I had the chance to read 3 of Dostoevsky’s short stories: and The Gambler (1846), My Uncle’s Dream (1859), and A Most Unfortunate Incident (also known as A Nasty story) (1862) in which the latter 2 were written after his release from the Siberian imprisonment in 1854. These tales describe the life of Russians in the 1800 and stress on that sometimes a person should not surrender to desire as it may disgrace him.
The Gambler describes the life of Alexei, a teacher of General’s children, who became a gambler after the General’s stepdaughter (Paulina) asked him to gamble and win for her, because her stepdad lost his fortune and took her money to keep on living his extravagant life. The General’s assets were mortgaged to De Grie (a French Marquis), who is after Paulina’s inheritance that she would get after her grandma’s death. Yet the grandmother visited the General’s family in their hotel facing them about the General’s rudeness in sending letters asking about her death. So, the grandma avenged by wasting a large sum of her money in gambling by asking Alexei and later other gamblers, since Alexei refused to be part of the grandma’s game. Alexei loved Paulina but her rejection crushed him, causing him to give up on life and fall into the trap of gambling. Eventually, the grandma died and her fortune was given to Paulina and her siblings. Her stepdad however received nothing despite losing all his assets. The General was taken care of by a French princess and eventually died from a heart attack. Paulina on the other hand, left to stay with an honorable British man (Astley) who paid the General’s debts to save Paulina from marrying De Grie. Under Paulina’s request, Astley financially assisted Alexei conveying to him that Paulina loved him and asked him to stop gambling, which he decided to do esp. that he lost all his savings to gambling. In all, this short story highlighted the destructive effect of gambling addiction on a person’s life and decisions; giving up on love easily; and surrendering to pleasure in personal and material desires. This was clear in Alexei’s words to Paulina “But you know pleasure is always a good thing, and savage, boundless power – even over a fly – is a kind of pleasure, too. Man is a tyrant by nature and loves to torture”.
My Uncle’s Dream describes the conflict between Mariya Aleksandrovna’s and her daughter (Zinaida) who refused to marry the man her mother chose (Pavel) and wanted to marry her boyfriend and tutor. Later Mariya convinced her daughter (who was 23 years old and considered too old to marry during that era) to marry the old rich Prince K, who suffered from dementia and the uncle of Pavel. However, Zinaida agreed to her mom’s plan and Prince K proposed to her. On the other hand, Mariya lied to Pavel convincing him that he should go and check on his dying uncle. Yet, Pavel was notified about Mariya’s plan by the latter’s housekeeper. So, he returned and convinced Prince K that his proposal to Zinaida was a dream. As a result, Mariya’s plan failed esp. after Pavel faced her and Zinaida in their house which was full of female guests. This angered Mariya whereas Zinaida felt ashamed causing them to leave Mordasov. In the end, Pavel visited the Governor and met his wife – Zinaida, which pained Pavel who loved Zinaida. In this tale, Dostoevsky underlined the issue of marriage esp. at an “old age” and convenient marriage, which aimed at fulfilling personal desires and societal expectations.
A Most Unfortunate Incident is the story of a Russian official (Ivan Pralinski) who left a friendly gathering feeling tipsy and decided to pay his subordinate Pseldonimov, who was getting married, a visit. By this surprising visit, Ivan aimed to show his kindness to his subordinate and to impress his guests. Yet things didn’t go as he intended as he wasn’t welcomed well at first by the groom. One of the guests also blurted that Ivan is drinking Champagne that the poor subordinate spent months saving for such bottle. Eventually, Ivan was too drunk and fell on the floor. He also was feverish and so throughout the night, Pseldonimov and his mother treated Ivan. Embarrassed by what happened, Ivan took a sick leave before getting back to work, where he approved Pseldonimov’s request to be transported to another department. Hence, this fiction emphasized on the drawbacks of desiring to impress others (despite having good intentions) which not always goes as planned and could even results in the person’s downfall, similar to what happened to Ivan.
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In Memoirs from the Women’s prison, Nawal El-Saadawi مذكراتي في سجن النساء للدكتورة نوال السعداوي – a controversial Egyptian psychiatrist and writer who fought for the rights of women and humans – effortlessly recounted the vulgar way of arresting her, her imprisonment, the horrible conditions in the prison, and the fabricated charges against her and other political prisoners.
At 3 pm of September 6th, 1981, and while Dr. Nawal was writing a novel, her doorbell rang. She didn’t answer because she was immersed in writing and didn’t let the doorbell alter what was she doing. Yet the doorbell kept ringing, followed by knocks that became harder. So, Dr. Nawal had to ask who is it? And they said it was the police; they had an order to take her. She asked from behind the door for the warrant, but they didn’t have it, and so she refused to open the door.
Subsequently, she changed into a white dress, put on black heels, and carried her black handbag. Then she stood in the middle of the empty apartment, since her husband, daughter, and son were all out. Eventually, the armed men broke the apartment’s door and took Dr. Nawal. The officer ordered her to sit between him and the driver. But she refused. She was adamant about it and won. She sat on the door side, and the car drove without telling her where they were going. She asked, but they told her that she would be asked only 2 questions about her earlier speech.
However, Dr. Nawal was driven to Qanatir (i.e., Arches) Women’s Prison and placed with other political prisoners in the beggars’ cell. The other cell had hundreds of prostitutes and their children, while this cell had only 14 inmates. The cell was dirty with humid smelly air, the sealing was peeling and moldy with cockroaches, lice and other insects falling from it on the residents, the bunk beds were worn out with no mattresses, the 3 toilets were overflowing with sewage and cockroaches, the shower splashed tiny amounts of dirty water, and cats, reptiles, or rodents used to attack them at night through an opening in the wall.
Dr. Nawal’s inmates included journalists, professors, communists, Muslims in niqab, a teenager, a Christian, beggars, and Fathyieh the killer. Fathyieh sliced her husband by knife and through him in the sea to be eaten by fish, after coming one day from planting their land to find him over their 9-year-old daughter to rape her! Fathyieh commented that her husband was a useless lazy man and so at least his death could benefit the fish. Despite being from different backgrounds, all these females lived in harmony. Surprisingly, one morning, the prison manger ordered the Christian women to move out as they must separate Muslims from Christians because of fearing sectarian strife. Yet Dr. Nawal concluded that the prison management feared national unity.
All these women were accused of disturbing the peace of the country by being part of communist or religious parties. They were jailed for at least 3 weeks without going to court. They were only told that someday the ‘socialist prosecutor for investigation’ would call them for investigation.
Dr. Nawal and her inmates revolted against the cell conditions and asked for good food and not the stale bread. They also requested to contact their families, let them know where they were, and bring them clothes. The prison management responded to inmates’ wishes and fixed most things. Yet there were still insects in the toilet. Dr. Nawal also asked for a pen/pencil and paper, but the prison manager refused. He and the officer who arrested her said, “a pencil is more dangerous than a gun”, and the cell guard remarked “writing is more dangerous than killing”.
In addition, the prison lacked a female physician esp. that many women (prostitutes) had to give birth in the cell without being transferred to a clinic or hospital. The only male doctor was corrupt and so told everyone that they were fine despite that Dr. Nawal diagnosed many of them with scabies. She faced this doctor, who was her classmate at the university, and told him that the prison management should quarantine the infected ones to protect others from infection. But he walked away and didn’t do as she asked, and so all women got scabies. This physician accepted bribes from inmates just to give them medicine or from the government to sedate or kill a prisoner using drugs. After that, Dr. Nawal and her mates revolted against the sergeant and ordered to have a female doctor and to change this corrupt one. In the end, the manager got them a new male doctor.
The cell sergeant guarded the cell inmates throughout the day until 3 pm. After that, they used to listen to the transistor radio which they got from the cells’ cleaner. It turned out that in prison a person can get anything by bribery. The prisoner can give away anything valuable such clothes or drugs to someone who would transfer the message to a guard or sergeant, who in turn would bring what a person wanted. Dr. Nawal for instance asked for a pen, paper, newspapers, and the radio.
The inmates also had access to a canteen which sold them everything except a pen or paper. Strangely, the cell had a small area to plant. And so, Dr. Nawal asked for a shovel and some seeds. This helped in keeping her body strong and fit, in addition to the daily morning exercise during which she was joined by her inmates.
Dr. Nawal wrote a letter to her family and send it via Fathyieh. She received an answer some days later, which said that the family lawyer is working to get her out. Her husband also used to come every Tuesday with a letter and bundle of food to his wife, whom he hoped to see. Then she sent a letter to the doctors’ syndicate, but no one answered her due to being afraid of having her fate.
On September 28th, Dr. Nawal was called to the office of ‘socialist prosecutor for investigation’. She dressed up and left with the guards. It took them some time to find on which floor this man was. They went up in the elevator to the 7th floor, then went upstairs to the 9th, then downstairs to the 5th, but it was on the 8th. She was asked to wait in the corridor as there was no waiting room for women, but she refused and insisted to wait with the men and not in the corridor.
The rude prosecutor asked Dr. Nawal why she came today despite that her investigation was the previous day. This angered her but she answered calmly that she was in prison, and no one told her! But he brushed her answer and started his investigation in the presence of her lawyer. The accusations were flimsy and fabricated and so when the investigation ended, she turned to go home, but the officers stopped her and took her back to prison. She concluded that the investigation was unreal and agreed with that what one of the prisoners waiting to be investigated has said – “The investigation is just to prove that there is a law because law is on vacation.”
From that day, the prisoners knew that they might die in prison as no one will let them out because their imprisonment order came from President El-Sadat. Luckily and after a week from Dr. Nawal’s investigation, the president was assassinated, and Mubarak became president. Of course, the inmates knew the news from Fathyieh and the radio, but the guards and prison management kept them in the dark. Hence, the inmates thought that they would be released soon.
Nonetheless, lack of good news made Dr. Nawal write a telegraph to Mubarak explaining their condition, yet there was no response. On November 23rd, she was shocked to read in Al-Ahrar (i.e., the free) Newspaper falsified information about her – that she worked with communist and religious parties to cause chaos in Egypt and disrupt its peace. She was furious with this fabricated news that touched her ‘honor’. In response, she wrote a letter to Mubarak explaining everything and how she was accused falsely, and that he should do what he promised to do – not imprison people just for speaking their mind and defending democracy.
On November 25th, Mubarak received her with 30 political prisoners. All of them were set free, and Dr. Nawal returned to her home and family. After that, she asked her colleagues at Ain Shams Hospital to receive her cell inmates into their wards for treatment. Only one agreed – the head of mental diseases. So, this section received these women who were released a few days later.
During these 11 weeks, Dr. Nawal wrote notes and thoughts of her time in prison on toilets' and cigarettes’ paper using a tiny pen and hid them in hair rolls. She also started educating the 16-year-old girl how to read and write, after the latter asked her to.
In this memoir, Dr. Nawal noted that most if not all these women were jailed because of a SOB man. A man who beats his wife to force her into prostitution, a father who irons his daughter’s hand to make her beg on the streets, a brother who threaten his sister to make her smuggle drugs… etc. Other women enter prison instead of their husbands, brothers, or sons by force or out of love. Yet many women with similar crimes aren’t jailed because of having powerful and rich people behind them or jailed for a short time but lived like a queen!
The writer also specified that in one of the meetings that she was invited to, the vice-president (El-Sadat then) arrived 2 hours late but never apologized, and no one noted of being annoyed, so she decided to do so. She criticized the late arrival and that this resulted in negatively affecting the economy of Egypt due to disrupting people’s work, before discussing issues in democracy (and its absence) in the country. But El-Sadat never commented on what she said. She described this dictator by saying “We are in a retarded country ruled by an individual like a single god. If you obey him, you will reach the top; if you disobey him, you will be buried in the depths of earth – نحن في بلدٍ متخلّفة يحكمها فرد واحد كالإله الواحد. إذا أطعته وصلت القمّة وإذا عصيته دفنت في باطن الأرض"
This diary described specific events in Egypt in 1981, and how no one walked in El-Sadat’s burial ceremony except for some foreigners and presidents of the US and Israel. Furthermore, she described the corrupt public medical system in the country where people stand in very long queues, doctors yell at and curse the poor sick people, lack of treatment, and having the buffet in restrooms.
One of Dr. Nawal’s thoughts that I agree with is that politicians and many journalists (and probably religious figures) are the most dangerous persons. They are like lizards as they change their color and blend with the person who supports their presence and power. She also mentioned that while working in the UN, she discovered that employees of this humanitarian agency worry about their salary and therefore obey orders whatever they were. These people back and defend the powerful leader no matter what awful things he did. But she added that all these people obey orders blindly because they need the money to survive and feed their families – “People are in humiliation out of fear of humiliation – الناس من خوف الذلّ في ذلّ”. Thus, because these people are bought and owned by others, they lack the freedom of mind and saying what they think.
This psychiatrist treated sick people and defended human rights and women rights by using her pen and voice. She wrote books about the emotional, physiological, and psychological statuses and needs of women mainly because at that time all books about women were written by men. Dr. Nawal also discussed how all societies around the world discriminate between males and females from the moment they are born. For instance, she stressed on the lack of difference between a woman covering her face by hijab or by layers of make-up; and that man’s honor is measured by honesty whereas that of a woman is valued by virginity! Because of these writing she had many enemies threatening her! But I feel that Dr. Nawal lived the life she wanted and did what she loved, (which is the most important thing) - living the life the person wants!
My favorite quotes are:
يستخدمون كلمة الله لإرهاب كل عقل يُفكِّر. يستخدمون كلمة العدالة لضرب كل من يسعى إلى العدالة. وكلمة الديمقراطية لمصادرة الحريّة. يقتلون الإبداع في المهد. يخنقون الفكر الجديد بأصابع غير مرئية
"They use the word of God to terrorize any thinking mind. They use the word justice to strike anyone who seeks justice. And the word democracy to take away freedom. They kill creativity in the cradle. They choke the new ideas with invisible fingers.”
وهنا التمرد عورة هنا الوحي إثم. هنا المعرفة خطيئة. هنا الرأي العام غائب. الناس غارقة في هموم البحث عن الخبز. هنا يدخل الإنسان السجن في الظلام بلا جريمة وبلا تحقيق. هنا يموت الإنسان قبل الأوان. هنا يختنق العقل وتدفن الموهبة وشجاعة الإبداع
“Here, rebellion is a disgrace; here, revelation is a sin. Here, knowledge is a crime. Here, public opinion is absent. People are deep in the concerns of searching for bread. Here, a person enters prison in darkness without a crime and without an investigation. Here, a person dies before their time. Here, the mind suffocates, and talent is buried along with the courage of creativity.”
الجهل كالموت، بل هو الموت فعلاً، لأننا لو عرفنا الموت لما كان هناك موت ولا خوفٌ من الموت. الجهل هو الخوف، ولا شيء يرعب الإنسان سوى الجهل
“Ignorance is like death, in fact, it is actually death, because if we knew death, there would be no death or fear of death. Ignorance is fear, and nothing terrifies a person more than ignorance.”
Slave’s Peanuts for Samiha Khrais – a Jordanian journalist and writer – فستق عبيد لسميحة خريس narrates the life of the 20-year-old Sudanese Rahmeh during the 1st half of the 19th century. The novel describes Rahmeh’s adulthood in Darfur, her grandfather’s stories esp. about Al-Mahdi Revolution against the British, capture, being sold to a Portuguese merchant, as well as her abuse, slave life in Fatima (Portugal) during the Estado Novo government, and tragic end in Santo Antão.
