Retirement is for people who cannot cope with age and for those who like to slip into passivity but for men like Magan Dahya, ‘R’ is a repulsive word.
More than 300 men and women who attended his 75th birthday on August 1 at the Mt Eden Bowling Club thought that Maganbhai got his year of birth wrong. “You do not look a day older than 55 years,” some of them quipped.
Born, raised and educated in Lautoka, Fiji, he launched his career with Bank of Baroda and stayed with the institution for 30 years before migrating to New Zealand.
Varied opportunities
Auckland provided him with a variety of opportunities, first as the owner of a franchised convenience stores and later as a marking consultant at Vision Asia and Radio Tarana.
Never known to show his displeasure or despair to friends and family, Maganbhai takes life as it comes. It was a sad occasion to those of us who were with him at a Diwali celebrations in 2005, when his wife Urmila collapsed and breathed her last shortly thereafter. It was a shock for Maganbhai but he learnt to recover and reconcile.
Even today however, he gets emotional at the mention of her name.
People pass through Diamond Jubilee tend to slow down but the man who has obtained Platinum continues to work and engage in community activities, which include Bank Union Representative, Baroda Social Club, Sai Organisation, Jaycees, Athia Gujarati Association and Ways & Means Charitable Organisation (of which he is the President).
His love for sports takes him to Lawn Tennis, Bowling, Swimming and as a Fijian, Soccer. He is the Patron of New Zealand Gujarati Soccer Club
Pratima Nand is a community leader, social worker based in Mt Roskill, Auckland. She has three CDs of devotional songs on Lord Krishna to her credit, the third of which was released earlier this year, as reported in Indian Newslink, April 15, 2014 issue.
Then and Now: Magan over the years
