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Desmond Tutu's special India connect and 10 facts you might not have known

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Akshata Kamath
Akshata KamathDec 27, 2021 | 17:49

Desmond Tutu's special India connect and 10 facts you might not have known

Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was the ultimate spiritual figure with a global influence who followed in the steps of Mahatma Gandhi. For someone who experienced terrible racial discrimination in his nation, he used his stature as a priest at the church podium to stand against and bring down apartheid in South Africa and bring justice to his wronged countrymen by being an advocate of peaceful reconcilliations. 

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Desmond Tutu. Photo: AP Obit
Desmond Tutu. Photo: AP

Black South Africans had to struggle for decades and put up a strong fight against the White minority government to get their freedom. So, when people of colour boiled against the racial, economic and social injustice, his role as the South African Council of Churches (and later as the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town) was phenomenal. He calmed the public on the streets down by propogating non-violence. His ability to influence change by flipping red hot anger into smiles won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Photo: AP Obit
Photo: AP Obit

Once the Apartheid government fell in the 1990s and Nelson Mandela was freed, Desmond Tutu created another movement where he tried to re-establish relations between the white and non-white people in his country. He headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where victims would talk about their injustice to document the viciousness of apartheid.   

HIS INDIAN CONNECTION

Tutu was a part of "The Elders'', a group formed by Nelson Mandela in 2007, where he, along with many elderly global leaders, worked on various global issues. The intention was for today's successors to use the wisdom and experience of the elderly to solve global issues peacefully. Be it the Palestinian crisis, the Rohingya crisis, climate change, issues between North and South Korea, child marriage, The Elders took on all types of issues.  

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Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images

In India, the effort was to fight against child marriage and discrimination against women. Tutu and his team worked in Bihar along with Ela Bhatt (another member of "The Elders" who created SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association) in India) and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to stop child marriage and promote maternal health in India and later around the world.  

In 2005, he won the Gandhi Peace Prize for his noble work and was awarded the same by then President AP J Abdul Kalam.  

Here is why he resonated with so many people in the crowd: 

Photo : AP Obit

Photo : AP Obit 

1. He was a spellbinding preacher: His voice during sermons would occasionally turn a notch higher in frequency and he often came down from the pulpit to embrace his fellow parishioners. He wanted everyone to be fellows and would often break into pixie-like dances on the aisle. He was known for his brilliant quotes that left open-ended questions to the minds of ordinary people. 

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2. Making a point: He would start his messages with wit, make himself look silly and then when everyone was done laughing, would talk about the serious message that he wanted to convey.  

3. He would jog at 4.30 am every morning, and was unfailingly on time for everything. If people were ever late by even a minute, they would hear it from him. He always appreciated the staff sent for him but was uncomfortable with limousines and police escorts.

4. During the apartheid era, he was banned by the media and his passport was revoked twice by the government. He had just returned from a Europe trip, after a meeting with Pope Paul and once he got home, his passport was confiscated. To this his reaction was: 'I wish the Prime minister and his people a blessed Good Friday and a happy Easter.' He travelled with a document that mentioned his citizenship as "undetermined". 

Photo : AP Obit
Photo: AP Obit

5. In London, he would purposefully ask directions to drive from the London Police to hear a specific word: 

6. He spoke about everything under the sun during his time as a world leader. He openly supported the gay community as discrimination against them was as heineous as apartheid. His trademark was to also hold interfaith services at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town, with a range of Christians, Muslims and Jews. 

 

7. He was forbidden by the ANC government from attending his friend and mentor Nelson Mandela's funeral. But only when there was a big public outcry, was he allowed in. This is why he was recorded saying that he would never ever vote for them.  

8. He was known to be a very sensitive man. So much so, that he even cried with the victims, as they retold their stories of horror. He later wrote a book with his daughter called Made for Goodness. 

9. He was known to write fantastic emails and sign off as "Arch", but he was also known to write heart-touching letters. Here is one of his letters to Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi. 

 

10. He was known to be a humorous person with a ferocious and contagious laughter that made for quite a moment.  

He was also great friends with the Dalai Lama and they often pulled each other's leg, which was the basis of their strong friendship.  

Last updated: December 27, 2021 | 18:16
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