Rahmeh (mercy in Arabic) was a lively playful young woman who was loved by her parents and grandparents, esp. her grandfather Kamounga. The latter was respected in Kordofan village, where he narrated to his family and villagers his adventures. Kamounga was kidnapped and sold in the slave market to a sesame trader (Al-Tijani). A few years later and in the slaves’ market he asked his owner to buy him a young slave girl whom he loved and named Lamoon (lemon in Arabic). After reaching the camps of Al-Mahdi successor (Al-Ta’youshi/Torshin) near the Nile, Kamounga asked his owner to be emancipated with his woman. Al-Tijani was upset but released his slave.
The couple offered their services to Al-Ta’youshi army to attack the British and their allies (the Egyptians). In the military camp, Kamounga described the harsh physical abuse of slaves and their torture, as well as the despicable display of women in the slaves’ market. During one of the battles, Kamounga thought he would die before seeing his unborn son. But he survived the battle that they lost because the British outnumbered them and had better artillery. Luckily, he met Al-Tijani, who offered to help him, but Kamounga refused and favored to stay free. Nonetheless, he asked Al-Tijani to take his wife and son with him back to Kamounga’s tribe, which the trader did. Ultimately, Kamounga reunited with his family in 1900. He moved to Nyala where he planted his land with peanuts to keep his family full, because kidnappers used to deceive hungry kids by offering them peanuts. Kamounga felt that this would keep his family safe.
Unfortunately, during the night of telling this story, Rahmeh left the villager’s council and walked in the fields, where she was trapped in a net. She tried to tear the net and let herself free using her hands and teeth but with no avail. Using ropes, the kidnappers tied her with other captured young women, girls, and boys forming a human chain. The trip to the market was inhuman as the captured used to pea or poop while standing in their place, and were only offered a dry date, and many of the girls were sexually abused.
Rahmeh was humiliatingly and nakedly displayed in the slave’s market, after the captors checked her virginity and the firmness of her breasts and thighs. Rahmeh wasn’t a virgin but due to being a young beautiful woman with flawless skin, she was sold with a good price to a Jewish slave’s trader, who took her with other slaves to Benghazi. Then she was sold to a Portuguese wine merchant – Saramago. The latter took his slave onto the ship which stopped in Algeria, before reaching Lisbon. In Algeria, Saramago had sex with Rahmeh, whom he called Rafmeh, and was nice to her until the moment they got onto the ship, as he became an indifferent man.
In Lisbon, Sansho (Saramago’s brother-in-law) picked up the two, and asked his slave to wash Rahmeh and put on her warm clothes, since Rahmeh was wearing a Moroccan cloak, which she loved more than the European heavy winter clothes. A few days later, Saramago and Rahmeh left on the train to his ranch in Fatima, where Rahmeh was given a bath and advice by the Senegalese head of slaves Awa, who also had a similar dark story.
Saramago was the son of the ranch chief of Count Carmo who fell in love with Karolina, the Count’s daughter. They eloped and had a baby girl. They only returned after Awa sent Karolina a letter saying that her dad was sick because of the revolution and abolition of aristocracy in 1926. The revolution was led by General Carmona who became Portugal dictator, forming the Estado Novo government and assigning Salazar as the prime minister. This resulted in villagers refusing working in farms and favoring to attend college and have better jobs.
The revolutionaries confiscated the properties of Count Carmo, and all his friends left him. The Count couldn’t tolerate this and died. So, Saramago took care of the vineyards and of Sansho, who was a kid then. At that moment, Karolina felt being cheated as her husband was a friend of the revolutionaries, and he was the reason of her dad’s loss. She hated him and made his daughter not like him too, despite that he succeeded in wine trade in Portugal as well as in Arabic and European countries and reclaimed all the lost property.
By then, Rahmeh mastered Portuguese but sadly suffered on the hands of Awa’s daughter-in-law Afy and Saramago’s sister Nita because of being afraid of seducing their husbands. She also was visited by Saramago many nights, resulting in her pregnancy. When Saramago knew, he hit her savagely telling her that would destroy everything he built and left her for good. She tried to abort herself by working harder and carrying heavy stuff, but she didn’t succeed. And when the pregnancy appeared on her, she was attacked by Nita and Afy, who also confronted their husbands. Karolina too faced her and imprisoned her in a closed room until her delivery.
Rahmeh gave birth to a Creole – a light brownish girl. Karolina lost her mind as she believed that the father was her White husband. She also gave the baby to Afy to take care of him, and imprisoned Rahmeh in the pigs’ barn with no food, while her postpartum blood was oozing between her legs! Secretly, Awa sent her a couple of potatoes and a rosary with her son Fredi. The pigs used to smell and lick Rahmeh, who in turn used to look for food in the food leftovers that were thrown to the animals. In the meantime, Saramago ran away from the chaos by traveling to finish his trade as he was deceived to buy a land in Santo Antão and plant it with bananas without seeing it.
Awa also took the baby and went to the church, asking for Rahmeh’s baby baptism, but the White refused to let them in. So, Awa asked them if Lady Mary and Jesus ever said that only White people are allowed into his church? Luckily, Lucia – the blessed nun who Lady Mary appeared to her – placed her hand on the baby giving her God’s blessings and naming her Lucia.
When Saramago and Sansho returned from their trip, Karolina confronted him about the baby, but he turned his finger to Sansho, who accepted the accusation. Hence, Karolina had another break down! On the other hand, Lucia was reunited with her mother, who were placed with Afy’s family.
Karolina collapsed again when the rich trader (whom she wanted to be her son-in-law) married Nita’s daughter, while her daughter Oriana eloped with the shallow trader Xorxe, who eventually spent her dad’s fortune and left his wife for other young women. Saramago however, lost all his money in the arid land of Santo Antão that is good to plant baobab and papaya but not banana. Yet Saramago thought that Europeans won’t drink the baobab sour porridge.
Because of the bad treatment of Rahmeh she became very weak and developed leprosy. So, her owners sent her away and Lucia with Sansho and Pedro (Fredi’s son). They flew from Lisbon to Santo Antão, where the four of them stayed with the Muslim family of Aghwash – the chief of Saramago’s land. They were not slaves but forced laborers, who decided to leave this island and return to their homeland – Sao Tome.
Aghwash’s wife fed all of them, washed Rahmeh, and took care of her and her daughter. Pedro liked the idea of being free and asked his owner to set him free. He wanted to leave to Sao Tome and join the fight with his people against the brutal Portuguese who were occupying their land. But Sansho snarled at him angrily and warned that if he did so, he would imprison his parents and siblings in the pig’s barn. This is because Sansho was gay and forced Pedro to have sex with him.
One day, a trader from Darfur stopped by Santo Antão. Aghwash introduced him to Rhameh who by talking to him, trusted him and inquired if he could take her daughter with him. Lucia refused to go as she wanted to stay with her mom and Aghwash’s family whom she loved. But her mom convinced her that she will die soon, and Aghwash’s family will return to their home, where Lucia knew no one! So, the trader took Lucia with him on the ship, where at some point he raped her.
The author depicted the inhuman savage way the captured Africans were treated during enslavement. They were treated like animals, despite abolishing slavery in 1926 in Geneva. They were linked with each other by ropes or chains, holding their hands and neck in wooden shackles. And whoever tried to run was tortured by flogging and removing their nails. Many of these prisoners died throughout journeys on land or sea due to lack of food, torture, and rape. Many also perished due to being “stacked” like cattle in the storage rooms of ships without having access to toilets and showers.
Khrais also described how the fascist Salazar forbid Jews from entering Portugal who stayed out of WWII. Yet Portuguese Consulate in Bordeaux let them sneak into the country, who were involved in undercover arm trade. The book also shed light on how despite not entering the war, Salazar rented the Azores Islands to the air and navy forces of the allies.
Nonetheless, this dark book portrayed the nature and beauty of Darfur, its prairies and peanuts’ fields, and the kindness of the Sudanese. In addition, the story depicted the streets and the poor and rich neighborhoods of Lisbon, Fatima, and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima. Finally, the writer mentioned some lines of Fernando Pessoa poems about life disappointments and flattery.
My favorite quotes are:
".رحمة عن تصرفات الجل الأبيض "الوقح" "بتُ أدرك بعمق مهزلة البشر الذين يصطنعون القوة والقسوة لمداراة ضعفهم وخوفهم وشياطينهم
Rahmeh about the behavior of the “rude” White man “I have come to deeply understand the farce of people who feign strength and cruelty to cover up their weakness, fear, and demons…”
".مشاعر رحمة وهي تتذكر وتحلم بدارفور خلا رحلة السفينة إلى لشبونة "فما أصعب أن تعلق بشبكتين: ذاكرتي وعبوديتي
Rahmeh’s feelings of and dreaming about Darfur while being on the ship to Lisbon “How difficult it is to be stuck in two nets: my memory and my slavery.”
".قال أغواش لسانشو "المرض ليس ابتلاء للمريض لكن اختبار للأصحاء من حوله
"Aghwash said to Sansho “Illness is not a trial for the patient, but a test for the healthy people around him.”
يقول أغواش عن منع رحمة لابنتها أن تقترب منها خوفاً من أن تصاب الجذام "لا يفيد الاختباء من القدر، فهو نسر مفترس يراقبنا بصبر كيفما أراد، ويحط مختطفاً مصائرنا وقتما أراد
Aghwash said to Rahmeh’s fear for her getting leprosy if she got close to her “It is no use hiding from fate, for it is a predatory eagle that patiently watches us as it pleases, and lands and snatches our destinies whenever it pleases.”
Haruki Murakami’s fictional 1Q84 describes the life in Tokyo between April-and December 1984. This is the story of the trainer Aomame and the math teacher (and future writer) Tengo, who attended the same elementary school but got separated before reuniting 20 years later. This story is about believing in that everything happens for a reason, relationship between mind and ego, friendship, abuse, and cults’ extreme beliefs and manipulations.
Aomame and Tengo entered the fictional world separately where they saw 2 moons in the sky (the normal white one and a small greenish one), which Aomame named 1Q84 (Q stands for questions raised in her head), whereas Tengo called it Cat Town (i.e., where a person is trapped).
At the age of 30, this weird world allowed these two to meet via the beautiful dyslexic teenage Eriko Fukada. She was sexually abused by her dad – the Leader of Sakigake religious cult – to carry out the call of the voices. Eriko was the vessel through which her dad was able to hear and convey the voices to his followers. Eriko ran away from the cult and found refuge with her dad’s friend – the Professor. Afterwards, Eriko wrote a ghost story highlighting what happened to her in the cult. The story then was submitted by the Professor’s daughter to the New Writer Prize.
Aomame’s family was part of a strict cult that didn’t even allow a person to receive medical treatment or a blood transfusion. So she left her family when she was a kid, lived with Tamaki’s family, and was on her own all her life. Tamaki was Aomame’s best and only friend, who unfortunately committed suicide due to being physically abused by her husband. So Aomame avenged her friend’s death by slipping inside Tamaki’s house and killing him by acupuncture. She just inserted her needle into the guy’s neck making it look like he died from a heart attack.
Aomame also met Ayumi in a bar. She was a police officer, who was molested by her brother and uncle when she was a kid, which left her traumatized. To get over her trauma, she enjoyed extreme sex. She and Aomame met 2 men at a bar and the four of them had sex together. Unfortunately, Ayumi was found strangled in a hotel room totally naked and handcuffed to the bed. She might have accidentally died by the man who tried extreme dangerous sex. This hurt Aomame, who wanted to kill the murderer, but she didn’t know who he was!
Interestingly, Aomame trained a wealthy dowager in the fitness club and later in the dowager’s villa. The dowager set up a shelter for battered women that was guarded by Tamaru, an efficient bodyguard. The safe house was established because the dowager’s daughter ended her life after not being able to tolerate her husband’s ruthless abuse. The 2 women connected, and the dowager asked Aomame to use her acupuncture knowledge in killing the abusers who couldn’t be touched by law. Aomame agreed esp. that her best has ended her life for the same reason.
The things got heated when the dowager received a 10-year-old girl (Tsubasa) whose uterus was torn and lacerated due to being raped by a cult’s Leader. This Leader had to mate with a young girl who did not have her period yet to hear the voice. That is, the religion would stop if he couldn’t hear the voices. So the dowager asked Aomame one last favor, which is to kill this Leader because he should be stopped from hurting other young girls. The dowager promised to protect her by putting her in a safe place. Yet one day Tsubasa ran away after finding the dog guarding the safe house murdered. She might have seen it as a sign that the cult (and Little People – the source of the voices) would reach her.
Aomame agreed to the plan, but also asked Tamaru for a gun. Through her connections, the dowager arranged for Aomame to apply some muscle stretching to the Leader in a hotel room. During her meeting with the Leader, Aomame discovered that he knew that she was going to kill him. He wanted her to put an end to his misery as he suffered from sporadic paralysis in his extremities. He also explained to her that mating with the young girls (Perceiver = maza) was essential to let the girls convey the message from the Little People to him (Receiver = dohta). Eventually, Aomame killed the Leader using her acupuncture technique and left the hotel after telling the guards not to disturb the sleeping Leader. Then she called Tamaru who directed her to go to an apartment in a new building, which was in Tengo’s neighborhood.
During her time in the apartment that had furniture, training tools, and a fridge filled with food, Aomame started thinking about Tengo. She had loved him since she was 10 and wanted to reunite with him. From the Leader, she learnt that he was a math teacher, rewrote Eriko’s story ‘Air Chrysalis’, and that he loved her too. Over the weeks, Aomame discovered that she was pregnant and felt it being Tengo’s baby. She believed that she was conceived on the September storm night when she killed the Leader. In fact, the fetus was Tengo’s because at the same night Eriko (who was staying in Tengo’s apartment away from the cult) mated with Tengo while being in a trance state. That is, it wasn’t an intimate sexual relation but a mere mating process.
On the other side of the story, Tengo’s childhood wasn’t beautiful because he had a bad relationship with his dad. He was never nice to Tengo and used to drag him in his rounds every Sunday to collect the NHK television fees from subscribers. The moment Tengo left to college, he cut his relationship with his dad and only reunited with him when he was dying in a nursing home.
One day, Komatsu - the editor that used to publish Tengo’s articles – asked Tengo to rewrite the story ‘Air Chrysalis’ that was submitted to the New Writer Prize, because it was a winner but needed some amending. Of course, Komatsu did all this for money. However, Tengo was skeptical due to ethical issues, and only agreed after meeting Eriko who in turn asked Tengo to meet the Professor. The latter told Tengo Eriko’s story but he didn’t know what happened to her parents. Eriko said nothing when she arrived at the Professor’s house, so he didn’t know that Eriko was abused by her dad, who was his friend and the cult’s Leader.
Air Chrysalis won the prize, after which Eriko disappeared. It turned out that the Professor hid her to stir the cult, because he wanted to know what happened to his friend. One day, Eriko left her hiding place and stayed for several weeks in Tengo’s apartment until discovering that they were under surveillance. After which she left Tengo a note (since he was spending a few weeks with his dying dad) saying that she was leaving and the place was watched.
