The Classic Slave Narratives

I just finished reading a book called ‘The Classic Slave Narratives’ which includes four narratives written by former slaves – ‘The Life Olaudah Equiano’, ‘The History of Mary Prince’, ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass’ and ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’. I doubt there’s any other book that took hold of and got so deep into my heart as this one. These stories are full of sorrow and pain. The vicious cruelty of slavery, both physical and moral, goes beyond the realm of the most perverted imagination. This is why these accounts might at times seem incredible, but the fact that they are entirely true only makes them even more poignant and horrifying.

Yet at the same time these narratives give hope, for even those who had been entirely stripped of every natural unalienable right a human being is entitled to managed to rise above their wretched situation and wicked circumstances and by writing their stories serve a great cause of abolishing slavery. Very powerful forces had contrived to deprive the oppressed of their voices (and, in fact, of so much more), but despite every obstacle that was thrown in their way these individuals succeeded in making their voices heard, not for their own interest but for that of millions of others who had no such opportunity. So I think the least one can do to pay respect to their heroic effort is familiarize oneself with these stories for the sake of knowing our past, better understanding our present and ensuring a brighter future. In fact, these stories cast so much light on what we see happening nowadays and allow to trace back the roots of the many forms of oppression that millions of people still experience today.

This book is not a light read but I think it’s one of the greatest and most important books I have ever read. I urge you to find these (and many other) narratives and enlighten yourself on the subject of that appalling era, for the knowledge of what so many human beings had to go through and a better understanding of the past is a necessary ingredient for the cure of so many problems that plague our present-day world.

Thank you for letting me borrow this book DJ, I very much appreciate it!

We Need New Names

Here's another good book, another interesting story – 'We Need New Names' by NoViolet Bulawayo. It is the story of a life full of tough and challenging situations lived by and seen through the eyes of a child. The child grows up to be a teenager and in her new life the questions that loom over her personal history and the history of her country get new, deeper meaning. Check it out, I'm sure you won't regret reading it!

[Originally posted on Facebook on March 13, 2014]

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Just finished reading 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' by John Boyne (TM, thank you for recommending it to me) which I found to be very powerful but also disturbing and unsettling. The language of the book and its simplicity suggest that it's written for children, but I think that it's only a disguise, or at least that an adult can understand it on a totally different level. I've read that some people found the trivialization and oversimplification of certain historical facts inappropriate but other than that it was received very well. I, for one, although I certainly am in no position to judge about the historical accuracy of the book, feel that it's a very valuable story that might prove especially effective in getting a certain message across to the new generations. The author describes it as a fable and it seems to be a fair thing to do. All in all, I hope this book can serve as one of the tiny yet indispensable rocks in the foundation of our historical and social consciousness that will ensure that we don't forget the great mistakes of the past and never repeat them in the future.

[Originally posted on Facebook on March 6, 2014]

Things Fall Apart

I finally got my hands on 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe. Despite being a quick read, it's a very profound and powerful book. I really love its cadence, it's like listening to a wise friend tell their valuable story. It made me contemplate about various things and I'm sure I'll want to get back to it and reread it one day. If you haven't read it yet, I definitely suggest that you do.

[Originally posted on Facebook on March 4, 2014]

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Some time ago I learned about this amazing man Srinivasa Ramanujan. He was an Indian mathematician, a natural genius who with almost no formal training in pure mathematics made extraordinary contributions to various fields of mathematics.

The following incident about Ramanujan that was narrated by P. C. Mahalanobis struck me as particularly interesting.

On another occasion, I went to his room to have lunch with him. The First World War had started some time ago. I had in my hand a copy of the monthly Strand Magazine which at that time used to publish a number of puzzles to be solved by the readers. Ramanujan was stirring something in a pan over the fire for our lunch. I was sitting near the table, turning over the pages of the Strand Magazine. I got interested in a problem involving a relation between two numbers. I have forgotten the details but I remember the type of the problem. Two British officers had been billeted in Paris in two different houses in a long street; the two numbers of these houses were related in a special way; the problem was to find out the two numbers. It was not at all difficult; I got the solution in a few minutes by trial and error. In a joking way, I told Ramanujan, ‘Now here is a problem for you’. He said, ‘What problem, tell me’, and went on stirring the pan. I read out the question from the Strand Magazine. He promptly answered ‘Please take down the solution’ and dictated a continued fraction. The first term was the solution which I had obtained. Each successive term represented successive solutions for the same type of relation between two numbers, as the number of houses in the street would increase indefinitely. I was amazed and I asked him how he got the solution in a flash. He said, ‘Immediately I heard the problem it was clear that the solution should obviously be a continued fraction; I then thought, which continued fraction? And the answer came to my mind. It was just as simple as this.’

[Originally posted on Facebook on January 20, 2014]

‪#‎challengetoinspire‬

If you have a moment to spare please stop by and read this.

A slew of viral challenges have been circulating the web for a while now, but the ‪#‎ALSicebucketchallenge‬ has really upped the ante. It has gotten pretty big with all sorts of celebrities joining the effort. And unlike many critics I am not going to rant about how for many people this challenge has been just a nonsensical fad that involves the waste of natural resources instead of a serious endeavor to raise awareness and funds for a good cause. While there have been several concerns detracting from the overall experience, this campaign has already done a good job on multiple levels. After all, although I may not be an expert on medieval weaponry, I think in the real world every sword has two edges.

But there's something about all this that I would really like to focus on. The thing is the ALS challenge has gone way beyond its initial idea and kick-started a whole lot of of other campaigns that target a number of important issues. For instance, I really appreciate how an actor Orlando Jones dumped a bucket of bullet casings on himself in an attempt to 'reverse the hate'. There have been a number of other interesting modifications of the ice bucket challenge, and it also helped begin discussions about many problems that occupy our minds these days. Be it Ferguson or police brutality in general, or military conflicts that emerge in all parts of the globe, racial, political, medical or religious issues, it seems like it has never been too hard to see how the very fabric of our society frays here and there.

