He Tore A Hamstring Dot Mee Dot UK

In Our Small Special World … Ubuntu

Now that was a weekend to savour! They say that you find out who your friends are in times of crisis. I have to say that I have been blown away by the number of people persistently knocking on the door … and even when I don’t answer, they keep proverbially knocking.

It has been a source of great comfort and strength over recent months, and something for which I am so very grateful.

It has been a quite wonderful ‘long’ weekend, which even more than others, just seemed to pass far too quickly.

Firstly, I had the great privilege of being Best Man at the wedding of 2 special friends, which brought a number of old Uni mates together for the first time in a while.

If ever there was proof of how the globe has become smaller in time, this was it, as Far South East met far Far North West.

To be precise, Colombo (The capital city of Sri Lanka) lies at approximately 6° North and 79° East. Liverpool lies at around 53° North and 3° West. That is a distance of some 47° Latitude, and 82° Longitude. To you and me, this is a distance of 8,927 Kilometres, with a flight between Liverpool John Lennon and Bandaranaike International Airports taking approximately 11 hours and 31 minutes … give or take the odd 60 seconds here or there!

Those, however, were the birthplaces of the bride and groom – if I tell you that one was christened Dilshan, and the other Jayne, it may give you an indication of which is which!

The whole day was a spectacular fusion of cultures coming together in perfect harmony. I was taken back to a time when my lecturer at University once defined to me the word Ubuntu. A fuller definition of this concept is available widely on the internet, but I always return to my lecturer who had initially encountered Ubuntu in the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

“We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu ~ 2008)

The world is a beautiful place of beautiful people, and the embrace of global cultures can only enhance our understanding of the world and all of our brothers and sisters.

In fact, my abiding memory of the wedding will probably be the sight of a Nigerian taking on the Groom’s Sri Lankan grandfather in a ‘Nigerian Drinking Game’! There again, Ademola Chukwu was never a strict follower of Islam!

The biggest regret is possibly a very common conundrum, in which we will all be busy emailing and texting each other over the next week or so, followed by long periods of non-contact until the next wedding or funeral comes along.

The latter part of the weekend saw my ‘close circle’ coming together to celebrate my ‘belated’ birthday. We had a lovely meal at Cuizene, one of Birmingham’s better Caribbean restaurants. (For those who are interested, Birmingham lies at 52° North and 2° West!)

The Calypso theme ran deep into the evening, with a combination of music and drink, the Cockspur Mule being a particular favourite. In fact, I would not be so surprised if Birmingham woke up on Sunday to find itself sold out of Cockspur Rum … Barbados’ finest!

Of course, Monday mornings always bring a swift and stark return to reality. However, the intercession of Birmingham City Council apart (it’s anybody’s guess as to how they calculate the Council Tax payments at the moment!), this was truly a special weekend spent amongst special people … from far and wide!

To all my friends, including those that I am yet to meet, I give you kudos. And I leave you with the words of Marcus Tullius Cicero, evidently a true visionary:

“We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race.”