With the passing away of Nelson Mandela, an epitome of freedom, hope, quiet courage and forgiveness, mankind has become poorer. His is a life that has perfectly inscribed the history of man. In the fight against apartheid, Madiba meaning a hero who is recognised worldwide -one who is at the same time a son, father and grandfather spent the prime of his youth in prison but never did he lose faith in the equality of man irrespective of race, colour and creed. Like Gandhi, his spiritual guru, he has transformed the world forever.
No, he did not achieve a scientific or technological breakthrough to advance civilisation many miles at a single giant step but his breakthrough came in the form of awakening of mind and lighting the abrasive soul of millions not just in his rainbow nation but all across the world.
Very few nationalist leaders were fortunate enough to go into their sunset years in a rhapsody of ripe years' romance and retirement after the initial trial and turbulence followed by a phase of skilled stewardship on course of a nation's progress and prosperity. A mesmerising character, Mandela did not only reconcile with the injustice he suffered at the hands of the apartheid regime of Pretoria but also convince the once oppressed and segregated black people of South Africa of the merit of forgetting and forgiving. After his mortal departure, both white and black people inconsolably mourned his death embracing each other.
There he stands lofty -loftier than anyone the present world knows today. His charm as a leader is irresistible and not just in the African continent where he was a father figure, a guardian angel, but also around the world he was looked upon as a most revered personality. It is quite interesting that the United States of America which once listed him as a terrorist now considers him a saviour, a messiah of a politician.
Sure enough, death of a person at the age of 95 cannot be called untimely but yet this is small consolation when the drawing of the curtain on the eventful life of a legendary figure takes place all the same. It had to happen anyway but yet another voice whispers if he just lived a few years more to make it a centenary! The world certainly becomes a better place to live in for men like him. They change the known world once for all and the values, principles and mental orientation they bring along with it serves as a sustaining power for human
society.
Their crusade against injustice, discrimination and oppression on one segment by another help liberate the entire mankind from what can be called savagery and heart of darkness. Human struggle for enlightenment is a never ending process and men like Mandela act as the beacon-bearers for the human kind so that life becomes meaningful for all members of society.
Mandela has taken leave of the mundane world but his undying spirit and the gifts he offered to his nation and the world at large will continue to inspire people to be a better human. He will live in human hearts as ever before because he embodies those qualities that are the quintessence of a humble soul, a loving husband, a doting father, a fearless liberator of a nation and an iconic leader all combined together in one simple and child-like person.
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