The “Intellectuals� of Qudhac Weyn

[Sophist]

The “Intellectuals†of Qudhac Weyn

Mohamoud Ali Gaildon

June 19,2005

 

Editor's Note: Somalia's upcoming finest fiction writer, Mohammed Gaildon, treats us with a powerful parable, yet penetrating parody about Somali intellectuals.

 

Almost every night, “The Men from America,†as they were called, met at the most popular café in the town of Qudhac Weyn. They chatted and discussed various matters, which they deemed too complicated for folks without college degrees. English was their main language of discourse. To others, the seeming ease with which the "intellectuals" spoke English was awesome. Particularly fascinated were the younger members of the audience, who dreamed of one day becoming like “those men from America.â€

 

There was Guutaale, who arrived always neatly dressed, wearing a tie even in the middle of summer. On most days, he would walk in early in the evening with firm and deliberate strides, pull a chair and sit at a table under a tree. Then he would slowly turn around in the direction of the waiter who would by now be ready for the call, "Coffee, please!"

 

Looking as if he had the burden of the entire world on his shoulders, Guutaale seldom spoke to anyone outside the "intellectuals." When approached by anyone outside the Group, he would turn slowly and take a quizzical look at the intruder. A condescending word or two would effectively end the brief interaction. Invariably, Guutaale's reticence would be broken by the arrival of other members of the Group.

 

Guutaale was the most notorious when it came to favoring English over Somali. Unquestionably articulate, he spoke with pomp and flair. But frequent references to obscure historical occurrences in Europe or North America, quotations from great Western thinkers, and a proclivity for archaic and literary words denuded his narratives and arguments of much needed lucidity and focus.

 

There was Dr. Mohamed, the most competent physician in town. Short, bald and very humble, he approached his work in a professional and methodical manner. An excellent student in college and before, he was a graduate of one of the most prestigious schools of medicine in America. But he never flaunted his excellent training. In discussions, he tended to talk only about practical matters that affected people's lives like health, hygiene, education, jobs, and the daily worries of the average man and the average woman. Never venturing into high-sounding complicated philosophical, political, or economic discourses, he spoke softly and unassumingly and presented his views succinctly. He preferred Somali to English. His views, however, did not seem to carry much weight among members of the Group, most likely because his presentation was not pedantic enough. Whether he sensed this slight or not, he didn't seem to care. At any rate, he didn't frequent the café as much as other members of the Group.

 

Qawdhan, on the other hand, was an engineer who liked to be seen as a political scientist. He, like Dr. Mohamed, was known to have done well at school. He could speak both Somali and English quite eloquently. To his credit, though, he used Somali as much as he used English to express his views. On the surface, he was the most genial member of the Group; but upon close scrutiny a troubled character emerged.

 

Like Guutaale, he genuinely believed that he was of a rare intellectual breed. But, whereas Guutaale showed great erudition, Qawdhan claimed originality. He took obvious pains to convince others of the validity of his points. Those opposed to his viewpoints he either dismissed as intellectual inferiors or blacklisted as enemies. A little sound argument against his position on a political subject was enough to turn his geniality into alarm and, then, a hard cold stare. His prolix discourses, ultimately lacking focus and cohesion, were punctuated by allusions to or outright claims of realized predictions he had made and vindicated positions he had taken. In the end, he was a truly wasted talent, hampered by a delusion of greatness.

 

The Group was quite an attraction. Often joined by government officials, businessmen, and teachers, they thrived as the center of attention. Every night, ordinary customers of the café looked forward to the arrival of members of the Group and the interesting discussions that followed. Sitting a few yards from them and ready to take their orders, the waiters too enjoyed the Group's conversations.

 

The discussions typically started with a reference to something heard or seen that day. Then, even though the issue might be deeply rooted in Somali life, culture and society, it would invariably lead to a topic barely related to the one at hand. Most non-members of the Group would nod their heads in submission. And the few intellectually curious and courageous enough to put their own ideas forth would find their voices drowned by torrents of English vocabulary. Quoting a Somali sage or reciting a Somali poem to buttress arguments elicited only cursory notices and deprecatory tosses of the head which seemed to be saying, "This is not what we came here for."

