OBOC - Guatemala

Miguel Asturias is probably the most famous writer from Guatemala and was the obvious choice for OBOC. I did begin with his most ambitious but least understood work "Men of Maize". Once again it was a fool's folly on my part. There is a reason why wikipedia describes this book as the least understood book by Asturias. But i was intrigued by the history of the Maya Indians. Luckily good sense prevailed and i abandoned the book at around 20 pages and picked up "Son of Tecun Uman" an autobiographical diary of Ignacio Bizarro Ujpan which he wrote upon the request of anthropologist James Sexton.

Ignacio is "every Indian" and through his diary we get an honest, simple, engaging view of life in Guatemala in the '70s for Indians who were partially assimilated into the larger society. The appeal of this book is the mere fact that autobiographies are usually reserved for the rich and/or famous. Rarely we hear from society's otherwise voiceless. The story of Ignacio's could be the story of adivasis in India, Native Americans on a reservation today in America, or other indigenous cultures from around the world. What does it mean to live on a dollar a day? What kind of life do people on the fringe of society, mired in poverty lead? What kind of daily struggles do people face in these circumstances? How do they deal with death, sickness, natural calamities? Ignacio's story answers many of these questions. Although his situation is similar to that of Adivasis and Native Americans, it is also unique as defined by his culture, the social structure and the geography.

Broadly these were some of the themes of Maya Indian Society as described by Ignacio

1) Absolute Poverty - the biggest worry in Ignacio's mind is providing for his family especially his kids. Although he does manage to build a home with adobe walls, a sheet metal roof and a cement floor, everyday life is a lot of struggle. He sometimes worked as a contractor rounding up laborers to work on someone else's farm on a different coast. Most often than not he has no idea where his next dollar was going to come from.

2) Community ties - This was a big theme in his diary. Everyone in San Jose knew everyone else or so it seemed. People looked out for each other. Family is a loose definition but tight connection. Ignacio would go to lengths to help out a distant family member at great cost to himself.

3) Faith - Although very much Catholic, you could see that most Indians have not given up on their traditional beliefs and seem to have created their own version of a mixed religion. Ignacio seems to have lost a lot of faith in the current day Shamans, he still holds on to many seemingly superstitious beliefs.

4) Nature and its impact - Situated near Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, the lake is almost a central figure in this autobiography. Panajachel is even today famous for its natural beauty and many tourist brochures advertise both its beauty and the Mayan culture it supports. Ignacio briefly mentions the beauty but spends a great deal of time about the drownings in the lake, the spirit goddess who demands human sacrifices, the wind that blows announcing an impending death. These were the realities of his life. The other big natural disaster were the earthquakes. In the period covered by the book San Jose sees many earthquakes and aftershocks. Whole village sleeps outdoors in fear of aftershocks including Igancio's wife who had just delivered a baby.

5) Alcohol - The impact of alcohol on indigenous tribes world over is well known. Still I was shocked by how much alcohol was mentioned in this book. Men especially would drink for no apparent reason or  actually for any reason. Birth or death, harvest of crops or destruction of those, profit or loss, religious celebration or political reason - alcohol was often the answer. As a reader I was often frustrated at how much money Ignacio would spend on alcohol relative to his earnings! Towards the end of the book I was glad to see Ignacio join Alcoholics Anonymous and trying hard to kick the habit.

But the overarching theme of this book was survival. The legendary Tecun Uman is a National Hero of the Guatemalans. Following in his footsteps Ignacio is a hero in his own way. He constantly battles against natural calamities, the cards he had been dealt with in his life, his own flaws and preventable diseases like measles which is responsible for the loss of two of his kids and does all of that without much bitterness. He shows very high emotional intelligence, a sense of humor and tremendous curiosity. The sheer range of topics covered by his biography is daunting - shamans, politics, dreams,  religion, landless labor, economic conditions, changing face of Guatemala, soccer, frustrations of people,  fatalism and much much more.

Most indigenous cultures have been "studied" by anthropologists, their stories are usually hijacked and re-told by others. James Sexton by asking Ignacio to do a three part autobiography has helped create a valuable document for posterity. I am sure the next part Campesino would be an equally fascinating read.