I believe that if and when a person is asked as to "what is our greatest inheritance?", the perfect response would be "it is the written content" - the books containing prose and poetry of long gone generations which give flight to our imagination as we walk the footsteps of our ancestors. By ancestors, I do not wish to limit myself to the narrow definition of a blood family but the entire human race. For we are one big family surviving on an infinitesimal grain of dust in the vastness of the universe.
From this family, I have discovered yet another gem in the annals of history - Long Walk To Freedom. To say it is Nelson Mandela's autobiography is an understatement. The book is a document of the aspirations and the struggles of the peoples of South Africa. True, it is written by Mandela. But, strikingly in contrast and in similarity with other such texts, the book tends to detail the sacrifices not only of the protagonist but the entire nation - from the hinterland to the largest cities. South Africa has come a long way since then. The days of the cruellest of social segregation schemes in modern history - apartheid are long gone. But, this transformation wasn't achieved in a single battle or war. It came as the result of a protracted struggle by the oppressed to show the oppressor the wrong of his ways. The severe repression of the non-white majority in their own native land by a foreign settled people was something the African people had fought for since the early years of the twentieth century and change could only be brought about in the last decade of the same. It was not a set of concessions by the government that finally culminated in the abolition of apartheid, but a prolonged delay, denial and extreme suppression by the state authorities of the people who never stopped fighting for what is right. I salute the anti-apartheid fighters of that era, ones who helped create a new nation and a more humane world.
Being an autobiography,surprisingly it focussed a lot on other characters of the movement - all ANC leaders especially Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Chief Luthili among others. I believe that it wasn't a deliberate attempt by the protagonist to seem modest. For, in his own words, the life of a freedom fighter is not his own but of the struggle and the people. It recounted ANC meetings, discussions with its leaders, his wife who herself was a freedom fighter and many such political events and instances. The account that is most moving is from the time spent in Robben Island prison wherein the prisoners were able to retain and continue some form of struggle against the authorities and apartheid.
One essential learning that I personally take away from the text is that determination and faith in the cause/goal is the most important thing that a person must have to succeed. Mandela had to spend 27 years in prison following his arrest and trial for high treason. It was the same man that walked out and began negotiations with the government. His demands , and that of the entire movement, hadn't changed and stayed the same till the goal was realized in 1994. Very few people in history have shown such resilience in the face of exploitation and persecution.
While Mandela now rests in his eternal abode, his teachings in the form of his life experiences continue to remain with all of us to this day and ahead.
I look forward to more inspiring words and lessons from my next read, The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. , I go now reminiscing my experiences from this moving tale.
Long Walk To Freedom
Pic courtesy : @NelsonMandela : Officer Twitter Account
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