Brand sponsorship opportunity for the Miss India Worldwide Pageant Durban South Africa St Valentine's Day 2009
The 18th Miss India Worldwide Pageant, featuring 30 countries from the Indian Diaspora, seeks suitable brand marketing sponsor for six-day event in South Africa
Miss India Worldwide Pageant seeks suitable brand sponsors for the 18th Miss India Worldwide Pageant, on licence to South Africa from the India Festival Committee in New York, taking place on St Valentine's Day, 14 February 2009, Suncoast Casino, Durban's Golden Mile, South Africa. The hugely popular Miss India Worldwide Pageant, possibly heading for its 19th year in Mauritius in 2010, marking the 150th anniversary of Indians in South Africa and Mauritius, enjoys week-long community support of up to 1 000 patrons per event attending the Africa Night Celebrations in the midweek to the Grand Talent Contest on 13 February and culminating in a Gala Dinner Banquet and Pageant, beamed to a worldwide TV audience, on St Valentine's Day.The potential brand sponsors will enjoy unlimited advertising and marketing mileage, media coverage and big-screen product spots and Gold Circle VIP status and seating for a Table of 10; Full-Page Colour Advertisement in Official Brochure and access to a high LSM market and social and business networking with Durban's leading entrepreneurs and businesses, and a VIP Invitation to the After Party with the newly crowned Miss India Worldwide, First & Second Princesses and Leading Celebrities and VIP Guests at the Suncoast Casino.Potential sponsors will have access to the entire stage and giant advertising drop canvas x 2 at the major events, including the cross-cultural talent contest and fusion entertainment.
The 30 contestants, from diverse nations such as India, United States, Australia, Netherlands and Surinam, will arrive in Durban on 6 February for a start of weeklong activities and photo opportunities and brand exposure.
Company name : GreenGold Africa Communications
Contact name : Marlan Padayachee/Pinky Naidoo
Telephone number : + 27 31 266 1762/ 266 5599
Cellular contact: 083 796 1762/083 797 1762/ 083 980 3243/ 084 519 5931
Email address : greengold@telkomsa.net
Web address : www.greengoldcom.com
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Durban Deputy Mayor Salutes 80 Years of Golf
Speech by Councillor Logie Naidoo, Deputy Mayor of the eThekwini Municipality, at the Durban Golf Club’s 80th Anniversary Golf Day and Opening of the Driving Range, Papwa Sewgolum Golf Course, Sunday, 14 December 2008 at 14h00.
Thank You, Programme Director.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and dignitaries.
I could begin this speech by declaring that golf is my only handicap, but I am not going to put on my back foot this time.
In the past few years, the golf bug has hit me.
I am pleased to say that I organized the ANC’s Golf Day at the Mount Edgecombe Golf Course six months ago; I have learnt that if you play golf just for the exercise – there are better ways to exercise.
Thank you, to the Durban Golf Club and your president, Mr Siva Padayachee, for supporting the ANC’s fundraising golf day.
So we you hear us say a “Better Life for All” in the coming weeks, we mean just that – our citizens playing golf, having fun and networking with each other to change the economic and human landscape.
Ladies and Gentlemen and Dignitaries, I wish to recognize among you, the Honourable Judge Thumba Pillay, and one of the club’s pioneering activist-presidents along with other stalwarts like George Singh, Ramhori Lutchman, Benny Naidoo, Lambie Rasool, Louis Nelson, and so many legends since the 1940s.
Therefore it gives me great pleasure on behalf of the eThekwini Municipality to extend our goodwill and good wishes to the Durban Golf Club on this momentous occasion.
I am indeed privileged as Chairperson of the City’s Economic Development Committee to witness some of the amazing capital and infrastructural development and transformational changes at this once marginalized golf club that produced famous golfing heroes like Papwa Sewgolum, Vincent Tshabalala and hundreds of good golfers in the past 80 years.
This afternoon, the City of Durban salutes all of you for your stoicism in the face of adversity.
Like good golfers who know how to weather the storm and hit a perfect shot, you have turned adversity into advantage.
Today, you are the proud custodians, activists and architects of what a golf club should look like.
There’s no telling what the city can expect as you tee off for the start of the next 20 years of success stories leading up to the centenary celebrations in 2028.
Let me assure you that the city is proud of the club’s transformation policy and progress.
We are aware of the club’s free coaching programme for youths on Saturdays under the tutelage of another veteran, Links Poonsamy.
But, no golf speech is complete without a quip.
So let me share my perspective of golf with you.
Being a Day of Sabbath when most golfers also pray to the Gods of Golf, either for good weather or hitting a birdie or eagle, I am reminded about what American evangelist Billy Graham once said: “The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course.”
However, as some of the successful putters and hitters are soon to be honoured in the club house, may I add: “Golf should be learned starting from the cup and progressing back to the tee!”
I take this opportunity of congratulating the Durban Golf Club for achieving 80 years of playing and promoting non-racial golf as our “One City, Many Cultures” city knows it.
The opening of the driving range is another feather in the club’s cap.
On this score, I wish to salute your hard-working President Siva Padayachee, his deputy Robert Manjoo, and all the members, for making a difference to the golfing landscape.
Now I now where to come to improve my golf.
I have immense pleasure and pride in performing this privilege this afternoon.
The city looks forward to working with the improving conditions at this picturesque golf club and may progress be the buzz word as you navigate the next two decades.
I take this opportunity of wishing all of you a well-earned festive break, a merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.
I Thank You
Speech researched and written by Marlan Padayachee, GreenGold Africa Communications, on behalf of the Mayor’s Office/Deputy Mayor’s Office on 14.12.2008 greengold@telkomsa.net 083 796 1762/ 083 797 1762
Thank You, Programme Director.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and dignitaries.
I could begin this speech by declaring that golf is my only handicap, but I am not going to put on my back foot this time.
In the past few years, the golf bug has hit me.
I am pleased to say that I organized the ANC’s Golf Day at the Mount Edgecombe Golf Course six months ago; I have learnt that if you play golf just for the exercise – there are better ways to exercise.
Thank you, to the Durban Golf Club and your president, Mr Siva Padayachee, for supporting the ANC’s fundraising golf day.
So we you hear us say a “Better Life for All” in the coming weeks, we mean just that – our citizens playing golf, having fun and networking with each other to change the economic and human landscape.
Ladies and Gentlemen and Dignitaries, I wish to recognize among you, the Honourable Judge Thumba Pillay, and one of the club’s pioneering activist-presidents along with other stalwarts like George Singh, Ramhori Lutchman, Benny Naidoo, Lambie Rasool, Louis Nelson, and so many legends since the 1940s.
Therefore it gives me great pleasure on behalf of the eThekwini Municipality to extend our goodwill and good wishes to the Durban Golf Club on this momentous occasion.
I am indeed privileged as Chairperson of the City’s Economic Development Committee to witness some of the amazing capital and infrastructural development and transformational changes at this once marginalized golf club that produced famous golfing heroes like Papwa Sewgolum, Vincent Tshabalala and hundreds of good golfers in the past 80 years.
This afternoon, the City of Durban salutes all of you for your stoicism in the face of adversity.
Like good golfers who know how to weather the storm and hit a perfect shot, you have turned adversity into advantage.
Today, you are the proud custodians, activists and architects of what a golf club should look like.
There’s no telling what the city can expect as you tee off for the start of the next 20 years of success stories leading up to the centenary celebrations in 2028.
Let me assure you that the city is proud of the club’s transformation policy and progress.
We are aware of the club’s free coaching programme for youths on Saturdays under the tutelage of another veteran, Links Poonsamy.
But, no golf speech is complete without a quip.
So let me share my perspective of golf with you.
Being a Day of Sabbath when most golfers also pray to the Gods of Golf, either for good weather or hitting a birdie or eagle, I am reminded about what American evangelist Billy Graham once said: “The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course.”
However, as some of the successful putters and hitters are soon to be honoured in the club house, may I add: “Golf should be learned starting from the cup and progressing back to the tee!”
I take this opportunity of congratulating the Durban Golf Club for achieving 80 years of playing and promoting non-racial golf as our “One City, Many Cultures” city knows it.
The opening of the driving range is another feather in the club’s cap.
On this score, I wish to salute your hard-working President Siva Padayachee, his deputy Robert Manjoo, and all the members, for making a difference to the golfing landscape.
Now I now where to come to improve my golf.
I have immense pleasure and pride in performing this privilege this afternoon.
The city looks forward to working with the improving conditions at this picturesque golf club and may progress be the buzz word as you navigate the next two decades.
I take this opportunity of wishing all of you a well-earned festive break, a merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.
I Thank You
Speech researched and written by Marlan Padayachee, GreenGold Africa Communications, on behalf of the Mayor’s Office/Deputy Mayor’s Office on 14.12.2008 greengold@telkomsa.net 083 796 1762/ 083 797 1762
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Come Up with a Best Idea for a Safer City of Durban
Marlan Padayachee, Media Consultant to Imagine Durban
CHRISTMAS could come early in the form of R500 each gift vouchers for 30 innovative and creative people who can come up with some brilliant ideas on one of the Imagine Durban themes before the November 30 deadline for all entries in the newly-launched “My Idea” competition.
Imagine Durban is a public-private sector partnership project led by the eThekwini Municipality and is being implemented in conjunction with Sustainable Cities, an NGO from Vancouver, Canada, and the PLUS Network of 35 cities in 14 countries that has been established to share experiences in sustainability planning. Imagine Durban is a process that has began mobilising government to non-government, civil society organisations, faith based groups, tertiary institutions, business organisations and ordinary citizens to imagine what we want our city to be like in the future and to create a path to begin taking us there today.
Imagine Durban has identified seven long-term sustainability themes to create public awareness and encourage public participation: Safe City, Caring & Commitment (Behaviour Change, Volunteerism, Human Value System, Family), Economic Development and Poverty Alleviation, Human Development, Accessibility, Future City / Eco City, and History, Heritage and Culture.
So how do you get involved and stand a chance to win gift vouchers.
Imagine Durban invite you to enter its "My Idea" Competition, aimed at capturing the innovative and creative thinking of individuals who have ideas on long term sustainability for the City of Durban. Entrants with winning ideas will one of 30 gift vouchers valued at R500 each.
How to enter? That's simple, either on line at http://www.imaginedurban.org/my-idea.html or by collecting an entry form from any Sizakala Customer Centres or Municipal Library and fill in the required information. The entry form is bilingual in English and isiZulu.
Your idea should focus on one of the Imagine Durban themes: creating a safer city, ensuring a more environmentally sustainable city, promoting an accessible city, creating a prosperous city, fostering a more caring and empowering city, and celebrating our cultural diversity, arts and heritage.
The next step would be to determine who best would be suited to implement these ideas? Should government, business or civil society implement your idea? Every question needs to be filled in and ensure that all your contact details are provided. Here’s a tip - your idea should be unique, but yet practical to implement.
Closing date for the competition is 30 November 2008. Entries can also be faxed to (031) 311 3446, or emailed to: imagine@durban.gov.za
For more information, email: imagine@durban.gov.za, or telephone Project Leader Thomas Ferreira on (031) 311 3424; or Project Assistant Zamah Ndlovu.
Kindly use Imagine Durban from this Press Release.
ISSUED BY:
GreenGold Africa Communications, PO Box 346 Pavilion 3611 South Africa
Tel: (031) 266 5599/ 266 1762/ Fax: (031) 266 9202/ Fax mail: 0866 98 93 43 greengold@telkomsa.net
Contact person: Media Liaison Officers: Pinky Naidoo or Lindiwe Nhleko
ON BEHALF OF:
Imagine Durban
eThekwini Municipality
City of Durban
Email: imagine@durban.gov.za
Tel: Project Leader Thomas Ferreira on (031) 311 3424;
OR Zamah NdlovueThekwini MunicipalityImagine DurbanProject AssistantEvent Organiser031 -311 3444
CHRISTMAS could come early in the form of R500 each gift vouchers for 30 innovative and creative people who can come up with some brilliant ideas on one of the Imagine Durban themes before the November 30 deadline for all entries in the newly-launched “My Idea” competition.
Imagine Durban is a public-private sector partnership project led by the eThekwini Municipality and is being implemented in conjunction with Sustainable Cities, an NGO from Vancouver, Canada, and the PLUS Network of 35 cities in 14 countries that has been established to share experiences in sustainability planning. Imagine Durban is a process that has began mobilising government to non-government, civil society organisations, faith based groups, tertiary institutions, business organisations and ordinary citizens to imagine what we want our city to be like in the future and to create a path to begin taking us there today.
Imagine Durban has identified seven long-term sustainability themes to create public awareness and encourage public participation: Safe City, Caring & Commitment (Behaviour Change, Volunteerism, Human Value System, Family), Economic Development and Poverty Alleviation, Human Development, Accessibility, Future City / Eco City, and History, Heritage and Culture.
So how do you get involved and stand a chance to win gift vouchers.
Imagine Durban invite you to enter its "My Idea" Competition, aimed at capturing the innovative and creative thinking of individuals who have ideas on long term sustainability for the City of Durban. Entrants with winning ideas will one of 30 gift vouchers valued at R500 each.
How to enter? That's simple, either on line at http://www.imaginedurban.org/my-idea.html or by collecting an entry form from any Sizakala Customer Centres or Municipal Library and fill in the required information. The entry form is bilingual in English and isiZulu.
Your idea should focus on one of the Imagine Durban themes: creating a safer city, ensuring a more environmentally sustainable city, promoting an accessible city, creating a prosperous city, fostering a more caring and empowering city, and celebrating our cultural diversity, arts and heritage.
The next step would be to determine who best would be suited to implement these ideas? Should government, business or civil society implement your idea? Every question needs to be filled in and ensure that all your contact details are provided. Here’s a tip - your idea should be unique, but yet practical to implement.
Closing date for the competition is 30 November 2008. Entries can also be faxed to (031) 311 3446, or emailed to: imagine@durban.gov.za
For more information, email: imagine@durban.gov.za, or telephone Project Leader Thomas Ferreira on (031) 311 3424; or Project Assistant Zamah Ndlovu.
Kindly use Imagine Durban from this Press Release.
ISSUED BY:
GreenGold Africa Communications, PO Box 346 Pavilion 3611 South Africa
Tel: (031) 266 5599/ 266 1762/ Fax: (031) 266 9202/ Fax mail: 0866 98 93 43 greengold@telkomsa.net
Contact person: Media Liaison Officers: Pinky Naidoo or Lindiwe Nhleko
ON BEHALF OF:
Imagine Durban
eThekwini Municipality
City of Durban
Email: imagine@durban.gov.za
Tel: Project Leader Thomas Ferreira on (031) 311 3424;
OR Zamah NdlovueThekwini MunicipalityImagine DurbanProject AssistantEvent Organiser031 -311 3444
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Political Heat Is On As Rockers Swoon South Africans
Left of What’s Right
Marlan Padayachee jives to a tongue-and cheek sing-along as political dissidents step aside to give way to a babalaas blast of entertaining escapism
DATELINE DURBAN: WITH South Africa’s political drama swirling ahead of the 2009 election, South Africans are taking the arts, culture and entertainment escapism route.
Fourteen years later, there’s growing turbulence in the world’s youngest democracy in the aftermath of the Polokwane Triangle that has changed the political landscape, but take heart because some of the world’s top pop-rockers are heading are to Rainbow Country this sizzling summer.
With the winter of discontent etched the memories of political, crime, social and economic victims, add a spectre of xenophobic violence, compatriots will be letting their hair down as they drown in the soulful and lilting lyrics of Lionel Ritchie. Rod Stewart and marvel at how the Canadian Master of Unusual Comedy, Michel Lauziere, can play Mozart in uptown New York with his skateboard blades tickling the little green bottles.
Soon the sunset clause will be history as the revelers get into the party mood when the big hitters croon and drool on the concert stages.
Maybe, Richie will pop in at the Mandela (P) Residency to say Hello! Is It Me You’re Looking For? As the warring comrades belt out Say You, Say Me to leverage the head-splitting at Luthuli House, the fractured ruling regime may be also toyi-toyiing All Night Long as the breakaway band work out if they could be Truly called counter-revolutionaries.
While Richie croons about Endless Love, hoping Love Will Find a Way, there will be no love lost between the one-time comrades-in-arms as they jive to Stewart’s soulful solos, and declaring that I Know I’m Losing You. With all the parties getting into the voting rhythm from door to door, some may end up Dancing on the Ceiling while looking down on Every Picture Tells a Story with Richie choreographing a famous struggle drowned in sours.
But this is Afrique Du Suid, and the Irish grave-digger will soon grasp there’s Never a Dull Moment as he rubs the political salt into The First Cut is the Deepest before declaring a Three Time Loser by the time Thabo Mbeki is Sailin’ over the Victoria Falls down the Zambezi to have cold turkey with Old Man River. With Richie and Stewart strutting the stages, our own AK-47 dancing president-elect Jacob Zuma declaring It’s All Over Now with Our Endless Love for president-in-waiting Terror Lekota as he takes his gloves off for the Street Fighting Man. Then at the height of the dissensions in the wake of the China Olympics, Katie Malua strummed home the point to Capetonians that There Are Nine Million Bicycles in Beijing to ride to the polling booths without catching the gravy train en route to the Easter election. Broadway musical theatre star Christine Pedi put her foot into politics and gave us a tonic of cabaret, comedy and jazz during a triumphant tour with the ballots re-electing her as the Diva Dame. Then the one-liners took the Mickey Mouse out of us with slapsticks, turning Poetry Africa into a festival of poetic justice. Carlos Gomez put the shutters on the White House as Jitsvinger and Godessa (Three Times A Lady) rapped about rainbowism, leaving Bantu Mwaura probing why Kenyans had lost the political plot. iBushwomen left their footprints about the shifting sands and fortunes of the vanishing Khoi-San tribes while the ink dried on Thomas Mapfumo’s visa before he reached at Beit Bridge. Poet by any name is still a poet as they waxed lyrical about the literary legacy of Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine’s reluctant statesman who died on Poetry Road with his inspiring revolutionary verses. Until I dish out the 2008 Lemons and Naartjies Awards, laugh it off.
Marlan Padayachee, recipient of the British Council Fellow and US International Visitor’s Award, is an independent freelance journalist and socio-political commentator who runs a media-communications strategy consultancy in South Africa: greengold@telkomsa.net
Published in Juluka magazine USA in November 2008
Marlan Padayachee jives to a tongue-and cheek sing-along as political dissidents step aside to give way to a babalaas blast of entertaining escapism
DATELINE DURBAN: WITH South Africa’s political drama swirling ahead of the 2009 election, South Africans are taking the arts, culture and entertainment escapism route.
Fourteen years later, there’s growing turbulence in the world’s youngest democracy in the aftermath of the Polokwane Triangle that has changed the political landscape, but take heart because some of the world’s top pop-rockers are heading are to Rainbow Country this sizzling summer.
With the winter of discontent etched the memories of political, crime, social and economic victims, add a spectre of xenophobic violence, compatriots will be letting their hair down as they drown in the soulful and lilting lyrics of Lionel Ritchie. Rod Stewart and marvel at how the Canadian Master of Unusual Comedy, Michel Lauziere, can play Mozart in uptown New York with his skateboard blades tickling the little green bottles.
Soon the sunset clause will be history as the revelers get into the party mood when the big hitters croon and drool on the concert stages.
Maybe, Richie will pop in at the Mandela (P) Residency to say Hello! Is It Me You’re Looking For? As the warring comrades belt out Say You, Say Me to leverage the head-splitting at Luthuli House, the fractured ruling regime may be also toyi-toyiing All Night Long as the breakaway band work out if they could be Truly called counter-revolutionaries.