Ushikawa, an ugly divorced private investigator, rented an apartment in Tengo’s building to watch his apartment. This is because after investigating Aomame, he discovered that she was connected to the dowager and Tengo. But it was difficult for him to spy on the dowager’s safe house, and so decided to watch Tengo and see when he would meet Aomame.
In December and from her balcony, Aomame saw Tengo sitting on the top of a slide in the park. She believed that he was seeing the 2 moons. And so she changed her clothes and ran to the park but he wasn’t there. A few days later, she saw the ugly guy described by Tamaru (who was watching the dowager’s safe house). So she disguised herself and followed him. She entered the building where he lived and found that Kawana’s name written on one of the mailboxes. She thought that this could be Tengo. Then she returned to her apartment and called Tamaru, telling him what happened. He was angry with her behavior but eventually went to Ushikawa’s apartment and killed him.
After finishing the mission, Tamaru called Aomame and told her what happened. She asked him to ask Tengo to meet her in the park at sunset. So the 2 lovers finally met on top of the slide and watched the 2 moons. Then they agreed that they had to run away since Sakigake were after their unborn child. The cult needed the baby as he would be the vessel through which a leader could hear the voices, otherwise the cult would vanish.
So Aomame and Tengo went to an exit on the highway where 8 months ago Aomame reached it by going down many stairs to finish her mission in killing an abuser. This time however, the 2 of them went upstairs (in the opposite direction of last time), allowing them to reverse the story and leave this strange world. They confirmed this by seeing only one moon upon reaching the top of the stairs that was looking on a different highway.
This story is about believing in that everything happens for a reason as seen in Aomame’s thoughts about being caught in this fictional state “I wasn’t brought here by chance…I’m here because I’m supposed to be… That’s not the whole picture at all… I chose to be here of my own will.”
The book also discusses friendship, physical and sexual abuse, and rape that leaves the victim traumatized. This is shown in Aomame’s thoughts about Tamaki’s trauma after being raped by the guy she loved at college “This was not about the mere loss of her virginity but rather the sanctity of an individual human being’s soul.” In addition to Ayumi’s words about her molesters “The ones who did it can always rationalize their actions and even forget what they did. They can turn away from things they don’t want to see. But the surviving victims can never forget.”
The author stressed on cults’ extreme beliefs and manipulating innocent and naïve believers for their own interest, leaving the followers deal with their unseen soul wounds. This is depicted in Aomame’s thoughts about rape and sexual abuse “Violence does not always take visible form, and not all wounds gush blood.” “You might never be able to return your heart to its normal condition again.” Murakami also described the role of mind (the voices) in affecting the human’s actions, behaviors, or ego. Yet, as Tamaru rephrased Wittgenstein’s words to Aomame “But once the ego is born into this world, it has to shoulder morality.”
Finally, this novel highlighted the dilemma of Koreans in Sakhalin Island. For instance, the southern region was a Japanese territory since 1905, yet was ruled by the Soviets in 1945. Koreans were taken to the island as laborers by the Japanese, who couldn’t go to Japan when Japan lost the war. WWII also resulted in dividing Korea. And so Japanese Koreans were only allowed in Northern Korea, yet many of them were from cities in South Korea. So countless Koreans stayed in the island, where many of them died of hunger due to terrible shortage of food.
My favorite quotes are:
Tengo to Komatsu “Once you start lying to the public, you have to keep lying. It never ends.”
Aomame’s thoughts about the abuser she killed “He crossed the threshold separating life from death without being aware of it himself.”
Komatsu to Tengo “You can have tons of talent, but it won’t necessarily keep you fed. If you have sharp instincts, though, you will never go hungry.”
The dowager to Aomame “There is no one in this world who can’t be replaced. A person might have enormous knowledge or ability, but a successor can almost always be found.”
Taxi driver to Aomame “But don’t let appearances fool you. There’s always only one reality.”
Aomame to the dowager “You can’t go anywhere if you just resign yourself to being attacked. A state of chronic powerlessness eats away at a person.”
Komatsu to Tengo “Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.” – Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics
Tengo to Komatsu “…the human soul is composed of reason, will, and desire?” – Plato
Aomame’s thoughts “There are things you can’t buy no matter how much you pay… For example the moon.”
Tengo to Eriko “If our collective memory is taken from us –is rewritten– we lose our ability to sustain our true selves.”
Aomame’s thoughts about her fear of bullying and holding Tengo’s hand when they were 10-year-old “…by minimizing her wounds– staying as small as possible, as nearly transparent as possible.”
Komatsu to Tengo “What’s missing in you is desire and positive attitude.”
Aomame nostalgic thoughts about Tengo “… but flesh that does not exist will never die, and promises unmade are never broken.”
Tengo’s father to Tengo “When a vacuum forms, something has to come along to fill it. Because that’s what everybody does.”
The Leader to Aomame “But the longer you spend in the dark, the harder it becomes to return to the world aboveground where the light is. You have to call a stop to it at some point.”
Ushikawa to Tengo “Learning the truth would just hurt you. And once you do learn the truth, you end up having to take on a certain responsibility for it.”
The Leader to Aomame “…the gods give, and the gods take away. … You should use the abilities you have been granted with the utmost care.”
The Leader to Aomame “Whoever may have killed her (Ayumi), the fact is that they always go after your weakest point – the way wolves chase the weakest sheep in the herd.”
Aomame to the Leader “… nothing costs more and yields less benefit than revenge.”
Tamaru to Aomame “Danger comes the moment you relax.”
Tamaru (a Korean) to Aomame about recalling his colleague’s actions (who was half Japanese half Black) in the orphanage “People need things like that to go on living – mental landscapes that have meaning for them.”
Ushikawa to the one of the Leader’s guards “With great knowledge comes great responsibility.”
Tamaru to Aomame “Wherever there’s hope there’s trial.”
Tengo’s thoughts “And what has gone forward can’t go back to where it came from.”
Aomame’s thoughts “When granted hope, a person uses it as fuel, as guidepost to life. It is impossible to live without hope.”
Tengo thoughts “Once you have achieved something so magnificent, you have to be content with it.” – Margaret Mitchell
The Leader to Aomame “Where there is light, there must be shadow, … There is no shadow with light and no light without shadow…”
The dowager to Aomame “People don’t just die when their time comes. They gradually die away, from the inside… People have to pay the price for what they’ve received.”
Tamaru to Ushikawa “To rephrase Tolstoy’s famous line, all happiness is alike, but each pain is painful in its own way.”
Tamaru to Ushikawa’s body “Shakespeare said it best, … if we die today, we do not have to die tomorrow, so let us look to the best in each other.”
Aomame’s thoughts after returning to the real world “Despite all that happened, I never lost myself, … Thank goodness I can be here as me.” “This world must have its own threats, its own dangers, must be filled with its own type of riddles and contradictions. We may have to travel down many dark paths, leading who knows where.”
Three Cups of Tea – One Man’s mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Relin narrates in details the turning point that encouraged Greg to quit climbing mountains and start building schools for children, esp. girls, in Karakorum, the Pakistani region on the border of Afghanistan, and later in Faizabad in Afghanistan. Relin coauthored the book after visiting and interviewing every person Greg have met in the US and Pakistan.
Greg Mortenson is a practicing nurse and climber. He spent his childhood in Tanzania as his parents were missionaries, who advocated building a hospital for Tanzanians. In this country, Greg trained to climb. He even climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. He also practiced his passion in the US, after his family returned home. In addition to Swahili (language of Tanzania), Greg learnt Urdu and Pashto while being in Pakistan, and acquired some Dari (Afghans Farsi language).
In 1993, Greg decided to build a school in Korphe village (northeastern Pakistan) after surviving a failed attempt to climb K2 Mountain, which is part of the Karakoram Range on the border between Baltistan region of Pakistan and China. His porter, Mouzafer, found him walking feebly towards Korphe. They were received by the villagers and taken to the village’s chief, Haji Ali.
Despite the poverty of the villagers, they welcomed him and slaughtered a ram for him. Greg also noted later in the book that sugar was meager there and if he knew that, he wouldn’t have asked for more sugar on his tea. He stayed in Haji’s house for a few days where the villagers shared their food, chapatti, and traditional tea – paiyu cha. This “stinky” drink -as Greg described it- became his favorite drink in Pakistan. Paiyu cha is prepared by brewing green tea with milk, salt, baking soda, and aged butter called mar. Haji Ali told Greg “You can’t tell the mountains what to do. … You must learn to listen to them. … If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways. Here we drink three cups of tea to do business: the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything – even die.” Haji Ali also taught Greg to slow down when doing something “Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I've ever learned in my life...We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We're the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects.”
During his short stay, Greg walked in Korphe enjoying its beautiful nature, apricot trees, and Braldu River that the villagers had to walk through it to travel to other villages or to Islamabad. The villagers were malnourished as many of them had cataract or goiter, and several children suffered from kwashiorkor (protein-energy malnutrition). Twaha, the Haji’s son, told Greg that the doctor resided in Skardu, which took Korhpe villagers one week to walk to it!
Greg asked Haji Ali to see the village’s school. Haji hesitated to show it but after Greg’s insistence, he took him. There was no building. The 78 boys and 4 girls including Jahan, Twaha’s 7-year only daughter whose mother died while giving birth to her, where sitting on the freezing ground in an open area. Korphe children shared the teacher with Munjung school because the government couldn’t afford the salary of a teacher that cost $1 day! So the children were only taught 3 times a week. Another shocking scene was the children lacking pencils and notebooks as most of them used to learn and practice writing on the plain ground using wooden sticks. Jahan and a few children, however, had a slate board on which they wrote using sticks dipped in mud and water.
This miserable scene made Greg promise Haji to build a school for these children! Korphe was ignored by the government that spent a large amount of money on its army that is situated in Siachen Glacier, guarding the borders with India. Greg also added that racism could be another reason for this negligence - Baltistan is a Muslim region that is part of a Punjabi country!
In fact, climbing K2 was to pay tribute to his sister Christa, who died at the age of 23 after suffering from an epilepsy seizure. Yet seeing the situation of Korphe’s children, he decided that the best way to honor his deceased sister is by building a school for the village.
Back in Berkley, CA, Greg left his apartment and started living in La Bamba (his grandma’s Buick) to save money for Korphe school. But he kept his gym’s subscription to use the shower. Many nights, the police used to wake him up commanding him to move as it wasn’t allowed to sleep overnight in the car in parking spaces.
To collect money, Greg decided to send letters to possible donors. At first, he typed every letter on the typewriter. But later Kishwar Syed (a Pakistani working in a copy shop) taught him how to use a computer. So Greg sent 580 letters but with no avail. Luckily, one of his acquaintances recommended calling Hoerni, the silicon transistor pioneer. The latter provided him with $12,000, the amount Greg requested to build one school! Hoerni noted that he did so because unlike him, Americans don’t like to assist Muslims. He also asked to see photos of the school built.
In Islamabad, he bought the materials needed with the help of Abdul. Greg also contacted Changazi (the agent that organized Greg’s climbing trip of K2) to arrange transferring the material to Korphe. So after uploading the materials onto a truck, Greg and Abdul got onto it, and the driver drove to Korphe. Yet, Changazi and the locals tried to convince Greg to build the school in their village – Khane, but the latter refused since he gave his word to Haji Ali.
Upon reaching Braldu River, they had to stop because of lacking a bridge to take them to Korphe. So they had to store the materials in Changazi’s store house. Then continued on foot to Korphe where the children, Haji Ali, his wife (Sakina), son, and others welcomed Greg. They were shocked to see him come back because many of the American and European K2 climbers promised to help them, but none of them kept his word! Haji Ali and the villagers assisted Greg in building the bridge after buying the materials needed from the village, which took weeks. Of course, to do so, Greg needed additional money. So he returned to the US where his friend (Reichardt) advised to call Hoerni again. So Greg got an additional $10,000!
Back in in the US, McCown (a climber and member of the American Himalayan Association) invited Greg to a charitable event, where he met Tara, the daughter of Barry Bishop - a photographer of national geography. They got married within a week, and after spending 4 weeks together, he left to build the school in Korphe.
In early winter, Greg went to take the material from Changazi to build the school, but the guard refused. Gladly, Changazi’s accountant and the most educated man in Korphe, Parvi, helped Greg retrieve the material. Yet, Changazi used a good part of the material that Greg bought. Nonetheless, with the help of Korphe villagers, Greg was able to build the school, which took months. But over time and with experience, Greg and the locals of every village were able to finish building the school in a few weeks.
Parvi also applied to the Shariat Court against Agha Mubarak, who (1) damaged Hemasil school in 2002 (built by a donation from the sister of late Ned Gillette), and (2) released a fatwa to kill Mortenson because Greg was educating Christianity in the schools he built! Yet in 2003, the court’s decision was in favor of Greg since he was a philanthropist, who educated children in Pakistan. They also ruled that Agha Mubarak’s fatwa was illegitimate, and to pay for the destroyed school bricks! This verdict amazed Greg who indicated that the Court’s ruling protected him despite that the US was attacking their land. He wished that Americans and their politicians could see the goodness in Muslims and not to stigmatize them with terrorism, which is the approach of extremists. He even said “Just as the Torah and Bible teach concern for those in distress, the Koran instructs all Muslims to make caring for widows, orphans, and refugees a priority.”
On Hoerni’s death bed in the hospital in Seattle, Greg showed him photos of Korphe’s school and villagers. In 1997, Hoerni left Greg ~$22,000 in his will, and appointed him to manage the Central Asia Institute (CAI) with an endowment of ~$1,000,000. Hoerni launched this charity to build schools in Central Asian countries. Greg asked Hoerni’s wife to be on the CAI board in addition to other individuals. He also assigned locals from Baltistan to be CAI members/employees in Pakistan to aid in building schools in the villages lacking ones.
What made Greg really proud was seeing Jahan (Haji Ali granddaughter) and Tahira (the daughter of Hussein -Korphe’s first teacher) succeed and graduate from Korphe school, who were the first girls to enter a school in Baltistan. This scene was rare because most girls weren’t allowed to go to school. He also provided the2 women with scholarships to go to college. Jahan entered med school specializing in maternal health, and Tahira became a tutor teaching Korphe children.
With the help of CAI that was supported by several donors, Greg and locals were able to spread knowledge and build over 40 schools from Skardu to Faisal Baig. He also built public room for Korphe villagers; and spread about 4,000 meters of water pipes to carry clean water from the spring to Chunda, hence reducing sickness and death of children due to drinking unclean water. He also was approached by Kirghiz men from Afghanistan to build a school in their Faizabad village near Panjshir Valley. He built the school after being helped by Sadhar Khan, the friend of late Shah Ahmad Massoud who was assassinated by Taliban. In Afghanistan, Greg mentioned that opium trade had spiked during Taliban rule.
With time, Greg understood that education is the solution because ignorance is the logs of wood that keep the fire (of terrorism) burning. For instance, Greg said to a Republican congressman in the capitol “I’ve learned that terror doesn’t happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren’t being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death.” Kevin Fedarko also wrote about Greg in the Parade cover story (April 6, 2003) “Mortenson’s approach hinges on a simple idea: that by building secular schools and helping to promote education, -particularly for girls- in the world’s most volatile war zone, support for the Taliban and other extremist sects eventually will dry up. … If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not with bombs.”
