But, what will your children be?

In the chapter, But, what will your children be?, Serrenta Nadioo—a South African Indian woman—writes about family reactions to her relationship with a white Afrikaans-speaking man. She reveals how others express their concerns, often indirectly, and her strategies to deal with these. She sometimes asserts an attitude of indifference to her relatives, but the anger she expresses towards them hints at ambivalence. Similarly, Serrenta says that even though they ‘never had any negative experiences' publicly as a couple, ‘if people have an issue with us they stare, some quite unabashedly.’ She acknowledges the ‘relief’ she felt when living with her partner in London because they blended in and were inconspicuous. The ‘wonderful’ feeling of being ‘normal’ stood in contrast to the continued 'racial' segregation in Durban.

Reference:
Naidoo, Serrenta. 'But, what will your children be?', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), Undressing Durban (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 102-107.