As South Africa celebrates Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday, a few in the state who brought the spirit of the South African freedom movement to Kerala in the 80s and 90s recalled their efforts.
By translating his memoir and poems written by various black poets and presenting street plays, these men tried their best to reproduce here the same vibrancy that was witnessed by the South African society during the period. “Mandela and his movement represented a time in history when the black people all over the world woke up, organised and began voicing their rights in an unprecedented way.
The repercussions of it was evidently seen in the black literature and art of the time. Many black poets, story tellers and artists emerged during this period, speaking for the oppressed in their works. Kerala had a strong intellectual society then which got inspired by such kind of movements in the world.
The emergent blacks became the heroes of the time,” said N K Raveendran, Associate Editor of Asianet who translated Nelson Mandela’s memoir ‘No Easy Walk to Freedom’ in the early nineties. The second edition of the book was brought out recently by Fabi Publications.
Recalling the period, Civic Chandran, thinker-activist, said that Mandela’s movement inspired the oppressed all over the world. It was great to see the contemporary Kerala society being enriched by the works of many writers and activists from the Dalit communities.
“During our time, only people from the aristocratic classes took to activism. We are all part of that gang. The situation has changed now as people from the Dalit sections have been educated and empowered to create their own literature. But the fact is that theses men and women and their works hardly become news unless and until they got involved in some controversies.
But the fact that S Joseph’s poetry collection won last year’s Kerala Sahithya Academy Award surely signals a future where the works of these writers will be recognised more,” said Civic. During the 80s, several radical theatre artists staged their street plays on Nelson Mandela.“As happened to most of the earlier revolutionary leaders the world had seen before, Mandela has also retired as a gentleman leader of mass struggle.
“This is the ill-fate of all revolutionary movements. But the art and literature which grew up along with such movements will survive to strengthen yet another struggle for freedom which may be staged at a distant place in a distant time,” remarked Civic Chandran.