Letter to Mr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (on the 7th day of his passing)

Madiba,

If I may call you that…I am standing at your bedside today.

Tata – you are one of my own forefathers and I come to pay my respects; to take part in the blessing you asked of the heavens for your nation. And it must be so because in my childhood, I too stood upon your homeland, in the embassy you sent across the land to forge a continent. I too sang your anthem, as a voice among a choir of innocent souls.

In the transition between youth and experience, I met you again, at the doorstep of your ambassadors, in a different land. You came to remind me of how poverty was only a condition and how we each carried immense wealth within to overcome it. Words of wisdom like a bottle of water to carry me; the way people carry water every day.

And somewhere along the way, I knew you. But I realise now that you had been a part of all my other 27 years; some form of light that brought together colours, countries, people. The way they have all come together to say goodbye…God by…by God.

Listen to the chorus – I too wish this for you. But forgive me elder, I have come to ask a thing of you today: a blessing. I may be late to your bedside, but I have come. So before you cross that bridge, teach me everything you know, everywhere you’ve been and everywhere you never got to go. For I would like to tread those paths one day and I would like to be as strong as you to carry on…walking.

From,

A child following your footsteps on the road…

© Amiran Punj 2013