Iowa? What's that?

ANK, good to hear from you - and thanks for confirming what I suspected. It's quite sad that instead of infecting each other with warmth and a friendly feeling, we choose to pass on suspicion and distrust. I think this condition may be curable, though. From now on, I'm going to greet Indians when I see them, enthusiastically and loudly. So beware, if you see a crazed Indian woman bearing down on you shouting something - it's only me, trying to restore the friendliness and good spirit which should exist among Indians, no matter where we are!

Sundarusha, I love the "Stranger Danger" hypothesis! You're funny - I like your dry sense of humour very much. And you're very right about how one bad experience tends to make us more cautious the next time we approach an Indian stranger. This is not a good situation, and it serves to spread the problem. More people become withdrawn and distrustful when there is no reason for it.

Thanks for your interest in South African customs. I'll put in some stuff from time to time, but SA is a country almost as varied as India. For example, we have 11! official languages. I am partial to the Zulu people though, because that is where I was born and raised. They are a proud and noble warrior race, and although much of the old ways and customs have been lost, they are also a very cultured people, who place (or used to place) great emphasis on good manners.

For example, it was considered rude for a junior to meet the eyes of a senior. Of late, this particular custom has fallen away, because as you will know, in the Western world, to not meet someone's eyes indicates that one is being "shifty-eyed" because one is lying or cannot be trusted. That's just one example of a traditional African (or Zulu) custom that is slowly disappearing. Which is what was making me wonder if the modern Indian who doesn't greet in the Western world has some kind of similar cultural hang-up that I don't know about!

Thanks for writing, ladies.
Ansuya

 

Hello, Jayanthi

So good to hear from you... I really appreciate your taking the time to post a reply here. Thanks for the kind words about my writing style. As I've said in other posts, this is what I do to spare my husband from having to listen to ALL my theories - so thanks for being here to take the heat off the poor man! Thank you, also, for confirming my suspicions that we could do with a little more friendliness towards people like ourselves when we meet them outside of our ancestral country. It is good to know that you maintain your friendly demeanour despite the cold shoulders.

I think the name of this thread may be a bit vague, which means not a lot of people are stopping by to read it. It's become especially meandering now that you all are asking to know more about South Africa, which I would love to tell you, even though this thread's supposed to be about Iowa! Never mind, I guess no one really cares if I just write generally here, with bits about Iowa in between.

By the way, Sundarusha, the cold weather I've been complaining about has disappeared. We've had a few wonderful days of balmy upper-20s degrees Celsius weather. And here I was a week ago frantically piling on socks and sweaters and down duvets. I think Iowa is just messing with me, as usual!

So, a little snippet about South Africa for today. I'm particularly proud to be South African when I think of four great leaders, who were all either from South Africa or spent formative years in South Africa. Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Chief Albert Luthuli, and Mahatma Gandhi are the kind of leaders we can look up to and emulate (unlike many so-called leaders of today).

Albert Luthuli may be the name least familiar to all of you. He was a president of the African National Congress (ANC), and went through a similar kind of experience as Nelson Mandela after him. He was tried for treason and became a banned person. He later won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960 for his part in the struggle to free SA from the tyranny of apartheid. I feel especially proud of him, because he lived and died in a small farming community called Groutville, not far from my hometown. I have known many older Zulu men like him - proud, traditional, quietly courageous, and wholly committed to improving and maintaining the quality of the lives of their people.

It is a wonder to me that in South Africa, people of such simple means and heritage can rise to fulfill their potential as revolutionaries and leaders of people into freedom. Sadly, the present-day ANC leadership is doing great disrespect to the legacy of past great leaders like Chief Luthuli. Now, it seems to be all about power and privilege. The people of SA don't stand a chance in this mad rush for money and position.

In case this is starting to feel like history class and you're nodding off, I'll leave the other three great men for later! But thanks for the interest. I enjoy writing about SA, and I appreciate this opportunity to indulge in contemplation about my home country. As many Indians who have left India will know, it's difficult to be away from home not only because of the distance, but also because even when you go back, there are things that you will never get back simply because time has passed and most things have changed.

