3M

I am not talking about the company named 3M. The tour guide at Robben Island referred to them as 3M – Mahatma, MLK, and Mandela. I had read about a young lawyer named Mohandas Karamdas Gandhi being thrown out of a 1st class railway compartment in South Africa in spite of having a 1st class ticket. That was the turning point for that 1st M to becoming Mahatma. After coming to America (and eventually I adopted that great land as my own or should I say that I was adopted) I learnt a lot about Martin Luther King (MLK) and his Civil Rights' Movement through non-violence means following the 1st M’s principle. These two Ms were assassinated.

I knew very little about South Africa other than that the true Mahatma was born there and that it had a policy of Apartheid (forced segregation based on skin color). It was hard to tell or comprehend the saga of apartheid from a distance. Like the rest of the world, I came to know about a person called Nelson Mandela who was in prison for 26 years. He had lost best part of his life within four walls of a small prison cell. But it could not destroy him. He is the 3rd M. I knew that the world had literally boycotted South Africa for its apartheid policy. However, what it meant was not understood by me or perhaps many in the world. After 26 years in prison he came out. Truth and justice prevail eventually. South Africa changed. It created a rainbow nation with a new flag.

I had passed through O.R Tambo international airport in Johannesburg several times during my work assignment in Angola. However, I did not get an opportunity to visit that country until the end of my tour in Angola. In April, 2011 my wife and I visited Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town. Besides taking in the wonderful sights South Africa has to offer, I wanted to visit the places of the historic events that changed the world as people knew it. In Durban we visited Gandhi’s place in Bombaya. A black African care taker of the place who appeared to be a true Gandhian explained the history. When I stated that the world needed more of Gandhi, Mandela, he answered saying that there was only one Gandhi. In Cape Town we visited Robben Island (S. African Alcatraz or worse). This Island was an apartheid island for ages before it became famous because of Mandela’s long prison sentence fighting for justice from a minority ruler in their own land. It was where lepers were isolated, babies were separated, church existed for male only, even brown and black were treated differently. Looking at Mandela’s prison cell and the place where they chipped away limestone blinded by sun’s reflection, it was hard to imagine such cruelty could be inflicted by one human being to another, that any ordinary human being would not think of revenge after spending 26 years for no fault of their own, except that they were born black. However, Mandela did the unexpected. His new words were Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Reconstruction. If the new country had to move forward, all the people had to learn to live together. It was he who allowed Apartheid era Springboks to play rugby to bring honor to the new nation. With affection, they call him Madiba. Today at the Nelson Mandela Square under a huge statue of Mandela people of all color from all countries take picture with pride.

Yes, 3Ms saved the world. Now it appears that politicians are using their names hypocritically for their personal and political gain.