The Indian community and general thoughts on South Africa.

I have been writing this blog for many months, I apologize for the abrupt changes in directions.

It was on 2nd October 2000 that I first landed in Johannesburg. I did not realize it then, but a few years later it occurred to me that it is Gandhiji’s birthday. Since that day I have come and gone 4 times from South Africa. Every time I have told my friends ‘This is it, I am not coming back.’ They have always said ‘See you in a few months’. And, that has been one of the things about SA, I never felt unwelcome. I left SA in October 2007. I am sure I am going to go back, probably not to stay, just to visit my friends. I have promised my 1 year old son that I will take him to the Kruger National Park when he is 14. I am not sure if he understood me,but I am going to keep my promise.

It was the first time that I was going out of India. Being young, you don’t anticipate the small logistical problems one faces when one is abroad, There won’t be Indian food available (logical isn’t it? but I hadn’t thought about it.) There was absolutely no practical mode of public transport. I never needed a car in India, In SA it is impossible to live without a car. To get a loaf of bread you have to walk a km to the nearest petrol bunk. Then, there are all these crazy, paranoid stories about crime, one would believe oneself safe only in a bunker at home and in an armored vehicle when outside.

Very soon I had settled down and started enjoying the country. I also became aware of the racial divide in the country, I vaguely remembered a news story in India about the release of Nelson Mandela from prison after 28 years. I connected that story to the word ‘Apartheid’. Having been born in a free country, I could not understand the concept of ‘Apartheid’. ‘Whites only’, ‘Blacks only’. I remember filling up a form which asked me if I was ‘Asian’, ‘White’, ‘Black’ or ‘Chinese’. I had never seen myself as an ‘Asian’. I remember choosing the ‘Other’ option and writing ‘Indian’. In South Africa, there are two types of Indians. ‘Indian’, meaning people of Indian origin, born and brought up in SA. And then there is the ‘Indian Indian’, like me who are visiting the country (citizens of India).

I visited many places, of which I remember two very distinctly. One was a trip to the Kruger National Park and the second was to Durban.The first was a trip to see the famous Big 5 of SA. I spent 4 days in the Kruger and I don’t know how the time passed. I don’t remember thinking of anything other than the jungle in those days. It was a prefect holiday. It also started my romance with the place, I have been there 7 times, I am sure, more than many South Africans. Before I die I want to spend one month in the Kruger and explore every inch of it.

My visit to Durban opened my eyes to the complicated relationship of India to the country. Let there be no doubt that they are South Africans. I happened to speak one of my friends relatives, he was in his fifties, had children and lived through apartheid. My thirst for knowing more about their lives, their ideas about India, South Africa, their place in the world, how their life has been thousands of miles away from the land of their forefathers. My curiosity got the better of me and I started listening… What follows are few of my impressions of life in SA.

Apartheid in many ways preserved the Indian culture in SA, each community could basically do whatever they wanted to do as long as they did not cross the path of the White Man. Now, ‘Indian culture’ is a very broad term so let me try and narrow it down a bit.Durban was the only piece of India they had, so people did not leave Durban very often, It was common to see extended families, all living within 20 kilometers of each other. Young men and women had elders who would watch over them, ‘advice’ was readily and freely available. Apartheid preserved the languages, just like the Indian states Indian community in SA divided itself into language groups, telegu, tamil, hindi, gujrati speaking, the funny things is even temples are called gujju temple or tamil temple. I feel temples can be identified on the basis of the deity that resides in the temple. Post apartheid South Africa has taken away all restrictions cultural and political, people are able to freely move around. The younger generation with all its energy has spread out of Durban to other areas of SA. When the Indianess reduces, there is no one to watch over them. Language and culture are not wanted (needed). How does it matter what language I speak, or where I come from. As long as I have a BMW to drive, a posh house to live in and a well paying job. Europe has not allowed itself to forget the holocaust, South African youth is already forgetting Apartheid.

Indian community was on the forefront of the freedom struggle in SA. The Indian African Congress merged with the African National Congress (ANC) in their struggle against the Apartheid regime. I wonder if that should have been done, I fear that even though that was a well intended move, I personally feel that the Identity of the Indian would have been more prominent had that merger not happened. I don’t mean to say that SA has not been grateful to Indian community. Many people of Indian Origin were in the parliament after the first general election. I feel that these are tricky times for Indians in SA. While the country battles with the confusions of finding a new South African identity, I feel that Indians in SA should not loose their origins, Isn’t there a place for both Identities to exist simultaneously? Can Indians in SA be South African of Indian origins? The answer is Yes. At least I feel that way. In the end they have to decide for themselves.

I just hope that when the SA youth tires from this burst of running there is a home that they can come back to, to rest and recharge.

South Africa, when will I see you next?