Bead Bai: a novel by Sultan Somjee - Book Review

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Bead Bai: a novel by Sultan Somjee - Book Review

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http://www.reviewvancouver.org/sp_bead_bai2013.htm

http://thebeadbai.blogspot.com/

Bead Bai: a novel by Sultan Somjee
Published by CreateSpace

Reviewer Christian Steckler



A play, a dance, a painting, a sculpture, a concert, a symphony, a song or a book – I dare say that most of us have been moved by a moment in art, and have viewed life differently after the experience. I recently had such a reaction to a book by a new fictional author, Sultan Somjee.

The book, Bead Bai, presents the life of Sakina, a young woman of Indian origin born and raised in Africa. Her story is not unique, but it is not widely known outside the Ismaili community – a community with religious practices that combine ancient Vedic Hindu and Muslim teachings. From the late 1800s through the first half of the 20th Century, Africa was a prime destination for Khoja Ismailis. They migrated partly because they were no longer willing to hide their beliefs from the violently intolerant views of Hindu and Moslem mainstream societies in India, and partly because of poverty resulting from famine. Many who settled in Africa set up shop as merchants, and soon became suppliers of beads and other wares for the various African tribes with whom they came in contact. The bead business was very profitable for some. For Sakina, it created conditions to be intimately involved with African aesthetic, natural and spiritual insights, gradually blending them with her own cultural practices.

Sakina’s life is bound by the innocently devout religious conviction and habits of her family and community. Her story is played out on the wondrous landscape of the African savannah in Maasai territory, profoundly rich in its own values, traditions and rituals. Sakina has deep spiritual and artistic sensibilities, and it is through these that we share the warm counsel of her grandfather Dadabapa, her bewilderment and conflict in an arranged teen marriage, and her wonder in the musings of a wise Maasai elder Ole Lekakeny. Sakina’s inner journey of discovery is a microcosm of the metamorphosis of generations of Indian migrants into what came to be known as Asian Africans.

Bead Bai is a story not told in the usual formulaic pattern of North American fictional novels, but rather as a series of remembrances that enfold each other, adding depth, texture, nuance and impact as the book progresses. It more resembles the magical, almost hallucinatory stories coming from South America and Africa. It is a story rich in education for the reader, made effortless thanks to Somjee’s masterful writing. Usually when we read novels, our eyes glide over smaller, less significant moments and actions, in search of the main action or plot developments. However, Somjee’s writing is so full that I soaked up every word, learning about history, culture and landscape, relishing every word, because his story is presented so poetically.

Sakina’s innate trust and ability - indeed, hunger - to blend senses, have them merge, flow together, and then appear anew in different forms, manifestations, and ecstasies had me soaring. She's a wonderful narrator with her own authentic voice. All of the incidental characters are finely drawn, with depth of personality that make the story more than a tapestry, because the colours are too rich for that. It is more a luscious marvel of colour and texture that resembles an oil painting with generous brush strokes, and paint layered on layer with knife and any tool at hand that would lend to its depth and emotion and Presence with a capital P. I read the book a second time, just to savour the rich poetic feel.

The ending of the novel prepares us for a new beginning, as this is the first book in a planned trilogy, according to the author. Sultan Somjee is an ethnographer who grew up in Kenya where he saw the sights, worked with the beads, and heard the stories that provide the backdrop for this story. In 2001 the United Nations listed Somjee as one of the twelve ‘Unsung Heroes of Dialogue among Civilizations’. He has published several articles, curated several exhibitions, and written two guide books, Material Culture of Kenya and Stories from Things. He now lives in Burnaby, British Columbia with his wife, Zera and three children. Bead Bai is his first novel.

© 2013 Christian Steckler
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1
Where from and where to?

BEAD BAI
by Sultan Somjee
Reviewed by: Hassan Ali M. Jaffer
Author of: The Endangered Species (2013)

Have you seen the book BEAD BAI with a sub title in Gujarati script: “Khota Moti na Sacha Vepari”, meaning: “Of imitation pearls, we are genuine merchants” – an expression that will not fail to amuse any Gujarati speaking person?

This book by Sultan Somjee of Vancouver, Canada, is a fiction based on real life account of early Indian settlers in East Africa. The story evolves
round the life of an Ismaili Khoja family as it graphically illustrates
what goes on in a Khoja Ismaili family living in Nairobi in the early days
of 1900’s.

