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The Gunny Sack

Page 32

by M G Vassanji


  And a letter from Amina.

  Baba weh!

  It’s been many months since you went, without saying goodbye. I hope your business there is soon finished. Mummy is giving tuitions in English, and I am helping her. In January I will start nursery school. Since you are a teacher, I hope you will teach me some things. Upesi.

  Wako Amino. (Transcribed by her mother.)

  Sona writes.

  Kala.

  Are you there? This is the third letter … Anyway, about Books II and III, as I wrote before, II apparently contains old bhajans. “DG’s Favourites,” in a sense. Do you know if he sang? I’m getting confused. I swear he’s made up some verses—a case of genuine interpolation from DG! Now III. This one begins with a string of prayers, in Arabic, for different occasions. Perhaps illnesses. But it also has what sounds like a version of the Gita. Now why would the old man write his own version of the Gita? He was probably recording it—the language seems too archaic: imitation Sanskrit, and so on. (These types of forms are known, from other communities.) If so, why don’t we know of other versions? Can you shed some light, from what she said to you? Why did the old woman have to die before leaving this? And also, some of the pages have not been copied well. Surely you noticed? Perhaps the writing is fading … there are ways of preserving it, you know. I am so excited, I wake up dreaming about these damn books!

  Sona.

  Perhaps, Dhanji Govindji, as he sat at the doorstep outside his shop listening to the ocean, in between his sporadic journeys in search for his son, would hum these bhajans. And if he did interpolate, what did he have to say about the sin of stealing from the community? What horrible punishments befell you and on those who came after you—

  She lies on the floor, crumpled, her throat cut, guts spilled, blood on the floor. Dark crimson blood of a forgotten murder caked on the muslin shirt which Ji Bai preserved for so long, reminder of the tragic sin. On the table, the three fragile books, the originals with writing fading perhaps, packed to be sent away, their secrets unlocked but by no means uncovered. A gift for Sona. To lie anaesthetized in some locked cupboard, these dreams and hopes, these sins and prayers of a bygone generation—for the peckings of academia. The shirt, to be burnt, the rest to be discarded or preserved individually. Thus the disposition of the past. To be remembered and acknowledged, if only partly understood, without the baggage of paraphernalia.

  The running must stop now, Amina. The cycle of escape and rebirth, uprooting and regeneration, must cease in me. Let this be the last runaway, returned, with one last, quixotic dream. Yes, perhaps here lies redemption, a faith in the future, even if it means for now to embrace the banal present, to pick up the pieces of our wounded selves, our wounded dreams, and pretend they’re still there intact, without splints, because from our wounded selves flowers still grow. We had our dreams, Little One, we dreamt the world, which was large and beautiful and exciting, and it came to us this world, even though it was more than we bargained for, it came in large soaking waves and wrecked us, but we are thankful, for to have dreamt was enough. And so, dream, Little Flower …

  Glossary.

  Note: Swahili words are denoted (S), the other words are Cutchi-Gujarati. The last vowel is always pronounced.

  afande (S) officer, of any rank; also: Sir! as a response

  aisei (S) from English: I say!

  akida (S) local leader or Government representative

  al hamdulillah (S) from Arabic: praised be God!

  alishaan luxurious

  an-fata-ha-tin … (S) mnemonic device for teaching to read an, in, un … from the Arabic reader

  aré an exclamation: what! etc

  asante (S) thank you

  askari (S) policeman; soldier

  aulaad progeny

  ayat from Arabic: verse

  baba (S) father

  badmaash evil

  bahu daughter-in-law

  bakuli (S) bowl

  bana Indianized form of bwana, used as “man,” etc

  banda (S) shed

  band-waja band

  bao (S) a board game common on the Coast

  bapa a respectful term for an old man; father, grandfather

  baraza (S) meeting

  barazi (S) a bean

  bas Indianized form of basi

  basi (S) enough

  beta child

  Bhadalas an Indian community in East Africa

  bhajan a religious song (hymn)

