`Dhulma

In the streets of Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, the lives of three young people—Badar, Karim, and Fauzia—are shaped by unpredictable events. Badar, a poor young man with neither roots nor education, finds himself in the world of the wealthy and powerful. As a servant, luck changes for him when he meets Karim, the ambitious son of the madam he serves, has big dreams and expectations. At the same time, Fauzia, still weighed down by a complex childhood, is searching to rise, silently.

These young people, with different dreams but intertwined fates, go through a journey of love, labour, and parenthood, while their friendship is tested by greed, fear, economic and technological changes, and ultimately—betrayal. Is our destiny bond to the status we are born into, or can we rewrite it? Indeed, this narrative takes us on a journey through the lives of those seeking their place in a rapidly changing, ruthless world, indifferent to where we come from.

Katika mitaa ya Zanzibar na Dar es Salaam, maisha ya vijana watatu-Badar, Karim, na Fauzia-yanasukwa na matukio yasiyotabirika. Badar, kijana maskini asiye na mizizi wala elimu, anajikuta katika dunia ya watu wenye mamlaka na mali. Akiwa mtumishi, bahati inampiga mawimbi anapokutana na Karim-kijana wa mama mwenye nyumba, mwenye ndoto na matarajio makubwa. Wakati huo huo, Fauzia, bado akiwa kaelemewa na changamoto za utotoni, anatafuta njia ya kujinasua.

Vijana hawa wenye njozi tofauti lakini mustakabali uliofungamana, wanapita kwenye safari ya mapenzi, kazi na uzazi, huku urafiki wao ukijaribiwa na tamaa, hofu, mabadiliko ya kiuchumi na teknolojia na hatimaye-usaliti. Je, hatima yetu huamuliwa na hadhi ya kuzaliwa kwetu, au tunaweza kuiandika upya? Hakika simulizi hii inatupeleka kwenye safari ya maisha ya wale wanaotafuta nafasi yao katika ulimwengu unaobadilika haraka, usio na huruma na wenye dhulma bila kujali walipotoka.

Hii ni Tafsiri ya Riwaya ya Kwanza ya Abdulrazak Gurnah baada ya kutunukiwa Tuzo ya Nobel ya Fashi ya mwaka 2021.

Dkt. Ida Hadjivayanis ni Mhadhiri Mwandamizi wa Masomo ya Kiswahili SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies) Chuo Kikuu cha London. Hii ni tafsiri yake ya pili kwa riwaya za Abdulrazak Gurnah ikitanguliwa na riwaya ya Peponi.