From the earliest age I had this understanding that it was the knowledge business that I was interested in.
Close to the end of my four and a half-hours of interview, in 1996, with Professor Ahmed Bawa 1 asked him about the kinds of issues in which he is presently interested. We talked about his interest in the issues of philosophy of science ("I am increasingly of the view that we are approaching the situation that persisted in the past where the study of astronomy or the study of physics was seen in the context of natural philosophy"); the convergence of the humanities and science ("there are issues like the Uncertainty Principle from physics which has implications for the social science and humanities"); research capacity building in the country ("ultimately it is about building a new culture which begins to see scientific activity as important"); the role of the contemporary black intellectual ("it is very important to be substantial role models and to actually present to our young people that we are able, capable and there are opportunities to actually make it in the scientific world"); the social responsibility of scientists ("a few years ago you would have found that the dominant view among scie tists was that it is not our business about what is going on in the communities and in industry. That is changing").
Ahmed Bawa is a physicist. At the moment he is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Natal. He is the chair of the Council of the Foundation for Research Development, is on the Board of Directors of Atomic Energy Co-operation and is on various other national committees on Science and Technology. He has been involved in writing the National Science and Technology Policy Documents and National Commission of Higher Education (NCHE) Documents. Ahmed says that coming out of the NCHE process were a whole range of interesting philosophical projects that he is reading around.
These projects are in the area of trying to understand the process of knowledge production and trying to understand how to link the process of knowledge production with the useful utilisation of knowledge. The theme of knowledge production is mentioned a few times in
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the interview. As he is one of the leading physicists in the country), I asked what he liked about research and the resear h experience. He passionately said, "I absolutely enjoy developing new ideas and putting together research projects which involve other people and allow partnerships to develop. This has persisted in my life. I do not know how long I can maintain myself in this job (vice principal). Sooner or later I will definitely go back to research areas. I don't know what area of research it would be. It may not be in physics."
The academic life story
Ahrned Bawa was bom in 1955. He completed his matriculation year of schooling in 1972 as the top student in the Department of Indian Education.2 Ten years after completing his matriculation, he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree, with distinctions, from the University of South Africa (UNISAl In 1986 he obtained, cum laude, an M.Sc. in Nuclear Physics from the University of Durban-Westville and in 1989 obtained a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from the University of Durham (UK). Of course Ahrned's trajectory in academia was affected by the p litical situation in South Africa. "Had I been a white South African and gone to Wits University in 1972, I would have simply slipped into the system and it would have been plain sailing. I think I was sufficiently bright to have worked the system and have come out with a first class degree. All the [prison] detentions were on the basis of being black in South Africa and being involved in all those struggles. I have never let the impediments in the research process which come from being a black South African bother me. I am quite sure, had I been at a white university, my nuclear physics research would have been quite different, because there might have been more facilities than those at the University of Durban-Westville (UDW)4. I am not sure whether that would have altered in any substantial way the quality of my work."
The academic life story of Ahrned Bawa illuminates very clearly Marx's statement that lives are made in conditions not of one's own choosing. This story illuminates how an
I He is a B rated scientist in the FRD rating scheme. This means he is an internationally recognised physicist, still getting funding is publishing.
2There was a different schooling and examination system for each of the four racially classified groups in the country.
3UNISA is a distance learning university.
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academic trajectory is shaped by an individual, living in a particular family and social milieu, which is located in the South African political system.
Family: wholesome, warm, and secure but not lavish upbringing
Ahmed Bawa, who is in his early 40's, was born at his maternal grandmother's home in Durban. He is married to Rookaya. They have two daughters; Nadya, who is 16 years old and Mishal who is 10 years old.
Ahmed's family home is in Sevenoakss,a farming area, near Greytown. His parents, Cassim and Hajra Bawa ran a shop that belonged to the family. Ahmed grew up in an extended family system. His paternal grandparents lived in a big house (called the 'Big House' by family members) in Greytown. His family would visit the 'Big House' about three or four times a week and have a meal there. The Sevenoaks house "was like a farmhouse" with three bedrooms "nothing architecturally nice, but warm." There was electricity in the area, but it went out at 10 o'clock at night; then they used candles. The Bawas used a coal stove.
Ahmed describes his childhood as "warm and safe." Family involved parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles and aunts - an extended network. All of these people had an impact and shaped, to a smaller or larger extent, the trajectory of his life.
Ahrned's maternal grandfather, Ebrahim Mall, had passed away when his mother was a little girl. His paternal grandfather, Kharwa Essack Bawa, a subsistence shopkeeper, passed away when Ahmed was about three years old. Ahmed's constructed memory about him suggests that "he was a warm and gentle person, very proper and he had a fantastic reputation for honesty." Ahrned relates a fascinating story about his grandfather. "He was brought here (to South Africa) from India when he was 10 years old by his father. The father had planned to settle here, but for some reason he left my grandfather with another branch of the family in Greytown and returned to India - the idea was that he would come back again. But that never hap ened. My grandfather was left as a 10-year-old boy on his
4UDW.was designated a university for Indian students and is categorised as an Historically Black University.