While Richie croons about Endless Love, hoping Love Will Find a Way, there will be no love lost between the one-time comrades-in-arms as they jive to Stewart’s soulful solos, and declaring that I Know I’m Losing You. With all the parties getting into the voting rhythm from door to door, some may end up Dancing on the Ceiling while looking down on Every Picture Tells a Story with Richie choreographing a famous struggle drowned in sours.
But this is Afrique Du Suid, and the Irish grave-digger will soon grasp there’s Never a Dull Moment as he rubs the political salt into The First Cut is the Deepest before declaring a Three Time Loser by the time Thabo Mbeki is Sailin’ over the Victoria Falls down the Zambezi to have cold turkey with Old Man River. With Richie and Stewart strutting the stages, our own AK-47 dancing president-elect Jacob Zuma declaring It’s All Over Now with Our Endless Love for president-in-waiting Terror Lekota as he takes his gloves off for the Street Fighting Man. Then at the height of the dissensions in the wake of the China Olympics, Katie Malua strummed home the point to Capetonians that There Are Nine Million Bicycles in Beijing to ride to the polling booths without catching the gravy train en route to the Easter election. Broadway musical theatre star Christine Pedi put her foot into politics and gave us a tonic of cabaret, comedy and jazz during a triumphant tour with the ballots re-electing her as the Diva Dame. Then the one-liners took the Mickey Mouse out of us with slapsticks, turning Poetry Africa into a festival of poetic justice. Carlos Gomez put the shutters on the White House as Jitsvinger and Godessa (Three Times A Lady) rapped about rainbowism, leaving Bantu Mwaura probing why Kenyans had lost the political plot. iBushwomen left their footprints about the shifting sands and fortunes of the vanishing Khoi-San tribes while the ink dried on Thomas Mapfumo’s visa before he reached at Beit Bridge. Poet by any name is still a poet as they waxed lyrical about the literary legacy of Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine’s reluctant statesman who died on Poetry Road with his inspiring revolutionary verses. Until I dish out the 2008 Lemons and Naartjies Awards, laugh it off.
Marlan Padayachee, recipient of the British Council Fellow and US International Visitor’s Award, is an independent freelance journalist and socio-political commentator who runs a media-communications strategy consultancy in South Africa: greengold@telkomsa.net
Published in Juluka magazine USA in November 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Waxing Lyrical About Turning Fifty in Style
SPEECH BY BHEMAN RANDERIA ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50TH BIRTHDAY OF HIS WIFE PRATHIEBA AT THE JAIPUR RESTAURANT ON FRIDAY 7 NOVEMBER 2008. GOOD EVENING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FAMILY MEMBERS, FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES. AT THE OUTSET, LET ME THANK ONE AND ALL OF YOU FOR TAKING TIME OFF AND DRESSING ELEGANTLY AND SMARTLY FOR THIS SPECIAL SIZZLING SUMMER PARTY ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50TH BIRTHDAY PARTY OF MY DEAR WIFE AND FIRST LADY, PRATHIEBA. THIS EVENING, I AM HOPING TO TELL A STORY OF A REMARKABLE WOMAN WHO HAS TURNED HER LIFE AROUND AND HAS BECOME MY CONSUMMATE COMPANION. PRATHIEBA IS ALSO A GOOD, NURTURING MOTHER TO MY SON, RUSHIL, AND HER CHILDREN, SHASHIKA, MISHA AND KABIR. BUT IN THE JOURNEY OF LIFE, WE OWE A DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO OUR MOTHERS FOR GIVING US THE GIFT OF LIFE. ON THAT NOTE, I THINK IT IS THEREFORE FITTING THAT I PAY TRIBUTE TO MY MOTHER, SUZANNE RANDERIA AND PRATHIEBA'S MUM, MANJUBHA MODI, FOR GIVING US THE JOY AND WISDOM OF LIFE. INDIAN PHILOSOPHER GANESHAN VENKATARAM ONCE SAID: "GOD SEES US THROUGH OUR MOTHER'S EYES AND REWARDS US FOR OUR VIRTUES." THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL RECEPTION WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM ALL OF YOU IN THE CIGAR LOUNGE. WHILE THERE I WAS REMINDED ABOUT WHAT LYNDA BARRY ONCE SAID: "LOVE IS AN EXPLODING CIGAR WE WILLINGLY SMOKE". THIS EVENING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE ALL GATHERED TO SALUTE AND HONOUR PRATHIEBA RANDERIA FOR ACHIEVING HER MARVELOUS MILESTONE. OTHERS WILL SING HER PRAISES AND A LOT OF POSITIVE ENERGY IS ALREADY RADIATING AND RESONATING AROUND THIS EXTRAORDINARY LADY OF THE MOMENT. MY OWN TAKE ON MY WIFE IS BASED ON THE MOMENT WHEN I FIRST SET EYES ON HER AND HOW WE HAD CHRONICLED OUR JOURNEY DURING THE PAST TEN YEARS. DURING THIS JOURNEY, I HAVE LEARNT THAT ONE WORD FREES US ALL THE WEIGHT AND PAIN OF LIFE: THE WORD IS LOVE. OUR LOVE BOAT MAY HAVE TOSSED AND TURNED ON THE CHOPPY SEAS OF LIFE AND SAILED SMOOTHLY ON CALM WATERS, BUT WE ALWAYS DROPPED ANCHOR. AND HERE, I WANT TO THANK MEMBERS OF THE MODI FAMILY FOR THEIR WARMTH, HUMILITY AND HOSPITALITY IN ACCEPTING ME INTO A FAMILY THAT IS RICHLY TIED TO THE HISTORY OF THE CITY'S BUSINESS, RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LANDSCAPE. THIS GRATITUDE IS PRICELESS WHEN I WEIGH UP THE VALUE PRATHIEBA HAS ADDED TO MY LIFE IN ALL THE YEARS THAT WE HAD STRUCK UP A PARTNERSHIP OF MUTUAL LOVE AND RESPECT. TO MY OWN FAMILY IN THE RANDERIA CLAN, THANKS FOR STANDING BY ME IN THE HOUR OF JOURNEY INTO THE MY CROSSROADS OF LIFE. THEN AGAIN, THIS EVENING'S CELEBRATION IS NOT ABOUT ME. IT'S ABOUT SOMEONE SPECIAL, WHO IS A WIFE, FRIEND, CONFIDANTE, PARTNER, PERSONAL TRAINER – THAT'S IN THE GYM OF COURSE – BANKER, ADVISER, MENTOR, LOVER, AND A SOFT SHOULDER TO CRY ON. SHE IS ALSO A PILLOW TO LIE ON AND A GOOD LISTENER DURING PILLOW TALKS. EVEN HER TOES ARE USEFUL. AND FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, I WISH TO THANK PRATHIEBA FOR BEING A SUPER-MUM TO MY SON, RUSHIL. SO, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WHETHER WE ARE HIKING, TRAINING, DANCING, TALKING, WE ARE LIKE TWO PEAS IN A POD, WORKING TOGETHER AND STAYING TOGETHER. BUT THERE IS ALSO THE DOWNSIDE OF COLD TALK OR BEING SERVED COLD TURKEY, IF I STRAY OR LOSE FOCUS FOR A MOMENT FROM OUR MARITAL BLISS. BY NATURE, I AM A STICKLER FOR EVERYTHING TRIM, PRIM AND PROPER, HENCE THE NOTORIOUS NICKNAME, HITLER. AND PRATHIEBA HAS ADJUSTED TO MY OWN SET OF DEMANDS AND SHE MEETS ME HALF WAY IN ANYTHING WE DO OR DECIDE ON. MAYBE, I HAVE BECOME THIS NEAR-PERFECTIONIST SINCE THE DAY YOU SHOWERED YOUR BRIGHTNESS INTO OUR LIFE. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN, PRATHIEBA ESPOUSES STRONG VALUES AND ETHICS, A CULTURE SHE LEARNT AS A BANKER AND FINANCIAL ADVISER. SHE IS A STRICT VEGETARIAN WHO WILL BROOK NO NONSENSE WHEN IT COMES TO THIS DIET OF DISCIPLINE – SOMETHING I ADMIRE HER FOR. SHE HAS BEEN REMARKABLE IN THE SENSE THAT SHE HAS PROMOTED A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE FOR HERSELF AND ALL OF US – HENCE THE SHAPELY, SEXY AND SIZZLING PROFILING THAT YOU SEE BEFORE YOU. I AM ALSO TEMPTED TO USE THE OLD ADAGE: BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL MAN IS A WOMAN … BUT TONIGHT THE HONOUR IS ON SOMEONE WHO IS THE EPITOME OF ACHIEVEMENT. GROWING IN THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF THE GREY STREET CBD AND INDIAN BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL CAPITAL, PRATHIEBA STARTED LIFE AS A TEACHER AND IT IS HER EXPERIENCE, LOVE AND CARE FOR CHILDREN THAT HAVE TRANSFORMED HER INTO A MUM IN A MILLION. HAVING GAINED SOME INVALUABLE INSIGHTS INTO BUSINESS FROM HER FAMILY, SHE WENT INTO BANKING AND SPENT ALMOST TWO DECADES OF MOTIVATING AND ENCOURAGING CLIENTS SUCH AS MYSELF THAT IF I WAS ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THE RANDS, THE CENTS WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF. IN RECENT YEARS, PRATHIEBA HAS WORKED IN VEHICLE FINANCING. NOW IT IS RUMOURED THAT SHE MAY SOON BE APPOINTED A HOME EXECUTIVE – SO WATCH THIS SPACE. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I AM NOT GOING TO ALLOW A GOOD SPEECH TO COME IN THE WAY OF OUR NIGHT OF CELEBRATION AND FESTIVITIES. TO PRATHIEBA, I WISH TO SAY A BIG THANK YOU FOR COMING INTO OUR LIVES AND BRINGING ALL THE WARM-HEARTED FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS WHO HAVE GIVEN US INCREDIBLE SUPPORT DURING THIS HEART-STOPPING JOURNEY. YOU ARE, IN MY EYES, THE ESSENCE OF A LOVING, SENSITIVE, COMPASSIONATE AND CARING HUMAN BEING, WHO HAS LEARNT THAT IT IS BETTER TO GIVE THAN TO GET; AND IT IS WISER TO LIGHT A CANDLE THAN TO CURSE THE DARKNESS. THE LIGHT YOU HAVE BROUGHT INTO OUR LIVES WILL CONTINUE TO ILLUMINATE US AS WE NAVIGATE THE COMING YEARS. FINALLY, I BELIEVE THAT BEAUTY, PASSION AND LOVE ARE DIFFICULT TO DEFINE OR EXPERIENCE, OTHERWISE THERE WOULD BE MORE ROMANTICS. SOME SAY THERE IS ALWAYS SOME MADNESS IN LOVE. BUT THERE IS ALWAYS SOME REASON IN MADNESS. ONCE AGAIN TO THE BIRTHDAY GIRL, I BELIEVE THAT AGE DOES NOT PROTECT YOU FROM LOVE, BUT LOVE, TO SOME EXTENT, PROTECTS YOU FROM AGE. AND AS WE ALL KNOW AGE IS ALL ABOUT MIND OVER MATTER, IF YOU DON'T MIND, IT DOES NOT MATTER. HAVE A GOOD ONE, MY DOLL. I THANK YOU.
Speech Researched & Written by Marlan Padayachee GreenGold Africa Communications (greengold@telkomsa.net) +00 27 31 266 5599 or 266 1762
Speech Researched & Written by Marlan Padayachee GreenGold Africa Communications (greengold@telkomsa.net) +00 27 31 266 5599 or 266 1762
Monday, November 3, 2008
Billy Nair - Epitome of the Freedom Struggle in South Africa
PEOPLE
BILLY NAIR – Epitome of the Struggle for Democracy
LATE in 2008 South Africa lost one of its pioneering foot-soldiers for democracy, human rights and social justice. MARLAN PADAYACHEE penned this piece on one of South Africa’s remarkable bridge-builders for peace, progress and prosperity.
Billy Nair finally laid down his arms for a “Better Life for All”, aged 79, culminating in a lifelong sacrifice for the nation’s poorest of the poor as political praise singers chronicled the life of one man and his mission to change a skewed landscape.
Nair was given a state funeral befitting a Black Nationalist leader in Durban on 30 October as his widow Elsie Nair heard speaker after speaker pour praise on her husband’s impeccable integrity as one of the leading catalysts for change during South Africa’s liberation struggle.
His casket was draped in the green, gold and black colours of the African National Congress.
Twenty years on Robben Island alongside the icons of the human drama that engulfed apartheid South Africa, notably Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and his fellow Little Rivonia saboteurs Zulu Moonsamy, Kisten Dorasamy and Curnick Ndlovu, had transformed a consummate campaigner into a gentleman of new resistance politics.
Nair returned to Durban without rancour. There was no bitterness in his voice when I interviewed him after his release from prison in February 1984. His spirit of forgiveness and hope was overwhelming at a time when state repression was at its worst. Not even a taste freedom stopped this tireless worker from achieving the big political prize.
It was this spirit of political maturity, level-headedness and humility that catapulted the former guerilla commander back into the trenches, this time navigating Operation Vula alongside Mac Maharaj, Pravin Gordhan and other ANC Umkhonto weSizwe operatives, a contingency unit in case the apartheid regime reneged on its détente deal with the ANC in the early 1990s.
By 1994, Nair was taking his seat as an ANC MP in Parliament as President Nelson Mandela ushered the new South Africa. He retired a few years ago to his constituency in Tongaat with his faithful wife Elsie who stood by this remarkable socialist-communist trade unionist throughout his political life.
The resister they called Muna, isiSotho for comrade, or the Cat, because he often landed on his feet during his fighting trade union days, was paid the highest honour by the ANC. A flag draped on his coffin was later handed to his widow, a heart-warming reminder of the life and legacy of one man they called a gallant revolutionary, true hero, legend, principled political activist, outstanding, humble and selfless leader, born organizer, underground operator, keen dancer, punter and someone who also enjoyed a good whisky and chuckle. I will always remember his charming smile, inner strength and the honour of being called Boeti, as if it was yesterday when he walked out of prison into the arms of his wife. Hamba Kahle, Chief.
MARLAN PADAYACHEE is a freelance journalist and media communications strategist, who covered the frontline politics of the anti-apartheid movement from the 1970s to the 1990s.
BILLY NAIR – Epitome of the Struggle for Democracy
LATE in 2008 South Africa lost one of its pioneering foot-soldiers for democracy, human rights and social justice. MARLAN PADAYACHEE penned this piece on one of South Africa’s remarkable bridge-builders for peace, progress and prosperity.
Billy Nair finally laid down his arms for a “Better Life for All”, aged 79, culminating in a lifelong sacrifice for the nation’s poorest of the poor as political praise singers chronicled the life of one man and his mission to change a skewed landscape.
Nair was given a state funeral befitting a Black Nationalist leader in Durban on 30 October as his widow Elsie Nair heard speaker after speaker pour praise on her husband’s impeccable integrity as one of the leading catalysts for change during South Africa’s liberation struggle.
His casket was draped in the green, gold and black colours of the African National Congress.
Twenty years on Robben Island alongside the icons of the human drama that engulfed apartheid South Africa, notably Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and his fellow Little Rivonia saboteurs Zulu Moonsamy, Kisten Dorasamy and Curnick Ndlovu, had transformed a consummate campaigner into a gentleman of new resistance politics.
Nair returned to Durban without rancour. There was no bitterness in his voice when I interviewed him after his release from prison in February 1984. His spirit of forgiveness and hope was overwhelming at a time when state repression was at its worst. Not even a taste freedom stopped this tireless worker from achieving the big political prize.
It was this spirit of political maturity, level-headedness and humility that catapulted the former guerilla commander back into the trenches, this time navigating Operation Vula alongside Mac Maharaj, Pravin Gordhan and other ANC Umkhonto weSizwe operatives, a contingency unit in case the apartheid regime reneged on its détente deal with the ANC in the early 1990s.
By 1994, Nair was taking his seat as an ANC MP in Parliament as President Nelson Mandela ushered the new South Africa. He retired a few years ago to his constituency in Tongaat with his faithful wife Elsie who stood by this remarkable socialist-communist trade unionist throughout his political life.
The resister they called Muna, isiSotho for comrade, or the Cat, because he often landed on his feet during his fighting trade union days, was paid the highest honour by the ANC. A flag draped on his coffin was later handed to his widow, a heart-warming reminder of the life and legacy of one man they called a gallant revolutionary, true hero, legend, principled political activist, outstanding, humble and selfless leader, born organizer, underground operator, keen dancer, punter and someone who also enjoyed a good whisky and chuckle. I will always remember his charming smile, inner strength and the honour of being called Boeti, as if it was yesterday when he walked out of prison into the arms of his wife. Hamba Kahle, Chief.
MARLAN PADAYACHEE is a freelance journalist and media communications strategist, who covered the frontline politics of the anti-apartheid movement from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Karlen Padayachee on Diwali Diversity at William Mitchell
Posted: October 31, 2008
Diwali Brown Bag Diversity PLP
Keynote Speaker: Karlen Padayachee
Please join us for the Hindu Diwali Diversity PLP. Diwali, the festival of
lights, marks the beginning of the New Year and one of the most
Important festivals for Hindus. Lights, bonfires, and fireworks welcome
gods, ancestors, family, and friends. There will be a time
of questions and answers at the end of the presentation..
Sponsored by:
Office of Multicultural Affairs
Diwali Brown Bag Diversity PLP
Keynote Speaker: Karlen Padayachee
Please join us for the Hindu Diwali Diversity PLP. Diwali, the festival of
lights, marks the beginning of the New Year and one of the most
Important festivals for Hindus. Lights, bonfires, and fireworks welcome
gods, ancestors, family, and friends. There will be a time
of questions and answers at the end of the presentation..
Sponsored by:
Office of Multicultural Affairs
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Media Workshop Ahead of 2009 Election in South Africa
By Karen Lotter
I recently contributed to a workshop organised by Marlan Padayachee for Greengold Africa for the Democracy Development Programme.
The Three Day workshop was a multi-party one for representatives of political parties in KZN and one of my inputs was on the role of so called new media - ie Internet, e-mail campaigns, Facebook, Youtube etc in political campaigns.
Smartxchange gave me a few goodies to hand out and I encouraged the politicos to come to the Smart City Conference and wise up on all e-stuff.
I know that the masses are not yet online, but every day more people are “connecting to the grid” and with eThekwini’s broadband roll out it is only a matter of time before the statistics in our city go crazy and Internet becomes the communication medium of choice, especially for the poor and those in the outlying areas.
And the politicians - well they’d better be a few steps ahead, or the people are going to leave them behind!
I recently contributed to a workshop organised by Marlan Padayachee for Greengold Africa for the Democracy Development Programme.
The Three Day workshop was a multi-party one for representatives of political parties in KZN and one of my inputs was on the role of so called new media - ie Internet, e-mail campaigns, Facebook, Youtube etc in political campaigns.
Smartxchange gave me a few goodies to hand out and I encouraged the politicos to come to the Smart City Conference and wise up on all e-stuff.
I know that the masses are not yet online, but every day more people are “connecting to the grid” and with eThekwini’s broadband roll out it is only a matter of time before the statistics in our city go crazy and Internet becomes the communication medium of choice, especially for the poor and those in the outlying areas.
And the politicians - well they’d better be a few steps ahead, or the people are going to leave them behind!
Africa's Leading Orchestra Turns 25
Message from the Mayor, His Worship, Councillor Obed Mlaba of the eThekwini Municipality on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra at the Durban City Hall on 23 October 2008.
On this grand and momentous occasion of the 25th anniversary celebration of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra, I join my colleagues, city officials and the citizens of the eThekwini Municipality and the City of Durban in extending good wishes and goodwill to an organisation that has been an institution to our culturally-enriching city.