 

Most college graduates from Italy, the Soviet Union and Arab countries felt intimidated by the flamboyant display of English. They too had to be docile, or else cease to participate in the discussions. Expressions like "ABSOLUTELY", "IT IS QUITE SIMPLE", "IT IS MORE COMPLICATAED THAN THAT" and "HAVE YOU EVER READ…" dominated the discussions and variously entertained, intimidated, and irritated the audience.

 

Then one night, Dr. Mohamed showed up in an agitated state of mind. He sat down and ordered coffee. After a single sip he started to talk. The doctor explained how tuberculosis was ravaging the population and how the hospital had great difficulty coping with it. The x-ray machine was rather unreliable. There were few films left. The TB ward was too small. There was a need for new mattresses and new utensils. Still, a more urgent problem loomed large: the hospital had only a two weeks' supply of TB medicine. By his most optimistic estimation, he explained, it would take the government at least four months to deliver new supplies of medicine.

 

"I cannot face my TB patients knowing that I will soon have no medicine to give to them," lamented the doctor. He paused and looked around him with pleading eyes. Then he continued.

 

"Can we collect money from the business community and government workers? We need a minimum of $3,000, and the sooner the better. With the help of charity organizations and, hopefully, the approval of our government, we can obtain a good supply of medicine at discount prices from Italy. But we really need to act fast." Again, he looked around anxiously.

 

Everyone gasped at the looming horror recounted by the doctor. Everyone that is, except Guutaale and Engineer Qawdhan. "We must do something," "good idea," and "count me in" reverberated among the small crowd. Guutaale and Engineer Qawdhan, though, as if by prior agreement, waited for emotions to ebb.

 

Then, "Gentlemen," said Qawdhan in an assertive manner, "Had my paper of two years ago been followed, we would not have found ourselves in this mess. We need to have vision and look at the big picture. If we widen our scope, scientifically identify the main problems, draw a plan to tackle them and, then, systematically and assiduously implement the plan, we will not need to worry about the minor problems because, naturally, they will be taken care of. Stopgap measures will not work."

 

The engineer paused for effect before he added, "Read my paper. It is all there.†To drive the point home, he finished by raising his chin, looking sharply straight ahead, clasping his lips tightly, and then nodding in agreement with himself.

 

Attention shifted to Guutaale. All turned to him for his opinion. Engineer Qawdhan's position was clear: he was not going to help the doctor go around hat in hand for the soon-to-be-stranded TB patients. Guutaale's opinion on the matter could tip the scales in favor of the good doctor. But, savoring the moment, Guutaale took his time.

 

Then finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Guutaale took a few puffs on his pipe and spoke.

 

"Education, education, education,†He said, gesturing with his pipe. “Education is the key. We have to give priority to education, for it is the only thing that can take us out of the benighted age we are in. We need to build more schools, train more teachers and send our best high school graduates to Britain and America for college. We need to motivate our people to read and understand how the developed world has come to be. If we take care of education, sooner or later the rest will take care of itself."

 

Clearly, no less amused with his delivery than Engineer Qawdhan was with his, Guutaale reached for his coffee and took what must have been a particularly tasteful sip.

 

There were murmurs and whispers. Stunned, Dr. Mohamed turned toward the audience. Uncertainty had displaced the initial enthusiasm among the audience. Sensing the tide had turned against him, the good doctor smiled sheepishly and rose, grabbing his loose pants by the waist and hiking them up. He never returned to the café.

 

Mohamoud Ali Gaildon

[NGONGE]

Though this is an accurate and highly amusing caricature of scenes that regularly take place in many Somali coffee shops, sadly, the author is no less guilty of the crime (of misunderstanding intellectualism) as his own subjects!

 

At first, one assumed the author was using the term ‘intellectuals’ to mock these smug characters. Indeed, as he went on describing their habits and ways of thinking, this assumption began to prove its accuracy. The mastery of languages, memorising of quotes and historical occurrences, though found in the armoury of most intellectuals, are not the main traits one uses when bequeathing the crown of intellectualism to anyone!

