Memory, a whip in calloused hands
Lying pale, against a backdrop of starched, white sheets, a tube prying open your mouth, reaching into your throat, fetching you a little more life. ‘But her blood pressure,’ ’After this pint of blood we’ll know’, ‘Maybe she’ll be fine’, ’Ma, moenie bang wees nie. Ek is hier,’ ‘Kidney function’, ‘Take her home!’, ‘Adrenalin,’ ‘She’s stable’, ’A death in dignity,’ ‘Pulse’, ‘She’s 85,’ - It’s the monitors behind you keeping...
Read MoreBefore I forget #1
Our fathers were friends. We became friends and together we whiled our childhood away. They were days of wishing our fathers owned CNA, just so we could have every Sweet Valley book we wanted. Only Aaliya was smart enough to swear by Nancy Drew instead. Of Friday afternoon street cricket with Vijay. Vijay, the Hong Konger who spoke with a London twang and walked with an irreverent swagger but never minded a bunch of kids haranguing him to stay for cricket. Of Friday nights, the four of us, Sulaiman, Ragiema, Aadila and Nabila packed into the back seat of my dad’s car, giggling and...
Read MoreTravel Diary: A fortnight in Saudi Arabia
1 April 2010 I am on board a Saudi Arabian airlines flight to Jeddah. It’s been five, long years since I touched my forehead to hallowed ground. While the churlish brat sitting behind me constantly kicks my seat and the woman sitting beside me, a nurse from Bloemfontein working at King Faisel Hospital has not volunteered more than those words, I am happy. In a little while, I will see the lights of Jeddah twinkling beneath me, I will be home. Labbaik. 2 April 2010 I was hardly in Jeddah above an hour before my passport was confiscated. We were whisked through immigration, no questions...
Read MoreNo.
I want to explain. I’ve never meant to be callous. I want to spare your feelings.Somehow I knew this was coming. It’s the way you spoke to me. I tried dissuading you. I ignored your messages. I hoped you’d realise that I was not with you that way inclined. If I could redirect your question to someone who would readily accept… You say to forgive you if you are out of line. I respect you for asking. I do. My vanity is not flattered in refusing you. But I could never possibly… No. I can’t. I won’t. I just can’t. It’s just a word. Monosyllabic. A shake of the head. Thank you...
Read MoreTo have a friend you need first to be a friend
‘To feel completely alone and isolated leads to mental disintegration just as physical starvation leads to death. This relatedness to others is not identical with physical contact. An individual may be alone in a physical sense for many years and yet he may be related to ideas, values, or at least social patterns that give him a feeling of communion and “belonging”. On the other hand, he may live among people and yet be overcome with an utter feeling of isolation…’ Erich Fromm Yesterday: I walked through soft rain, so soft it was soundless, but not so weak that it was momentary,...
Read MoreFor Sheroug, 20 bits of nonsense
Even as the most prolific bloggers among us question the friendships the blogs have spawned, there remain certain friendships which ill deserve time under the harsh light of doubt. One among the vast number of friends I’m grateful to have made through blogging is Sheroug of 8bits of cofee fame. This is in honor of Sheroug, who a few days ago, said her I dos. For Sheroug, who held firm on what she wanted and had the backbone to stand up for it, you are a harbinger of hope for everybody struggling to piece together the courage to want something more than what the present dishes out. ...
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