Abdellah khammar

Entry bell to class

Novel

 

Ramadan: Nerves and thoughts

- 38 -

The month of Ramadan has come. It has spread throughout Algeria, including high school, a new atmosphere that breaks the monotony of life, charged with a different and distinctive rhythm. It transforms, in addition, the mundane earthly taste to a heavenly taste. Only those who their souls have transcended this month their individual interests could appreciate its sweetness. Those who have flown in the celestial worlds of love and tolerance. Those who can get rid of hatred, fanaticism, greed, exploitation and desire. People, who do not have a winged spirit stay at the foot of the hills, only get hunger and thirst from their fasts.

The system changed in high school and the lesson time reduced to 45 minutes. The restaurant has stopped working and certain intellectual, literary and theatrical activities have emerged. It is customary for Laroussi to organize a weekly meeting, which takes place on Thursday in Ramadan, where one of the teachers will deliver a lecture to the students followed by a discussion. This year, I volunteered alongside Laroussi and Issam.

Faiza began the theatrical activity by training the students for the ceremony of November 1 with the play by Shakespeare "The merchant of Venice". She chose for the role of the Jewish loan shark "Shylock", a talented student with a huge body.

The first day of Ramadan in high school went well. Nevertheless, the atmosphere was electrified on the second day. It was characterized by large black clouds that herald a storm of which no one knows the extent. The reason was an innocent administrative procedure and a far from innocent reaction to this procedure, which in turn leads to a violent reaction. The friction intensified, and the explosion almost took place.

Perhaps the circumstances of the formation of Abdul Rahman Sardi and Hakim Boualem, who make them diametrically opposed despite their many similarities. Their age is close, the two are both violent and obstinate, but one of them is calm, silent and work behind the curtain and the other is nervous. Sardi was formed in the Algerian school, Boualem graduated from the French school. Both are taken by an extremist group, the first by a fanatic religious group and the other by a racist group. The first sees that the abandonment of religion by people is the cause of decay and the second believes that adherence to religion is the cause of backwardness.

Sardi believes that half of society should be sacrificed for reform if necessary and is ready to help rid society of this corrupt half. He said, "Most of the teachers in the new high school should be included in the liquidation lists when push comes to shove and the process of sanitation in the community begins. They are communists, baathists, westernized people or perverse artists". Boalem believes that the people are still underdeveloped and should be led by enlightened elite. He and his fellows form this elite. The teachers of the school, according to him, are mostly Arabists and Islamists, obscurantists live in the Middle Ages. They must be prohibited from throwing the country into the abyss.

Each of them was ready to attack when the opportunity arose and there was Ramadan. The principal, each year as usual, assigned a separate room in the administrative wing to foreign teachers to smoke and quench their thirst while preserving their dignity. I saw the assistant principal the first day talking to Sardi and Makadri and I smelled the odour of their suspicious meeting.

I arrived late the second day. The students were standing in the schoolyard and I saw a group of Algerian teachers, including Makadri and Sardi, heading towards the principal, who stands as usual, watching the entrance to the classes. I saw them from afar, as I went up to the class waving their hands and the expression on their faces and the movements of their bodies as if they were angry and protesting against something. I also saw the principal nod, then take the protesters out and talk to them. They left him, threatening with their hands. I learned later that they asked him to close the smoking room. They claimed that there were no foreigners in the school. Concerning Jacques and Martha, they both carry Algerian nationality. The principal tried to convince them that fasting is a cult for Muslims and those non-Muslims cannot be forced to do so. He couldn’t convinced them and they threatened to go on a general strike in high school. I also knew that he was looking for Laroussi to calm things down and that he couldn't find him.

During recess, the meeting renewed in the teachers' room. Everyone spoke and expressed their protest. I saw from a distance what was going on, when I saw Sardi whispered something in Makadri's ear and a bright light of anger suddenly flashed in his eyes. I anticipated the explosion of thunder because a lightning normally presages thunder.

I was right, Makadri suddenly exploded in a vague and intermittent voice, then calmed down and his voice became clear, "No, no, and again no. We never accept the violation of the holiness of Ramadan in an institute where the word of God is supposed to be the supreme and the word of those who disbelieve below. If the principal refuses to hear us, we will stop working. We would close this room ourselves, because it is a refuge for demons. His hands were glued to the chair, his turban and belly moving forward, back, left and right, following the movement of the head and body even though his feet were fixed. As for Sardi, with his thick beard and cunning eyes, his face was devoid of expression.

 Before the procession was moved, the explosion took place somewhere in the room where the French speakers were seated. "Do you want to create our own inquisition courts? are we in the Middle Ages? Who appointed you to infringe on the freedom of human beings?", said Hakim, who was calm, surprising the demonstrators with his violent uprising.

There was a terrible silence in the room. Men and women stopped talking side by side and turned to Hakim. Makadri, Sardi, and their group were amazed by his sudden intervention. His white face became dark brown and his worried eyes became two burning flames. The white foam flew from his mouth. His moustache and his pointed triangular chin shivered. He jumped back and forth with his tiny body, as if he had a spring in his feet. "I don’t observe the fast of Ramadan. I am going to smoke with my colleagues. Who among you was a man trying to prevent me?

He looked at Makadri and Sardi saying the last sentence as if he were calling them to duel. Ammar got up from his chair and stood next to him. Sardi approached and his face suggested an obvious challenge to block their path. The two teams were like a powder bar waiting for the explosion. Akli entered with Laroussi, who removed Makadri and Sardi and spoke to them, while Akli took Hakim's hand and left with him. Laroussi managed to calm Makadri and Sardi. He convinced them with his wisdom that what they are doing does not serve Islam.

