Month: May 2020

Sharon Bala’s The Boat People

Let me begin by saying that when this book was among the five shortlisted for Canada Reads in 2018, I was ALL in. I bought it and expectantly looked forward to reading it. I wanted to love it two years ago, and I still wanted to love it when I excitedly picked it off my bookshelf a few weeks ago. Except, I did not.

It was not all bad news though, so let me begin with:

What I did enjoy AbOUt this book:

  1. The history. Bala takes a very important moment in history (really only 10 years ago when you think about it) and engraves it into the public conscious with this book. The arrival of a cargo ship full of Sri Lankan asylum seekers on the coast of British Columbia in the summer of 2010, is the perfect backdrop for a narrative that shakes the makeup of what it means to be human and survive in a world dogged by cruelty, personal agendas, the preservation of the status quo and sheer selfishness.
  2. The moral dilemma. Characters present with moral dilemmas in this story, and sometimes, when these conflicts are thoroughly explored, they are gripping, poignant and heart-tugging. They are relatable. Bala takes me on a journey sometimes where I get a privileged insider’s look into the mind of a refugee claimant. Here, the conflicting moral sinews are palpable. I feel them tugging in all directions.
  3. Some characters. The character of Mahindan gripped me from the start. I was ravenous to learn more about him, his history, his thoughts and emotions, his fears and struggles. I also felt drawn to Priya’s Uncle and her father and would have liked to know more about each. Their stories were rife with suffering and moral conundrums and humanity. And these really got me going!
  4. The imagery. Sometimes, Bala surprised me with such vivid imagery that I was sure I was there. I shivered with anxiety as I imagined myself in war-torn Sri Lanka, in a camp with a young child to protect. Her descriptions were always rich, dripping with information about Sri Lankan culture and history and geography.

But then, there were the reasons I could not bring myself to love what I was reading…

What I did not enjoy about this book:

  1. The writing style. Bala is a clever writer, but I am not sure how well this translates to all aspects of her storytelling. Her writing style waxed pedantic sometimes, belaboring points that made me feel like she didn’t trust in her reader to connect the dots. In other places, her writing took on a split-personality, providing piece-meal information, so as a reader I felt I was suspending myself in improbability, and making leaps that lacked some of the logic to work.
  2. Other characters. While there were a handful of characters that I loved in this book, there were other characters that I could not bring myself to care about. Grace Nakamura was one. No matter what she did, and she did precious little, I felt her presence in the novel to be intrusive. It was almost like she was an after-thought. And characters like Priya and Charlika and Mr. Gigowaz, where they could have been critical, they fell apart when their literary mettle was tested. They were too flimsy to hold at the centre. I felt little of substance was present in their construction. Where their voices could have been loud and strong, they were muted and docile, quick to step into the shadows and disappear.
  3. Too many racial injustice tangents. I wish Bala had focused her novel on the Sri Lankan asylum seekers’ stories and not muddied this book with history about the racial injustice towards our Japanese brothers and sisters during World War II in Canada. I felt like, in doing so, each was not allowed to have its own weight, not allowed to showcase the full extent of what the victims suffered. I get that Bala was trying to offer another perspective on our deep-seated conflict with racial prejudice and injustice in Canada, but focusing on one would have done the issue and her story more justice.
  4. Other moral dilemmas. There are other times in this novel when moral dilemmas are presented as trifle. In these scenarios, they fall flat. They feel diminished, and as a reader, I felt disappointed.
  5. The ending. I am sorry, but I hated the ending. I felt cheated, like I had been strung along with my compassion and concern for the character of Mahindan only to be let down by indecision.

For all my whinging as a reader, I would absolutely recommend this book. At the very least, I was able to learn about, understand and appreciate the context of the Sri Lankan Civil War and the struggles of stateless people who flee for a better future with zero certainty and absolute desperation. Which then brings me to my next point.

While I struggled with specific aspects of this book, as a teacher, I would recommend that it be used in schools to teach our young people about the various waves of migration and accompanying racism here in Canada (and there are many such stories). We don’t teach enough literature by Canadian authors, and Sharon Bala deserves a place in this slow-growing canon. This would be a book that allows many minority students in Canada to see themselves in what they are learning in school, thus creating avenues for the construction of their student voices. Its themes are critical to our Canadian social and moral landscape, to our psyche as a multicultural country, to our TRUE education in the acceptance of all. Sitting at 388 pages, this would be a book geared toward Enriched or Advanced Placement elementary classes or high school students. There are discussion questions at the end of the novel that make for interesting dialogue about a lot of the themes within, so using these in an informally-styled book talk is one way to get students excited about this book.

