Orange For The Sunsets by Tina Athaide

In Orange For The Sunsets, the story focuses on the friendship between two tweens,  Asha Gomez who is a well off Indian Ugandan and her friend Yesofu, who is a much poorer African Ugandan.

Yesofu has received an invitation to Asha's twelfth birthday party and wanted to go but his mother reminds him that "You and Asha are from different worlds." So Yesofu doesn't attend her party at the Indian club but instead waits outside for Asha to leave so he can give her the birthday gift. But Asha refuses Yesofu's gift out of anger that he did not attend her party and made her look foolish. In her anger she breaks the bracelet, infuriating Yesofu who runs off.

After Sunday Mass the next day, Asha recovers all ten beads from Yesofu's bracelet and repairs the bracelet so she can wear it. At school she shows Yesofu the repaired bracelet and tells him it's the best birthday present she's ever received. After school at Asha's home, Yesofu tells her that the school cricket team's newly chosen captain will get to throw the first pitch at the India-Uganda cricket match. He hopes to be chosen captain.

The following Friday, Asha and the Gupta twins, Neela and Leela, are making their way to Sari House to shop for the upcoming dance at the Entebbe Club when Mr. Bhatt, the owner of Cafe Nile ushers them quickly into his shop. On India Street, what looks like a parade turns out to be a demonstration by African Ugandans in support of Idi Amin who has just made a big announcement ordering all Indian Ugandans to leave the country.

Disobeying Mr. Bhatt, Asha drags Neela and Leela into the street only to find they are caught up in the demonstration where the Africans are chanting "Indians go home." Terrified, and realizing that their lives are at risk, Asha and her friends try to get to safety. Meanwhile Yesofu and his brother Esi ride to the demonstration and meet Akello there. They are thrilled by the prospect of a brighter future, however Yesofu recognizes Asha in the crowd and that she is in trouble. Asha is saved by Yesofu's brother Esi who gets her out of the crowd on his motorcycle and takes her home.

At school when Asha tries to convince Yesofu and Akello that Idi Amin's order is wrong, she finds the African Ugandan students push back, telling her that they deserve better in their own country.  With seventy-five days to go before the deadline to leave, Asha's father wants to leave before the situation gets worse. However, her mother is convinced that things will settle down especially since Idi Amin has exempted government workers like Mr. Gomez. Asha doesn't want to leave her friends in Uganda.

Asha and her family attend the India-Uganda cricket match but the match never happens. When Idi Amin arrives, he announces to a cheering crowd that he has sent the Indian team home and that he has also revoked the exemption for professionals like Mr. Gomez. With the crowd chanting "Africa for Africans!", Asha's family and the many other Indian families flee the game in panic. Asha's father insists that they must now leave Uganda, but once again her mother refuses, insisting that this crisis will pass.

Two weeks later, Asha calls her sister Teelu in London asking her to help in convincing their father to stay. During the call, Asha discovers her parents' passports in her father's home office and decides to hide them. As the days pass and the deadline draws nearer, it becomes increasingly evident that Asha and her family cannot stay. Her friend Yesofu finds himself equally conflicted, not wanting to lose his best friend but at the same time hoping for change that will lead to a better life. Leaving will mean letting go.

Discussion

Orange For the Sunsets explores the events surrounding the  historic order by Ugandan President Idi Amin in 1972 to banish Ugandans with Asian ancestry from the country. 

Uganda, initially isolated from outside influence due to its position in Central Africa,  saw an influx of missionaries in the early 1800s. This led to conversions to Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam. The country became a British Protectorate in 1894 after years of civil war between Catholic and Protestant converts. The presence of South Asians in Uganda was the due to the British who brought in workers in for the construction of the Ugandan Railway and also to work in the civil service. By 1972 when Ugandan President Idi Amin issued his order, there were approximately eighty thousand Asian Ugandans living in the country. They were given ninety days to leave.

Idi Amin's order was essentially the ethnic cleansing of the country. Its purpose, according to Idi Amin,  was to give back to Ugandans their country. During British rule, preferential treatment was given to the South Asians they brought in from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Asian Ugandans were generally better educated and better off than African Ugandans. As a result they commonly worked in the banking and business sector and were not integrated into Ugandan society. This resulted in friction between the two ethnic groups and the growth of "Indophobia".

