No gym today coz of a technical glitch in the credit card attached to my gym membership... Gotta sort it before I resume... So, I finally do what I have been intending to ... Jogging and brisk-walking around my complex.
Considering people mention its not safe for anybody apart from blacks or natives to walk on the streets here in SA (I find that very irritating really as I love to roam around roads and markets and walk on the roads freely) - but fear psychosis being contagious I know I might not be any time soon be walking around or jogging on main roads as I'd want to (there are numerous stories of mugging and attacks on non-natives). So I see the vast expanse of the complex we live in as a good substitute - its huge really... and I ran 4 biiiig rounds all around the fringe of the complex.
Amazing how in a complex of minimum 500 people - I do not see more than 4-5 people outside or hanging outside their houses/units on the paths around. Beautiful complex this, and such few people to enjoy! :) - I do sound negative here, but that's just a fact and my observation.
Is it really not safe? Or is the paranoia hanging round SA due to its past?
ReplyDeleteWell what makes things unnerving is the vast divide between the rich and poor. And you have segregation between the natives of Africa itself - say Nigerians are said to cause violence etc. and I know that South African blacks do not gel well or look well at say immigrants from Botswana etc. There is basically a lot of tension caused by perceived social differences. The violence is extreme and more like stories of immediate gun-shot as a form of common method of attack. Now when people tell you such stuff, its a tad scary. Also we Indians bejewel ourselves (more so post getting married) - And I know, I can feel the bling being seen and noticed - which makes me gulp sometimes if I observe hard enough and take in the gaze. Its just that undercurrent of unease - Though 'touch-wood' ;) haven't faced anything severe or such first-hand.
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