The Pakistani General Bashir also told Greg - “The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people (the poor uneducated children), to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever.” Greg also said to the writer Terry Richard “When we increase literacy, we substantially reduce tensions.” Additionally, Mortenson wrote “Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for work in the cities, but the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls.”
In this book, Greg described the challenges he faced to get money and build schools for the impoverished children in the remote villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan; the winding narrow roads of mountains to reach Karakoram and Faizabad; the freezing winter and beautiful nature of northeastern Pakistan and Afghanistan; the simple but difficult life of locals that was vanishing form the developed world (such as family gatherings); and the humble and welcoming nature of the locals and their inability to fight Taliban and Bin Laden, who were created by the US and supported by the Emirates and Saudi Arabia. And after seeing the bloody attack on Iraq in 2001 on TV, and the thousands of Iraqis who were murdered or displaced, Greg noted his understanding of the hatred that some nations feel towards the US. Because similar to the empty promises given to Pakistan and Afghanistan, the US didn’t help in rebuilding the Iraqi cities that they destroyed.
Greg also discussed the struggle in Afghanistan after the Soviet and American interference in this tribal land that its primal alliance is to its own people. These nations are still suffering till today esp. that the US failed to restore the regions they ruined while trying to rip Taliban! In fact, Afghanistan, Pakistan, western India, and Khurasan (Iranian province) were one empire called Durrani that was divided by the British in the 18th century.
In addition, Greg highlighted the bad leadership of Sharif who spent a large amount of money on the military at the expense of neglecting education, and commended Musharraf’s success in fighting Taliban and their madrasas that washed the brain of poor boys by extremism, as well as spreading education by building schools and providing teachers. Mortenson also mentioned that Brolmo residents were forced out of their own land and displaced to the arid mountains of Skardu because of the conflict between Pakistan and India over Kashmir. Villagers described Brolmo as heaven due to having the Indus River and a rich soil on which fruit trees grew.
This book mentioned the financial constraints that Greg suffered, and the stress that his wife endured while being away in Pakistan esp. during the American attack on Afghanistan to defeat Taliban, and when he was held in Waziristan by locals to protect him from being killed by Taliban. Another challenge that Greg faced was being detained and interrogated by the CIA in the American embassy in Kathmandu. They thought he was financing jihadis/Taliban!
Finally, Greg received thousands of hate messages from Americans after knowing that he built schools for Pakistanis. He was against the American attack on Afghanistan and its borders with Pakistan since they were killing poor men, women, children, and elderly. He even wrote in his book “In times of war, you often hear leaders—Christian, Jewish, and Muslim—saying, ‘God is on our side.’ But that isn’t true. In war, God is on the side of refugees, widows, and orphans.”
My favorite quotes are:
Persian proverb “When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”
Rubaiyat Omar Khayyam “Why ponder thus the future to foresee, and jade thy brain to vain perplexity? Cast off they care, leave Allah’s plans to Him… He formed them all without consulting thee.” I read this book years ago and it is very interesting.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir “Let sorrowful longing dwell in your heart. Never give up, never lose hope. Allah says, “The broken ones are my beloved.” Crush your heart. Be broken.”
Mortenson said “And they did it with something that’s worthless in our society – pennies. But overseas, pennies can move mountains.” about Pennies for Pakistan movement that is established by his mother. She was a teacher who asked her students to collect empty cans, which then were replaced by pennies. They provided Greg with $623.45.
Rumi “There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don’t you?”
Sir Edmund Hillary “I was just an average bloke. It was the media that tried to transform me into a heroic figure. …, as long as you don’t believe all that rubbish about yourself, you can’t come to too much harm.”
Haji Ali to Mortenson when Haji Mehdi (a mountains’ bandit) who asked for a bribe (12 rams – the villagers’ wealth) in return of not taking Korphe school down “Long after all those rams are dead and eaten this school will still stand. Haji Mehdi has food today. Now our children have education forever.”
Bowa Johar, Balti poet, and grandfather of Mouzafer “no human, nor any living thing, survives long under the eternal sky. The most beautiful women, the most learned men, even Mohammad, who heard Allah’s own voice, all did wither and die. All is temporary. The sky outlives everything. Even suffering.”
Syed Abbas said to Mortenson “How can you know what the people need if you don’t ask them?”
Mother Teresa “Let nothing perturb you, nothing frightens you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything.”
Mother Teresa “What we are trying to do may be just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”
Uzra (Durkhani’s School principal) to Greg about being covered by burkha “We women of Afghanistan see the light through education. Not through this or that hole in a piece of cloth.”
From the Warrior Song of King Gezar (a Tibetan hero who unified tribes and promoted Buddhism) “Our earth is wounded. Her oceans and lakes are sick; her rivers are like running sores; The air is filled with subtle poisons. And the oily smoke of countless hellish fires blackens the sun. Men and women, scattered from homeland, family, friends, wander desolate and uncertain, scorched by a toxic sun. ... In this desert of frightened, blind uncertainty, some take refuge in the pursuit of power. Some become manipulators of illusion and deceit. If wisdom and harmony still dwell in this world, as other than a dream lost in an unopened book, they are hidden in our heartbeat. And it is from our hearts that we cry out. We cry out and our voices are the single voice of this wounded earth. Our cries are a great wind across the earth.”
Judith Campbell “When your heart speaks, take good notes.”
Kit Anderson captivatingly portrayed the life, culture, and customs of Kurdish people and their resistance against the Turks in her novel Five Sisters: A Modern Novel of Kurdish Women. It is the story of 5 sisters, who are part of 14-memebr family, fighting for family, homeland, one’s freedom, and love.
The family lived in Sicaksu village where all the sons and daughters helped their parents in planting, collecting crops, and bringing water from a nearby spring or river. They also used to join the villagers in the afternoons of spring and summer to drink tea and talk near the river. In this river, girls and women used to wash clothes and clean themselves. This village is about 70 km away from Van city. Van city is located on Van Lake and overlooked by the volcanic mountain Nemrut, where the majority are Kurdish Turks.
Kurdish fighters used to sneak to these villages and ask for food for their colleagues. They also encouraged men and women to join them and fight to reclaim their own land – Kurdistan. Ruya, Songul, and their brother Aden liked the idea. Only Aden asked his dad (Burhan) to join the fighters, whose request was rejected. Songul was 16 and didn’t want to marry the old man she was betrothed to, which increased her enthusiasm to join the fighters.
One day and while Ruya (19 years) was collecting the animals into the barn, she was attacked by Turkish soldiers and raped. This left her shattered and scared, because she would be murdered if her dad knew about this! Her rape would disgrace her family’s name! So she didn’t tell anyone about what happened. Yet eventually she broke into her mom’s arms and told her. Her mom soothed her and promised not to tell anyone about it. Talking to someone about what happened helped Ruya in relieving her soul! This incident however, made her take the decision to join the fighters. So she told her sister about her plan to run away with Aden, but the latter refused to take them since they were women!
Nonetheless, Ruya and Songul left a note with the baker (the messenger between the fighters and villagers). The sisters were met by a female fighter and another mate and guided into the mountains. They were trained on using guns and rifles and took part in many battels with the Turkish army. The fighters also were educated by their colleagues such as learning reading, writing, and math. During these years, Ruya and Songul became friends with many female fighters, and met several male comrades including Anwar, who fell in love with Ruya. Later the sisters discovered that Aden and their younger brother Mangat joined the fighters, in which the latter was killed during his first year with the guerrillas.
One day, Sicaksu villagers received pamphlets that noted having 30 minutes to evacuate. Ruya’s family gathered their precious stuff and some food and ran with rest of villagers to the mountains, guided by Turkish soldiers. From the mountain, they watched the Turkish forces bombing their homes! They stopped in Kiziltas and stayed with some relatives. Burhan decided to go to Cansu village, where his cousin lived. While waiting for the bus to go to Cansu, Aliye (a teenager) caught a boy eyeing her fondly, of whom she dreamt all her life. This boy was Kerim, Anwar’s cousin. In Cansu, the family bought an old house with a land, which they planted.
Sadly, in the last fight, Songul was killed as well as the Kurdish fighters’ leader. So the fighters’ spirits died and decided to return to their homes. Anwar and Kerim joined Ruya and went to her parents’ house in Cansu. Anwar asked Ruya to marry him and told her dad that they would run to Iraq and marry there as it wasn’t safe for them and Ruya’s family if they stayed, since the Turkish soldiers may capture and torture them. Ruya’s dad approved because he knew the risk that these fighters were taking, and that his daughter won’t get another marriage offer! Kerim too asked Burhan to marry Aliye! But Burhan refused because Kerim was broke and Aliye was a beautiful girl, who would get a good dowry. This broke the heart of Aliye and Kerim.
Ruya then ran to Suliemaniyah with Anwar and Kerim. They got married and had a boy and a girl. They applied for asylum in the US, and worked in a grocery store, which they later bought. Few years later, their application was approved and joined many Kurds on the plane going to Texas, where Anwar’s family was living. They stayed in his sister’s house, and Anwar worked with his family in their supermarket, while Ruya worked in a laundry store. Ruya and Anwar also learned English in a night school, and their kids went to school too. With time and good management, they made money and bought their own store and house.
Ruya knew her family news form aunt Kader. For instance, Alev married the old rich man Mehmet, who had another 2 wives and many children. She was skeptic about marrying him. But her husband and his wives were nice to her. She had children and lived in her own apartment, as Mehmet build a 3-story building for his 3 wives and their children.
Tragically, Burhan’s wife died from cancer that was discovered in its late stages. Her surgery made left him with debts. Yet he found a chance in paying his debts by marrying Aliye off to Omer, the son of a drug dealer. This broke Aliye’s heart and soul. She kept crying all the time! Even on her wedding day she looked sad! This angered her husband, who raped her on their wedding night! He was a sadist man who enjoyed seeing the weakness in his wife’s eyes while torturing her! She told her mother-in-law, but she didn’t help and only said that she should satisfy her husband’s needs! That was her only job! She became pregnant, which angered Omer because he hated the shape of pregnant women, and he wouldn’t be able to have sex with her. Yet, fearing for his son’s life, Omer’s dad sent him away for a few months since he had enemies! This gave Aliye a break from sexual and physical abuse and was able to give birth to a healthy baby boy.
Aliye wasn’t allowed to see her family, but found refuge in her sister-in-law, Nur. Nur convinced Aliye to leave Omer! She assisted her to run while traveling with their husbands to Istanbul on a business trip. Nur left with the guards to a shopping store while Aliye went out form the hotel’s back door. Nur lost the guards and ran to the train station, where she met Aliye and took her to her friend Magrit. She hid in their house for months, burying herself in their library. Later, they found a job for her in one of the libraries. She became friends with Elif and moved to live with her, sharing the rent. This strengthened Aliye confidence in herself and her ability to live on her own.
Aliye received letters from Ruya asking her to join her in Iraq, and from Nur telling her what happened after she ran away. Omer’s family accused her of helping Aliye to run away but was defended by her husband, who loved Nur dearly. Nur’s husband stated that his wife left to a shopping store, leaving Aliye sleeping in her room. She also wrote that Kadir, Aliye’s brother was attacked from the back while walking near the river and died. Kader thought that it could be Omer’s way to avenge Aliye’s disappearance. Omer also was faced by Aliye’s dad and elder brother asking about what he did to her! But Omer of course wasn’t afraid because Aliye’s family were poor villagers as well as he knew corrupt Turkish cops.
Unfortunately, Aliye received a letter from Kader saying that Nur fell of the stairs and died. This made Aliye feel angry and guilty since she believed that Omer killed Nur! Omer too was found tortured to death after being tied to a tree. He was either killed by Aliye’s dad or brother, or by the men whose sisters were maids at Omer’s family house. These women were abused and killed by Omer. In addition, Aliye’s dad and elder brother were shot on their doorstep by Omer’s men.
Kader also added that Omer’s dad had an offer for her. He asked Aliye to forget the past and come and live with them and raise her son. Aliye accepted the offer and agreed to be taken there by her brother Salih. Yet the latter shot her the moment he saw her standing at the bus stop! He believed that he avenged the death of his dad and brother and washed away the disgrace brought by his sister’s actions! Of course, he was jailed. Kader believed that Salih was brain washed by Omer’s dad, making him the tool to avenge Aliye’s betrayal!
Kader was the widow of Burhan’s brother, who and his elder boys were shot on their doorstep by the Turkish soldiers. She and her 2 children lived with Burhan’s family for a few years. Then she married Ahmet, her other brother-in-law. Ahmet had children from his late wife. So they took care of their children and of Sakina after the death of most of her family. Kader supported Sakina to finish her education as most Kurdish women were not allowed to finish high school or even go to school! But since Sakina was smart and the first in her classes, Ahmet complied to his wife’s wishes and aided her to move to Izmir and study medicine.
Sakina faced challenges and racism at the beginning of her studies in the university. Her supervisor who was supposed to guide and support her, only broke her spirit by saying that she as a Kurdish wouldn’t succeed due to lacking the capabilities that the Turks have, and that she should go back to her village and marry and be a village girl! Yet, a Kurdish student named Ibrahim, comforted her after finding her tearful in the library. She was skeptic about being helped by a man, since she was taught and lived knowing that socialization between men and women was forbidden. But time proved her that he a was good man. Ibrahim was studying law, and he taught Sakina how to study in the university, which was different than the way in school.
Ibrahim, who was from a rich family, fell in love with Sakina. He proposed after their graduation, but Sakina refused because she didn’t want to marry and be trapped for the rest of her life as a housewife with so many children to take care of! She wanted to be a doctor and help her people. This hurt Ibrahim who tried to explain to Sakina that she could marry and be a doctor at the same time, but she didn’t listen to him. She ran away to her village refusing to answer his calls and started her internship in the hospital. But Ibrahim didn’t give up. Against his parents’ will, he moved to Van and set up a family court. He sent Sakina flowers and a letter saying that he loved her, wanted to marry her, and that she could be a doctor while being his wife. Nonetheless, Sakina threw away the flowers and never answered his letter.
Eventually, Sakina got sick due to working hard and going against her hearts’ will, because she loved Ibrahim but feared ending up living the life of her late mother. Kader let Ibrahim into Sakina’s room, which made her furious. Yet, Ibrahim calmed her down and assured her that he loved her, started his business in Van where they can marry and live, she could be a doctor and work in the hospital, and they would have a maid to do the housework and help with the kids. So finally, Sakina agreed to marry Ibrahim. Kader started the preparations and sent Ruya a letter telling her the news! Upon reading the good news, Ruya flew with her son to Van to attend her sister’s wedding, who was a child when she left Cansu.
This book described the nature, customs of death and wedding celebrations, and the unjust treatment that the Kurds have received from the Turkish and Iraqi governments. Kurds originated from the Medes people who lived in Kurdistan. Yet, this land was divided by Lausanne Treaty in 1923 into five regions owned by Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Azerbaijan. Since then, most of the Kurdish were killed, abused, and treated with racism by the governments of these nations. Some of these governments even forbid Kurdish people to talk in their own language. In schools, any student who talked in his own language was physically punished as they were only had to speak in the country’s official language (Arabic, Turkish …).
When I was in 10th grade, I remember when the media was filled with the news about the capture of Abdullah Öcalan in 1999. He founded the Militant Kurdistan Workers Party in Syria and lead militant resistance against the Turkish army for almost 20 years. He fought to reunite Kurdish people and reclaim Kurdistan. He is imprisoned for life in Turkey.
