Zulu Tribe

Who are Zulus?

Zulu tribe is the largest ethnic group consisting 10-11 million people residing in South Africa. Zulus believe that they are originally from Congo area, who had migrated to South of the continent in 16^th century. They speak isiZulu, which is also the official language of South Africa.

The people of this tribe believe in their creator God Nkulunkulu and practice interaction with ancestor’s spirits as their day to day ritual. They believe in sorceries and offended spirits.

Culture and Tradition

Zulus are distinctly known for their culture and tradition. They are famous for their beads work and ethnic craftsmanship. As per the Zulu culture, men are considered to be the head of the family and women have to obey their decisions. Similarly it is also said that the younger people are not supposed to look into the eyes of their elders and speak. This can be considered to be disrespect towards the elders.

For Zulus, women are valuable possessions. This is why a prospective groom has to pay a ‘lobola’ or payment to the bride’s father during marriage. The acceptance of the bride to the groom’s family is marked by slaughter of a cow.

History

Zulus are known for their historical conflict with the Britishers during 19^th century. Although Zulus once formed a powerful state, Zululand under their leader Shaka in 1816, yet years later Britishers had an upper hand and finally Zululand got absorbed into the Cape colony.

Modern Zulus

At present half of the Zulu population live in cities and engage in domestic work and the rest work in farms. Their food is based out of cattle and agriculture. The Zulu traditional beer is not only a staple food but a considerable source of nutrition. Still now, Zulus consider eating in same vessel as a gesture of friendship.

Older Zulu women wear Isicholo, a wide hat made of straw and decorated with beads. They also wear Isidwaba, a pleated skirt made of cowhide and softened by hand. Younger women sometimes decorate their 'Isidwaba' with beads, whereas older women wear it plain. Clothing for Zulu girls is mainly made of beadwork and is usually revealing.

A next door terror

The recent blasts at Mumbai has left me disturbed and dismayed. Apart from the damage and the rising death counts being flashed in the news channels, one question is continuously haunting my mind… What is the outcome of this brutality?

Barkha Dutt, the Group Editor of NDTV has been constantly discussing about what Taj Mahal Hotel means to the citizens who are born and brought up in Mumbai. But if you ask me, who have just settled in the city merely 5 years back, Taj means a symbol of identity to me. In fact, I remember the first time, when I went for a press conference to the hotel; I literally called up my family back at Kolkata boasting of the grandeur and awesome décor, which symbolizes a blend of tradition and modernism.

Even after my first visit, every time I have been to the heritage hotel of Taj, I experienced the same pride to be able to let into such a magnificent and luscious structure as that. But it is very sad that it has become a charred relic now and I honestly doubt whether Ratan Tata (as he promised publicly to restore the beauty of Taj) would be able to restore the archaic beauty of the hotel.

The last television footage revealed that as per the interrogation of one terrorist who have been caught, the entire plan was to blow up Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi-Trident and JW Marriot- a plot similar to blowing up JW Marriot at Pakistan. They actually wanted to create a situation similar like demolishing New York’s World Trade Center. Listening to plans like this, it gives me an immense curiosity at times to probe into the psyche of the master minds who intend to destroy all possible man made grandeur in this soil.

Forget about the master minds… I doubt what psychic capsule must be fed to the front operators, who are merely out of their teens and are responsible for such a devastating mayhem! Is it Jihad or family hostages or channelizing the inherent rage into something massively destructive? Whatever may the modus operandi of converting a youth’s brain to some averted direction, one thing is clear as the analysts have already quoted… the youth involved were highly motivated to destroy and undergo self destruction.

The NSG commandoes have recovered dry fruits and energy tablets other than arms and ammunition, which could let go the terrorists for several days with same level of energy. But here I somehow feel that more than the external aids, it is their minds which has been nourished since years to withstand and fight back in a situation like this. It is their amazing focus to destroy, which makes them battle against all odds. I simply wonder if such determination and dedication was put in a right direction, what wonders and benefits would they have brought in for mankind.

Now coming to the impact this attack has left to the minds of common men… Along with the victims, whose loss and suffering cannot be matched in any terms, it seems that entire nation has been shaken. Along with my own family, all my acquaintances had only news channels being played daily in their residences for almost 18-20 hours during these days. This time, even the kids did not threw tantrums to watch their favorite cartoon programs.

Here I would also like to appreciate the journalists, who appeared fresh even after covering the event continuously for over 55 hours. Some of them even risked their lives to bring in the latest footage from the disturbed areas. In some instances some politicians tried to make into the TV screens by visiting the venue and pelting stones at the opposition parties, yet I applaud the sensibility of the news channels who acted as per the situation and did not give them much room.

To conclude, we can only pray that the situation comes back to the control very soon. We can further hope that our Intelligence agency breaks the leftover links of the 26th November’s terror plan so that no further chain of damages is caused to the city.