 

The author fell into a trap of his own making when he spoke about the college graduates from Italy, the Soviet Union and Arab countries! This is not a reply on which I set out to criticise the author and point out the chinks in his armour. Far from it, I found the piece very readable and, as I’ve already stated, highly amusing. However, before I continue showering him with praise, let us help him out of the aforementioned trap. The mention of graduates from non-English speaking countries seemed to tacitly imply that not all Somali intellectuals are the products of Western education (a very fair point). However, along with that argument, came the suggestion that college graduates are intellectuals! The author writes very well and conveys his ideas clearly, therefore I find it difficult to extend him the benefit of a poetic licence and assume that his meaning was anything but what I’ve suggested above. There was no need to include these ‘other’ graduates in the topic, other than to advance the argument that they too (graduates from Italy, etc) are intellectuals!

 

 

That anyone that graduates from college (university) is considered an intellectual is a very popular and widespread belief in many parts of the world. However, is it true? Would the university degree one attains play a part in deciding if they’re intellectuals or otherwise? Can a Doctor (such as the one mentioned in the story) claim to be an intellectual purely because he’s a doctor? How about the Engineer? Is intellectualism a matter of educational competence? Better still, is it a case of FORMAL educational competence?

 

 

One rather suspects that intellectualism demands more than mere university degrees and college education. In fact, this was the main reason for replying to this topic. People spend all their lives constructing barriers, rules, beliefs and laws that eventually dictate how their lives should be lived and how problems can be tackled. One of these unquestioned laws is that a person with university education knows more than one without. Of course, such a premise is probably more likely to be true when the subject being discussed is the one that this person attained his college degree in. However, when the subject is one that neither side has formally studied, one would assume that both are as knowledgeable (or ignorant) as each other. Here the ‘well-read’ person will, probably, be the one that’s likely to ‘know’. Alas, nowadays, seldom does one encounter many ‘well-read’ university graduates (or non-graduates of course).

 

Still, even those that are ‘well-read’ can not be considered intellectuals unless it’s been proven by their words and actions. One can read the works of all the philosophers, memorise the quotes of all the greats and habitually quote witty sayings, but as Voltaire once said, they prove nothing! Quotes, sayings and even other people’s philosophical theories are simply the decorations that one uses to adorn one’s own arguments and thoughts. An intellectual is akin to a master chef. Like everyone else, the ingredients he uses are widely available, the cutlery and cooking appliances are not hard to obtain and, even recipes can be found in many books. However, his own talent is what distinguishes him from other average cooks. Those sampling his offerings need not be cooks to attest to his ability.

 

Having said all of the above, allow me to confuse you by saying that non of it really matters here. The subject at hand is one concerning Somali intellectuals. This wretched group of people is burdened with impossible expectations and incompatible demands. Somalis look up to their intellectuals for solutions (here I’m using the Somali understanding for the world intellectual - i.e. university graduate). However, most of the urgent Somali problems are not ones of vision, ideology and foresight (though there is a great breach there too). Somalia’s problems are practical in nature and need practical solutions. In spite of this, like Dr. Mohamed in the story above, Somalis, almost always, approach their ‘intellectuals’ for solutions to pragmatic problems! Many a Somali would sit eagerly at the feet of a tribally motivated ‘intellectual’ and obediently gobble up eloquently put arguments and justifications to simply solved problems (just like the story above)! Fifteen years of sitting in coffee shops and imparting these ‘intellectual’ solutions have not, yet, managed to dry out this great well of knowledge.

 

Still, Somali intellectuals are not completely useless. They’re the journalists, educators, pundits and commentators of the nation. Their views and ‘solutions’ do matter and add to the richness of the social, political and economic discourse. They’re not the pragmatic leaders but merely the mandarins, and thus should they be viewed! That their efforts are sub-standard, their contributions unsatisfactory and prejudices highly evident, is simply a symptom of the inherent decay of this rudderless and headless nation.

 

Again, this was an interesting and amusing story to read. Looking forward to more satirical portraits from Mr Gaildon.

[Sophist]

…………………………..and definitely an Accountant is on that lisst. Jokes aside. What the responder has in mind seems to be amiss in regards to what the author of this satirical piece intended. It was a parody upon not only on ‘Somali intellectuals’ but more so on the conceptualisation of intellectualism itself within the wider society. PhD from an Oxbridge college is not a licence of intellectualism—it might furnish you the ability to know great deal on subject you have researched. Intellect is god’s gift to humanity. Most of us are in possession of it in varying degrees. What education (that was the initial purpose) does is to cultivate those seeds and predispose you to become enlightened; regrettably modern higher education institutions have other purposes for their pupils and that is to make them robots who would be able to work efficiently at that vast factory we call INDUSTRY. This is why you have universities offering marketing degrees or Bachelor degrees that will make one become holiday expert! What obloquy on scholarship. Very few institutions pretend they still uphold such an ideal that is to produce intellectuals; but it just pretence. They at least ashamed of this modern disease; a disease caused by the dominance of economic Capitalism.

