In memory of Madiba

When I was a kid, I have this tendency to look for the birth dates of celebrities and renowned political figures to see if it matches with mine. And that's how I found him. Nelson Mandela has been my idol ever since then. After reading about his 27 years of struggle in prison fighting for the rights of his fellow men, I was deeply honored to share the same birth date with him. One surely wouldn't want to imagine spending 27 years of his/her life by just watching the world passing by  through  tiny windowpanes of  prison cells. 

Someone has to come up,someone has to take the lead and fight for their people. That's exactly what he did, leading them from behind and let others believe they are in front.

One can easily feel defeated after a long and tiring journey of despair. One  might even have given up because sometimes when you fight on something for so long and when the days are passing by, you just want to reach to a decision to spend your life attending late night parties, barbeques and watching movies with your loved ones rather than growing old in prison cells. 

Isn't it simpler to live a small life?

"There is no passion to be found playing small-In settling for a life less than the one you are capable of living" -Nelson Mandela

But one man chose to take the longer route, the route to independence and it made a difference to the world we are living today.

Letter written to his wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela back in November 22, 1979

My dearest Winnie,You looked really wonderful on 17/11, very much like the woman I married. There was color in your face. Gone was the choleric appearance and glazed look in your eyes when you are under pressure of over-dieting. As usual, I kept addressing you as Mum but my body kept telling me that a woman is sitting across this platform. I felt like singing, even if just to say Hallelujah!

Nelson Mandela's prison cell that he spent years of his life.

It's sad that even now we can still sniff racism in our own neighborhood. Asians despise of Whites.Whites despise of Blacks and of course the list can go on and on. Why are we still holding to our bags when a black guy enter the elevator with us? Crime and kindness exist in every race and its unfair to say one race is responsible for all the bad things in the world. Do we really need to put labels to ourselves? Are we really that superior to one another? At least Nelson Mandela had started off something great that we should always be proud of. Hopefully it will be a peaceful voyage now for him.

Rest in peace Madiba, you will be missed dearly.