Nelson Mandela's Andaman connection

Port Blair, Apr 2: In a solitary cell of the Robben Island prison a tall and powerfully-built man sat at his desk gazing intently at the picture of a woman, who was nude except for a piece of red cloth tied round her head.

On the desk, neatly arranged, were stacks of thick books and writing material. Behind him, on the wall were other photographs.

The narrow cell had a barred door and a high ventilator, typical of most colonial jails.

The man was Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected President of South Africa, who had spent 18 of his 27 years of internment during his fight against the then apartheid regime, in this celll at Robben island prison.

Could there be a connection between Mandela and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands? At the outset it may appear preposterous. Mandela had never visited the Islands. India was already a free country when he started the fight against apartheid.

However, some connections do emerge. Francis N Xavier, a senior English lecturer and an acclaimed writer says, "A reading of the epoch-making autobiography of Mandela, 'Long Walk to Freedom' reveals some interesting facts." During the long years of incarceration, to bear with the solitude and boredom, Mandela would read books, write letters, and fantasise about what he would do after his release from prison.

Gazing at the pictures of his loved ones and writing letters to them was one way of escape. In a letter to his then wife Winnie (whom he divorced in 1996), he wrote, "Your beautiful photo stands about two feet above my left shoulder as I write this note. Nolitha stands on the table directly opposite me. How can my spirits ever be down when I enjoy the fond affection of such wonderful ladies?" According to Mr Xavier, Mandela explains the identify of the mystery woman 'Nolitha' only to his daughter Zindsi. In a letter to her, he wrote, "By the way, has Mum ever told you about Nolitha, the other lady in my cell from the Andaman Islands? She regards the pygmy beauty as some sort of rival and hardly suspects that I took the picture out of the National Geographic." The picture was among those published in the National Geographic in its July 1975, an exclusive photo feature on the tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by the famous photographer Raghubir Singh.

"In one of the photos, Mr Singh captures a Jarawa belle in a moment of spontaneous merriment. It was this photo that mesmerised Mandela and made him give her a name and a place in his cell alongside the photo of his wife,'' Mr Xavier added.

Mandela's sudden transfer from Rodden Island, his release and election as the first black president of South Africa is now part of history.

"Nothila was forgotten, till she resurfaced in 2004. Between the pages of one of the two note books that Mandela used for drafting his letters, there was a mention of the same picture", Mr Xavier said.

A prison guard on Robben Island had kept Mandela's books and letters in his custody for about 23 years before returning them.

"He could have sold them and made a fortune, but his conscience did not permit him to do so. Mandela recognised the books as his own, and Nolitha too. When asked why he kept the picture, Mandela said he saw in the exuberance of the woman a 'celebration of life'," Mr Xavier said.

UNI