The bell rang and the teachers went to their classes. Makadri was convinced of what Laroussi had said, as for Sardi; he took his satchel, shook his head menacingly and left. Things were over and no one was talking about the smoking room anymore.

- 39 -

I decided to stop taking English lessons during Ramadan; the schedules did not suit me. However, I couldn't get away from my head, Janine's face alive and shiny, her green eyes and her golden hair. Nor could I dismiss her strong presence in my mind. Not because I don't like to keep her image in my imagination and her presence in my mind, but every time I think of her, the image appeared with the image of Jack smiling ironically, and I heard his voice ring in my ear: "Do not think of Janine. She is not yours. She is mine because she is my compatriot, we belong to the same race, and each of us understands the other".

Trying to ignore it, I opened my little box where I put the memories most precious to me. I tried to deal with the pamphlet of my poems, to which I fled when I felt the sorrow of the present to restore memories of the past. The poem "the dried bud" caught my attention while I was studying at the Faculty of Letters. It transported me in time and space to the University of Cairo where I met "Hala" who inspired me this poem.

I met her during a university excursion to al Qanater "the arches". She knew that I was an Algerian. She left her group and she sat next to me on the bus. She asked me with a melodious voice about my country, its people, the situation in the shadow of freedom, life in its cities and the status of men and women. Her charming beauty dazzled me, with her round face and honeyed eyes, sometimes dreaming that penetrated like a magnetic force into the depth of my heart. She gently attracts me, transforming me into a planet in the orbit of her eyes, following her wherever she goes. When everyone arrived at the Qanater "The arches", she insisted on sharing with me her luxury food that testified to her wealth. Her appearance and demeanour demonstrated an aristocracy inherited in spite of her modesty, as if she were a princess who deigned to address one of her subjects peer to peer. What did she like in me? Maybe I belong to a world other than her because the foreigner always has a special charm. I told colleagues on the excursion about Algerian jokes during the friendly chat after the meal. I also dared to sing some passages from the song of Hachemi Guerouabi "Al-Bareh Kan Fi Oumri Aishrine: yesterday I was twenty years old". She liked the lyrics and melodies of "Mahboub Battie". I came back from the excursion and my heart was attached to her. I used to go to the English section to meet her and I called her "Nefertiti" in the name of the beautiful pharaonic queen. She did not push me away from her. On the contrary, she encouraged me. I later discovered that she was Coptic from a wealthy and distinguished family and that her father was a diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Each of us knew that this love was impossible and without future, but we did not know what to do with our burning passion and we could not imagine our separation from each other. She became part of me and vice versa. I saw in her the pharaonic features and she saw in me the Berber features.

Her family felt her attachment to me and treated the matter wisely and discerningly. They reluctantly received me into their home and treated me properly, without a welcome or an insult. I drowned in a sea of ​​perplexity. If she were an ordinary girl, I would marry her, even I were a student. However, she is from an aristocratic milieu, and my purse doesn't buy her a dress that suits her. My dignity refuses to be materially lower than her. Then she is Coptic and her family will not allow our marriage. Each of us saw love in the eyes of the other and was satisfied with what he saw. I didn't tell her anything and she didn't tell me anything. I did not try to seduce her or she tried to seduce me. When she finished her lessons, she found me waiting for her or I found her waiting for me. If she said to me, "Quit university and your study and look for work to live and get married", I did it. If I said to her, "Come and run away together", I am almost sure that she will accompany me throughout the world. Nevertheless, I didn't say anything and she didn't say anything. We were two children; neither of us can separate from the other. We cannot make decisions about the future. Someone else has to make the decision for us. So one day I was surprised by her absence. I asked questions about her and no one answered me. I went to her house and found it closed. Then I learned that her father was appointed to an embassy abroad and took her with him. I couldn't know the name of the country. There was silence and discretion on the subject. I learned that her university transfer papers had been made. She travelled suddenly and probably they didn't tell her until the day of the trip.

I could not imagine life without her; I abstained from study, people, food, drink and even life. In times of deprivation and despair, I wrote this poem. I read the first lines:

The dried bud did not dream of dewdrops

Its veins no longer wait for tomorrow's rain

The lean seasons took hold of him

Its ribs have surrendered to the grip of dryness that presses it,

Absorb from it all that spring has hidden in its heart of wet dreams

***

The dried-up bud did not dream of dewdrops wiping from its eyelashes

The effects of long sleep

Its dreams were probably fixed on an axe of a stupid woodcutter who used to tear the young buds

Or probably on a frost season

Which freezes veins, eyes and lips and crucifies life

***

It's a gloomy life without looking at the stars

Without horizon thanks to which

Small buds grow

The vines climb on the trellises

Without the midday sun burning them

***

Your eyes are two wandering boats

Seeking rich ports

 And when the lord of your dreams comes

And your eyes will find refuge in his eyes filled with puzzles and secrets.

I won't shed tears

I would not drown in my sorrows

I know I was not and never will be your dream knight

There is not in my features any resemblance of Anter Ibn Cheddad and Sinbad

To pass through deserts and seas

And bring treasures and oysters".

*

After more than a month, I found a letter from Hala in my mailbox. She apologized because she couldn't say goodbye before she left and wished me happiness. The message envelope has no postmark or country name. Little by little, the days, the good company, and the study took care of my sorrows. I finished my studies in Cairo without meeting her or hearing any news about her. However, my heart remained empty until Janine slipped into it. Whenever I see Jack in high school, I remember Janine. They are a beautiful dream and a nightmare. I cannot keep the splendour of the dream without going through the nightmare hell.

