Being dark-skinned and twice the size of boys his age, he constantly suffered racial bullying and harassment. Consumed with anger, a muscular Dinesvaran fought back in school and on the streets.
He recalled he assaulted people who called him horrible names such as negro, unaware aggression could derail his life.
The risky and violent outbursts became a staple of his growing years at Taman Keladi in Sungai Petani, Kedah.
Dinesvaran said at 15, a brawl got him placed at the Pokok Sena rehabilitation centre. “When I was released after a year, I feared I would be a nobody in the future.”
Going through life numb, he could have become a gangster, but he chose the right path and became a rugby player.
Today, Dinesvaran, standing at 195cm tall and weighing 114kg, is regarded as Malaysia’s most successful rugby player.
His rugby career began under unusual circumstances at 18. Only three weeks after he had started playing the sport, he caught the eye of national rugby coach Naharudeen Othman during a tournament in Kangar.
Naharudeen thought the special talent was a Fijian. But when told otherwise by Dinesvaran’s coach, Ismail Ibrahim, he got an instant call-up to the national under-19 side.
He was told to report for centralised training at Padang Astaka in Petaling Jaya, the home ground of the Combined Old Boys Rugby Association (Cobra).
For the boy, who once worked at a metal scrapyard in Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur, to support his family, it was the start of greatness in rugby.
In between training, he worked as a bartender at the Cobra clubhouse to send the little money he earned back home.
Against all odds, he went on to represent Malaysia in 7s, 10s and 15s rugby as a forward before experiencing top flight action in Japan and the United States as a professional player.
Today, Dinesvaran, who turns 36 in May, represents more than sporting success.
He is driving resilience among youths and inspiring a generation of rugby players to face the future with confidence.
Bullied for his blackness
At 13, Dinesvaran was almost 173cm tall, physically stronger and the tallest among his friends. The colour of his skin elicited several nicknames that provoked the fights.
Even his tuition teacher called him “Adigun”, after the Nigerian defender who played for Kedah in 1992. Later, he was called “Chipita”, after the Zambian striker who turned out for Perlis in the early 2000s.
However, the nickname that stuck for a long time was one that had been cruelly sewn into Dinesvaran’s identity. When he was 19, a Cobra teammate suggested changing this taunt to a word that rhymed: “Dugro”, a brand of baby milk.
The co-player was a new father who felt the qualities of the product related to Dinesvaran’s features as a tall and strong person.
Dinesvaran said he was happy with this moniker – although the Japanese had difficulty pronouncing the “ro” in “Dugro” and called him “Duke” instead.
In Japan, he played for Yamaha Jubilo (now the Shizuoka Blue Revs) for six years from 2013. Marc Le, the first Malaysian to play professional rugby there, introduced him to his agent.
Dinesvaran said in his first season in Japan, he couldn’t even play 10 minutes of a match because the game was fast and tough. Head coach Katsuyuki Kiyomiya, however, had faith in his ability to cope with the pressure and different system of playing.
Soon Dinesvaran developed elastic strength, quicksilver reflexes, and darting movements comparable to his teammates from New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga.
In 2015, he was in the Yamaha Jubilo squad that won their first ever All-Japan championship title after 54 years, beating six-time champions Suntory Sungoliath.
The following year, he scored a career-high five tries, helping his team to second place in the 2016-2017 season.
After a brief stint with Hino Red Dolphins in Japan, Dinesvaran became the first Malaysian to play in the US major league rugby with the Chicago Hounds two years ago.
With the money he saved from his stints abroad, he gave his parents and two elder sisters, – “whom I had caused much embarrassment at a young age” – a new life: he bought them a house in Sungai Petani, bringing joy to his mother Paremesvari Velu, 65, who had many years earlier pawned her jewellery to buy him a motorcycle.
His 68-year-old father, Krishnan Thannirmalai, received a one-tonne truck for his delivery business.
Giving back
Dinesvaran credits his one season with the Chicago Hounds for giving him the confidence to start and run a new professional club.
“It made me stronger to run the programme that I had initiated before I left for the US to give back to the sport and community,” he said.
The non-profit programme, Duke Performance Empire, is aimed at getting the young to focus their energy on playing rugby, and to develop or introduce the game in schools.
Dinesvaran said: “Rugby built my character and saved my life from going down. I can’t imagine what I’d have become if I didn’t choose this sport. I want to provide the same opportunity for those who might be struggling and looking for a way out.”
Dinesvaran’s story gets better: he is set to play the role of a villain in a Tamil movie, in which he goes back to the streets of Sungai Petani. Gushing about the yet-to-be-named film, he said his character will be a Mexican drug criminal named Duke Basir.
But before that, Dinesvaran plans to marry television host, DJ and emcee Linora Low.