So all of this made me ponder various things and I have decided to go even further with this challenge. What we really need to strive to attain is something that's so much bigger than any of these problems on its own. And in fact, the only person any of us can nominate for such a challenge is themselves. More than that, it should not even be a challenge. A challenge involves competition and it seems to be quite ridiculous to compete with oneself. A challenge also means that there's a graded scale against which we measure how one thing or person is better than another thing or person. But if our ultimate goal is a certain lofty ideal, perfection, then there's simply no room for challenge. But there's always room for inspiration. Inspiration is the driving force behind any positive change.

So here's what I want to do, I 'challenge' myself to be a better person, to take a step towards perfection every day, to be kind, to love and understand, to study and learn so that one day I can contribute to making this world a better place, the one where we don't need to challenge other people or raise awareness about certain problems because they simply no longer exist. That's the kind of world most of us want to live in. And while this may sound utopian, it is sure worth it to give it a try. And by doing that I want to INSPIRE other people to think about this and maybe 'challenge' themselves to do similar things, to be someone they want and need to be.

P.S. I would also like to say thank you to my friends RW, SW and LE who nominated me for their thanksgiving challenges. I never took up these challenges the way I was called on to. But it doesn't take seven days or Facebook to say what I'm grateful for. Being who I am and where I am, having what I have and having the people who are by my side around me is the greatest blessing. But I also want to say that I'm grateful for having a choice, a great opportunity to try and achieve, to set the right goals and attain them and to work my way towards becoming the kind of person I want to meet and see more of around myself. So this is pretty much all I wanted to say, and I hope it will inspire somebody to make a positive change in themselves and in the world we live in.

[Originally posted on Facebook on August 14, 2014]

Americanah

Americanah. I just finished reading the book and can’t resist the urge to honor my newfound tradition of writing a little something about my impressions. By no means should it be considered a review, it’s more of a note to self. I’m writing this in an attempt to organize my own thoughts but also half-hoping that it would inspire some of you to read the book too.

I don’t really know where to begin. This book is a journey. The journey that spans nearly two decades and three continents. I have long thought about what makes a great novel and I believe that it’s all about the world that the author creates. The worlds Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie creates are amazing. They magnetize you with their vastness and their seamless credibility. What really drives the universe of her novels are humans and their stories, their experiences full of details and alluring traction. Reading her books you don’t feel overwhelmed or crushed by formidable waves of the author’s imagination, you simply fall into their gentle yet very powerful charms before you even realize that.

The miracles of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s literary style lie not only in the way she puts the words together but in the very contents of these words, the ideas and concepts, their relevance and import. Reading Americanah was like mining a seemingly endless lode of observations, perspectives and contemplations on many things that make up the fabric of our society. It deals with love, aspirations, immigrant experience, race, depression, intercultural interactions and a lot more. Some of these things I could instantly relate to, others were beyond the possible reach of my personal experiences. Yet all of them are things that can’t leave you indifferent or unmoved. And it’s also interesting how the more I learn about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s life, the more I realize that her books invariably bear traces of her own story, which makes them a great deal more appealing to me.

Half of a Yellow Sun, now Americanah – what I also really enjoy about her books is a certain enlightenment they bring, and how carefully they introduce into your mind a longing to learn more about the subjects they deal with. Americanah certainly isn’t a treatise on the recent Nigerian history nor a guide to modern American and Nigerian lifestyles, but it opens up a conversation, clears the room into your heart for a desire to get a closer look at the realities of the world you may have not otherwise considered. While the American side of it has always been a part of my life in a way, Nigeria is new to me, I don’t yet know much about its history, its culture, its people. But reading these books has certainly broadened my horizons and made me want to know more and experience more of what this country has to offer.

Speaking of the things I could personally relate to, the young Obinze’s aspirations of going to America really resonated with me. It also reminded me of what I call ‘growing up in a cultural bubble’, something I experienced myself and find to be a very curious journey that was definitely worth it.

Another thing that attracts me in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s books is her leading female characters. They remind me of her own words, ‘The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in.’ The women in her stories are free. Free of the things that our society is trying to impose onto them, free of the constraints that have been so meticulously constructed throughout our history to hold women back. I find this very appealing on multiple levels, very worthy of respect and admiration. I wish to meet a woman like that who will be my partner for life.

Overall, I can say that Americanah evoked a wide gamut of feelings and emotions – the mood of the book changed from being irresistibly funny to making tears well up in my eyes and back again, all the while being very thoughtful and wise. It was also abundant in phrases that I couldn’t resist writing down because I knew I would want to reread and savor them and relish their delicacy again.

Another stray thought before I finish. I only discovered the delight of reading books a few years ago and I hadn’t read much before. I’m not even sure why this used to be uninteresting to me, I guess there were too many reasons which I’m not going to list here, but one thing I know is that now it has become the joy I will never be able to live without again. It fills my cup. This is how I feel about it. I came into the world as a tabula rasa, my cup empty. And now as I collect my experiences, sort them out, think them through and carefully place them next to one another somewhere deep inside of me, my cup is filling. And this is what reading a good book makes me feel. It even makes me want to write. I think that as you fill your cup to the brim, its contents start splashing out, and this is how you begin to write. I’m very far from the brim of course, but with each new portion pouring in, I let a little drop out. This is inspiration and this is exactly why I’m writing all this. Americanah is why I’m writing all this. And this is why I want to conclude this little piece about Americanah with Obinze’s words, you will understand if you read the book, ‘This is like poetry’.