I travel a lot. Whenever I tell people where I'm from, they look at me in a funny way. Sometimes I smile and nod, and other times I feel like shaking them. There are Indians, Chinese people and Pakistanis in the Republic of South Africa, it's not just Blacks and Whites down there! The name's Madeeha Abbasi, and my friends call me Maddy. I used to get pissed when people called me Medea but I've resigned myself to the fact that most people just can't pronounce my name right. That's why I go by Maddy, it's easier on the tongue. I was born in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa, to Pakistani immigrant parents. I am a proud citizen of the new, integrated RSA by birth and Joburg is my favorite place to be.
I've heard a lot of talk about supposedly world-class cities like Vienna, Paris, Tokyo, London and honestly, while they're certainly okay places, I'm not impressed. The Republic of South Africa's largest metropolis is a world-class city in its own right and I am damn proud of that. Remember how the world marveled at its awesomeness in the 2010 World Cup? People think that everywhere in Africa is war and poverty. That's simply not true. Come to South Africa and you'll see. Yep, that's where I live babes! My parents, Husna and Amir Abbasi left their hometown of Peshawar, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, for the bright lights of South Africa in 1989. I was born a year later.
If you were to gaze upon my august personage ( sorry, always wanted to use that phrase, it sounds cool and corny at the same time ) you'd see a five-foot-eight, slender but curvy young woman with long Black hair, dark bronze skin and light brown eyes. I've got lips, hips and booty, all neatly packaged in a fit, tight body. People say that I look a bit like Hollywood starlet Salma Hayek, only hotter. I smile politely when I hear that but inside, I'm a bit peeved, to tell you the truth. I'm South Asian, not Persian or Arab, and my family follows the Baha'i faith. We don't follow Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism or any of the major world religions. Wanna know why you haven't heard about us Baha'i folk? We believe in quality over quantity. We don't do the Crusade or Jihad thing like the Europeans and their Arab buddies. Mixing religion and politics makes people crazy!
Of course, where I live, race is the big question of the day, followed by economics, not religion, which takes a distant backseat. Life in South Africa has certainly improved for citizens of color since Apartheid ended, and we can all thank the father of our nation, the esteemed Nelson Mandela for that but if you ask me, we still have a long way to go. A lot of Afrikaners still hold a disproportionate amount of power and control over the country's finances though the government is firmly in the hands of the Black majority. Most of them White South Africans are nice enough but many still have a chip on their shoulder, and this has led to some tension. The White minority has dominated South Africa for centuries. For the past twenty years, they've been losing political power since Black men have been holding the presidency. And many of them don't like the change.
Of course, it's not just the White south Africans who've got a problem with social change. A lot of Black south Africans thought that once Apartheid ended, easy street began. Economic disparity along racial lines continues to be a problem in South Africa. The Black middle class is growing, and the colleges and universities of South Africa are turning out scores of educated young men and women of color who are ready to stimulate the nation's economic sector. I think I speak for most South Africans when I say that a lot of injustices were done to people of color over there in the past but we cannot undo centuries of injustice in twenty-plus years. Blacks and Whites ( and everyone else in between ) should remember that. Also, both sides have their share of bigots and hypocrites.
As a young South African woman of Pakistani descent in an interracial relationship, I know this implicitly. Interracial relationships are part and parcel of life in South Africa. Since the old days, White men in South Africa have had their way with the Black women and later with female immigrants from places like India, China, Pakistan and so on. When Apartheid ended, relationships between white women and men of color, whether Black African men or men from the Asian and coloured communities, came to the forefront. And a lot of white men in South Africa haven't liked it one bit.
I'm not white, as a young woman from Pakistan, I'm considered a person of colour in South Africa. I think white female/minority male couples, especially the ones where the man is Black, get the brunt of the hatred that many South Africans have for interracial couples. Yet people tend to stare at me when I'm out with my boyfriend Sandile "Sandy" Thandabantu. He's a big and tall young Black man of Zulu descent whom I met during orientation day at U of J. Nice Asian girls are supposed to stay away from men of other races, I guess that's the unspoken custom among we who are from Pakistan, India or China. All three countries are deeply conservative and not big on social change and that mindset follows their citizenry even as they emigrate to other countries.
That sucks but that's not going to stop me because I live my life my way. I've always lived by my own rules. My parents were very much surprised when I introduced them to Sandy. I've brought home two other dates before, a white guy and a Vietnamese guy. To be fair, they weren't thrilled with the first two, a college dropout and a womanizing drunk, respectively. Yet they stared at Sandy as if he were a Martian when I brought him home for dinner. He's studying civil engineering at the University of Johannesburg, plays rugby for the school and goes to church twice a week. The guy's practically a saint though he loves my naughty side. He's more than good for me, I just wish people could see that!
