Echoes from my Valley

Author: Dr Frank Naguran

This book is an amalgam of genres including the writer’s autobiography, a thesis on the emergence and development of education for Indians in South Africa and a critique of the relentless racial prejudice to which three generations of Indian settlers were subjected.

The theme of the book is about chasing an impossible dream. Its about an arduous journey of a young boy born to an indentured labourer on a  sugar estate, who struggles  against all odds to educate himself. Because of circumstances prevailing then, he is forced to work as a factory labourer at age 16 years. His formal education did not extend beyond Std 6. But his ambition is to become a teacher. So through sheer determination and preservation he furthers his education by evening part-time studies. He enters the teaching profession through external teaching courses. Eventually he enters university and again through part-time studies he receives several degrees culminating in a PhD in education.

The reader will observe that in his chosen career, the writer rises rapidly and attains the highest education post at the time as Chief Education Planner in the erstwhile Indian education, thus serving his community at the highest level in education.

In recognition of his contribution to his community, he is awarded several scholarships by the governments of Britain, France and the United States of America. The Indian community also awarded him several recognitions including the Ponn Adai - the Golden Shawl award for his contribution to education.

The book intertwines his struggle for education with that of the Indian community’s  early struggle for basis education. It encapsulates both the unique and the symbolic rise of Indians from deprivation and degradation to economic and social significance.

The history of education for Indians from its earliest from elementary, secondary, technical and university education is amply covered. It is told in an unconventional style.

The political struggle is traced and discussed critically. The book pays homage and tribute to Indian indentured pioneers.

The book begins with life on a typical sugar estate barracks where the Indian labourers were housed. It recounts how the author’s father is beaten up by his white overseer for no reasons and how he retaliates by himself laying into the white man. Their social, cultural and religious life are told in a lively manner capturing the essence of indentured ethos. It emphasizes how religion, its festivals and dance dramas were the binding force in building a cohesive community in a new land.

It is an inspirational journey demonstrating that with motivation and preservation all things are possible. It is a story of the indomitable trait and the triumph of the human spirit.

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