-40-

Laroussi entered the conference room, breathless, wiping his face and forehead with his handkerchief. He sat on the speaker's chair for a while to rest and catch his breath and all eyes turned to him. It was barely 1 pm, the meeting point. Usually, he never arrived late. He said to everyone, "Excuse me for the delay." He then began his speech by addressing the students of the baccalaureate and the first and second years of science and literary, Arabized and bilingual who were in the room, "Today, I was at a friend's house in Bir Mourad Raice and I witnessed an extravagant miracle that I had never seen in my life. I saw a cat talking! Yes, a cat talking! Something incredible, but true. I saw it with my own eyes. Laroussi spoke with passion, and sometimes he went to the students in the front rows, sometimes to those sitting in the middle. He then addressed those who are sitting on the right, after he returned to the left and said, "Yes, something incredible, but it happened anyway".

Laroussi continued: "I was not alone in this friend's house, but there were three friends of mine when his cat appeared before us". To our attention, the cat said, "O you who are distracted!" We looked but we only found the cat. We searched for the voice source and found nobody but the cat. It said, "I'm the one talking, I'm the cat and if we weren't at the end of the world, I wouldn't have spoken". We started rubbing our eyes and we didn't believe it. The cat continued: "People have become ungodly and vicious. They have to go back on the right track before having a disaster". The cat then gave the two testimonies and left the room.

Laroussi stopped for a moment as he stared at the faces of the students, then asked in an imploring tone, "Do you believe what I said?"

The students replied with one voice, "Yes, we believe". He heard a voice from the middle of the room saying, "I can't believe it". Another voice followed to the right, "I don't believe it".

Laroussi asked the two students to introduce themselves. Laroussi knew that one of them belonged to the bilingual baccalaureate class and the second to the second class of Arabic literature. He said to the first student, "But I saw it myself, you don’t believe me?"

The student replied, "God preserve you, teacher, but I can only believe what I see with my eyes".

Laroussi turned impatiently towards the other and said with disapproval, "And you too do not believe me, and I tell you that I saw it with my own eyes". The student replied, "Sorry, teacher, I don't want to be silly, but if I saw the cat talking with my eyes, I wouldn't believe it. I believe my reason and not my eyes. The senses can be deceived but you can't fool the mind”.

A buzz began among the students and the voice of some of them rose, rejecting the behaviour of two students. I almost got up from my seat to scold these two stupid students. Denied a professor like Laroussi is an incomparable stupidity and insolence. However, it was customary for the professors to intervene in the debate only after the lecture. At that moment, I see him reaching out to them and clasping their hands saying, "I congratulate you with all my heart, you made me rejoice. You look at things with your minds, and not be fooled by superstitions and illusions. I hope that our students become like you and they are not deceived by impostors or by those who exploit their feelings".

I sank into my seat. His attitude surprised me like the other students. They protested by shouting that they believed him personally and not what he said.

Laroussi replied, "Remember the advice of the bird to the hunter in the stories of Kalila and Dimna. Do not believe what reason does not accept". He added, "Trust your minds, and do not accept what is unreasonable in any case. Let me start my lecture now. What you saw was an introduction. I have not seen a cat in the Bir Murad Raice neighbourhood. I deliberately delayed for testing the impact of our school programs on the minds of our students and you saw the result".

I sweated with my whole body and I was ashamed of myself. How to blame students if their teacher easily believes what he is told?

Laroussi clarified in his lecture that the program has an important role to play in pushing the generation on the path of progress, or keeping it blocked. Current approaches in most subjects focus on the accumulation of information not to digest it and on memory not on thought. An example of this is the high school literature program, in which there is no text to develop thinking and get the student used to reasoning. It focuses certainly on the promotion of noble emotions and human values, but the program neglects the mental texts which frequently appear in the Arab heritage since Ibn al-Muqaffa ', al-Mutazala and Ibn Rushd until the thinkers of the Renaissance.

He criticized selective approaches to history based on single thinking, censoring and suppressing many historical events because they are contrary to the political and partisan vision of the government, thus neglecting the analysis of events and the presentation of different point of views. He also criticized the prejudices spread against intellectuals. Instead of providing students with a mental approach to criticize what they read and judge for themselves, we have provided ready-made judgments against Arab and Western thinkers. We have fortified their minds against them. We have considered Ibn al-Muqaffa an unbeliever and Ibn Rushd a perverted while we have considered Marx, Engels, Freud, Darwin, Hegel and Sartre as atheists. Even those who tried to awaken the Arab spirit of that time did not escape the accusations brought against them like Taha Hussein, Salama Moussa, Ali Abdel Razek, Zaki Najib Mahmoud and others.

As European students read their thinkers and criticize their theories, highlighting their negative and positive aspects with clear arguments and convincing evidence, our students only know the names of these thinkers and reject their thoughts without reading them. European students digest and assimilate science. Our students acquired scientific information without any impact on their lives. Our ancestors adapted the rational methods even in religion: the scholars of the Hadiths of the Holy Prophet rejected the Hadiths which reason does not accept. In conclusion, Laroussi stressed the need to prepare balanced programs that are concerned with the mind, encourage critical thinking, and give importance to the body and the conscience.

The discussion was opened after the lecture and, as expected, Sardi and Makadri and the students who supported them believed that the alienation of people from religion, their imitation of the West and the corruption of their moral are the causes of the backwardness. They called for standing up against the Western intellectual invasion and adopting purely Islamic approaches. On the contrary, Ammar, Hakim, and those who supported them among the students, believe that religion was an obstacle to the European Renaissance and the rise of modern Turkey. They attacked the zaouïas, claiming that they formed generations linked to the past, not to the present, and demanding secular approaches.

Laroussi in his response denied their allegation against religion. According to him, "religion is the light of the soul and the heart, as science was the light of the mind". He added, "During the Renaissance, Europeans did not fight religion, they did not consider it the cause of the delay. On the other hand, they condemned the commercialization of religion and attacked those who practiced it. They directed their attention towards enlightenment of the mind. Religion therefore took its natural place and revealed those who traded in it.

