The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

I want to meet Mma Ramotswe.

The first book in the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series introduces Precious Ramotswe, who starts the first ever Ladies’ Detective Agency in Botswana. The idea of going to Gaborone, driving past the Kalahari, looking at the white skies and thorn trees, meeting Mma Ramotswe and having a cup of bush tea with her in her office – this has become my current-favourite-daydreaming-image. A Botswana without Mma Ramotswe seems so empty, somehow.

Precious Ramotswe is an intriguing person. She is adventurous, intelligent, strong, brave and sharp. Best of all, she has the one thing a good detective should possess – intuition. Turns out when Mma Ramotswe has a hunch, she trusts her gut and always gets good results. Mma Ramotswe is also wise and kind and I love her non-detective side. The side that loves and respects Botswana and Africa. The side that misses her father and hugs children from the orphanage to make them feel better.

The books talk a lot about Botswana. I find myself suddenly feeling very close to nation I knew almost nothing about. I have this longing to go see Botswana now, to visit Gaborone, Francistown, Mochudi and Molepolole. (The names! I love all the names!).

I also find myself very interested in Setswana. I found this little piece fascinating:

"The main tribal language and one of the two official languages of Botswana is Setswana. In Setswana prefixes are more important than they are in many other languages. Some of those prefixes are "Bo" which refers to the country, "Ba" which refers to the people, "Mo" which is one person, "Se" which is the language.

For example, the main tribe of Botswana is the Tswana people, hence the name Botswana for its country. The people as a whole are Batswana, one person is a Motswana, and the language they speak is Setswana. Lesotho, located in the middle of South Africa, is considered a sister country. It was inhabited by a cousin tribe called the Sotho, who speak a similar language. That language is called Sesotho and can be understood by anyone speaking Setswana. The country is called Lesotho because "Le" is a prefix that means "other," holding lower rank. In Botswana, foreigners, particularly white people, are called "lekoa". Africans from other countries are not referred to as Lekoa."

I just love their greetings “Dumela Mma” and “Dumela Rra” and have happily incorporated them into my daily life (Ah, the look on my colleagues' faces!). Listen to the audio files.

I even went and bought myself a pack of Rooibos 'Red Bush' Tea. I have not, however, found the courage to taste it yet; especially since Mma Ramotswe's assistant Mma Makutsi thinks the tea tastes like rats. (Eeps!). But, Gosh, Mma Ramotswe loves Bush Tea. She brews and drinks cup after cup every single day. So does her good friend, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni.

Smith shows through his characters, the true spirit of Botswana, the kindness and warmth of the people, the old Botswana ways and value system. Life in Botswana is so radically different from the life we know. I find it almost eerie, the way the Basarwa live and the rules they follow. I love the way Batswana show how tall a person is – with their palms turned upward so as to not crush the spirit of the person they are referring to. It’s terrifying how many lives are ripped apart by AIDS in Southern Africa. Smith is always talking about ‘the disease’ and how rampant it is.

What scared me the most though, is the strong presence of Muti and Muti killings in these parts. We are so far removed from witchcraft and the occult, that it’s scary to believe that people and children have to still fear and go through this, is this day and age. I read in the news, a couple of days ago about Albinos being targeted in Tanzania for similar reasons. It’s horrific and so inhuman.

There are nine books in the series so far (I'm reading the fourth and can't wait to read the rest). There is now a TV series too, co-produced by BBC and HBO. I hope to watch it once I’m done with all the books (I don’t want the actors’ faces to skew my mental images of the characters just yet). Smith has written a few other series as well. Check them out here.

Nam! Thank you SO much for gifting me the first book. I’m taking you to Botswana with me whenever I go. Ke itumetse!