Why is our future suddenly looking so Indian? On the highway, Tatas whizz past us. Bollywood has been mainstreamed on SABC and suburban multiplexes. When Telkom’s fixed-line monopoly finally ends, it will be an Indian company, VSNL, which will be providing us with relief. Economists tell us that Indian investment in South Africa rocketed from R300-million in 1994 to R16,5-billion last year.
India has become super sexy, even in the most unlikely places. The Xhosa-speaking Anelise Willem recently walked away with the Miss Teen India South Africa title in Port Elizabeth. Willem commented: ‘I love Bollywood movies and I have a flair for dancing. I never had any formal training and learned the moves from watching movies.”
What is this stuff with India? We keep being told that we share so much, but apart from Gandhi and Mandela, what’s so similar? For your next dinner party when the topic comes up, here are some facts:
- We’re both middle-ranking powers in the South (serious players in industrial and high-tech world). The India-Brazil-South Africa (Ibsa) initiative intergovernmental forum recognises this (it’s also a presidential project).
- Rand Merchant Bank, Airports Company of South Africa, Sanlam and Sasol are just some of the South African companies doing business in India.
- Our economies fit well together. Indian investment in South Africa focuses on manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and ICT, while we are investing in banking, insurance and retail.
- We have longstanding historical linkages. These started in the 17th century with slavery (it’s estimated that one-quarter of slaves at the Cape came from South Asia) and then the migration of indentured labourers and traders from the 1860s onwards.
- We share British colonial pasts, and have strong anti-colonial linkages. India was one of the earliest countries to provide support for the anti-apartheid movement. The South African Communist Party through Yusuf Dadoo learned a great deal from Indian nationalism.
- Both are vibrant democracies with strong traditions of public debate and a free press.
- Both are devoted to cricket. While South Africans are not quite as cricket mad as Indians, our mood (and the rand) still rise and fall with the fortunes of our team.
- We share similar social problems and challenges: poverty, unemployment, HIV/Aids. India has 60 years of development experience from which we can learn.
- Both India and South Africa have rapidly rising new middle classes. Both present an interesting mixture of high-minded political ideals meeting new modes of materialism and consumerism
- Both are countries of extreme linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity, which creates cultural richness and equips us to manage social divisions.
- English is widely used in both places and education systems in both use English.
- Thabo Mbeki has replaced WB Yeats as his favoured muse and now relies heavily for quotes for his speeches on Amartya Sen.
- To conclude: South-South trade is expanding faster than any other trade flows in the world — at about 11% per year. Our future lies in the South and India would be an ideal partner.
What’s on at the festival
- Words on Water literature festival takes place at the University of Witwatersrand and Exclusive Books, Hyde Park, from August 23 to 28.
- Indian Film Festival takes place at NuMetro Cinemas, Village Walk, from August 31 to September 6.
- Indian Food Festival takes place at Le Canard Restaurant, Rivonia Road, Sandton from August 30 to September 8.
- Threads in Time textile exhibition shows at MuseumAfrica, Newtown, from September 1 to October 31. This includes a documentary film series on Indian craft, environment and history from September 2 to October 2.
- Grammy Award-winning ghatam percussion player Vikku Vinayakram performs at Bassline in Newtown on September 28.
- Transposition Physical and Dance Theatre performs at the Market Theatre, Newtown on September 28 and 29.
- Ishara Puppet Theatre performs Images of Truth at the Market Theatre on September 28 and 29 and at Constitution Hill on October 2.
- Mrigaya world music group perform in Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Lenasia and Johannesburg (Bassline on September 1 and Jazz on the Lake on September 2) at select venues from August 28 to September 8.
For details visit www.sharedhistory.co.in or www.indiasouthafrica.com