Ismaili author – Bahadur Tejani

ABOUT THE WRITER: Dr. Bahadur Tejani is well known as a writer and scholar from East Africa, where he was born in 1942 and spent the first thirty two years of his life. He is the author of seven plays, a collection of poems, The Rape of Literature, a novel, Day After Tomorrow, short stories and articles on African lit. His works can be accessed as E-books for reading, at $2 each, through http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/AuthorDetails.asp?AuthorID=16451. A list of the works can be found on Google, and Yahoo. Some of the poems and essays have been anthologized by Wole Soyinka, the First Nobel Prize winner of literature from Africa in Poems from Black Africa and in Transition. Tejani’s play, Babalola and other writings have been broadcast by The B. B. C. London and by The Voice of America, Washington D.C. Most of his work is available at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. The e-books version below are published by the author himself.

Below is a summary of my three new books: Okello’s Shakespeare represents my response to Shakespeare’s Othello. In this drama full of political intrigue, William Shakespeare arrives in Africa as an Ambassador, with Admirals Francis Drake, Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus, at the court of King Mansa Okello, in East Africa. As a poet, Shakespeare wins the king’s trust and seeing this, the admirals use him to gain intelligence to enter the king’s castle and capture Okello. When Shakespeare discovers the treachery, he protests vehemently but to no avail. He also discovers that the king believes him to be a traitor and in league with the three admirals. Desperate to salvage his honor, he falls on his sword in protest and commits suicide on the stage.

The second play, Trial by mischief, is a comic farce dealing with the psychology of fear, after the terrorist attacks on the world trade center. Here a Punjabi Sikh immigrant with a turban gets mistaken for a follower of Bin Ladan. The building where he works as a receptionist is vacated due to a bomb scare and during the exodus, the officials, a doctor, judge and general, prevail upon him to mind their offices. He does this with the great gusto of a new immigrant, on his first day on the job. Thus he gets to be a doctor, a general and a judge, all in one day, improvising with native wits as he goes on. At the end of the day he gets a promotion for a job well done and encouraged, he decides to dedicate his life to teach the Americans how to speak English properly. Both the plays are full of culture-contrasts and contain dance, music, sword play and action for entertainment.

In ALNOOR MEETS GEORGE WASHINGTON, the President and 10 year old Alnoor Kassim, meet accidentally on Mount Rushmore at 5.30 a. m. on the Fourth of July. You can imagine how far apart they are from each other at such an hour, on this lonely spot on the planet. And you will be surprised to see how much they have in common. The two revive each other’s spirits, amuse and inspire each other and share the wonder of nature and personal secrets. This story is filled with the tender spirit of American Democracy and with the gentle strength of the Ismaili-Muslim soul. To obtain a printable review copy of all the works, e mail me at saltmarch@hotmail.com