When I was asked to write a review on a book that had impacted my thoughts, I wasn’t left with much of a choice. ‘Goat Days’, by Benyamin, it is.
‘Goat Days’ is a heart-piercing story about a Keralite man, Najeeb who gets caught in the midst of a large ocean of sand in Saudi Arabia. His hopeful dreams of living a moderately good life gets shattered like fragile glass.
The title holds a metaphorical meaning, apart from the fact that he spent his days tending goats. He himself lives a life of a pathetic animal, which is locked up. He narrates the horrors of living, where his entertainment is just naming the goats and talking with them. He lives through his terrible goat days by hoping for that one day he would be rescued.
The most shocking aspect of the book is that it is a true story, as said by the author. This is one book that has impacted my thoughts largely. Sometimes, many of us crib about things we don’t have. But what we don’t realise is that just a few miles away from us, there could be people living unimaginable lives, living off raw bread and goat milk.
The story made me think about how intense some of the difficulties people go through are. It taught me that no matter which utopia you are stuck in, you aren’t completely hopeless. Never give up. We never know where the shoe pinches unless you wear it.
The book is written in such a beautiful way in which you can witness the horrors of Najeeb’s life through his eyes. This is a book worth reading. I have read both the English and Malayalam versions of the book. To all the Keralites out there, it would be a better experience reading the Malayalam version, the original one, ‘Aadu Jeevitham’.
— The reader is a student based in Dubai.
