Books

Blessed peacemaker

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela; Back Bay Books; Price: Rs.410; 625 pp

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In the new millennium only one individual who walks the planet merits such an encomium — former South Africa president and current global statesman, Nelson Mandela. Today, despite having surrendered the seal and trappings of office, Mandela bestrides the world like a moral colossus and is the true heir of the spiritual legacy of the Mahatma. Unfortunately in post-independence India where the intelligentsia tends to look westward for inspiration, little is known about this great leader endowed with unique determination and peace-making capability. That’s why Long Walk to Freedom — the Autobiography of Nelson Mandela who following in the footsteps of the Mahatma liberated the long-suffering 43 million people of South Africa from three centuries of white colonial rule and the deep humiliations of the dehumanising doctrine of apartheid or racial segregation (which also left deep scars on the psyche of the Mahatma when he lived and worked in South Africa in the early part of the last century), is a book which should be readily available in every school, college and public library.

To understand and appreciate Mandela’s huge contribution to the growing global democracy and human rights movements, it is necessary to recount a brief history of the nation which today is known as the Republic of South Africa. Until the mid 17th century the incredibly beautiful southern peninsular region of the dark continent was a sparsely populated natural paradise peopled by native African tribes such as the Bantu, Zulu and Xhosa, who had developed sophisticated social structures presided over by native chiefs and/or kings, which co-existed harmoniously with their near-perfect environments. But in 1652 the first European settlers, Dutch Calvinists (Boers) fleeing religious persecution in Europe, landed on the Cape of Good Hope and set up a residential colony following a cordial reception by native chiefs.

Subsequently, following the pioneering journeys of David Livingstone, Stanley and Cecil Rhodes in peninsular Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain, the dominant naval power of the time, was quick to discern the strategic importance of the Cape of Good Hope which dominated the sea route to India (before the Suez Canal was built in the mid 19th century) and established its imperial rule after dividing, suborning and subduing — as they did in India at the same time — the local kingdoms.

But British rule in South Africa was light-handed and the Boers and Indians (under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi) were able to wrest important political privileges for themselves in informally segregated South Africa. However by the mid 1940s despite their overt backing of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, the Boers grouped under the Nationalist Party, won the first restricted franchise (whites only) general election after World War II. In the general election of 1948 the ruling United Party led by Gen. Jan Smuts was defeated by the Nationalist Party led by Dr. Daniel Malan who formulated the infamous doctrine of apartheid which Mandela sums up as "codification in one oppressive system of all the laws and regulations that had kept Africans in an inferior position to whites for centuries... what had been more or less de facto was to become relentlessly de jure".

Naturally legislation of the inherent discrimination and injustices of racial segregation into law was unacceptable to Mandela, born (on July 18, 1918) into the royal house of Thembu and in 1948 one of the few blacks in South Africa who after enduring great material hardship, had qualified as a lawyer. He was quick to join the African National Congress (ANC) which as its name implies, drew considerable inspiration from the Mahatma’s struggle for Indian rights in the country.

Divided into 11 sincerely and transparently written chapters, LWF traces Mandela’s racially segregated, though idyllic childhood; his hard years as he struggled to acquire an education in Johannesburg; his transformation into a freedom fighter at a heavy price in terms of sacrifice of his personal life and finances; his life on the run as a wanted revolutionary; his capture and conviction for treason and finally his incarceration for over a quarter century in a severe, wind-swept prison on Robben Island off Cape Town. But even in harsh captivity Mandela and the ANC which set up guerrilla camps on the borders of South Africa, continued the struggle which eventually swayed public opinion around the world and forced the Boer government to make peace and establish a new regime based on universal franchise, of which he was elected the first president.

While LWF is stirring stuff — a contemporary Ramayana of the triumph of good over evil — such historical autobiographies have been written by a plethora of third world leaders who have led their countries to freedom in the post-colonial era of the 20th century. Yet the distinguishing feature of LWF is its complete absence of rancour and Mandela’s almost Christ-like capability for forgiving the trespasses of his persecutors. As he remarks in several passages in this extraordinary personal history, he regards it his mission to convert adversaries to his point of view because he firmly believes there is a "core of decency" in even the cruellest individual.