The HBUs were set up as teaching, n t research, institutions.
5To go to Sevenoaks from Durban, one fIrst travels about 90kmto Pietermaritzburg and then follow the road for about 20kmto Greytown. Sevenoaks is a 'little hamlet' about 18 kmfrom Greytown.
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own with this family and he grew up with this family. Even more fascinating is the fact that there was a young kid, a Zondi boy, who used to play with my grandfather. My great- grandfather had said to this young Zondi boy, 'Would you please stay with him wherever he goes.' Until the implementation of the Group Areas Act6 our families actually moved together." Ahmed's telling of this story illustrates how the family stories impacted on a political identity and awareness.
Ahmed considers both his grandmothers as "special people". His maternal grandmother, Marian Mall, grew up in Mauritius but her family was from India. 'She was an extremely warm and astute person. She had to take care of herself and her children, because her husband had died at a very early age. When my uncles, aunts and my mother were still very young she kept boarders and would make foodstuff to sell." Marian Mall and her family lived in different houses in the Durban area. She never owned a house because she could not afford it. Growing up, the Bawa children would spend vacation times in Durban, and they would also visit during weekends because Ahmed's mother missed her family. The Durban Mall family played a significant role in Ahmed's life.
Ahmed uses the words 'stunning'; 'strong'; 'dominant' to describe his paternal grandmother, Ayesha Bawa. "The family hinged around her and intersected with her. The fondest recollection I have is that on two or three occasions during the night, you could hear her checking every door and window and checking that everyone is covered. My recollections as a child are extremely safe feelings. I knew that if there was the slightest danger facing me she would leap to my defence. When we sat at the dinner table she would watch over all of us making sure that we all ate. She could only speak Gujerati and Zulu (an Indian version) - not a word of English. My grandmother was magnanimity - she was this really big human being. The fondest recollection I have is of anyone walking into the house (the house was always open), sitting at the table and everyone knew that they would be welcomed and treated to a meal. She was the kind of woman who just took control of things and took control of her life."
Ahrned describes his father, Cassim Kharwa Bawa as "very gentle and very warm, a person who finds it difficult to refuse." Although schooling was limited (he went up to
6In the Group Areas Act it was legislated what the different racial groups had to live in different areas.
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standard 2) he was completely numerate and literate. His mother , Hajra Cassim Bawa, gained her standard 8 but she did not make use of her education. She married and moved to Sevenoaks, but her heart was always in Durban.
Ahmed's father was a subsistence shopkeeper but was not very successful at it. "Part of the problem was that at an early age he had decided and made it clear to us (the children), that he did not want us to be in the shop. These subsistence shops depended on family continuity. But when he made that decision the shop had no chance. When we finally left the shop, all he had to show for the shop was some furniture and three children who were educated." Cassim Bawa's decision in a little hamlet and at that time (early 1960's), shows his foresight to encourage his children to explore other options. Ahmed's father said to his children, ' You are all bright, so you must study and qualify and become something'.
Nothing came in the way of Ahmed's schooling and he did not have to argue for his time.
Cassim Bawa's decision was probably influenced by Ahmed's mother who saw education for her children as a way of moving out of being a subsistence shopkeeper in Sevenoaks.
Ahmed knew that his parents considered doing well at school as important. He did not feel it onerous since he perfonned well at school. His outstanding perfonnance put pressure on his younger brother and sister, both of whom were also bright. Another quality that the family considered important was "absolute honesty." Ahmed relates an incident:
"There was one occasion, when as a young boy, I stole some money from an uncle of mine.
When I was caught there were severe repercussions. I had to get on the prayer mat and pray.
I was made to apologise to my uncle." His parents valued the qualities of being decent, friendly and nice. So, they could not understand it when around standard 7 they considered him as "growing up a rebel." Around age 14 Ahmed began "to disengage with them in many genuine respects about many intellectual issues. I sometimes feel that was a horrible thing to do. Itjust happened. On the other hand I think they provided me the space to do it, unknowingly I think." Ahmed had a close relationship with his father until around age 14 - this age seems to have been a turning point in his life. "One of my fondest memories was joining him everyday at 7pm to listen to the news. I don't know why we did that. He certainly did not say 'come an listen to the news'. My brother did not do that. After that was Mark Saxon and Segei with 'No Place to Hide'. We did from time to time talk about
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the news, but that came to an end at about age 14. I have a sense that he was slightly intimidated by me - that may have happened. I don't think I was being arrogant. On the other hand he felt left out."
Although his parents did not articulate it, they expected Ahrned to become a doctor.
Being a doctor was viewed as a high status occupation in the Indian community and was the expectation of most parents. However he was allowed to play around with ideas and "even when I said I wanted to do Physics, they were quite aligned with that, even though they didn't have the faintest idea what physics was."
Ahrned's younger siblings are his brother, Shaheen, and his sister, Rizwana. He describes Shaheen as "much more adventurous and gregarious than me - in terms of exploring the grey areas. He was quite happy taking on the school when those opportunities presented themselves. Later in life, like me, he was involved in the United Democratic Front(UDF) and the African National Congress(ANC)7. He was involved in the underground, whereas I was involved at the open level. He is an electronics engineer, but at the moment he works as a Director of Technology at the National Intelligence Agency."