The double header celebration at the Pietermaritzburg and the Durban city halls is indeed a fitting tribute to the longstanding contribution made by the KZNPO to both sister cities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The City of Durban and the eThekwini Municipality has enjoyed a long and cordial relationship with the KZNPO and we have witnessed some remarkable transformation changes with the organisation that straddled the old and the new order.
Changes such the appointment of Bongani Tembe as Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and his own musical contribution along with that of his wife, Linda Bukhosini, and the multicultural diversity of the organisation could only be described as a fresh of breath air in a modern metropolis that is marketed as “One City, Many Cultures”.
Through its musical repertoire, track record, credibility and people, the KZNPO has achieved its milestone through the support of our local communities. Over the years, the UKZNPO has become the epitome of a private-public sector partnership and it has also succeeded it sharing its programme with previously disadvantaged communities.
It gives me immense pleasure and pride to extend birthday wishes to the UKZNPO and may the Orchestra continue to remain the cultural ambassadors of our city.Let’s be upbeat and celebrate this marvelous milestone. Researched and written by Marlan Padayachee GreenGold Africa Communications and published in the KZNPO 25th Anniversary Brochure on the occasion of the Durban performance under American guest-conductor Dr Leslie B Dunner on 23 October 2008.
On this grand and momentous occasion of the 25th anniversary celebration of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra, I join my colleagues, city officials and the citizens of the eThekwini Municipality and the City of Durban in extending good wishes and goodwill to an organisation that has been an institution to our culturally-enriching city.
The double header celebration at the Pietermaritzburg and the Durban city halls is indeed a fitting tribute to the longstanding contribution made by the KZNPO to both sister cities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The City of Durban and the eThekwini Municipality has enjoyed a long and cordial relationship with the KZNPO and we have witnessed some remarkable transformation changes with the organisation that straddled the old and the new order.
Changes such the appointment of Bongani Tembe as Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and his own musical contribution along with that of his wife, Linda Bukhosini, and the multicultural diversity of the organisation could only be described as a fresh of breath air in a modern metropolis that is marketed as “One City, Many Cultures”.
Through its musical repertoire, track record, credibility and people, the KZNPO has achieved its milestone through the support of our local communities. Over the years, the UKZNPO has become the epitome of a private-public sector partnership and it has also succeeded it sharing its programme with previously disadvantaged communities.
It gives me immense pleasure and pride to extend birthday wishes to the UKZNPO and may the Orchestra continue to remain the cultural ambassadors of our city.Let’s be upbeat and celebrate this marvelous milestone. Researched and written by Marlan Padayachee GreenGold Africa Communications and published in the KZNPO 25th Anniversary Brochure on the occasion of the Durban performance under American guest-conductor Dr Leslie B Dunner on 23 October 2008.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Nad Murugan dies tragically.(News)
Nad Murugan dies tragically.(News)
Article from:
Post (South Africa)
Article date:
October 1, 2008
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nad murugan Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2008 Independent News & Media PLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
BYLINE: YOGAS NAIR
FORMER trade unionist Nad Murugan, 53, pictured, was found dead at a Windermere Road lodge on Monday afternoon.
Family spokesman and Murugan's close friend, Marlan Padayachee, said family members were devastated by his tragic death.
According to police reports, Murugan, who led the Durban Indian Municipal Workers Society (Dimes) in the 1980s, allegedly ended his life.
He went on to become the first general secretary of the South African Municipal Workers Union, before relocating to Johannesburg in 1997 to take up a position with the CCMA (Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration). Murugan returned to Durban a few months ago.
...
Read all of this
Tragic Death of Trade Unionist Nad Murugan
He excelled as a part-time senior commissioner at the CCMA
NAD Murugan, 53, who was found hanged in Durban this week, was one of South Africa’s most militant trade unionists with outstanding negotiating, mediating and legal skills.
As a white-collar professional at the City of Durban in the 1980s, Murugan cut his teeth in trade unionism with the Durban Indian Municipal Employees’ Society, where he rubbed shoulders with blue-collar workers.
For almost a decade, he battled severe depression and alcoholism, triggered by the brutal murder of his wife Rebecca in 1992, and possibly the post-traumatic stress of the apartheid era.
Rebecca had been planning a homecoming celebration for her husband, who had completed a year-long course in labour law at Harvard University in the US, when she was bludgeoned to death by her domestic worker.
Despite this painful personal tragedy, Murugan stayed the course. After championing the grievances of poorly paid municipal workers in Durban, he moved to Johannesburg, where he excelled as a part-time senior commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
The birth of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union was to change the way municipalities dealt with workforces, reflecting Murugan’s passion — to ensure that workers enjoyed the fruits of the new nation’s march to equity.
Murugan featured in many landmark hearings, notably settling the issue of allowances and salary increases between Eskom and the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa and Solidarity trade unions, as well as disputes involving the South African Revenue Service and the Media Workers’ Association of South Africa.
Recently, back home in Durban, family members rallied around Murugan in the aftermath of another personal setback, a divorce from his second wife, Kantha Naidoo, and her emigration to Australia.
Then came a surprise call from Murugan, brimming with confidence about a new labour of love — a book about trade unionism, the new culture of conciliation, mediation and arbitration and how he viewed labour politics in a transforming South Africa.
Murugan leaves his sons, Denver and Renard. — Marlan Padayachee
NAD Murugan, 53, who was found hanged in Durban this week, was one of South Africa’s most militant trade unionists with outstanding negotiating, mediating and legal skills.
As a white-collar professional at the City of Durban in the 1980s, Murugan cut his teeth in trade unionism with the Durban Indian Municipal Employees’ Society, where he rubbed shoulders with blue-collar workers.
For almost a decade, he battled severe depression and alcoholism, triggered by the brutal murder of his wife Rebecca in 1992, and possibly the post-traumatic stress of the apartheid era.
Rebecca had been planning a homecoming celebration for her husband, who had completed a year-long course in labour law at Harvard University in the US, when she was bludgeoned to death by her domestic worker.
Despite this painful personal tragedy, Murugan stayed the course. After championing the grievances of poorly paid municipal workers in Durban, he moved to Johannesburg, where he excelled as a part-time senior commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
The birth of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union was to change the way municipalities dealt with workforces, reflecting Murugan’s passion — to ensure that workers enjoyed the fruits of the new nation’s march to equity.
Murugan featured in many landmark hearings, notably settling the issue of allowances and salary increases between Eskom and the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa and Solidarity trade unions, as well as disputes involving the South African Revenue Service and the Media Workers’ Association of South Africa.
Recently, back home in Durban, family members rallied around Murugan in the aftermath of another personal setback, a divorce from his second wife, Kantha Naidoo, and her emigration to Australia.
Then came a surprise call from Murugan, brimming with confidence about a new labour of love — a book about trade unionism, the new culture of conciliation, mediation and arbitration and how he viewed labour politics in a transforming South Africa.
Murugan leaves his sons, Denver and Renard. — Marlan Padayachee
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Kingfisher - A Tourism Gem in KwaZulu Natal South Africa
The Kingfisher-Marlan Padayachee
Durban Dateline: Aside from SA's political intrigue and social and economic challenges, I recently revisited beaten track to explore country's domestic tourism leader, the Zulu Kingdom. Tourism is beginning to peak ahead of 2010. Everyone, from the poor vendor selling souvenirs to international tour and hospitality groups, is getting into the act to put their best foot forward to welcome 400,000 football fans from Lima to London. Egoli, Johannesburg's City of Gold and home to 70% of the country's corporate head offices, is the all-year flavor for millions of business visitors and tourists, but KwaZulu Natal is becoming a hugely popular destination "must-see" on continental Africa. Perceptions of a "Cinderella" or "Garden" province and a rural backwater or a "dead-end" Durban are being eclipsed by the skyline of a giant soccer stadium or wide-bodied runway as government and the private sector pour millions into transforming the gateway where the ancient multicultural battlefields and economic success stories of the Zulus, British, Dutch, Germans, Indians or the Portuguese.
Durban Dateline: Aside from SA's political intrigue and social and economic challenges, I recently revisited beaten track to explore country's domestic tourism leader, the Zulu Kingdom. Tourism is beginning to peak ahead of 2010. Everyone, from the poor vendor selling souvenirs to international tour and hospitality groups, is getting into the act to put their best foot forward to welcome 400,000 football fans from Lima to London. Egoli, Johannesburg's City of Gold and home to 70% of the country's corporate head offices, is the all-year flavor for millions of business visitors and tourists, but KwaZulu Natal is becoming a hugely popular destination "must-see" on continental Africa. Perceptions of a "Cinderella" or "Garden" province and a rural backwater or a "dead-end" Durban are being eclipsed by the skyline of a giant soccer stadium or wide-bodied runway as government and the private sector pour millions into transforming the gateway where the ancient multicultural battlefields and economic success stories of the Zulus, British, Dutch, Germans, Indians or the Portuguese.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Obituary - Nad Murugan Pioneering Trade Unionist
Nad Murugan: Pioneering trade unionist
Published:Oct 05, 2008
He excelled as a part-time senior commissioner at the CCMA
NAD Murugan, 53, who was found hanged in Durban this week, was one of South Africa’s most militant trade unionists with outstanding negotiating, mediating and legal skills.
As a white-collar professional at the City of Durban in the 1980s, Murugan cut his teeth in trade unionism with the Durban Indian Municipal Employees’ Society, where he rubbed shoulders with blue-collar workers.
For almost a decade, he battled severe depression and alcoholism, triggered by the brutal murder of his wife Rebecca in 1992, and possibly the post-traumatic stress of the apartheid era.
Rebecca had been planning a homecoming celebration for her husband, who had completed a year-long course in labour law at Harvard University in the US, when she was bludgeoned to death by her domestic worker.
Despite this painful personal tragedy, Murugan stayed the course. After championing the grievances of poorly paid municipal workers in Durban, he moved to Johannesburg, where he excelled as a part-time senior commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
The birth of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union was to change the way municipalities dealt with workforces, reflecting Murugan’s passion — to ensure that workers enjoyed the fruits of the new nation’s march to equity.
Murugan featured in many landmark hearings, notably settling the issue of allowances and salary increases between Eskom and the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa and Solidarity trade unions, as well as disputes involving the South African Revenue Service and the Media Workers’ Association of South Africa.
Recently, back home in Durban, family members rallied around Murugan in the aftermath of another personal setback, a divorce from his second wife, Kantha Naidoo, and her emigration to Australia.
Then came a surprise call from Murugan, brimming with confidence about a new labour of love — a book about trade unionism, the new culture of conciliation, mediation and arbitration and how he viewed labour politics in a transforming South Africa.
Murugan leaves his sons, Denver and Renard.
— Marlan Padayachee
Published:Oct 05, 2008
He excelled as a part-time senior commissioner at the CCMA
NAD Murugan, 53, who was found hanged in Durban this week, was one of South Africa’s most militant trade unionists with outstanding negotiating, mediating and legal skills.
As a white-collar professional at the City of Durban in the 1980s, Murugan cut his teeth in trade unionism with the Durban Indian Municipal Employees’ Society, where he rubbed shoulders with blue-collar workers.
For almost a decade, he battled severe depression and alcoholism, triggered by the brutal murder of his wife Rebecca in 1992, and possibly the post-traumatic stress of the apartheid era.
Rebecca had been planning a homecoming celebration for her husband, who had completed a year-long course in labour law at Harvard University in the US, when she was bludgeoned to death by her domestic worker.
Despite this painful personal tragedy, Murugan stayed the course. After championing the grievances of poorly paid municipal workers in Durban, he moved to Johannesburg, where he excelled as a part-time senior commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
The birth of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union was to change the way municipalities dealt with workforces, reflecting Murugan’s passion — to ensure that workers enjoyed the fruits of the new nation’s march to equity.
Murugan featured in many landmark hearings, notably settling the issue of allowances and salary increases between Eskom and the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa and Solidarity trade unions, as well as disputes involving the South African Revenue Service and the Media Workers’ Association of South Africa.
Recently, back home in Durban, family members rallied around Murugan in the aftermath of another personal setback, a divorce from his second wife, Kantha Naidoo, and her emigration to Australia.
Then came a surprise call from Murugan, brimming with confidence about a new labour of love — a book about trade unionism, the new culture of conciliation, mediation and arbitration and how he viewed labour politics in a transforming South Africa.
Murugan leaves his sons, Denver and Renard.
— Marlan Padayachee
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Tragic Death of Trade Unionist Nad Murugan
Nad Murugan dies tragicallyFormer trade unionist Nad Murugan, 53, pictured, was found dead at a Windermere Road lodge on Monday afternoon.
Nad Murugan - Marlan Padayachee Comments on SABC Newsbreak Lotusfm Radio
Broadcast by Ashok Ramsarup to me show details Oct 1 SABC South Africa Lotusfm Radio NewsBreak 06h30 Central African Time
trade unionist... Former trade union activist Nad Murugan, who pioneer the militancy of the municipal union of Durban during the apartheid era has died under tragic circumstances at a lodge near the city centre. 53 year old Murugan was instrumental in re-engineering DIMES - Durban Indian Municipal Employees Society - into an integrated union and later into the powerful South African Muniicipal Workers Union. Newsbreak's Prabashini Naicker asked family spokesperson Marlin Padayachee to elaborate on Murugan's death... in: out: dur: outtro: that was family spokesperson Marlan Padayachee of former trade unionist Nad Murugan, who died under tragic circumstances..
trade unionist... Former trade union activist Nad Murugan, who pioneer the militancy of the municipal union of Durban during the apartheid era has died under tragic circumstances at a lodge near the city centre. 53 year old Murugan was instrumental in re-engineering DIMES - Durban Indian Municipal Employees Society - into an integrated union and later into the powerful South African Muniicipal Workers Union. Newsbreak's Prabashini Naicker asked family spokesperson Marlin Padayachee to elaborate on Murugan's death... in: out: dur: outtro: that was family spokesperson Marlan Padayachee of former trade unionist Nad Murugan, who died under tragic circumstances..
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
A Tribute to a Fiery Trade Unionist - Nad Murugan
Tribute to Nad Murugan – Militant Trade Unionist – by Marlan Padayachee
SOUTH Africa has lost one of its most fiery and militant trade unionists with outstanding negotiating, mediating and legal skills this week. Nad Murugan, aged 53, died under tragic circumstances in Durban.
For almost a decade he had battled a severe bout of depression and alcoholism, triggered by the brutal murder of his wife by a domestic worker in 1992 and possibly the post-traumatic stress of the apartheid era.
Despite this painful personal tragedy, Murugan stayed the course. After championing the grievances of poorly paid municipal workers in Durban, he relocated to Johannesburg where he excelled as a part-time senior commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
But amid his successful professional role-playing, he appeared to be dogged and shadowed by the gruesome death of his teacher-wife Rebecca. She was busy planning a homecoming celebration for her husband, who had completed a year-long course in labour law at Harvard University, when she was bludgeoned to death by her maid at her flat.
Murugan’s year-long scholarship at the famous Ivy League landmark in Boston in the United States of America had prepared him adequately to play a powerful role in the labour movement in a democratic South Africa.
As a white collar professional at the City of Durban in apartheid- era 1980s, Murugan cut his teeth in trade unionism with the Durban Indian Municipal Employees Society, where he rubbed shoulders with the blue collar workers.
As the leader of a small union of street-sweepers and labouring gangs, established at the city’s communal Magazine Barracks by Indian indentured sugar cane labourers, he won many labour issues and staged protest marches and brought the municipality to a standstill in his confrontation with the old city council. He also pitted his talents against the might of the city’s leading corporate labour law firms.
Racial and ethnic politics was anathema to Murugan.
During this watershed period of racial turbulence, Murugan was sucked into the maelstrom of anti-apartheid politics and he nurtured and re-engineered his labour movement into an all-race union, bringing African and coloured workers into a single bargaining unit.
The birth of the powerful South African Municipal Workers Union was to change the face of how municipalities dealt with its workforce and rekindled one man’s passion to ensure that workers enjoyed the fruits of the new nation’s march to workplace equity and economic prosperity, hence the birth of the CCMA.
At the CCMA, he applied his legal mind effectively while using his mediation and arbitration skills to change rigid mindsets of employers while ensuring that aggrieved employees were treated with fairness. He also contributed his intellectual property to many caseworks and publications.
Murugan featured in many landmark hearings, notably settling the issue of allowances and salary increases between Eskom and Numsa and Solidarity trade unions, and disputes involving the South African Revenue Services and the Media Workers Association of South Africa.
Back home recently, family members in Stanger and Durban rallied around Murugan in the aftermath of another personal setback, a divorce from his second wife, Kantha Naidoo and her emigration to Australia.
Then out of the blue came a surprise call from Murugan, brimming with confidence about a new labour of love to pull together a book about the face of trade unionism, labour disputes and the new culture of conciliation, mediation and arbitration and how he viewed labour politics in a transforming South Africa.
A dream deferred, a book in the making, the labour movement is poorer without Nad Murugan.
However, amidst the humdrum of his chequered life and times, Murugan was a great single-parent to his two sons, Denver and Renard, who overcame their own personal battles, challenges and prejudices of their physical impairment and disabilities. Hamba Kahle, Nad Murugan.
Marlan Padayachee is an international freelance journalist who covered the historic political, labour and social frontline battles during the apartheid era.
SOUTH Africa has lost one of its most fiery and militant trade unionists with outstanding negotiating, mediating and legal skills this week. Nad Murugan, aged 53, died under tragic circumstances in Durban.
For almost a decade he had battled a severe bout of depression and alcoholism, triggered by the brutal murder of his wife by a domestic worker in 1992 and possibly the post-traumatic stress of the apartheid era.
Despite this painful personal tragedy, Murugan stayed the course. After championing the grievances of poorly paid municipal workers in Durban, he relocated to Johannesburg where he excelled as a part-time senior commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
But amid his successful professional role-playing, he appeared to be dogged and shadowed by the gruesome death of his teacher-wife Rebecca. She was busy planning a homecoming celebration for her husband, who had completed a year-long course in labour law at Harvard University, when she was bludgeoned to death by her maid at her flat.
Murugan’s year-long scholarship at the famous Ivy League landmark in Boston in the United States of America had prepared him adequately to play a powerful role in the labour movement in a democratic South Africa.
As a white collar professional at the City of Durban in apartheid- era 1980s, Murugan cut his teeth in trade unionism with the Durban Indian Municipal Employees Society, where he rubbed shoulders with the blue collar workers.
As the leader of a small union of street-sweepers and labouring gangs, established at the city’s communal Magazine Barracks by Indian indentured sugar cane labourers, he won many labour issues and staged protest marches and brought the municipality to a standstill in his confrontation with the old city council. He also pitted his talents against the might of the city’s leading corporate labour law firms.
Racial and ethnic politics was anathema to Murugan.
During this watershed period of racial turbulence, Murugan was sucked into the maelstrom of anti-apartheid politics and he nurtured and re-engineered his labour movement into an all-race union, bringing African and coloured workers into a single bargaining unit.
The birth of the powerful South African Municipal Workers Union was to change the face of how municipalities dealt with its workforce and rekindled one man’s passion to ensure that workers enjoyed the fruits of the new nation’s march to workplace equity and economic prosperity, hence the birth of the CCMA.
At the CCMA, he applied his legal mind effectively while using his mediation and arbitration skills to change rigid mindsets of employers while ensuring that aggrieved employees were treated with fairness. He also contributed his intellectual property to many caseworks and publications.
Murugan featured in many landmark hearings, notably settling the issue of allowances and salary increases between Eskom and Numsa and Solidarity trade unions, and disputes involving the South African Revenue Services and the Media Workers Association of South Africa.
Back home recently, family members in Stanger and Durban rallied around Murugan in the aftermath of another personal setback, a divorce from his second wife, Kantha Naidoo and her emigration to Australia.
Then out of the blue came a surprise call from Murugan, brimming with confidence about a new labour of love to pull together a book about the face of trade unionism, labour disputes and the new culture of conciliation, mediation and arbitration and how he viewed labour politics in a transforming South Africa.
