I was born into a large, humble family in Kearsney on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast. I was one of 12 children. My grandparents worked on the tea estates and in a tea factory. My disciplinarian father owned a trading store, and a sugar and rice plantation.
I attended a government-aided Indian primary school. Life was tough then, and children from the neighbourhood walked 10 kilometres to school without shoes. Our uniform was khaki shorts and a shirt.
After school and on weekends we grazed cows, worked in the garden and fetched water from nearby ponds. There was little time for schoolwork, and we used candlelight and paraffin lamps to do homework in the evening.
In the late 1950s, I attended Stanger Indian High school. In 1963 my brother-in-law, the late Nagoor Bissetty, the first Indian journalist to work for the Natal Mercury, got me a job in the newspaper’s library.
After reading the newspapers, I cut out important articles for later reference. Thus, my passion for journalism was kindled, resulting in a career in newspapers spanning 44 years, from 1964 to the end of 2008.
I still hold dear to my heart that I achieved my childhood dream
