Reading the World
A Global Journey Through Literature
  • Home
  • Blog
  • MEDIA
  • Rules

Trouble in Paradise: Island Love turns to Madness in Mauritius 

12/28/2013

0 Comments

 
Blue Bay Mauritius
My next port of call takes me further out into the Indian Ocean, to the island nation of Mauritius. A former British colony, Mauritius declared independence in 1968, although it did not become a republic until twenty-four years later, in 1992. Whilst the Republic of Mauritius is almost the epitome of the ocean paradise (surrounded by over 150 kilometres of beaches and lagoons, as well as the third largest coral reef in the world), there are still social issues on the island. Despite its high economic ranking with then World Bank, poverty does exist here; with a divide between the haves and the have-nots being accentuated by a caste system inherited by the high proportion of the population of Indian descent. Indeed, it is these social divides that form the catalyst for the next book on my journey “Blue Bay Palace”, although the events that ensue are played out in terms of very personal tragedy.

“Blue Bay Palace” is narrated by Maya, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks in Mauritius. The idyllic tropical vacation spot is, she thinks, "a country in extremis" - and:

“Like this country, I am a child in extremis. That is why my parents named me Maya - illusion, the one whom we believe is, but who is not.”

Blue Bay sounds like it might be a decent place to grow up, but it's a poor little corner of this paradise, the side of the village where no one, for example has a car:

“When one can afford a car, one leaves Blue Bay.”

Maya had ambitions to get out, but a day after she turned sixteen she met Dave, the spoilt and rich son of a Brahman* family from Mahébourg ("It was only half an hour away from Blue Bay, but another world"). And so she too goes to work at Le Paradis, the resort where Dave works - the hotel where he is, in fact, Maya's father's boss. 

They have a passionate and extended love affair, which blinds Maya to the reality of their situation. Dave seems like a confident, take-charge kind of guy when she describes the first years of their affair, but it turns out he has trouble standing up against certain kinds of tradition (and confrontation in general, apparently). And so one day Maya reads "a small report in the local paper" - and learns that Dave has gotten married:

“I didn't suspect a thing. Dave had told me he was tired and that he was going to rest at home for two weeks; he would be the one to call me.”

Maya is crushed, but their affair continues, Dave wanting both worlds - pleasing his family and living up to expectations, while also having the girl he (apparently) loves. Appanah nicely conveys the change in their relationship, and Maya's inability to let go. 

Dave is an interesting character in that he is entirely frank about his weakness. Maya recognizes it, but can't let the bum go. And then there's the ominous moment when, talking about his bride: "he said those unfortunate words: 'Sometimes I wish she would die". 

Maya does not seek out vengeance, but she remains caught up in her obsession. It embroils her in another relationship, and it does, ultimately, lead to tragedy. 

A tale of young, messy love, where chance leads to fate, “Blue Bay Palace” is a bit thin to sustain all this raw emotion, passion, and hurt. The sketches - Maya's impressions of wealth and luxury, her father's struggles with the cacti around their house, dealing with the tourists -- are often very good, but the novel could have used a bit more substance.

Still, early on Maya seems to acknowledge that all this experience has not matured her, still describing herself as "a child", and the narrative voice retains a convincing childish quality that Appanah pulls off quite well and that works quite well for much of the story… 

At just over 100 pages this is almost more of a novella, and one which I read in an afternoon, however it was an enjoyable read with a vibrant dash of local description amid the high drama.

Rather than travel on to another Indian Island nation, I take a detour for now and head to Kenya on the mainland. That is not to say that I have forgotten about Mauritius’ Indian Ocean neighbours and I shall be travelling to the Seychelles and the Comoros Islands following my trip to Kenya.

However, due to a mix up with my accommodation in Seychelles (all visitors must have proof of accommodation bookings before arrival), for now I take an Air Kenya flight to Nairobi. Therefore, I take an air-conditioned bus to the elaborately named Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was a key figure in the Mauritian Independence Movement and the country’s first Prime Minister) at Plaisance in the southeast of the island.

I am booked on an Air Mauritius flight to Jomo Kenyatta airport at 08.40. It costs an eye-watering AUS$826 but at least it is direct, taking only four hours twenty minutes and arriving in the capital of Kenya at midday (allowing for the hour time difference). Furthermore the single aisle A319 plane that I travel on is comfortable and seems reassuringly airworthy, so I have no cause for complaint here (although be warned – the arrivals hall at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam airport gets very congested in the morning as this is when most of the flights from Europe arrive. Immigration officers tend to be rather slow and the whole immigration process is a frustrating experience at this time of the day!)

My ongoing destination is an interesting, and rather strange one. Whilst this novel, “The Wizard of the Crow,” is by renowned Kenyan author-in-exile Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (his first in twenty years), the story is set in the imaginary Free Republic of Aburiria, autocratically governed by one man, known only as the Ruler. However, it is obvious that this novel is a thinly disguised metaphor for – indeed, caricature of – the corrupt government of Kenya specifically, and many African leaderships generally: 

“Aburiria is recognisable as Africa in all its splendour, squalor, economic malaise and venality, but it comes with more than a touch of magical realism.” The Economist.

As such, I felt that this was an important book, by an important author, to read at this stage. However in the interests of balance, given the metaphorical nature of this book, I will be following this read up with “A Small Town in Africa”, a more ‘realist’ depiction of life in the Kenyan town of Isiolo, by Daisy Waugh, of which more later...

