The holy man of Ballito

He was born as Bongani Gumbi in Umlazi, is known as ‘Vrindavan the celibate monk’ in India and locally goes by the name of Stephen, an estate agent at Harcourts Ballito.

The man of many names and roles said he grew up in a Catholic household and for as long as he can remember he has been asking questions about the meaning of life.

“My gran was always busy with her rosary, punishing us and chanting. She was a strict, devout Catholic. I asked questions children were not supposed to ask. This became more profound when my parents decided to move me to an Indian school in Durban – a rebellious move back in the Apartheid time,” said Gumbi.

While staying over at his Indian friend’s home one day, he discovered a fascinating bookshelf.

“It was like the books were calling me. I just had to read them, they were irresistible. My friend told me I could read the one called Bhagavad Gita (Indian Bible) and I did, right through the night.

“This was my initial philosophical transformation. The book spoke about reincarnation and answered my questions about the meaning of life. It opened my consciousness.”

From this moment, Gumbi’s life started changing, much to his parents’ horror.

“I became vegetarian – a strange idea for a teenage boy in a Zulu family – but I could back it up with my philosophies.

“When I was about 12, my family organised a traditional Zulu ceremony in my honour, where a goat had to be slaughtered. I looked into the goat’s eyes as they slit its throat and I felt its pain.

“I ran outside because it was too overwhelming for me to bear. I could not understand why the animal had to be killed. The Gita taught me that all forms of life are sacred, so why was this goat being killed?”

Throughout high school Gumbi shocked his Indian teachers with his increasing knowledge and practice of Krishna consciousness and he became known as the “holy man”. He started sneaking to the local temple to learn from the devotees until one day he got caught.

“My dad told me I could not practice these beliefs if I lived with them.

“After I finished my matric exams, I gave my parents seven days to change their minds and allow me to join the temple, but they did not. I left home and joined the devotees.”

From there, he became Vrindavan, did missionary work with the youth in Cape Town, opened an Ashram in Pretoria and finally went to India in 1997.

“India was an eye-opener. Their culture is totally based on spirituality. Everyone is satisfied with what they have and work to improve themselves, because they understand karma.

“I lived as a celibate monk for ten years in India. In the temple, I was so absorbed in my daily spiritual practice that I did not even think about women, but when I was out in the town, meeting girls while I sold spiritual books I had to be very self-controlled. It was tough. I am a Zulu man after all.”

Gumbi came back to South Africa in 2012 and moved to Ballito about two years ago. While he now works as an estate agent, Gumbi still gets up at 3am to meditate for a few hours and teaches yoga and meditation on the side.

“I love working with people, especially the youth. I like to think of people as different flowers that you put together in a vase to create a beautiful bouquet.”

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