Mandela

Editorial:-

Nelson Mandela lived a full life. Born in apartheid South Africa, he trained to be a boxer, studied to be a lawyer, but eventually suffered to become a leader – a leader who rescued South Africa from being reviled as a country of repulsive social segregation to the country celebrated as the Rainbow Nation. He is saluted as the Father of Democracy in South Africa, but his influence, like Gandhi who inspired him, flows much beyond his country or continent. The world is definitely a much better place for having had the man loved as Madiba live in it for a glorious 95 years. He is truly the last of the Giants, and in him one finds an era; a spirit so clear that it inspired several generations. Mandela’s contributions to South Africa are obvious, and to the world he delivered many gifts, the most important clearly being the spirit of forgiveness. He taught people to forgive and led the reconciliation by example. It was always inspiring to see Mandela smile and engage so evidently free of spite or hostility despite having been imprisoned for 27 years and having watched whites humiliate him and his people and torture and murder those who challenged Apartheid. He was shipped away to the Robben Island Prison when was 44. He was released when he was 71. And yet, he spoke of nonviolence and reconciliation. And these was not token talk; he walked his ideology and worked tirelessly to help his country heal. That is his legacy – proof that change need not lead to revenge, that reconciliation is possible even when most people instigate only retribution.