not open to agreement on Jonker walk, karaoke night

She sits across me and glares at me,

With a half eaten chapatti on one hand

Thick dhaal curry yellowing her other fingers.

She says- didn’t they teach you History in Africa?

- I say, Kenya.-

She says same difference.

-I’m tired of hearing it-

So I say, we have our own history, the migration, colonization

I can’t believe your Education system

-I can’t too, I say. Chemistry,  honestly. I could have done without that-

Slave trade;

she states,

paying her share of the bill, is an important piece of history.

-And so is modern slavery, I say- my grandmother worked coffee farms, 6years old-

What is that compared to the number that was sold ?

-She was a former chief’s daughter

goats as far as the horizon, all driven away in one  night-

She’s walking fast, back to No. 20, Jonker Walk

I’m not bothered, I walk as slowly as any long legged human can,

and pausing  by the bridge

I think:

The only history I’m interested in is:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

pic(malaysiaedition.net)