Through this narrative, a picture emerges of Indian families in their new
environment, the type of amenities and housing accommodation available
then, the amount of hard work put up by both men and women to earn a living in their newly adopted homeland in Africa as they moved from India to look for better opportunities and to escape the hardships of life in their native Cutch, Kathiawar and Gujarat or Saurashtra, as it was then known.

For many Indian migrants to Africa, it was not a bed of roses. The
struggles for survival were uphill tasks which were carried out with
determination and indomitable faith in the ultimate divine assistance.
Their endeavours were further strengthened by the cohesion of family units and their respective community lives. The multiple Indian communities following different faiths strived to replicate their Indian life styles, customs and traditions to make the local environments in Africa as little India.

For youngsters born and brought up in the West, accustomed to modern
amenities that they now take for granted, it may be difficult for them to
comprehend what life was like for their ancestors in Africa in the early
days of the twentieth century. The type of struggle and hardships that
their ancestors had to undergo, the sacrifices they had to make, and the
moments of joy, grief and distress they had to endure, which were not too
few, as they kept plodding, against many odds, to reach where they and
their progeny are today – all such feelings surface as you plod through
this 450 page book.

In this ‘Bead Bai’ story, pulsating feelings of a family life with all
their feelings emerge as the reader is transported through articulate word
play to almost live through the experiences reviewed.

While the story revolves round early Ismaili Khoja family in Nairobi, known otherwise as Satpanthi Khoja, the author provides much interesting insight into the life and traditions of the Ismaili way of life and their beliefs, a peep into the inside working of the jamat khana, otherwise out of bound for the non Ismaili. With these narratives of the Ismaili Khoja way of life, one is tempted to compare this book with the writings of Morris West’s fictional accounts of Catholics in his “Shoes of the Fisherman” and “Devil’s Advocate” and all the theological and sociological debates that go with it.

At the same time Bead Bai brings to life many aspects of several African
and India customs and traditions and their related beliefs and practices.
In this narrative, voiced through various characters in the story, the
author subtly provides a graphic account of the nature of conflict and the
bitterness engendered as a result in the once united Khoja Community as
they split to emerge as three distinct communities to be known as Khoja
Ismaili, Khoja Sunni and Khoja Ithna-Asheri. These conflicts and the
agonizing pain of split in close knit families on doctrinal grounds are
illustrated through the words of the central figure of the story Moti Bai
also known as Sakina.

While focusing on the life of the particular family, Sultan Somjee adroitly
weaves in accounts of the East African and Indian political scenes
prevalent then. He also blends in account of local African life as he
captures many beliefs and practise of the Maasai and Kikuyu tribes that
come to life through this narrative.

The role of the Indians in the economic development of Kenya over the years is also highlighted. Attributing to a remark by a British colonial district commissioner, Hats off to you Indian shopwallas! Somjee writes what Governor Sir Edward Grigg once said, We could not have made Kenya what she is without the Indians. (p.368). Sir Edward Grigg was appointed Governor of Kenya in 1925.

*Storytelling*

At a time when Radio, TV and Computers were unknown, book reading and storytelling was part of daily life, especially after family dinner.
Recalling the period of early 1940's, I can vividly recall my grandmother
and also a number of elderly ladies from Zanzibar visiting Mombasa as our family guests, who were adapt in storytelling. Their narratives delivered in instalments, like the modern day TV serials, held us spell bound. The account of storytelling covered in Bead Bai brought back some fond memories for me.

Describing the power of storytelling, in the words of the main character of
the book, the author writes: “Hear me and feel my story when you see how the lines of all shapes meet, some earlier, and some later, as the story is told. I am the steward of my feelings inside and my words outside. They are one in my story.” (p.7) a powerful statement that reminds one of an Arabic couplet:

• Tilka aatharuna tadullu alayna,
• Fandhuru ba’dana ilal aathaar.
• These are our works that our souls do display,
• So behold these works, when we are gone!

For members of the Khoja Ithna-Asheri community accustomed to reading
accounts from their perspectives, it is observed that over the years, the
three Khoja communities have developed estrangements and disconnect as close family ties were cut asunder – something that could have been
pleasantly avoided with a degree of understanding and tolerance on all
sides, permitting individuals to exercise their freedom to pursue their own
different doctrinal leanings without breaking close family ties. Such
painful feelings are in many ways echoed in the Bead Bai narrative.