Idi Amin's predecessor, Milton Obote attempted to help African Ugandans through a series of laws restricting the rights of Asian Ugandans. Idi Amin's edict would mean big changes in Uganda and ultimately would result in the destruction of Uganda's economy as Asian Ugandans fled the country taking their money and expertise with them.

Orange For The Sunsets is an important novel that explores the 1972 expulsion of tens of thousands of Asian from Uganda through the dual narratives of Asha, an Indian Ugandan, and Yesofu who is African. Through these two characters, Athaide is able to effectively portray the vast disparity between the two ethnic groups in Uganda and their experiences during this difficult time in a way that is meaningful and invites young readers to thoughtful consideration.

From the very beginning of the novel, Athaide portrays the significant economic and social disparity that exists between the two main characters, Asha Gomez who is an Indian Ugandan and her best friend, Yesofu who is African Ugandan. Asha's father who is from Goa, India works in the Ministry of Tourism, arranging "special passports and visas for important dignitaries and other visiting government officials." Asha lives "in a pale yellow two-story house. Twice ...no, triple or quadruple the size..." of Yesofu's home with a "wraparound verandah". Their sitting room has "thick brocade curtains" and a "round, leather pouf" . Their Sunday lunch is followed by sweets in the sitting room. They can afford to eat kulfi or ice cream and serve their tea on a silver platter. Asha's family have African servants, including Yesofu's mother Fara who works as a housemaid and cook. Asha's older sister Teelu is studying nursing at a school in London, England.

In contrast, Yesofu whose family belongs to the Ganda tribe, lives in a two room shack, "made of wattle and daub -- woven rods and twigs plastered with clay and mud" with a grass roof. Yesofu sleeps on a woven mat and gathers branches for firewood. His mother has very little education having only complete up to primary class three and his Baba works in the fields all day. Yesofu's education is paid for by Asha's father and his dreams of college and playing professional cricket hinge entirely on a cricket scholarship.

Life is more restrictive for Yesofu and his fellow African Ugandans. Although the Indian Club where Asha has her party accepts African Ugandans, the only Africans in the club are those who serve drinks. Even at Asha's home Yesofu has had to come through the back door into her home, or stay in the kitchen if her parents were entertaining guests. And Yesofu and his friend Akello are the first African Ugandans to make his school cricket team. Even though Yesofu is an accomplished player, Rajeev, an Indian is chosen over him to be the team captain. Yesofu is only awarded the title when Rajeev reveals he will be leaving the country.

Readers will realize that Asha's family is very well off and that life holds many more opportunities for her than it does for Yesofu and his fellow African Ugandans. For Yesofu, the path to a better life is a college education but that comes at a cost he cannot afford. He is in school only because Asha's father pays his fee. Athaide's portrayal of life in the country shows how British colonial practices harmed the social and cultural fabric of Uganda and its indigenous peoples. 

Both Asha and Yesofu experience intense internal conflict over what is happening. Asha, who loves her life and Uganda, is in denial about the reality of life in her country. Her life of comfort and privilege means she doesn't understand how her being Indian means a very different way of life than that of Yesofu. Her view of the world is very simple and naïve. When Idi Amin's edict is issued, Asha is in denial, "Uganda was home. The president couldn't make her leave."  At school Asha is confronted by her African classmates including Yesofu and Akello who point out that Uganda belongs to the Africans and that the Indians merely continued taking from the country after the British left.

Asha doesn't really understand the situation in her country partly because she is well off and partly because her parents do not talk to her about what is happening. When she asks her Papa she is told "Nothing you need to worry about." This isolation from the reality of what is happening leads Asha to believe they are not at risk and that her family won't be affected. She also has a simplistic view that people need to learn to get along. For example, when Asha states that she should wear the traditional African gomesi to the Entebbe Club, her friend Leela reminds her not to forget that she is Indian. But Asha responds, "Indian. African. We're different, so what if people stopped making such a big deal of it, then it wouldn't matter so much."

It is in her classroom when the topic is brought up that Asha begins to learn more about the reality of life in Uganda. For example, Yesofu mentions that his father was refused a bank loan to buy land, Asha wonders, "Had Yesofu's dad always wanted a piece of land? How come she didn't know?"  This leads her to other questions like, "Why is Amin punishing us? Whose fault is it? Why are Indians being blamed? How come the British didn't hire Africans?"

