Hindi Unites Rainbow Nation
South Africa has been in news for xenophobic violence over the past week. Rallies are addressed and marches held condemning the violence. Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini has asked for an end to violence after attacks against migrants in South Africa. Expelled Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says, "We are the children of Chief Albert Luthuli. We are the children of Nelson Mandela. The people who have been committing the murders do not represent our values... they do not represent the majority of South Africa."
The travel advisories you read and the news reports you see are not happy. But when you see a group of eight young Zulu girls dancing with their heart and soul to ‘Dhol baje...’ in a program celebrating Hindi and Hindi learning, you know that sunshine will be back in the Rainbow Nation.
Hundreds of people gathered in Gauteng, (the smallest and most populous province of South Africa), to celebrate the region’s Annual Hindi Eisteddfod on Sunday. The day long program had colorful dances, songs, plays and prose recitations in Hindi. Participants ranged from three year olds to those beyond sixty. Hindi schools (run on voluntary basis by South Africans) competed in sixteen categories on the subject of ‘Women Empowerment.’ “We were in shock after the Nirbhaya incident in India and we thought we should do something about it. We wanted to make people aware. We thought a good way to do that would be to choose women empowerment as our theme for the Eisteddfod,” said Mr. Virjanand Garrib, Regional Director of Hindi Shiksha Sangh, the host of the event.
Holding a program of this scale and kind was not an easy decision given that there were instances of violence in the same area. “We spent the previous day driving for hours here and discussing with the Police if we should go on with the program,” said Mr. Sewnath Heeralall, Regional Director, HSS. Hindi Shiksha Sangh, South Africa has been working for the promotion of Hindi since 1948. The first Hindi Eisteddfod in South Africa was held in 1951. It continues till date.
While policemen kept vigil outside the auditorium, colors united inside, in celebration of culture and a global heritage. Hindi proved to be a uniting factor.
