Witwit May - Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad

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First published 2010

Copyright Bee Rowlatt and May Witwit, 2010

All rights reserved

The moral right of the authors has been asserted

ISBN: 978-0-141-93472-3

To Ali: for his indispensable support

For Justin and the girls: every day you make my life better

This was never meant to be a book. But when you read it, youll see how it had to become one, regardless of any embarrassment I might feel about its intimate contents.

I made contact with May in 2005, completely at random. She was just another person at the end of a phone line in my busy working day. I never imagined that wed become friends, our worlds were so different. But as a relationship developed, the intimacies that we shared took on a huge momentum in my life.

Writing the emails became compulsive. I wanted to share the personal moments in my life with my friend, someone I came to call my sister, never thinking that anyone else would read them.

I cant help but feel a degree of horror now that the book is being published. The only consolation is that my private revelations are quite meagre next to Mays story and so, in tribute to her courage, here goes.

Bee Rowlatt

When I answered that phone call, Bee was a journalist through whom I wanted to expose my countrys misery. I wanted the whole world to see the unreason and injustice of the decision to invade Iraq and shatter our lives how the simplest daily chores became far-fetched objectives. I never realized at the time that my life would change through a friendship that exceeded race, age, time and place.

May Witwit

17.01.05

Hello

Dear May

Thank you for agreeing to be available for interview. As I said, Im a producer for BBC World Service radio, on the news programme The World . Ive been phoning around all week trying to make contact with various English-speaking Iraqis to interview in the run-up to the elections at the end of this month, so I was very happy to find you!

Would it be OK if I called you on Thursday? Most people I have spoken to say they are nervous about the elections and possible violence on the day. Id love to hear your thoughts. Perhaps you could tell us about everyday life in Baghdad at the moment as well? Hearing you talk about trying to do your hair in a city of power cuts ending up with it half curly and half straight made me think that life must carry on behind the street fighting and explosions on the news. I cant imagine what its like, and Id love to hear from you about how you manage.

I wonder if you would mind telling me more about your family and your background. Its not easy for people over here to discover the voices of ordinary Iraqi people whose lives are tangled up in the big news stories. In any case I will email you again, so that I can keep up with your plans.

Take care.

Very best wishes

Bee

26.01.05

Hi, Bee

I received your email and was delighted it has been ages since Ive been in contact with anyone from Britain.

Since you asked, here is a little more about myself: I am the eldest of three, two girls and a boy. We were born in Iraq in 1959, 1962 and 1964. My parents, both pharmacists, travelled in 1960 to the UK to complete their studies at Queens University in Belfast. My parents taught at the College of Medicine and my father was soon promoted to become the head of the chemistry department. Being a devoted scientist he got cancer from working with carcinogenic chemicals. My mother did all she could, but he died just before Christmas 1970, in London.

After his death, my mother (only 33) decided to study for her PhD and was accepted at Chelsea College of Science and Technology in London. But she wasnt very comfortable there. We moved several times before we eventually settled in Dennistoun, in Scotland. After she got her PhD we moved back to Iraq, late in 1975.

Life here, as I told you, is a mini hell. As you know, I teach English literature at Baghdad University. I think it helps my students, because it transports them to another culture, another life, and another world. The world of Jane Austen is so far removed from our daily terror of bombs and violence.

I hope that all is well at your end of the world. Iraqis here want to vote, and are looking forward to the day of the elections because they really do believe that it will make a difference. Im not that optimistic, but still I hope that it will turn out right.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Best wishes

May

10.02.05

Election day

Hello, May! It was good to hear from you again. Thanks for letting the programme contact you. I wasnt in that day, but I understand they were very happy. It looked like election day would be trouble. But the news on the actual day was quite inspiring; I couldnt believe how brave people were and that eight million voted. It always makes me think about people here, who are often too lazy or indifferent to vote. If only they knew what other people go through to do it!

Everything is fine here. In fact, I took some time off after the elections to catch up with normal life. It was good to have a break the news can be hard to escape when youre up close to it all day. I have two small kids so I only work part-time now, but sometimes its hard to switch off.

Here in the UK everyones caught up in the earth-shaking news that Prince Charles is to marry his girlfriend Camilla. News reporters are wondering whether the British public approves or not (given the enduring fascination with Diana). I never know whether to be reassured by stories like this: you think, Well the world cant be so bad after all. But then you think, Do people really care about THIS? Of course, we all follow Iraq on the news. But its hard to imagine ordinary people caught up in the scenes on TV. I sometimes try to imagine what life would be like if the conditions in Baghdad were suddenly imposed on London.

Spring is nearly starting here and there are a few buds poking out of the soil. Its still cold but it feels like spring is on its way.

How is your teaching going? Are your students coping with the regime change? I wonder what things are like now, compared to before the invasion.