Ratanda - The Simple Pleasures of Life
"It's the simple things in Life that are the most Extraordinary". Paulo Coelho
In my two previous photographic portfolios, I concentrated on the streets and people around me in New York and Paris.
In Paris and New York, I was exposed to the "Old World" as well as the "New World".
Paris, hub of the "Old World" to me, is rich in history, culture, architecture and arts with a vibrant modern buzz.
New York, on the other hand, represents the " New World", underscoring wealth with a rich cultural, architectural and artistic lifestyle. There is variety in the colourful everyday hustle and bustle. New York is a noteworthy international centre associated with the materialistic aspects of modern life.
Ratanda, in my country South Africa, is a township south of Heidelberg in Gauteng and was established in 1955. "Ratanda" is derived from two indigenous languages... "Rata"(SeSotho) which means love and "Thanda" (IsiZulu) which also means love.
Meeting the friendly and welcoming inhabitants of the Ratanda community, I came to understand the very meaning of the name "Ratanda".
Here you find no wealth, no opulence, only the basic daily means to make ends meet.
And yet the people I met were living everyday life with joy and acceptance of their less privileged situation, without sacrificing their simple pleasures of life.
In Ratanda, I found that happiness does not have to come from perfection, it goes beyond that.
In a nutshell, it is possible to be content with the simple pleasures of life while living with the bare minimum.
"People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy". Anton Chekhov