* Brahman is the highest level in the Hindu caste system


0 Comments

Merry Christmas from Reading the World!!

12/24/2013

0 Comments

 
Click to play this Smilebox greeting
0 Comments

A Flickering Flame of Hope: One Mother's Faith in the Future Sheds Light on the Bleak Reality of Modern Zambia

12/14/2013

1 Comment

 
Zambian village
The cover of “A Cowrie of Hope” states that the author, Binwell Sinyangwe, “captures the rhythms of a people whose poverty has not diminished their dignity, where hope can only be accompanied by small acts of courage, and where friendship has not lost its value”, these qualities are mainly encapsulated in the main character, Nasula:

Nasula (mother of Sula) is a young widow struggling to make ends meet for herself and her daughter. Her daughter who recently passed her grade 9 exams has been accepted into an all girls secondary school but she lacks the money required for fees, supplies, and other things required for Sula to continue with her education. Though illiterate herself, Nasula, understands the need for her daughter to be educated and she feels the burden acutely.

As a young bride, she and her husband live in Lusaka where he works as security guard. He’s shot to death by the police while trying to escape a crime scene, leaving his wife widowed with an infant daughter. After his funeral, Nasula is ordered by her father-in-law to marry his other son, Isaki. She refuses to marry Isaki on the grounds that he is a polygamist and known womaniser. In retribution the family disowns and dispossesses Nasula and her daughter all of their earthly goods but the clothes on their backs. Homeless and stranded in Lusaka, she spends many nights at the bus depot trying to find her way back to Swelini, her home village in Luapula.

She makes it home to Swelini with the help of a friend, where she appeals to the headman for land to cultivate and build a home for herself and her daughter. She toils on her plot of land and also does piece-work to supplement the meagre income from her crops. Sula is enrolled in school, where she excels, rising above the taunts and ridicule she experiences because of her poverty. "The child was a cowrie of hope. A great gift from the gods to one who was so poor and lowly to wear round one’s neck for inspiration, and, above all, hope”.

Faced with the dilemma of her daughter possibly dropping out of school because of lack of funds, Nasula faces a seemingly hopeless situation until an exuberant friend proposes a solution. If she sells her last bag of Mbala beans, which are on high demand in Lusaka, the money will more than adequately fund Sula’s schooling. Re-energised with this new hope, Nasula sets out to earn this money.

Lusaka immediately strikes her as a “place of madness” and Kamwala market, in particular, is a“mound inhabited by huge, hungry tribes of termites in search of a livelihood”. Nasula has single minded goal, and draws often from her spiritual strength to take her that extra step needed.

Her naïveté is touching, and her boldness inspiring – crucially, despite the desperate situations Nasula finds herself in, she loses neither her dignity nor her sight of goal.

“But a power she could not overcome, which was from a bleeding heart, told her not to listen to the whispers of discouragement, or give up when she had already suffered so much. It urged her on. To this power she yielded while at the same time allowing the ghost of defeat to haunt her. She struggled on, a thin valiant, invisible thread pulling her along in the direction of nowhere”.

Nasula’s exuberant friend from Lusaka, Nalukwi (mother of Lukwi), is also a great character. She and her husband live in three room shack with their eight children and dependents, and yet she opens both her home and heart to Nasula offering help and advice at every turn. She’s street smart, and yet she does not use this as a means of duping her young friend – in a way, she embodies the ‘hope’ of the title of this book.

The key message of this harrowing story is that despite the predicaments many face in the world today, hope still exists. There is also value in friendship, honesty, and community. It should be remembered that while this book is a work of fiction, it draws many parallels from real life situations that many Zambians still face such as property grabbing, school dropouts from lack of funding, crop failure, corruption, lack of markets in rural areas, poor access to financial products for small-scale farmers, etc.

Direct buses between Lusaka and Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital, are infrequent and slow, so I do this trip in stages. From the BP petrol station on the main street in Chipata (capital of Eastern Zambia), regular minibuses (US$2) run the 30km to the Zambian border. Once I pass through Zambian customs, it’s a few minutes’ walk to the Malawian entry post from where I get a shared taxi to Mchinji for US$1.50 followed by a minibus to Lilongwe (US$2). My ultimate destination in Malawi is Masitala; a small village in the Kasungu region.

To reach this place I decide to hire a car, and opt for a 4x4 from Apex Rent-a-Car, who are based in Lilongwe, for $80 per day. Compared to its neighbours, the main roads in Malawi are in surprisingly good shape: the volume of traffic is low and most people drive reasonably slowly. Also, like most other former British colonies, traffic moves on the left in Malawi with my car being right-hand drive, which is a bonus for me. However, road travel after dark is not advisable as road markings are poor to non-existent and not all cars have headlights.

I encounter a couple of police check points along the major roadways, but they just ask me where I am going and check my documentation (passport, driver's licence, permission to use the vehicle, etc.), and I am on my way without any issues.

And so, with a sense of hope I travel to Zambia’s diminutive neighbour Malawi and another story of hope against adversity – “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”: this time a true memoir by Malawian, William Kamkwamba.

1 Comment

    Author

    Reading the World: A Global Journey through Literature

    Archives

    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    November 2012

    Categories

    All
    2012
    2013
    2014
    2015
    2018
    2019
    Africa
    Asia
    China
    General
    USA

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.