.