Manaa Saadoun then gave a speech, saying that the backwardness was due to fragmentation, colonialism and Zionism. The only way to move forward is to accelerate Arab unity. Kazem Aslan asked for approaches that show man’s effort and struggle against all forms of exploitation, from feudalism to capitalism and imperialism.

No one has seriously discussed the speaker's views, or ways to get the mind out of sleep, and it has become apparent that none of them cares about freeing minds as much as he was interested in dyeing them with his colour. The room was divided, the voices of the students were heard, and the boil reached them. Nobody heard what had been said in this stormy atmosphere. Everyone was talking and no one was listening. Laroussi tried to calm the atmosphere, but the noise, the protest and the confrontation between the students almost led to the explosion. No one wants to listen to the voice of reason. The principal asked Laroussi to conclude the meeting and the audience left the room. On leaving, each team tried to silence the other, by speaking up. They turned the discussion into screams and yells.

The principal and Laroussi then agreed to cancel the political lectures and to focus on education and health issues. These issues include, for example, the subject of exam fraud, its causes and consequences for the individual and society, the means of combating it, smoking and social ills, etc. This is why the Issam lecture on the arabization of science, its advantages and disadvantages was cancelled as well as my lecture on Arab unity.

-41-

I left the mosque after midday prayer with my uncle Laroussi. I was amazed when I turned my head. I have not been to this mosque before. I suddenly lost my memory and I did not know where I was: in Algiers, Boussaâda, Tunis or Cairo. The mosque was wrapped in thick white mist. When I was confused, a great sheikh came out of the mist dressed in white and approached us saying to us, "Peace be with you". I looked at him carefully and said, astonished, "Cheikh Khalil, welcome, what are you doing here?"

He was Cheikh Khalil who taught me the Koran in the zaouïa when I was six years old but he didn't recognize me. My uncle said to him, "This is my nephew Abed". Sheikh Khalil said, "I have come as planned to show you the construction of the new zaouïa. This was erected in accordance with your idea of ​​its modernization approved by the World Council of Zaouïas". I was wondering what the idea was. My information was vague and I did not remember anything.

The man took us to a huge building near the mosque, also covered in fog. "This is the new zaouïa", he said. I looked at several neighbouring buildings representing an architectural masterpiece constructed in the Islamic style. We went to the first building. There was a plaque on which was written: "The Department of Islamic Thought".

The classes were in the form of semi-circular amphitheatres with the teacher in the centre in front of the blackboard, recording the points of his lesson. Sheikh Khalil pointed at the plates on the classes, explaining: "This is the class of Sunni thought, and this is the class of Shiite thought, and this is for Mu'tazililites thought, and this is for Andalusian and Maghrebin philosophical thought". Then he showed us a building on the right and said, "This is the class of Western thought in which the students study models of Western thought from Greek philosophy to modern times". We walked to the "Fiqh" Jurisprudence and Islamic Sciences Department, then directly to the World Sciences Department. In these, the students study mathematics, science and modern languages, and we use laboratories and audio-visual methods. I asked him, "Why do you teach thought and science in religious zaouia?"

He replied, "The believer needs thought and science to light his mind, just as the world needs faith to light his soul and his heart". I noticed that the clothes of teachers and students were varied. There are those who wear the gandoura or the djellaba, others who wear the modern costume and some of them wear a turban. I asked him about that and he replied:

 "We prepare our students to be good citizens in all areas of life to live their times not to be preachers. When some of them chose to be preachers after the baccalaureate, we specially prepare them in the "Fiqh" jurisprudence, without forgetting modern science and foreign languages. The preacher must know the sciences of his time and at least one foreign language to be worthy of preaching".

Then Sheikh Khalil asked us, "Do you want to go to the library?" We went to a huge building that suddenly stood in front of us. We entered one of the reading rooms and found the files with drawers indexed in the Arabic and Latin alphabet. Simply mention the title of the book or the author of your choice and give it to the librarian. After a while, a worker brings you the required book. The indexes contain books on Arab and Western heritage in literature, philosophy, history, various sciences and arts in Arabic, English, French and other languages. I was surprised by the voice of the sheikh telling us: "We are going to the arts department." I said, "Arts!" He said, "Yes."

We arrived at the building and headed to the drawing room where I saw paintings of various Islamic arts and enlarged images of the decoration of mosques and palaces in Algeria, Morocco, the Arab Orient and the rest of the world Islamic. Some students painted drawings, ornaments of geometric shapes. These represent flowers and natural landscapes inspired by their environment. We saw next to it a craft room, where the students make frames of paintings, lamps and other objects. Cheikh Khalil told us: "We have found that teaching the arts refines the individual and softens the senses and prepares future students to become familiar with shapes and colours. As a result, he becomes a citizen of good taste who appreciate beauty, whether engineer or builder, worker or ordinary citizen".

He took us to the music room and we found students learning music theory, writing national, religious and moral songs using different musical instruments. He said to us, "Do not be surprised, we took the Fatwa, which says, "Music is like poetry is not prohibited in itself "Haram". It is allowed "Halal" when it refines the individual and elevates feelings, but when it degenerates and calls for disintegration, it is prohibited "Haram".

We arrived at the photography room. Cheikh Khalil commented,

"We have found that the graduates of foreign schools are responsible for the film industry in our countries, from screenwriting to the making of the film. They emphasize their vision of building society. We must present our vision of the history of our country and our nation", said Cheikh Khalil.

Laroussi asked him, what is your vision? Are you a political party? "

He replied, "God forbid, we do not intervene in politics except as citizens present during the vote. I speak of moral and religious vision".

