S c e n e&H e a rd
Page 8
THE INDEPENDENT
on Saturday
23 March 2013
Sanskrit makes it
to the modern age
Resurrection of ancient tongue inspires
young pupils at a Durban school
C
INSTRUCTION: St James headmistress Anisha Ramlaul
teaches the ancient language of Sanskrit to Grade 5s.
DETERMINED: Learning an ancient tongue, using the
textbook Sanskrit is Fun.
PICTURES: DUNCAN GUY
the old maxim “what you say is
what you must do”.
“Listen to your own sound,”
Ramlaul tells her Grade 5 class
as they pronounce the swara or
vowel. “What was important
about that ‘oo’ sound was that
you can feel it return from
whence it came.”
Through this emphasis on
sound, word and meaning, students of Sanskrit are able to
distinguish purer sound from
impure sound, “building their
capacity to make conscious and
better choices in their daily interactions,” Ramlaul adds.
The grammar of the language, unchanged over time,
orders the mental world of the
child.
“Because Sanskrit gram-
mar is so ordered, students
recognise its intelligent patterns. This helps in mathematics, especially geometry, in music and computer studies.”
St James School is one of a
family of nine around the
world, three of which are in
South Africa. They all teach
Sanskrit
and
Thinking
Through Philosophy in addition to required curriculum
with the aim of developing
morally upright, confident, and
happy students and teachers.
“Our approach is not to lose
sight of the self of the student
nor the self of the teacher.”
Teachers at St James are required to view teaching as a
“lifelong calling” and no matter
what their religion, to have the
OBSESSION: Barista Dayle Visser shows off a fine cup of latte art.
Iconic café also
satisfies thirst
for knowledge
SIHLE MTHEMBU
NESTLED right next to a
bustling road in the transitional suburb of Umbilo is a
large black and white building
from which waft the most exotic smells.
Colombo Coffee and Tea on
Magwaza Maphalala (Gale)
Street is one of Durban’s oldest
and most refined roasteries of
foreign and local beans which,
although having been around
for exactly 90 years, is surprisingly modern.
The interior of the space
pays homage to its traditional
roots, making use of fine steel
finishes and integrating the old
machinery with a modern café.
Manager Arno Els says
what has made this facility last
so long is that it’s not just a
place that serves coffee but
rather, people come here to
learn about the beverage. “I
think a lot of people are attracted to this place because of
the ambience and the fact that
they can learn a lot about coffee
and the science and art behind
it,” said Els. “That is our main
focus, to teach people new
things about something they
drink every day.”
Judging by the clientele
present at the venue, Els is
right. An eclectic mixture of
university students sipping on
cold presses and older business
Friendly city of sun and sea
makes way for Dollywood
SIHLE MTHEMBU
DOLLYWOOD – that’s the
name Durban film-makers are
coining for the city’s booming
industry.
The past three years have
seen a brighter spotlight on the
coastal city as it moves to position itself among the key filmmaking destinations in the
world, and already the joint efforts of industry and independent film-makers are paying dividends, with some of South
Africa’s finest films having
been made in Durban.
One such film is Otelo Burn-
ing, the apartheid-era surf film
that was shot on Durban’s
beaches and is still riding a
wave of international awards.
Speaking about what makes
Durban such a great place to
shoot films, Otelo Burning producer Kevin Fleischer notes
that the city provides unprecedented support for film-makers.
“One of the things that really makes working in Durban
great is that people really know
how to be supportive not only
of the project but of the filmmakers as well,” said Fleischer.
“When we were in the city the
public was really willing to
work around us and that helped
as make a great film.”
But it’s not just the public
that has filmmakers wanting to
shout “action” on Durban’s
shores, it’s also the infrastructure that the city offers. Already the city boasts hundreds
of film certified locations and
allows filmmakers to apply easily for permits online.
Speaking about why it is important to give filmmakers as
many locations as possible,
Toni Monty, who is the acting
chief executive of the Durban
film office, said the city is
HOT PROPERTY: Multi-award winning Otelo Burning is one
of the flagship films that have been made in Durban
recently.
unique because filmmakers
can start and finish their projects there.