A dream deferred, a book in the making, the labour movement is poorer without Nad Murugan.
However, amidst the humdrum of his chequered life and times, Murugan was a great single-parent to his two sons, Denver and Renard, who overcame their own personal battles, challenges and prejudices of their physical impairment and disabilities. Hamba Kahle, Nad Murugan.
Marlan Padayachee is an international freelance journalist who covered the historic political, labour and social frontline battles during the apartheid era.
Monday, September 29, 2008
A Bharata-Natyam Star Is Born - Aneka Naidoo
A New Bharata Natyam Star Is Born – Aneka Divyarupa Naidoo
Bharata Natyam's latest graduate, 14-year-old Aneka Divyarupa, made a "scintillating" dance debut before an appreciative audience at the Coast of Dreams in Durban on Sunday.
The Grade 9 Crawford College schoolgirl, looking radiant and ravishing and wearing five outfits in splash of colour, elegance and exuberance, fascinated the 300 guests during her two hour-long performance at the weekend.
Her baptism of fire in the ancient art of south Indian classical dancing culminated in five years of training and tutelage by renowned dance teacher and singer Kumari Ambigay.
To the lilting songs and tunes of Kumari Ambigay and her musicians, ranging from Pillayaar, an invocation dance, to Makan Chor, a Hindi bhajan set to the leelas of little Lord Krsna, Aneka Divyarupa excelled beyond expectations with her rhythm, striking poses, timing and her myriad of brilliant facial expressions.
Her colourful graduation ceremony and ritual, known as Arangetram, was roundly endorsed by applauses, thereby paving the way for to undertake another six-month rigorous course towards become a Bharata Natyam dance tutor.
Ever since she was a little girl, Aneka Divyarupa was inspired by Bollywood screen icon Rani Mukerjee's spectacular sequence of the Bharata Natyam dance on the big screen. She has not looked back and five years later, she has earned the title, "Natyamanni" and will be referred to as Natyamanni Aneka Divyarupa. Her middle translates into the "Many divine forms of Lord Vishnu".
Interestingly, when she is not dancing with bells on her feet and waxing lyrical on stage, she assists her parents, Dr Lochan Naidoo and Julie Naidoo at the family-owned medical and drug rehabilitation centres in Merebank in Durban South and the Gateway complex in Umhlanga.
Speaking at the graduation, Dr Ronnie Pillay, leading pediatrician and executive deputy member of the South African Tamil Federation, said he was impressed by how Aneka Divyarupa combined her studies, extra-curricular dance activities in one of the world's most complex and intricate dance forms while showing compassion in her part-time work among youth and adults battling drug and alcohol addiction and abuse at the family-owned facilities.
"At her age, Aneka Divyarupa is leaving footprints for other young people to follow the pathway of an ancient dance that was almost discarded by the British Raj during the reign of colonialism in India. Fortunately, this dance form was resurrected by visionaries and its beauty and glory continues to inspire us in a rainbow nation where multiculturalism and cultural diversity has become the norm in the new South Africa," Dr Pillay said.
eThekwini Municipality Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo said he had attended dance graduations for almost a decade in political office, but was taken aback by the graduate's "stunning performance".
"I have often marveled at the passion, and exuberance displayed on stage by dancers such as Aneka Divyarupa. This unique dance form, though taxing and punishing in the run-up to the graduation, teaches young people life skills and core values such as discipline, focus, dedication, courage, perseverance, resilience, right living, personality development and respect and tolerance for others," said Naidoo.
"As you take your quantum leap into professional dance tutelage, put your best foot forward and dance and dance as if no one is looking at you."
In the Indian arts and culture world, Bharata Natyam is a classical dance originating in Tamil Nadu, a state in South India. This popular dance is said to be a 20th century reconstruction of Cathir, the art of temple dancers and derived from ancient dance forms. Bharata Natyam is accompanied by classical carnatic music, as displayed by a tight-knit musical troupe of singers and musicians who provided the Kumari Ambigay Dance Institute's 97th graduate with lilting music, bhagans and recitals.
Presenting a certificate of competence, Kumari Ambigay described her protégé as an "extraordinary candidate who had performed from heart beyond all expectations".
Proud parents Lochan and Julie Naidoo had last words: "Our third child has lived up to her name and today holds our attention and makes us reflect on our divinity and unconditional love for the Supreme Lord. She was motivated by actress Rani Mukerjee. She epitomizes youthful culture and energy in a changing social landscape where our young people are faced with western culture and the advent of technology gadgets."
Apart from dancing, Natyamanni Aneka Divyarupa loves animals, horse-riding, golf, cycling and assists at the family's addiction treatment centres.
Ends
Bharata Natyam's latest graduate, 14-year-old Aneka Divyarupa, made a "scintillating" dance debut before an appreciative audience at the Coast of Dreams in Durban on Sunday.
The Grade 9 Crawford College schoolgirl, looking radiant and ravishing and wearing five outfits in splash of colour, elegance and exuberance, fascinated the 300 guests during her two hour-long performance at the weekend.
Her baptism of fire in the ancient art of south Indian classical dancing culminated in five years of training and tutelage by renowned dance teacher and singer Kumari Ambigay.
To the lilting songs and tunes of Kumari Ambigay and her musicians, ranging from Pillayaar, an invocation dance, to Makan Chor, a Hindi bhajan set to the leelas of little Lord Krsna, Aneka Divyarupa excelled beyond expectations with her rhythm, striking poses, timing and her myriad of brilliant facial expressions.
Her colourful graduation ceremony and ritual, known as Arangetram, was roundly endorsed by applauses, thereby paving the way for to undertake another six-month rigorous course towards become a Bharata Natyam dance tutor.
Ever since she was a little girl, Aneka Divyarupa was inspired by Bollywood screen icon Rani Mukerjee's spectacular sequence of the Bharata Natyam dance on the big screen. She has not looked back and five years later, she has earned the title, "Natyamanni" and will be referred to as Natyamanni Aneka Divyarupa. Her middle translates into the "Many divine forms of Lord Vishnu".
Interestingly, when she is not dancing with bells on her feet and waxing lyrical on stage, she assists her parents, Dr Lochan Naidoo and Julie Naidoo at the family-owned medical and drug rehabilitation centres in Merebank in Durban South and the Gateway complex in Umhlanga.
Speaking at the graduation, Dr Ronnie Pillay, leading pediatrician and executive deputy member of the South African Tamil Federation, said he was impressed by how Aneka Divyarupa combined her studies, extra-curricular dance activities in one of the world's most complex and intricate dance forms while showing compassion in her part-time work among youth and adults battling drug and alcohol addiction and abuse at the family-owned facilities.
"At her age, Aneka Divyarupa is leaving footprints for other young people to follow the pathway of an ancient dance that was almost discarded by the British Raj during the reign of colonialism in India. Fortunately, this dance form was resurrected by visionaries and its beauty and glory continues to inspire us in a rainbow nation where multiculturalism and cultural diversity has become the norm in the new South Africa," Dr Pillay said.
eThekwini Municipality Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo said he had attended dance graduations for almost a decade in political office, but was taken aback by the graduate's "stunning performance".
"I have often marveled at the passion, and exuberance displayed on stage by dancers such as Aneka Divyarupa. This unique dance form, though taxing and punishing in the run-up to the graduation, teaches young people life skills and core values such as discipline, focus, dedication, courage, perseverance, resilience, right living, personality development and respect and tolerance for others," said Naidoo.
"As you take your quantum leap into professional dance tutelage, put your best foot forward and dance and dance as if no one is looking at you."
In the Indian arts and culture world, Bharata Natyam is a classical dance originating in Tamil Nadu, a state in South India. This popular dance is said to be a 20th century reconstruction of Cathir, the art of temple dancers and derived from ancient dance forms. Bharata Natyam is accompanied by classical carnatic music, as displayed by a tight-knit musical troupe of singers and musicians who provided the Kumari Ambigay Dance Institute's 97th graduate with lilting music, bhagans and recitals.
Presenting a certificate of competence, Kumari Ambigay described her protégé as an "extraordinary candidate who had performed from heart beyond all expectations".
Proud parents Lochan and Julie Naidoo had last words: "Our third child has lived up to her name and today holds our attention and makes us reflect on our divinity and unconditional love for the Supreme Lord. She was motivated by actress Rani Mukerjee. She epitomizes youthful culture and energy in a changing social landscape where our young people are faced with western culture and the advent of technology gadgets."
Apart from dancing, Natyamanni Aneka Divyarupa loves animals, horse-riding, golf, cycling and assists at the family's addiction treatment centres.
Ends
Sunday, September 28, 2008
A Bharata-Natyam Star Is Born - Aneka Naidoo
OPENING ADDRESS BY COUNCILLOR LOGIE NAIDOO, DEPUTY
MAYOR OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY, AT THE BHARATHA
NATYAM ARANGETRAM OF NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA
NAIDOO AT THE COAST OF DREAMS, DURBAN EXHIBITION
CENTRE, ON SUNDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2008 AT 12H30.
THANK YOU, PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND CHILDREN, DISTINGUISHED DIGNITARIES AND GUESTS OF HONOUR.
THIS WEEK HAS BEEN A MOMENTOUS WEEK IN POLITICS, BUT I CAN ASSURE ALL OF YOU THAT THESE CHANGES ARE AIMED AT PROVIDING A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL.
THIS AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY BRIEF IS TO FOCUS ON THE MOMENTOUS OCCASION OF AN EXTRAORDINARY DANCING CANDIDATE, OUR CENTRE OF ATTRACTION, NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO.
NATYAMANNI IS THE TITLE HER INIMITABLE DANCE TUTOR KUMARI AMBIGAY HAS CONFERRED ON HER AS THE DANCE INSTITUTE'S 97TH GRADUATE.
AS THE YOUNGEST CHILD, SHE WAS NAMED ANEKA DIVYARUPA BY HER PARENTS AND OUR HOSTS, DR LOCHAN NAIDOO AND MRS JULIE NAIDOO.
I HAVE JUST LEARNT THAT HER MIDDLE NAME 'DIVYARUPA' TRANSLATES INTO THE 'MANY DIVINE FORMS OF LORD VISHNU'.
AS MANY HINDUS IN THE AUDIENCE MAY KNOW THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LORD VISHNU, BUT KINDLY ALLOW ME TO HIGHLIGHT WHY OUR LATEST BHARATA-NATYAM GRADUATE WAS NAMED AFTER ONE OF THE GODS OF ANCIENT INDIA.
LORD VISHNU IS THE PRESERVER GOD OF THE TRINITY WITH FOUR HANDS.
THE FIRST HAND HOLDS A CONCH SHELL (SANKHA) INDICATING SPREAD OF THE DIVINE SOUND "OM"; ONE HOLDS A DISCUS (CHAKRA), A REMINDER OF THE WHEEL OF TIME, AND TO LEAD A GOOD LIFE; ONE HOLDS A LOTUS (PADMA) WHICH IS AN EXAMPLE OF GLORIOUS EXISTENCE AND THE FOURTH HANDS HOLDS A MACE (GADA) INDICATING THE POWER AND THE PUNISHING CAPACITY OF THE LORD IF DISCIPLINE IN LIFE IS IGNORED.
THE EQUALLY MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PERSONA AND PROFILE OF LORD VISHNU IS ALSO MIRRORED IN THE FACE OF OUR YOUNG GRADUATE AS SHE CONTINUES TO FASCINATE US WITH THE GRACE AND BEAUTY OF THE ART OF THIS DANCE FORM.
I HAVE ALSO LEARNT THAT LOCHAN AND JULIE NAIDOO FIRMLY BELIEVED THAT IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD OF CROSS-CULTURAL EXPLOSIONS THAT IMPACT ON OUR YOUNG PEOPLE THAT IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT THE YOUNGEST SIBLING OF THEIR THREE CHILDREN SHOULD FOLLOW THE ANCIENT PATHWAY OF THE CENTURIES-OLD ART FORM OF BHARATA-NATYAM DANCING.
THEY BELIEVE THAT THIS INTRICATE AND TAXING DANCE FORM TEACHES YOUNG WOMEN LIFE-SKILLS AND CORE VALUES SUCH AS DISCIPLINE, FOCUS, DEDICATION, COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, RESILIENCE, RIGHT LIVING, PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS.
I BELIEVE THAT HAVING SUCCESSFULLY UNDERGONE KUMARI AMBIGAY'S RIGOROUS TRAINING, TUTORING AND MENTORING, NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO HAS LEARNT TO PUT HER BEST FOOT FORWARD ON STAGE THIS AFTERNOON.
HENCE THIS WONDERFUL GATHERING OF WITNESSES AT THIS ARANGETRAM – AN OFFICIAL CEREMONY – IN WHICH THE GRADUATE MAKES HER BIG-STAGE DANCING DEBUT TO TEST HER SKILLS AND TECHNIQUE BEFORE ALL OF YOU AS WITNESSES.
THEREFORE YOUR APPROVAL, ENDORSEMENT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THIS DISPLAY OF DANCING ARE CRUCIAL TO THE DANCER'S FUTURE CAREER-PATHING.
ONCE THIS MONUMENTAL CHALLENGE OF BEING CERTIFIED AS AN EXPONENT OF BHARATA-NATYAM IS OVER, I UNDERSTAND NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO WILL SOON TAKE THE QUANTUM LEAP OF UNDERGOING A SIX-MONTH COURSE WITH THE KUMARI AMBIGAY DANCE INSTITUTE TOWARDS FULFILLING HER DREAM OF BECOMING A FULLY-FLEDGED DANCE TEACHER.
IMAGINE HOW MANY OTHER STARRY-EYED GIRLS ARE GOING TO BENEFIT FROM A NEWLY-QUALIFIED TUTOR?
SINCE BEING IN OFFICE FOR ALMOST TEN YEARS, I HAVE BEEN INVITED TO MANY ARANGETRAMS AND I OFTEN MARVEL AT THE PASSION AND DEDICATION THE GRADUATES DISPLAY ON STAGE.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT IS OFTEN A JOY WATCHING THIS VISUALLY STRIKING AND YET ELEGANT DANCE POSES TO SOUND OF LILTING MUSIC AND TUNES.
FOR ALMOST 148 YEARS SINCE WE HAD INHERITED THIS ANCIENT DANCE FROM THE 1860 INDIAN INDENTURED LABOURERS, THE INDIAN COMMUNITY HAS ADDED A SPLASH OF COLOUR AND CULTURAL HERITAGE TO THE CITY OF DURBAN.
THERE ARE MANY CITIES ON CONTINENTAL AFRICA OR THE REST OF THE WORLD THAT ENJOYS THIS MULTICULTURAL DIMENSION.
AS DEPUTY MAYOR OF A GROWING AFRICAN CITY, I AM PROUD OF OUR CULTURAL DIVERSITY THAT HAS ENHANCED OUR STATUS AS A LANDMARK TOURIST DESTINATION WHERE EAST MEETS WEST AGAINST THE TAPESTRY OF AFRICAN AND ISIZULU CULTURE, HISTORY AND LEGACY.
SINCE 1994, MORE AND MORE NON-HINDU DANCERS AND SINGERS HAVE FOUND CULTURAL HOMES IN INDIAN CULTURE AND I TRUST THAT THIS TREND TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE WITH OUR PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED BLACK AFRICAN COMPATRIOTS WILL CONTINUE TO PORTRAY A CROSS-CULTURAL CHOREOGRAPHY OF OUR CULTURAL ASSETS AND HUMAN CAPITAL.
I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY OF ENCOURAGING PARENTS TO INVEST IN YOUR CHILDREN'S EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES BECAUSE IN ORDER TO DEVELOP FUTURE LEADERS THERE HAS TO BE THE COMPONENT OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND PROWESS IN ARTS AND CULTURE AND SPORTS.
ON THIS GRAND AND JOYOUS OCCASION OF NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA'S PUBLIC DANCE DEBUT, I AM REMINDED ABOUT A PAPER DELIVERED BY RENOWNED SCHOLAR AND EXPONENT NIRMALA RAMACHANDRAN ON 'CLASSICAL DANCE OF ANCIENT TAMILS' AT THE MUSIC & DANCE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SEMINAR OF TAMIL STUDIES
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, IN 1966.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SHE TOLD HER AUDIENCE: "BHARATANATYAM IS A CLASSICAL DANCE FORM ORIGINATING IN TAMIL NADU, A STATE IN SOUTH INDIA. THIS POPULAR SOUTH INDIAN DANCE FORM IS A 20TH CENTURY RECONSTRUCTION OF CATHIR, THE ART OF TEMPLE DANCERS. CATHIR IN TURN, IS DERIVED FROM ANCIENT DANCE FORMS. BHARATANATYAM IS USUALLY ACCOMPANIED BY THE CLASSICAL CARNATIC MUSIC."
FINALLY, I EXTEND MY BEST WISHES ON BEHALF OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY AND THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF DURBAN TO OUR NEW GRADUATE AND MAY YOU DANCE AND DANCE AS IF NO ONE IS LOOKING AT YOU.
I THANK ALL OF YOU AND ESPECIALLY LOCHAN AND JULIE NAIDO OF GIVING ME THE HONOUR AND PRIVILEGE OF GRACING THIS CULTURALLY ENRICHING AND COLOURFUL DEMONSTRATION OF CLASSICAL DANCING.
Compiled/researched/written by marlanpadayachee/greengoldafrica communications/for further information/contact pinkynaidoo/marlan.padayachee@greengold.co.za/greengold@telkomsa.net/pnpinkynaidoo@gmail.com/0837961762/0837971762/0312661762/faxmail0866989343/0312669202/www.marlanpadayacehe.com/www.greengoldcom.com/www.leftofwhatsright/blogsite.com
GreenGold – Communicating with Passion Precision & Purpose
MAYOR OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY, AT THE BHARATHA
NATYAM ARANGETRAM OF NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA
NAIDOO AT THE COAST OF DREAMS, DURBAN EXHIBITION
CENTRE, ON SUNDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2008 AT 12H30.
THANK YOU, PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND CHILDREN, DISTINGUISHED DIGNITARIES AND GUESTS OF HONOUR.
THIS WEEK HAS BEEN A MOMENTOUS WEEK IN POLITICS, BUT I CAN ASSURE ALL OF YOU THAT THESE CHANGES ARE AIMED AT PROVIDING A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL.
THIS AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY BRIEF IS TO FOCUS ON THE MOMENTOUS OCCASION OF AN EXTRAORDINARY DANCING CANDIDATE, OUR CENTRE OF ATTRACTION, NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO.
NATYAMANNI IS THE TITLE HER INIMITABLE DANCE TUTOR KUMARI AMBIGAY HAS CONFERRED ON HER AS THE DANCE INSTITUTE'S 97TH GRADUATE.
AS THE YOUNGEST CHILD, SHE WAS NAMED ANEKA DIVYARUPA BY HER PARENTS AND OUR HOSTS, DR LOCHAN NAIDOO AND MRS JULIE NAIDOO.
I HAVE JUST LEARNT THAT HER MIDDLE NAME 'DIVYARUPA' TRANSLATES INTO THE 'MANY DIVINE FORMS OF LORD VISHNU'.
AS MANY HINDUS IN THE AUDIENCE MAY KNOW THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LORD VISHNU, BUT KINDLY ALLOW ME TO HIGHLIGHT WHY OUR LATEST BHARATA-NATYAM GRADUATE WAS NAMED AFTER ONE OF THE GODS OF ANCIENT INDIA.
LORD VISHNU IS THE PRESERVER GOD OF THE TRINITY WITH FOUR HANDS.
