Kavitha’s father held the paper bag of samoosas over the kitchen bin, the bag scrunched in his tightly clenched fist. “See here, you don’t bloody bring this shit into my house, you heard me what I’m saying,” he shouted, a snarl on his face. “This is the last time I’m telling you.”
Kavitha stared at the oily paper bag, a big ‘F’ handwritten on it with a felt pen. The ‘F’ stood for tinned fish, the second most popular samoosa filling after potato curry at Karim’s Takeaway – which was located at the Unit 5 shopping centre in Chatsworth.
Kavitha had been working there for six months as a cashier, a position her father strongly disapproved of her taking – though he seemed to have no qualms about accepting the R900, a third of her salary that she gave him every month as part of her contribution to the household. This was her first real job since she had finished high school a year ago.
“I don’t want you working by Pakistani fellows,” her father had finger-wagged when she told him about the job. “You can’t trust those people. They won’t pay you on time must see.”
Extracted 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. A Swedish translation of the book is currently in print.
Published in South Africa by Dye Hard Press and available on www.madeinchatsworth.co.za.
