Devastating tales of beautiful lives

The long, unending travails of the Palestinians, as settlers in Gaza and intermittent Israeli attacks transcend news pages and acquire the form of an intense story that is thought provoking

The Blue between Sky and Water’ is the saga of lives in Palestine shaped by the political developments around them, languishing in the aftermath of continued onslaught, of apartheid, terror and uncertainty, yet surviving, loving and living by creating their own world within the larger world.

It is the tale of Palestine, the beautiful land of bounty that is reduced to a strife- ridden settlement and the world’s largest open prison Gaza, that survived on supplies brought in through secret tunnels and of people with resilience that knows no bounds, and whose faith in supernatural, supersedes the harsh realities.

The author Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian, born to refugee parents, was forced to live with different family members to be taken care of, before being sent to foster homes in the US at the age of 13. She lived in the US since then and visited Palestine in 2000 and in her own words, calls it reawakening that later influenced her political activism, vocal opposition of Israel and her NGO, Playgrounds for Palestine.

In a way, the book seems autobiographical, as Nur, one of the principal characters, has an uncanny resemblance in her experiences to Abulhawa. And why not, she is after all the product of strife, and has been equally, if not more, affected by the turbulences of the land.

What sets this life drama apart is the gripping tale that cannot get more closer to real-life happenings, aided by narrative through the voice of Khaled, a kid who walks in and out of reality and fantasy, and whose presence is felt throughout the story of three generations, bringing in an element of intrigue.

Nazmiyeh the eldest daughter of Um Mamdouh, a widow who saw things that other’s couldn’t, was witness to the destruction that befell her picturesque village Beit Daras after the war. While she, her husband and brother manage to escape the Israelis, she loses her mother and sister, the one with the mismatched eyes, Miriam, who often spoke of her invisible friend Khaled. The story of Nazmiyeh never pauses as she gets on with her life, giving birth to children, only in the hope that her sister Miriam will be reborn.

Her brother moves to the US, and his life is almost detached from the rest of his people until he decides to come back to Palestine and bring along his granddaughter. However, it is only when Nur is all grown up, by a quirk of fate that Nur manages to come to her people. The story of Nazmiyeh and Nur is irrevocably entwined with Palestine, Gaza and the politics of the land. And it is indeed a work of art the way Abulhawa related the gripping and grim story of the land through the lives of its people.

By:Rajeshwari Kalyanam