NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Prose Chapter 2: Nelson Mandela Long Walk To Freedom

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The inauguration ceremony took place at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of the white government, on 10th May, 1994. The scene was grand and historic: the beautiful sandstone amphitheatre was filled with dignitaries from more than 140 countries. A rainbow of colours — different races, nationalities, and flags — decorated the occasion. South African jets, helicopters, and troop carriers flew overhead, displaying the new South African flag. It was a moment of immense pride as the very military forces that had previously enforced apartheid were now saluting a Black president. Mandela was accompanied by his daughter Zenani.

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Mandela meant that he was not alone in achieving freedom — he stood on the shoulders of countless brave men and women who had fought against racial oppression before him. Patriots like Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Chief Luthuli, Yusuf Dadoo, Bram Fischer, Robert Sobukwe, and thousands of unnamed freedom fighters had sacrificed their lives, careers, and families for the struggle. Mandela was "the sum" of all their courage, sacrifice, and determination. He was acknowledging that freedom was not the achievement of one man but the collective result of generations of struggle.

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Yes, Mandela firmly believed this. He observed that South Africa's greatest wealth was not its minerals or gems but its people — people whose character was forged in the furnace of apartheid's oppression. He said, "the decades of oppression and brutality had produced the Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus... men of such extraordinary courage, wisdom and generosity that their like may never be known again." The very harshness of apartheid — the imprisonment, torture, discrimination, and humiliation — produced people of exceptional resilience, courage, and moral strength. Mandela himself spent 27 years in prison, and rather than breaking him, it deepened his commitment to justice and his capacity for forgiveness.

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Mandela believed every person has twin obligations: (i) An obligation to their family — parents, wife, and children. (ii) An obligation to their people, community, and country. In a normal society, a person can fulfil both obligations without conflict. But in apartheid South Africa, simply trying to live as a decent human being was punished. A person who tried to fulfil their obligation to their people was forced to become an outlaw, separated from family. Mandela himself could not fulfil his obligation to his family during his decades in prison — he could not attend his mother's funeral or be present for his children's growing up. This was the inhumanity of apartheid — it forced people to choose between their family and their people.

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Mandela's understanding of freedom evolved:

As a boy: Freedom was personal and immediate — the freedom to run in the fields, swim in streams, roast mealies under the stars, ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls. It was the freedom to do what he pleased within his village. He didn't think about freedom for others — he assumed he was free.

As a young man: Freedom meant the freedom to earn a livelihood, marry, and have a family — the basic freedoms of adulthood. He wanted to live independently and with dignity.

As a mature adult: He realised he was not free at all. He discovered that the freedom of his boyhood was an illusion — a Black person in South Africa had no real freedom. He then understood that freedom meant the freedom of every South African, regardless of race. His hunger for his own freedom became a hunger for the freedom of all people. This transformation from personal to political freedom drove his life's work.

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Apartheid (meaning "apartness" in Afrikaans) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Under apartheid: (i) People were classified by race — White, Black, Coloured, Indian. (ii) Black people (the majority) were denied the right to vote, denied free movement, forced to live in designated "homelands" or townships. (iii) Inter-racial marriages were banned. (iv) Separate schools, hospitals, buses, beaches, and public facilities for different races. (v) Black people needed "passes" to enter white areas. (vi) Anyone who opposed apartheid was imprisoned (like Mandela — 27 years) or killed. Apartheid created a deeply unjust society where the white minority (about 10%) controlled all political and economic power while the Black majority lived in poverty and oppression.

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Mandela learned that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. He saw countless comrades who were terrified — of imprisonment, torture, death — but who acted bravely despite their fear. A brave person is not someone who doesn't feel afraid but someone who conquers that fear. Mandela himself experienced moments of fear during his long struggle, but he never let fear stop him from fighting for what was right. He says, "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

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The central themes are:

(i) Freedom and sacrifice: Freedom is never free — it requires enormous sacrifice. Mandela and his comrades gave up their personal lives, families, and youth for the freedom of their people.

(ii) Forgiveness over revenge: Despite 27 years in prison and decades of brutal oppression, Mandela chose reconciliation over revenge. His inauguration was about building a new rainbow nation, not punishing the oppressors.

(iii) The oppressor is also unfree: Mandela made the profound observation that the oppressor is as much a prisoner as the oppressed — "a man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred." Both sides need to be liberated.

(iv) The evolution of understanding: Freedom is not a fixed concept — it evolves. What seems like freedom in childhood may be an illusion. True freedom is universal — it must include everyone.