Day 150 & 151: Durban, South Africa

Day 150: Today arrived in Durban, it is where the biggest Indian population is in South Africa.

Day 151: Took a city tour today and saw where Gandhi was kicked out of an all whites train. He came to Durban to defend a fellow Indian and he sat in all whites train, he did not get up when they told him he was not allowed to sit there, so they kicked him off. This is where he got the idea of non-violence which eventually lead to removal of the British from India. Went thru the Victoria Market and went to a couple of the Indian spice shops they have the famous Durban curry there. Had some Bunny Chow, it’s basically a hollowed out loaf of bread with curry in the middle, this came about when the blacks who were working out in the golf clubs were not allowed to use the utensils they would use the loaf of the bread that was cut off to soak up the curry sauce. We went to a herbal/witch doctor and saw different potions, some on how to keep your man from going astray from wife or girlfriend, etc…That night met a nice Indian woman at one of the shops. I was particularly interested in talking with her as I wanted to see how the Indian fit into all these changes occurring in the country. She told me now that the blacks are in power they don’t think that the Indians are black enough. Some jobs are given to the blacks that were previously held by Indians. It’s crazy I have never seem so much racism in a country before during apartheid people had to walk around with idenfitcation cards to state what they were: White-Afrikaners, White-British, Colors (mix races), Indians, and Blacks.. Everything was based on race, didn’t matter how intelligent you were. Entry into beaches, schools, some restaurants, clubs, even which sidewalk you could walk on was based on what color you were. Majority of the segration was white and non-white. I noticed I did get more smiles from the fellow Indians that walked past me, I soon became very aware of my skin color and being Indian…..I guess you do see this in other countries segration like India with their caste system, the British with their class system, but not to this level.