I had entered my tenth year of teaching when the albino girl came to Montford Secondary. Cookie Govender was one of a batch of 90-odd pupils who entered high school that year, the majority of them from our sister school, Primrose Primary. I had previously heard about Cookie from one of my colleagues at Primrose; he had said that she could almost pass for white and that she was one of the most popular pupils at the school.
I was sceptical whether her popularity would continue in high school.
Cookie wasn’t the first albino I encountered during my time at Montford. In my second year I had taught one, a boy, his skin as pale as any white person’s, and his hair blond. His name was Chandra, but almost as soon as he arrived at the school the other pupils began calling him “Bird Shit”.
From Chatsworth by Pravasan Pillay, a collection of 11 short stories that highlight working class life in a residential area that was allocated for South Africans of Indian descent during apartheid. The stories take place in the recent past and bring to life the nuances of life in this community, without leaning into stereotypes. Available at www.madeinchatsworth.co.za
No comments:
Post a Comment