K is for Kora...and...Kose

is for

Here's a favourite track of mine, take a listen - melody ring any bells? This track was part of the Windows Vista package…Habib Koite is from a Malian griot family and is one of Africa’s most recognised contemporary musicians.   

Find out more about him on his website and listen to more Malian music as you read along...

There are way too many star musicians for this entry, not all of them from Mali – Salif Keita, Bassekou Kouyate, Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti, explore their music by clicking on the names.

Kora - First off, as promised, I need to tell you about the Kora. The Kora is a 21-string West African, specifically Malian, musical instrument, a sort of harp-lute, it has a large calabash cut into half, with a cowhide-cover for the resonator. And a long hardwood neck and two bridges, and is played with both hands, the right gets to play 10 strings and the left 11 – and the sounds are like a super-beautiful version of harp and guitar. Traditionally the kora is restricted to the griot families; the playing of it is also handed down generationally just like the other functions of the griots. It’s a very old instrument, Ibn Battuta came across the Malians playing kora in the 14^th century in his travels. It continues to inspire Malian musicians and music from then to now. Listen below to a solo instrumental played by maestro musician Mamadou Diabate. 

Kose  - What childhood memories are worth anything if they do not include food?! Kose, variously called Koose, Kosayi and Akara, are black-eyed bean fritters, commonly eaten as a breakfast food and snack all through West Africa. You will find Kose being fried at every street corner in Nigeria, the West African counterpart to the Middle Eastern Falafel/Tamiya. This recipe has travelled to the Americas with the Africans who were taken as slaves there. It is known as Acaraje in Brazil.

My secondary school was residential, most government secondary schools were then. The expat government employees were permitted to send their children in as day-scholars as part of their package, we didn’t get any meals or dorm space, only the classroom facilities. My school served Kose weekly on Wednesdays to the students for the morning break. Because I was completely nuts about Kose, my classmates would save some of their share and bring them from the dining room for me, yum! I don’t know if I thanked them adequately then, so I am doing it now. If any of you happen to be reading a big, fat thank you!

Kola nut - Kola nut is the fruit of the indigenous kola tree, and kola is part of the culture and religion in many West African countries.

Sometime before my father relocated to Nigeria in the 70’s, we visited the First Secretary of the Nigerian High Commission in Delhi. During the visit, I remember the gentleman offered my parents kola nuts to chew. My mother, who at that time was a user of the traditional Indian aromatic chewing tobacco and betel, was majorly intrigued. Kola chewing leaves the same sort of stains on the teeth as betel leaves do. It contains theobromine and caffeine, it’s a stimulant, and carries the same sort of benefits/risks. And just like tea/coffee and the betel leaf, the use of kola goes back deep, deep into antiquity.

Kola is considered sacred in West Africa. It is offered to visitors as a mark of respect and hospitality. The breaking of kola for a visitor is a tradition that honours him. Custom dictates that the oldest male blesses the kola nut and the youngest man then breaks and offers it around. Kola is also part of religious ceremonies and offerings of the nuts are made to ancestors who have passed on. The offering, breaking and chewing of kola nuts marks most social occasions like births, weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals and any social gathering.

He who brings kola, brings life. ~ Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart.

From the Safaris

~ Thank you for watching! ~

Books n Stuff

Ahmadou Kourouma (1927-2003) – was an Ivorian Francophone writer, novelist and playwright, largely unknown to the English speaking public. However, his books notched up sales in excess of hundreds of thousands in France. He was possibly the best known writer from Africa in that country. He wrote less than half dozen novels, was awarded 18 times and was called the ‘African Voltaire.’ He spent a large chunk of his writing life in exile and at odds with his own government. His first break in publication came from Canada and not France, because French publishers did not like his free and easy ways with their language as Kourouma interlaced his writing with uniquely Malinke speech patterns and imagery. Ivorian authorities had no love for him because he did not buy into the idea of one-party rule. Consequently, censorship, conflict and exile inform much of his writing.

I hadn’t even heard of this writer because I don’t really keep tabs on French books, you know? (I mean, I get out of breath clocking the English and Bengali ones I want to read...sigh) At Kourouma's death only two of his books were available in translation, subsequently more have become available. I only got to know of him randomly, while researching this A-Z, another humdrum yet completely extraordinary way in which the Challenge benefits me! I came across a review of his Allah Is Not Obliged, not just the title is intriguing, but the subject itself is mind blowing. Definitely another one for the TBR. Read that review here and more about Kourouma here.

Mazisi Kunene (1930-2006) – was a South African poet, academic and critic, his work reflects the traditions of Zulu poetry. He was exiled from SA during the apartheid era and taught at US universities till his return in the 90’s after the regime was abolished. He was awarded multiple times and named the Poet Laureate of Africa by UNESCO. Here is an excerpt from one of his poems - 

The Echoes

Over the vast summer hills

I shall commission the summer sun

To fetch you with her long tilted rays,

The slow heave of the valleys

Will once again roll the hymns of accompaniment 

Scattering the glitter of the milky way over the bare fields.

You will meet me

Underneath the shadow of the timeless earth

Where I lie weaving the seasons....

(from The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry) 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2018