Making It Their Own

I was in Durban two weekends ago to see my colleague run his 10^th ultra-marathon – one of the largest and oldest in the world with close to 25,000 participants and 90 years of history behind it.  Apart from the race, I was most excited to be by the ocean, and eat my very first bunny chow, an India inspired, curry-based food that originated from Durban.  

Durban apparently has more Indians than any other city outside of India – I’m sure it wasn’t easy beating New Jersey, San Jose, and other U.S. metropolitan areas.  And so, while I expected several large segregated pockets of Indian-ness, what I got instead was a more complete integration.

I’m probably making it out to be more than it is, but bunny chow to me is an example of how South Africa truly embraced another culture.  Sure, the U.S. has Indian restaurants all over its towns and cities but it still remains an international dining experience – falling short of being something the average American would relate to and enjoy as their own. 

Curry, roti, biryani, and dal were not confined to Indian restaurants – I found them being served alongside other South African favorites at hotels, jazz clubs, and casinos – of course with a much welcome South African variation.  Indian spices weren’t available only at the shoddy looking Indian grocery store but were found on the same shelf as dried basil, marjoram, and braai (South African barbecue) spice.

Few people I interacted with referred to themselves or others as Indian South Africans – they were simply South African.  And while there is something nice about being Indian American or Korean American in terms of identifying with two different cultures, there was something equally, if not more, appealing about just being South African – implying that by definition, being South African means that you could all look different but still come together at the table and order a familiar and favorite local dish – the bunny chow.