Via Basel: Winter Days, Really!

December in Chicago where I live is usually dreaded. Days are in name only. The sun struggles to show up every morning only to vanish in a flash in the afternoon, a Houdini like act that repeats so often it has lost its magic effect. My consolation, around my abode downtown, are the bright and sparkling lights, decorations and most notable the Christmas spirit permeating all beings, human and otherwise. I mostly retreat to a corner of my living room, settle in my dad’s old recliner, wrapped in a soft fuzzy blanket, turn on the lamp light and holding a book or kindle, drift away to a different realm. Aladdin’s flying carpet carries me to far flung places, exotic cities, wild forests, and sun soaked beaches. Mountains high and dry, valleys deep and lush bewilder me. Even more, the human stories attached to these places enthrall me, and wisdom teachings suffuse me. I am awestruck and can’t believe my luck, with a smile on my face and gratitude in my heart.  

Can I share with you dear reader a sample of what has made this season not only easier to bear but a peaceful, satisfying, sad, and joyful experience all in one bucket?

I’ll start locally with Whirlwind by Bill Kurtis on “My Life reporting the News.” Any Chicagoan in the 80s and 90s will remember this amiable anchor on the local CBS TV channel WBBM. As Dan Rather introduces him: Bill has a good story to tell and he tells it well. I agree. He takes us with him from Topeka, Kansas to Chicago, Vietnam, LA, Chernobyl, Ukraine and back to the Windy City. The varieties of his reporting subjects are impressive,: tornadoes, riots, trials, environmental disasters are just some samples.  Recently, I was thrilled to meet him personally at the University Club of Chicago, where he discussed his book, and found that he’s as likable in person as on TV. 

If you’re having difficulty processing all the violence, hatred, and cruelty these days, and seeking guidance and wisdom, then Richard Rohr’s The Tears of Things- Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage is meant for you. A great Christian spiritual master, he goes back to the well known fiery prophets of the Old Testament to extract and contemporize their teachings and warnings, a time he believes not so dissimilar to ours. His advice is universal and relevant to anyone, Christian or not, believer or not. 

Finally, the next author is a recent and exciting discovery for me. Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist, essayist, and cultural, environmental, and political activist. Her mother belonged to the tiny Syrian Christian community in Kerala, Southern India, an offshoot of the Syriac Orthodox Church of my ancestors. One of my affinities to her but much more. Raised by an imperious and cruel mother (her father was mostly absent) she not only survived but developed a resilience and inner defiance that turned out to be vital to her survival and success in spite of strong headwinds as she grew up and matured. Her first novel, The God of Small Things, was an instant best seller and won the well known Booker Prize in 1997. Her latest book, a memoir called Mother Mary Comes to Me is basically about this complicated, absurd, and irrational relationship that became the defining issue in her life, and yet the memoir is so much more. Strange eccentric characters, taboos broken, cruel suffocating caste systems jolt our sensibilities. She writes about dams, mining, environmental damage, women, and minority repression. Her 1997 novel, a fiction, was drawn partially from her childhood experiences with her mother and community. I decided to read it first before I tackled the recent memoir just published this year. Her mother passed away in 2022 which allowed clarity and authenticity in her documentation. She writes with wit, courage, and boldness that is rare. A master story teller. You will be rewarded well in reading both these as well as any of her many other works and essays in between. An articulate speaker Arundhati has been interviewed extensively in western media. Recently she has a warning for us in the United States from her experience with the last 15 years of authoritarian fundamentalist Modi regime in her home country.      

Have a great reading holiday.

Basel Al-Aswad, father of EIL founder Christopher Al-Aswad, is a yogi trapped in an Orthopedic Surgeon’s body. His loves in life include reading, writing, hiking, enjoying nature, meditation, and spending time with his large Iraqi family; now, semi-retired, he is exploring new avenues in medicine, education, public speaking, teaching, and social engagement.