I really liked the book. It made me want to close my eyes... you know. One sad thing is you can't close your eyes and read.

[Line from some scribbling I found. I wonder which book this is]

@coffeeandscribblings

በልጅነት ማንበብ በአዋቂነት ከማንበብ በጣም ይለያል።

የልጅ አንባቢ ጭንቀቱ ብዙ ነው።

ልጅ እያለሁ ቀጣዩን መጽሐፍ ከየት እንደማመጣው ይጨንቀኝ ነበር። የሚያበድሩኝ ልጆች እንዳይቀየሙኝ ቶሎ ቶሎ አንብቤ መመለስ ነበረብኝ። አለበለዚያ ቀጣዩ መጽሐፍ ከየት ይመጣል? ገንዘብ ከየት ይመጣል? ሲጀመር መጻሕፍት ቤት የት የት ነው የሚገዙት? አላውቅም።

ዘመድ ቤት ስወሰድ አይኖቼ መጻሕፍት ላይ ይንከራተታሉ። ልጆች ሲጫወቱ እኔ መሄጃ ሰዐት እስኪደርስ ቶሎ ቶሎ አነብ ነበር። ያዘኑልኝ ዘመዶቼ ውሰጂ እና አንብቢ በቃ ይሉኛል።

አክስቴ ትዝ ትለኛለች አሮጌ መጻሕፍት አይን ያጠፋሉ እያለች ታስነሳኝ ነበር።

ያላሉኝ አሉ። ጀምሬ ያልጨረስኋቸው መዐት ታሪኮች አሉ። እነሱን ይሆናል የምጽፈው እላለሁ አንዳንዴ።ፐ

ትምህርት ቤቶ፣ በምሳ ሰዐትም ቤትም እረፍት አልነበረኝም። በጣም እጓጓ ነበር ለማንበብ። አባቴ፣ ጥሩ መጽሐፍ ሲኖረኝ የሚጣፍጥ ምግብ እየጠበቀኝ ይመስለኛል ይላል። በጣም ገረመኝ። እኔም እንደዛ ነበር የማስበው። ሌላው ሌላው ሁሉ ቁምነገር መስሎ አይታየኝም ነበር።

መምህራን ይቆጡኝ ነበር። ከትምህርት ትሰንፊያለሽ። ያለእድሜሽ ትጨምቻለሽ ይሉኝ ነበር።

የክፍል ስራ በፍጥነት ሰርቼ ወደ መጽሐፍ ነው የምመለሰው። የሚቆጡኝ መምህራን ሲሆኑ በመማርያ መጽሐፍ ሸፍኜ አነብብ ነበር። አንዲት አስተማሪ ነበረችን። ትቀማኝና አንብባ ስትጨርስ ትመልስልኛለች። ቀምታኝ ፈንጠር ብላ ስታነበው እያየሁ አዝን ነበር።

በዛው ልክ ደግሞ መጻሕፍት የምታመጣልኝ አስተማሪ ነበረችኝ።

ደግሞ የሚያስጨንቁኝ መጻሕፍትም ነበሩ። አልገባ ይሉኛል። የሚያስረዳኝ አልነበረም። የምመርጠው መጽሐፍ አልነበረም። አሁን እንደዚህ ሳማርጥ ይገርመኛል። ትርጉም ምናምን አልልም። ከተገኘ ማንበብ ነው። አንዳንዱ ግራ ያጋባኛል።

የክፍል ጓደኞቼ ሁሌ አመሰግናቸዋለሁ። በተለይ ጸደንያ የምትባል አራተኛ ክፍል ከእኛ ትምህርት ቤት የወጣች ልጅ ነበረች። አባቴ አንባቢ ነው እያለች በጣም ብዙ መጻሕፍት ታመጣልኝ ነበር። አመሰግናለሁ።

ክረምት እወድ ነበር። ማን አይወድም? ግን ሰቆቃ የለም። መጻሕፍት አበዳሪ ቤቶች ይከፈታሉ። በቃ ይዘንባል። ቁጭ ብሎ መኮምኮም ነው።

እና፣ እንዲህ በልጅነቱ ያነብ የነበረ ሰው ሳገኝ እፈነጥዛለሁ። የእኔና የእህቴ አለም ብቻ ሳይሆን ሌላም የኖረበት መሆኑ ደስስስ ያሰኘኛል። አስኳል፣ ከቡስካ በስተጀርባ፣ እፎይታ፣ ምንዱባን፣ ምስኪኗ ከበርቴ ምናምን እያለ የመጻሕፍት ርዕስ ከጠራልኝ በቃ ሞትሁ።

ድጋሚ በህይወት እና በሰው ልጅ እምንንን አደርጋለሁ።

@coffeeandscribblings

Some books 😁

Book title: Kokoro 
Author: Natsume Soseki 

I have not read much Japanese literature. To be honest I have only read one book from Japan: memoirs of a geisha. A very good book by the way. 

