SA students grieve, admire Mandela

While the world mourned the demise of South Africa’s liberation leader Nelson Mandela, Pune’s management student David Mandela was running pillar to post to make arrangements for his trip back home to be able to attend the memorial service on time.

David shared, “I am related to the Mandela family from my maternal side. I am very disturbed at this moment and it has directly affected my family and immediate relatives. As I speak to you, I am trying to juggle between ticket booking and consoling my relatives.”

David, who appeared visibly shaken and upset with the news, shared, “It is a very unfortunate news for us.”

David added, “I am trying to get my things together to be able to reach for the memorial on time. But flights and other travelling has to be sorted out.” On probing him for more information on his connections, he said, “Honestly, I am not in the right state of mind as I have lost someone very close to me. Please understand my situation.”

Unlike David, several other South African students preferred not to grieve at the news of the loss of their former president. Kuany Kiir Kuany Jr, a third year commerce student from Symbiosis had a content smile on his face while discussing Mandela. “I don’t think we should mourn or grieve the demise of this great leader. Every good book comes to an end and so did the brilliant life of Mandela. He is in a better place today. As children, we were taught a lot about his courage and passion and the way he fought for the blacks. Today, we have freedom only because of him.”

Mandela’s words, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it,” is what all the students agreed to have followed in their growing years.