Desire for the spirit of understanding and tolerance is echoed as Sultan
Somjee recalls how the conflict over the ownership of the Jamat Khana in
Rajpur was resolved. After Devji Momna’s grandfather passed away, “his two sons decided to join the Ithna Asheri community while the other two, of whom one was Devji Momna’s father, retained the Satpanth faith.” From his death bed, the dying father had told his four sons: “The Jamat Khana is my bequest to the Khoja jamat of Rajpur. I wish all four of you, my sons, to honour my wish and remain united.”

The four brothers claimed the jamat khana to be their joint responsibility
entrusted by their father at his death bed. “Now the question that puzzled
the elders was: To whom should the jamat khana belong, Ithna Asheri Khoja jamat or Satpanth Khoja jamat? After all both were Khoja jamat, were they not?”

An interesting account of the nature of arguments that went on among the
elders is narrated. References are made about the Court case and the
judgement of the Bombay High Court that ruled all jamat khanas to be vested in the Aga Khan.

In their quest for unity and to uphold the pledge given to their father,
the four brothers “ignored the elders’ rage” and threatened that if their
solution was not accepted, they would “turn the jamat khana into an
orphanage as it happened in Bhuj and Jamnagar.”

“Today they pray in one building, albeit separated by a wall but under one
roof that the brothers say represent their one Khoja lineage. Then, when
communal meals are served, the two faith groups mingle that brings the
blessing of baraka of sharing roji.” (p.111/112)

Bandhani

In this account of Bead Bai, several aspects of cultural commonality are
also portrayed that continued to be practiced for long by the Ismalili,
Sunni and Ithna-Asheri Khoja. In fact some of the practices are common to all Cutchi and Gujarati communities, Hindu and Muslim alike. One such example illustrated is the use of ‘Bandhani’ a richly embroidered silk shawl that provides for as head covering for the bride and retained as a family treasure to be eventually draped on the coffin of the lady. This has been common practice among both Khoja Ismaili and Ithna-Asheri for long.

The Ithna-Asheri Khoja went a step further as they adorned the Alam
(banner) of Hazart Abbas during the months of Muharram with a Bandhani. It was in such high esteem that the Bandhani was held in Khoja culture. This custom continued until 1974 when the Ithna-Asheri community in Mombasa convened an open forum to review rites, rituals and traditions in vogue. Among the changes brought about as a result, the use of Bandhani for the Alam and draping over the coffin were then discontinued. Such Open Forums had no less hilarious moments as the hard-core traditionalists, especially among the ladies, found it sacrilegious to let go of the long practiced traditions.

*Conflict

The nature and degree of conflict that led to the three way division of the
once united Khoja community and the bitterness it engendered as a result
are also illustrated in anecdotal form. The author speaks through his
fictional characters without sounding to be patronising or judgemental. One can detect an air of detached analytical mind viewing the unfolding
scenario.

“The dissidence brewing in India crystallised in Zanzibar and spread from
family to family across East Africa. Families turned against each other.
Cousins against cousins. Brothers would not talk to brothers. Fathers would not give their daughters in marriage to their village kinsmen of ‘other faith’ of the Khoja. They said even drinking of water from the home of dissident relative was haram.”(p.73)

This is an apt description of the state of affairs as it was then. I recall
the example of my own grandmother who had her cousin who was a devout Ismaili. Every fortnight they would visit each other and spend a couple of hours together but would never drink water in each other’s house. Instead, they would offer each other bottle of mineral water - Ice Cream Soda, a popular brand in Mombasa in 1940/50’s. Pepsi and Coca Cola were unknown then. They would not pour their drink into glasses, but drink directly from the bottle! Some of the light hearted banter going on between them while branding each other as Kafir was quite amusing to watch. Despite such stance, in the spirit of blood is thicker than water, they appeared to be keen to retain their family bonds. The level of bitterness engendered is further explained with following
examples.

"And tell that Ravana bother of yours to take Chiragh e Hidayat back to his Ithna Asheri friends before I burn the sacrilegious book in your wife’s
stove." (p.182)

“Chiragh e Hidayat I later learned from my kitchen teacher, Ma Gor Bai, is
the book that explains the principles of the new faith practices of the
Khoja Ithna Asheris, the breakaway group from the main Satpanthi body.
“They voiced fierce dissent in Zanzibar,” said Ma. “For some the new
country opens minds to challenge the old. Away from ancient India, the
immigrants breathe freedom in religion and customs. Yet there were others who seek comfort in the affirmation of their forefather’s beliefs and
become even more stringent in their faith than they ever were in India.
Such is the culture of questioning, confirming and changing that migration
creates in its wake.” (p.182)

This book, though labelled as a fiction, is treasure trove of much useful
information of not only the Ismaili Khoja family life, their beliefs and
practices, but it does, at the same time, provide much useful background
information of the Indian settlement in East Africa.