My book club was reading contemporary Japanese this month so I ended up reading this one. 

It is awesome. 

Reading books from cultures which we normally are not very much exposed to is such a good experience. Last month I read One hundred years of solitude from Colombia and it was such an eye opener. 

Here is a piece of advice: read books from other cultures. 

The title: 
Kokoro means heart in Japanese. But not the anatomic heart. The author translates it as the ‘the thinking and feeling heart’. It is both intellectual and emotional; this ‘heart’. 

The plot: 
It follows a young unnamed university student and his friendship with a much reserved older person. Like a mentor. He calls him ‘sensei’ to mean teacher. The young man tries to understand the world through Sensei’s life and we see as things unfold. 

The book mainly revolves around the Meji restoration. As Japan opens up to western ideas and beliefs after a prolonged stay of closed policy, the older generation finds itself estranged in their own country and try to navigate the world while staying true to themselves. 

My take: 
Now this is a simple plot. Nothing big happens until the later part of the book. 

But the writer explores many relationships which are very interesting. A young educated man with his uneducated parents, a young man and an older man both intellectuals, a sick father and a husband and wife’s relationship. 

It discusses morality. Moral philosophy is such an interesting and vast thing which needs exploration and reading on its own. But Kokoro shows us morally flawed yet normal characters. There is no such thing as the big bad guy; we all are the bad guys and the ‘normal’ people turn sour when the crunch comes. Not my words. Soseki’s. (One might be interested in exploring a series called ‘The Good Place’ which does a commendable work on portrayal of moral philosophy).

We don’t notice how political decisions and states take a toll on ordinary people. Kokoro is not a political book but is a closer look on the human psyche and morality in the context of it. 

It uses simple words but it explores much. 

And the scenery! Soseki talks about gardens, cities, outskirts and beaches in such vivid explanations. 

Funny is how the characters are so condescending to women but I think it is on account of the people leaving in the era. 



Here are two quotes I liked: 

“I believe that words uttered in passion contain a greater living truth than do those words which express thoughts rationally conceived. It is blood that moves the body. Words are not meant to stir the air only: they are capable of moving greater things.”


‘You see, loneliness is the price we have to pay for being born in this modern age, so full of freedom, independence, and our own egoistical selves.” (You might want to watch Netflix’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan on further thoughts about loneliness in this era and age; soseki is just talking about his). 


Now I recommend this book proudly. There is much I haven’t discussed in fear of spoiling it. But if you have read it feel free to share your thoughts. 

I shall be reading further works by Japanese authors these days. 

@coffeeandscribblings

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3GGIQHILjR/?igsh=MXB1M241c2tmZGV3MA==



https://www.instagram.com/reel/C24InEmI0nl/?igsh=MXAwZml3ejN3c3hxYw==




https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2sHAImIL7M/?igsh=MWM4aHdhMHE4ZTBsbg==







These are reels from the exhibition I wrote about last time.

@coffeeandscribblings

በትንሿ ሀሳቤ
በትንሿ ህልሜ
በትልቅ ስቃዬ
በትልቅ ህመሜ
(በደካማ ግጥሜ)
የማስበው... እኔ...

ፈጠረን 'ምንለው...
ጊዜ እንደሌለው
ዝቅ ብሎ የሚያይበት
ምርጊት 'ሚያስብበት
ስራ እንደወጠረው...

አንቺን አየሁና...
ልክ እንደጨረቃ
ሰነፍ ጨረሮቿን (ልክ እንደሰነፍ ሰው)
ደግሞ በዝግታ
ደግሞ በቸልታ
ደግሞ ሳናስበው
ደግሞ ሳንመኘው
ወደኛ እንደምትሰድ
ሳናውቅ እንዲደላን
ሳንጾም እንድንፈስክ...

ስለት ሳላስገባ
ደጆቹን ሳልጠና
ድርብብ ድርብብ እያልሽ
ወደ እኔ እንደመጣሽ
ዳግም አስብና...

