Logo 2

Hello World,

I'm Kyle Pillay

A Little Kyle Picture of my dog contemplating lifeImage of my sister, my cousin and myself


Home Where I studied the wrong degree I often ran pass this shiny building during 5km and 10km races


The Whakatau Gang with Gang Leader Picture depicting humans being capable of anything We are the Matrix

Who I Am

picture of my friends telling me not to go near the edge

A most warm and humble salutation to whomever may be reading this. Who am I, you ask? This question is extraordinarily deep and complex. Even if I try to answer it as simply as possible, my mind is still flooded with incalculable thoughts (but here goes nothing).

As you’ve probably already seen before coming here, my name is Kyle Pillay. Right off the bat, you are hit with an extremely common name filled with a variety of humorous implications. Contrary to my name, I am very much not common. I grew up as a very naughty child, from what I’m told. I don’t remember much of my childhood, but from what I can remember, I probably got hurt a lot more than normal kids. From scrapes to bruises and sprains to dislocations, I’ve experienced them all. I believe the main reason for that is because I really enjoyed being active and adventurous.

Here is a list of things I’ve at some point liked doing from childhood until now, since my active lifestyle doesn’t allow me to just type them out in a simple sentence:

  • PLAYING VIDEOGAMES!!!
  • Sprinting
  • Skateboarding
  • Parkour
  • Callisthenics
  • Chess
  • Weight Lifting
  • Mountain Climbing
  • Bouldering
  • Taekwondo
  • Programming
  • Oh, did I mention videogames?
  • Watching Anime!
  • Long-distance running
  • Eating good food (My favourite type of food is pizza; it's okay to be lame.)

I could honestly go on for a while, but I’ll opt to cut it short. Email me at kyle@whakatau.com if you’d like to know more about things I like doing.

There aren’t many things I don’t like; however, my love for video games and anime has shaped the way I choose to live my life. I’m not a massive fan of people who are unkind to others. Due to my childhood experiences, I have grown to hate conflict between people. At the time of writing this, I can’t think of too much else I don’t like, but there are a few other very specific things that irk me.

In my current lifestyle, I find myself with very little spare time, but with the little bit I do have, you’ll likely find me in the gym, running, playing video games, watching anime, or learning Japanese. Yes, I’ve fallen so in love with anime that I’ve started learning Japanese. I do, however, like learning about languages and cultures so I can probably greet most people in the world by now, which also includes Morse code and sign language (only greet though xD).

I like to think I’m a good person, but I’m also fighting a battle of pessimism, so I struggle to believe I’m a good person (I’ll get there one day, though). I usually tell myself I was born to be both a bad person and a dense person, but I’ve clawed my way into the realm of kindness and intelligence. I do try my best at everything I enjoy, and I really do enjoy being kind to people and making someone’s day. Growing up wasn’t too fun for me as my social intelligence was nonexistent, but for the past 5 years, I’ve been working very hard on my ability to communicate with people, thanks to a certain friend who showed me the path I needed to take. I still struggle at times with the anxiety knocking on the walls of my heart every chance it gets, though I fight on.

"Fear is not evil, it tells you what weakness is. Courage is not strength, it tells you to take a step forward in the face of your fears."

Where do I come from?

picture of home

I currently live in Hatfield, Pretoria, but I was originally born and bred in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. I lived in Durban for 26 years and then moved to Kempton Park, Gauteng, around February 2023. Durban is a very quiet and a very…very…VERY hot place to live. When I moved to Kempton Park, it took roughly 3 months for my nose to stop being dry and filled with blood because of the change in climate, and that was …interesting. The house I lived in in Durban wasn’t anything special, but it was home. My mom is a bit of a hoarder, so it generally looked very untidy.

I grew up in a rather big family, including 10 people in total. Sadly, that number dwindled down to 6 over the years. Right now, in Durban, it’s my mom, two sisters, my uncle, who is like a father to me, and a cousin, who is practically another sister. When I moved to Kempton Park, I briefly lived with my dad’s sister (my aunt). Then, of course, I moved to Hatfield, Pretoria, and am currently staying with a roommate.

Both Durban and Kempton Park are nice places, but they are obviously riddled with a lot of crime, so it's a rather nice change to be in a relaxing environment like Hatfield. Not having to look behind you every few seconds when walking out at night is a blessing most won't understand.

There is a lot of breath-taking scenery in Durban; there is Moses Mabhida, which I get to visit and run past every now and then during long-distance races. There is also the place I studied at, i.e., UKZN (I mean, it looks nice), and there are also really beautiful mountainous and forest areas I often went to for mountain climbing and hiking. So yeah, it's not all bad. I didn't spend enough time in Kempton Park to learn all its good spots to check out. But all in all, life in Durban and Kempton Park was filled with its fair share of ups and downs.

"Forgetting is like a wound. The wound may heal, but it has already left a scar."

Why am I at Whakatau?

a simple picture of life

I’ve felt adrift for most of my life. Every time I’ve ever pursued my dreams, I've always given up on them too soon because of a lack of belief that I could succeed, as well as things never going my way. It started with me wanting to be an Olympic sprinter, then wanting to become the next Bruce Lee, followed by dreaming of becoming a theoretical physicist, and lastly, at some point, wanting to be a chemical engineer.

Through all this, I noticed that there was one thing that I could never let go of in my heart, i.e., my absolute love for videogames and computers. And my life did not steer me in this direction at all. From getting a degree in B.Sc. Property Development to working as a cashier and then as a Rope Access Technician (basically a tall building window cleaner), I can say I’ve learned a lot of humility.

The opportunity to join Whakatau as an intern software developer came as a massive surprise, and I did not think things would work out for me the way they did. During the Whakatau Trial Period, I found absolute bliss; by that, I mean, I never knew I could feel such happiness and serenity at a workplace. I’ve already known that working with computers is what I’ve always wanted to do, but getting there was a completely different level of joy.

I hope that through this amazing opportunity I’ve been given, I can one day repay what’s being done for me to our beloved founder (Sandra Van Dijk). I am also extremely competitive and want to be the best as far as software developers go.

In order for you to know true happiness, you must first experience anguish, and as such, my experience at Whakatau so far has been heavenly. I look forward to every Monday, unlike previous experiences. I’ve already learned a lot in a minuscule amount of time and am certainly looking forward to everything else I’m going to learn at Whakatau. Thank you for taking the time to learn about me and for being prepared and excited to see a coding monster in a few years 😊.

"Give up on giving up, earn your right to transcend humanity. Bleed, sweat, cry and SMILE as you claw at success. Be the unwavering warrior you were born to be."