 

Intellectuals are those rare breeds whose ideas stem from enlightened seeds of wisdom; they have broken the shackles of self-imposed tutelage. Anyhow, Our society needs such men; we need men who are not mentally capable but who are in possession of moral duty to formulate ideas that will predispose our society to come out of the gloomy chasm they found themselves in.

[Pacifist]

Intellectuals are those rare breeds whose ideas stem from enlightened seeds of wisdom; they have broken the shackles of self-imposed tutelage. Anyhow, Our society needs such men; we need men who are not mentally capable but who are in possession of moral duty to formulate ideas that will predispose our society to come out of the gloomy chasm they found themselves in.

I very much concur with you lad..and also women too

[-Serenity-]

Fifteen years of sitting in coffee shops and imparting these ‘intellectual’ solutions have not, yet, managed to dry out this great well of knowledge.

That their efforts are sub-standard, their contributions unsatisfactory and prejudices highly evident, is simply a symptom of the inherent decay of this rudderless and headless nation.

Classic!

[STOIC]

The piece was a good read.I think what we need to ask ourselves is what is the purpose of education? Perhaps something immediately practical(job training?)?Something currently of interest like politics? or something to draw out the common humanity in all of us?.From Plato to Locke and Dewey to contemporary culture the strugle has raged between the theoratical life-the life of the mind-and the life of experience.What will education contribute to the society if it lost the sight of its original aim of knowing the world we live in.The engineer in the story points out that had the public paid attention to his paper this would not have occured.Before putting his pages close to our nose we need to view the Somali problem within the frame of present.Its not enough to know knowledge for the sake of creating argument.We need critical thinkers in our society that will emanicipate us from the oppression of constraint freedom and undermined social justice!. :mad:

[Dhagax-Tuur]

Excellent read and a very good observation of somali Cafe (biibito) culture.

 

People spend all their lives constructing barriers, rules, beliefs and laws that eventually dictate how their lives should be lived and how problems can be tackled.

Me think different. I think it has been constructed for them and we, in turn, abide by it. And this is what they call 'the system'. Very few break free! Good point, though.

[Muhammad]

a fine read indeed..

 

 

There was Dr. Mohamed, the most competent physician in town. Short, bald and very humble, he approached his work in a professional and methodical manner. An excellent student in college and before, he was a graduate of one of the most prestigious schools of medicine in America.

lol i see a resemblance

 

last time i saw him he had hair.

[Sophist]

Apperently the author is Physicist by profession.

[Caano Geel]

Very nice style, is there anythng he's publlished available?

[Coloow]

I read the story through a satirical lense and this what surfaced:

 

Gutaale, Qowdhan and Dr. Mohamed represent a new breed of Somalis who use the air waves and cyberspace to pass on the message of “ Read us, listen to us because we understand better- we are dhoktore, injineer, aqoonyahanoâ€

 

Reminds me of that english (Irish?) writer who wrote about Cannibalising children.

 

But, I could be wrong!

[Sophist]

The chap has also authored a novel: The Yibir Of Las Burgabo! It is a good read I hear.#

 

The Yibir of Las Burgabo

 

By Mahmood Gaildon

This is the story of a Yibir family in Somalia. In this novel, after an out-of-town trip on foot, Geeddi never returns home. Instead, his two children, Amina and Ali, are greeted with news of his death. His teenage daughter, Amina, assumes the role of parent to her nine-year-old brother. As Ali grows up he becomes an excellent student, but his private thoughts leave him frustrated and confused. He knows Yibirs are shunned by society, but doesn't understand why. This is the story of a boy searching for a role in a society determined to keep him out.

[Laba-X]

Sophist, The Yibir Of Lasburago, Relating the revolting Social hierarchy in the Somali Society, is a great read indeed!

[Muhammad]

^^ I'll have to get me that book! I've read some very good reviews!

[SayidSomal]

where can i get hold these sorts of books ???

ANYONE