Riveting Rites and Rituals - Africa

Though Nelson Mandela brought democracy to South Africa in 1994, villages are still governed by a single person called as Chief. (Similar to our King or Raja concept of olden days). He is neither elected by voting nor selected by govt. Its like dictatorship, son/daughter of Chief becomes next Chief. Tribal chiefs still settle rural disputes and allocate land for home building and agriculture to villagers. The chief owns all of the rural land under his province by default. Chief rules over all decisions pertaining to his people and region. The Chief summarizes discussions and arguments and gives his verdict slowly and softly taking long breaks in between his sentences...pin drop silence prevails during Chief's talk and everyone listens to him patiently. People do not address their chief with his/her name and they always tuck their head down while they talk to him/her to avoid direct eye to eye contact.

Most of the festivities like marriages, birth, harvest season etc laced with non-stop soul-stirring drumming and dancing. The chiefs appear in their most charming royal attire and sit in state to acknowledge and receive homage from his villagers. The festival starts around midnight, when women and children sneak out of their huts and, naked, carry out nocturnal rites to exorcise the village of evil spells. The frenzy continues until late afternoon of the next day. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of their dance. The rural ladies sang and danced in front of us just like how they do in front of their Chief’s.

Another interesting aspect I found in Africa was the concept of Dowry reversed i.e. groom having to pay dowry to bride’s family before he can marry her. Its called as ‘lobola’. The traditional custom of lobola was set in place as a trust fund for the new couple’s children. The amount of lobola, which typically consisted of cattle, or piece of land was determined by many factors, including the background of the bride. This amount was negotiated in a series of meetings between the bride and groom’s parents. The payment of lobola showed the bride’s parents that the man was serious about his love for her and was financially secure to provide well for her.
When we were invited for a lunch at a local villager’s house, we were surprised to find that very few chairs were kept and a mat was laid out on the ground. We were told that, in African tradition men have their meals sitting on the chair and only after they are done, the food left over is eaten by women sitting on the mat. It was a hilarious sight as we enjoyed eating first while our female colleagues watched us with their hungry look sitting on the mat. Finally a moment of male prowess and superiority :-)