For Yesofu, the conflict is more personal and also generates feelings of internal conflict. Upon learning that Amin has ordered the expulsion of the Indians and the possibilities this might create for Africans like himself he wonders, "The man's words turned inside of Yesofu. It wasn't just the opportunities opening up for Africans but also the bit about Indians being kicked out. Did that mean all Indians -Asha too?"  For Yesofu, the possibility of a brighter future, of his Baba being able to buy land, of attending college and having a better life lead him to support the actions of Idi Amin. He is certain his friend Asha will understand "...how the president's plan could help him and other Africans". Yesofu tries to celebrate with other members of his family and his friends, part of the Ganda tribe but "It felt like he was betraying them by not joining in, but wrong if he did."  Akello insists that the Indians must go because they don't belong in Uganda. When challenged about the morality of taking from the Indians, Akello tells Yesofu that leaving may be best for Asha. "Her Uganda is changing. It's going to be an Africa for Africans. Not an African for Indians and Africans."

However Yesofu soon finds that there is a dark side to the expulsions as he witnesses the beating of an Indian man in the street and Akello assaulting Asha for calling him a shamba boy. With many countries refusing to take in the Indian refugees, Yesofu remembers the article showing "...The angry white faces holding their signs of hate. Were Africans any different? They didn't want the Indians any more than the British did..."

It is Asha's experience in Katabi, the rural area where Yesofu lives, that ultimately helps her understand events from the African point of view. After she is rescued from the well where she fell being chased by Akello, Asha realizes she doesn't know Yesofu's life. "She'd never worked in the sugarcane fields. She'd never drawn water from a well for cooking. She'd never even had to wash her own clothes. Yesofu deserved to have everything she had or used to have. She wished she'd realized sooner how not having these things did make a difference..." When Yesofu visits her in the hospital Asha tells him that she's been selfish, not really understanding that their lives were different. "I never really thought about what your life was like outside my world."

The title of the novel is taken from the description of the colour of one of the beads from Asha's friendship bracelet that Yesofu gives her for her birthday. Esi is only able to recover four beads from the well. "Red for hibiscus flowers. Brown for sweetgrass. Blue for Lake Victoria. And orange for the sunsets."  Although only four beads remain, their friendship endures. Asha is leaving Uganda but the two friends do not say good bye but "Tautakutana tena." Or until we meet again.

Although the characters in Orange For The Sunsets are fictional, Athaide has used her family's experience in Uganda during this time and the stories told during family get-togethers to craft a realistic and informative novel.  The novel includes several informative features in the back matter including 90 Days In History: A Countdown to the Expulsion which is a timeline of the events, a detailed Author's Note with pictures from Athaide's family, a Bibliography and an Additional Resources section.

Book Details:

Orange For The Sunsets by Tina Athaide
New York: Katherine Tegen Books       2019
pp. 328

The Road from Home by David Kherdian

Veron lived a peaceful, happy life in Azizya with her family consisting of her mother and father, her younger sister,Yeghisapet, and her two younger brothers, Apkar and Harutiun. Her father Benyat Dumehjian,  was a wealthy, respected Armenian businessman who sold gum from poppies and also mohair. Veron was also blessed to have a large extended family; her Aunt Lousapere and Uncle Apraham (who was her favourite), her beloved grandma, her cousine Hrpsime, and many others.  Her days were filled with visiting her grandma, going to the Turkish baths, and playing with her sister Yeghi.

Although on the surface it seemed like the Armenians got along with the Turks, Veron knew there had been trouble between the two groups. She was too young to understand what had happened in the years before - the previous massacres in the years before she was born. One day her family learned that they were to be deported. Her mother packed and her father brought the horse-drawn wagon from his mother's home so that they could leave their home. It was 1915 and the Armenians of Azizya were being forced on a march to an unknown destination.

Through the eyes of Veron, we follow her family on its death march through Konya, Adana and onto Meskene. In Meskene, with the unrelenting rain, comes cholera and then death to many of the Armenian Christians. Eventually, almost everyone in Veron's family becomes ill with cholera and when she awakes from the illness, only Veron and her mother and father remain alive. After such tragedy, her mother, unable to cope with such terrible losses, also dies.

