Victory City by Salman Rushdie

 

“The poisoner usually ends up drinking the poison himself. Just something for you to think about.” A quote from Victory City, a novel by Salman Rushdie.

   I think this novel will become a literary classic. I am thankful for this masterpiece nourished by the study of history and myth, molded by the artistry and prowess of an author with insightful perspectives. Rushdie’s imagination and inventiveness stretch beyond the limits of history, gifting us a novel whose originality is something I cannot  compare with anything I’ve read before.

 It is not only its literary beauty what makes it sublime and original. The novel illuminates every aspect of human nature and evinces how the strengths and flaws of it shape the fate of societies and human lives. I think these forces will also determine the destiny of humanity and life on earth, so this book is expansive in its nature. It is a wellspring of allegories that mirror the conflicts and challenges of our modern societies. It is a reminder of how the destructive forces of human nature—greed, envy, rage, lust-- have the potential to lead to our self-destruction if they are left unchecked.

  On the last day of her long life, poetess and prophetess Pampa Kampana completed her immense poem about the story of Victory City in Sanskrit, then buried it in a clay pot sealed with wax. The story and all its secrets were unearthed four and a half centuries later. It is retold in plainer language by the narrator, who is “neither a scholar nor a poet but merely a spinner of yarns, and who offers this version for the simple entertainment and possible edification of today’s readers, the old and the young, the educated and the not so educated, those in search of wisdom and those amused by folly, northerners and southerners, followers of different gods and of no gods, the broad-minded and the narrow-minded, men and women and members of the genders beyond and in between, scions of the nobility and rank commoners, good people and rogues, charlatans and foreigners, humble sages and egotistical fools.”

  The best and the worst features of humanity bubble up on the pages of Victory City. Pampa Kampana was a little girl when she witnessed the burning of the women of a defeated kingdom. Most of them were widows. Her mother also surrendered her life to the flames.

“Gravely, without making any complaint, they said farewell to one another and walked forward without flinching. Nor were there any screams when their flesh caught fire and the stink of death filled the air.”

  Pampa Kampana felt the universe was sending her a message. She would turn her face toward life instead. “She would not sacrifice her body merely to follow dead men into the afterworld. She would refuse to die young and live, instead, to be impossibly, defiantly old. It was at this point that she received the celestial blessing that would change everything…”

 Pampa Kampana was endowed with special talents and gifts. The goddess within her spoke to her.

“You will fight to make sure that no more women are ever burned in this fashion, and that men start considering women in new ways, and you will live just long enough to witness both your success and your failure, to see it all and tell its story, even though once you have finished telling it you will die immediately and nobody will remember you for four hundred and fifty years.” Pampa Kampana would strive to give women equal agency in a patriarchal world.

 Pampa Kampana lived for 247 years and here’s her story: an enchanting novel of love, adventure and politics. How did Salman Rushdie manage to offer a surprise on every page? How did he create such a masterpiece? It is hard to describe the wisdom and grace that unfold through this magical story, so embark on the enigmatic journey and explore the messages it conveys.

   When Salman Rushdie received the Freedom to Publish Award last year, he urged people to stand up to intolerance and support the freedom to read. Let’s reflect for a moment on the freedom to read the books we choose. Let’s remind readers of their right to read.

  The freedom to read books in the United States of America is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Have you ever paused to meditate on what it means to ban books? The act of banning books curtails the rights of both readers and writers. The act of banning or restricting books also implies that it is acceptable to silence a group of people, to violate their right to free expression. It makes no sense in a democracy. It is a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. If there are people out there who do not like a specific book, they can use their freedom to read it and express their views on it, but they do not have the right to ban it.

   There is a political party in America that follows the playbook of Vladimir Putin. Let’s be clear here. The choice to read or not to read a book is personal, and nobody should be forcing others to make that choice. The people who advocate for book bans claim that they want to make decisions on what their children can read. This is not true. What they want is to impose their own censorship on other families. If they do not want their children to have access to a book, they should have a conversation with their own children, but they should have no authority over other children’s choices. Claiming to support freedom while supporting the act of banning or restricting books in public libraries indicates an Orwellian pattern of behavior. It is the clear sign of a fascist ideology. This is wrong on many levels, but, first and foremost, it is a violation of the First Amendment.

