The dynamics of preserving cultural heritage: the case of Durban’s Kathiawad Hindu Seva Samaj, 1943–1960 and beyond

Abstract

In 1943, the Kathiawad Hindu Seva Samaj brought together diverse castes of Gujarati‐speaking Hindus to promote language and culture. In doing so, it linked itself to Kathiawad in India outside of South Africa. The Samaj expanded its objective to build much‐needed English‐medium schools open to all Indians regardless of their backgrounds. It used state patronage; and adopted an apolitical stance towards the apartheid regime. After 1970, it redirected its energies towards its primary goals, but expanded its horizons to accommodate new forms of South Africanism among Indians. It redefined ‘Indianness’ within a broader cultural framework even as individual members negotiated ambiguities relating to their identities.

Keywords:

• Kathiawad Hindu Seva Samaj
• South Africa
• culture
• caste
• community
• identity
• Gujarati
• Hinduism
• apartheid
• ambiguities

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to KHSS president Jaisook Valjee for giving us permission to examine Samaj minutes and to Kendra’s Ramnik Juta for kindly providing us with post‐1960 records. Past president Ashwin Trikamjee readily offered valuable comments and insights on the Samaj. Dr Prabhakant Patel very graciously provided details on the Kendra and carefully read drafts of the paper. Professor Arvinkumar Bhana took great trouble to make electronic copies of KHSS minutes from 1943 to 1960. We are grateful to Anita Vallabh, Dr Hema Hargovan and Asha Bhana for their help.

Notes

1. The seven organizations were: Natal Lohana Niti Darshak Sabha (1905–1916), Kathiawad Arya Mandal (1907–1943), Kathiawad Pattani Soni Association (f. 1925), Saurashtra Hindu Association (f. 1927 or 1928), Girnaar Soni Hitvardhak Mandal (f. 1932), South African Vanik Association or Vanik Mahajan Association (f. 1934), and Pattani Social Club (f. 1941). See Kathiawad Hindu Seva Samaj souvenir brochure, Durban, 1956.

2. Desai’s additional qualifications were: LRFP & S (Licentiate of the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons), LMSSA (Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery of the Society of Apothecaries), and LM (Licentiate in Medicine) (Dublin). Among some of the other positions he held were: Indian Goodwill Club (president), Natal Indian Congress (vice president), Gandhi‐Tagore Lectureship Trust (trustee), Candella Hindu Sungatan Government‐Aided Indian Girls School, M.L. Sultan College (council member), M.C. Varman Trust (trustee), and the Hindi Shiksa Sang (trustee). In 1952, he served as Durban Centre’s Commissioner for Hindi Examinations. The Hindi examinations were conducted by the Rashtra Bhasa Samiti of Wardha in India.

3. Minutes: KHSS General Meeting, 26 December 1943. These figures are for the UK, but are relevant since South Africa used sterling as a monetary unit. See http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

4. Members often increased their donations when the need arose. Donors who contributed £100 and more were promised that their donations would be prominently displayed on a plaque after the building was completed. Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 3 January 1944, 19 March 1944, 6 August 1944, 13 August 1944, 28 October 1944, 1 November 1944, 21 November 1944 and 22 November 1944. Members who increased their donations were: Natha Naran Pty Ltd, from £251 to £501, Dhupelia & Son from £251 to £501, Samjee Devshi & Son from £301 to £501, Soni Kara Devraj from £251 to £501, C.J. Mehta from £101 to £151, M.K. Lodhia from £101 to £301 and M. Lakhani & Co. from £251 to £501. Some new donors were: Victoria Produce Co., £501, Jeram Premjee, £251, Mooljee Hirjee, £101, Odhavjee Mavjee, £101, Mistry Bros, £25 and Ratanjee Pragjee, £25.

5. Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 3 January 1944, 19 March 1944, 6 August 1944, 13 August 1944, 28 October 1944, 1 November 1944 and 21 November 1944, contd. 22 November 1944.

6. Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 25 March 1945.

7. Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 25 April 1945, 9 August 1945 and 16 October 1945; Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 28 February 1946, 19 July 1946, 14 August 1946, 4 September 1946, and Special Meeting Minutes, 8 September 1946.

8. Special committees or boards were created for handling things like drawing up hall rental rules, managing the Gujarati school and raising funds. The monthly salaries for a Gujarati teacher and the priest were £10 and £15 respectively. Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 14 January 1947, 22 January 1947, 16 April 1947, 21 June 1947, 28 August 1947, 19 October 1947, 26 October 1947, 21 December 1947; KHSS Special General Meeting, April 1947; AGM, 4 May 1947, 10 August 1947.

9. The Samaj secured a license to use the hall for entertainment and was required to implement safety measures. It spent £900 to purchase chairs for the hall. Extra classrooms were created by building partitions and windows. It built three stoves to provide meals for students. The Samaj also took advantage of the state subsidy to run a feeding scheme at the rate of six pence per student. Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 3 July 1948, 21 November 1948, 13 February 1949, 19 March 1949, 8 June 1949, 13 November 1949; AGM, 20 March 1949, Special General Meeting, 10 July 1949.

10. In 1948, the shortage of teachers forced the school to close for eight months. A library (Gujarati Hindu Pustakalay) was opened on 25 April 1948. In the beginning, there were some 2000 books and 30–35 magazines and newspapers. A reading room was created in the basement of the hall. Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 3 July 1948, 21 November 1948, 13 February 1949, 19 March 1949, 8 June 1949, 13 November 1949; AGM, 20 March 1949, Special General Meeting, 10 July 1949.

