dear renus,
i need to, now, give you some background as to south african tamils.
in the early 1900s, many many from tamil nadu/andhra went to africa, to work in the fields, build the railroads. this was not just the union of south africa, but also the then north south rhodesia kenya uganda tanganika and zanzibar.
the east african railroad was built, manned by south indians, who eventually when all these countries gained independence in the 1960s joined their brethren in south africa or (thanks to opting for british passport) moved to england.
the south african tamils, thanks to apartheid, introduced by the national party of the dutch boers, 1948 i think, was cut off from india culturally and otherwise. this was not the period of internet and so cut off means cut off.
for close to 40 years 4 generations grew up, as second class citizens in apartheid africa, the sons and daughters of the erstwhile labourers, now professionals as lawyers, teachers doctors and built their own living colonies.
the caste names are just surnames, as you will find naidoo, chetty moodli padayachee pillay and such tamil/telugu castes except iyers.
these have their own tamil temples, mostly in durban, without the benefit of brahmin priests till apartheid ended, and i do not know the situation now. i have south african tamil hindu friends, whose grand father or grand mother, officated as priest or priestess in these temples, and they have maintained their faith inspite of so many difficult circumstances, that each time, i see a SA tamil hindu, i am overwhelmed with emotion.
post apartheid, there has been resumed communication to india. the indian government sensing the interest in india, introduced hindi classes in their consulates. the idiots did not know acknowledge understand that a sizeable number of indian origins there are tamils. i do not know if tamil classes have been sponsored by the delhi wallahs. to me it is the grossest display of cultural arrogance, in the name of bharat, ie not acknowledging the cultures that make up to form india.
please do not cast caste aspiration on marvin naidoo's name. it is just a name. over there naidoos marry chettys who marry padayachees and so on. those hindus have thrown off the albatross of caste from their shoulders.
btw these are a pretty fun loving lot. i used to go to their annual diwali and pongal parties...lots of music, dancing..et al
ok?
i can go on..but i will stop here.