ከፍ ከፍ ይልብኛል (ፈጣሪ)
ይራቀቅብኛል
እንዴት አገኘኋት እንዴት ተሰጠችኝ
በየትኛው እግዚኦታ
በየትኛው ምህላ
ለእኔ ደረሰችኝ?
ለበረሃ ህይወቴ
መች ዘነበችልኝ?
ሳላየው
አየልኝ
ከፍ ከፍ አለብኝ


እላለሁ።

የካቲት 4/2016

(A poor translation of Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gayi as written by Prasoon Joshi)

@coffeeandscribblings

Dear all,

I was in a movie marathon; to have watched all the movies nominated for the best picture in the academy awards.

It is hardly a marathon rather than a walk as I have managed to watch only a single movie this weekend: poor things.

By the way, the awards will be on the 11th. I know awards are overrated and many creatives remain unrecognized despite their amazing works. And some movies are made just to win awards.

But… I like forming my own opinion.

Anyways…

I loved poor things.

The plot is about a woman who is brought back to life by a scientist and exploring the world. It is fascinating to see through her eyes as she learns everything and gets more color from the world. She discovers the world; outside, nature, frogs, trees, other people, sex, poverty, money, philosophy, music, sadness, anger, violence and what not.

It is inspiring in a way that we should always strive to be ourselves and stay there.

It made me think what kind of person would we be if we were not scared? If all the guilt and shame society puts on us disappears? If we see others not as anything but themselves? IF WE WERE ALL FREE?

I wonder.

Check it out. And if you have seen it please make sure to share your thoughts.

Quote (hardly): I am finding being alive fascinating.

@coffeeandscribblings

In a way, the human world is but a set of different conversations.

@coffeeandscribblings

On talking to 49 people... each for 3 minutes...

Thrilling. It is amazing how everyone shows up in the world very differently. Different accents. Different fears. Different hairs. Different clothes.
Different stories.

No two people are the same.

Not even Helen and I.

On talking to 49 people... each for 3 minutes...


Scary. Because you never know what the other one will say. You never know what someone will tell you and change the way you see things.

Someone lived in a place where you can smell the rice as it grows. I didn't even know... rice has a smell.

Someone talked about being a mother and a wife.

One has been to Accra and sold artisans work. She said Accra is as safe as Kigali.

Someone gave me a hug.

The other had been in politics to represent sportsmen more.


Many others I can’t even remember as I sit down to write.

But…

Here is a thought.

Talking to 49 people made me think about God. I revert to that whenever something profound happens to me.

And I once had asked someone I love, if I were God and you were my only creation, and I am omnipotent and living in glory, would I have come as the poor thing a human is and be born in the barn just to save you?

And I didn’t know then.

But if I had the time and the power and if I wasn’t so scared, I would want to have a personal relationship with everyone. And love them. And be dramatic  enough to be born in the barn for them.

Human beings are as ridiculously amazing as that.

Or that Dostoyevsky has gone to my head.

Mar 17,2024
@coffeeandscribblings

There is only one way to live life: to live.

Deavis Musiu
@coffeeandscribblings

This is an announcement 😁 that I have officially started writing on Loline. I had 61 blog posts on WordPress so this is not an easy transition. But my WordPress no longer allows me to share my posts. And it didn't let me grow.

Yeah... so... letting go.

Please read my new blog on Loline and subscribe.

Thank you.

@coffeeandscribblings

https://blog.lolinemag.com/article/hair-love/?utm_source=copy_link_Loza Admassu&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_copy_link

ወደየት እየሄድሁ ነበር በዚህ ሀሳብ? 😂

@coffeeandscribblings

A guide to holding hands

When to hold the hands of the people you love

Hold hands when crossing the streets.
Hold hands when just passing by.
Hold hands in greeting… and in parting.
Hold hands in sorrow.
And in joy.
Hold hands while talking about deep things like your mother.
Hold hands while discussing the weather.
Hold hands when sitting together but there is nothing to say or do.
Hold hands to say I am here but words fail you.
Hold hands to say I see you… I understand.
Hold hands to say I am still with you although I seem immersed in whatever I am doing.
Hold hands to appreciate the big things and the little things.
Hold hands when crying.
Hold hands as long as there are hands to hold.
(And consent has been given)

For there will come a time… when you won’t be able to do so.

@coffeeandscribblings

As a celebration of international books day, what are some of your favorite books?
@coffeeandscribblings