“Durban is unique because
we literally have every kind of
setting,” said Monty. “And this
is important to filmmakers be-
cause it means they can start
and finish a project here without having to move to other
cities and this means that a lot
of costs are cut out.”
The city also has the oldest
film festival on the continent.
types ordering espressos are
just some of the patrons occupying the coffee house.
Speaking about the value
that a place like this adds to
Durban’s coffee culture, Els
says facilities like this help
ensure that the competition
among baristas in the city remains stiff.
“The coffee culture of Durban is still young and growing,
and I think it’s good to have
some healthy competition, but
also so that even the consumers
know what they want from
their coffee and can tell the difference between a good cup and
a great cup of coffee.”
But the old building is not
just home to special roasts. As
part of its coffee development
programme, they have also
started a barista training programme where young coffee
makers can learn the finer
points of the craft.
The programme has been so
successful that Kyle Fraser,
who is marketing director at
the café, won the championship
for best barista in KZN. Speaking about what inspires his
latte art and rich presses,
Fraser said it’s the process of
going from a single bean to a
fine cup that fuels his passion.
“I’ve been in the coffee industry for a fifth of my life. I
am obsessed with incredible
coffee. I’m constantly in search
According to a report issued by
the Centre for Creative Arts,
University of KwaZulu-Natal,
the festival last year recorded a
record attendance of 31 012 visitors and remains one of the
core arts-related contributors
to the Durban economy. One of
the major plans that are in the
pipeline is the building of the
proposed film studio at the former Natal Command site on
Durban’s beachfront.
The multi-million rand development, which has been
controversially approved for
Durban film producer Anant
Singh, will see Durban close
the gap with other cities.
Not all filmmakers in the
city, however, are impressed
about the developments that
are being made. According to
Menga Nhlabathi, one of the
biggest challenges that filmmakers in Durban continue to
NEW VIBE: The mixture of old and new gives the café’s
interior a welcoming feel.
PICTURES: SANDILE MAKHOBA
of the perfect roast and extraction for every coffee that I can
get my hands on, and I love the
learning cycle that develops
from tasting a single origin coffee for the first time. I don’t
think that thirst for knowledge
will ever stop,” said Fraser.
The most coveted items on
the café’s menu is not just the
espressos and cappuccinos,
says Els, but the teas as well.
“People know us mostly for
the coffee, but we also stock
some really exotic tea ranges
and it seems to be very popular
with the ladies. A lot of guys
come here and get it for their
girlfriends,” says Els with a
tinge of humour.
Damien Saunders, who has
been a patron of the café for
several years, says the most
important thing about a place
like this is that it adds a new
vibe to what is very much a hidden part of the city.
“When you talk to people,
they think of Umbilo as a very
seedy area, so it’s nice to have a
place like this where people
can meet have a good vibe and
host events. It’s a very communal space and I think Durban
needs more places like this,”
face is one of lack of funding
and transparency about support programmes.
“I think the municipality
needs to be more hands-on in
terms of support and a transparent system of application
incubator programme for local
film-makers,” he said.
Tiny Mungwe, who is the
head of the Durban Film Society, echoed Nhlabathi’s sentiments. “I think the challenges
facing film-makers in Durban
are the same as those facing
film-makers anywhere in the
world. There’s a tendency to
fall into this self-deprecating
provincial thinking that Durban will have to shake itself out
of very soon,” said Mungwe.
“Making films is a challenging process, both creatively and
financially. Investors reluctant to put money in films,
piracy, low box-office returns
HANDS-ON: Colombo has
its own barista-training
programme where students
are taught the finest
aspects of the craft.
said Saunders.
Among the future plans Els
and his team have is more live
music events and even opening
up at night. “People have suggested to us that we must extend our opening hours, and
that is something that we definitely are looking at.