Moreover, the author mentioned 2 Kurdish heroes; Sheikh Said (in the 20th century) and Saladin (the Middle Ages). The former rebelled against the Turks during Ataturk rule, mainly because Ataturk was against Islam rituals as described in a previous blog post (The Throne of Power). On the other hand, Saladin was one of the Sultans and army leaders that fought and defeated the Crusaders in Egypt and Levant. In the 12th century, he built Ajloun Castle (in northern Jordan) and Cairo Castle to defend his kingdoms.
Finally, this novel highlighted the lack of women’s ability in having their simplest rights including education and choosing whom to marry! It also shed light on honor killings that was depicted in Ruya’s thoughts “To eliminate that kind of injustice was worth any price…. She sometimes felt secretly that the enemy was as much as their own village culture as it was the Turkish state”. For instance, many women were murdered just because of refusing a man or being raped. I believe that honor killings have no honor in them because the people punish the victim instead of the abuser!
My favorite quotes are:
Hakim Bey (the fighters’ leader) told Ruya after knowing about her rape: “No one should be afraid, as you were afraid. We must change that, he said. Help us to change our ways so that no one is killed for something she couldn’t help. We must learn to meet our shame with courage and overcome it by kindness and patience, not by bloodshed”.
Kerim thoughts while spying on the mountains for the Kurdish fighters “The fewer who knew, the fewer who could betray”.
Ruya’s thoughts after one of the deadly battles of the guerrillas with the Turkish forces “God made the world so beautiful, she thought, but people make it so horrible”.
Hatice (Ruya’s sister-in-law) thoughts “People were what they were…”.
Sakina’s thoughts after being put down by her supervisor “…she determined not to be a victim. She had set herself to shape her own life according to her own plan. Focused on what she could control…”.
The Gaucho Martín Fierro and The Return of Martin Fierro by José Hernández translated by Abeer Abed Hafez - ملحمة الجاوتشو – مارتين فييرو وعودة مارتين فييرو لخوسيه إرنانديث is an epic about the difficult life of a Gaucho. The Gaucho are a group of people who are believed to come from the Middle East and reside in Latin America during the invasion of that Continent by the White man, and how the settlers abused the land and the Natives as well as the Gaucho. Another saga is the Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh جلجامش - ملحمة الرافدين الخالدة by Firas Al-Sawwah, whose book also contained a thorough discussion of this epic. This legend poetically narrates the struggle of Gilgamesh in getting the plant that ensures his immortality. Unfortunately, this herb was eaten by a snake while he swam in the river before returning home, leaving Gilgamesh devastated! These 2 epics are similar to the protagonists of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey who challenged fate to return home safely and celebrate victory.
The Gaucho Martín Fierro and The Return of Martín Fierro is a gripping epic that portrays the difficult life of the Gaucho in Latin America between 1872 and 1879, on the tongue of Martin. Martin was living peacefully with his wife and children from his land, but then he was forced into serving with the army to fight the rebelliousness of the Natives. The epic sheds light on the unfair treatment of the Gaucho who were serving the army without being paid or fed. Even they were receiving winter clothes in the summer, and summer ones in winter.
He had to leave his family, so his wife left with another man who could feed and support her, and his kids were lost. Many years later, he reunited with his 2 boys, who became young men, telling him the difficulties they faced including lack of food, clothes, and a roof to cover them. Both young men were treated badly and forced to work for crumbs of bread!
Martin was a brave man whose courage was admired by one of the soldiers Cruz, who went after him with other men to bring him back to the army. Yet Cruz joined him in fighting the military forces. Unfortunately, Cruz died in one of the fights but before dying he asked Martin to look for his son and take care of him, which Martin did.
The Gaucho are a group of people who are believed to come from the Middle East and reside in Latin America during the invasion of that Continent, and how the settlers abused the land and the Natives as well as the Gaucho. They are brave fighters, farmers, and cowboys, who were treated very badly by the settlers’ governments considered due to considering them the lowest kind of people living in that area. This is clear in the poet’s words “Gaucho is like wool, cleaned and shaped with a stick - الجاوتشو مثل الصوف، يُنظف و يتشكّل بالعصا”.
My favorite quotes of the Gaucho epic are:
But what a sublime gift God has bestowed upon the Christian; He gave him the gift of reason... He gave man a greater blessing: the grace of pronunciation and speech - لكن ما أسمى ما منحه (الله) للمسيحي؛ إذ منحه نعمة العقل ..... وهبَ الإنسان كنزاً أعظم: نعمة النطق والكلام
One must be brave if one decides to move forward - على المرء التحلي بالشجاعة إذا ما قررَ المضيَّ قُدماً -
Return to your land you naive villager, even if you are walking on one leg - عُد إلى أرضك أيها القروي الساذج، وإن حَجلت على ساقٍ واحدة
The faithful does not live longer than what the traitor values for him - فالمخلص لا يعيش أكثر مما يقدرّه له الخائن
There is no patriotism towards those who do not take into account the citizen - لا وطنيّة نحو من لا يراعي المواطن-
Whoever lives in the lands of strangers must be gentle and prudent - من يَعِش في ديار الأغراب، عليه التحلي بالوداعة والحصافة
The stone also emits sparks when hit by a metal ring - فالحجر أيضاً يصدر شرراً حين تضربه حلقة من المعدن
The law was set for everyone, but it is only enforced on the poor - سُنَّ القانون من أجل الجميع ولكنه يُطبّق على الفقير وحسب
Time is nothing but a postponement of what is to come. It never had a beginning and will never end. Time is a wheel and the wheel is eternal - الزمن ليس إلا تأجيلٌ لما هو آتٍ، لم يكن له أبداً بداية ولن ينتهي إطلاقاً، فالزمنُ عجلة والعجلة أبدية
Let them know that forgetting the hurt means having a good memory - فليعلموا أن نسيان الإساءة إنما يعني الذاكرة الجيدة
On the other hand, the Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh جلجامش - ملحمة الرافدين الخالدة is about Gilgamesh (2/3 god and 1/3 human) killing the evil monster Humbaba with his friend Enkidu. The theme of this legend stresses on that humans are not immortals, and that human works (cities, monuments, art, books, poems, …) are the only things that remain after they die - a witness that we lived.
This epic also highlights that we should gain wisdom via living and travelling, as well as enjoy living our life since we are mortals as written on the 3rd slab - “The girl Siduri said to Gilgamesh, Humans are born, they live, then they die, this is the order that the gods have decreed. But until the end comes, enjoy your life, spend it in happiness, not despair. Savor your food, make each of your days a delight, bathe and anoint yourself, wear bright clothes that are sparkling clean, let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand, and give your wife pleasure in your embrace. That is the best way for a man to live.”
:قالت الفتاة سيدوري لجلجامش
إلى أين تمضي يا جلجامش؟
.الحياة التي تبحث عنها لن تجدها
،فالآلهة لما خلقت البشر
،جعلت الموت لهم نصيباً
.وحبست في أيديها الحياة
.أما أنت يا جلجامش، فاملأ بطنك
.افرح ليلك ونهارك
.اجعل من كل يوم عيداً
.ارقص لاهياً في الليل وفي النهار
.اخطر بثيابٍ نظيفة زاهية
.اغسل رأسك واستحمّ بالمياه
،دلل صغيرك الذي يُمسك بيدك
.وأسعد زوجك بين أحضانك
.هذا نصيب البشر
My favorite quotes of Gilgamesh epic are:
قال جلجامش "في مدينتي يموت الجل كسير القلب، يقضي الرجل حزين الفؤاد. أَنظرُ من فوق السور فأرى الأجساد الميتة طافية في النهر، وأرى أني سأغدو مثلها حقاً. فالإنسان مهما علا، لن يبلغ السماء طولاً، ومهما اتسع لن يُغطي الأرض عرضاً
قال إنكيدو "نظر إليّ وقادني إلى بيت الظلام، مسكن إرجالا، إلى دار لا يرجع منها من دخل إليها، إلى درب لا يرجع بصاحبه من حيث أتى. .... رأيت الملوك وقد نَزعَت تيجانها
Zaleekhah on the other hand lived and raised by her maternal uncle (Malek) after the death of her parents when she was a child. They were taken away by the flood after sleeping on the riverbank in Turkey. All her life, Zaleekhah felt guilty about her parents’ death because they only slept on the riverbank to satisfy Zaleekhah’s wish, despite booking a cabin to sleep in the river camp! She grew up with her cousin Helen as sisters, studied water science, and became an academic searching for lost rivers running undercities, such as the Fleet, Effra, Tyburn, Walbrook, and Westbourne in London, and Bièvre in Paris. Additionally, Amman Seil (stream) was paved in 1964, renaming the area Saqef Seil (i.e.; the covered stream). These subterranean rivers were covered because of becoming very dirty or needing to build roads. So humans abused nature to build cities, including Athens, New York, Vienna, São Paulo, Sydney, Beijing, Moscow, Toronto, Tokyo, and others!
In 2018, Zaleekhah divorced her husband. Her uncle had difficulty in accepting this decision. He even tried to help her save her marriage, which she refused. During her journey to find herself and get over her feeling of guilt, she rented a houseboat on the Thames and befriended his owner, the Irish Nen – a tattoo shop owner who could read Cuneiform. This friendship was not welcomed by her uncle since he saw the gay Nen as an eccentric person, who would have a negative effect on his niece’s social and occupational life! He even once told Zaleekhah “I want you to be very successful. Remember, people like us cannot afford to fail” “People like us … immigrants, exiles, refugees, newcomers, outsiders… Their achievements will be attributed to a whole community; and, in the same way, their failures will be chalked up to something bigger and older than themselves, be it family, religion or ethnicity.” That is, immigrants’ incompetencies would reflect being from an unsuccessful/useless ethnic group!
Her uncle worked hard to become who he is - becoming one of the elite of Londoners and marrying a British woman. He loved collecting art and artifacts from all over the world, esp. from his homeland – the Levantine. Uncle Malek supported his niece financially and morally. This is because when was a teenager, his family sent him to study in London. During these years, his mom ran away with a man, and so his family ousted her. This had a very negative effect on him. He even once told Zaleekhah that unlike his mother, he would never give up on his family.
Nen helped Zaleekhah to face her fears and talk about her wound of guilt, accept the divorce decision, and support her cousin Helen in her ordeal. It turned out that Helen’s daughter needed a kidney transplant. Uncle Malek used his connections and found a donor, who was Narin. Zaleekhah discovered that this donation was illegal. She faced her uncle saying that it was Mrs. Malek idea to abuse Narin, to which her uncle only pleaded not to tell Helen about this. He even noted that he would rescue this poor girl from continuous abuse/rape and provide her with a safe home and education! But Zaleekhah told Helen, who in turn refused to abuse a child to save her daughter. Helen also wasn’t angry with Zaleekhah and asked her parents to apply officially to the kidneys transplant waitlist. Yet Mr. and Mrs. Malek got angry with Zaleekhah and refused to talk to her or answer her phone calls, esp. her uncle who expected her to remain silent as a symbol of gratitude for what he had done for her since she was a child! This of course hurt Zaleekhah because it was the one time he made her feel bad about needing him all her life.
On the other hand, Zaleekhah and Nen saved Narin. They used all the money ($ 3,200) made from the tattoo shop to buy her from her abuser, and bring her to London, since Zaleekhah was a poor academic! Upon meeting her, she asked them to say goodbye to the grave of Leila and the British man (Arthur), because Hasankeyf soon would be submerged (after opening the dam)! The teenage Narin was sacred of going away with the 2 British women, but upon seeing the tattoo (water written in cuneiform characters) on Zaleekhah’s hand, she trusted them because it was similar the tattoo that her grandma Besma had.
The story narrates the injustice that befell Yazidis by Christian Westerners and Arab Muslims. They called them devil worshipers and refused to share water and food with them! Moreover, their number is declining because a Yazidi must be born into the creed, and all their life they were pursued and attacked! Their water wells were poisoned, plants were burnt, and they have been massacred 72 times! For instance, ISIS fighters (American mad) captured the Yazidi young girls and women and used them as sex slaves. They also executed men and buried the elderly alive to save bullets! Other stories about the horrific life of Yazidis during ISIS rule of Iraq are narrated in Stacey Dooley’s chronicle as summarized on July 24th 2020.
Shafaq also depicted the Yazidis’ traditions - preparing homemade meals, using herbs for ailments’ treatment, welcoming guests, and hospitability as Besma told Narin “When someone gives you the food they’ve prepared, they give you their heart”, and as the Sheikh of Zêrav said to Arthur “We believe an onion shared with guests tastes better than roast lamb.” These habits are like those of Arabs! She also described the process of printing books and stamps, lithography, and engraving in steel in the 1800s. Additionally, Hammurabi (the 6th king of Babylon) Code (in La Louvre) set rules making women subordinates to men. One of these rules was abstracting Nisaba from being the god of writing and marginalizing her to just be Nabu’s wife – the new god of writing.
Because of the greed of the Turkish authorities, the dam flooded by the rain and covered Hasankeyf and 12,000 years of history. This region was home for temples since the Akkadian era, as well as churches, mosques, and synagogues. The Turkish government even tried to bribe the Yazidis to take their land, but they refused! Yet they were displaced after the flooding of the dam! The same happened earlier when the late Iraqi president (Saddam) forced Yazidis to leave their homes so that his government could build the Mosul Dam. Saddam also displaced Yazidis by salting the Tigris water of Marshlands, making it undrinkable and improper for watering plants. So the Marsh Arabs (the indigenous of Southern Iraq) decimated! During the invasion of Iraq too, Tigris became perilous by the fuel and remnants of American weapons.
Ashurbanipal was the ruthless king of Mesopotamia, who burnt his supervisor and childhood mentor due to deciding with Ashurbanipal’s brother to kill him because he starved his people and poisoned the water sources. Nonetheless, Ashurbanipal was an intellectual who built a large library and was fascinated by the Epic of Gilgamesh (written around 2100 BC) that consists of 12 tablets. He even searched for any stone tablet recounting the epic. This ruthless ruler and his kingdom perished by the flood that caused Tigris to overflow and engulf Nineveh.
Finally, this book shed light on looting artifacts from their homeland including Levant, Iraq, and Egypt and presented in the museums in New York, London, and Paris. In fact, one of the Jordanian artifacts – the Mushatta Façade of the residential palace of Qasr Mushatta that is built in the 8th century during the Umayyad Empire is present in Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Many artifacts were looted or sold to Europeans or Americans and presented in private homes or museums. Buyers believe that such artifacts could be better preserved in such places.
My favorite quotes are (Part-II):
Nen to Zaleekhah “… an immigrant would understand what it feels like to meet loss and still not be defeated."
The British ambassador in Constantinople to Arthur “… if you run too fast, you will miss the safe place where you might have hidden yourself."
Arthur thoughts “Home is where your absence is felt, the echo of your voice kept alive, no matter how long you have been away or how far you may have strayed, a place that still beats with the pulse of your heart."
Grandma Besma to Narin “Death is God’s command—Mirin a’mr ē Xwadēya. The son of Adam is but a guest on earth, even if he has all the riches or lives a hundred years."
Zaleekhah thoughts about Nen “She has never met anyone so at ease with herself, scars and bruises and all."