Looking back at what the Asian communities went through in Africa over the past century and with their dispersal all over the world in recent times,
it is worth pondering as to what life will be like for them in the next
century. As it is, the level of intermarriage across the ethnic, racial and
religious divide is on the increase in all communities. What does it
portend for their future survival as structured communities as they are
today?

Bead Bai provides useful insight as to where we came from and where we are today. Where will they end up a century later is a question that calls for attention.

I have no hesitation in recommending Bead Bai as a useful and informative read that would be enlightening in many ways and provide food for thought.

For further reviews, you may access the following links.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/A-Khoja-br ... index.html

http://www.ismaili.net/html/modules.php ... forum&f=18

http://thebeadbai.blogspot.com/

For the supply of books, author can be contacted at the following address:
F Sultan Somjee [mailto:fssomjee@gmail.com]
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Bead Bai

A book about story telling and the storyteller, art and the artist. Writer: Sultan Somjee

Nov 29, 2014

Bead Bai review in Opinion (UK) November 2014

CreateSpace, Charleston, SC 29418, U.S.A. – Second Edition 2014

www.thebeaddbai.blogspot.com

Sultan Somjee`s Bead Bai is a real feast of magical realism at its best - a kind of kaleidoscopic poetry in motion! It breaks new ground in `our` literature - a different genre that extends the boundaries of a conventional novel. It is hugely endowed with imagination and daring, yet well grounded in historical research.

Basically, it is about the settlement of the Satpanth Ismaili Khoja community in East Africa with roots in the princely state of Kathiawar in British India, but Somjee has skilfully contextualised the tales of their arrival and venture into the hinterland with the art and craft of native bead making. He is an ethnographer by academic training and in this extraordinarily ambitious work he has used his learning and professional expertise, gained over many years` field work in Kenya, to perfection.

If M G Vassanji`s The Gunny Sack was about the inner world of the fictional Shamsi community – the alter ego of the Ismaili Khojas - Bead Bai reaches far and deep into every aspect of the proverbial Asian dukawallahs` lives and businesses. From the opening Introduction, these passages neatly give the flavour of what is to follow :

`From mid-19th century onwards, there was a steady migration of Satpanth Ismailis from India to East Africa increasing to greater numbers in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Already by the early 20th century, some Satpanth Ismaili merchants had developed trade networks running from the East Coast of Africa towards the Congo. Their foot caravans included beads among other goods, such as blankets, cloth, foodstuff, and building material. The bead trade developed by trial and error as the merchants tested preferences in colours, lustre, sizes and shapes, among the ethnic people.`

(and)

`Thus, over time the bead merchants of East Africa learned how different and particular were the over hundred ethnic groups when it came to their art.`

Although the chapters are serially numbered, they are nevertheless grouped together into several Parts, each with an epigrammatic intro, such as `Stories from Shantytown` in Part One. Here he cites, in addition to other references, an undated (and unpublished) paper by a veteran Kenyan Oshwal businessman Amritlal Raishi outlining the building up of what is now known as Nairobi`s Biashara Street by (A M) Jeevanjee from its ramshackle beginning at the turn of the 20th century.

An extraordinary feature of the story (to call it a `novel` does not do justice to its broader appeal as a work of fiction enriched by factual history) is that the author has entrusted its telling to a female character (from his man`s pen, that is), Sakina, born in Nairobi on 15th March 1922, `on the day when the colonial soldiers opened fire on the crowd protesting against the imprisonment of Harry Thuku`, who had `defied the governor`s order on the wearing of the hated kipande` - a subtle reminder that all this was happening during the heyday of Empire!

The narrative continues and is threaded through such early chapters as `Stories arriving with the monsoons`, `Stories departing with the monsoons`, `Story of Sohn Bai`, `Losing the land`, `Crows on Board the Dhow`, `There were three prostitutes at sea` and `Deaths on Kala Pani`.

The spread of the community across the Indian Ocean and beyond is further explored under various headings, including `Chup Chap Whispers`, `The Stone Jamat Khana`, `At the Religious School` and `Stories from Meethi Bai`s Lodge`. In the process, we are treated to an indepth insight into the very soul and character of the Khojas.