“We have hosted exhibitions
here and music by the likes of
Dear Reader and Asleep in
Transit and it’s been really successful. So we are going to be
expanding that and giving people what they want,” said Els.
and creative doldrums are part
of the nightmare for everyone –
not just Durbanites.”
Lerato Sokhulu, who is an
African Film Drama Academy
acting graduate noted that the
biggest challenge that needs to
be addressed is the issue of
having a more active industry.
“The biggest challenge as an
actress is the lack of agents and
auditions going on in Durban.”
But for 28-year-old producer
Similo Gobingca the challenges
in the city make for a good creative environment. “I think the
future of Mzansi cinema is in
Durban. People from other regions are too pressured into doing what’s right. Durban guys
have mastered the art of survival. So generally they would
be more inclined to taking their
time to find the means to make
the exact film they want to
make,” said Gobingca.
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HILDREN sit listening
attentively to their
teacher. Uncharacteristically so. They’re
not fidgety; in fact they appear
completely focused.
“Be careful not to write the
swara as a three,” explains Anisha Ramlaul. “It’s form drops
from a place we don’t know. It’s
coming from an important
place called the line of consciousness and from this consciousness it manifests into the
creation.”
Whatever could this lesson
be?
The Grade 5 class at Durban’s St James School is learning the ancient language of
Sanskrit. No longer spoken, it
is considered the mother of all
Indo-European
languages,
alone among all tongues that
have not changed over the millennia and valued for being full
of “profound concepts”, such
as the original concept of unity,
according to the founder of the
International Schools of Philosophy (SPP) to which
St James is attached.
“In connecting with the
finer, deeper meaning of words
in an ordered grammatical system and allowing those words
to reflect in the inner being,
Sanskrit moves contrarily to
human vices such as selfishness, greed, misery and hatred.
It lights the path to the universal man. That’s why it’s so important,” explains Ramlaul,
who is the founding headmistress of St James School
which began in Durban in 2007.
“Sanskrit words are never
harmful, only instructive. Take
“stitha prajna”, which literally
means “stop”. If you are performing any action that is
harmful to yourself, these
words mean “steady yourself ”
under “knowledge”, implying
that you make the conscious
move to minimise the harm
through practice of insightful
steadiness, an incredible selfhelp tool,” she says.
Sanskrit therefore places a
huge emphasis on sound, word
and meaning. It goes back to
creator as central to their lives.
The wisdom as recognised
from persons who have
“walked the talk” whether it be
Christ, Mohammed, Buddha or
Krishna are drawn on naturally and without conflict.
Those students who wish to
practise meditation are offered
to do so from their Grade 6 year.
Meditation involves word
recitation in Sanskrit that
“helps students to experience a
freer state of their being and
bring them to daily peace and
joy”.
A vegetarian meal is part of
the St James School day. “We
were all asked to eat our vegetables as children, and while we
learnt that it was good for us,
we rarely did. Fast food and
quick meals also keep up our
unhealthy practices, so at St
James, students and teachers
have a daily school vegetarian
meal in the spirit of balanced
eating and natural service”,
points out Ramlaul.
After lunch, she moves on to
the Grade 6 class for a lesson in
Thinking Through Philosophy,
done in tandem with Sanskrit.
Students do an exercise in
building their insights around
“fear as an inner tormentor”
based on the teachings of the
philosopher Plato.
Young students who learn
Sanskrit tell the Independent
on Saturday what they feel
about learning the ancient
tongue.
“It expands my mind to (be
aware of) all things around
me,” says Mpilenhle Hadebe.
“Sanskrit prayers help you
to stay calm and think more
slowly (carefully),” says Sasha
Pillay.
Jaydon Denness says there’s
something special about knowing an ancient language.
Inamandla Nxumalo adds:
“It calms you down if you
haven’t been happy”.
After school closes, the ancient language lives on in its
classes for adults who attend
the SPP’s evening Sanskrit lessons once a week.
For more information, visit
http://www.stjamesdurban.co
m
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DUNCAN GUY
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