“A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of the society.” – B.R. Ambedkar
Madiba, goodbye! You go to a well-deserved rest. Rest In Peace
Madiba, you didn’t have to but you did. 27 years! 27 years of a man’s life. Spent confined within four narrow walls to stand for what one believed in. 27 years!
Many years ago, I heard my dad play this very haunting a cappella song. It made me cry. He told me it was from South Africa. I asked him why the song was so sad. Then he told me about you. He told me about Steve Biko. He told me about apartheid. I was 10. I never forgot. How could I? How could anyone with a heart?
When you were arrested in 1962, you were 44 years old. In your prime. Two years later you started a journey that was to have a great impact on you, your family, your beloved country and the whole world down the line. Back then, you may have hoped but how long can a man hope? How long can a man believe in what is not seen and seems so hopeless? But you did.
What is amazing is that even though it seems like your life was taken from you, in the process, you lived it better than most. You did, because your life had an impact on so many. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what matters most? You sacrificed so much for your fellow man.
Being ready to die for what one believes in and hope are not the only lessons you leave behind. You also epitomized forgiveness. In spite of all the decades of apartheid, you rose above the fray and reconciled. What strength and fortitude that must have taken. Were you ever bitter? Madiba, were you ever mad?
A friend once was in crowd that met you in Berlin and described an aura that you emanated. I believed her because one didn’t have to be in a crowd around you to feel that aura. It sprang from you words, your stature, your eyes, your life. It sprang from a life well led.
Madiba, the World will miss you but you have done enough.
Thank you and Good Bye!