Some amateur students presented scientific films on the culture of their region and on antiques and the composition of rocks and other subjects.

Finally, we arrived at the gymnasium and found the students playing various gymnastic games such as jumping on a wooden horse, ring exercises, jumping, etc. Cheikh Khalil told us: "We are preparing for the competition between the zaouïas at the end of the month in various athletics and ball matches".

Leaving the new zaouïa, after the conclusion of the visit, we found a similar building. Laroussi questioned him about this building. He answered, "This construction is specific to women, which is very similar to male buildings. Women study the same subjects but they study in the craft room sewing, knitting and making carpets". He added, "Women must keep pace with the progress of men to get out of underdevelopment and take care of all areas at the same time to raise water in all the vessels. The interest in one area either science or literature or art and sport is not useful by virtue of the principle of communicating vessels. Progress must reach the same level in all fields.

Laroussi shook his head and said, "Great, the zaouïas will come back as they were in the past, at the centre of civilization".

The muezzin was calling for Asr prayer when we finished the tour and I woke up from my sleep to the sound of the dawn prayer. It was just a dream.

-42-

One of the most beautiful pleasures in Ramadan is to walk after fast breaking in Algiers, where the lights illuminate the capital in the districts and the squares, and transform the night into day. They rejoice and enliven souls at the same time. In addition, family warmth and social atmosphere prevalent in this month alleviates the cold of October and you see the passers-by of individual or family members staying up and spending the night talking in cafes and clubs. They exchange visits to the houses until the morning. It is the only month in which women can go out alone at night, safely and in peace without anyone bothering them. I usually go for a walk with Wajdi in our neighbourhood and in the nearby districts after breaking the fast. However, I went out alone today because I was invited to an opening ceremony for an exhibit at the National Union of Fine Arts hall.

I arrived late at the exhibit hall on Pasteur Street. Usually I’m not much interested in drawing or looking at the paintings, but the gallery now exhibits the paintings of my friend, the artist Ibrahim Mardoukh. I saw the handsome and great Minister of Culture surrounded by a multitude of officials and artists moving from painting to painting. The artist answered their questions and commented on his paintings. I started to wander through the gallery until the officials and semi-officials around the artist were out. With the exhibition guide in hand, I tried to understand the paintings and decipher its puzzles when I heard a soft voice said to me,

“I did not know that you are interested in the plastic arts. Do you like drawing? "

I turned around and found Janine. She wore a leather jacket and skirt that sets her apart as usual. I could feel blood rising on my face and my tongue stammering before her attractive smile. I did not know what to say and finally I managed to say a useful sentence: "How nice to meet you".

- "And me too, but you didn't answer my question".

- "I don't understand the plastic arts very well; I really attended the exhibition because Mr Mardoukh is my friend".

- "Please introduce me to him."

- "With pleasure".

I walked with her until we got to him. The officials had left and a few artists remained near him. I congratulated him and introduced Janine: "Miss Jeanine Olivier is a French professor at Descartes high school".

"She added:" and an amateur artist".

I looked at her in amazement, saying, "I didn't know it". After the presentation, she said to Ibrahim, drawing an invitation card from her bag, "I am delighted to invite you to the exhibition of French amateur artists at the French Cultural Centre". Reading the card Ibrahim said to her: "You are participating in this exhibition as I see it".

- "Yes"

- "I am honoured to attend your exhibit".

She turned to me and said in a friendly tone, "Consider me your friend as Mr Mardoukh and please come for me".

I was very happy with this compliment and replied, "Nothing will prevent me from attending".

Ibrahim asked her, "Did you like the exhibition?"

- "Certainly, I was very impressed by numbers 16 and 18 of your paintings".

Janine drew my attention to the beauty of these two paintings, the first represents "El Guerrara" the city of the artist, drawn in the pyramidal form showing the originality of the Mozabite city, which distinguishes it from the others. The second represents the desert with its breadth and simplicity. In the corner of the painting is a car representing the modern machine, in front of which three men are praying. This painting combines nature and industry as well as the material and spiritual world. The colours of the two paintings are bright delight the eye and the heart dominated by orange and blue.

Janine reassured me before leaving that I was not the only one absent in the Ramadan lessons, most of the Algerians are absent.

- 43 -

Thursday, the date of the second weekly meeting, but no one has yet volunteered to provide an educational topic. I was talking to Issam in the teachers' room about this. He signalled me to turn right. I found Hakim Boualem speaking to Moncef Makadri, in Arabic dialect, with a friendly tone and an artificial smile, and the other replied in a similar tone. Everyone was amazed. There was silence in the room. The professors were glancing at each other and everyone warned their colleague with a gesture not to miss this scene. What happened? When did the war end and the truce declared? When, where and how did reconciliation take place?

Questions were raised in everyone's mind, but no one dared to speak to the persons concerned about it. None of their friends knew anything.

At this moment, Nouara entered the teachers' room. Her father told me yesterday that she had not passed the Arabic language exam. She approached us and I prepared myself for her comfort and relief. As soon as I expressed my sadness for her failure on the exam, she said, "But I did it".

I showed her my astonishment by saying: "But your father", she completed the sentence, "told you that I had failed. It's true; I failed and succeeded at the same time".

She saw questions in my eyes. She added,

"I failed Tuesday in the Arabic language and managed to obtain my license on Wednesday. The dean of the university decided that the Arabic subject is not a factor of success. He noted that the success in licence for the large number of students in different faculties depends on their success in Arabic. There was no hope that the professor would give in and test us at our level, or that our level would be improved in a way that we could reach the level he defined. It is impossible for someone who cannot carry 20 kilograms to carry two hundred".

I congratulated her warmly, she said to me laughing, "Do not rejoice as much, you do not get rid of me easily, I will continue the Arabic lessons if you do not mind, but twice a week". We agreed to meet Tuesday and Thursday.

