In the Sea there are Crocodiles

Test of human nature

Name of the book: In the Sea there are Crocodiles

Author: Fabio Geda

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 211

Price: Rs 499

T his is a story of a 10-year-old boy’s travails. He journeys from his home in Afghanistan to Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece and finally to Italy. It is an 11-year odyssey with many twists and turns and relates of his experiences, exploitation and the cruelties and heartlessness that the boy had to undergo before he attains freedom in Italy. In between, there are also acts of kindness and humanity that helped him through all the hard times and situations of hopelessness, deprivation, hunger and death.

The story begins with the boy, Enaiatollah Akbari, being taken by his mother from his home in Afghanistan to Pakistan. His father was killed by ganglords who threaten to kill him as well if the family did not do their bidding. Enaiatollah’s mother leaves him with three pieces of advice. He finds work at the inn where he stayed. This helped him tide over the initial days.

After some time he looks for a way of bettering his means as a small trader, makes new friends and grows bigger, and decides to go to Iran to do better. He suffers many hardships and is twice repatriated to Afghanistan. He then goes to Turkey. Here things are not too good either and he undertakes a rather precarious journey to Greece, followed by a very risky sea journey by boat and finally gets to Italy. Some helpful locals give him food and sustenance, and he finally gets asylum. Enaiatollah then tries to better himself through education. He is now a 21-year-old man, who finally manages to contact his mother, who has managed to move to Pakistan with the rest of his family. The story ends with the promise of a reunion.

Enaiatollah narrates his story to Fabio Geda, who recorded it and brought out the book originally in Italian. This is a translation by Howard Curtis. The English version has thus gone through two levels of recording.

The book is nevertheless absorbing. It brings the worst in human nature – torture, cruelty, oppression of the weak and helpless and exploitation to the point of blackmail. There are also remarkable acts of kindness and compassion. Enaiatollah experiences all these. He surmounts all the trials and comes out triumphant. It is a remarkable story of immense human courage and indomitable will in adversity, which grips the attention from the beginning to the very end.

H.W.T. SYIEM

Published on November 25, 2011