Uncle Malek to Nen about the British society that includes a mix of races “In Britain difference lends us strength, and tolerance gives us unity."
Nen to Uncle Malek “Gilgamesh, let’s admit, is an awful person in the beginning, and it is only through love and friendship and loss that he becomes more humble and gentle."
Nen recites a verse from Gilgamesh “Where you have set your mind begin the journey Let your heart have no fear, keep your eyes on me."
Zaleekhah to Nen “Gratitude swallows Love.”
Arthur thoughts “The remains. When we are gone—kings, slaves or scribes— what is left of us? Empires have a way of deceiving themselves into believing that, being superior to others, they will last forever. Rivers raised, rivers razed. Sometimes your biggest strength becomes your worst weakness."
Narrator “The faqra’s premonitions have bored into his soul. If they are true, does it really help a person, or a community, to learn what terrible fate lies ahead? All his life Arthur has made every effort to broaden his experience and expand his knowledge. He never thought there would come a day when he would wonder if it were preferable to live in innocence and die in ignorance instead."
Nen to Zaleekhah “… someone can be cultured and polished, generous, worldly, but still commit acts of startling cruelty."
The Pasha to Arthur “Go, then, but if I were you I would stay away from infidels. I am sure you know the old adage, those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas."
Arthur to Leila “In Ancient Sumerian, ki-ang was ‘to love’—strangely, the word meant ‘to measure the earth.’ Love was not a feeling or an emotion as much as an anchor that rooted you to a place."
Leila to Arthur “We spill water for luck and protection. Go like water, come back like water—freely and easily."
Arthur thoughts “You go to distant lands hoping to find something entirely different from what you had at home, never suspecting that you will return a changed person."
Nen to Zaleekhah “We are all like clay tablets, chipped around the edges, hiding our little secrets and cracks."
Nen to Zaleekhah “Use my eyes as a mirror to admire your own beauty."
Narrator “Narin knows two mighty streams flow through every human being: the good and the bad. Which course we choose to follow—through heart, spirit and mind—ultimately determines who we are."
Grandma Besma told Narin the story of the frog and lizard where the latter made fun of the frog trying to turn off the fire by splashing tiny amounts of water, so the frog answered “If I were to do nothing, would I be any different from you?"
Grandma Besma to Narin “In the blackest sky there is a star glimmering high above, in the deepest night, a candle burning bright. Never despair. You must always look for the nearest source of life."
Arthur to his guard Mahmoud “Life is full of the unexpected, my friend. As if we are walking in a river of mud, and we dare to dip our hands every now and then, searching for a button of hope, a coin of friendship, a ring of love. We are mudlarkers, all of us."
Arthur telling about Mahmoud “It gives him comfort to see someone pleading with God for all those in need, regardless of race or creed, as this is an area where Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, Jews and Mandeans have for centuries lived side by side."
Narrator “Faith is a bird, they say, and it cannot be kept locked up, however gilded you make its cage. Set it free, send it afar, and it may or may not return."
Uncle Malek to Zaleekhah about his wife “You think she is open-minded and totally laissez-faire, and I’m the old stick-in-the-mud, but, believe me, appearances can be deceptive."
Narrator about historical artifacts of humans “Remember us. It is our way of admitting we were weak and flawed, and that we made mistakes, some inevitable, others foolish, but deep within we appreciated beauty and poetry, too. Do not judge us too harshly.” We make art to leave a mark for the future, a slight kink in the river of stories, which flows too fast and too wildly for any of us to comprehend."
The writer’s thoughts “Then I imagine a tiny drop splashing on to the philosopher’s (Thales of Miletus) hand…the very drop that might have been inside my coffee this morning or perhaps inside yours, connecting us all beyond the borders of time, geography and identity."
In There Are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak shed light on the life of Yazidis, and the unjust and racist treatment that they endured from Arabs and Westerners, as well as Christians and Muslims. The events of this story occurred between and 1840 and 2018, describing the life of the destitute British scholar Arthur who was interested in Gilgamesh stone tablets, Levantine British Zaleekhah, and the Yazidi Narin and her grandma. These 3 characters and king Ashurbanipal were linked by one drop of water that either was a snowflake, tear, baptism water drop, or raindrop, respectively.
In 1840, Arthur was born in the Thames while his mother was mud-larking. He grew up to an abusive drunk father and a psychotic mother. This poor boy was blessed/cursed by a good memory! In his teens, he started working in Bradbury & Evans Publishers, where he started reading their printed books. But one book caught his attention, which he earlier saw in the school principal’s office, Nineveh and its remains: with an account of a visit to the Chaldean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or devil-worshippers, and an inquiry into the manners and arts of the ancient Assyrians by Austen H. Layard.
After reading this book and visiting the Chaldean/Iraqi artifacts (esp. the Lamassu) in the British Museum, this shy man was able to analyze the Cuneiform – the Akkadian language – of some of Gilgamesh tablets. So he left working in the publisher company, and started with Dr. Birch - the Keeper of Oriental Antiquities in the British Museum, but with a lower salary.
In the Museum he discovered his talent “…I wish to be like the River Thames: I want to tend to what has been discarded, damaged and forgotten.” Finding his gift was primarily hinted by Charles Dickens whom he met while working in the publishing house - “The sun is weak when it first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day goes on.” On his deathbed, he also scribbled “Everyone in this world has some bent or inclination which, if fostered by favorable circumstances, will color the rest of his life.”
After deciphering Akkadian language, Arthur was celebrated by the government, and the Daily Telegraph sponsored his first expedition to Nineveh to find the rest of Gilgamesh tablets in 1872. In particular, he worked hard to find the 11th tablet that described the story of the Biblical flood and Noah’s Ark (2348 BC).
In Constantinople (i.e., Istanbul), Arthur stayed in the British Embassy while waiting to get the mandate to go to Nineveh. He enjoyed the city and its food. He also bought a lapis lazuli misbaha and saved a beautifully carved qanun from fire!
In Nineveh, he stayed in the Yazidis’ village – Zêrav that was close to Tigris and the search site. He dug layers of earth, layers of time, finding a few tablets and other artifacts that were shipped to London Arthur enjoyed the Yazidis’ hospitability. He also told the British high class that they were not devil worshipers, who cared about cleanliness and personal hygiene. He also fell in love with Leila, the daughter of the village’s sheikh. But he couldn’t marry her as Yazidis cannot marry anyone outside their tribe/ethnic group. So he left Nineveh promising to come back and visit Leila.
In 1876, Arthur revisited Tigris River to look for the rest of the tablets, leaving behind his wife, daughter, and son. This 2nd expedition was funded by the British Musem. Unfortunately, he discovered that Zêrav was deserted! He was told that the Yazidis were massacred by the Pasha, which shocked and saddened him! This made him lose his passion to search for the historical slabs because he was afraid of exhuming the remains of his Yazidi friends and not the remains of Chaldeans! Yet he wrote to his boss that he cannot continue his job because of the plague and cholera. But his request was rejected.
Arthur set to go to Castrum Kefa village, where Leila went. Sadly, he contracted dysentery and became delirious by fever. So his guide left him in a shepherd’s tent while searching for help. In his delirium, a thief entered the tent and stole the lapis lazuli tablet, during which he saw his wife in Black, Leila wearing white dress, and his dead brother (whom he lost due to drinking water that Arthur brought from the Thames that turned out to be polluted). In 1876, Arthur was buried by Leila’s tribe (a Yazidi) in Castrum Kefa, which was later called Hasankeyf by the Turkish. The writer stated that more than 10,000 Londoners died from the polluted water of the Thames in 1853-1854. Yet according to Arthur, it was the other way round. “It is humans who are killing the water.” Dr. John Snow discovered that cholera was caused by the polluted Thames, but the authorities didn’t listen to him, thus didn’t prevent people from pumping the river water.
Leila used to live in Lalish Valley in the Nineveh plains. She was a faqra (a diviner that saw prophecies), water-dowser, and spring-finder who was able to see the future and predicted a massacre, advising the villagers to run to the mountains and not to Tigris. In fact, the Mosul Pasha agreed with the Qadi (i.e., judge) to attack the Yazidis living in Zêrav. They massacred everyone! Leila was the only survivor, who left to Castrum Kefa. After the massacre, Leila stopped water-dowsing and seeing the future. Instead, she married and had a family. Her daughter is Besma and great granddaughter is Narin.
In 2014, Narin (9 years) was losing her hearing ability and was supposed to be baptized in Tigris bank of southeast Turkey. But the Turkish authorities prevented them from finishing this tradition by using their bulldozers to build a dam. Upon its flooding, it would wipe out Hasankeyf and the surrounding areas, submerging the Yazidis’ cemetery including Leila’s and Arthur’s graves. So her grandma (Besma) and father (a famous qanun player who used to play on the qanun that Arthur gave to Leila) decided to take her to Nineveh (i.e., Mosul) - her homeland - to be baptized in Tigris, as Besma stated “Narin should behold the one place on earth where despair turns into hope and even the loneliest souls find solace.”
In Mosul, where Besma and Narin agreed to meet her dad, ISIS fighters attacked the Yazidis who ran to Mount Sinjar – has Sharafdin Temple. The village where her dad also was ambushed. The fighters killed all boys and men and enslaved all women. Sadly, Besma went to search for water but was captured by the fighters who also caught Narin and the rest of the women.
Khalifa – boss of ISIS fighters – sexually abused all women except Narin because one of the captured women told him that she was bewitched since her grandma was a water douser; so anyone harming her would be cursed. This psycho also used to extinguish his cigarettes on the chests of these women. Out of despair, one of the women tried to hang herself by the bed sheet but was saved and punished by the fighters by being gang raped and/or flogged.
Narin however, worked as a slave in the kitchen to cook and clean. One day, the Khalifa caught her reading a lapis lazuli tablet, which was Besma’s! So the Khalifa asked if she could read the Cuneiform language! She understood a little since her grandma taught her, but her knowledge was limited and could only understand a few words. Eventually and under his wife’s pressure, the Khalifa sold Narin to a man who sexually abused her! So Narin decided to give up life by abstaining from eating due to knowing of the inability to escape because there are rewards to anyone who catches a Yazidi woman!
Yet the wind of change blew on the Levant, affecting Narin’s destination. So see you next month to know what happened to Narin.
My favorite quotes are (Part-1):
Narrator words “For the king (Ashurbanipal) knows that in order to dominate other cultures, you must capture not only their lands, crops and assets but also their collective imagination, their shared memories.
Verses from the Epic of Gilgamesh “He Who Saw the Deep… He saw what was secret, discovered what was hidden....”
Ashurbanipal thoughts “Not every written word is meant for the eyes of every reader. Just as not every spoken word needs to be heard by every eavesdropper.”
“May life be kind to you, child, and when it is not, may you emerge stronger,” intones the sheikh to Narin.
Narrator “Grown-ups are not good at masking their concerns, although they can hide their delight and curiosity surprisingly well. ... Children can tactfully mute their anxiety and conceal their sorrow, but will struggle not to express their excitement. That is what growing up means, in some simple way: learning to repress all expressions of pure happiness and joy.”
Grandma Besma to Narin “… The ear never forgets what the heart has heard.”
Grandma Besma to Narin “That is what happens when you love someone—you carry their face behind your eyelids, and their whispers in your ears, so that even in deep sleep, years later, you can still see and hear them in your dreams.”
Grandma Besma to Narin about Yazidis being called bad words “They vilify us not because they know us well. Quite the opposite: they do not know us at all.”
Grandma Besma “Eat, Narin. When the belly is light, the heart will be heavy.”
Grandma Besma to Narin “Well, this world is a school and we are its students. Each of us studies something as we pass through. Some people learn love, kindness. Others, I’m afraid, abuse and brutality. But the best students are those who acquire generosity and compassion from their encounters with hardship and cruelty. The ones who choose not to inflict their suffering on to others. And what you learn is what you take with you to your grave.”
Grandma Besma to Narin “Hatred is a poison served in three cups. The first is when people despise those they desire—because they want to have them in their possession. It’s all out of hubris! The second is when people loathe those they do not understand. It’s all out of fear! Then there is the third kind—when people hate those they have hurt. … Because the tree remembers what the axe forgets.” … “It means it’s not the harmer who bears the scars, but the one who has been harmed. For us, memory is all we have. If you want to know who you are, you need to learn the stories of your ancestors.”
Narrator about Arthur “Hunger is a beehive inside his abdomen, one that has been stirred with a stick, buzzing day and night, jostling, irritated and frantic.”
Zaleekhah thoughts “Water hardens in adverse circumstances, not unlike the human heart.”
Zaleekhah thoughts “water never ceases to surprise her, astonishingly resilient but also acutely vulnerable—a drying, dying force.”
Zaleekhah thoughts “All she wants, right now, is to retreat, a silent admission of defeat for someone tired of trying to survive—less a departure than a homecoming, a return to water.”
Zaleekhah thoughts after the divorce and thinking to giving-up her ex-husband’s name “Women are expected to be like rivers—readjusting, shapeshifting.”
Arthur thoughts about his dad “We never want our parents’ weaknesses to be seen by others.”
Arthur to Mr. Bradbury “I do know what it is like to be misunderstood and treated unjustly.”
“Words are like birds,” says Mr. Bradbury. “When you publish books, you are setting caged birds free. They can go wherever they please.”
Narrator “… he (Arthur) comes to realize that people fall into three camps: those who hardly, if ever, see beauty, even when it strikes them between the eyes; those who recognize it only when it is made apparent to them; and those rare souls who find beauty everywhere they turn, even in the most unexpected places.”
Mr. Bradbury to Arthur “Books, like paper lanterns, provide us with a light amidst the fog.”
Mr. Bradbury to Arthur “All too often, we humans destroy nature and call it progress.”
Grandma Besma thoughts “Never make a major decision unless you have spent seven days contemplating it.”
Grandma Besma to Narin describing the calm Euphrates vs. the fierce Tigris “… it takes a fierce fight inside to remain peaceful on the outside.” And “Anyone can wage war, but maintaining peace is a difficult thing.”
Grandma Besma to Narin “… just like two drops of rain join on a windowpane, weaving their paths slowly and steadily, an invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet.”
Grandma Besma to Narin “What happens after catastrophes? Those who survive nurse their broken hearts and start all over again, as one always does, as one always must.”
Nen to Zaleekhah “Cousins, friends, books, songs, poems, trees…anything that brings meaning into our lives counts."
Grandma Besma to Narin “It means, as settled as we are in this land, the winds can blow so harshly at times that they can force us out."
Nen to Zaleekhah “That’s the thing about failing: either it makes you super-afraid of failing again or, somehow, you learn to overcome fear."
Al-Himmah Al-Ordonyah and Yarmouk River in North Jordan
Trevor Noah narrated in his memoir, Born a Crime, stories about his life in South Africa, the apartheid, racism, and the horrible abuse of Africans and the treasures of their land by the White conqueror. He was born to an African mother and a Swiss/German father, where his birth was a crime in South Africa. In fact, the law punished any sexual relationship between a Black and White person as stated by the 1927 Immorality Act:
BE IT ENACTED by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate and the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, as follows:
Trevor explained that there are 3 levels of color in South Africa: White, Black, and Colored. The latter was a mixed race resulting from intercourse between a White and Black person. Trevor grew up as a colored child in a Black family, where he was treated leniently except for his mom, who loved him dearly but punished him whenever he did messed-up. Her tough love meant to help him learn from his mistakes without killing him, whereas if the government punished him, it will hurt (and maybe kill) him because they do not care about him since he is just a colored man! The three levels were treated differently as the White are the most privileged and rich ones. The Colored are the ones less privileged with less rights than the Whites, as they cannot live in the same neighborhood with Whites, but are more privileged than the Blacks. The latter cannot live in White or Colored neighborhoods, are poor, and have no rights. Unlike Whites, Colored and Blacks lack chances like going to university or dreaming of having higher education.