The bell rang and we went to the classes and the professors talked about the summit meeting between Makadri and Hakim. Here is what was later reported about their reconciliation,

We know that Makadri and Hakim are neighbours in the building. Makadri lives with his second wife and four-year-old son in occupational housing, while his first wife and their eldest daughter live in the El Madania district. Hakim lived with his French wife who was his colleague during his studies. He married her in Lyon while he was studying at university and he had a son. She was a physics professor at Hassiba High School, but she left Hakim two years ago because of his daily drunkenness and alcoholism. She also took the son with her. Hakim's younger sister came to live with him and take care of him. She taught French in elementary school. An Iraqi teacher colleague loved and married her despite her brother's opposition. She travelled with him to Iraq and left Hakim alone. It was difficult for his mother to leave him alone, so she came to live with him. He warned her not to have a relationship with Makadri's wife, his neighbour in the building, so did Makadri with his wife. They both cleaned in front of the door and each greeted her neighbour from afar.

Last Sunday, Hakim's mother was cleaning near the door, leaving the windows open inside the house. The door closed suddenly and it doesn't have a handle from the outside, so it only opens with the key. It was nine o'clock in the morning and her son only came before Maghrib's call to the sunset prayer. Those who know him well say that after leaving high school, he goes to a secret restaurant located in Didouche Mourad’s Street, spending time with his fellows who do not fast until sunset. He then returns to eat a dish of soup with his mother.

His mother was worried and she didn't know what to do because she didn't have a key. She was forced to violate her son’s instructions and knocked on her neighbour's door. The neighbour opened the door. Hakim's mother does not know Arabic well. Her neighbour only knows a few Kabyle words, but she could understand what happened. She welcomed her and invited her to enter.

The two women seated in the living room, then in the kitchen, where they collaborated in the preparation of the meal for the breaking of the Ramadan fast. The two discussed each other's concerns and problems with her husband for the first and her son for the second. They understood each other from what they knew about each other’s language.

Makadri arrived and his wife told him what had happened. When Hakim arrived before the Maghrib and did not find his mother, he was worried and did not know what to do; he could not ask the neighbours. However, Makadri opened the door and invited him to come in, saying, "Your mother is with us". Hakim and Makdari had dinner together that day and the two women had dinner in the other room. Hakim had to speak to Makadri in the Algerian Arabic dialect before taking his mother and going to his apartment.

This incident had a significant impact on the behaviour of the two women, who agreed to live as cooperative neighbours, in accordance with Algerian religion, customs and traditions. Nevertheless, the behaviour of Makadri and Hakim has not changed except in appearance. Each of them kept his opinion on the other wrapped in a superficial courtesy crust.

- 44 -

The high school celebrated the commemoration of November 1 revolution on Tuesday, October 31. The celebration was enthusiastic in the morning and entertaining in the evening. Only Jacques Le Petit, who considers this day as a painful day of commemoration for the lost paradise, was absent from the morning celebration. Al-Fatiha from the Koran was recited in memory of the martyrs, and then the group of students played the Algerian national anthem. After that, the principal made a speech in both languages. He said in particular, "We have to open a new page without forgetting what happened". He added, "Generations must know the value of independence and the precious price that the people paid with blood from their martyrs and mujahedeen in order to preserve it".

The students played the music for the following enthusiastic national songs, "Djazairena: Our Algeria", "Min djebalina: From Our Mountains", "Chaab Aldjzair Moslimon: Algerian people are Muslims ", and "Mawtini: my Homeland".

The voices of the Egyptian singers who supported the revolution came from a tape recorder. They are Karim Mahmoud, Faida Kamel, Mohammed Kandil and Nadjah Salam.

Laroussi presented a historical overview of the chronology of the Algerian resistance since Prince Abdelkader until the war of liberation in November, through the revolution of Mekrani, Bouamama, Ouled Sidi El Sheikh, lalla fatma n'soumer and others. Then everyone went to the classes to take the lessons.

In the evening after breaking the fast, the school was decorated with twinkling lights and the great hall of the restaurant was transformed into a theatre with wooden frame and curtain at the front and chairs. The piano was placed in the right corner of the room between the stage and the audience. The principal, the assistant principal and the professors seated in the first places, while the students were distributed throughout the room.

 The most important part of the evening was a short play on the struggle of the Palestinian people through the suffering of a Palestinian family: the Israeli occupation army killed the father, imprisoned his eldest son and destroyed his house with bulldozer. The play showed the determination of the mother and her youngest child to continue the fight. A Palestinian nightmare will become a nightmare for the occupiers through the resistance of the Palestinians.

Faiza played the role of the mother. The play replaced Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice". The principal drew Faiza's attention to the fact that this play ridiculed the Jews in the Shylock personality, stating, "We respect people and religions and distinguish between the Jews and the Israelian aggressors. You must choose a play that condemns the aggression". Inspired by real events, the play was successful. It drew the tears of professors and students by increasing their enthusiasm for supporting the Palestinian people and the liberation of the occupied Arab territories.

The representation, the dialogue and the staging of Faiza's play impressed me. My uncle said to me, "Don't be surprised. Faiza's family is a family of long-standing artists". Her father, Abdelhamid Najjar, is a first-rate traditional Algerian furniture designer. In addition, he is a theatre amateur. He worked with Pashtarsi and Allalu. When Arab art was marginalized in the colonial era, these pioneers carried the torch. His son Mohiédine was a member of the National Theatre troupe and a student of Mustafa Kateb. Do not underestimate Faiza; she is a gifted artist.

