Under the shade of the Baobab tree....

We've had a Writer...
Almost in residence...
In our midst..
At Sweatshop..
For some months now!!!

On Thursday..
She talked about a subject close to my heart..
Literature!!!...
Of Africa..
A continent which is still thought of...
As being Dark!!!!

Tracing attitudes to the native population...
She briefly discussed Conrad's Heart of Darkness...

In this journey up the Congo River...
To meet the mysterious Mr Kurtz...
The natives are never seen...
They can only be heard!!!!
The sound of their stamping feet...
Signifies their presence...

They are there...
And yet not there...as ...
Not acknowledged!!!!

Over a period of time...
Through the works of Isak Dinesen ...who wrote Out of Africa...and others..
There is a metamorphosis...
The native can now be seen....
But not heard!!!
At least..not much!!!

He remains in the backdrop...
A silent spectator
Who belongs to another world....

Apparently...
It was only with the coming of Achebe...
And his path breaking book...Things Fall Apart...
That the voice of the African began to acquire form and force!!!

In India too...
The colonizers and the colonized inhabited different worlds!!!
One of the greatest disappointments of my reading life...
Was to discover that the Kipling...
Who so captivated my schoolgirl imagination....
With his stirring song...
Was openly racist!!!!
And as for the likes of Lord MaCaulay...
The less said the better!!!

We too have lived through....
Years of being depicted in popular literature...
As being cunning, devious and even cruel!!!!
Or there is the Peter Sellers version...
Where we are a depicted as stupid jokers!!!
So politically incorrect...and unfunny!!!!

And these movies were released in India!!!!...
And what's worse...
Indians saw them...
And came away entertained!!!!!

While the stereotypical Indian image...
May have changed...
Somewhat...
To that of a computer techie geek!!!!
In some parts of the world...at least...
The stamp...or suspicion...
Of being devious and cunning cheats...
Still sticks!!!

And..
ALL of us are often painted with the same brush....
Thanks to such depiction!!!
A case of the Arts creating a stereotype!!!

There is also the related matter...
Of inhabiting different worlds...
We still do that...
The fortunate and the wretched..
Live in different circles...
Even now...

As a child...
I always thought that the servants in my grandmother's house...
Liked being who they were..
That they really were content....
To gnaw on the neck of the chicken...
To suck on the bones of its rib cage.....
Leaving the succulent parts to me!!!!!...
Preferred fighting among themselves over fish head...
After serving the mid-portion and the tail to me...
Fried..crisp and delicious!!!

Brought up on Tamil movies of the late 50s and 60s...
Which always depicted the rich man and his ally...
The faithful servant...
Ready to shed tears of gratitude...
And stand up for his..
Ayyahhh!!!!
I believed they liked their lot in life!!!!
How wrong I was...I realized only much later!!!

The servants have moved out...
Of sleeping on the verandahs of large rambling homes...
And have swapped the thinnais!!!..
For one room asbestos-roofed hovels....
Their children get an indifferent education...
Which often leaves them unfit for work...
And disgruntled....
But they trudge on....
In a different world!!!
Excluded from ours...
As we doubtless are from other worlds!!!

The truth is...
There are so many worlds....
Which may touch only at the periphery...
But mostly...
Not at all!!

Perhaps all we can do...
Is make the best of the world we live in!!!!
One that Fate's lottery...
Decides to bestow on us!!!

See ya then!!!!