  My Writing Life blog supports democratic principles, promotes the freedom to read books and stands against hate.

 

 

Supplementary links:

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-anti-lgbtq-campaign-echoes-putin-playbook-experts-1806093

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240430-russia-s-book-police-anti-gay-law-opens-ugly-new-chapter

 

 https://apnews.com/article/salman-rushdie-public-appearance-freedom-of-speech-02d429629e1daee57a49b53995ef71c5

https://pen.org/report/book-bans-pressure-to-censor/

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/kids-action/articles/we-support-the-freedom-to-read

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-book-burnings-recurring-symbol

 

https://www.salon.com/2023/12/27/congressman-traveled-to-uganda-to-support-anti-lgbtq-penalty-law_partner/

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-01-10/capitol-insurrection-iran-hostage-crisis

 

Birding to Change the World by Trish O'Kane

 

 Trish O’Kane did not know that her excitement for her new teaching job at the University of Loyola in New Orleans would dissolve into an unexpected life-transforming tragedy: she and her partner lost their new home to hurricane Katrina a few weeks after moving there. 

  As a journalist and writer Trish O’Kane had risked her life working in Guatemala, investigating massacres perpetrated by the Guatemalan military. On several occasions she’d had to run to save her own life. She had also worked in Alabama as an advocate for human rights and social justice and had taught writing in a women’s prison. Driven by her passionate nature to teach journalism and writing at Loyola University, she moved to New Orleans. What she did not know after losing her home to Hurricane Katrina was that her grief would awaken her to a new kind of awareness. Trish fell in love with birds, and the birds taught her how the environment is deeply intertwined with matters of social justice. The birds became her teachers, and her new appreciation for birds led her to search a new path in her career. 

  It is important to remember that 1,390 people lost their lives as a result of this devastating hurricane. Before it happened, however, people did not believe how destructive it would be. Yet the birds had given their warning. 

 “In retrospect, I’ve realized that one thing was different that day. The birds. They were so loud. Birds are usually quieter at noon. But that day there was a cacophony, especially of gulls, whirling and shrieking.

“Seventeen years after I stood on that levee, scientists know there are certain signals that fire up an avian news network (ANN), particularly changes in atmospheric pressure.”

  Infrasound is another signal that triggers an avian news network. The low-frequency ground-transmitted waves produced by volcanoes, earthquakes, waterfalls, storm systems, and tsunamis. Many birds can hear it.

 How can I describe this spellbinding book? When I fall in love with a book I am speechless at first, but then my words flow gently, like a symphony of birds merging with the harmony of a waterfall on an exquisite morning filled with the sweet scents of pine trees and flowers.

 I feel so thankful for this unique read. Birding to Change the World shows how enthusiasm and passion can create ripples of positive changes that have the potential to expand beyond the borders of a park and a city as long as one cares to pay attention. Birding to Change the World is about the inspiring power of community. It shows how people can come together when they genuinely care about something and are committed to work through their disagreements.

  Trish's book is about human beings enduring personal tragedies and finding healing in Nature. It is about cooperation and connections that enable people of all ages to discover the talents in themselves and in Nature. It is about the transforming power of communication and about seeking ways of creating constructive solutions to grow, learn and thrive together.

 Once I started reading Trish’s book I could not put it down. I learned about it from a book blog, and I requested it from my amazing local library because I knew I had to read it. My intuition was correct. Birding to Change the World made my heart sing, dance and soar.

  When Trish O’ Kane moved to Madison, Wisconsin, to pursue an environmental studies PhD, Warner Park became her haven. The park teems with wildlife and Trish played a unique role in supporting the community of people and animals in their journey of discoveries. The experience became an adventure that led to unforgettable undertakings and actions to protect that haven. Trish’s zest to understand and protect Warner Park created an opportunity that drew people of different backgrounds together to protect the trees, the wetlands and wildlife, and, in saving the Warner Park, people saved themselves.