If you read this book yourself or decide to use it in the classroom, drop me a line with your thoughts. If you decide on the latter and need help compiling resources on how to go about using it effectively as a teaching resource, get in touch! Here’s a starter resource that has been made available by curio.ca, a CBC affiliate: https://media.curio.ca/filer_public/f4/a4/f4a4275e-4ebe-4487-b9b6-d71a757bd379/cr18bgboatpeople.pdf

Wachtel on the Who, What, Why and How of the Psychopath.

As a Social Science teacher, I am always looking for books that allow me to discover more about, and understand the social sciences in nuanced ways. This becomes particularly helpful when answering questions that my students have about various concepts like: What is the difference between positive and negative punishment? What was Freud thinking when he came up with the Oedipus and Electra complexes (complexi?)? Or, my personal favourite: What are the precise differences between a sociopath and a psychopath, Ms.? Good question, let me look that up…

Enter, Dr. Maximillian (Max) Wachtel’s succinct and concise research and analysis on the sociopath and psychopath: a short book titled, Sociopaths & Psychopaths: a crisis of conscience and empathy. A forensic psychologist who has interviewed a plethora of criminals for various court cases, Wachtel makes the research (precious little and none of it in any way definitive) accessible to readers of all strokes. You don’t need to have a PhD in Psychology to understand what he is saying. As a teacher, I appreciated the language he used to break down the most important concepts around this intriguing branch of psychology. Enriched with information from various sources (Wachtel has clearly done ample research, evidenced by the 80+ resources he has cited at the end of his book), Wachtel adds an extra layer of appeal for readers by introducing this subject from different angles, he throws in a bit of philosophy, the law, neuroscience. At turns cheeky, serious and cringingly (is that a word?) funny, Wachtel makes you feel smarter while somehow managing to entertain you (this is like EVERY teacher’s job description; yes I took down some tips!). He covers the amygdala (one of my favourite parts of the brain!), the concept of free will and morality, of having a conscience or being amoral, the DSM-5 (that fancy book that psychologists use as A tool – it is one of many – to diagnose mental disorders in patients), and so much more with such ease. I feel like a bit of an expert on the topic myself, off I go to write a book about it…

In all seriousness, if you are in any way interested in learning more about sociopaths and psychopaths (and don’t pretend you aren’t; I know you’ve binge-watched nearly every show on Netflix with a deranged character as the lead), give this quick and comprehensive read a try. I finished this book in two sittings, in about an hour and a half (I was taking notes for a project I am working on, so it took a bit longer). Fellow Social Science teachers, this book might be of particular interest to you, especially if you decide to do a lesson on Antisocial Personality Disorder (Sociopaths and Psychopaths technically fall into this category). You can also encourage your senior students to read it themselves if they are interested in the topic. Happy reading, and let me know what you think!

Goan Shrimp and Cauliflower Curry

I‘ve been cooking more lately, trying all manner of recipes, and with the experimenting has come more confidence. Confidence to try my hand at foods I thought were out of my reach. Curries in particular. That complicated mishmash of flavour and spice (and everything nice). Lately, however, I have found myself dabbling in the odd curry; the Thai, the Indian, and then today, the Goan. A nod to my roots.

Here is my first foray into the food of my people. My momma is a genius at all things food, and growing up, our home was always full of savoury aromas that delighted the nostrils and tastebuds. Even now whenever I visit my parents’, there is nearly always the freshly made pot of Caldine with shrimp or eggs dropped in just for me.

Today I put my brave pants on and tried my hand at a Goan Shrimp Curry. I added bits of myself to the various recipes I saw online and came up with the following. I would like to say before I delve into the machinations of this recipe, that this one is for my mother: Thank you for taking epic risks in the kitchen. Our home has never known what it means to be without good food.

To begin with, there are two parts to this recipe. The first is what I am going to call the heartbeat of the curry. This is where your punch of flavour and colour will come from. The second is your meat and potatoes, the grit of the curry: the shrimp and cauliflower. This recipe, as I have built into this post, offers a whole lot of leeway. I want you to throw away your fear of fecking up a curry, and trust your instincts. Rely on your palette, your nose and your intuition. Experiment, then taste, then fix as you go. Ready? Let’s get to it!

