By Yogin Devan
Mala Lutchmanan who passed away on Wednesday 18 December 2024 spent a lifetime deepening an appreciation for Tamil language and culture.
The retired educator, radio personality, author and Tamil scholar singularly did more to promote the cause of Tamil language and culture in South Africa in three decades than the collective efforts of national Tamil organisations.
Despite failing health, she had returned a day earlier from Malaysia where she received a “World Tamil Achievers Awards 2024” for her efforts in promoting and sustaining Tamil language and culture.
Her last post on her Facebook page earlier this week reads: “Homeward bound. Wherever in the world I go to, returning home is so comforting.
“Good discussions that opened my world view and made some super friends.”
News of her passing away spread like wildfire with social media being inundated with messages from her local and overseas fans and friends.
Jayalutchmee, as was her proper Tamil name, was born to Lutchmanan and Poongavanaum Arian at Magazine Barracks in Durban on 14 November 1960.
What made Mala Lutchman so popular? She did not favour only a certain grouping. She treated all organisations and people equally, according them fair airtime.
She lent a sympathetic ear; offered sage advice; and was full of humility, a mark of her simple but moral upbringing in a sub-economic municipal housing compound.
She and her sisters, sisters, Kogilam, Pragasvathie and Dhayaberi, took an interest in the Tamil language from an early age and attended Tamil school.
After high school Mala Lutchmanan worked as a librarian at Durban City Hall.
She was granted a scholarship by the Merebank Tamil School Society and completed a four-year degree in arts and culture at the Thanjavur University in Tamilnadu in 1995.
Upon her return she worked as an educator at a school for learners with special educational needs. She completed an MA degree at the former University of Durban-Westville in 2001.
Her thesis was titled: “Oral transmission of the knowledge of the popular folk deities and their worship amongst Tamils in Durban”.
Lutchmanan put her knowledge of Tamil to best use when she was appointed part-time compiler and presenter of Tamil programme on SABC Radio’s Lotus FM.
Her fluency in Tamil, and warm and friendly voice, attracted tens of thousands of loyal fans who listened to her Tamil magazine programme, Inisai Mazhai, and movie review slot, The Best of Kodambakkam.
She also used the medium of radio to promote Tamil local and international Tamil singers and musicians, most notably playback and Carnatic singer Sid Sriram.
In between teaching and hosting radio shows, Lutchmanan made time to compere religious, cultural and social events throughout the country.
She was also an author of note. She brought to light major works in Tamil and contributed vastly to the enrichment of its literary heritage.
She published 20 books in her lifetime, on a variety of matters.
She wrote the Tamil biography of child activist Valiamma Mudaliyar.
She also published Senthamizh Maalai, the translation of 67 quotes of global peace icon Nelson Mandela into Tamil in celebration of Mandela Day (2016).
This was followed by the translation of Mandela’s autobiography into Tamil.
This was released on Mandela Day (2017).
In November this year, she launched a Zulu translation of the Tirukkural, a collection of 1,330 couplets on social ethics by Thriuvalluvar, a Tamil poet and philosopher.
In 2010, the International Academy of Tamil Language and Culture, recognised Lutchmanan’s sterling work and conferred on her the award Valar Thamizh Maamani; which translates into “one who is progressive in promoting Tamil”.
In 2019, the Malaysia-Durban Tamil Socio-Cultural Organisation honoured Lutchmanan for promoting Tamil language and culture.
In a call to me from Malaysia after receiving her latest award, Lutchmanan said she accepted the award on behalf of all those who worked and are still working tirelessly to keep the flame of the Tamil torch burning brightly for 164 years.
She said she was saddened that Tamil is fast losing its glow because it is not being spoken.
“Tamil is slowly dying because it is not being spoken. I urge every proud Tamilian to make an effort to speak Tamil and restore this ancient, beautiful language to its former gory in South Africa,” she said.
Perhaps those of Tamil stock who mourn her passing will pay heed to her plaintive plea and learn to speak Tamil.
It is the right way to keep Mala Lutchmanan’s legacy alive.
The Post