THE FIRST HAND HOLDS A CONCH SHELL (SANKHA) INDICATING SPREAD OF THE DIVINE SOUND "OM"; ONE HOLDS A DISCUS (CHAKRA), A REMINDER OF THE WHEEL OF TIME, AND TO LEAD A GOOD LIFE; ONE HOLDS A LOTUS (PADMA) WHICH IS AN EXAMPLE OF GLORIOUS EXISTENCE AND THE FOURTH HANDS HOLDS A MACE (GADA) INDICATING THE POWER AND THE PUNISHING CAPACITY OF THE LORD IF DISCIPLINE IN LIFE IS IGNORED.
THE EQUALLY MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PERSONA AND PROFILE OF LORD VISHNU IS ALSO MIRRORED IN THE FACE OF OUR YOUNG GRADUATE AS SHE CONTINUES TO FASCINATE US WITH THE GRACE AND BEAUTY OF THE ART OF THIS DANCE FORM.
I HAVE ALSO LEARNT THAT LOCHAN AND JULIE NAIDOO FIRMLY BELIEVED THAT IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD OF CROSS-CULTURAL EXPLOSIONS THAT IMPACT ON OUR YOUNG PEOPLE THAT IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT THE YOUNGEST SIBLING OF THEIR THREE CHILDREN SHOULD FOLLOW THE ANCIENT PATHWAY OF THE CENTURIES-OLD ART FORM OF BHARATA-NATYAM DANCING.
THEY BELIEVE THAT THIS INTRICATE AND TAXING DANCE FORM TEACHES YOUNG WOMEN LIFE-SKILLS AND CORE VALUES SUCH AS DISCIPLINE, FOCUS, DEDICATION, COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, RESILIENCE, RIGHT LIVING, PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS.
I BELIEVE THAT HAVING SUCCESSFULLY UNDERGONE KUMARI AMBIGAY'S RIGOROUS TRAINING, TUTORING AND MENTORING, NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO HAS LEARNT TO PUT HER BEST FOOT FORWARD ON STAGE THIS AFTERNOON.
HENCE THIS WONDERFUL GATHERING OF WITNESSES AT THIS ARANGETRAM – AN OFFICIAL CEREMONY – IN WHICH THE GRADUATE MAKES HER BIG-STAGE DANCING DEBUT TO TEST HER SKILLS AND TECHNIQUE BEFORE ALL OF YOU AS WITNESSES.
THEREFORE YOUR APPROVAL, ENDORSEMENT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THIS DISPLAY OF DANCING ARE CRUCIAL TO THE DANCER'S FUTURE CAREER-PATHING.
ONCE THIS MONUMENTAL CHALLENGE OF BEING CERTIFIED AS AN EXPONENT OF BHARATA-NATYAM IS OVER, I UNDERSTAND NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO WILL SOON TAKE THE QUANTUM LEAP OF UNDERGOING A SIX-MONTH COURSE WITH THE KUMARI AMBIGAY DANCE INSTITUTE TOWARDS FULFILLING HER DREAM OF BECOMING A FULLY-FLEDGED DANCE TEACHER.
IMAGINE HOW MANY OTHER STARRY-EYED GIRLS ARE GOING TO BENEFIT FROM A NEWLY-QUALIFIED TUTOR?
SINCE BEING IN OFFICE FOR ALMOST TEN YEARS, I HAVE BEEN INVITED TO MANY ARANGETRAMS AND I OFTEN MARVEL AT THE PASSION AND DEDICATION THE GRADUATES DISPLAY ON STAGE.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT IS OFTEN A JOY WATCHING THIS VISUALLY STRIKING AND YET ELEGANT DANCE POSES TO SOUND OF LILTING MUSIC AND TUNES.
FOR ALMOST 148 YEARS SINCE WE HAD INHERITED THIS ANCIENT DANCE FROM THE 1860 INDIAN INDENTURED LABOURERS, THE INDIAN COMMUNITY HAS ADDED A SPLASH OF COLOUR AND CULTURAL HERITAGE TO THE CITY OF DURBAN.
THERE ARE MANY CITIES ON CONTINENTAL AFRICA OR THE REST OF THE WORLD THAT ENJOYS THIS MULTICULTURAL DIMENSION.
AS DEPUTY MAYOR OF A GROWING AFRICAN CITY, I AM PROUD OF OUR CULTURAL DIVERSITY THAT HAS ENHANCED OUR STATUS AS A LANDMARK TOURIST DESTINATION WHERE EAST MEETS WEST AGAINST THE TAPESTRY OF AFRICAN AND ISIZULU CULTURE, HISTORY AND LEGACY.
SINCE 1994, MORE AND MORE NON-HINDU DANCERS AND SINGERS HAVE FOUND CULTURAL HOMES IN INDIAN CULTURE AND I TRUST THAT THIS TREND TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE WITH OUR PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED BLACK AFRICAN COMPATRIOTS WILL CONTINUE TO PORTRAY A CROSS-CULTURAL CHOREOGRAPHY OF OUR CULTURAL ASSETS AND HUMAN CAPITAL.
I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY OF ENCOURAGING PARENTS TO INVEST IN YOUR CHILDREN'S EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES BECAUSE IN ORDER TO DEVELOP FUTURE LEADERS THERE HAS TO BE THE COMPONENT OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND PROWESS IN ARTS AND CULTURE AND SPORTS.
ON THIS GRAND AND JOYOUS OCCASION OF NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA'S PUBLIC DANCE DEBUT, I AM REMINDED ABOUT A PAPER DELIVERED BY RENOWNED SCHOLAR AND EXPONENT NIRMALA RAMACHANDRAN ON 'CLASSICAL DANCE OF ANCIENT TAMILS' AT THE MUSIC & DANCE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SEMINAR OF TAMIL STUDIES
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, IN 1966.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SHE TOLD HER AUDIENCE: "BHARATANATYAM IS A CLASSICAL DANCE FORM ORIGINATING IN TAMIL NADU, A STATE IN SOUTH INDIA. THIS POPULAR SOUTH INDIAN DANCE FORM IS A 20TH CENTURY RECONSTRUCTION OF CATHIR, THE ART OF TEMPLE DANCERS. CATHIR IN TURN, IS DERIVED FROM ANCIENT DANCE FORMS. BHARATANATYAM IS USUALLY ACCOMPANIED BY THE CLASSICAL CARNATIC MUSIC."
FINALLY, I EXTEND MY BEST WISHES ON BEHALF OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY AND THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF DURBAN TO OUR NEW GRADUATE AND MAY YOU DANCE AND DANCE AS IF NO ONE IS LOOKING AT YOU.
I THANK ALL OF YOU AND ESPECIALLY LOCHAN AND JULIE NAIDO OF GIVING ME THE HONOUR AND PRIVILEGE OF GRACING THIS CULTURALLY ENRICHING AND COLOURFUL DEMONSTRATION OF CLASSICAL DANCING.
Compiled/researched/written by marlanpadayachee/greengoldafrica communications/for further information/contact pinkynaidoo/marlan.padayachee@greengold.co.za/greengold@telkomsa.net/pnpinkynaidoo@gmail.com/0837961762/0837971762/0312661762/faxmail0866989343/0312669202/www.marlanpadayacehe.com/www.greengoldcom.com/www.leftofwhatsright/blogsite.com
GreenGold – Communicating with Passion Precision & Purpose
Aneka Divyarupa Naidoo A New Bharata Natyam Star is Born
OPENING ADDRESS BY COUNCILLOR LOGIE NAIDOO, DEPUTY
MAYOR OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY, AT THE BHARATHA
NATYAM ARANGETRAM OF NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA
NAIDOO AT THE COAST OF DREAMS, DURBAN EXHIBITION
CENTRE, ON SUNDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2008 AT 12H30.
THANK YOU, PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND CHILDREN, DISTINGUISHED DIGNITARIES AND GUESTS OF HONOUR.
THIS WEEK HAS BEEN A MOMENTOUS WEEK IN POLITICS, BUT I CAN ASSURE ALL OF YOU THAT THESE CHANGES ARE AIMED AT PROVIDING A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL.
THIS AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY BRIEF IS TO FOCUS ON THE MOMENTOUS OCCASION OF AN EXTRAORDINARY DANCING CANDIDATE, OUR CENTRE OF ATTRACTION, NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO.
NATYAMANNI IS THE TITLE HER INIMITABLE DANCE TUTOR KUMARI AMBIGAY HAS CONFERRED ON HER AS THE DANCE INSTITUTE'S 97TH GRADUATE.
AS THE YOUNGEST CHILD, SHE WAS NAMED ANEKA DIVYARUPA BY HER PARENTS AND OUR HOSTS, DR LOCHAN NAIDOO AND MRS JULIE NAIDOO.
I HAVE JUST LEARNT THAT HER MIDDLE NAME 'DIVYARUPA' TRANSLATES INTO THE 'MANY DIVINE FORMS OF LORD VISHNU'.
AS MANY HINDUS IN THE AUDIENCE MAY KNOW THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LORD VISHNU, BUT KINDLY ALLOW ME TO HIGHLIGHT WHY OUR LATEST BHARATA-NATYAM GRADUATE WAS NAMED AFTER ONE OF THE GODS OF ANCIENT INDIA.
LORD VISHNU IS THE PRESERVER GOD OF THE TRINITY WITH FOUR HANDS.
THE FIRST HAND HOLDS A CONCH SHELL (SANKHA) INDICATING SPREAD OF THE DIVINE SOUND "OM"; ONE HOLDS A DISCUS (CHAKRA), A REMINDER OF THE WHEEL OF TIME, AND TO LEAD A GOOD LIFE; ONE HOLDS A LOTUS (PADMA) WHICH IS AN EXAMPLE OF GLORIOUS EXISTENCE AND THE FOURTH HANDS HOLDS A MACE (GADA) INDICATING THE POWER AND THE PUNISHING CAPACITY OF THE LORD IF DISCIPLINE IN LIFE IS IGNORED.
THE EQUALLY MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PERSONA AND PROFILE OF LORD VISHNU IS ALSO MIRRORED IN THE FACE OF OUR YOUNG GRADUATE AS SHE CONTINUES TO FASCINATE US WITH THE GRACE AND BEAUTY OF THE ART OF THIS DANCE FORM.
I HAVE ALSO LEARNT THAT LOCHAN AND JULIE NAIDOO FIRMLY BELIEVED THAT IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD OF CROSS-CULTURAL EXPLOSIONS THAT IMPACT ON OUR YOUNG PEOPLE THAT IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT THE YOUNGEST SIBLING OF THEIR THREE CHILDREN SHOULD FOLLOW THE ANCIENT PATHWAY OF THE CENTURIES-OLD ART FORM OF BHARATA-NATYAM DANCING.
THEY BELIEVE THAT THIS INTRICATE AND TAXING DANCE FORM TEACHES YOUNG WOMEN LIFE-SKILLS AND CORE VALUES SUCH AS DISCIPLINE, FOCUS, DEDICATION, COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, RESILIENCE, RIGHT LIVING, PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS.
I BELIEVE THAT HAVING SUCCESSFULLY UNDERGONE KUMARI AMBIGAY'S RIGOROUS TRAINING, TUTORING AND MENTORING, NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO HAS LEARNT TO PUT HER BEST FOOT FORWARD ON STAGE THIS AFTERNOON.
HENCE THIS WONDERFUL GATHERING OF WITNESSES AT THIS ARANGETRAM – AN OFFICIAL CEREMONY – IN WHICH THE GRADUATE MAKES HER BIG-STAGE DANCING DEBUT TO TEST HER SKILLS AND TECHNIQUE BEFORE ALL OF YOU AS WITNESSES.
THEREFORE YOUR APPROVAL, ENDORSEMENT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THIS DISPLAY OF DANCING ARE CRUCIAL TO THE DANCER'S FUTURE CAREER-PATHING.
ONCE THIS MONUMENTAL CHALLENGE OF BEING CERTIFIED AS AN EXPONENT OF BHARATA-NATYAM IS OVER, I UNDERSTAND NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO WILL SOON TAKE THE QUANTUM LEAP OF UNDERGOING A SIX-MONTH COURSE WITH THE KUMARI AMBIGAY DANCE INSTITUTE TOWARDS FULFILLING HER DREAM OF BECOMING A FULLY-FLEDGED DANCE TEACHER.
IMAGINE HOW MANY OTHER STARRY-EYED GIRLS ARE GOING TO BENEFIT FROM A NEWLY-QUALIFIED TUTOR?
SINCE BEING IN OFFICE FOR ALMOST TEN YEARS, I HAVE BEEN INVITED TO MANY ARANGETRAMS AND I OFTEN MARVEL AT THE PASSION AND DEDICATION THE GRADUATES DISPLAY ON STAGE.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT IS OFTEN A JOY WATCHING THIS VISUALLY STRIKING AND YET ELEGANT DANCE POSES TO SOUND OF LILTING MUSIC AND TUNES.
FOR ALMOST 148 YEARS SINCE WE HAD INHERITED THIS ANCIENT DANCE FROM THE 1860 INDIAN INDENTURED LABOURERS, THE INDIAN COMMUNITY HAS ADDED A SPLASH OF COLOUR AND CULTURAL HERITAGE TO THE CITY OF DURBAN.
THERE ARE MANY CITIES ON CONTINENTAL AFRICA OR THE REST OF THE WORLD THAT ENJOYS THIS MULTICULTURAL DIMENSION.
AS DEPUTY MAYOR OF A GROWING AFRICAN CITY, I AM PROUD OF OUR CULTURAL DIVERSITY THAT HAS ENHANCED OUR STATUS AS A LANDMARK TOURIST DESTINATION WHERE EAST MEETS WEST AGAINST THE TAPESTRY OF AFRICAN AND ISIZULU CULTURE, HISTORY AND LEGACY.
SINCE 1994, MORE AND MORE NON-HINDU DANCERS AND SINGERS HAVE FOUND CULTURAL HOMES IN INDIAN CULTURE AND I TRUST THAT THIS TREND TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE WITH OUR PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED BLACK AFRICAN COMPATRIOTS WILL CONTINUE TO PORTRAY A CROSS-CULTURAL CHOREOGRAPHY OF OUR CULTURAL ASSETS AND HUMAN CAPITAL.
I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY OF ENCOURAGING PARENTS TO INVEST IN YOUR CHILDREN'S EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES BECAUSE IN ORDER TO DEVELOP FUTURE LEADERS THERE HAS TO BE THE COMPONENT OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND PROWESS IN ARTS AND CULTURE AND SPORTS.
ON THIS GRAND AND JOYOUS OCCASION OF NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA'S PUBLIC DANCE DEBUT, I AM REMINDED ABOUT A PAPER DELIVERED BY RENOWNED SCHOLAR AND EXPONENT NIRMALA RAMACHANDRAN ON 'CLASSICAL DANCE OF ANCIENT TAMILS' AT THE MUSIC & DANCE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SEMINAR OF TAMIL STUDIES
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, IN 1966.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SHE TOLD HER AUDIENCE: "BHARATANATYAM IS A CLASSICAL DANCE FORM ORIGINATING IN TAMIL NADU, A STATE IN SOUTH INDIA. THIS POPULAR SOUTH INDIAN DANCE FORM IS A 20TH CENTURY RECONSTRUCTION OF CATHIR, THE ART OF TEMPLE DANCERS. CATHIR IN TURN, IS DERIVED FROM ANCIENT DANCE FORMS. BHARATANATYAM IS USUALLY ACCOMPANIED BY THE CLASSICAL CARNATIC MUSIC."
FINALLY, I EXTEND MY BEST WISHES ON BEHALF OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY AND THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF DURBAN TO OUR NEW GRADUATE AND MAY YOU DANCE AND DANCE AS IF NO ONE IS LOOKING AT YOU.
I THANK ALL OF YOU AND ESPECIALLY LOCHAN AND JULIE NAIDO OF GIVING ME THE HONOUR AND PRIVILEGE OF GRACING THIS CULTURALLY ENRICHING AND COLOURFUL DEMONSTRATION OF CLASSICAL DANCING.
Compiled/researched/written by marlanpadayachee/greengoldafrica communications/for further information/contact pinkynaidoo/marlan.padayachee@greengold.co.za/greengold@telkomsa.net/pnpinkynaidoo@gmail.com/0837961762/0837971762/0312661762/faxmail0866989343/0312669202/www.marlanpadayacehe.com/www.greengoldcom.com/www.leftofwhatsright/blogsite.com
GreenGold – Communicating with Passion Precision & Purpose
MAYOR OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY, AT THE BHARATHA
NATYAM ARANGETRAM OF NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA
NAIDOO AT THE COAST OF DREAMS, DURBAN EXHIBITION
CENTRE, ON SUNDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2008 AT 12H30.
THANK YOU, PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND CHILDREN, DISTINGUISHED DIGNITARIES AND GUESTS OF HONOUR.
THIS WEEK HAS BEEN A MOMENTOUS WEEK IN POLITICS, BUT I CAN ASSURE ALL OF YOU THAT THESE CHANGES ARE AIMED AT PROVIDING A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL.
THIS AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY BRIEF IS TO FOCUS ON THE MOMENTOUS OCCASION OF AN EXTRAORDINARY DANCING CANDIDATE, OUR CENTRE OF ATTRACTION, NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO.
NATYAMANNI IS THE TITLE HER INIMITABLE DANCE TUTOR KUMARI AMBIGAY HAS CONFERRED ON HER AS THE DANCE INSTITUTE'S 97TH GRADUATE.
AS THE YOUNGEST CHILD, SHE WAS NAMED ANEKA DIVYARUPA BY HER PARENTS AND OUR HOSTS, DR LOCHAN NAIDOO AND MRS JULIE NAIDOO.
I HAVE JUST LEARNT THAT HER MIDDLE NAME 'DIVYARUPA' TRANSLATES INTO THE 'MANY DIVINE FORMS OF LORD VISHNU'.
AS MANY HINDUS IN THE AUDIENCE MAY KNOW THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LORD VISHNU, BUT KINDLY ALLOW ME TO HIGHLIGHT WHY OUR LATEST BHARATA-NATYAM GRADUATE WAS NAMED AFTER ONE OF THE GODS OF ANCIENT INDIA.
LORD VISHNU IS THE PRESERVER GOD OF THE TRINITY WITH FOUR HANDS.
THE FIRST HAND HOLDS A CONCH SHELL (SANKHA) INDICATING SPREAD OF THE DIVINE SOUND "OM"; ONE HOLDS A DISCUS (CHAKRA), A REMINDER OF THE WHEEL OF TIME, AND TO LEAD A GOOD LIFE; ONE HOLDS A LOTUS (PADMA) WHICH IS AN EXAMPLE OF GLORIOUS EXISTENCE AND THE FOURTH HANDS HOLDS A MACE (GADA) INDICATING THE POWER AND THE PUNISHING CAPACITY OF THE LORD IF DISCIPLINE IN LIFE IS IGNORED.
THE EQUALLY MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PERSONA AND PROFILE OF LORD VISHNU IS ALSO MIRRORED IN THE FACE OF OUR YOUNG GRADUATE AS SHE CONTINUES TO FASCINATE US WITH THE GRACE AND BEAUTY OF THE ART OF THIS DANCE FORM.
I HAVE ALSO LEARNT THAT LOCHAN AND JULIE NAIDOO FIRMLY BELIEVED THAT IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD OF CROSS-CULTURAL EXPLOSIONS THAT IMPACT ON OUR YOUNG PEOPLE THAT IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT THE YOUNGEST SIBLING OF THEIR THREE CHILDREN SHOULD FOLLOW THE ANCIENT PATHWAY OF THE CENTURIES-OLD ART FORM OF BHARATA-NATYAM DANCING.
THEY BELIEVE THAT THIS INTRICATE AND TAXING DANCE FORM TEACHES YOUNG WOMEN LIFE-SKILLS AND CORE VALUES SUCH AS DISCIPLINE, FOCUS, DEDICATION, COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, RESILIENCE, RIGHT LIVING, PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS.