48280298-9fa5-40ff-b4bb-611d6627a1e7
The Ingredients pictured here before I began the process 

For the Heartbeat of the Curry:

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 1-2 tbsp. coconut oil
  • 2-3 small onions chopped (red, yellow, white – whatever you’ve got on hand will do)
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic minced (Garlic, in general, is wonderful in food, so if you want to add a bit more, go for it!)
  • A 2-inch long piece of ginger chopped (don’t sweat the width, trust your instincts)
  • 2 large tomatoes chopped (don’t get too technical with your chopping technique, this is going in a blender, so it won’t matter)
  • Frozen shredded coconut (available at most international food stores – if you live in Toronto, Sunny Food Market is the place to find this. If you can get this fresh, amazing, if you can’t, you can always use canned or powdered coconut milk, but add it later, after the mixture has been blended).
  • Peanuts (I tossed in a few, maybe 2 tbsp.?, whole, no need to get fancy and even bother peeling them)
  • 2-3 pieces whole Tamarind after leaving to sweat in a half cup of hot water (Can be found at aforementioned Sunny Food Mart, but if you don’t have the actual tamarind, the paste or even some semi-pure version of a tamarind sauce will do – 2 – 3 tbsp. will suffice in this case. The Tamarind adds a complete dimension of sourness to this curry; if you’re not big into sour, ease up on how much you add)
  • 1 tsp. of chilli powder
  • 1 tsp. of coriander powder
  • 1 – 2 tsp. of turmeric powder (stick with your preference here, if you don’t like turmeric, stay closer to 1 tsp.)

PROCEDURE:

  1. Sauté the onions, garlic, ginger in a pot with coconut oil (at medium heat)
  2. Once the onions have wilted a little, add the tomatoes, shredded coconut, tamarind, peanuts, and  all manner of aforementioned powders
  3. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes start to go limp as well. Take off heat, leave to cool while you begin prepping the shrimp and cauliflower [SEE BELOW].
  4. Once your shrimp and cauliflower are on the heat, pop this heartbeat mixture into a blender and pulse until everything has blended really well. Add a three-quarter cup of water to help it through the pulsing process.
  5. Pour the mixture back into your pot (add as much water as you like; I like this curry more on the thick side, so I didn’t add too much water. Tip: Any water you add, add it to the blender first, so it makes use of all the remnants of your blended mixture, and then add to the pot).
Sau·téed Goodness
Ready to pulse!
All pulsed-up!

For the Grit of the Curry (Shrimp and Cauliflower):

img_0807
The shrimp coated in flavours before adding to the pan

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 20 – 30 medium to large pieces of fresh or frozen shrimp (clean, devein and remove the tails of these. You can choose to go with cooked and cleaned frozen shrimp to save yourself the hassle, but I find the uncooked frozen variety soaks in the flavours of your spices better and renders a juicier finish)
  • About one-third of a large cauliflower de-floreted and chopped to more or less match the size of the shrimp (You don’t want big chunks of cauliflower and bite-sized shrimp – allow the cauliflower to compliment the shrimp in size and texture)
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric
  • Half a lemon
  • 1 tsp. mustard seeds
  • 2 small green chillies (or more if you want to kick up the heat; feel free to use red chillies if you like your curries blazing hot)
  • A handful of curry leaves (if you have them; I didn’t)
  • 1 tbsp. coconut oil (you can use vegetable or olive oil or any kind of oil you prefer here and for the part above, but I had coconut oil on hand and it adds to the flavour)

PROCEDURE:

  • Place the cleaned shrimp in a bowl, add the salt, pepper and turmeric and mix well. Squeeze the half lemon and mix again.
  • Sauté the onions, garlic and cauliflower florets in a shallow pan along with the mustard seeds. Once the cauliflower begins turning translucent, add in the shrimp mixture. Watch carefully, you don’t want the shrimp to overcook and become rubbery. Take off the heat when the shrimp is half-cooked and add it to the heartbeat blend in the pot.
  • Slice the chillies lengthwise in half and drop into the pot.
  • Add as much salt as you like.
  • Let boil for about 10 – 15 mins. on low heat.
  • Serve over a bed of fresh rice (any kind you like!). Enjoy!
Cauliflower in pan first.
Shrimp added later, once cauliflower has wilted a bit.

img_0819
Simmering Pot ready to eat! 

There you have it, a Goan Shrimp and Cauliflower Curry. It takes a bit of time (like an hour and a half, mostly because I am a perfectionist and wanted to get this right), but I had some jazz music on, and a glass of wine to make things more fun. If you try this recipe, leave me a comment and let me know how it went. Bon appétit!