More than a book....

Reading a book and wishing with all your heart that it was a work of fiction; hoping that the protagonist had no resemblance with anyone dead or alive... Such a feeling was a first time for me. Yesterday, after my regular dose of net and facebook, when I settled down with the book, I was pulled into a world which I never thought would exist. By 2 30 in the morning, though I was done with the book, I was still haunted by that world. And I was searching; searching for a clue which would tell me that it was a not real. What I got was a confirmation that author never felt the need to exaggerate the incidents to make it readable.


Najib, the protagonist, was a young man from north Kerala, who was struggling to make both ends meet. Married and expecting his first kid, Najib found it hard to resist the temptation of the 'Gulf dream', when an opportunity came his way. Like any typical to be 'Gulf Malayalee', he too saw the middle east as a land of opportunities; a land that would help him provide a better life to his mother, wife and kid. But the reality was starkly different. 

'Aadujeevitham' (Goat days) is a malayalam novel by Benyamin which takes us thru the life of Najib while he is in Saudi Arabia. He gets trapped there and is forced to lead the life of a slave. For three years, nine months and three days he spend as a slave, he never even once took bath, all he ate was khoboos soaked in water, only shade he had from the desert sun was that of an old cot and the goats he had to look after were his only company. All thru this period he was forced to do back breaking work and was promptly beaten up when ever his master felt him breaking any rules(using water to wash up, talking with anyone-there were hardly anyone in the first place etc) or not working hard enough. Slowly Najib identifies himself with the goats and consider himself one of them. Najib's goat days are full of harshness, suffering, humiliation and pain. But the goodness of the book lies in the way it portrays divinity.

Despite the hardships he went thru, Najib never lost faith in his God. He believed that there was a divine hand that was leading him through. And he was right!! It was proved not just once, not twice, but four times!! He realized that Allah at times even travelled inside expensive cars!!! It is the essence of the book, the message that whatever hardship you may face in your life, if you believe with all your heart that some divine force will take you through, you will be proved right!! Books like The Secret and Alchemist convey the same message, but it is only now I am convinced that it has some merit!! Aadujeevitham-a must read for anyone who loves life...


P.S:
Priyappetta Ibrahim Qadiri, ningal oru satyamanengil-satyamavatte ennu njan aadmarthamai praarthikkunnu- ningaliloode njan ente daivathine kaanunnu..!!!
(Dear Ibrahim Qadiri, if you are real (and I wish you be real), I see my god in you)