Invictus-ed

Recently, I watched the movie Invictus. It's about the beginning of Nelson Mandela's rule in South Africa and how he inspired the South African rugby team to World Cup glory. Morgan Freeman as Mandela is brilliant - so brilliant, in fact, that now when I think of Mandela, Morgan Freeman's face pops up in my head!

    Spot the difference...

So, in the movie, Mandela (Freeman) inspires South African rugby captain François Pienaar (Matt Damon) using a 19th century poem titled 'Invictus'. In reality, however, Mandela actually used an extract from a speech by former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt titled 'The Man In The Arena'. Either way, South Africa went on to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup on home soil. It was Mandela's way of ensuring that even though he had come to power, the whites would not be ignored in his grand plan, because rugby was primarily a white man's sport back then.

Anyways, all that is academic. The movie is brilliant, but there's one big problem - after watching it, I feel insignificant. Watching a great actor portray an even greater man was wonderful, but this time it put my life in perspective. And the result was not flattering. The more I thought about what Mandela had achieved, the worse I felt about the life I live. I tried to console myself by considering the fact that I'm only 21 still, but the reality is: compared to Mandela, my future is that of a relative sinner. I shudder to think of his reaction to complaints about the 'little' things - an intolerable fellow human-being, tasteless food, or being denied something which is badly desired. I'm sure he could identify with each of the feelings - and many more - but he would just smile and move on to the more important things, because that's how he was - larger than life.

Yep...that's how small I feel...

There's a beautiful song in the movie - 'Colorblind' - by South African boy band Overtone. The lyrics refer to Mandela's 27-year stint in prison for leading the fight against apartheid in Africa. One para goes : 

Hear me say I'll rise up 'til the end
Hear me say that I'll stand beside my friends
I won't stay on the floor
I will settle the score
A stumble, I fall and I pray

I was astounded when I realised that Mandela's way of 'settling the score' was to forgive the very people who imprisoned him, against the wishes of his own people - those who fondly called him 'Madiba'. How can any person lose 27 years of his life to an injustice and still not be bitter? Most of us cannot forgive a slap. But he chose to rise above it all. He had no time to ponder over almost three decades spent in prison - he had to save his country after all. And not only did he save his country, he led them forward, and then even further forward, out from the darkness that had engulfed it for decades. He had vision, and a big, big heart, and he believed he could achieve anything.

It always seems impossible until it's done  - Nelson Mandela  

He is the reason South Africa are where they are today.

I can only dream of being the man he is, and even if I get halfway there I would have done a bloody good job.

I'll always be in awe...I'll always be Invictus-ed.