While waiting in Meskene, Veron's papa learns that the Turks mean to march the Armenians to Deir el Zor, a town in Syria. Her father realizes that if they go there, they will not survive, so they escape back into Turkey to a town called Birijik. Here Veron is left by her papa in the care of several Armenian "aunties". When her father dies, Veron begins working for two Turkish ladies so that she and her aunties can have money for food.

Eventually Veron travels to Aleppo to stay with relatives who plan to return to Afyon and bring her back to her grandmother in Azizya. These relatives, her father's cousin and his wife, have opened a coffee house in Aleppo and are waiting for the war (World War I) to end. However, Veron is treated more like a maid than a relative and is not allowed to attend school, something she dearly wants to do. A neighbour, Madame Markarian notices this situation and offers Veron a chance to go the Reverend Aharon's Orphanage, which she accepts. Once there, Veron who is now almost ten years old, has a somewhat settled life, making friends and taking lessons on Armenia and her heritage. She thrives at the orphanage.

Veron stays at the orphanage until she is almost twelve years old, eventually leaving with her relatives to return to Afyon. It is 1919 and for the first time in four years, Veron is reunited with her beloved grandmother. When Veron returns with her to Azizya, she finds her village much changed, like the Armenian survivors. Veron, as many of her fellow Armenians, can no longer trust the Turks, who insist they are not to blame for the mass murders and deportations.

Although the First World War is now ended, for the Armenians, war and genocide continue on. Greece occupied the city of Smyrna at the end of the war,  but they are determined to keep Smyrna which was given to them in the Treaty of Sevres in 1920. The Turkish National Army however wanted to establish a new country. They fought the Greeks, who ultimately lost in what was called the Greco-Turkish War.

The lower part of the city where Veron lived was Christian while the upper part was occupied by the Turks. But for Veron and her fellow Armenians, it means only more suffering. When the Greeks lose the war and the Armenians are driven literally to the sea by the Turkish army of Kemal Ataturk, Veron realizes her only chance at life will be to flee to Greece and the European continent. After arriving in Greece, Veron finds an unexpected offer that promises freedom, safety, and a future.

Discussion

The Road from Home tells the story of the author's mother's experience during the Armenian genocide. Told in Veron Dumehjian's voice, The Road from Home is a sanitized version of the 20th century's first genocide, the horribly successful attempt by the Ottoman Turks to eradicate all Armenians living in Turkey. Veron was the only survivor of her immediate family.

Despite the fact that this event, the genocide of Armenian Christians, is told from the viewpoint of a young girl with her innocent understanding, takes away none of the horror and repulsion at what happened. At times Veron's recounting is simple but in tune with how a young, innocent girl may well have barely understood the events happening around her. Kherdian does an excellent job of portraying the immense fortitude, courage, and perseverance of his mother, Veron, as she struggled to survival in a brutal time, while coping with the loss of so many of her family.

David Kherdian spends some time telling readers about what his mother's life was like in Azizya before the deportation and genocide. Before life is a mostly peaceful co-existence between Turks and Armenians, despite the relatively recent mass murders. The Armenians were generally well educated and cultured and contributed greatly to society in the Ottoman Empire. There are some lovely descriptions of wonderful family life that included extended family. All this was lost, through the unprovoked aggression of the Muslim Turks.

One drawback in this novel is that it was difficult to keep track of just how old Veron was as the years passed by. The chapters are labeled by years, following events chronologically as one would expect. It would also have helped if some of the events occurring in this part of the world during the time period, were explained to the reader in more depth - for example, the British blocking the ports and taking the grain to feed their troops. and the Greco-Turkish War. However, given that the narration is first person and that person is a young child, we experience these events as Veron herself likely would have - not really knowing much of what was happening.

There's an excellent author's note that provides some historical background for what happens in the book, as well as good map showing Veron's journeys through Turkey and ultimately to Greece. There are also two telling quotes at the front of the book, one of which indicates that, despite Turkey's refusal to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, the Ottoman Turks knew exactly what they were about to undertake in 1915. The fact that the international community chose to ignore the genocide and that the world collectively has a short memory for such things, later on convinced Hitler that likely no one would help the Jews should they be targeted for mass murder. He was mostly right.

This is an excellent biography that is well worth reading by those interested in the 20th century but also recommended for all of us. "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."

Book Details:
The Road From Home by David Kherdian
New York: Greenwillow Books         1979
238pp.