During apartheid, the Black man was only allowed to work on a farm, or in a factory or mine, and the Black woman could work in a factory or as a maid. The race, tribe, and nationality of each person also were printed on their birth certificate. They even had to have permits to move to or work in some cities that are only allowed to White and/or Mixed people. For example, Blacks weren’t allowed to live in Johannesburg! This is exactly what is currently happening in Palestine since 1948! Trevor also added that Afrikaners, the successors of Dutch settlers, have enforced the worst kinds of racism, “British racism said, “If the monkey can walk like a man and talk like a man, then perhaps he is a man.” Afrikaner racism said, “Why give a book to a monkey?”
Because of apartheid, Trevor lost the time needed to have a relationship with his biological dad (Robert). During his childhood, Trevor spent every week with his dad away from people as no one should know that he is the son of a White man. At some point, Robert had a steakhouse in Johannesburg that served all kinds of people, irrespective of color, but the government did not like this approach and so forced him to have 3 kinds of restrooms that would serve the 3 Colors in South Africa. Robert refused this order, close his restaurant, and left the city! when Trevor became an adult, he searched for Robert and tried to know him. He discovered that his dad was a secretive friendly person who hated racism. He also depicted how his mom used to pay a Black woman to stroll Trevor in the park, where his mom would follow them from a distance since she cannot be shown with a Colored (light skinned Black) boy.
He also described racism in schools where he was placed with White kids but asked to move to the classroom of colored students, where an Indian boy became his friend. His request was rejected at first by commenting that he shouldn’t be with these “low-class” kids! But due to his insistence, he moved to their class where he felt part of the colored and Black students! Moreover, Trevor didn’t belong to any group in school and so he mingled in all groups and was accepted by most of the kids - Blacks, Mixed, Whites, and Indians.
Trevor commented that he is a Black man but with a different shade, and the apartheid used these 3 levels of color in South Africa to keep Africans divided. The European Conquerors (The UK, Netherlands, Belgium…etc.) even created conflicts between the African tribes to strengthen their hold over Africa’s treasures by following the British saying ‘Divide and Conquer’! So tribes fought with each other about who should rule South Africa. Some of them even allowed raping women from another tribe that was considered of lower status than their tribe!
In 1990, Trevor was almost 6 years old when Mandela was released from prison. This democratic achievement over apartheid was followed by a blood bath, yet it was called Bloodless Revolution because a pittance amount of White blood was spilled! The fight was between the 2 Black parties (the Inkatha Freedom Party vs. African National Congress) over who should rule the country! He also underlined the role of gangs in helping its people by providing work, school scholarships, shelter, or food …etc., unlike the conquerors who only robbed the life, identity, country, and treasures of Blacks! He also added that the police were corrupt as they pulled Black and Mixed South Africans who would be imprisoned if they didn’t bribe them!
Trevor noted that the colonizers forced their religion (Christianity) on Africans. He also said, “If you’re Native American and you pray to the wolves, you’re a savage. If you’re African and you pray to your ancestors, you’re a primitive. But when white people pray to a guy who turns water into wine, well, that’s just common sense.” I like his logic! He also had a funny argument with the nuns about wanting to have the holy communion, as he wasn’t allowed to have it due to not being Catholic. He once told them “But Jesus wasn’t Catholic. Jesus was Jewish. So you’re telling me that if Jesus walked into your church right now, Jesus would not be allowed to have the body and blood of Jesus?” Furthermore, there were 3 kinds of churches in South Africa; White, Colored, and Black, for the 3 races, where Trevor loved the first 2.
Colonization in South Africa started in 1652 when the Dutch established Kaapstad (now known as Cape Town) as a stop for the ships traveling between Europe and India. Then the British came, who not only enslaved Africans but also forced them to work in gold and diamond mines, which they stole and became rich, leaving the original owners impoverished! Apartheid in South Africa is similar to what the White man did to Native Americans. The British forcefully removed the Black man from his land, took down his house, and moved him to other arid areas (like the reservations of Native Americans), and segregated them according to color; White, Mixed, and Black areas/neighborhoods. They were given 13% of the total land of their own country! Trevor recounted a humorous story about racism in South Africa. The White man considered Chinese Blacks, and Japanese White (because of the business relationship between the 2 countries), yet they couldn’t distinguish between the 2 nationalities!
Cities in South Africa were named after Whites, as they did in the US. For example, Alexandra was the name of a White man’s wife who owned a farm in that area. He also described that blacks give their children an English and African name. The African name describes the kid’s character, and the English one is of a famous person. He mentioned an incident about this issue that happened when he and his DJ and dancing crew, which included a Black guy called Hitler, where performing to a cultural group of Jewish people. Hitler went on stage for his dancing performance. So Trevor as usual started stirring the crowd by calling Hitler to the dancing floor. At which the crowd enthusiasm died and the organizer verbally attacked Trevor and his crew, accusing of rudeness by insulting them, since the Jewish were prosecuted by Hitler – similar to what the White man did to Native Americans and Africans, as well as to what Israel did and still doing to Palestinians!
Trevor explained that as Hitler was the worst person for the Jewish, Columbus or Andrew Jackson was the nightmare of Native Americans, Cecil Rhodes was the enemy of Black South Africans, King Leopold II of Belgium was the ghost of people of Congo, the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão whose expedition resulted in ensiling Angolans, and I can add Djemal Pasha the murderer who assaulted, raped, and savagely killed Arabs during the Ottoman Empire. One thing that Trevor stressed that unlike all occupiers, the Nazis documented everything they did during the Holocaust which is why Jews had superiority over other conquered nations in asking for their rights or presence. None of the White leaders or Ottomans kept records about the number of people (which would be in millions) they starved, raped, tortured (sometimes by impalement or crucifixion), enslaved, separated from their families, or slaughtered!
Additionally, Trevor described his challenging childhood and the lack of chances given to his people, and the faith of his mom that probably saved her life from her ex-husband Abel, Trevor’s step-dad. He shot Trevor’s mom but the bullet went through and left her body! He was imprisoned but the judge let him out on bail after Abel stated that he needed to work to support his kids! But the irony was that he lost his car-repair garage and was living off the money of his ex-wife! Trevor’s mom divorced her husband, when his drug/alcohol addiction and violent behavior affected their safety! She raised their young children on her own. And when Trevor became 17, his mom asked to move out to save him for her dangerous husband. He also mentioned his mom’s faith in Jesus esp. after being shot by her husband. God saved her by causing the gun to jam and most bullets to miss her, giving her a chance to hide from Abel’s craziness!
As a teenager, Trevor discovered that “time is money!” So, he worked to get orders for his classmates and neighbors from cafeterias and shops due to being fast. Later with his friends, Trevor started copying pirating CDs from the internet and selling them to his classmates or bus drivers. He made good amount of money! They also started buying and reselling things with higher prices or by credit similar to what happens in a pawn shop! Afterwards, he and his friends established a DJ and dancing crew that performed in open parties in several neighborhoods in South Africa.
On the other hand, Trevor highlighted his mom’s role in making him a good man by doing what schools in South Africa aimed at not doing! She taught him how to think! Post-apartheid, the government did not want to educate Blacks and teach them to use their brains. Because this would enlighten the Black man which would urge him to resist the government’s racist laws! Parents’ role in guiding and supporting their children and teaching them to speak up for themselves, and how to think and be independent is very important in helping them shape their future path and succeed in being who they are!
This is like the key role of the mother of my late grandfather Suleiman Mousa. He said in his books that “My mother is the greatest person in my life!” This is because his father died when he was 6 years old leaving him and his sister poor orphans. His mom refused to remarry for her children’s sake despite being young and receiving many suitors! She did everything to educate him. She even once left Al-Rafeed (a small village north of the city of Irbid) on a donkey and traveled 26 km to Al-Huson city to check on her teenage son (Suleiman), who was studying there. But he was sick and so she put him on the animal and walked the distance back to Al-Rafeed to take care of him! He used to say, “a mother would throw herself into the fire for her children!”
Trevor’s mom also taught him to acknowledge her by looking at her when he talks to her. She also educated him about the right way to treat his woman, including: “Trevor, remember a man is not determined by how much he earns. You can still be the man of the house and earn less than your woman. Being a man is not what you have, it’s who you are. Being more of a man doesn’t mean your woman has to be less than you.” “Trevor, make sure your woman is the woman in your life. Don’t be one of these men who makes his wife compete with his mother. A man with a wife cannot be beholden to his mother.” “Show me that I exist to you, because the way you treat me is the way you will treat your woman. Women like to be noticed. Come and acknowledge me and let me know that you see me. Don’t just see me when you need something.”
Finally, Trevor commented “I don’t regret anything I’ve ever done in life, any choice that I’ve made. But I’m consumed with regret for the things I didn’t do, the choices I didn’t make, the things I didn’t say. We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear most. Failure is an answer. Rejection is an answer. Regret is an eternal question you will never have the answer to.” “What if…” “If only…” “I wonder what would have…” You will never, never know, and it will haunt you for the rest of your days.” For instance, he regretted not telling Zaheera (the girl he loved) that he loved her, esp. that her girlfriends told him that she loved him too! But it was too late since she left to the US because of her dad’s work.
My favorite quotes:
The chant that South Africans would sing during their struggle for freedom “When you strike a woman, you strike a rock."
Trevor thoughts “Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it.” And “the racism code says if he doesn’t look like me he isn’t like me, but the language code says if he speaks like me he…is like me? Something is off here. I can’t figure this out.”
Trevor thoughts “Racism exists. People are getting hurt, and just because it’s not happening to you doesn’t mean it’s not happening.”
Trevor thoughts “a knowledgeable man is a free man, or at least a man who longs for freedom. The only way to make apartheid work, therefore, was to cripple the black mind."
Trevor’s mom to Trevor “Learn from your past and be better because of your past,” she would say, “but don’t cry about your past. Life is full of pain. Let the pain sharpen you, but don’t hold on to it. Don’t be bitter.”
Trevor thoughts “you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited."
Trevor thoughts “I was blessed with another trait I inherited from my mother: her ability to forget the pain in life. I remember the thing that caused the trauma, but I don’t hold on to the trauma. I never let the memory of something painful prevent me from trying something new.”
Trevor thoughts about relationships based on his relation with his dog Fufi “You do not own the thing that you love.”
Trevor’s dad to Trevor “Africa is full of black people,” he would say. “So why would you come all the way to Africa if you hate black people? If you hate black people so much, why did you move into their house?” To him it was insane."
Trevor thoughts “Revenge … takes you to a dark place, but, man, it satisfies a thirst.”
Trevor thoughts about the scanty resources available for Blacks and Mixed South Africans “People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.”
Trevor thoughts “But if white people ever saw black people as human, they would see that slavery is unconscionable. We live in a world where we don’t see the ramifications of what we do to others, because we don’t live with them. If we could see one another’s pain and empathize with one another, it would never be worth it to us to commit the crimes in the first place."
Trevor said, “Language brings with it an identity and a culture…” and “the racism code says if he doesn’t look like me he isn’t like me, but the language code says if he speaks like me he…is like me?” He also noted that “Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” He was so right. When you make the effort to speak someone else’s language … you are saying to them, “I understand that you have a culture and identity that exists beyond me. I see you as a human being.”
Trevor’s mom to Trevor “He’s like an exotic bird collector,” she said. “He only wants a woman who is free because his dream is to put her in a cage.”
Trevor thoughts “… relationships are not sustained by violence but by love. Love is a creative act. When you love someone you create a new world for them. My mother did that for me.”
Trevor feelings about his step-dad, as well as his step-brothers’ feelings about their dad “Growing up in a home of abuse, you struggle with the notion that you can love a person you hate, or hate a person you love.”
Trevor’s mom to Trevor “God spoke to me, Trevor. He told me, ‘Patricia, I don’t do anything by mistake. There is nothing I give you that you cannot handle’.”
Trevor’s mom to Trevor “You cannot blame anyone else for what you do. You cannot blame your past for who you are. You are responsible for you. You make your own choices."
Abdulrazak Gurnah shed light on the life in Tanzania during and the British rule, Zanzibar Revolution in 1963, and dictatorships as portrayed in Salim’s life. Gravel Heart described the shattered childhood of Salim in Zanzibar, and his adulthood in London and Brighton where he tried to find himself while obtaining his BSc in Literature.
When Salim was 7 his dad left their house, where the 3 of them and his uncle, Amir lived. He left because his wife Saida slept with the president’s son (Hakim) in order to help in releasing her brother. Amir was imprisoned due to being accused of raping the president’s daughter, Asha, yet it was consensual! At first, Saida expected her brother to agree with her that what she was asked to do was insulting, because she was married and had a son (Salim). She also worried about hurting and insulting her husband. Yet her brother begged her to do so, saying that she can tell her husband (Masud) ‘… you are doing a noble and courageous thing, saving your brother’s life.’
Saida told her husband about her meeting with both, Hakim and Amir. He was very upset and asked her no to do it because Hakim won’t let her go until he humiliates her! But she refused to listen and surrendered to the desires of the president’s son, because she wanted didn’t want to lose her brother – the only person left of her family. When she was a child, the villa of Saida’s parents was confiscated; her dad was murdered by the previous dictatorship due to being accused of treason; her mother died form a heart attack; followed by her grandma.
Masud’s soul was wounded, and he left when Saida was summoned by Hakim for the 4th time, despite that Amir was released after her 1st time with Hakim. Masud loved his wife dearly since he was a teenager, but only talked to her during the party thrown by the Youth League Party, which intended gather the youth to socialize. Masud even refused to leave Zanzibar and go live with his parents and sisters in Dubai, where his father found a teaching position, because of Saida.
After leaving the shack, Masud lived in a room in the back house of his friend Khamis, who paid back the kindness of Masud’s father. Saida felt bad about her husband and kept taking him food everyday and do his laundry, who later was replaced by their son Salim.
With time, Hakim fell in love with Saida! He even asked her to marry him after having their baby girl, Munira. She refused at first, but later she filed for divorce, married him, and lived in the house that Hakim bought for her and Munira. Hakim used to visit them all the time, but he lived in his own house with his 1st wife and other children. During his teenage-hood, Salim felt anger towards his mom after slightly understanding that his mom did something that upset his dad. He also destroyed many items such as his uncle’s TV, the phone that was placed by Hakim.
His uncle Amir solved this issue by taking Salim to live with him and his family in London, where he was a diplomat and later became the ambassador of Tanzania. It was his way of paying back his sister’s sacrifice. So when Salim finished high school, he went to London to study business. Amir married Asha and had a boy and a girl, before which he was given a scholarship to study public relations in Edinburgh.
