Get to know Rajendra Chetty, South African Journalist and author.
I have found a great deal of satisfaction through my work and intend to write more. I have ventured into areas previously unexplored and find the challenge of exploration through research very exciting.
I grew up in a harmonious environment, filled with the warmth of communal life. I grew up in a traditional family in Kearsney on the KwaZulu Natal North Coast in South Africa. Elders played pivotal roles in disciplining and educating us. My parents, uncles and aunts played supporting roles in guiding us as children. The transition to adulthood was orderly and dignified.
When it was time to leave my small village, they blessed us, offering us the freedom to explore our individuality. My siblings and I proceeded to the city of Durban to pursue our careers.I have been inspired by the guiding principles that grandpa Seenivassan 'Poll' Chetty professed – to be strong, independent and focused. I learnt to be unafraid of speaking my mind.
I was an avid reader.
An incident early in my life attracted my attention. Two newspapers Natal Mercury and The Leader ran sensational stories about 'miracles' being performed by an Indian farmer who claimed to possess healing powers. Thousands of people throughout Natal began flocking to his home. A week later, the farmer was discovered to be a fraud. It was found that he was using the funds he was collecting to build his home. Following this revelation, both newspapers apologised to readers.
An aunt of mine was one of the victims. I was just 14 at the time and the incident evoked strong feelings in me.
I was enraged by the man's deceit. I shot off a letter to the editor of Natal Mercury expressing my disdain.
The editor acknowledged my mail and extended an invitation to me to write regularly for the paper. That was the beginning of my association with journalism.
I took up the invitation to use the readers' column of the Natal Mercury, hoping that my regular letters to the editor would reflect my thoughts on different issues. Pretty soon, I was quite well-known in newspaper circles as a serious letter writer on various issues that affected the Indian community.
At the time I was embarking on my career, options were very limited because of the political climate in South Africa. My first job was in administration and public relations. I took up an assignment as chief administrative officer with the Natal Indian Society for the Blind, I discovered I was working in a complex that included a printing press and offices of an Indian weekly called The Graphic, both owned and operated by the president of the Blind Society.
I was an amateur boxer at that time and the editor of the weekly invited me to write a regular column on boxing.
Because of the political climate at the time, journalism was heavily censored. In Natal however, the government was slightly more accommodating and Drum and Golden City Post, owned by a gentleman named Jim Bailey, had the country's largest circulation. Police throughout South Africa acknowledged the power of Bailey's two publications and a mutually acceptable working relationship was fostered. I was threatened over a few issues that I wrote about and photographed during those times.
But it was necessary to help catalyse change in the country. I championed several causes and many of my toughest assignments were during this time. [I researched and wrote many investigative pieces.] An investigative feature I wrote helped save the life of a 22-year-old just weeks before his death sentence – issued by the Supreme Court – was carried out.
I played a key role in doing away with gender discrimination in two South African universities. My investigation led to the cancellation of a major farewell function as well as the gift of a retirement home for the university's long-serving rector. My investigations exposed him as a fraud – the author of a racist decree, which he claimed was state policy. I also exposed an insurance scam involving millions.
I have been working on two print projects. They are The History of Indian Education in South Africa 1860-2000 and The History of Indian Sport in South Africa 1882-2000. Between 1880 and 1960, Indians throughout the Province of Natal got together in their villages and towns and built 365 schools, five secondary schools and a tertiary institution.
The book records these kinds of endeavours, recognises the role of leaders and acknowledges this unity of action as the single most important factor that later led to a South African-Indian identity.
The History of Indian Sport in SA 1882 – 2000 will be launched during the World Soccer Cup in South Africa in 2010. It took several years of research to finally complete a comprehensive history of Indian sport. I [enjoyed] researching this project as I have been closely associated with sport since 1958.
I have completed my first work.
It is titled Darkness at Dawn, which delves into the life and times of Swami Nischalananda, [who founded the Ramakrishna centre in Durban, South Africa. The centre is a religio-humanitarian body whose aim is to uplift society].
[Swami Nischalananda's was an exciting, bewlidering and enigmatic story.] Disturbed by the chaos that gripped the movement he had set up, he one day decided to spend some time alone in the sanctity of his beloved cave. The next morning his body was recovered from a river that flowed near the cave. The mystery of his death was never resolved. Darkness at Dawn follows clues and takes readers through a journey of discovery before revealing the killer.
I am concentrating on Darkness at Dawn as a possible script for a film as it has, in my opinion, all the ingredients that are essential for a successful production.
I have taken advantage of the excellent facilities available here in the UAE to pursue specialised knowledge so that I could use the digital format for documentaries that I propose to film in the future.
I am amazed at the huge selection of publications including magazines in the UAE. The size of its readership and population is impressive. The advertising support is phenomenal, giving the media vast scope to develop. In South Africa, electronic media appears to have made serious inroads to the detriment of print media, leading to dwindling revenues, loss of advertising and readership.
I was privileged to experience life and interact with all kinds of people in the rainbow nation of South Africa.
I am quite comfortable owing allegiance to South Africa, the country of my birth. I wanted to experience Middle Eastern culture because it shares certain aspects of different cultures. When the opportunity
came, I decided to take it. I plan to travel, write and compile documentaries while enjoying the beauty of the Cape.
– As told to Layla Haroon, an Abu Dhabi-based writer