During the evening last year, I realized the link between art and language when the French music professor, despite her competence, failed to harmonize with the students in their traditional songs and in national anthems because of her ignorance of their language. I saw the incapacity of one of the directors brought by Akli to produce a play written by students because his culture is purely French and he writes Arabic in Latin letters. He did not understand the text and had failed to make it appear despite his competence.

Colonization marginalized art because it remained national. The artists continued to sing and represent in their language, not in the colonial language. The Arabic language has remained a common denominator on the cultural, artistic and non-racial basis. Arabic was not only the language of religion, but it is the language of the other side of the spirit of the people; The art.

 The principal wanted the artistic evening to reflect Algerian art, and to highlight talents in high school. Wajdi harmonized with the principal for this purpose. He considers that his duty was not only teaching music theory, develop students' feelings and cultivate their musical ear, but to train their talented persons to sing and play music. He introduced them to the musical heritage of their country. He urged them to take care of it and develop it because music and art are as he told me, "Part of the personality, the individual must be saturated with his art at first, then he learns the art of others. Otherwise, he will consume the arts of others without producing them. So he started from local music, the students learn the most important musical modes and rhythms, then head towards Arabic music, showing the similarities of our common heritage, to finally reach classical European and modern music.

The students presented, under his supervision, an Andalusia Nubba, which he taught them its steps. They also performed some heritage songs such as “Qum Tara” and some modern Algerian and oriental songs.

The evening included the presentation of a humorous criticizing sketch in Algerian dialect entitled "Images of Ramadan". After, the students presented some of the light school passages; the funniest of them is the imitation of principal, assistant principal and professors by a talented student. Students repeated the name of the professor they wanted him to imitate until he agreed. When the role of Hakim arrived, he refused to be imitated. Students repeated his name until he agreed. When the students chanted "Makadri, Makadri", he left the room angrily.

The imitation of Mahfouz Ammar was the most successful of what the student did, describing his first class lesson. The student put glasses without lenses on his eyes, asked for Ammar’s hat, and inserted it into his head. He joined his hands behind his back, taking a contemptuous and proud look, He looked at the students from top to bottom, and then said in French, "You are underdeveloped people, you will stay behind forever". He turned his back on them, turned abruptly towards them, and asked them, "Do you think that you are human beings like Europeans?" He stopped for a moment and then replied, "No, no, no, no". He raises the voice in each syllable in a way that made the audience die of laughter. He took off his glasses, closed his eyes and opened them several times saying, "We are a people who do not work; our output is half an hour a day, rather ten minutes". He climbed on the platform, put the glasses on and said in a serious tone,

 "In France, people are surprised when they turn on the tap and the water doesn't flow, if they pick up the phone and they don't find the dial tone, if they see a broken elevator, and if they find a man walking in the middle of the road". He would shut up for a moment, then added,

"In our country, we must be surprised if we turn on the tap and we find running water, if we find the phone works, if we find a building with an elevator working and if we see someone walking in the zebra crossing and not walking in the middle of the road".

He walked a few steps in front of the students and continued slowly and calmly, "The books were supposed to be distributed before entering and we are starting to work today". Suddenly, he lost his self-control. He said while knocking on the table, "But we are backward people, we do not know the value of time, we invented the zero and stayed in it". The students laughed a lot, but Ammar himself laughed to the point of shedding tears.

- 45 -

The daily Ramadan meetings brought together Wajdi, Issam and me. We used to cook together, break the fast, stay up and have the dawn meal together. We all knew the alienation and practiced cooking. I made couscous and other types of stew for them. Wajdi has prepared his favourite Egyptian dishes for us, okra "Bamia", vegetable corete "Mouloukhia", pizza and Italian pasta in different ways. Issam spoiled us by preparing the stuffed grape leaves and the types of kubba. The table was decorated with makdous, olives, oil, thyme, fromage blanc and kashkawan. I did not see who looked after the food, like Issam. I don't know how these foods get to him from Damascus.

During the last week of Ramadan, his wife Latifa arrived with her little baby, El Hadi. She came to spend two weeks with him. Her kindness and her beauty confirms what Issam always says in front of her, and she blushes shyly while listening to him, "If the nymphs of paradise have been reduced, the girls of Tunisia would complete them".

Latifa cooked the Tunisian tagine with cheese, the olive tagine, the Tunisian Mouloukhia and the Moroccan pastilla. My cousin Amina brought us a new dish every week, either Chakhchoukha, Mhamsa or lham lahlou and traditional cakes. We bought Zlabias and Kalb el louz in the neighbourhood. When Ramadan was almost over, the weight of each of us increased a few pounds.

Wajdi was the tallest and the most handsome among us. Issam was the smallest and the biggest but these did not affect his beauty, which was manifested in the tanned colour of his skin, the roundness of his face, the green colour of his eyes, and the blondness of his hair with a parting in the middle and the elegance of his short moustache. On the other hand, Wajdi’s attraction stems from the harmony of his white skin tanned by the sun with his half curly hair, the turquoise blue colour of his eyes and his dreamy look. I am different from them with dark eyes and hair and the strength of the constitution.

Many things have brought us together, the three of us recognize the value of work and we are active like worker bees. The professors at the school called us "the active trio". The heart was the compass that we follow Wajdi and I, while the mind was the compass of Issam. He was the calmest and most systematic man among us, but he was not a heartless man. This is what made my uncle respect and appreciate him. His voice was beautiful and when the artist’s soul wakes up in him, he becomes someone else you don’t know. You see his heart and soul melt in the songs he sings. However, as soon as these moments are over, he returns a serious man who does not confuse seriousness and humour like Wajdi and me.

