Dr Dori Moodley: the seeker who walks with books

HUSBAND, FATHER AND GRANDFATHER

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IN THIS time when many have grown impatient with nuance, and the fast, techno-savvy become the wise, Dr Dori Moodley continues to walk slowly, purposefully, and with a book near him at all times.

Sometimes, a scripture. Sometimes, a philosophy text. Sometimes, the POST. Always something that stirs the soul and provokes the mind. It is this lifelong companionship with the written word, and a devotion to the spoken one, that brings us to the moment of his third book: Learning from the Law of Karma: A Hindu Viewpoint.

This book, which will be launched on Saturday, is not just a book launch. It is the mark of a community servant who lives in pursuit of meaning. It is a moment that brings Durban, and indeed the wider South African Indian community, into quiet celebration of a scholar, a community leader, a teacher, and an unapologetic devotee of seva.

Dr Dori Moodley:

Born in the working-class suburb of Mayville, Moodley came from humble beginnings with his father, a waiter, and his mother, famously known for her delicious murku. But something about that home, perhaps it was the discipline, perhaps it were the dreams, that laid the foundation for a mind that would seek rigour, clarity and a deep sense of spiritual responsibility.

After completing his schooling at Sastri College, Moodley took up further studies and employment at the University College for Indians on Salisbury Island campus, the early incarnation of what would later become the University of Durban-Westville (UDW), and later still the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).

As a young student, his first instinct was to walk the path of the pure sciences, the world of equations, chemistry and physical laws. But the universe, with its quiet sense of direction, had other plans. It drew him steadily and irreversibly into the folds of the Orient, into Sanskrit texts, Tamil chants, and the metaphysical flows of Hindu thought.