  bhajia a fried food

  bhang a narcotic

  bhut ghost

  boma (S) administrative or government office; stockade; fort

  budha, budhi old man or woman

  budhu fool

  buibui (S) a thin black garment used as veil, usually worn over dress and head

  bungalas bungalows; used of separate-standing houses

  bwana (S) sir

  Chaleh Charlie Chaplin; any funny person; comic

  chevdo a mixture of nuts, dals, rice fried with spice

  chakas plural of chako

  chako a six in cricket

  chokra boy

  chuchuma! (S) on your haunches!

  crore 10 million

  dada (S) sister

  daku bandit; the villain in movies

  dengu (S) dal

  duka (S) shop

  dukan shop

  dumé (S) man, with emphasis on manhood and bigness; a big man

  duriani (S) a fruit much loved in Zanzibar

  elan notice

  eti (S) an expletive used in many senses: what, I say, as if, etc

  fujo (S) disorder; used for the free-for-all that follows when a vendor runs away upon sight (or threat) of the police

  fundi (S) used of any craftsman or workman; in the shops, used of a tailor

  gadi wheeled vehicle; motor car

  garba a dance in which men and women perform in a circle

  gathia a fried snack

  geet song

  goli (male: golo) slave, servant

  gopi cowgirls: Krishna used to tease them

  Govind used of Krishna

  hai hai! an exclamation to show one’s embarrassment

  halud a perfume

  hanisi (S) impotent

  haraka (S) quick

  hartal strike

  haya, basi (S) okay, then

  hebu (S) please (if I may; move; etc)

  hijab veil

  hodi! (S) knock!; may I come in? etc

  homa (S) rallying cry of maji maji warriors

  hundi promissory note

  Idd a Muslim festival

  jamani (S) folks

  jambo (S) how are you?

  jedel girl friend (of another girl)

  jelebi a sweetmeat

  jemadari (S) a local leader

  jembe (S) spade

  jhannam hell

  joshi fortune-teller

  jugu Indianized form of njugu: peanut

  jumbe (S) a local leader

  juth bolte ho! you are lying!

  Juzu (S) a first Arabic reader used in coastal East Africa

  kalidas servant of Kali; a commonly used (Hindu) man’s name; used to denote Africans sometimes

  Kali Yuga the age of Kali

  kaniki (S) a black cloth used by women, in colonial times, now abandoned kanzu (S) a long garment of light cotton, usually white, worn by Muslim men

  karibu (S) welcome, come in

  khamsa ishrin (S) from Arabic, meaning 25 and used to denote the punishment of 25 strokes of a whip

  khandaan dignity, respectability, etc

  khanga (S) a colourful cloth worn by women to wrap around the body; usually has a proverb written on it as part of the design

  khungu Indianized form of kungu, a fruit considered wild

  kibaba (S) a cup measure, standardized to the commonly-used milk can

  kidhar se ate ho? Hindi: where do you come from?

  kikapu (S) basket

  kikoi (S) a piece of cloth with its own distinct design

&nb
sp; kinate (S) belly

  kitale (S) a coconut with no cream but an inside that can be eaten

  kitenge (S) a colourful cloth

  kofi (S) a beating

  kofia (S) a cap or hat

  koni Indianized form of kwa ni, used in the sense of: as if; and now

  konyagi (S) an alcoholic drink

  kuja-ne, kuja-to a Swahili word kuja = to come, with Cutchi ending

  kula wali (S) to eat rice

  kumbe (S) So; I see; etc

  kuni (S) firewood

  kwa heri (S) goodbye

  kweli (S) true

  ladoo a sweetmeat

  lalu derogatory term used in the sense of: a good-for-nothing

  maandazi (S) a sweet, fried bread

  machar mosquito

  machela (S) a litter

  machungwa (S) oranges

  maghrab dusk

  maji (S) water

  malai cream

  manuari (S) from English man o’war

  marad a man; he-man

  marungi (S) a leaf chewed for its mild narcotic effect

  massala spice

  mbona umerudi (S) why have you returned?

