The indomitable spirit that has driven the Indian community, since their arrival 150 years ago, shone brightly at the Night of the Sporting Legends banquet on Tuesday for a number of reasons.
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Chief among them was the reason for the banquet - the honouring and tribute paid to 85 sports heroes, both current and from as far back as the 1950s, whose achievements on the cricket pitches, soccer fields, golf greens, the tennis courts and in the swimming pools made a mockery of apartheid's oppressive clutches.
But it was equally important that the function to honour the legends was hosted by Muslim Vision 2020 - comprising a number of non-governmental organisations - in the absence of national or local recognition.
The event - which made me think of a school awards ceremony crossed with a young boy's birthday party thanks to the plastic balls, cricket bats, racquets as table décor - typified that irrepressible spirit of the Indian community of succeeding and getting something done for the good of the community when no one else was willing to do so.
Former sports MEC Amichand Rajbansi (who was conspicuously absent on the night), to give him his due, lauded 120 soccer players and administrators last year. His plans for a similar national roll-out and sporting hall of fame were thwarted when he lost his position after elections.
MR SPORTS: Sports columnist and commentator Robbie Naidoo provided a worthy introduction to the "hero to blacks" but "public enemy No1 to white South Africans", former teacher, sportsman and chief strategist in the fight against apartheid-sports Sam Ramsamy.
Ramsamy's messages were poignant: that youngsters needed to emulate the sports achievements of the stars of yesteryear, that parents should take heed of the Latin maxim mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body), making reference to the community's preference to favour education over sport and that as the preamble of our country's constitution stated, Indians - and their achievements in the political and sports arena - were part of the diversity of the country.
CARRYING THE TORCH: Given Ramsamy's position as executive board member of the International Olympic Committee and Durban's bid to host the 2020 games, it was inevitable that one of the speakers urged him not to "forget your roots and make sure Durban is the host". Ramsamy just grinned widely, pointed to eThekwini's mayor Obed Mlaba (who made a rare public appearance) and said "there's the man".
OOPS: The first batch of awards were handed to recipients accompanied by a short, witty description of their achievements. However, on one occasion, the speaker twice referred to the "late" SK Chetty - a sprightly 90-something-year-old former sports administrator - who accepted the award in person.
OVERALL: The recognition - even coming years later - was a big deal for the sportsmen and the idea was the brainchild of Muslim Vision chairman Ebrahim Osman, or Ossie as Ramsamy referred to him. My only thought as I left the function, glancing at the reminiscing awardees, was that it was sad that youngsters who need to be inspired by their achievements were not around.
A SOUND mind and body was a common theme the following morning at the Southern Sun Elangeni's Lifestyle launch. Amid gorgeous décor that featured pink champagne, dozens of mink roses and pearls, the hotel introduced it's new card offering holders access to the hotel's gym, coffee from it's Starbucks franchise, an hour-long cycling trip and free parking to an intimate gathering of about 70 guests.
HEALTHY GLOW: In keeping with the theme, general manager Mike Jackson was the morning's suave programme director who introduced Elizabeth Arden's Ulrica Naidoo as the first speaker. Naidoo gave a short talk about the cosmetics house, which celebrates its centenary birthday, before a (too) long video presentation.
POSITIVE THOUGHTS: Derryn Campbell, one of the founders of Awesome South Africa, a private organisation that aims to motivate South Africans from passive spectators to active participants, was the morning's inspirational speaker.
Campbell, whose book of the same name as the organisation has just gone into second edition printing - the first batch of 10000 copies sold out in under five months - lamented that South Africans were like "manic depressives" and encouraged guests not to "run from the storm, but dance in the rain". Apt, as it was bucketing outside.
OVERALL: The event, which included a deliciously low GI breakfast consisting of a vanilla and yoghurt pannecotta with berries and a salmon potato cake with Midlands smoked trout, was like an espresso - short, effective and enjoyable. - YN
PROMISES of excessive family bickering, marriage, time travel with a serving of Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made the premiere of Action Replayy on the eve of Diwali last Thursday the ideal outing for families and women on a night out.
AFRICAN TIME: The event was scheduled to start at 6pm for 6.30pm so I rushed to Fourways in the rain immediately after work. When I arrived, guests were milling around in the reception area.
FAMILIAR FACES: Keshnie Moodley, Nu Metro business manager for the Bollywood bouquet, was a gracious host - we often bump into each seeing that we share the same building - and she filled me in on some of the guests. One of them was Shoneez Kay, a former colleague, who is a film buyer for M-Net (and who also happens to be related to me), was doing some mingling of her own. Kay was very useful as she gave me the breakdown on Bollywood and Hollywood film trends.
MOVIE TREATS: The delicious aroma of potato and chicken samoosas, bhajias, spicy chicken strips and lamb and chicken rolls overpowered the popcorn smell. An oversight in providing side plates meant that guests had to juggle balancing their food on serviettes and eating at the same time.
A woman at the bar exclaimed that the budget must have been low because they had a cash bar. She whispered loudly that it was the first time she had to pay for a drink at a film premiere.
SHOW TIME: Sunday Times Extra columnist and TV presenter Shalandra Bunseelal was the host of the evening and did a quick give-away of tickets to the Monte Casino Bird Park and one-night stays at the hotel after Kumar Premjee performed two songs.
SONG AND DANCE: Action Replayy is a colourful movie with awesome costumes but I was grateful for the drink and popcorn to munch on in anticipa-tion of the three-hour-long feature. Guests hurried out as soon as the credits rolled, eager, I suppose, to get started on their Diwali celebrations. - NK
This article is taken from-
http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article760684.ece/Sports-heroes-past-and-present-hailed
