What inspired me to write my first Novel - The Beggar's Dance

When I was ten years old, growing up in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, one evening, I watched a young boy (about eight years old) with his mother, begging. I wondered why I was in the comfort of a car, enjoying an icecream treat and he was on the sidewalk begging? I couldn’t understand so I went back to find him, but never saw him. For a very long time, I would think of him and try to figure out how he’d have spent his day and survived—not realizing that I was writing The Beggar’s Dance all along. It took me many years to understand that there was nothing special about me; I was just born lucky. This childhood encounter was the seed that led to the unfolding of Juma’s story.

The protagonist, Juma, is my imagination of a beggar I once met. He seeks freedom from the life of a beggar. It's his inner spirit that leads him on a journey of hope and survival. 

Books have arrived - The Beggar's Dance

The Beggar's Dance by Farida Somjee

Somebody pinch me
  Is this for real
Must be a dream

I gaze at the box
 and smile
Yes, it is a dream

The Magic of Indian Ocean

While on the beach, capturing my childhood memories, a young man comes by, asking me to excuse his cow so they could pass. This memory remains deep in my heart. And every time I think of this day, I hear the roaring of the ocean waves, the laughter of the children and the moo of the cow.

Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 1987

Come hear me whisper my writing journey through my past—the life in Africa that defined me, and through my present—the life in Canada where I found growth. Without both, I could have not written my novel, The Beggar’s Dance.

It's been over three years in the writing of The Beggar's Dance, and now it's ready to publish. Whether it chooses a traditional or self publishing route, neither one is going to fail me. Why? Because this is what I am supposed to do, share a story.