Okies, here is one of my previous writes.. Re-captulating time in one capsule again... Read On...
There were cartons of dates, wild olives, grapevines, figs, ivory and dyewood. There were also cooped up gazelle, rabbits to accompany us. All of us were kept together. Each one of us looked disparate yet we all had something akin between us. We were all getting transported from one soil to another; our soil to another.
For once man had not distinguished between the creations of God. We were never made to feel that we are different. They treated us with parity. The only point where we were discriminated was on our color; WHITE being superior to black. I too am a black from my BLACK soil.
This was perhaps the longest journey of my life. It took us more than a month before we could reach our end. As we neared the port I felt something perforate right inside me. I knew what I had to expect yet I couldn’t prepare my self for it. The ship docked at the port. They checked the goods first who had been with us all the while. Once they were done with their counting, we too were unloaded from the ship. We were brought out in a queue, all trussed together. Each head was crossing the well armed soldiers who were ready to exterminate even the slightest thought of impudence. We were too tired and weary to even think about something like that. As I swaggered out of the ship, I turned back one last time to capture the vision of that vessel which had changed my life, forever.
The ship was surely a huge one but with the passage of time it now looked emaciated to me. I had heard the crew swank about the ship being one of the best vessels in the world. It had managed to accommodate more than a 700 people.
The ship was divided into five decks. Each deck had a different use. The lowest deck was meant for the machines on which the ship ran. The fourth deck was for the ordinary non-human cargo. That was the place where the animal cages and food boxes were set; one upon the other. The piles were neat with no space between each of the carton for optimal utilization of space. I was one of the people who were sent to empty the cargo.
The third deck had the black men who were arranged like spoons with no room even to turn. They saw to it that they accommodated most of us without wasting any available place. We were precious; we were black gold for these white men. Yet if we dared to contravene them we were beaten up till it had a deterrent effect, at least on our accomplice.
The second deck had women slaves. They were not chained like us and could move about freely on the higher decks. The whites probably found them less revolting when compared to men. These women took care of the cleaning and cooking for the crew. We never got to meet them but their situation was not hidden from us. They had to pay a higher price for this “Transitory Freedom”. This was usually in the form of sexual harassment; more often than less it would end up in the form of rape; physical and mental.
The first floor had the kitchen and the other rooms for the crew and the captain. Their cabins were well decorated. It did not have exquisite carpets or pliable cushions. There were no beautiful drapes too for their cabins. It was not grand yet it was better than what we were made to stay in. Their cabins were not dirty or botched. They were very clean. More than anything it was not shared by more than three to five people unlike ours which even if had a wall between two was of another human being.
The topmost deck was from where the captain controlled the ship. The deck had a splendor of its own. It was only while boarding and disembarking the ship when I got to experience the deck, only for a few moments though. While leaving the ship, a bird went past me. It was our captain’s parrot. When I saw it saunter about freely, I could feel my repugnance towards that feathered creature.
I was pushed from behind by an infuriated white gunman. My immobility had immobilized the queue. I was marched ahead in the file. I was now out of the Great Ship. We were all standing in a row. “One, Two, three….” I could hear them count. Finally he smiled on having accomplished the wearying task of gauging his profit. But a lot of people were missing; yet it didn’t seem to impinge on them. How could it? They too could no longer help it, they were long ago dead!
One of them was a close friend of mine. They had slain him simply because he had denied obeying them. He denied eating food. He was one of the mutinous people on the deck. The white man could not stand it. The white ordered his men to batter him till he would succumb to eat. He was screaming with pain. Yet he was unyielding to giving up. I could do nothing. He was beaten right in front of my eyes. My hands and legs were fettered. I had long ago lost sensation. All that I could feel was my tears. I could not stand this torment; not at least on my friend. I saw him turn from black to red. He was beaten so ruthlessly! We all saw his body move robustly like a fish that is thrown out of the water. He gradually went inert. Now there was neither sound nor motion. His soul was at rest.
The whites now denied even touching his carcass. A few of us were made to lift his corpse. I could feel his cold cadaver in my wobbly arms till I finally gave his sodden body to the quiet waters. It splashed right into the ocean. When I touched my face, I wonder if the water on it was that which had splashed from the comatose ocean or was it what had just left my eyes. We saw the body of rebellion drown deep into the ocean.
