Being Indian by Tradition
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a poem written to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first indentured Indian laborers to South Africa.
1.Some say that my grandfathercherishes the ground he walks on,when he holds his walking stickand stumbles head down
passing wise words of wisdomto those aware of his struggle(from 1937 to 1945),ignored, ignited, yet implored
as we are now.
2.His hands speak Sanskrit,and unlike my father,I am his mirror:a Sikh Hindu from the village Sonbarsa,speaking English in South Africa.
3.Strong arms and legs, his hand:an old machine, once upon a timemade bricks for homes in India;today making sweets and chocolatesfor sale to the nation of South Africa.
4.I live in the new South Africa,but words fail my journey:the journey of my great-grandfather, Kunjbehar,on the Pongola IX in May 1892 from Calcuttato Umzinto Sugar Estate, Esperanza,yet my grandfather still holds my hand high up. [End Page 493]
Rishan Singh is an actor, a writer, and a prize-winning South African poet. He holds qualifications from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Cambridge University in London. In 2011, he earned a poetry prize of the Indian government, and in 2014, he was runner-up for an eThekwini Municipality’s Library Award.