The Gujarati sub-title of the book comes from the signage on the shop premises of Nagji Pademsi and Sons (`popularly called Duka la Ushanga na Blanketi, the Bead and Blanket Store`) that, according to the author (at page 127) transliterated as `Of Imitation Pearls We Are Genuine Merchants`, though a nuanced version of it might have been `True Merchants of Imitation Beads`! In the next chapter (`Loving Gujarati`) Somjee extols the beauty and complexity of the language in, it has to be said, loving homage.

In other chapters, he delves into the history of the Raj and the relationship between the British rulers and Indian princes, with a passing mention of the famous Aga Khan Case in the High Court of Bombay that definitively declared who the Ismaili Khojas were and how he, the Aga Khan (“Saheb”) came to be their leader. There is also a mischievous local folklore reference to Gandhi`s alleged sexual peccadillo in Zanzibar en route to South Africa as recounted by Ma, the narrator`s mother-in-law.

The reader cannot but be impressed by Somjee`s brilliant eye for detail. A graphic example of this is in his description of the minutiae of domestic drudgery that was traditionally the lot of the newly married daughter-in-law, in this case Sakina, who, besides having to perform the routine tasks of cleaning and cooking (“Bride as Housemaid”), was expected to meet her husband`s conjugal demands and to generally keep the household running smoothly under the stern and watchful eye of Ma, appropriately dubbed `Mama Khelele` by the Maasai milk women who came to the back door of the house daily with their fresh produce and engaged in banter with everyone present.

Although the focus of the book is the trajectory of the Khojas, the fact that they came from the same cultural, ethnic and regional background as the other Gujarati community groups (Hindu and Moslem) who were also part of the Indo-African migrationary trail means that it is richly steeped in resonances of commonalities and shared experiences.

When, therefore, I read `Haiderali was born in Zanzibar. His father, Khimji Devji Momna, .... lived on Mla Ndege Street in the stone town ...` (p 286), as reviewer I was not surprised, though as an `insider` I felt a bit chuffed that Somjee should have chosen the name “Khimji Devji”, which also happened to be my father`s! The name recurs again more than once, later to become “Khimji Devji Momna and Son, Beads and General Store”, which, incidentally, illustrated how the pioneer migrants were able to prosper and continue their line down successive generations. In a similar vein, my father`s business, albeit of a different kind, was also after three decades transformed into “Shah Khimji Devji & Sons” exactly sixty years ago, though I myself was not one of the sons!

At this point, Somjee encapsulates the symbiotic relationship between Khoja and Maasai, between the Indian newcomer and the native inhabitant of the land, under `Storyteller of the Savannah` (Chapter 39) evocatively described by the narrator thus:

` ... the new person that I am becoming ... shaped by how I am viewed – a wife, a daughter-in-law, expectant carrier of family name and honour, a cook and servant in the house, but an adorned lady of Devji family in the jamat khana. What tells me who I am .... is the two hours on the veranda of the shop with Ole Lekakeny ... [and] the old man`s nieces ... the long milk gourds ... [t]he milk was their food while they were in town for a day or two, and for their journey to and from their homesteads. They walked three days ... stopping at homesteads of their cousins, age group friends and aunts, refilling their milk gourds. One afternoon Ole Lekakeny teaches me how to compose a Maasai bead pattern. His name, Ole Lekakeny, means dawn, for he was born when the colours of the sky were pure.`

And it goes on:

` ... There is freedom in my heart ... listening to lyrics of Ole Lekakeny explaining the emankeeki and the origin of colours and man. He reminds me so much of Dadabapa singing the Das Avatar and how God came to be fish and an animal before becoming a man. Dadabapa also told me how we came to Africa, cramped in a wooden craft ....`

How 'we came to Africa' above was an echo of Cynthia Salvadori's `We Came in Dhows` ! There is so much packed into the book`s 457 pages, including a useful glossary and heart-felt acknowledgements, but not counting the Introduction (and lacking, alas, an index or a list of contents), that it is an invidious task to summarise it all fairly. Suffice it to say that Bead Bai will serve as a most valuable contribution to the documented history not only of the Ismaili Khoja presence in East Africa but also, vicariously, of their other Gujarati counterparts. It cannot be recommended too highly.

© 2014

Opinion is a Gujarati English monthly magazine published from London for the last 14 years…Opinion is focused essentially on literary and cultural affairs of India, especially Gujarat, and those of the Gujarati Diaspora (especially from East Africa)…the title derives from Indian Opinion, the journal that Mahatma Gandhi edited in South Africa …Opinion follows committed and independent line of thinking and action…Opinion Online is a treasure house of contemporary diasporic literature…readers can write back, rate the articles and give feedback.
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