  As birds cross human borders, they remind us that we all live in the same planet. I was mesmerized to learn that cliff swallows migrate from Warner Park to places in Argentina and Brazil, and then they return to Warner Park the following spring. One cliff swallow eats up to one thousand mosquitoes per day.

Warner Park is also “a major feeding station for migrating birds passing through, birds coming from much farther north heading south in the fall and passing through again in the spring.”

Bird migration is not an easy endeavor. Fifty percent of the birds die during their migration.

 “Long-distance migratory birds coming through Warner Park may have been making this epic journey from Latin America to the United States and Canada for at least 10,000 years. But in the last century, our species has turned their flight routes into death-defying obstacle courses. Ornithologists have known for decades that strong lights can confuse birds’ navigation systems. The lights of buildings and cell towers lure them to their deaths either by collision or exhaustion, since they circle around the lights for hours until they drop.” I wrote about this issue when I reviewed the book The Darkness Manifesto, so feel free to read my post.

 Massive die-offs happen across the United States and Canada when skyscrapers and buildings are lit up throughout the night. “According to NYC Audubon, collisions with lighted buildings (especially with windows) kill at least 600 million birds a year in the United States of America; 230,000 of those happen in New York city.”

 

 Trish O’Kane examines the healing power of birds and nature by exploring current research and by sharing the amazing life stories of people. According to Daniel Cox, a lead researcher, “Birds around the home, and nature in general, show great promise in preventative health care, making cities healthier, happy places to live. This is why English hospitals and clinics now partner with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to offer bird walks to recovering patients.”

 Today we celebrate the Fourth of July, so Happy Independence Day to my readers in America. As I brace myself to protect my furry friends from the unpleasant sounds of fireworks, I take this opportunity to inspire my readers to celebrate in ways that align with life instead of death. Fireworks may have been a tradition for a long time, but as the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson has taught us, following traditions blindly can be a selfish, cruel action. I can do my best to protect my furry friends, but I cannot do anything for wildlife. I cannot stop the panic of the veterans who suffer from PTSD. The noises of fireworks can trigger terrifying emotions. 

 I prefer to celebrate the Fourth of July by honoring the life that surrounds me. ( I’ve never welcomed or appreciated the destructive power of fireworks).

 There is a whole chapter about fireworks in Birding to Change the World, and I want to share some important pieces of information here:

 “A 2015 study of 133 firework shows and 88 avian species, primarily in Germany and the United States, determined that birds do not adapt to fireworks. Some birds abandon nesting areas. Some species suffer significant physical stress and even die of fright. Many species panic and flee. Young birds that have not learned to fly become easy prey, have accidents or get lost completely. Fireworks increase the risk of mortality for individual birds, and, thus, the death rate of the bird population.”

 The use of fireworks also produces carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which pollute the air and worsen climate change. Fireworks pollute the environment with microplastics and various heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and barium in addition to toxic chemicals like perchlorate, which is found in both munitions and fireworks. These toxic chemicals and heavy metals persist in the environment, affecting human health and harming wildlife. Who wants our drinking water, air and soil to be polluted with these toxic chemicals? I am sure you will agree with me that it is wiser to choose patriotic forms of entertainment to support our community and country.

 Perchlorate, for example, damages the brain of babies even before they are born. Under the Trump administration, the regulation to limit the levels of perchlorate in drinking water was rolled back. Thankfully, the regulation was put back in place in May, 2023 under Joe Biden’s presidency.

 Being patriotic also means being well informed and making good decisions to support one’s health and the health of one’s community. Hopefully, My Writing Life blog has inspired you to do that.

  Happy Reading!

 

 Here's an important article on the ways climate change affects the quality of our drinking water, and about the need to address this critical issue:

https://indianapublicmedia.org/news/climate-change-can-worsen-your-drinking-water-quality-the-checkup.php