This chapter is an extract from the autobiography of Nelson Mandela (born- 18 July, 1918), the first Black President of South Africa. Excerpts from “Long Walk to Freedom” include description of the inauguration ceremony, citations from his speech, his journey to being a freedom fighter, the struggle, along with a tribute to other freedom fighters and countless other people who fought for their freedom. In South Africa, a brutal practice named “apartheid” was followed. Apartheid refers to the discrimination between people on the basis of their race. It was one of the most brutal societies where dark-skinned people were deprived of their basic rights. This lesson gives us an overview as to how Nelson Mandela along with others, carved their way to a society where there will be no discrimination on the basis of their colour, caste, race, age or gender.
The ceremonies took place in the campus of the Union Building of Pretoria, which were attended by dignitaries and leaders of many nations. In India; Rashtrapati Bhavan and Red Fort are buildings made of red sandstone.
10th May is an ‘autumn day’ because South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere, the month of May is in the autumn season.
Mandela mentioned ‘an extraordinary human disaster’ to state the practice of apartheid in South Africa. During this there was a racial segregation based on colour and the blacks suffered a lot. Demand of freedom or any right was not allowed for them. He himself spent many years on the infamous ‘Robben Island’ as a prisoner where he was brutally beaten. It was considered a great glorious human achievement by him that a black person became the President of a country where the blacks were not even considered human beings and treated very badly.
Mandela was highly glad to welcome the dignitaries and foreign leaders in the ceremony. He was thankful to all of them for coming to witness the historical ceremony. It was a gesture of international recognition to a newly born free democratic nation and therefore considered as a common victory for justice, peace and human dignity.
Mandela's hopes for the future of South Africa are very high. He had taken the oath to liberate all South Africans and set the ideals of liberating people from bondage of poverty, deprivation and suffering. He also want the ideal society without any discrimination based on gender, caste, religion, race, color or origins.
Force was defended by the military generals of the South African and police admired and appreciated the loyalty of Nelson Mandela and their attitudes changed towards all the black citizens instead of arresting and beating them. Their attitudes changed because of struggle and sacrifices of many heroes of South Africa which not only ensured the freedom of a nation struggling with apartheid, but also changed mindsets of many. He believed that love can also be taught and humanity is naturally inclined towards love instead of hate.
At the time of the inauguration, two national anthems were sung symbolizing the equality of blacks and whites.
(i) In the first decade of the century, whites made a system of racial domination against the blacks which created the basis of one of the harshest and most brutal societies that had ever known to the world.
(ii) In the final decade of the 20th century, the existing system had been replaced by one which represented the rights and freedom of all citizens regardless of color of their skin.
For Mandela courage means to be brave and not the absence of fear but victory over it . He considered men to be strong when they had the courage to overcome fear but did not want a condition where the men would become fearless in the society.
For Mandela, love is natural and in human nature rather than hate for others in the society.
According to Mandela, there are twin obligations for everyone.
1)The first is to his family, parents, wife and children.
2)The second obligation is to his people, community and country.
Freedom had different meanings at different stages according to Mandela. When one becomes an adult, the tactics of childhood look like transitory because most of the childish activities are wasteful from an adult's perspective. Once you are an adult, you have to earn a living for the survival of the family. Then only get an honourable existence in the family and in the society.
Mandela does not feel that the oppressor is free because according to him an oppressor is treated as a victim of hatred who is behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness.He feels that both the oppressor and the oppressed are robbed of their humanity.
A large group of international leaders attended the inauguration ceremony of the first democratic non-racial government in South Africa. It was the significance of the victory of good over evil and victory of a tolerant society without any discrimination.
When Mandela says that he is "simply the sum of all those African patriots'', which has shown his respect and tribute to the people who fought bravely for the sake of freedom and also sacrificed their lives.He says that he is thankful to those who went before him because those heroes of past had paved the path of cooperation and unity for him. Therefore, he could try to come to power to bring equality for his people with their support.
It is absolutely true depths of oppression create great character. Gandhi would not have become a Mahatma if he had not faced the oppression of the British. Similarly, Nelson Mandela developed his character under the oppression of apartheid.
Nelson Mandela illustrated it by giving examples of great heroes of South Africa like Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and others who were inspired to sacrifice their lives in the struggle for freedom.
India is full of such examples, during our freedom struggle there were a number of leaders with great characters and the oppression of British rule created encouraged people of noble characters like Lala Lajpat Rai, JL Nehru, Chandra Shekhar Ajad, Sardar Bhagat Singh and many more. If we compare them with the quality of political leaders India is having today, then Nelson Mandela seems to be absolutely right.Mandela followed the paths of such great leaders and won over the discrimation between the whites and blacks.
Our experts will give the answer soon.
Our experts will give the answer soon.
There are nouns in the text (formation, government) which are formed from the corresponding verbs (form, govern) by suffixing – (at)ion or ment. There may be change in the spelling of some verb – noun pairs ; such as rebel, rebellion; constitute, constitution.
Make a list of such pairs of nouns and verbs in the text
| Noun | Verb |
|---|---|
| rebellion | rebel |
| constitution | constitute |
| Noun | Verb |
|---|---|
| rebellion | rebel |
| constitution | constitute |
| formation | form |
| government | govern |
| obligation | oblige |
| transformation | transform |
| discrimination | discriminate |
| deprivation | deprive |
Match, the italicised phrases in Column A with the phrase nearest meaning in Column B.
(Hint: First look for the sentence in the text in which the phrase in column A occurs.)
| A | B |
|---|---|
| 1. I was not unmindful of the fact | (i) had not forgotten; was aware of the fact (ii) was not careful about the fact (iii) forgot or was not aware of the fact |
| 2. when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits | (i) pushed by the guards to the wall (ii) took more than our share of beatings (iii) felt that we could not endure the suffering any longer |
| 3. to reassure me and keep me going | (i) make me go on walking (ii) help me continue to live in hope in this very difficult situation (iii) make me remain without complaining |
| 4. the basic and honourable freedoms of…earning my keep,… | (i) earning enough money to live on (ii) keeping what I earned (iii) getting a good salary |
| A | B |
|---|---|
| 1. I was not unmindful of the fact | (i) had not forgotten; was aware of the fact |
| 2. when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits | (iii) felt that we could not endure the suffering any longer |
| 3. to reassure me and keep me going | (ii) help me continue to live in hope in this very difficult situation |
| 4. the basic and honourable freedoms of…earning my keep,… | (i) earning enough money to live on |