I BELIEVE THAT HAVING SUCCESSFULLY UNDERGONE KUMARI AMBIGAY'S RIGOROUS TRAINING, TUTORING AND MENTORING, NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO HAS LEARNT TO PUT HER BEST FOOT FORWARD ON STAGE THIS AFTERNOON.
HENCE THIS WONDERFUL GATHERING OF WITNESSES AT THIS ARANGETRAM – AN OFFICIAL CEREMONY – IN WHICH THE GRADUATE MAKES HER BIG-STAGE DANCING DEBUT TO TEST HER SKILLS AND TECHNIQUE BEFORE ALL OF YOU AS WITNESSES.
THEREFORE YOUR APPROVAL, ENDORSEMENT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THIS DISPLAY OF DANCING ARE CRUCIAL TO THE DANCER'S FUTURE CAREER-PATHING.
ONCE THIS MONUMENTAL CHALLENGE OF BEING CERTIFIED AS AN EXPONENT OF BHARATA-NATYAM IS OVER, I UNDERSTAND NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA NAIDOO WILL SOON TAKE THE QUANTUM LEAP OF UNDERGOING A SIX-MONTH COURSE WITH THE KUMARI AMBIGAY DANCE INSTITUTE TOWARDS FULFILLING HER DREAM OF BECOMING A FULLY-FLEDGED DANCE TEACHER.
IMAGINE HOW MANY OTHER STARRY-EYED GIRLS ARE GOING TO BENEFIT FROM A NEWLY-QUALIFIED TUTOR?
SINCE BEING IN OFFICE FOR ALMOST TEN YEARS, I HAVE BEEN INVITED TO MANY ARANGETRAMS AND I OFTEN MARVEL AT THE PASSION AND DEDICATION THE GRADUATES DISPLAY ON STAGE.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT IS OFTEN A JOY WATCHING THIS VISUALLY STRIKING AND YET ELEGANT DANCE POSES TO SOUND OF LILTING MUSIC AND TUNES.
FOR ALMOST 148 YEARS SINCE WE HAD INHERITED THIS ANCIENT DANCE FROM THE 1860 INDIAN INDENTURED LABOURERS, THE INDIAN COMMUNITY HAS ADDED A SPLASH OF COLOUR AND CULTURAL HERITAGE TO THE CITY OF DURBAN.
THERE ARE MANY CITIES ON CONTINENTAL AFRICA OR THE REST OF THE WORLD THAT ENJOYS THIS MULTICULTURAL DIMENSION.
AS DEPUTY MAYOR OF A GROWING AFRICAN CITY, I AM PROUD OF OUR CULTURAL DIVERSITY THAT HAS ENHANCED OUR STATUS AS A LANDMARK TOURIST DESTINATION WHERE EAST MEETS WEST AGAINST THE TAPESTRY OF AFRICAN AND ISIZULU CULTURE, HISTORY AND LEGACY.
SINCE 1994, MORE AND MORE NON-HINDU DANCERS AND SINGERS HAVE FOUND CULTURAL HOMES IN INDIAN CULTURE AND I TRUST THAT THIS TREND TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE WITH OUR PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED BLACK AFRICAN COMPATRIOTS WILL CONTINUE TO PORTRAY A CROSS-CULTURAL CHOREOGRAPHY OF OUR CULTURAL ASSETS AND HUMAN CAPITAL.
I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY OF ENCOURAGING PARENTS TO INVEST IN YOUR CHILDREN'S EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES BECAUSE IN ORDER TO DEVELOP FUTURE LEADERS THERE HAS TO BE THE COMPONENT OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND PROWESS IN ARTS AND CULTURE AND SPORTS.
ON THIS GRAND AND JOYOUS OCCASION OF NATYAMANNI ANEKA DIVYARUPA'S PUBLIC DANCE DEBUT, I AM REMINDED ABOUT A PAPER DELIVERED BY RENOWNED SCHOLAR AND EXPONENT NIRMALA RAMACHANDRAN ON 'CLASSICAL DANCE OF ANCIENT TAMILS' AT THE MUSIC & DANCE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SEMINAR OF TAMIL STUDIES
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, IN 1966.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SHE TOLD HER AUDIENCE: "BHARATANATYAM IS A CLASSICAL DANCE FORM ORIGINATING IN TAMIL NADU, A STATE IN SOUTH INDIA. THIS POPULAR SOUTH INDIAN DANCE FORM IS A 20TH CENTURY RECONSTRUCTION OF CATHIR, THE ART OF TEMPLE DANCERS. CATHIR IN TURN, IS DERIVED FROM ANCIENT DANCE FORMS. BHARATANATYAM IS USUALLY ACCOMPANIED BY THE CLASSICAL CARNATIC MUSIC."
FINALLY, I EXTEND MY BEST WISHES ON BEHALF OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY AND THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF DURBAN TO OUR NEW GRADUATE AND MAY YOU DANCE AND DANCE AS IF NO ONE IS LOOKING AT YOU.
I THANK ALL OF YOU AND ESPECIALLY LOCHAN AND JULIE NAIDO OF GIVING ME THE HONOUR AND PRIVILEGE OF GRACING THIS CULTURALLY ENRICHING AND COLOURFUL DEMONSTRATION OF CLASSICAL DANCING.
Compiled/researched/written by marlanpadayachee/greengoldafrica communications/for further information/contact pinkynaidoo/marlan.padayachee@greengold.co.za/greengold@telkomsa.net/pnpinkynaidoo@gmail.com/0837961762/0837971762/0312661762/faxmail0866989343/0312669202/www.marlanpadayacehe.com/www.greengoldcom.com/www.leftofwhatsright/blogsite.com
GreenGold – Communicating with Passion Precision & Purpose
Saturday, September 27, 2008
I Am Packing For Victoria Falls
Left of What's RightMarlan Padayachee In our business of newspapering and publishing, all in the public interest, there is an old adage: "If it Bleeds, It Leads."This is about sensational reports making the headline news in newspapers, television and radio sound bytes.The media is often castigated for sensationalism rather than idealism. Newspaper, TV and radio are communication and information consumer products that publishing houses sell to the public domain. There's no sentiments, no matter the size, status, stature of big, small or powerful people who are not above the law because the Fourth Estate has its one rules and power as watchdog mirroring society. In our business, we have been empowered by these mantras: 'Publish and Be Damned', report "Without Fear or Favour, and as the Americans say 'There's no such thing as a free lunch" and as we say in isiZulu country, 'Nothing for Mahala'. Zim Who? So what's the point?After weeks of sensational headlines and sound bytes, my breakfast was greeted by a breakthrough storyline: Zim deal struck at last.And after the longest poll in the world in the post-colonial-apartheid democracies, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia to expatriates who still fly the old colonial flags and have probably immortalised Cecil John Rhodes). Long after the multiparty negotiations became a no-hoper on-off case study under the stewardship of Thabo Mbeki and at the cost of hard-pressed taxpayers, and with Robert Mugabe stubbornly sticking to traits of his post-Lancaster House intransigency and guerilla doctrines, the world had given up on the Promised Land that was once Africa's breadbasket and liberation template. So how does this affect our constituencies and communities? As I have stated previously, xenophobia has been on your doorstep for a long time.The recent xenophobic attack on African nationals from Harare to Houghton was a haunting political choreography of a nation bursting at the seams. The political powder keg had at last exploded on the Proudly South African face. Other reasons and critical and shrinking resources may have sparked the xenophobic attacks that put SA to shame. Embarrassed and belittled with Nelson Mandela's heart bleeding in the background over our ingratitude to the Africans who sheltered, fed and clothed exiles, and the global village that saluted our peaceful transition to democracy and rainbow nationalism, Mbeki soldiered on. The media covered the mixed messaging from the recent talks about talks aimed at getting poll winner Morgan Tsvangirai, dealmaker Arthur Mutambara and the Chimurenga warlord Mugabe to smoke the peace pipe. Once he retires from the Presidency next autumn, he can expect a call from the UN in New York to be redeployed as its Ambassador-At-Large in the trouble spots in the footsteps of his British counterpart and exiled academic days host Tony Blair, an envoy making peace work in the Gaza Strip. Ja, well, no, Chief, Commander Mbeki has pulled our troublesome neighbouring out of the fire and the boiling political pot. Yesterday's Heroes I recall as if it happened yesterday. Picture this two-part scenario: Mbeki, the ANC diplomat in exile tugging at his trademark pipe and sipping lager in the breakaway interviewing sessions during the Non-Aligned Movement congress in Harare in 1986, just like Yusuf Dadoo, the SA Communist Party leader in exile, tugging his trademark pipe and sipping lager in London during the United Nations' apartheid sports-sanctioning conference under the stewardship of Sam Ramsamy in 1982.Quite prophetically, the bearded persona who was to become our visionary president, told me to go home because "they" needed journalists to cover the story of the victory over apartheid, while Dadoo provided some incredible insights into how his conservative family prodded him to study medicine over political activism.The rest is history until Mugabe, who hosted the Non-Aligned Summit in a town that was once called Salisbury under the chairmanship of India.Mbeki began taking the heat and refused to leave the kitchen while our belligerent neighbours ran the gauntlet in the reading room. Who Started the Joke?Public confidence started waning and slowly the world was writing Zimbabwe's death warrant. The country's currency under crisis and cronyism became a standing joke from Bulawayo to Beit Bridge. From Downing Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, Africa's once powerful economy and hospitable nation became the laughing stock of the 21st century world. Who started the joke? Life President or Zimbodweans? So when "Zim deal struck at last" hit the streets last Friday, displacing Jacob Zuma's public-interest court trial from the front pages and leading sound bytes, it must surely convinced the world that Africans, stigmatized by stereotyping, have at last pulled it and they have a grasp of outcome-based solutions and strategies. In the spirit of multiparty democracy, the one-time adversaries will now share the political pie and bring the controversial country back from the Zimbabwe Ruins. Remember how the warring Irish factions worked around the Good Friday Accord. Closer to home, this was a Good Friday, indeed, despite the President-elect hogging the limelight in court, surrounded by all the well-wishing bigwigs (no pun intended) from Amichand Rajbansi to bald-headed Jeff Radebe after Judge Chris Nicholson set him free. New statesmen are taking the podium across the Limpopo skyline and the few millions of persecuted economic exiles and migrants will soon be homeward bound, leaving behind vacancies for our jobless to become car guards, chefs and waiters and teachers and lecturers and Home Affairs getting on with the core business of delivering new ID books and passports to South African taxpayers. Along the SADC route via the Maputo Corridor, Angola's long-running ruling party, MPLA, are thinking of drinking Windhoek Lager with the opposition party, UNITA, after a bloody 30-year bush war with slain rebel leader's Jonas Savimbi's guerilla movement. Last week's parliamentary vote in which the ruling party won a landslide victory has raised hopes for the end of a one-party state since Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975 that triggered a deadly civil war. Peace at last on the south? So instead of the crime and corruption scourge compelling fed-up taxpayers to join the brain drain for foreign shores, like Packing for Perth (PFP) or To Run To (Toronto), I am packing my bag for Victoria Falls because it has been a long time since the real rainbow hit me in the eyes with the holy water from the Great Lakes soothing my face from the sunny blue skies and sprays from one of great wonders of the world. Here goes when I reach Makasa: "Prime Minister Tsvangirai, I presume. Sir, take me to Your Excellency, it's been a long time since we shook hands and had bear hugs. Back on the home front, watching Jacob Zuma being feted in the capital's old courthouse, I also see value in old adage: "You cannot keep a good man (woman) down" and until next week: About Braaivleis, Sunny Skies, Amabenzi and Jacob's Ladder: "Zuma is one of the few leaders with whom I would sit around a fire. He's an honest man and speaks like an Afrikaner — a straightforward person." - Celebrity Steve Hofmeyr after a braai with the ANC President who has started wooing the hearts of the marginalised Afrikaner tribes. Marlan Padayachee is an international freelance journalist, socio-political commentator and media communications strategist whose work earned him the British Council Fellow and USIS International Visitor awards.
I Am Packing For Victoria Falls
Left of What's RightMarlan Padayachee In our business of newspapering and publishing, all in the public interest, there is an old adage: "If it Bleeds, It Leads."This is about sensational reports making the headline news in newspapers, television and radio sound bytes.The media is often castigated for sensationalism rather than idealism. Newspaper, TV and radio are communication and information consumer products that publishing houses sell to the public domain. There's no sentiments, no matter the size, status, stature of big, small or powerful people who are not above the law because the Fourth Estate has its one rules and power as watchdog mirroring society. In our business, we have been empowered by these mantras: 'Publish and Be Damned', report "Without Fear or Favour, and as the Americans say 'There's no such thing as a free lunch" and as we say in isiZulu country, 'Nothing for Mahala'. Zim Who? So what's the point?After weeks of sensational headlines and sound bytes, my breakfast was greeted by a breakthrough storyline: Zim deal struck at last.And after the longest poll in the world in the post-colonial-apartheid democracies, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia to expatriates who still fly the old colonial flags and have probably immortalised Cecil John Rhodes). Long after the multiparty negotiations became a no-hoper on-off case study under the stewardship of Thabo Mbeki and at the cost of hard-pressed taxpayers, and with Robert Mugabe stubbornly sticking to traits of his post-Lancaster House intransigency and guerilla doctrines, the world had given up on the Promised Land that was once Africa's breadbasket and liberation template. So how does this affect our constituencies and communities? As I have stated previously, xenophobia has been on your doorstep for a long time.The recent xenophobic attack on African nationals from Harare to Houghton was a haunting political choreography of a nation bursting at the seams. The political powder keg had at last exploded on the Proudly South African face. Other reasons and critical and shrinking resources may have sparked the xenophobic attacks that put SA to shame. Embarrassed and belittled with Nelson Mandela's heart bleeding in the background over our ingratitude to the Africans who sheltered, fed and clothed exiles, and the global village that saluted our peaceful transition to democracy and rainbow nationalism, Mbeki soldiered on. The media covered the mixed messaging from the recent talks about talks aimed at getting poll winner Morgan Tsvangirai, dealmaker Arthur Mutambara and the Chimurenga warlord Mugabe to smoke the peace pipe. Once he retires from the Presidency next autumn, he can expect a call from the UN in New York to be redeployed as its Ambassador-At-Large in the trouble spots in the footsteps of his British counterpart and exiled academic days host Tony Blair, an envoy making peace work in the Gaza Strip. Ja, well, no, Chief, Commander Mbeki has pulled our troublesome neighbouring out of the fire and the boiling political pot. Yesterday's Heroes I recall as if it happened yesterday. Picture this two-part scenario: Mbeki, the ANC diplomat in exile tugging at his trademark pipe and sipping lager in the breakaway interviewing sessions during the Non-Aligned Movement congress in Harare in 1986, just like Yusuf Dadoo, the SA Communist Party leader in exile, tugging his trademark pipe and sipping lager in London during the United Nations' apartheid sports-sanctioning conference under the stewardship of Sam Ramsamy in 1982.Quite prophetically, the bearded persona who was to become our visionary president, told me to go home because "they" needed journalists to cover the story of the victory over apartheid, while Dadoo provided some incredible insights into how his conservative family prodded him to study medicine over political activism.The rest is history until Mugabe, who hosted the Non-Aligned Summit in a town that was once called Salisbury under the chairmanship of India.Mbeki began taking the heat and refused to leave the kitchen while our belligerent neighbours ran the gauntlet in the reading room. Who Started the Joke?Public confidence started waning and slowly the world was writing Zimbabwe's death warrant. The country's currency under crisis and cronyism became a standing joke from Bulawayo to Beit Bridge. From Downing Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, Africa's once powerful economy and hospitable nation became the laughing stock of the 21st century world. Who started the joke? Life President or Zimbodweans? So when "Zim deal struck at last" hit the streets last Friday, displacing Jacob Zuma's public-interest court trial from the front pages and leading sound bytes, it must surely convinced the world that Africans, stigmatized by stereotyping, have at last pulled it and they have a grasp of outcome-based solutions and strategies. In the spirit of multiparty democracy, the one-time adversaries will now share the political pie and bring the controversial country back from the Zimbabwe Ruins. Remember how the warring Irish factions worked around the Good Friday Accord. Closer to home, this was a Good Friday, indeed, despite the President-elect hogging the limelight in court, surrounded by all the well-wishing bigwigs (no pun intended) from Amichand Rajbansi to bald-headed Jeff Radebe after Judge Chris Nicholson set him free. New statesmen are taking the podium across the Limpopo skyline and the few millions of persecuted economic exiles and migrants will soon be homeward bound, leaving behind vacancies for our jobless to become car guards, chefs and waiters and teachers and lecturers and Home Affairs getting on with the core business of delivering new ID books and passports to South African taxpayers. Along the SADC route via the Maputo Corridor, Angola's long-running ruling party, MPLA, are thinking of drinking Windhoek Lager with the opposition party, UNITA, after a bloody 30-year bush war with slain rebel leader's Jonas Savimbi's guerilla movement. Last week's parliamentary vote in which the ruling party won a landslide victory has raised hopes for the end of a one-party state since Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975 that triggered a deadly civil war. Peace at last on the south? So instead of the crime and corruption scourge compelling fed-up taxpayers to join the brain drain for foreign shores, like Packing for Perth (PFP) or To Run To (Toronto), I am packing my bag for Victoria Falls because it has been a long time since the real rainbow hit me in the eyes with the holy water from the Great Lakes soothing my face from the sunny blue skies and sprays from one of great wonders of the world. Here goes when I reach Makasa: "Prime Minister Tsvangirai, I presume. Sir, take me to Your Excellency, it's been a long time since we shook hands and had bear hugs. Back on the home front, watching Jacob Zuma being feted in the capital's old courthouse, I also see value in old adage: "You cannot keep a good man (woman) down" and until next week: About Braaivleis, Sunny Skies, Amabenzi and Jacob's Ladder: "Zuma is one of the few leaders with whom I would sit around a fire. He's an honest man and speaks like an Afrikaner — a straightforward person." - Celebrity Steve Hofmeyr after a braai with the ANC President who has started wooing the hearts of the marginalised Afrikaner tribes. Marlan Padayachee is an international freelance journalist, socio-political commentator and media communications strategist whose work earned him the British Council Fellow and USIS International Visitor awards.
The Day I Shared Lager With Thabo Mbeki
Quote: “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” – Bill Cosby.
Me & Mbeki
The Day I Shared Lager with Thabo Mbeki as South Africa’s Future President Tugged on His Trademark Pipe
IT’S 1986 in the spring of Harare. Here I was seated in front of post-apartheid’s future President as he tugged on his trademark pipe and the aroma of tobacco consumed my probing mind. The bearded diplomat-cum-freedom fighter graciously sipped a cold lager, waxing lyrically in measured tones in Queen’s English, about his vision for a new South Africa.
Before then Thabo Mbeki was an enigma whose reputation had preceded him in the underground movement of the liberation struggle spearheaded by the African National Congress.
He was the ANC’s International Affairs Director at Mandela Street in Margaret Thatcher dominion, and the foreign face of the magnetic movement that attracted hordes of black and white post-Woodstock activists.
The British-educated semi-diplomat travelled between Lusaka and London in his roving post as a well-heeled envoy aimed at demystifying his outlawed guerilla movement as legitimate resisters bent on changing the status quo of apartheid.
Our venue was on the outskirts of the high-security conference centre, where India's Rajiv Gandhi, Cuba's Fidel Castro, the PLO's Yasser Arafat, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and almost 50 heads of state were attending the 8th Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement.
NAM was bloc of 101 nations formed in 1961 by leaders of the post-war independence movements, Nehru of India, Tito of Yugoslavia, Sukarno of Indonesia, Nkrumah of Ghana and Nasser of Egypt. NAM members were known to be neutral in the confrontation between the USA and the Soviet Union, and this was an ideal platform for the ANC to lobby support from more than hundred countries under one roof.
