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Telling it in black and white

Beverley Naidoo's stories revolve around the lives of young adults born into an unjust society

FACT AND FICTION Beverley Naidoo interacting with children

"I don't know how they can call this white," said Beverley Naidoo, a writer from South Africa, holding out her palm to the seated audience. "What other colours can you see?" she asked a girl in pink and ponytails. "Blue, red, yellow... eee," said Beverley, pulling a face before breaking into a smile.

She was discussing apartheid with her audience, mostly children in the age group 4 to 16, at the reading of her books at Goodbooks Bookstore and Resource Centre. She writes fiction for children and about street children or refugees — young adults forced to make their choices. "When I was born, they used mention every baby's race in the form after seeing the skin colour. And for babies whose skin colour confused them, they would mark them as `coloured' race. I think being coloured is exciting," she said. "Why? You get to listen to so many stories from different parts of the world!"

Through her stories, the writer attempts to get the children to connect with the world. "In Journey to Jo'burg", a book that was banned in South Africa till 1991, Naledi and Tiro, two black children travel from their village to the city to find their mother. Their little sister is ill and Naledi cannot bear the thought of her sister "being lowered into a hole". The journey is an eye-opener on discrimination. Their mother minds a white child in the city. The writer pointed out to the audience how the mother's plates are kept separately from that of the employers. The readers, as children and, hopefully, still unsure about arguments for racism, comprehend the injustice effortlessly.

She did not question the bigotry till she went to university. "There, with the pocket money I got, I had to economise and take sandwiches for lunch. I am thankful because, during lunch, I made friends who challenged what was taught to me earlier. They were a group of black students who were given special `permits' to attend the `white' university." She was also deeply influenced by the Sharpeville massacre (1960), where unarmed blacks were gunned down when they were protesting the issuing of `dompas' or special passes to regulate their movement in urban areas. "We were taught that young ladies don't run. But that day even the nuns in our college ran to shut the gates for fear that the blacks would attack us. In reality, the white policemen shot at the peaceful protestors," she said.

Her book `The Other Side of Truth' is about two children who leave for London from Nigeria, where their father is an outspoken journalist during the rule of dictator General Sani Abacha. It won her the Carnegie Medal. Maya, Beverley's daughter, has co-authored her latest book, "Baba's Gift".

During the reading, she weaved in vignettes of the country's history of apartheid. With a collage of faces of people who fought against it, she pointed out to the children how people of different colours or shades were involved in the struggle. At the end of the reading, 10-year-old Pranathi went straight to the storeowner and said, "Book".

ASHA MENON

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