Shritha's Field Journal

I came to South Africa conditioned by a concern with discerning the influence of Gandhi on the national liberation struggle in the country. Since I was from India, Gandhi was my primary link in interpreting the rest of the world, as I discovered his…

May 16th 2013:

Today was the trip to Worcestor where we attended a Truth and Reconciliation type hearing. Obviously my recollection of this is a couple of days late as I was too tired after our subsequent Table Mountain visit , but here are some…

17th June 2013:   Today was the delightful visit to Table Mountain. And what better way to do it than with this wonderful delegation from the United States of America headed by the even more delightful Dr. Fosl. She herself referred to herself as a…

Finally after a number of false alarms, the exalted day when we could finally visit Robben Island arrived. The first trip was aborted due to inclement weather. Subsequently, the next scheduled trip was obstructed by a tearing storm and all boats were…

One of the highlights of our visit to South Africa, was the meeting with the awesome Bernadette. Her marvelous resume had set anticipation and expectation rolling and we were not to be disappointed. Here was a person at the confluence of the East and…

One of the most poignant and moving experiences of our visit was the visit to District Six Museum. As soon as we reached the museum, I realized that I was suffering from a severe and acute need for coffee instantly, and set off to find the coffee…

I had a wonderful and intense discussion with Mr. Jeremy one night, whom I met at a party Ingrid hosted for the entire group at Ivy Dene. His wife had been the Defense minister in Independent South Africa, and I was naturally intrigued by the men…

Today I would like to discuss a unique and interesting topic that came up for discussion in Amy Thornton’s house and also when we were with Tanya Barben. Coming from a country that has always been in strong support of the legitimate rights of…

The visit to the Cape of Good Hope was one of the highlights of the entire visit as far as excitement could go. Imagine actually being given the unique opportunity to visit this Cape, around which the legendary colonizing trader Vasco Da Gama, had…