ENTER THABO MBEKI
Enter Thabo Mbeki, the suave and skilful negotiator and chief lobbyist. Before that I enjoyed the privilege of interacting with other ANC leaders in exile Oliver R Tambo, Joe Modise, Jaya Appalraju, Govin Reddy, Tessa Colvin and Dr Kesavaloo Goonum and many other exiles who were busy lobbying support in the Zimbabwean capital.
I was equally privileged to receive security clearance to interview Mbeki, but the interview never saw the light of the day because of the tough censorship laws against banned people and organizations. However, I finally published anecdotes of the one-on-one interview soon after President Mbeki took the oath of office at the Union Buildings.
I watched the new el-supremo of African politics work at Parliament in Cape Town in 2004 when he delivered his famous “I Am An African” state of the nation address, and later joined the entourage at the Union Buildings, where he was sworn in for the second term, not long after President Mugabe was given a standing ovation when he walked the red carpet to the VIP seats.
Only a fortnight ago, peace broker Mbeki put the red seal on a power-sharing deal between Zanu-PF and the MDC groupings.
But back home from his favourite African city where he lobbied the world’s leading freedom icons to help the ANC to crack the yoke of apartheid and usher democracy on one of the last bastions of colonial-apartheid rule, His Excellency was unceremoniously from ousted from the Office of the Presidency in a new brand of political maneuvering that has sullied the ANC’s prestige political past, history, heritage and legacy. Mbeki was a staunch member of the broad church that is the ANC, Africa’s oldest liberation movement turned sophisticated ruling party.
Though post-independent Zimbabwe was in its knees in debts and battling post-colonial poverty and the ravages of a bush war, Harare showcased Africa’s model breadbasket nation, housing 2 000 delegates in homes and apartments especially constructed for the conference, while others lived in the homes of wealthy Zimbabwean whites.
In his keynote address, Prime Minister Mugabe urged the heads of state to provide economic aid for the black African "frontline" states that were seeking to cut off trade with apartheid SA, calling on the nonaligned nations to provide military equipment and training to support the black armed struggle in South Africa.
Well, at least now we know that Mbeki does not have a short memory.
Ja, well, no, Chief, our outgoing commander had pulled our troublesome neighbours out of the boiling political pot, only to be axed on the eve of his swansong at the United Nations.
I recall as if it happened yesterday. Picture this two-part scenario: Mbeki, the ANC diplomat in exile and his love for briar pipes, but sipping lunch-time beer and not whisky, during a breakaway interviewing session at NAM.
Four years earlier, just like Yusuf Dadoo, the SA Communist Party leader in exile, tugging his trademark pipe and sipping lager in London during the United Nations' apartheid sports-sanctioning conference under the stewardship of Sam Ramsamy in 1982, I was given an inside track of a rainbow nation in the making.
Quite prophetically, the bearded persona who was to become our visionary president, gently advised me to go home because "we needed journalists to cover the story of our victory over apartheid”, while Dadoo provided some incredible insights into how his conservative family prodded him into studying medicine over political activism.
That day in Harare was forever etched in my mind as I watched Mandela’s protégé deliver stirring speeches, poetically, and wooing voters across the colour line, to what he is good at, straddling on the world stage from New York to Timbuktu, from G8 to SADC, on his “I Am An African” mission.
Now that Mr Dignity is out of the highest office in rainbow country, forced out by his brothers-in-arms, he can reinvent his career by becoming Ambassador-At-Large in a new mission to bring real peace, stability and economic growth to Africa’s troubled hotspots.
Hamba Kahle, Chief, I owe you one for the good advice when ominous dark cloud blighted the African skyline.
So let us get on with the business unusual of governing the Beloved Country and striving for the non-racial democracy that you had stoically fought for during a lifetime of 60 years.
Marlan Padayachee is an international freelance journalist, socio-political commentator and media communications strategist whose work as an anti-apartheid critic and activist earned him the prestige British Council Fellow and US International Visitors awards.
Me & Mbeki
The Day I Shared Lager with Thabo Mbeki as South Africa’s Future President Tugged on His Trademark Pipe
IT’S 1986 in the spring of Harare. Here I was seated in front of post-apartheid’s future President as he tugged on his trademark pipe and the aroma of tobacco consumed my probing mind. The bearded diplomat-cum-freedom fighter graciously sipped a cold lager, waxing lyrically in measured tones in Queen’s English, about his vision for a new South Africa.
Before then Thabo Mbeki was an enigma whose reputation had preceded him in the underground movement of the liberation struggle spearheaded by the African National Congress.
He was the ANC’s International Affairs Director at Mandela Street in Margaret Thatcher dominion, and the foreign face of the magnetic movement that attracted hordes of black and white post-Woodstock activists.
The British-educated semi-diplomat travelled between Lusaka and London in his roving post as a well-heeled envoy aimed at demystifying his outlawed guerilla movement as legitimate resisters bent on changing the status quo of apartheid.
Our venue was on the outskirts of the high-security conference centre, where India's Rajiv Gandhi, Cuba's Fidel Castro, the PLO's Yasser Arafat, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and almost 50 heads of state were attending the 8th Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement.
NAM was bloc of 101 nations formed in 1961 by leaders of the post-war independence movements, Nehru of India, Tito of Yugoslavia, Sukarno of Indonesia, Nkrumah of Ghana and Nasser of Egypt. NAM members were known to be neutral in the confrontation between the USA and the Soviet Union, and this was an ideal platform for the ANC to lobby support from more than hundred countries under one roof.
ENTER THABO MBEKI
Enter Thabo Mbeki, the suave and skilful negotiator and chief lobbyist. Before that I enjoyed the privilege of interacting with other ANC leaders in exile Oliver R Tambo, Joe Modise, Jaya Appalraju, Govin Reddy, Tessa Colvin and Dr Kesavaloo Goonum and many other exiles who were busy lobbying support in the Zimbabwean capital.
I was equally privileged to receive security clearance to interview Mbeki, but the interview never saw the light of the day because of the tough censorship laws against banned people and organizations. However, I finally published anecdotes of the one-on-one interview soon after President Mbeki took the oath of office at the Union Buildings.
I watched the new el-supremo of African politics work at Parliament in Cape Town in 2004 when he delivered his famous “I Am An African” state of the nation address, and later joined the entourage at the Union Buildings, where he was sworn in for the second term, not long after President Mugabe was given a standing ovation when he walked the red carpet to the VIP seats.
Only a fortnight ago, peace broker Mbeki put the red seal on a power-sharing deal between Zanu-PF and the MDC groupings.
But back home from his favourite African city where he lobbied the world’s leading freedom icons to help the ANC to crack the yoke of apartheid and usher democracy on one of the last bastions of colonial-apartheid rule, His Excellency was unceremoniously from ousted from the Office of the Presidency in a new brand of political maneuvering that has sullied the ANC’s prestige political past, history, heritage and legacy. Mbeki was a staunch member of the broad church that is the ANC, Africa’s oldest liberation movement turned sophisticated ruling party.
Though post-independent Zimbabwe was in its knees in debts and battling post-colonial poverty and the ravages of a bush war, Harare showcased Africa’s model breadbasket nation, housing 2 000 delegates in homes and apartments especially constructed for the conference, while others lived in the homes of wealthy Zimbabwean whites.
In his keynote address, Prime Minister Mugabe urged the heads of state to provide economic aid for the black African "frontline" states that were seeking to cut off trade with apartheid SA, calling on the nonaligned nations to provide military equipment and training to support the black armed struggle in South Africa.
Well, at least now we know that Mbeki does not have a short memory.
Ja, well, no, Chief, our outgoing commander had pulled our troublesome neighbours out of the boiling political pot, only to be axed on the eve of his swansong at the United Nations.
I recall as if it happened yesterday. Picture this two-part scenario: Mbeki, the ANC diplomat in exile and his love for briar pipes, but sipping lunch-time beer and not whisky, during a breakaway interviewing session at NAM.
Four years earlier, just like Yusuf Dadoo, the SA Communist Party leader in exile, tugging his trademark pipe and sipping lager in London during the United Nations' apartheid sports-sanctioning conference under the stewardship of Sam Ramsamy in 1982, I was given an inside track of a rainbow nation in the making.
Quite prophetically, the bearded persona who was to become our visionary president, gently advised me to go home because "we needed journalists to cover the story of our victory over apartheid”, while Dadoo provided some incredible insights into how his conservative family prodded him into studying medicine over political activism.
That day in Harare was forever etched in my mind as I watched Mandela’s protégé deliver stirring speeches, poetically, and wooing voters across the colour line, to what he is good at, straddling on the world stage from New York to Timbuktu, from G8 to SADC, on his “I Am An African” mission.
Now that Mr Dignity is out of the highest office in rainbow country, forced out by his brothers-in-arms, he can reinvent his career by becoming Ambassador-At-Large in a new mission to bring real peace, stability and economic growth to Africa’s troubled hotspots.
Hamba Kahle, Chief, I owe you one for the good advice when ominous dark cloud blighted the African skyline.
So let us get on with the business unusual of governing the Beloved Country and striving for the non-racial democracy that you had stoically fought for during a lifetime of 60 years.
Marlan Padayachee is an international freelance journalist, socio-political commentator and media communications strategist whose work as an anti-apartheid critic and activist earned him the prestige British Council Fellow and US International Visitors awards.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Indians At Sea Or At Home In Cultural Splash in South Africa?
Marlan Padayachee
Left of What’s Right
RECENTLY I attended three Indian functions in a row over three days in Durban.
The sights and sounds, saris and sweetmeats and the cuisines, chilli bites and the cultural cacophony of this Diaspora community convinced me once more that Durban is truly an “Indian country”, where many of the descendants of the 1860 indentured labourers are still struggling with the franca-lingua of the dominant Zulu-speaking compatriots and some of the dramatic transformational social, economic and political changes in South Africa.
Though Indians are a homogeneous bloc, they are not alone in a Catch-22 situation in a changing environment where the proverbial playing fields are becoming leveled as we head for the third democratic elections in 2009. The other sister groups, so-called Whites, Coloureds, Chinese, Portuguese, Greeks, Lebanese, or foreigners like Africans, Asians, Sri Lankans, are also feeling as if they are out of the loop, insecure, alienated or regarded as soft targets by the criminal elements. Then there’s also an old adage – a classic case of “too many Chiefs not enough Indians”.
Almost 148 years since that historic landing at the Durban Bay on 16 November when more than 300 men, women and children disembarked from the SS Truro after a horrendous journey across the Indian Ocean Rim, in which some scurvy-ravaged indentured labourers perished in the deep blue ocean, South Africa’s 1, 3 million Indians appear to be still at sea about life in the new South Africa.
Cultural Passion
But one thing Indians, individually and collectively, are certain about is their whole Indian socio-cultural package and baggage. They are passionate about their ancient religious rituals, Hinduism, Christianity or Islam. They appear preoccupied with all and sundry from red-hot spicy meals, the city’s indigenous favourite eat out - bunny-chow - saris and sweetmeats, mansions versus matchbox houses, Amabenzi as the first choice of prestige carriage as compared to the trustworthy Toyota, status symbols, social climbing, Lotusfm, Eastern Mosaic, SA India magazine, and of course, Bollywood, India’s template of Hollywood.
But all said and done, South Africa is arguably one of the best places on the Planet, depending on which side of the fence you are sitting on, or how green your grass is getting. Though sizzling- hot Dubai is touted as our tenth province for economic migration, the weather speaks for itself in this ancient civilization.
Three days in Little India began as a guest of the Indian Consulate at Lillieshell Manor, a one size fits all dinner party for the visiting Indian MBA students, who certainly enjoyed their sabbatical at the Graduate School of Business at the UNKZ’s Westville Campus under the tutelage of Professor Anesh Singh and a colleague Martin Challenor, whom the young financial gurus nicknamed Martinji after he had put them through their paces for week; and the double-header dinner included the Miss India South Africa Pageants aspirants, in which another stalwart colleague Farook Khan, was roundly honoured for promoting young Indian women by His Excellency, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who diplomatically reminded us that we were on Indian soil. The Consul-General also politely informed our ubiquitous Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo that nothing socially can happen in the city of his forebears without his charming presence.
The next day the cultural choreography of the annual pageantry rolled out with women being the roses among the thorns, looking radiant and ravishing in colourful saris and eastern garments. On the third day it was off to the yearly bridal fair, exhibiting all that’s Indian, from exotic eastern dishes to intricate gold jewellery, accessories and apparels to photo-opportunities for the big day. On stage, the models strutted the best and the fashionistas thrived to the beat of Bollywood.
This prestige bridal show that enjoys a corporate banking sponsorship is a positive imaging of everything that’s chic, glamorous and modern about the community, exuding a blend of the ancient and post-modernism in which the older and younger generation fuses around the sacred moments of planning marriages in a kaleidoscope of colour and tradition.
Nearby the Bollywood Bible, a high quality SA India magazine was dished out to patrons to gloss over the celluloid icons and catch up with off-screen gossips. Aside from Women’s Month, August was also Indian Month with the Shared Experiences, Goa Food Fair and Bollywood, The Musical.
Romanticism with Bollywood and the Ancient Land of India
Significantly in 2010, South Africa’s Golden Year since the Long Walk to Freedom, South Africans of Indian origin, will be celebrating 150 years of living and working in the reinvented republic. Unlike many Indian expatriates around the world, estimated at 20-million, Indians in this strategic corner of the eastern Africa seaboard of the Indian Ocean Rim are unique. As a cultural bloc, they are still part and parcel of the new RSA, having put up with the indignity and discrimination of the apartheid country.
Therefore, throughout the toughest sanctions on trade and cultural links, Indians at home did not sever their umbilical cord with the land of their forebears and while resisting social and economic injustices at home, hence the intense level of passion and love for Incredible India. In the same vein, Indians have stood four squares behind Mandela’s campaign to free all South Africans and provide a new, non-racial democracy for “all those who live in it”.
Both histories are intertwined and tied to each other’s destinies, and they are almost inseparably linked to the strong platform between Tshwane-Pretoria-Durban and New Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai.
Culturally, Indians are an integral mix of SA’s unique cultural diversity and cosmopolitan image within the banner of One Country, Many Cultures.
For several years, the multi-media has brought the heart and soul of Bollywood into the lives, living rooms and lifestyles of Indians and the animation of the glamour and glitz of one of the world’s colourful film industries is comes alive on the big screens, DVDs and hand-held communications gadgets. Various mediums serve to enrich the knowledge economy of the community and the synergy is boundless. Even pay-TV station DStv is in on the act, bringing out the best of Bollywood to local audiences.
Ahead of the first FIFA World Cup, Indian South Africans are a resourceful and colourful crowd who can act as the catalyst within the Indian Diaspora and this community has a lot to share with the rest of nation’s diverse communities.
There’s romanticism between Bollywood and the ancient land of India – it’s a question of bridging the chasm and celebrating the successes. This human potential has to be unlocked beyond perceived pride and prejudice as we strive to show our young people the beauty of being Indian within a dynamic cultural diversity.
May industrious Indians here and abroad tell the world a story of the ancient land of religious rituals, cultural civilization, pageantry, beauty, tradition, custom , cuisines and the cacophony of people while promoting a one-nation, many cultures mantra.
Until next week and as a tribute to the Muslim community in holy month of Ramadan Mubarak, I am sharing Prophet Kahlil Gibran’s words of wisdom: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, and yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love, but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward, not tarries with yesterday.”
Marlan Padayachee is an international freelance journalist and a media communications strategist and recipient of the British Council Fellow and the US International Visitor awards, and he is publishing a gilt-edged coffee-table yearbook, 150 Years of Indians in 2010 South Africa.
Left of What’s Right
RECENTLY I attended three Indian functions in a row over three days in Durban.
The sights and sounds, saris and sweetmeats and the cuisines, chilli bites and the cultural cacophony of this Diaspora community convinced me once more that Durban is truly an “Indian country”, where many of the descendants of the 1860 indentured labourers are still struggling with the franca-lingua of the dominant Zulu-speaking compatriots and some of the dramatic transformational social, economic and political changes in South Africa.
Though Indians are a homogeneous bloc, they are not alone in a Catch-22 situation in a changing environment where the proverbial playing fields are becoming leveled as we head for the third democratic elections in 2009. The other sister groups, so-called Whites, Coloureds, Chinese, Portuguese, Greeks, Lebanese, or foreigners like Africans, Asians, Sri Lankans, are also feeling as if they are out of the loop, insecure, alienated or regarded as soft targets by the criminal elements. Then there’s also an old adage – a classic case of “too many Chiefs not enough Indians”.
Almost 148 years since that historic landing at the Durban Bay on 16 November when more than 300 men, women and children disembarked from the SS Truro after a horrendous journey across the Indian Ocean Rim, in which some scurvy-ravaged indentured labourers perished in the deep blue ocean, South Africa’s 1, 3 million Indians appear to be still at sea about life in the new South Africa.
Cultural Passion
But one thing Indians, individually and collectively, are certain about is their whole Indian socio-cultural package and baggage. They are passionate about their ancient religious rituals, Hinduism, Christianity or Islam. They appear preoccupied with all and sundry from red-hot spicy meals, the city’s indigenous favourite eat out - bunny-chow - saris and sweetmeats, mansions versus matchbox houses, Amabenzi as the first choice of prestige carriage as compared to the trustworthy Toyota, status symbols, social climbing, Lotusfm, Eastern Mosaic, SA India magazine, and of course, Bollywood, India’s template of Hollywood.
But all said and done, South Africa is arguably one of the best places on the Planet, depending on which side of the fence you are sitting on, or how green your grass is getting. Though sizzling- hot Dubai is touted as our tenth province for economic migration, the weather speaks for itself in this ancient civilization.
Three days in Little India began as a guest of the Indian Consulate at Lillieshell Manor, a one size fits all dinner party for the visiting Indian MBA students, who certainly enjoyed their sabbatical at the Graduate School of Business at the UNKZ’s Westville Campus under the tutelage of Professor Anesh Singh and a colleague Martin Challenor, whom the young financial gurus nicknamed Martinji after he had put them through their paces for week; and the double-header dinner included the Miss India South Africa Pageants aspirants, in which another stalwart colleague Farook Khan, was roundly honoured for promoting young Indian women by His Excellency, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who diplomatically reminded us that we were on Indian soil. The Consul-General also politely informed our ubiquitous Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo that nothing socially can happen in the city of his forebears without his charming presence.
The next day the cultural choreography of the annual pageantry rolled out with women being the roses among the thorns, looking radiant and ravishing in colourful saris and eastern garments. On the third day it was off to the yearly bridal fair, exhibiting all that’s Indian, from exotic eastern dishes to intricate gold jewellery, accessories and apparels to photo-opportunities for the big day. On stage, the models strutted the best and the fashionistas thrived to the beat of Bollywood.
This prestige bridal show that enjoys a corporate banking sponsorship is a positive imaging of everything that’s chic, glamorous and modern about the community, exuding a blend of the ancient and post-modernism in which the older and younger generation fuses around the sacred moments of planning marriages in a kaleidoscope of colour and tradition.
Nearby the Bollywood Bible, a high quality SA India magazine was dished out to patrons to gloss over the celluloid icons and catch up with off-screen gossips. Aside from Women’s Month, August was also Indian Month with the Shared Experiences, Goa Food Fair and Bollywood, The Musical.
Romanticism with Bollywood and the Ancient Land of India
Significantly in 2010, South Africa’s Golden Year since the Long Walk to Freedom, South Africans of Indian origin, will be celebrating 150 years of living and working in the reinvented republic. Unlike many Indian expatriates around the world, estimated at 20-million, Indians in this strategic corner of the eastern Africa seaboard of the Indian Ocean Rim are unique. As a cultural bloc, they are still part and parcel of the new RSA, having put up with the indignity and discrimination of the apartheid country.
