Ode to the dead dove

When on a visit to Newcastle, a town in Northern Kwazulu Natal, a province in South Arica, I shot this scene with my Blackberry...

Wild pigeon - dove - dead as a bird... literally. It looked so peaceful... in the very cold morning air.

Death reminds us of the reason to live—and live full out every day, I guess. But then again... the majority of people around the world get trapped in daily existences that resemble just that: existence, not living; mere survival, not prosperity.

Life... in death we come to appreciate its every moment... and when we see the end is near, we perhaps long for all those missed opportunities when we opted to play it safe...

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Journey into the "other" South Africa

The setting is a large rural settlement in South Africa's Mpumalanga Province. The background to this region's development is of course intricately linked to its past: a homeland outside Pretoria created by the Apartheid Government in the name of 'separate development'. The environment is rural: cattle, goats, donkeys and chickens roam freely, while members of this community carry on with their daily lives, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the "other South Africa" - the one characterised by Western civilisation's pillars: individualism, private property & title deeds, credit and mortgages, money, commercialisation, consumerism and personal wealth accumulation. They are all at odds with an idealised Africa. Here in Siyabuswa, the R578 carries traffic, goods, and passengers past rural dwellers for whom time has a different meaning. It is safe to assume that the principles outlined in "The Fifth Discipline" are unknown to the locals, a...

The Old Johannesburg Stock Exchange and surroundings

What an awe-inspiring building this is, enriching the Johannesburg skyline... Alas, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that use to operate from this location in 17 Diagonal Street, Newtown moved to Gwen ln, Sandton. The Newtown area in and around where the old JSE use to be has been earmarked for further development. One of the the developments that has been completed is the Nelson Mandela bridge. The rest of the developments seems to be on ice. But will it become a reality or remain drawings? Im not sure at this point. The Nelson Mandela bridge connects downtown Johannesburg with Braamfontein where another landmark is situated, the University of the Witwatersrand. This bridge eases congestion between the Johannesburg CBD and the suburbs to its north that get connected via Braamfontein. However, its the symbolism of naming the bridge after the country's most iconic bridge builder, Nelson Mandela, that captures one's imagination. The old Tramshed building borders the Ne...

On throwing back sea stars and finding lost pupils

We all know the story of the guy who, in an effort to save them, was walking on the beach and kept on throwing back sea stars that washed ashore. On seeing how many there were, a passer-by commented on the 'lost effort', upon which the guy answered that 'even saving one' would made a difference, even then if only to that 'one that was saved'... And so my quest to experience secondary education 'first-hand' carries on at an urban school in Johannesburg, South Africa. The profile of learners vary, with a predominant number of them being black -- other races are well represented too. What this means is that in a decade's time a predominant 'white' school has become a 'predominant black school'. This in itself merely reflects the changes currently taking place within South Africa itself -- a school being a mirror of what's happening in the communities it serves. The racial shift is accompanied by a class-shift as well, as economic p...

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