Son of the soil grateful to forebears

• Author: Nonjabulo Bhengu nonjabulo.bhengu@inl.co.za
• Published date: 30 March 2022
• Publication title: Post

Their history is closely connected with the open-air informal market that later became the Durban Indian Market and the Victoria Street Market in the Durban CBD. The market extended from Grey Street to Brooke Street and the corner of Cemetery Lane

Moodley, 71, of Reservoir Hills, is a trustee and the former chairperson of the Victoria Street Market.

His grandparents – Neelavathi and Murugappa Mudaly – arrived in the then Natal province with their 5-year-old-daughter Ranganayaki from Madras on the SS Umkuzi Voyage XIX in 1905.

“They came to Natal as indentured labourers and worked on the sugar cane plantations at Rosehill Estates. When their five-year indenture period was over, they remained in South Africa.

“When they disembarked in Natal, their daughter fell into the sea but was rescued. My grandmother remained here as she was petrified of boarding another ship. My grandfather, on the other hand, wanted to go back to the motherland but he could not leave his wife and children behind.”

To support their growing family, Murugappa Mudaly leased property in Hillview, close to where the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Westville campus is now, to grow vegetables. Neelavathi, who was more business-savvy, sold the fresh produce at the open air informal market in Victoria Street.

Their son, Moorgapa Gengan Moodley, who would later become an astute businessman, helped both his parents and siblings while growing up.

The family used to weed the vegetable garden under the moonlight.

These were then packed in baskets. Early the next morning, Gengan and his mother walked from Spencer Road to Victoria Street to sell the produce, which they carried on their heads. When Neelavathi became older, she walked to the tram substation in Overport to travel to town.

Gengan, who completed Standard 1, also helped others in Victoria Street. One of the places he worked at was a tearoom (café). It was owned by a Gujarati-speaking businessman.

“This was where Gengan, whose mother tongue was Tamil, learnt to speak Gujarati fluently.”

According to Roothiran Moodley, this held his uncle in good stead as he went on to work as a shoe salesman at SM Jhavary – also in the CBD.

“Like his mother, he was also enterprising and business-minded.”

Moodley’s grandmother remained at the open air market from 1910 to 1934.

Dismal state

She, like other traders, was then forced to move to the Early Morning Market in Warwick Avenue following complaints that the area was often left in a dismal state. Moodley...