Therefore, throughout the toughest sanctions on trade and cultural links, Indians at home did not sever their umbilical cord with the land of their forebears and while resisting social and economic injustices at home, hence the intense level of passion and love for Incredible India. In the same vein, Indians have stood four squares behind Mandela’s campaign to free all South Africans and provide a new, non-racial democracy for “all those who live in it”.
Both histories are intertwined and tied to each other’s destinies, and they are almost inseparably linked to the strong platform between Tshwane-Pretoria-Durban and New Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai.
Culturally, Indians are an integral mix of SA’s unique cultural diversity and cosmopolitan image within the banner of One Country, Many Cultures.
For several years, the multi-media has brought the heart and soul of Bollywood into the lives, living rooms and lifestyles of Indians and the animation of the glamour and glitz of one of the world’s colourful film industries is comes alive on the big screens, DVDs and hand-held communications gadgets. Various mediums serve to enrich the knowledge economy of the community and the synergy is boundless. Even pay-TV station DStv is in on the act, bringing out the best of Bollywood to local audiences.
Ahead of the first FIFA World Cup, Indian South Africans are a resourceful and colourful crowd who can act as the catalyst within the Indian Diaspora and this community has a lot to share with the rest of nation’s diverse communities.
There’s romanticism between Bollywood and the ancient land of India – it’s a question of bridging the chasm and celebrating the successes. This human potential has to be unlocked beyond perceived pride and prejudice as we strive to show our young people the beauty of being Indian within a dynamic cultural diversity.
May industrious Indians here and abroad tell the world a story of the ancient land of religious rituals, cultural civilization, pageantry, beauty, tradition, custom , cuisines and the cacophony of people while promoting a one-nation, many cultures mantra.
Until next week and as a tribute to the Muslim community in holy month of Ramadan Mubarak, I am sharing Prophet Kahlil Gibran’s words of wisdom: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, and yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love, but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward, not tarries with yesterday.”
Marlan Padayachee is an international freelance journalist and a media communications strategist and recipient of the British Council Fellow and the US International Visitor awards, and he is publishing a gilt-edged coffee-table yearbook, 150 Years of Indians in 2010 South Africa.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Inaugural Speech and Debate for Sathish Jaggernath
Marlan Padayachee To Open Community Inaugural Speech and Debate In Honour of Sathish Jaggernath, Former Media Consultant to Premier Sbu Ndebele and Newspaper Columnist and Socio Political Commentator
KWAZULU-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele’s former media consultant and speechwriter Sathish Jaggernath will be recognised for his contribution to the new South Africa at an inaugural speech and debate named in his memory at the Merebank High School in Merebank on Wednesday, 27 August at 5.30pm.
Jaggernath died tragically in air crash near Pietermaritzburg almost eight years ago when a chartered aircraft, bringing Department of Transport officials from a workshop in Gauteng, crashed into a hill near Pietermaritzburg. He worked as a media consultant for then Transport MEC Ndebele who later became the provincial premier.
His close colleague and friend Marlan Padayachee will deliver the introductory remarks about the former librarian, teacher’s union secretary-general, researcher, writer and debater at the event hosted by the Krishna Rabilal Foundation, which is named in memory of an ANC cadre who was killed by the SADF in Mozambique in the 1980s.
Learners from Merebank, Umlazi and Wentworth will engage each in a debate about Jaggernath and how they can acquire skills to contribute to a better social order and develop into responsible citizens while learning the art of talking and listening as powerful tools against the scourge of violence and crime.
“We have named the event in memory of one of Merebank’s most outstanding activists for freedom, democracy, human rights and free speech and the foundation felt that another anti-apartheid and media activist Marlan Padayachee would be the most appropriate personality to launch the debate as both activists worked closely with each during a very difficult period in their careers,” said Pops Rampersad, Deputy Chairman of the Krishna Rabilal Foundation, whose patrons include Pravin Gordhan (SARS Commissioner); Roy Padayachie (Deputy Minister of Communications); Logie Naidoo (eThekwini Deputy Mayor); Ms Beatrice Ngcobo (MP); Dr Michael Sutcliffe (eThekwini Municipality City Manager); Eric Apelgren (eThekwini Municipality Head: International and Government Relations); Bishop Reuben Phillips; Professor Jerry Coovadia, Poobie Naicker (former SADTU Deputy President) and several other prominent people.
Issued by the Krish Rabilal Foundation on August 25, 2008
KWAZULU-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele’s former media consultant and speechwriter Sathish Jaggernath will be recognised for his contribution to the new South Africa at an inaugural speech and debate named in his memory at the Merebank High School in Merebank on Wednesday, 27 August at 5.30pm.
Jaggernath died tragically in air crash near Pietermaritzburg almost eight years ago when a chartered aircraft, bringing Department of Transport officials from a workshop in Gauteng, crashed into a hill near Pietermaritzburg. He worked as a media consultant for then Transport MEC Ndebele who later became the provincial premier.
His close colleague and friend Marlan Padayachee will deliver the introductory remarks about the former librarian, teacher’s union secretary-general, researcher, writer and debater at the event hosted by the Krishna Rabilal Foundation, which is named in memory of an ANC cadre who was killed by the SADF in Mozambique in the 1980s.
Learners from Merebank, Umlazi and Wentworth will engage each in a debate about Jaggernath and how they can acquire skills to contribute to a better social order and develop into responsible citizens while learning the art of talking and listening as powerful tools against the scourge of violence and crime.
“We have named the event in memory of one of Merebank’s most outstanding activists for freedom, democracy, human rights and free speech and the foundation felt that another anti-apartheid and media activist Marlan Padayachee would be the most appropriate personality to launch the debate as both activists worked closely with each during a very difficult period in their careers,” said Pops Rampersad, Deputy Chairman of the Krishna Rabilal Foundation, whose patrons include Pravin Gordhan (SARS Commissioner); Roy Padayachie (Deputy Minister of Communications); Logie Naidoo (eThekwini Deputy Mayor); Ms Beatrice Ngcobo (MP); Dr Michael Sutcliffe (eThekwini Municipality City Manager); Eric Apelgren (eThekwini Municipality Head: International and Government Relations); Bishop Reuben Phillips; Professor Jerry Coovadia, Poobie Naicker (former SADTU Deputy President) and several other prominent people.
Issued by the Krish Rabilal Foundation on August 25, 2008
Inaugural Speech and Debate for Sathish Jaggernath
Marlan Padayachee To Open Community Inaugural Speech and Debate In Honour of Sathish Jaggernath, Former Media Consultant to Premier Sbu Ndebele and Newspaper Columnist and Socio Political Commentator
KWAZULU-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele’s former media consultant and speechwriter Sathish Jaggernath will be recognised for his contribution to the new South Africa at an inaugural speech and debate named in his memory at the Merebank High School in Merebank on Wednesday, 27 August at 5.30pm.
Jaggernath died tragically in air crash near Pietermaritzburg almost eight years ago when a chartered aircraft, bringing Department of Transport officials from a workshop in Gauteng, crashed into a hill near Pietermaritzburg. He worked as a media consultant for then Transport MEC Ndebele who later became the provincial premier.
His close colleague and friend Marlan Padayachee will deliver the introductory remarks about the former librarian, teacher’s union secretary-general, researcher, writer and debater at the event hosted by the Krishna Rabilal Foundation, which is named in memory of an ANC cadre who was killed by the SADF in Mozambique in the 1980s.
Learners from Merebank, Umlazi and Wentworth will engage each in a debate about Jaggernath and how they can acquire skills to contribute to a better social order and develop into responsible citizens while learning the art of talking and listening as powerful tools against the scourge of violence and crime.
“We have named the event in memory of one of Merebank’s most outstanding activists for freedom, democracy, human rights and free speech and the foundation felt that another anti-apartheid and media activist Marlan Padayachee would be the most appropriate personality to launch the debate as both activists worked closely with each during a very difficult period in their careers,” said Pops Rampersad, Deputy Chairman of the Krishna Rabilal Foundation, whose patrons include Pravin Gordhan (SARS Commissioner); Roy Padayachie (Deputy Minister of Communications); Logie Naidoo (eThekwini Deputy Mayor); Ms Beatrice Ngcobo (MP); Dr Michael Sutcliffe (eThekwini Municipality City Manager); Eric Apelgren (eThekwini Municipality Head: International and Government Relations); Bishop Reuben Phillips; Professor Jerry Coovadia, Poobie Naicker (former SADTU Deputy President) and several other prominent people.
Issued by the Krish Rabilal Foundation on August 25, 2008
KWAZULU-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele’s former media consultant and speechwriter Sathish Jaggernath will be recognised for his contribution to the new South Africa at an inaugural speech and debate named in his memory at the Merebank High School in Merebank on Wednesday, 27 August at 5.30pm.
Jaggernath died tragically in air crash near Pietermaritzburg almost eight years ago when a chartered aircraft, bringing Department of Transport officials from a workshop in Gauteng, crashed into a hill near Pietermaritzburg. He worked as a media consultant for then Transport MEC Ndebele who later became the provincial premier.
His close colleague and friend Marlan Padayachee will deliver the introductory remarks about the former librarian, teacher’s union secretary-general, researcher, writer and debater at the event hosted by the Krishna Rabilal Foundation, which is named in memory of an ANC cadre who was killed by the SADF in Mozambique in the 1980s.
Learners from Merebank, Umlazi and Wentworth will engage each in a debate about Jaggernath and how they can acquire skills to contribute to a better social order and develop into responsible citizens while learning the art of talking and listening as powerful tools against the scourge of violence and crime.
“We have named the event in memory of one of Merebank’s most outstanding activists for freedom, democracy, human rights and free speech and the foundation felt that another anti-apartheid and media activist Marlan Padayachee would be the most appropriate personality to launch the debate as both activists worked closely with each during a very difficult period in their careers,” said Pops Rampersad, Deputy Chairman of the Krishna Rabilal Foundation, whose patrons include Pravin Gordhan (SARS Commissioner); Roy Padayachie (Deputy Minister of Communications); Logie Naidoo (eThekwini Deputy Mayor); Ms Beatrice Ngcobo (MP); Dr Michael Sutcliffe (eThekwini Municipality City Manager); Eric Apelgren (eThekwini Municipality Head: International and Government Relations); Bishop Reuben Phillips; Professor Jerry Coovadia, Poobie Naicker (former SADTU Deputy President) and several other prominent people.
Issued by the Krish Rabilal Foundation on August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Politicking in Sports in the Beijing Olympics
Left of What’s Right
By Marlan Padayachee
Marlan Padayachee is a freelance journalist and a media communications strategist and he writes in his personal capacity.
Politics is not new to sports.
South Africa is one of the most spectacular examples of politicking in sports.
Chief anti-apartheid sports antagonist Sam Ramsamy, formerly of Magazine Barracks and Asherville, will not be sitting among the VIPs with his East German Olympic athlete wife, Helga, if he had not made a substantial investment to ensure that all South Africans will participate in the Olympic Games and the IOC Congress.
Forced into self-exile in London in the 1960s, having hurriedly quit his physical education teaching job at Springfield College and head coach at Aces United FC at Currie’s Fountain, Ramsamy was persecuted by apartheid agents abroad. His home in Chingford was bombed and his job as headmaster at a school was affected because SA’s Enemy Number One was embarrassing the Afrikaner rulers with his curved ball activities.
Painstakingly and meticulously, with the home base support of Morgan Naidoo, MN Pather, RD Naidu, Hassan Howa, Rama Reddy, Shun David, Cassim Bassa, Lambie Rasool, Reggie Feldman, Reverend Sigamoney, Rathansamy and many other activist-leaders, this pint-sized personality plucked each and every national sporting code, one by one, from the IOC organogram.
Blackballed For Sporting Prowess
The old country drew first blood, with Prime Minister John Vorster banning the English cricket team’s tour of SA. Reason? The MCC featured outcast coloured cricketer Basil d’Oliveira. Others fled with their talents, like weightlifter Ron Eland, who won a bronze medal for the UK, while his compatriots Johnny Geduldt and Precious McKenzie refused to lift for SA at the Olympics. In protest, Shun David refused to throw a dart for the SA team in world tournament. The Olympic flame of tennis aces Jasmit Dhiraj and Herman Abrahams was snuffed out. Golf maestro Papwa Sewgolum was denied a passport during the height of his prowess on the greens from the Dutch Open to St Andrews. He embarrassed apartheid sport by outflanking Gary Player and fetched the Natal Open trophy in driving rain. Player enjoyed an inside track of politics by playing golf with Vorster.
All fired up, Ramsamy, operating from a tiny office in the basement of the Portman Court in London, owned by activist Chris de Broglio, and with the support of Isaiah Stein, whose sons graced British football fields, and exiled intellectual giant Dennis Brutus, plotted SA’s downfall from world sports. Brave stalwart Peter Hain punctured Springbok rugby with his famous “Don’t Scrum with a Racist Bum” protests from Twickenham to Auckland.
Only a thesis can do justice to how SA played politics in sports and how the anti-apartheid lobbies used politics to blackball the vierkleur flag from flying internationally.
Now, they have since kiss and made up. Ramsamy sits in the IOC boardroom. A likely sports minister in the ANC government, he butted heads with hardliners at home during the reshaping of SA’s Olympic preparations.
With the medals drought in Beijing, our athletes could have benefited from his wise counseling, mentorship and coaching expertise, but all we have is a silver lining. Handicapped and high-spirited, swimmer Natalie du Toit has saved the nation’s proud face. Yet our able-bodied athletes are crying foul about a lack of money and administrative infighting and our brand ambassadors are spending millions showcasing 2010 at a five-star uptown hotel?
Jamaica, a poor Third World nation whose economy and gross domestic product is outstripped by a million times by the economy of Sandton Square, puts its best foot forward and scoops gold and silver medals.
Sports and politics go hand in hand, just like the baton-charged relay race. Naturally, the Tiananmen Square student rebellion will haunt China in its glory hour before worldwide TV exposure. The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan monks will not fold their arms and die piously.
High Tea and Spirits But No Free Cuppa
Outside the five rings of action and drama, freelance writer Francisco Little learnt the old adage the new way - there’s no such thing as a free cuppa or lunch in forex-flooded Beijing despite the Olympic spirit. Two young Chinese women volunteers, acting as his de facto tour guide, showed him around from Chairman Mao’s portrait to the cacophony of the side streets until they couldn’t take the heat and lured him into a government teashop.
“Tea is refreshing and good for removing body heat,” they giggled into his foreign ears. Several rounds of home-brewed cuppa in tiny cups and take-home tea jars of the exotic variety, our man received his bill, little over R3 000 or 3 000 yuan. With no bargaining power and the hostess screeching like a Peking duck with two heavies at the door, there was little choice, but to pay his own bill and give his little helpers some just deserts for taking him on a rickshaw ride.
Gold medals to worldwide website search engine Google for glossing its double-O’s with Olympic icons to keep the surfer’s spirits up. A peep into Googleland reveals that staff are feted, fed and fascinated by the best office environment on the planet.
Until next week when I hope to dissect why Indians are becoming chilly under the rainbow, remember what the Chinese say: “Be careful what you wish for.”
By Marlan Padayachee
Marlan Padayachee is a freelance journalist and a media communications strategist and he writes in his personal capacity.
Politics is not new to sports.
South Africa is one of the most spectacular examples of politicking in sports.
Chief anti-apartheid sports antagonist Sam Ramsamy, formerly of Magazine Barracks and Asherville, will not be sitting among the VIPs with his East German Olympic athlete wife, Helga, if he had not made a substantial investment to ensure that all South Africans will participate in the Olympic Games and the IOC Congress.
Forced into self-exile in London in the 1960s, having hurriedly quit his physical education teaching job at Springfield College and head coach at Aces United FC at Currie’s Fountain, Ramsamy was persecuted by apartheid agents abroad. His home in Chingford was bombed and his job as headmaster at a school was affected because SA’s Enemy Number One was embarrassing the Afrikaner rulers with his curved ball activities.
Painstakingly and meticulously, with the home base support of Morgan Naidoo, MN Pather, RD Naidu, Hassan Howa, Rama Reddy, Shun David, Cassim Bassa, Lambie Rasool, Reggie Feldman, Reverend Sigamoney, Rathansamy and many other activist-leaders, this pint-sized personality plucked each and every national sporting code, one by one, from the IOC organogram.
Blackballed For Sporting Prowess
The old country drew first blood, with Prime Minister John Vorster banning the English cricket team’s tour of SA. Reason? The MCC featured outcast coloured cricketer Basil d’Oliveira. Others fled with their talents, like weightlifter Ron Eland, who won a bronze medal for the UK, while his compatriots Johnny Geduldt and Precious McKenzie refused to lift for SA at the Olympics. In protest, Shun David refused to throw a dart for the SA team in world tournament. The Olympic flame of tennis aces Jasmit Dhiraj and Herman Abrahams was snuffed out. Golf maestro Papwa Sewgolum was denied a passport during the height of his prowess on the greens from the Dutch Open to St Andrews. He embarrassed apartheid sport by outflanking Gary Player and fetched the Natal Open trophy in driving rain. Player enjoyed an inside track of politics by playing golf with Vorster.
All fired up, Ramsamy, operating from a tiny office in the basement of the Portman Court in London, owned by activist Chris de Broglio, and with the support of Isaiah Stein, whose sons graced British football fields, and exiled intellectual giant Dennis Brutus, plotted SA’s downfall from world sports. Brave stalwart Peter Hain punctured Springbok rugby with his famous “Don’t Scrum with a Racist Bum” protests from Twickenham to Auckland.
Only a thesis can do justice to how SA played politics in sports and how the anti-apartheid lobbies used politics to blackball the vierkleur flag from flying internationally.
Now, they have since kiss and made up. Ramsamy sits in the IOC boardroom. A likely sports minister in the ANC government, he butted heads with hardliners at home during the reshaping of SA’s Olympic preparations.
With the medals drought in Beijing, our athletes could have benefited from his wise counseling, mentorship and coaching expertise, but all we have is a silver lining. Handicapped and high-spirited, swimmer Natalie du Toit has saved the nation’s proud face. Yet our able-bodied athletes are crying foul about a lack of money and administrative infighting and our brand ambassadors are spending millions showcasing 2010 at a five-star uptown hotel?
Jamaica, a poor Third World nation whose economy and gross domestic product is outstripped by a million times by the economy of Sandton Square, puts its best foot forward and scoops gold and silver medals.
Sports and politics go hand in hand, just like the baton-charged relay race. Naturally, the Tiananmen Square student rebellion will haunt China in its glory hour before worldwide TV exposure. The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan monks will not fold their arms and die piously.
High Tea and Spirits But No Free Cuppa
Outside the five rings of action and drama, freelance writer Francisco Little learnt the old adage the new way - there’s no such thing as a free cuppa or lunch in forex-flooded Beijing despite the Olympic spirit. Two young Chinese women volunteers, acting as his de facto tour guide, showed him around from Chairman Mao’s portrait to the cacophony of the side streets until they couldn’t take the heat and lured him into a government teashop.
“Tea is refreshing and good for removing body heat,” they giggled into his foreign ears. Several rounds of home-brewed cuppa in tiny cups and take-home tea jars of the exotic variety, our man received his bill, little over R3 000 or 3 000 yuan. With no bargaining power and the hostess screeching like a Peking duck with two heavies at the door, there was little choice, but to pay his own bill and give his little helpers some just deserts for taking him on a rickshaw ride.
Gold medals to worldwide website search engine Google for glossing its double-O’s with Olympic icons to keep the surfer’s spirits up. A peep into Googleland reveals that staff are feted, fed and fascinated by the best office environment on the planet.
Until next week when I hope to dissect why Indians are becoming chilly under the rainbow, remember what the Chinese say: “Be careful what you wish for.”
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