Birthday Celebrations

Yesterday, Saturday July 29 I celebrated my birthday. No, I'm not going to tell you how old I turned. I stopped giving away my age when I turned 21 :)

I went home for the week-end to celebrate my special day with my family...after all, who knows where I'll be next year this time and when I'll get to spend my birthday at home again.

I arrived home starving on Friday evening. Luckily my dear mother had food waiting for me. The next day - my birthday, was spent doing some filming for a documentary I'm working on... then went shopping with my folks, and rushed home to get ready for my dinner party which was going to be held at one of my favourite restaurants, Smokey Swallows.

My entire family was there, with a sprinkling of close family friends. The food was delicious, the service we received at Smokey Swallows was outstanding and the evening was really just perfect. I just missed one person who couldn't make it that evening - my special big brother, Vijayan. Of course, my younger brother was DJ'ing and only came towards the end of the evening - as in, the last 40 minutes of it!


Also, I received two flower arrangements and a bouquet from the restaurant at the end of the evening. They were so lovely...

This one was from my uncle, aunt and cousin

this was from Uncle Kriben & family in Durban

and this stunning bouquet was from Smokey Swallows

Birthdays have always been a big thing at home, and trust me - to this day, I'm still like a little kid when July 29 comes around!

Chatterbox August '06: My new appreciation for the arts

The quaint community of Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape comes alive every year during the National Arts Festival. Last month I spent about two weeks working on the broadcast coverage of the festival. It was such a memorable experience. Not only did I learn alot about Arts Journalism and various aspects of filmmaking, but I also got to meet many interesting people.

The internationally-acclaimed film, Tsotsi is based on a novel written by Athol Fugard – one of South Africa’s most loved playwrights. Fugard’s play, Sizwe Banzi is Dead was one of the highlights at this year’s festival, and I was fortunate to have interviewed the lead actor in the play, John Kani as well as longtime friend and producer of Fugard’s plays, Mannie Manim. As a Fugard fan, it was thrilling to get to know him through his closest friends.

I also met the members of Remix Dance Project – a dance company based in Cape Town. Their dancers are comprised of abled and disabled people. The dance sequence between a deaf man and one in a wheelchair was so moving. The point of the production was to make the audience aware that disabled people should not be discriminated against just because of their disabilities.

One of the most colourful and interesting productions I watched was a drama production called Umtshato – The Marriage. It was a fusion of dance and theatre which explored the customs and rituals of a Xhosa marriage. After the show the director, Tina Piek told me that the performers improvise each show and that none of it was rehearsed!

Another story I covered was the Standard Bank National Schools Big Band. The band is made up of the youngest jazz performers in South Africa. I was so proud of my cousin, Hashil who plays the trombone and contended with many hopefuls from around the country and was placed in the National Schools Big Band.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Arts Festival. The best thing for me was that I developed a new appreciation and love for the arts…from theatre, dance, art and jazz.

Have a great month, and enjoy the last few days of winter!

* To watch highlights of the festival, please visit the CueTV website.

Home Sweet Home

Tonight I'll be sleeping in my own bed once again - if only for two nights...
Yep...I'm going home this afternoon and will be back on Sunday.

I'm having a birthday dinner tomorrow (Saturday) evening with my entire family and a sprinkling of close friends. I'm having it at a restaurant called Smoky Swallows - exquisite food! I'm really looking forward to it...I'll post pics when I get back.

Have a great week-end, everyone :)

Hair to Stay

This is a poem written by my dear friend, Sean for his writing class assignment.

Hair to stay

Trust me

My hair is an expression of who I want to be

Someone who embraces change, who wants to experience all that life has to offer and who is not afraid of people’s perceptions of them

Spiked, gelled, shaved or braided

It’s mines to do with as I please

My hair is a statement

A statement that screams I will do whatever the hell I want

Conform, I will not

Do things to please others, I won’t

I have done that for too long

Some people say my hairstyle doesn’t suit me

But I don’t care

Others will not influence the way I live my life

I am too busy trying to live my life than worry about other people’s opinions of me my hair and everything else

Those are their opinions which they are entitled to

But don’t bother me with them

With all the gel in my hair, this hairstyle is here to stay

Deal with it

I know my hair and hairstyle is beautiful because it is part of a beautiful person with a beautiful heart and beautiful soul

Sean Naidoo

HIV sufferers find love online

Website helps people living with HIV find love online

Coumba Sylla | Johannesburg, South Africa 26 July 2006 08:23 South African Ben Sassman admits his bid to help a lonely friend living with HIV/Aids started out as a "feel-good project for myself" but is now an online dating service reaching people around the globe. The Positive Connection, in its third year, can even claim success in the matchmaking game, having brought together a few solid partnerships. The 39-year-old Cape Town resident, who is married, says his website is "the first and only one in the world solely dedicated" to people living with HIV/Aids. The idea came after watching the disappointment and stress of an HIV-positive friend repeatedly turned down by women he wanted to date. "Once he disclosed his status, the girl would usually run away." Sassman suggested he tap into online dating sites, to meet more woman and more potential dates. But the friend baulked, saying "he'll still have to disclose his status" and face rejection. So Sassman came up with his idea -- an online resource site and meeting place for people living with the stigma of HIV/Aids. The site's "about us" entry, next to a photo of the good-looking Sassman in a smart, dark business suit, says it aims to "eliminate the stress and emotional difficulty of disclosing your status to your partner". If people meet someone on www.thepositiveconnection.co.za -- launched in September 2003 with a R28 000 ($4 000) investment footed solely by Sassman himself -- "you're both in the same health boat, and you can just go on with the date and not worry about disclosing [your status]," he said. "Therefore there is no emotional pressure explaining your current health status. I thought it would add a little class to how they can meet new and interesting people," the site reads. Continue reading the article here

Friendships

As the end of the year comes closer, and I approach the end of my degree I feel a bit sad. Sad because I'm going to say goodbye to so many good friends I have made over the past four years.

Everyone says that the friends you make at university are your friends for life. If I think of my friends from high school, I am in touch with about 8 people. That's more than I actually thought would keep their promise to stay in touch.

But if I think of the friends that I have made here, they are invaluable. Honestly, whether we live two or twenty hours away from home, the fact remains that we are still away from home. I feel like they are my second family.

I still miss my friends in first year who were in res with me.... especially Colleta and Tiwonge.
I won't say that we've gone our separate ways, but the three of us are in different faculties and hardly get to hang out these days. Our personalities and tastes are different at times (except when it comes to the boys of Bollywood!) But when the three of us meet - whether it is together or just one on one, I can really feel the love between and amongst us.

For me, friendship is not having to see each other every day, but when you do see one another, it's as if nothing has changed and you still have loads to talk and giggle about.

Ok, enough with me feeling all sentimental. This post is dedicated to two friends who I regard as my sisters - Colleta and Tiwonge. Girls, I hope you know how much you mean to me, and that I appreciate all our chats, laughs and silly talks. More importantly, I will never forget how you helped me through a very difficult time during our first year. For that, I love you...

By the way (that's Tiwonge in the white and Colleta in the blue)

Back "home"

I arrived back on campus yesterday afternoon. I had a pretty short holiday - if you can even call it that. I was so tired yesterday (only got to bed at 3am), so I still have loads of unpacking to do.

This morning I went to my first CompSci1L lecture. I felt like a first year all over again...sitting in the lecture room. The last time I went to a proper lecture was 2 years ago! At the moment, I'm killing time in the computer labs...surfing the net, sending emails etc... But I'm starving, so I think I'm going to grab some lunch and head to my History 102 lecture.