Friday 22 April 2022

Rice

 


R is for…Read

 

Remind me again where I am…many thousands of miles from India, many thousands of miles from Africa, a country and indeed a continent I have never visited. Yet in many ways this place feels like I've been here before, feels like a throwback to 1970’s Africa, the same narrow roads and low rise buildings, a small town feel, courteous drivers giving each other the right of way. Sudden stockouts in supermarkets, basic health infrastructure, low hills on the horizon everywhere one goes. Very similar if one discounts the presence of the sea. And of course, the internet (which is erratic, at least in the hotel).

 

I mentioned this in passing to my husband and he, who has not one single sentimental or nostalgic bone in his body, casually replied, “That’s how you feel about every place we go, everything is Africa.” It made me laugh out loud. Well, can I help it if Africa is so rich and beautiful that once you’ve lived there as a child, it becomes the benchmark for every other place you’ll ever experience? The prism through which you view and review every element of your life?


Low hills on the horizon...the Nausori Highlands...
visible everywhere in Nadi.
 

On reflection though, it’s true what he said – I felt the same way about Bahrain when I first moved there. The same hibiscus and bougainvillea splashed buildings, perfect strangers greeting me in public spaces, holding doors open for me without knowing me from Adam. The desert climate, the strong sunlight, the sandy soils, the mesquite trees, the less urbanised, laidback  yet tight-knit community lifestyle – all of that felt at once familiar and reassuring. I settled in without any problems. By that reckoning, Fiji should also be a breeze.

 

Except that in Bahrain hubby had travelled ahead of me, so I had gone from the airport to a functional home. I had sent on a small carton of books, so I had reading material sorted to some extent. Bahrain those days had few bookshops and availability of books was an issue – that too was a throwback to small town Africa of my childhood. I figured out that in time.  Subscriptions   to magazines and trips to Dubai, India, Europe – the holidays and home leave were major opportunities for book shopping, utilised to the hilt. By the time I left Bahrain 25 years later there was a Virgin Megastore.  And Amazon had meanwhile transformed the dynamics of the whole book distribution market worldwide.

 

Bahrain, despite having a population roughly double that of Fiji, is tiny geographically – all the bookshops were located within half an hour’s drive, as we lived in the capital. Also, Bahrain’s per capita GDP is nearly 5 times that of Fiji, that has a direct bearing on the shopping options available in any market.  So, Fiji is much larger and poorer (btw, still way richer than India’s per capita GDP.)  The capital, Suva, is a half an hour’s flight and half a day’s driving from where we are. And Suva, very logically, is where the large bookshops are. Religion seems to play a huge role in the Fijian lifestyle, more than half the population is Methodist, and the few bookshops nearby are dedicated to Christian spiritual books.

 

Narrow roads and a high level of road courtesy...this is the
Queens Road connecting Lautoka to Sigatoka.

Books do NOT make for travelling light, forgive me if I’ve bored you with this before, they gobble up the baggage allowance something crazy. This time, between the two of us, we’ve got exactly five books, three of them picked up as we travelled through the airports. I’ve already finished the ones I got. I’m not sure what I am going to do about fresh reading material.

 

But this too is reminiscent of my childhood relocations, learning to navigate places with meagre book supplies. In Maiduguri, parents got me children’s magazine subscriptions from India, they reached me by sea mail months after they came out. My father, whenever he went on work trips to the larger cities, would pick up books for me as well as himself.  In Bauchi, growing into my teens, we would make occasional trips to Jos, 80 miles away,  for some difficult-to-get item such as a sewing machine or music system, and that would be combined with bookstore visits. And of course, I borrowed the daylights out of whatever books my friends had and from the school library and from my parents’ friends, and in turn they borrowed from me.

 

I'd have to travel on this road...for nearly 200 kms
before I can get to a large bookstore...

I was a relentless book hunter and reader those days, my passion for reading burns lower and more selectively now. Nevertheless, books are a required staple just as Basmati rice is. I’ve figured the rice bit out already, no doubt I’ll be able to figure the others too with time. Maybe I can get them shipped over from Australia or NZ? At any rate, going bookstore spotting is one of my favourite things!







A-Z Challenge 2022

9 comments:

  1. Books are an essential in my world. I hope you find a way to diminish the shortage - and am sure you will.
    And, if necessary I would be happy to send some to you from Australia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is so kind of you! Thank you so much! I will let you know the results of the bookstore spotting trips :)

      Delete
  2. Hari om
    Living in Benin City, which had an actual library, lack of books was not one of my challenges! As a bibliophile, I once had what might be termed a library of my own. I finally managed to release that vice. In the next move, I hope to cut what remains down to no more than two shelves and only items that I pick up to view regularly. I have discovered the freedom, ease, (and low cost) of ebooks. And Audiobooks... YAM xx
    S=Schism

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've always had a few hundred books accumulate around me, and most have moved everywhere with me wherever I have gone. This is the first time I have moved bookless, so to speak.
      I've tried kindle and I will use one from time to time if I have to, but I need the fix of paper books, the smell and feel and turn of page...

      Delete
  3. I have discovered the ease of the kindle. Trying to downsize my book collection to what I actually will read again one day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am wholly unable to downsize my collection. My father's books too - they are in my parental home and I just don't know how to give them away, do anything with them without having a total meltdown.

      Delete
  4. Hi Nila - an interesting 'R' for Read ... and books, and all reading matter - I must say I can't get into reading serious books on the internet or the Kindle ... I can manage the odd novel - but I still need the feel of that paper book.

    Yes 'our home country' digs into one's heart forever ... I love England (that which I see!) (our history) ... but also Africa you can't take that away, nor west Canada ...I've had books since I had my own place, our childhood ones went with my mother ...

    I wonder about shipping costs to Fiji ... I'm sure you'll find someone with books, who'll be prepared to lend them to you. I hope Suva comes up trumps for at least one decent book store ... perhaps the University or Museums are good places ...

    I'm looking forward to finding out more from you as time goes ... all the best for now - cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm totally with you, Hilary! I don't like reading on kindle and certainly I can't read on the mobile. I will read on screens if I have to, but I infinitely prefer proper paper books.

      From what I know of islands living in Bahrain, shipping costs are prohibitive...but Bahrain I could just pop into the local bookstores are ask them to get books w/o any extra charges if I was prepared to wait.
      Here the difference is Amazon Australia is closer to Fiji than Amazon UK is to Bahrain...so we'll have to wait and see. But first I must check what's available locally...

      Delete
  5. Books and reading bring calm and order to life. Good luck on your bookstore searches and perhaps a library?

    ReplyDelete