The only other witness to our agony was the silent ocean on which our ship sailed. The file was now moving out of the quay. I bid farewell to my friend and the deep waters where he now lived.
For once man had not distinguished between the creations of God. We were never made to feel that we are different. They treated us with parity. The only point where we were discriminated was on our color; WHITE being superior to black. I too am a black from my BLACK soil.
This was perhaps the longest journey of my life. It took us more than a month before we could reach our end. As we neared the port I felt something perforate right inside me. I knew what I had to expect yet I couldn’t prepare my self for it. The ship docked at the port. They checked the goods first who had been with us all the while. Once they were done with their counting, we too were unloaded from the ship. We were brought out in a queue, all trussed together. Each head was crossing the well armed soldiers who were ready to exterminate even the slightest thought of impudence. We were too tired and weary to even think about something like that. As I swaggered out of the ship, I turned back one last time to capture the vision of that vessel which had changed my life, forever.
The ship was surely a huge one but with the passage of time it now looked emaciated to me. I had heard the crew swank about the ship being one of the best vessels in the world. It had managed to accommodate more than a 700 people.
The ship was divided into five decks. Each deck had a different use. The lowest deck was meant for the machines on which the ship ran. The fourth deck was for the ordinary non-human cargo. That was the place where the animal cages and food boxes were set; one upon the other. The piles were neat with no space between each of the carton for optimal utilization of space. I was one of the people who were sent to empty the cargo.
The third deck had the black men who were arranged like spoons with no room even to turn. They saw to it that they accommodated most of us without wasting any available place. We were precious; we were black gold for these white men. Yet if we dared to contravene them we were beaten up till it had a deterrent effect, at least on our accomplice.
The second deck had women slaves. They were not chained like us and could move about freely on the higher decks. The whites probably found them less revolting when compared to men. These women took care of the cleaning and cooking for the crew. We never got to meet them but their situation was not hidden from us. They had to pay a higher price for this “Transitory Freedom”. This was usually in the form of sexual harassment; more often than less it would end up in the form of rape; physical and mental.
The first floor had the kitchen and the other rooms for the crew and the captain. Their cabins were well decorated. It did not have exquisite carpets or pliable cushions. There were no beautiful drapes too for their cabins. It was not grand yet it was better than what we were made to stay in. Their cabins were not dirty or botched. They were very clean. More than anything it was not shared by more than three to five people unlike ours which even if had a wall between two was of another human being.
The topmost deck was from where the captain controlled the ship. The deck had a splendor of its own. It was only while boarding and disembarking the ship when I got to experience the deck, only for a few moments though. While leaving the ship, a bird went past me. It was our captain’s parrot. When I saw it saunter about freely, I could feel my repugnance towards that feathered creature.
I was pushed from behind by an infuriated white gunman. My immobility had immobilized the queue. I was marched ahead in the file. I was now out of the Great Ship. We were all standing in a row. “One, Two, three….” I could hear them count. Finally he smiled on having accomplished the wearying task of gauging his profit. But a lot of people were missing; yet it didn’t seem to impinge on them. How could it? They too could no longer help it, they were long ago dead!
One of them was a close friend of mine. They had slain him simply because he had denied obeying them. He denied eating food. He was one of the mutinous people on the deck. The white man could not stand it. The white ordered his men to batter him till he would succumb to eat. He was screaming with pain. Yet he was unyielding to giving up. I could do nothing. He was beaten right in front of my eyes. My hands and legs were fettered. I had long ago lost sensation. All that I could feel was my tears. I could not stand this torment; not at least on my friend. I saw him turn from black to red. He was beaten so ruthlessly! We all saw his body move robustly like a fish that is thrown out of the water. He gradually went inert. Now there was neither sound nor motion. His soul was at rest.
The whites now denied even touching his carcass. A few of us were made to lift his corpse. I could feel his cold cadaver in my wobbly arms till I finally gave his sodden body to the quiet waters. It splashed right into the ocean. When I touched my face, I wonder if the water on it was that which had splashed from the comatose ocean or was it what had just left my eyes. We saw the body of rebellion drown deep into the ocean.
The only other witness to our agony was the silent ocean on which our ship sailed. The file was now moving out of the quay. I bid farewell to my friend and the deep waters where he now lived.
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