bamboo stem

Author's name: Saud Al-Sanousi

This novel is about a young man born to a Filipino maid working for a Kuwaiti family. The only man in this family, Rashid, fell in love with her and secretly married her from his family. When the family found out the secret of this marriage and the child, they insisted that the husband abandon his wife and child because, according to Kuwaiti society, this would be a disgrace to the well-known wealthy class there. What was most important to them was reputation, not money, as they said. This young man, Jose or Issa, grew up poor in his mother's homeland in Manila, the Philippines, waiting for his father to take him to paradise (Kuwait), as his mother described it to him. Whenever life became difficult for him in the Philippines, he would remember that there was paradise awaiting him in Kuwait, and he was patient. During this period, Jose was searching for himself, his identity, his religion, and a homeland that would contain him. Jose did not know his religion, was it Christianity like his mother, or Islam because he was going to Kuwait? ... Jose ends up finding his father dead during the Gulf War between Kuwait and Iraq, but he returns to Kuwait through his father's friend, Ghassan, only to find himself in a strange and very different world than before. Of course, just as his grandmother refused him to come to her house when he was young, she also rejected him when he was older, ungrateful. However, deep down, she hid her love for him because he had his father's voice and because he was the only man who carried the family name "Al-Tarouf". But as mentioned before, in Kuwait, fame is more important than money. His grandmother treated him like a young Filipino and arranged a room for him in the annex of the house like a servant's. Jose then discovered that he had a half-sister named "Khawla", and they were both delighted with this news. Khawla was the miracle that saved Jose from his grandmother's rejection, as his grandmother loved his sister "Khawla". Day after day, his grandmother became more affectionate towards him and showed more affection. But Jose felt lonely because his family did not acknowledge him; They did not participate in the holidays with him, nor did they mingle with the family. He also did not know his religion due to an idea that may have been conveyed incorrectly about Islam and its advocates, the superficiality of religion in societies, and he also did not consider Kuwait his homeland because he did not feel the family atmosphere and safety there; he could not get over his Filipino appearance. In the end, he revealed the family secret that they have a Filipino son, and the news quickly spread, so they decided to expel him from the country. However, Jose did not accept, but in the end, he surrendered to the reality. He was forced to travel because of what his aunt said about the harsh conditions that forced him to travel because it affected her reputation and standing with her husband’s family. He also did not feel that Kuwait was his country. The text of the novel The Bamboo Stalk is what Jose wrote about his life and his vision of social life in Kuwait and the Philippines