Sacrifice of parents pays off

NEVILLE Naidoo hopes his readers will dare to dream a dream bigger than the one scripted by their circumstances with his debut novel, Trust Your Struggle.

“One such life-change would be ample reward for the long hours of labour invested in manifesting this book,” said Naidoo.

The author said the book described his upbringing in the Esperanza Barracks, a rural sugar estate on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, and traced his Indian roots of indenture.

“The title aligns with the struggles I encountered living in the barracks. The tagline – How my Indian family’s migration, pain and sacrifices shaped my life story – is about how my grandparents endured pain and suffering during their journey to South Africa and the sacrifices they made so I could have a better life.

“Despite the challenges I faced while growing up in poverty, I stayed on course and achieved successes in life. Successes not in terms of money but living a better life through educating myself whenever the opportunities presented themselves.”

Naidoo completed a management development programme and senior management development programme at the University of Stellenbosch Business School in 2001. He also has an MBA degree from the Management College of Southern Africa (Mancosa) in 2003.

Naidoo said his message to all children was to stay in school.

“Both my father’s parents arrived from India. My grandfather worked in the sugar cane fields. My father was a labourer for a sugar company. My mother’s parents were born in South Africa and also worked in the sugarcane fields.

“My parents were not well educated because they had to leave school at an early age to assist in supporting the family by working. It was a matter of survival during their era.

“Being the eldest in the family, I watched firsthand how my parents struggled to put food on the table at our home. My mother had six children and we lived in a two-bedroomed house and slept on the floors. At an early stage, I learnt how to budget because I assisted my mother to draw up the monthly grocery list for our home.

“We lived from month to month on credit and borrowed grocery items from our neighbours. My daily chores consisted of searching for wood and chopping wood, breaking coal into small pieces so that it could fit in our coal stove, filling paraffin in our lamps and working in our vegetable gardens.

“I had to sell vegetables from our gardens, sell French toast to sugar cane cutters in the nearby fields and worked in grocery shops to assist my parents. I went to school without shoes for three years. I learnt a lot of entrepreneurial skills by selling vegetables and working in the local grocery shops.

“I knew that if I wanted to live a better life, education was the key. I educated myself on an ongoing basis when the opportunities were available. I learnt how to be enthusiastic and persevere in life, and achieve set goals.

“I am passionate about education because my parents could not afford to send me to a college when I matriculated from Umzinto Secondary School. I managed to sign up for a five-year contract as an apprentice motor mechanic at McCarthy motor group and qualified as a motor mechanic in 1984.”

He said his book was for readers of all ages but was particularly aimed at the youth. “I would like to target young people. I have added a bonus section that covers 11 lessons learned from my experiences. These are the learnings that I have acquired through my life’s journey and I hope to inspire the youth so they can implement some of these lessons in their lives.”

Trust Your Struggle, published by Manlion Author Solutions in Maharashtra, India, was launched at the Durban International Book Fair last week. Naidoo said more than 60 books were sold at the fair and others had placed orders.

He said he was inspired by the efforts of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi to make the world a better place.

The 60-year-old, who is based in Johannesburg, is married with two children and three grandchildren. He attributes his success in writing his first novel to his wife of 39 years, Meenakumarie, who is also 60 years old.

He said his debut novel was his assurance of success to all who have struggled to keep meeting the challenges on the way to fulfilling their dreams.