Opinion - Reflections of the SS Truro seem to be in vogue around this time.
Public awareness of our forebears and their struggles has been evoked in recent heritage festivals and fairs, especially in KwaZulu-Natal.
In my writing career, I have regularly expounded the indomitable spirit of the 1860 Indians who settled in this country.
They were a formidable force and they made an indelible mark in South Africa.
I often wondered how their offspring fared as far as employment opportunities went, especially in apartheid times.
Then I met a remarkable man, Colin Perumal, and I wondered no more.
His tale was documented in The Mercury issue of September 9, 1970.
Perumal, back then a resident of Greenfern Road in Mobeni Heights, was a young man of 27.
At that point in time, he had nine years of experience as a welder, and had an Engineering Industrial Workers’ Union card and papers to prove it.
He had matriculated in 1962 at Clairwood High School and had learnt his trade with an American company, Chicago Bridge and Iron Company.
After that, Perumal was in and out of several jobs, and worked for many big-name companies of that time.
However, he never lasted in one company for long; most lasted not longer than one month.
At the time of the original article, he had returned from Newcastle, where he had just completed a project.
Later that week, he applied for a job at a ship repair company.
He was given a four-hour skills test, following which the foreman said he was very happy with his work and gave him a 100% result.
A little later, the foreman returned from head office. Perumal recounts the scene.
“He told me he was sorry but they were full up. I had been there from 9am to 3pm.”
The next day Perumal went to another big ship repair company where he was told to go home and return with working clothes.
On his return, at about 11am, he was signed on to work.
They equipped him with a welding cable, acetylene torch and gauges and sent him to the drydock to work on a ship called the Thorsoy.
He had just arrived when a Caucasian man walked up to him and told him they wanted to see him at the head office.
Recalls Perumal: “So I went back and the foreman there said that he was sorry but the firm did not employ Indians.”
He explained that he had earned R1.30 an hour at other companies, but “white men did not like to see an Indian earning the same as them.
“I was pushed around quite a lot.
“One day a man walked up and kicked my tools aside and said ‘we don’t want any darkies here’.”
At another company, the shop steward told Perumal that he could not work there without a card.
He showed the foreman his card, to which the foreman’s reply was: “Look, you are outnumbered. These fellows won’t work with you. I’m sorry, but you’ve got to go. I can’t help it.”
So it went, on and on. Hope, then disappointment and despair.
Why am I telling you this true-life story? It is to demonstrate that aforementioned indomitable spirit that Indians had and still have.
Perumal persevered and went from job to job. He eventually started teaching his trade.
He taught metal work and metal working (there is a difference) for 12 years at the School of Industry for Boys in Newcastle.
Following that came a stint of teaching at Clairwood High School, his alma mater, and then Perumal ended his working career.
However, you cannot keep a hard-working man down.
He started selling food at flea markets and supplemented his income.
A venture into takeaway businesses with a close relative revealed the entrepreneurial spirit of the man.
It became a major success story for them both. Sadly, his dear wife passed on quite recently.
Colin Perumal currently still resides in Durban.
He is a satisfied man who lives a comfortable life.
All the despair and disappointment suffered along the way made him stronger for the journey of life. It gave him a steely resolve.
Weaker men would have buckled and sank into obscurity.
Ah, but for that resilient spirit that emanated from a land far, far away, which sailed on ships and helped shape this country.
There are thousands of people like Colin Perumal. Perhaps you have one in your family. Maybe you are one of them.
Share your stories and help inspire our young ones. Heaven knows they need all the help they can get.
May that spirit never flicker and die out, because it is part of our DNA.