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God," said Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. That’s the magnitude of Nelson Mandela. Despite the deep, humiliating wounds inflicted upon him by the soldiers of the white supremacist regime — wounds most people would find impossible to forgive — Mandela forgot and forgave the past, established a new Republic of South Africa and after serving a five year term as the first president of the born-again nation has (in sharp contrast to the great majority of third world leaders) stepped down from his high office.

LWF is the history and testament of a statesman-peacemaker whose life is the mirror opposite of small-minded leaders in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Korea and other trouble spots around the world who cannot forget or forgive historical slights and aberrations and get on with the task of nation building for generation next. Nelson Mandela’s life is a shining example to an incrementally fractious global order. And that’s why his autobiography needs to be read by all those interested in healing the world.

Valuable guide

Wanna Study in the U.S.? 101 Tips to get you there! by Natasha Pratap; Rupa & Co; Price: Rs.395; 302 pp

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For the swelling number of hopefuls fleeing India’s dumbed down institutions of higher education, Natasha Pratap’s maiden book Wanna Study in the US? 101 Tips To Get You There! is a boon. This easy-to-read volume written in simple English is a comprehensive compendium of accurate information and useful guidelines to students and professionals on ways and means of accessing American universities and institutions of higher education. "There is so much to be gained from a US education, that I continue to be grateful for it every day. Studying in the US is about pushing your boundaries: academically, intellectually, geographically and emotionally," writes Pratap an alumna of the blue-chip Cambridge (UK), Stanford and Boston universities.

Though the information, data and procedural guidelines provided in this deliberately casually titled book is by no means novel, the fact that it has been collated, sorted and compiled into a one-point, well laid out compendium is its unique selling proposition. "When friends asked me questions on their applications or essays I realised that what seemed obvious to me was not to others. Book stores in Mumbai had little information on the application procedure, and even prospectuses of colleges say little. The internet is too vast and some information is misleading. Since I had experienced the system first hand I decided to write this book," says Pratap about her motivation to write this valuable guide.

Though the author claims to have completed this comprehensive volume in just seven weeks, the 302-page compendium is well organised into 11 main chapters each offering valuable nuggets of information and advice. The main chapters are: top 10 reasons to study in the US; 101 tips on the application process; scholarships from Indian sources; visa Q&A in consultation with the US Consulate, Mumbai; interviews with Stanford and Harvard university heads; application datelines; a special section for parents titled ‘heart to heart with indian parents’ among others.

Particularly useful is the chapter featuring statements of purpose (SoPs) of Indian students which dazzled admission evaluators of blue-chip universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Columbia. The essays are discussed and dissected with plus and minus points highlighted. "Many applicants tend to borrow SoPs from others and then modify it (sic). You may not be exposed to the kind of introspection and writing that applications to US universities demand. For many, the idea of writing itself is overwhelming and the nature of the questions makes them apprehensive. By including the essays of people who have gone through the process and written everything themselves, I want to illustrate that the task at hand may be different, but is not incredibly difficult," explains the author, no mean correspondent herself who has written for publications such as The Asian Wall Street Journal, The Economic Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express, and Mid-day.

Though a useful guide to the growing number of students driven to foreign universities by the abysmal and declining Indian institutions of higher education being relentlessly dumbed down by politicians and educrats, the publication and reportedly enthusiastic reception to Wanna Study is also a wake-up call to Indian academia. That a rising number of Indian students are ready to pay relatively huge sums to study abroad and suffer humiliating visa and admission processes is a severe indictment of India’s higher education system. Quite evidently Indian educationists and academics need to get their act together and canalise the huge annual outflow of hard currencies into their own cash-starved institutions. But this requires the practice rather than mere preaching of excellence in Indian academia.