Thanks!
Ansuya

 

Sundarusha, I hope you and your husband are able to visit South Africa one day. It's a beautiful country with much to offer, but sadly, there's much political instability going on right now. The ANC is in turmoil, which is never a good thing for a country's ruling party. Thabo Mbeki, the president of SA, is currently in the process of being impeached. While I'm not particularly fond of the man (Nelson Mandela is a hard act to follow, after all), he's the better of two evils when it comes to Jacob Zuma.

Jayanthi, I'm glad I piqued your interest in Chief Luthuli. I've given a bit of thought to starting a new thread, but since I'm generally suspicious of anything "popular" (Britney Spears, bottled water, tae bo), I think I'll continue to write here in relative anonymity, about South Africa, Iowa, and pretty much anything else that occurs to me, as long as you ladies don't mind. It doesn't really matter to me whether this thread gets lots of traffic or not. But thanks for the suggestion!

I was going to write tonight about one of the great leaders I mentioned before, but the events of the last 24 hours cannot really be ignored. For those of you who noticed the news reports, South Africa is suddenly and quite alarmingly in the middle of having its president resign. Thabo Mbeki took over from Nelson Mandela as president of the ANC and president of the country in 1999. Recently, he has been embroiled in a power struggle with another ANC leader, Jacob Zuma, that has now split the party in two.

Jacob Zuma is a generally corrupt man who has been accused (but never convicted) of various criminal offences. For me, the most personally offensive of these were criminal charges brought against him for the alleged rape of a woman who was supposedly a family friend. Although he was acquitted of these charges, his admission that he, in fact, had consensual, unprotected sex with her even though he knew she was HIV-positive was hardly much better when considering he may one day become the president of SA (a country that along with India shares the dubious distinction of having the highest rates of HIV infection).

He also has been accused of being involved in a corrupt arms deal (among other corruption allegations). Now, his camp has managed to convince the nation that these corruption charges were instigated unlawfully by the office of the president, along with other Mbeki-aligned ANC politicians. A judge recently ruled that Zuma should not have rightfully and legally been charged in the corruption case in the manner in which he was. Since Mbeki cannot govern when half of his own party has turned against him and accused him of trying to ruin Zuma in an abuse of his presidential powers, he has agreed to step down.

If you're confused by all that, then you know how the average South African has been feeling the past few years. Like I said, the men of honour of the past, like Luthuli and Mandela, have had no worthy successors. All we seem to have now are "leaders" who behave more like squabbling children on the playground. There is no honesty or integrity in the way they perform their duties. Much of the African continent is unable to fulfill its potential due to this sort of leadership. It would really pain me to see South Africa end up the same way.

Ansuya

 

Hello, ladies

I've been away for a few days and came home to the great news that Iowa has finally been added to the list of Midwestern states in the IL listing for the Indians in the Midwest forums!

Thank you, Gayathri, for making it happen! I've never been to Michigan, but I have heard good things about it. It's great to hear you have such a positive attitude to the changing seasons. Once you start thinking of a place as home, it's amazing how even simple, little things like changing colours of the foliage can brighten up your whole day. Thank you also for the compliment about my Iowa thread. It makes me very happy to know that my writing can give people pleasure.

Hey there, Shobana. It's good to hear from you, and welcome to the Iowa thread. I'd love to hear more about life in Kansas because I've never been there, either. But from what you've written, it sounds just as bucolic and laid back as Iowa is, with equally friendly folk. I just spent a week in a big city and although I enjoyed it, coming home to Iowa put a big, silly grin on my face. I can see you feel the same way about Kansas!

I'll be sure to write more about Iowa here, but I'd welcome any of you also writing in this thread about what it is you like about the Midwest. I saw a red cardinal at my window this morning and it filled me with ridiculous happiness. So even if it's just a silly little thing like that, we'd love to hear it. Because as fellow Midwesterners, we'd understand perfectly!

Thanks again, to all, for the words of appreciation.

Ansuya