Celebrating 100 years of life
She grew up in Port Shepstone, within a large extended family that contributed strongly to her love for people and nurturing of family.
This past year, with the world being plunged into an unprecedented pandemic, has taught humankind, the stark contrast between both the value and the fragility of life. It is for this very reason, that the rare occurrence of a 100th birthday at this time in history is more special than can ever be imagined.
This unthinkable milestone serves to illuminate the unyielding light, unrelenting hope and splendid achievement of the human spirit in these uncertain times. This particular 100th birthday celebration is wrapped in a wonderful narrative of a pint size lady with a heart of gold who continues to touch and impact the world around her over a course of ten decades.
Vedha Muthukrishna was born on the June 10, 1921 and has shared her exact birthday with her beloved husband, Bill Muthukrishna, former principal of Protea High School in Durban, and with a prolific person of history, the late Duke of Edinburgh. She was born in the tiny town of Umkomaas on the beautiful KwaZulu Natal, South Coast to Parsuramen, a wealthy businessman and Angammah Pillay.
She grew up in Port Shepstone, within a large extended family that contributed strongly to her love for people and nurturing of family.
Vedha attended school in Port Shepstone and completed a standard six (grade 8) education. It was however an unfortunate time in history where Indian female children were not often given the privilege of advancing their education beyond that. Vedha was determined to pursue a nursing career but girl children studying away from home was unheard of at the time. This setback however did not prohibit Vedha from finding a multitude of other creative ways of leaving her indelible mark on the community around her.
She married Bill Muthukrishna in 1941, a union arranged by the couple’s fathers who were good friends. She slipped seamlessly into the role of wife and daughter-in-law. Her father-in-law adored her, and made his way home from work every day to have lunch with his new daughter-in-law after having lost his own beloved wife at the tender age of 39. He always spoke of how his daughter-in-law ‘brought the light back into the home’ when she married his son.
Vedha, continues to epitomise the role of nurturer, having devoted her life to her family, enveloping her five children, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren centrally in her life. She continues to draw immense pride from the achievements of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren as well as the broader community that surrounds her. Her unyielding support for her daughter, Professor Nithi Muthukrishna, through all her academic achievements, saw her accompanying her to the USA while she completed her PhD at the University of Notre Dame, adding a multitude of adventures to her repository. She has delighted in her travels within South Africa and around the world, including throughout the USA, UK, Canada, India and the Far East.
Vedha’s favourite pastime has been reading literature of a variety of genres. At age 95, she read Shantaram by GD Roberts – a book of approximately 1 000 pages.
Vedha’s deep yearning to impact the community around her, saw her running a school for Muslim girls in Port Shepstone in the 1940s, as Muslim girls were not able to attend regular schools. Many of these girls passed standard six, which was tangible advancement in those days for women. During her years in Port Shepstone, Vedha was active in various social organisations, including the Port Shepstone Women’s Institute, Friends of the Sick Association (FOSA), Port Shepstone Child Welfare, and she served as a volunteer in the Port Shepstone Blood Transfusion Services.
While living in the coastal town of Tongaat on the North Coast in the 1980s, Vedha became frustrated with the mundane routines of the ladies in an adjoining block of flats and started a cookery and handwork school to uplift these ladies in the community. These free, informal classes saw some women starting their own small businesses enabling them to actively contribute to their households and improve their standard of living.
The notion of age being just a number is further expressed through the launch of Vedha’s recipe book at the age of 90 which has sold 1 000 copies, and is a much loved reference in many kitchens across the globe.
Vedha’s philosophy in life is clearly aligned with Nelson Mandela’s quote, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Aged 89, through her own personal intervention and steadfast nature, she ensured that a teenage mother returned to school, and continued to educate her at the tertiary level. Today the young lady is a qualified school teacher. Vedha also contributed to her helper’s nephew’s education, a young orphaned adolescent with no prospects, who is now an independent young man in permanent employment contributing to the lives around him.
As one grows older, it’s expected that one’s health fluctuates, and that was no different for Vedha, having been a diabetic for about 50 years. She has defied all clinical prognoses along the years, having major surgery at the age of 91 where she had a stent inserted in her Iliac artery, and then again at 93 with a unilateral amputation, both times recovering in record times. A real testament to her can do attitude.
Life however came with its fair share of upsets and challenges which included the birth of her special needs son, the tragic loss of eldest son, the loss of her husband after an extended illness and the loss of two more sons in recent years. Through every devastating loss and tragedy, Vedha chose to find within herself a deep sense of strength and conviction to live and thrive. It’s these powerful articulations of courage and perseverance that continue to teach and inspire the world around her. It is our hope that her indomitable characteristics will continue to live in the generations to come, through this special narrative of hope and faith. It is certainly what the world needs more of at this juncture.
She lives with her daughter, Nithi in Malvern.
Written by her granddaughter, Santhuri Muthukrishna-Moodley.
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