Less than half of ‘A Yellow Sun’
Here’s a passage about a desi character in Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Adichie’s rightly celebrated novel about Biafra’s brief secession from Nigeria. Adichie’s language is utilitarian, but the war, affairs and arguments over postcolonial politics are molto bene:
There was Dr. Patel, the Indian man who drank Golden Guinea beer mixed with Coke… Whenever Ugwu brought out the kola nut, Master would say, ‘Doc, you know the kola nut does not understand English,’ before going on to bless [it] in Igbo… Dr. Patel laughed each time… throwing his short legs up as if it were a joke he had never heard before… [He] always took a lobe [of the nut] and put it in his shirt pocket; Ugwu had never seen him eat one…
Odenigbo teased [Olanna] that… both Okeoma and Patel were falling in love with her… Dr. Patel told too many stories of his days at Makerere, where he cast himself as the perfectly chivalrous intellectual…
For a houseboy, Bollywood is an escape from the civil war:
… [Ugwu] would watch the new television. If he was lucky, an Indian film would be on. The large-eyed beauty of the women, the singing, the flowers, the bright colors, and the crying, were what he needed now.
Adichie’s written a novel of some complexity — I’m working my way through — and she did it at just 29. (thanks, Sapna)
on Thursday, August 28th, 2008, 4:14 am in History, Literature › 
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You missed the part where Ugwu mentions about his “bata” shoes. It is just before the bollywood bit. :)
I was wondering if you would ever make your way to this book :) People have been singing her praise for two years and I have been meaning to read this book for the same amount of time. I’m finally going to start tomorrow.
Contrary to popular belief, Bata is not Indian.
The patriotic dad in Goodness Gracious Me would undoubtedly disagree.
I have Nigerian friends who tell me that Indians are loved in Nigeria because Bollywood movies are adored. One of them said that Nigerian women love Indian men because alot of them grow up watching Hindi movies. They knew the names of all the actors from Amitabh Bhachan to modern day studs like Hrithik Roshan and John Abraham. Nigerian guys also love Indian actresses for the same reason. Also, the military dictator Sani Abacha who died of a heart attack apparently died popped full of viagra as he cavorted with Indian girls working as ‘escorts’ procured especially for him to satisfy his niche interest.
It’s not a bad book either.
It’s the same across various African nations.