11. In addition to observing major festivals in 1950 and 1951, the Samaj organized a mahayagna (fire ceremony) on 18 June 1950 in which six other Hindu bodies took part. The Gujarati school had 140 pupils in 1950 with only three teachers, but the number dropped to 88 by May 1953 and increased somewhat two years later, but the AGM report still described the situation as ‘dollum‐doll’ (precarious). In 1953, Samaj assets stood at £23,253 with a cash balance of £2372. The hall as an asset was acknowledged in following idiom, ‘Lagna kahe ke mane aadri juwo, and makaan kahe ke mane ukheri juwo’ (‘Marriage says, try building me; and a house says, try uprooting me.’ KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti], 8 January 1950, 1 February 1950, 19 March 1950, 24 September 1950, 10 January 1951, 19 February 1951, 4 March 1951, 21 March 1951, 24 May 1951, 1 August 1951; AGM, 5 February 1950, 5 February 1951; KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti], 5 February 1952, 14 September 1952, 18 September 1952, 16 January 1953, 5 February 1953, 11 February 1953, 14 April 1953, 12 May 1953, 28 July 1953, 6 October 1953; AGM, 14 May 1953; KHSS Minutes: AGM, 11 June 1955.

12. KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti], 21 November 1948; Special General Meeting, 10 July 1949.

13. Some others who contributed were: £1001 from Dharamsi Jethalal for library, £440 from V.S. Lakhani for the principal’s office, £1000 from P.H. and H.H. Dhupelia for woodwork room, £1100 from H.N. Naran for two classrooms and £5000 from an anonymous donor for the school hall; V.V. Devshi £1500, N.S. Devshi £1500, H. Naran £375 for vice principal’s office, N. Vallabh £251 for secretary’s office, the Mathurdas Vassanjee Estate £525 for a classroom, and Visram Mooljee £375. Non‐Kathiawadis were free to donate money, but we have no figures for them. KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti], 11 May 1954, 18 July 1954, Special General Meeting, 23 November 1954; KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti], 23 March 1955, 7 July 1955, 23 June 1955, 13 October 1955; AGM, 11 June 1955; KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti], 9 February 1956, 1 March 1956, 5 March 1956; KHSS Minutes: Special General Meeting, 8 April 1956; Committee [Samiti] Meeting, 8 July 1956. KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti] Meeting, 4 March 1957; KHSS Minutes: Special G. Meeting, 21 August 1956; KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti] Meeting, 16 August 1956; KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti] Meeting, 16 January 1959, 21 April 1959, 8 November 1959, 15 March 1960, 24 July 1960.

14. The building got under way on 3 August 1957 with Owen Dick as the builder. The minutes provide details about rising building costs leading the Samaj to take out bank overdraft to keep up with the increases. Once again, generous members came forward to stand guarantors or lend money without interest to make up for shortfalls. KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti] Meeting, 8 January 1959, 16 January 1959, 21 April 1959, 8 November 1959, 15 March 1960, 24 July 1960; Leader, 23 January 1959.

15. KHSS Minutes: Committee [Samiti] Meeting, 18 June 1958, 22 July 1958, 19 August 1958; AGM, 24 August 1958.

16. Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 3 January 1944, 19 March 1944, 6 August 1944, 13 August 1944, 28 October 1944, 1 November 1944, 21 November 1944 and 22 November 1944; KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 28 February 1946, 19 July 1946, 14 August 1946, 4 September 1946, and Special Meeting Minutes, 8 September 1946; Minutes: KHSS Committee [Samiti] Meetings, 14 January 1947, 22 January 1947, 16 April 1947, 21 June 1947, 28 August 1947, 19 October 1947, 26 October 1947, 21 December 1947; KHSS Special General Meeting, April 1947; AGM, 4 May 1947, 10 August 1947.

17. Trikamjee was treasurer of the radical South African Student Organization (SASO), chairman of NIC’s Durban central branch and founding member of the Black People’s Convention. Together with other Black Consciousness (BC) activists, Trikamjee organized the Theatre Council of Natal which produced plays along BC lines. As a student on Salisbury Island, he was part of an informal group, the Cafe Clan that opposed Republic Day celebrations on the campus. In the play ‘Black on White’, Trikamjee collaborated with drama student Subhas Maharaj and others like Strini Moodley, Kogs Reddy, Dennis Pather, Sam Moodley, Asha Rambully and Kriba Pillay. This play enjoyed 38 performances throughout South Africa in 1967 and 1968 after its initial showing in Durban. The play satirized the SAIC and other conservative bodies that collaborated with the apartheid regime.

18. The 1996 South African constitution recognizes 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, Sesotho sa Leboa, Sesotho, siSwati, Xitsonga, Setswana, Tshivenda, isiXhosa and isiZulu. The constitution promotes respect for minor languages such as German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Portuguese, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu; and recognizes that Arabic, Hebrew and Sanskrit are used for religious purposes.

19. KHSS Minutes: AGM, 25 May 1933 and 1936; KHSS Minutes: Management Committee Meeting, 25 August 1988, 17 November 1988, 23 February 1993, 4 June 1992.