Indian girls cover up at Reed Dance

Event is an opportunity for cultural sharing

THE inclusion of Indian maidens in the annual Reed Dance festival at Enyokeni, kwaNongoma, in KwaZulu Natal has sparked debate.

On Friday, a group of Zulu maidens who attended the festival said the addition of other race groups diluted 29 years of tradition.

Talk Radio 702 presenter, Eusebius McKaiser, posted on his Twitter account, saying; “Some Zulu maidens are up in arms. King Goodwill wants to allow other races to take part in the reed dance. They say it trivialises culture.”

There was mixed reaction with some saying the ancestors would be angry with the inclusion of other races while another said the semi-nudity — the maidens are bare chested — would be seen as pornographic by those who didn’t understand the cultural significance.

However Phoenix councillor Omie Singh, who together with businessman Vivian Reddy arranged for the Indian group to attend the annual Reed Dance, said their participation was aimed at nation building, tolerance and respect of cultures.

He said the group was dressed in traditional Hindu clothes but that many members of the Indian community had misunderstood the inclusion of the girls.

Singh said this was due to the fact that other cultures associated the festival with bare-breasted women — but it represented much more.

“Indian culture is different in that sense [dress code]. But what this is about is being able to integrate and respect each other’s communities and cultures. The point of us getting involved is to send a message of abstinence,” he said.

Chadé Pierrus, 14, was one of the 120 girls who attended the festival last Saturday.

The Eastbury Secondary School pupil joined her friends on the trip to the festival and said she was proud to have been selected.

“It was so amazing. We were given the chance to experience first hand the differences in our cultures and discover what it all meant and what it all symbolised. One day I will be able to look back on this and say, ‘I was there. I was a part of a historic day.’ ”

Pierrus, who wore a blue sari, said that when they were first told of the school’s decision to participate in the Reed Dance, she was worried that joining the ceremony would require her to go topless.

“The thought did cross my mind and I was a little afraid that we would have to do that, but we were told by both our teachers and when we arrived that we would not have to do that.

“It was all about sharing knowledge of our cultures with one another. That’s why I felt it was important that I wear a sari.”

She said her parents were very supportive of her desire to be part of the event. “They were behind the idea 100% from the start and pushed me to go.”

Political scientist and social activist Lubna Nadvi said Indian traditions were becoming more open to other cultures and it made sense for that sharing process to work both ways.