Rizwana is an "absolutely bright person." She did very well at school until the matriculation exams. She completed an honours in Geography at the University of Natal and had several impressive jobs. At the moment she is running her communications business in Johannesburg. Several cousins lived in the Sevenoaks home and in particular two cousins, Farouk and Fazila, helped in the shop. "They were like an elder brother and sister. The fact that they were there meant less responsibility for us in the shop."
The home language was a mixture of Gujerati and English. "When we were at the big house in Greytown, it was Gujerati. But in Sevenoaks with my parents, it was English."
Ahmed grew up in a Muslim household "except for the fact that there was no pressure on us to pray. We should thank my father for this. We did go to madressa8 but when it became difficult for us to go there was 0 real pressure." Up to the age of 14 or 15 Ahrned did go to the mosque, but this was more as a social function since he enjoyed being with people. "I think I was irreligious from about day one. I can't remember a day where I thought this was
7The UDF and ANC were liberation organisations. The ANC was unbanned in 1990.
8These are religious instruction classes and are generally'held after school.
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something important to do." When Ahmed was about 14 or 15 years, he caused quite a stir in the mosque. "After the prayers, when the molvi saib9 was talking about the notion of predestination, I put my hand up. He got an absolute shock and freaked out. This is never done in the mosque. Here were all the elders. I said there is something wrong here: if it is predestined that I am going to be a rogue, why should I be punished for it because I had no say in it. I could see that he was trying to find some answer, but he couldn't. Eventually he became very angry and said that the devil was talking through me and he chased me out of the mosque. I found it truly fascinating that the community then thought that I had done something wrong. At that stage I thought this was ridiculous. It was a very difficult decision at the age of 14 or 15, but it was easily made. I was saying that this is a load of nonsense, but saying it in a community where other people saw it as being very important."
This incident illustrates Ahmed's nature to ask questions about things that do not make sense and challenge structures like the mosque and religion. When I asked Ahmed where this notion of questioning came from, he said that his parents never prevented him from asking questions, but they never encouraged it as well. It also seems that around the age of 14 or 15 he began questioning many aspects. Itwas a time where he also withdrew from interaction with his parents.
When Ahmed discusses the shaping of his political awareness and identity, he relates an incident which he remembered when he was at ModderBee prison (during a political detention) in the 1980's. He and Frank Chikane were talking about their childhoods and were driving each other furthe and further back. He suddenly remembered this incident which occurred when he was about three or four years old. "My father's shop was a typical small corner shop - there were shelves against the wall and a counter between the shopkeeper and the customer. One day, I was on the outside of the counter (where the customer stands). I had my elbow flat on the counter, my head over my wrist and I was looking down at the floor. I suddenly noticed this African guy next to me, who was barefooted. I saw his feet. I counted his toes. Itsuddenly struck me that he had ten toes just like me. This was a big revelation to me. As I think back it was the one incident that had an enormous impact on me. It was almost a sense of jubilation. I had discovered that we were
9Molvi saib is the priest.
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the same. Thereafter I counted other peoples' toes, fingers and looked at their nails etc."
The second incident occurred when he was about seven or eight years old. "The police were in my father's yard. They were going to arrest someone whom they said, had stolen something. My father was trying to intercede and said, 'Why don't you try to understand why he stole this'. At first I said to myself that that [father's question] was a silly question. I engaged with that and it suddenly dawned on me that what my father was saying was that people might have a reason to steal. That again made me think differently. When I think back to my childhood I see that as a very significant event." Ahmed says that, by far, his political awareness and identity were shaped by inputs from his uncle Hassan Mall (mother's brother)10. Mall had been banned for several years; was a member of the Communist Party and Natal Indian Congress. "While he was banned, during vacation, he would take me for a few days to stay at his house (I was about 13 or 14 years). That was very nice for me because he had the most wonderful library - books on politics, mathematical books, everything. He was perhaps my most important influence in politics."
Another aspect of his uncle's life that made an impact on Ahmed's life was that he was not married to an Indian Muslim person but to a Coloured and a Christian. "That was very important in my upbringing. T .s said to me that there was nothing wrong with this. They had the most gorgeous children who were totally well and normal." In Sevenoaks, from an early age, Ahmed developed friendships with children outside the Muslim community.
"That was very important in my development."
The family belonged to the "merchant class", but his father was a subsistence shopkeeper and their future depended on the big wholesalers from Durban. However, there was never an occasion when Ahmed thought there won't be food at home or his parents would not be able to send him to school; but there was no money for expensive books.
Although the family were subsistence shopkeepers in a little hamlet, "there was a certain complication with regard to my particular nuclear family. My mother came from Durban
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and she actually thought she was different from others in Greytown. To give you an idea, on Eid11 Days, we would wear clothes that would only reach Greytown about two years down
10Today he is a judgeinthe constitutional court.
11This is a holy day for Muslims.
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