Indian teen a 'real man' after Xhosa initiation rite

An Indian teenager from East London in the Eastern Cape has undergone the Xhosa tradition of initiation with the blessing of his conservative family.

Last month, Kirsten Subbigadu, a Grade 12 pupil at Stirling High School, joined his friend, Mondli Booi, for initiation - a tribal rite of passage to manhood.

Kirsten, who celebrated his 18th birthday "in the bush", now feels like a "real man" after spending three weeks in a traditional hut.

For the first time in his life, Kirsten had to shave all his hair as part of the ritual, which will see him leaving behind his lifestyle as a boy and behaving like a man.

Before he set off for the bush, he needed four bottles of brandy, two blankets and makrwala - clothing for newly graduated men. The items were bought by his father.

Kirsten was put in the care of a traditional surgeon and nurse who taught him, among other things, about the virtues of manhood and how to become an upstanding man in his community.

After the circumcision operation, he entered a specially built hut called an iboma, where he lived with other initiates.

The initiates' families prepare food for them according to the instructions of the traditional surgeon. It was delivered by young girls.

During this time, Kirsten wore only loincloths and a blanket. White mud was smeared all over his body.

At the end of the initiation period, all the initiates bathed in a river to wash off the mud - a symbol of leaving their "old selves" behind. They also burnt the iboma in which they had been living as part of the same process.

They then painted their bodies with red mud and were given new blankets, a sign that they had completed the initiation ritual.

"I am a real man now," said Kirsten this week. "It was a good experience. It changed my view about life and how to handle certain situations."

He had wanted to go "to the bush" last year, but he changed his mind at the 11th hour because he felt he was not ready for the experience.

"Most of my friends are black. I was supposed to be with my best friend, whom I've known for the past 11 years. But I was not mentally prepared so I pulled out," said Kirsten.

Although the first two weeks of the initiation were very challenging, he said, the whole experience had taught him "that even though you're a man now you don't have to forget about respect".

His mother, Monica, said he had been persistent since 2012 in asking for permission to take part.

"When I look at my son and the fact that he is healthy, it shows that the foundation he was given in his childhood was firm and strong," she said.

Even though she was sceptical about the initiation at first, she now believes that the decision to allow her son to undergo the process was the right one.

"I don't regret it in any way. I think he can grow from this," she said.

Initially, she was worried, because a large number of boys have died or been maimed during initiation. Now she is grateful that he is healthy.

More than 20000 boys visit initiation schools in the Eastern Cape each year.

Since the initiation season started this year, more than 180 boys have been admitted to hospital and 35 have died owing to botched circumcisions.