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Nieman Reports Winter 2006 Issue Nieman Notes Compiled by Lois Fiore A Nieman Classmate Remembers M.G.G. Pillai By Hennie van Deventer In 1977—nearly 30 years ago, remember!—I wrote a fighting article for Nieman Reports trying to explain South Africa's racial policies. The headline was: "Some Misconceptions About South Africa." My subeditor was my fellow Nieman and fellow resident of Crimson Court, Ganga Pillai, from Malaysia. In his impeccable handwriting he suggested certain corrections to
In 1984 I was invited to the Republic of China. I wrote to Ganga in Kuala Lumpur, supplying my itinerary. What about a meeting somewhere in the East, I ventured. On my way back I spent two nights in Hong Kong. After my first night out on the town there was a note on the floor when I entered my room in the Ambassador Hotel in the bustling, impressive Kowloon. The handwriting on the envelope was unmistakable. Ganga was in town. He had answered my call. We spent an unforgettable day, doing the tourist rounds, talking about a changing world, and reminiscing over great moments and great people of our Nieman year. When we parted he took a pewter vase that he had had engraved: "To my friends, Hennie and Tokkie [my wife], from Ganga Pillai, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. January 1984." In an accompanying letter he wrote, "The presence of this vase in a South African home should at least symbolise a common thread of humanity that transcends political barriers." Now the big man Ganga is dead—the first of our class to take leave. In Melkbosstrand (near Cape Town), South Africa, I mourn his death. I shall remember Ganga as a living example of that "common thread of humanity" he spoke of. One day on a Nieman outing Ganga jokingly explained his bulk with the remark that in every fat man also lived a thin man. "Yes, and you're eating for both of them," I retorted. Ganga laughed. How he would have laughed if he could see me now: also a fat man with a thin man inside. And yes, Ganga, I am eating (and drinking) for both of them! Editor's note: Ganga Pillai died on April 28, 2006. Table of contents Printer-friendly format |
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