  mbuyu (S) a baobab tree

  mchawi (S) a witchdoctor, magician, etc

  Mdachi (S) German person (cf. “Deutsch”)

  mela a fair

  Mhindi Indian

  mhogo (S) cassava

  mimi (S) I

  mithai sweetmeats

  mnyama (S) beast

  mohor a settlement negotiated for the bride before the marriage ceremony takes place

  moto (S) hot

  mpishi (S) cook

  Mshiris (S) an Arab community

  msuri (S) a cloth used by men on the Coast to wrap around the waist; often worn in place of trousers

  mswaki (S) a toothbrush, or branch used to brush teeth

  mukhi religious leader of a local community; head man

  murid disciple

  mutu mubaya (S) a way of saying mtu mbaya (bad person)

  mwalimu (S) teacher; used for Julius Nyerere of Tanzania

  mwanangu (S) my son

  mweupe (S) white

  mweusi (S) black

  mzee (S) respectful term for an old man

  naam! (S) Yes!

  nataka (S) I want

  ndizi (S) a banana

  ngalawa (S) a dug-out boat

  niani a female; a ritual meal to which girls are invited

  nipe (S) give me

  njo (S) come

  pachedi a light cloth worn round the shoulders and head

  panga (S) a machete

  penda a sweetmeat

  pili-pili-bizari (S) spices

  pir a holy man, usually with followers

  pisha (S) move

  polé (S) sorry

  rasa a dance in which one or more persons go around in circles clapping hands and clicking fingers to a beat

  salaalé! (S) an exclamation

  sana (S) very

  sanyasi a man in the last of the four Hindu stages of life, in which he renounces home and possessions to practise religion

  Shahada (S) the Muslim creed

  Sharriffu (S) an honorific title with religious (Islamic) connotations, used loosely

  shehe (S) same as sheikh

  sheth boss, master

  shoga (S) a woman’s (woman) friend; also: a male homosexual

  siasa (S) politics

  simba (S) lion

  starehe (S) relax, take it easy, don’t trouble yourself

  subhanallah Arabic: God is perfect

  sufuriya (S) a deep pan

  taarabu (S) a Swahili song set to the tune of an Indian film song

  tafadhali (S) please

  TANU ya jenga nchi (S) TANU builds the nation

  tasbih (S) prayer beads

  tembo (S) elephant

  tena (S) again

  tengo Indianized form of mtengo: a portable coop or container made of light sticks

  thapo a game of hide-and-seek

  thumuni (S) the fifty-cent coin

  tuna kwenda (S) we are going

  ugali (S) maizemeal

  uhuru na kazi (S) a populist sloga of the time, meaning “freedom with work”

  ujamaa (S) socialism; Tanzania’s official policy of socialism

  ulu fool

  unga mkono (S) join hands; support

  upesi (S) quickly

  vigegele (S) ululation

  vitumbua (S) sweet, fried delicacy of the Coast

  wako (S) yours

  wé, weh, wey (S) you!

  yar friend

  zanana show ladies’ show

  About the Author.

  M.G. Vassanji won a regional Commonwealth Prize for The Gunny Sack (1989). He is the author of four other novels: No New Land (1991); The Book of Secrets (1994), which won the inaugural Giller Prize and the Bressani Prize; Amriika (1999); and The In-Between World of Vikram Lall (2003), which made Vassanji the first writer to win the Giller Prize a second time. He is also the author of a collection of short stories, Uhuru Street. He was awarded the Harbourfront Festival Prize in 1994 in recognition of his achievement in and contribution to the world of letters, and in the same year was chosen as one of twelve Canadians on Maclean’s Honour Roll. Born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania, M.G. Vassanji attended university in the U.S. and lives in Toronto.

 

 

 


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