African Folk Tales

At the library today, I came across a McCall Smith book with an interesting title, ‘The girl who married a lion’. The book is a collection of short African Folk Tales from Zimbabwe and Botswane. The stories feature people and animals (which talk, of course!). As McCall Smith puts it so nicely in the introduction, the stories draw us into “a fascinating world view in which the boundaries between the animal and human worlds are indistinct and fluid”. The idea is very much along the lines of Aesop’s fables and Panchatantra stories but the stories are completely different from the ones I grew up with, featuring a totally different landscape and culture.

Of course, I had already decided to read it once I realized it had a foreword by good old Mma Ramotswe! Now, who can resist her solid recommendations? ;)

Elephants Without Borders

That's right! Elephants sans frontières!

Picture from EWB website

I really enjoyed this BBC video about elephants thriving in Botswana. I learned about two interesting things - this wonderful organization EWB, and the existence of political refugee elephants!

EWB is gathering a lot of information and learning more and more about these majestic creatures. See this Animal Planet video that suggests that elephants have very complex intellectual processes. Founder Dr.Mike Chase has a doctorate in Elephant Ecology and loves these giants with a passion.

The Okavango Macbeth

And he's back! This time Alexander McCall Smith brings us an opera, 'The Okavango Macbeth' based in Botswana.

"McCall Smith is visiting from Scotland to witness the finished version of the opera, which will run for 10 performances until 17 October and may later tour schools in Botswana. Its production – and the location – has been a labour of love for a writer who has fallen in love with the country that has provided a setting for his literary success."

Read more here.

SADC

The South African Development Community (official website here), is headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana and consists of 15 African member nations in Southern Africa.

Previously, the SADCC (Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference, SADCC), SADC works towards improvements in several broad economic and social sectors, namely, Energy, Tourism, Environment and Land Management, Water, Mining, Employment and Labour, Culture, Information and Sport and Transport and Communications. Other sectors are Finance and Investment, Human Resource Development, Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Legal Affairs and Health.

From Wiki: SADC's 15 member states are:

• Angola
• Botswana
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Mozambique
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe
• Namibia - since 31 March 1990 (since independence)
• South Africa - since 30 August 1994
• Mauritius - since 28 August 1995
• Democratic Republic of the Congo - since 8 September 1997
• Seychelles had also previously been a member of SADC from 8 September 1997 until 1 July 2004 than joined again in 2008.

Suspended

• Madagascar

Mma Ramotswe in New York

As I was walking happily with my friends in the long passage of the West 4th Street station which is lined on both sides with large advertisements, I stopped suddenly. I couldn't believe my eyes! I shouted for joy! Yay!! Imagine my excitement when I realized that Mma was going to visit my home.

Yes, Mma Ramtoswe has arrived in the US and the first episode of the BBC-HBO series will air on Sunday, March 28th, 2009 at 8PM. The trailer is fantastic and looks very promising. I'm already of the opinion that the casting is very good. I have my popcorn and throw ready and I am counting down to Sunday night.

Check out the trailer and official website for the TV show here. More on the Wiki page and the official BBC website for the show. I can't wait to say "Dumela, Mma!"

Update to Post, Post-Episode 1:


The 2-hour pilot episode is fantastic. The casting is phenomenal - they couldn't have found a better Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi or Mr. J.L.B Matekoni. I am astonished by Jill Scott's African accent. She fits the role perfectly and even manages to bring forth Mma Ramotswe's sense of humour and confidence, with a dazzling smile. Botswana is captured beautifully, particularly in the early scenes where Precious Ramotswe is still a little girl (and what a cute little girl, she is!). Much to my surprise, the TV show brought the true spirit of the books alive in an effortless manner. I loved and enjoyed every moment. Ah, the joy of hearing the words out loud... "Aye, Mma!".

Landlocked!

Of all the 44(!) landlocked countries in the world, many of which are located in Africa, I am most fascinated by Lesotho which is completely landlocked by one nation! Only San Marino and Vatican City share this rare geographic feature. What it must feel like to cross the border in any direction and end up in South Africa, I wonder!

Lesotho also has the distinction of being the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in elevation. The national language, Sesotho seems very similar to Botswana's Setswana, both of them being Bantu languages (learn more). Sesotho also seems to follow the practice of adding prefixes to a common root to form new words.

African Continent

African Continent by BenHeine

What a brilliant idea! Bravo! I found this beautiful drawing here. (Larger and better version here).

African elephants are the species of elephants in the genus Loxodonta. That sounds a lot like 'Ekadanta' (one who has one tusk), one of the many names of the Indian Elephant God, Ganesha.

And speaking of elephants, did you hear about the adorable baby Pink Elephant they found in Botswana's Okavango delta?

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!