He was the most suffering among us in life. Since 1950, the Syrian regimes have followed his family and imprisoned his first uncle accused of communism and the second accused of sympathy for the Syrian nationalists. Intelligence agents raided the family home for documents and leaflets, and then he was branded for hostility to the party and denied the scholarship even though he deserves it. He travelled to France by sea and worked in ports and restaurants. He wandered the streets of Paris and then worked on translating documents for Syrians and Arabs. He finally got a scholarship and successfully graduated with honors in physics. He is currently working and preparing his doctorate in nuclear physics.

I saw the efforts of Issam in the translation of math problems and exercises from French to Arabic. He saw the suffering of the students because of the different scientific terms between Egyptian, Syrians and Iraqis professors, despite the considerable efforts they make. While students studying science in French find a complete scientific library at their disposal, students in the Arabized classes rely solely on the schoolbook. Issam stayed up for nights to provide them with what they needed in Arabic so that they would not have to contact the French classes to understand what they had studied.

Wajdi is the sweetest of character and the most elegant among us. He belongs to an ingrained aristocratic family, but he is modest and tolerant with all people. He was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. "President Nasser did not like to see a golden spoon in anyone's mouth. He confiscated it," said one of his relatives. His grandfather was a pasha and a famous member of the Wafd party known for his kindness and his integrity. His father was an employee with a distinguished future at the Department of Foreign Affairs. When the revolution broke out, the party men were isolated; their land was confiscated. His father was removed from office and the family's money was placed under surveillance. Nevertheless, the family was able to overcome their many difficulties. His father managed to work in commerce. Since the family had knowledge of foreign languages ​​and friends abroad, His father managed to be a mediator between the wealthy and influential newcomers and foreign companies. Despite all this, Wajdi did not hate Nasser. I asked him once and he replied, "When I was young I hated him because of what happened to my family and, growing up, I discovered that corruption was so fierce that the revolution became rather inevitable and a national duty. If it were not Nasser, he woul be another and each revolution has its errors and its victims".

As for me, my love for Nasser does not come only from his absolute material and moral support for the Algerian revolution and from his courageous positions against the great colonial powers. It is also an admiration for the man who was able to restore confidence in the Arab nation and the vulnerable peoples in themselves and their capacity for freedom and progress. It is something that the parties on the right and the parties on the left could not do. Just as I learned to avoid the cult of personality, I also learned to recognize the geniuses of my nation, as each nation recognizes its geniuses in all domains. Without the geniuses, the chemical interaction in society that causes its structure to change and develop would never happen.

I was the least suffering and the least experienced in life among the three but I was also the most cheerful and the most sentimental who follows his emotions. Thanks to my uncle who mastered some of my emotional impulses. At the age of knowledge, I found him before me in place of my father. I once satirized one of my teenage friends in a defamatory manner. My uncle said to me, "Beware of satirizing people. True satire is worse than false praise, because it shows the faults of man and ignores his virtues. Who defames people, they fear him and avoids his wickedness but they never love or respect him".

I have promised myself that I will no longer satirize anyone as long as I live. I once published in the newspaper "al châab" a poem on Arabization sent from Cairo, describing the French language as a shame,

"How I accept after cleaning up the shame on my forehead,

To see it reside in my tongue and in my hand".

My uncle blamed me in a letter sent to Cairo saying, "I don't agree with you, French is not a shame, you learned French, do you really consider it a shame and do you want to delete it. Your poems should be honest to express your feelings and not use slogans to please others. He advised me to express the meaning of adhering to the Arabic language and preserving it in a different way, without attacking French.

I am different from my two friends on two points, each of them is distinguished in his specialized subject and nobody catches up with him. As for me, I am new in my subject, and I am still at the beginning of the road. They are city dwellers, sons of two urban cities and I am a peasant whose nature and customs differ from their nature and their customs. I am more open, spontaneous and all my money, my time and my other things are common to others. On the contrary, they are organized, reserved and put limits in their relationships. They are used to a way of life and a private life that does not accept the violation. Issam once told me old wisdom when I innocently asked him about his destination: "Do not ask the individual for three things, his doctrine, his fortune and his destination". However, they tolerated me in my transgressions and I tried to respect their method.

Somme of the things that brought us together were, we don't drink alcohol and the three of us don't smoke. We love literature and art and we enjoy poetry, music, theatre and cinema. The three of us are non-partisan and that does not mean that we are against the parties. Saadoun once asked us, "Why aren't all three of you joining any party?"

Issam answered him sincerely and clearly on our behalf,

“Basically, we all belong to the homeland not to the party but we are not against the parties. Most of the nationalists and revolutionaries in Syria, Algeria, Egypt and Iraq and in various Arab countries raised within the parties and fought through them. There is no democratic future in our countries without the parties". He added, "But the parties are blamed for their fanaticism and the marginalization of others. In addition, they put the interest of the party above the interest of the homeland. They also reflect all the diseases of society instead of treating them".

 We also discovered a convergence of thought; we do not see Arabism as a race or a descent, but rather a civilization that brought together many peoples. My father is an Arab and my mother is Chaouia. As for Wajdi, his grandmother is Turkish. As a result, our call for Arab unity was not racist but realistic. We are in the age of the blocks but the national unity among the citizens of each arabe country is the basis of all greater unity. A unity based on consent, not annexation by force, and takes into account the interests and specificities of each country in a serious and sincere dialogue, in a realistic spirit. A modern unit to build the future and not to restore the past. Unity of equality between all citizens regardless of race, religion or sect.

We started the evening of Ramadan with the opening of the Andalusian music festival and attended the concerts of Egyptian and Syrian groups and the two associations of Mosulia and Al-Gharnatiya. Our evenings went on until dawn. We went around after dinner, then sang and listened to Wajdi play the piano or lute when we were in his apartment. Sometimes he brings his lute to my apartment or to the apartment of Issam, who made us enjoy traditional songs. At the same time, we listen to varieties of Algerian and Arabic songs.