Effervescent In Pink

Hangin' with the Gandhis

There are so many cool projects I am going to get involved with through work here in Durban - turns out Durbs is kind of a big deal of a city. For example, Gandhi came up with Passive Resistance in Durban and his family still lives here. So during my first week at work, I was asked to help out with a dinner that was being put on by an organization to honour Ela Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter and a community activit in her own right.

But WOW. I thought nothing could be more excruciatingly slow than this group debating the tiniest of logistics for this dinner....

Old Indian Chairwoman: "I think it may take more than 2 minutes for the ushers to walk to the front of the room...it may take 3. What do you think? 2 or 3 minutes for each?"

...until they started debating the logistics for the 9-year-old slam poet and his entourage...

Translator for 9-year-old Slam Poet: "He likes to have his followers come onstage and support him."
Old Indian Chairwoman: "I think that will be fine. How many followers does he have?"
TF9-Y-OSP: "Um, 18? About 18."
Old Indian Chairperson: "Hmmm. Do we think that can work?"
TF9-Y-OSP: "....most of them will have drums...."

After two hours of this, we finally managed to duck out of the meeting (just in time, my resistance to enduring another hour was about become decidedly non-passive...) and I asked D who the heck these crazy micro-managers were organizing this dinner for Ela Gandhi.

DURBAN FAIL #4 - Turns out it's not a dinner put on by this lady for Ela Gandhi - Old Indian Chairwoman IS Ela Gandhi, and it's her dinner for 80 dignitaries. WHOOPS.

Anyway, last week the night came and I got to be an escort for the Satyagraha Awards Dinner (I made for a nice "visible minority" component). Ela, as expected, was everywhere, micromanaging every minute of the proceedings. And everything went off without a hitch.


My designated dignitary was Thandeka Gcabashe, the daughter of none other than Africa's first Nobel Peace Prize Winner Chief Albert Luthuli.

AND I DON'T HAVE A PICTURE OF IT.

Hey, I tried - I asked the other girls helping out to snap a shot but they were obviously too busy Facebooking on their blackberries to bother. And I assumed it wouldn't be kosher to go up and ask for a photo afterwards. So sadly, I must rely on my memory. (But I did manage to grab a few shots of the night - me with some co-workers, and new gal pal stylista/PR intern Liyanda.)















Yep. Hanging with the Gandhis and the Luthulis. Just another day at the office.

posted by Aleksandra @ 5:58 AM