In London, Salim failed after the 2nd year because he didn’t like the subject. He told his uncle that he wanted to study literature, which is his passion that he inherited form his dad! Salim read all his father’s books, which he took to him before leaving to London. Amir fumed and stated that he was an ungrateful son and nephew, and that he would be on his own if insisted on leaving business school. So Salim left after being kicked from his uncle’s house and rented a room, since he was working in a nearby story. Amir only gave him a financial letter to the university to help him in keeping his student visa, despite not funding him. Later he moved to study literature in the University of Brighton and graduated after 4 years. During these years, he lived in several houses including the OAU (Organization of African Unity) house that Mr. Mgeni (from Zaїr also known as Congo) owned. Mr. Mgeni called it OAU because all his residents where from Africa - Sierra Leone, Nigeria, South Africa., and Tanzania.
Salim became friends with the residents, and over the years he also met guys from Iran, India, West Indies, and Malaysia. He also hooked with several girls, but only loved the British-Indian Billie, whose mom and brothers forced her to leave Salim because he was dark skinned Muslim! Mr. Mgeni also connected him with a Sudanese lawyer who got him a residence permit.
After about 15 years (when Munira was 18), Salim returned to Zanzibar upon hearing about his mom’s death (from a stroke), and his dad’s return to Zanzibar (who was taken by Salim’s grandfather to Kuala Lumpur, where he lived with his family after leaving Dubai). Salim met his sister, whom he loved, and paid her his condolences. Then visited his father and asked him about what happened between him and his mom.
Masud told the story and stressed on that Saida was used and betrayed by Hakim and her brother Amir for their own good! Masud asked Salim if he wanted to stay in Zanzibar, he answered that he needed to go back to England and finish his life journey; to learn from meeting different people, getting over his childhood wounds, and make peace with himself before getting back home. Salim met Hakim for the first time (and probably the last) before leaving because of Munira’s insistence. He thanked him for burying his mom. Hakim on the other hand, offered him a job if he ever decided to come back to Zanzibar. Yet Salim thought that if he returned, he would never work for him! He didn’t want to become Hakim’s puppet! Sadly, Masud died the night Salim left for London, and was buried by Khamis. He was told all this by an email from Munira!
The book highlighted ‘Zanzibar Revolution’ in 1963 that was led by the Ugandan John Okello, and assisted by the Soviets (who supported land reform). This resulted in overthrowing the Arabic Sultan and annexing this island with Tanzania, which got its independence form the British rule in 1961! Yet they kept interfering in Zanzibar because as Masud told his son “The British had no business interfering in this internecine mayhem – they had not yet taken our little territory in hand for its own good – but they did so anyway because they wanted the world to run as they liked it, even if it was only a caprice on their part.” The revolution intended to remove the Arabs from Africa, who were ruling this land for almost 2 centuries. Africans felt that Zanzibar, which its official language is Swahili despite that many speak Arabic, should be ruled by an African.
After the revolution, many Arabs and Indians left Zanzibar and went to work and live in India and Arab or Muslim countries. They were not allowed to take anything with them except few clothes! No jewelry or money or valuables were allowed out of the island because the government feared smuggling the country’s treasures! During these times, landlords too were not allowed and anyone who hired a person or asked anyone for rent was imprisoned. But these harsh rules changed after assassinating the dictator in mid-1970s, and the new government applied less constraints onto its citizens.
The author depicted Salim’s feelings of being torn between returning home and living abroad. Moreover, he portrayed how the hectic life of an irresponsible selfish man who abused his sister’s love and gave her up just to save himself and climb onto the ladder of power like a parasite. Amir was a shameless man because he perceived shame as a trait of weakness. This was beautifully shown in the way Salim narrated Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure to his father, and quoting the words of Isabelle’s brother to her “Death is a fearful thing. What sin you do to save a brother’s life becomes a virtue”, who was asked by Lord Angelo to surrender to him to save her brother Claudio, despite vowing to become a nun!
Gurnah also painted a perfect image of dictatorships, and how authoritarians abuse their position to get what they want, stay powerful, and transfer authority and position to their second generation. This was expressed on Masud’s tongue; “People were detained and released, or sometimes not, regularly over the years, but no one close to me had been taken before. Despite everything that had happened, no one had stood in front of me and threatened me with arrest. We had learnt to gratify the powerful with timorous obedience.” And “The new owners of the government and its offices did so contemptuously, pursuing women they desired without fear of causing offence, or perhaps they did so with such indiscretion deliberately to cause offence, in the way that men look to humiliate their defeated rivals by treating their mothers and sisters and wives with disrespect.”
This also was seen in Saida’s words to Salim about the helplessness of the people of Zanzibar during the dictatorship that murdered her dad “They had all become like that, too ashamed of their puniness to feel anything like indignation or rebellion, to know how to resist these monstrous wrongs, and all they could manage was a subdued, helpless grumbling among themselves.”
My favorite quotes:
‘The beginning of love is the recollection of blessings: then it proceeds according to the capacity of the recipient, that is, according to his deserts.’ Abu Said Ahmad ibn Isa-al-Kharraz, Kitab al-Sidq (The Book of Truthfulness) (899), trans. Arthur J. Arberry (1937).
Salim’s grandfather to his daughter Saida ‘No one bid the British to come here,’ my mother’s father said. ‘They came because they are covetous and cannot help wanting to fill the world with their presence.’
Masud to his son “I have never been able to love again because shame emptied my body and left me without vitality.”
Salim to his dad about his life in London ‘The whole world ends up in London somehow, … The British never left anyone in peace and squeezed everything good out of everybody and took it home, and now a bedraggled lot of niggers and turks have come to share in it.’
Masud to his son ‘… I lived with the misery of love gone wrong, and I almost lost my life.’
Argita and Detina Zalli captivatingly narrated the adventure of their family to leave Albania after its collapse, and the harsh immigration journey across Europe to become refugees in England when they were teenagers in their book Good Morning Hope. This true story is about hope, self-confidence, maturity, family love, and traumas due to exposure to violence in Albania, physical and verbal abuse in England.
In 1997, Gita and Deti were 11 years old when Albania government collapsed due to being involved in Ponzi schemes. So, Albanians lost their money, resulting in chaos and violence. Men, who wrapped their heads with scarfs, started attacking schools, parks, and people on buses carrying guns and rifles. Young girls and women also were abducted, sex-trafficked, and forced into prostitution! Other men even attacked the school of the Zalli twins! So, schools were closed from March till the end of the summer. This encouraged Mr. Zalli to immigrate to London or New York.
During a summery day, the twins begged their parents to go the beach since they have been locked in the house for 4 months. Sadly, on their way back home, two men with rifles attacked their bus and looted money, gold, and other valuables from the passengers including the Zalli family. On another occasion, the twins’ dad was attacked at work - Albpetrol Company! This trauma caused him to stay home form sometime until the company’s management took better precautions against the mobs. One day and while Gita went to buy ice cream for her and Deti, who sat with 2 of their friends, a couple of men approached the 2 girls asking them to join them on their ride. But the girls refused, so the men abducted the 2 girls and placed them in their car. Then one of the men returned for Deti, who ran away and hid in the alleys. So, the man left her because his mate was worried of being caught! This incident left Deti traumatized causing her to have nightmares!
Finally, Mr. Zalli found someone who can take them by a speedboat to Brindisi, Italy, from where they could go to Milan and obtain a visa to the US. This would cost them $15,000! Mr. Zalli paid $500 in advance, and his friend, who lives in Philadelphia, would pay the rest when they reach it! Yet, upon reaching the shore of Vlorë, there was not a speed but an inflatable boat, in which 20 Albanians sat with their belongings. The journey wasn’t easy as the Italian border patrol warned them of the storm, but they continued until they were risking their lives. So the co-pilot forced the pilot to return back!
Luckily, their neighbor knew a doctor who had connections in Europe. The doctor asked for $12,000 to take them by plane to England using legal visas. This huge amount of money depressed Mr. Zalli, but his wife stated that she has been saving and they had $4,000. So he just needed to borrow the rest from their relatives. They got the money and 2-week business Schengen visas (from a Western European Embassy where the doctor had a connection), in which the twins were added onto their mom’s visa. They started dreaming about going to school in the UK and visiting Big Ben. At the same time, they were sad for having to leave their friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins without saying goodbye, as secrecy was key in their situation.
On July 24th 1999, the family left their house. However, and to the shock of the Zalli family, the doctor told them many people were returned to Albania upon landing in Heathrow. So he promised to get them there by traveling to Italy by the ferry, then cross to Paris, and then to London! This made Mr. Zalli and his brother furious, but they accepted the changed plan, and drove to Durrës seaport where they took the ferry. However, the Albanian officer refused to get them on board; stating that their visas were not legit, and the Italians would return them back! So the doctor’s mediator intervened and paid him some money, after which they got onto the ferry.
In Bari (port in Italy), Mr. Zalli stopped in a separate line from his family waiting his turn on passport control. He got in, yet his wife and daughters were forbidden and would be returned to Albania. At this moment, the twins, who speak Italian (learnt it at school), asked the officer to double check their visa on his computer. After a few sentences form the twins, the officers asked their commander to let them in, who after some thought, answered that the visa wasn’t legit, but he would turn a blind eye. So they got into Italy, and were picked up by Besim (another mediator), who drove them to Foggia where they stayed form 2 nights. The Zallis had to shred their Albanian passports to prevent patrols or officers from knowing their identity.
Besim later dropped them at the station, where they took the train that took 8 hours to reach Milan. The following day, they took the 10-hour train to Paris. Another mediator waited for them in St. Lazare station, who dropped them at a hotel to be picked up the next day. Then they took another train to Boulogne, where they thought that they would get on the ferry to England. Yet, they were smuggled into trucks, leaving their 4 big bags behind! The trucks then were loaded onto the ferry! Throughout this stressful adventure, the Zallis kept hiding whenever they saw an officer, whether it was on the street, in stations, or on trains.
Upon getting out from the truck on July 31st 1999 in Folkestone port (in Kent), the border patrol caught everyone. Like the rest of the run-aways, the Zalli family was held in a room of the immigration services. The smugglers told these immigrants to state that they were from Kosovo since it is easier to be accepted as a refugee. Yet, upon interrogating the parents separately, the officers discovered that they were Albanians. Nonetheless, they got a 2-month stay in Folkestone from the Immigration Nationality Directorate (IND). They stayed for 2 months in the Gran Canaria Hotel, at the expense of the social services. Throughout this time, Don Carlos helped them whenever they needed anything such as finding a school for the twins.
In October 1999, they succeeded in the English evaluation test and got into the Channel School in Folkestone. To the opposite of the twin’ expectations, British students bullied and attacked them in the cafeteria, called them scum Slovaks, and yelled at them to go back to where they came from! This shocked the twins, who didn’t know the reason for such hatred! Despite this negative environment, they excelled in school, shocking most students in their class, esp. in math. This is because some Europeans (and Americans based on my experience) think that their country and education system are the best! Therefore, they look down onto non-Europeans and even on these from Eastern Europe, similar to the suffering of Deti and Gita.
Over time, the twins adapted to the school, and decided to concentrate on their education and forget about the bullies, esp. that they didn’t want to make their parents worry. They also started waiting tables in the Gran Canaria Hotel to help their parents in paying their debt.
Luckily, the Zalli’s IND was extended for another 2 months, then for additional 2 years (July 2002). The family also were given an old house, furnished with modest furniture and broken TV, and the social services provided them with cooking utensils. Nevertheless, these days and years were very stressful for the family because they were worried of being deported at any time. Their house also was attacked by boys form the twins’ school, by throwing stones and slurring at them. So Mr. Zalli took Deti and tried to talk to the boy’s dad. But to his shock, they were faced with hatred! They weren’t welcome in their country.
In April 2000, the twins started working as waiters in the Blanc Hotel restaurant, where 2 of the bullies (Caroline and Daisy) joined them after a few months. Against the expectations of the twins, this turned out to be good since they got to know the bullies and became friends with them. Deti even discovered that Caroline let out her anger onto others because her divorced parents (addicted dad and alcoholic mom) neglected her and her little brother. Deti discovered that the love of her family is the greatest gift of all.
Later, Mr and Mrs. Zalli joined the staff of the Blanc Hotel restaurant too. It was the only job they could find since unlike their daughters, they don’t speak English. Sadly, on June 25th 2002, the night of the GCSE science exam, Mr. Zalli had a heart attack and stroke while on his way with his wife home. So the twins called an ambulance, after which they left a voice message to their mom’s Kosovar friend Bytyci. Their dad survived and the twins got the highest grade in the school.
In September 2004, they received amnesty - an indefinite leave to remain in England. This was achieved with the help of Jenny, their social worker, who contacted their lawyer and the Home Office. Jenny supported them because the twins got accepted into the University of Sussex, which was conditional on having a kind of residency in the UK. Eventually the twins were accepted into the molecular medicine in the University of Sussex, which was supported by a scholarship.
The Zallis were able to pay their debt and visit Albania in December 2005. Today, Gita and Deti have a family, and live near their parents in England. Gita received her PhD in immunology, and currently work at the University College London. She is also a learning design lead at the Imperial College, and a fellow at the Higher Education Academy. Deti got a PhD in biochemistry, and got into Harvard School for Dental Medicine. Currently, she is the director of Pre-Medical Studies at Cambridge University, after being a senior academic at the University of Oxford in oncology. She also has a certificate from NASA’s Spaceflight Technology, Applications, and Research Program. Both received prestigious awards in research and science and worked with Nobel Prize laureates. They also founded We Speak Science to support science and researchers from all over the world, and the Zalli Foundations to promote kindness via storytelling.
In this book, the Zalli twins described the beauty of Albania, but the schools were shabby and had no heaters in the 1990s. Teaching history in England was better and more fun due to using videos, showing what happened in the past. They also noted that in Albania, fruits like banana were expensive and eating them was luxury, yet they were able to eat banana in Folkestone by purchasing it from the farmers market.
This true-story is about holding on to hope and never giving up, as well as self-confidence, perseverance, and enduring the obstacles that a person face to reach ones’ goal similar to grapes that must be pressed to make wine. For instance, the Zalli family were traumatized due to exposure to violence in Albania, the horrible traveling/transportation conditions, as well as physical and verbal abuse in England. They got over all these experiences, which caused the twins to mature at an early age, because of family love.
My favorite quotes:
Deti thoughts at Bari port, “Everyone tells you it’s all over. You’re like a wounded bird – your wings drop and you feel drained of energy and hope. But then suddenly, slowly, you recover your strength and start to fight. Gradually, another part of you awakens, giving birth to belief, to conviction that you can do it. You can climb that mountain and overcome all odds.”
Deti thoughts at Bari port about being helped by Mother Mary (whose figurine was given to her by her aunt, and remained in her hand throughout the trip) to speak to officers in Italian, “Someone had helped us rev up our determination and transmit our hearts’ desire into their hearts. That someone was in the palm of my hand. Thank you, Mother Mary. Tonight, she taught me if you really wanted something, you could get it, because deep inside, you knew the steps you needed to take to succeed.”
Gita thoughts about her dad and quitting (not to do the exam) when her dad got sick, “He (Mr. Zalli) taught us to be fighters, to face any situation. No matter how difficult the challenge, we had learned to confront it head on without trying to hide or make excuses.”
Gita thoughts when she became 18, and was accepted with her sister in the University of Sussex, “We weren’t afraid of the unknown because we discovered that maturity had everything to do with the acceptance of uncertainty.”
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