Journey through the desert in ‘Stolen Lives’

It’s 2 a.m. Eyes drooping, back aching and quite dizzy, I emerged from my night realm, the comfort room. I had just come back from a journey which forever changed my life and perhaps my future. I traveled with Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi into a non-existent world. I had just finished reading an exceptional book, Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail and it totally blew my head off! Since there are three of us in a room, I had to read in the comfort room so I wouldn’t bother and irritate my roommates with the light. I am a reader, but since I cannot afford to buy books, I content myself with borrowing them. Little did I know that one day, I’d find one that would entirely change the reason of my existence.

Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi did such a tremendous job. Oufkir, 47 years old, who now lives in Paris and is married to a French architect, narrated the events like an expert storyteller that it is impossible for you to put the book down. Fitoussi, on the other hand, is of Tunisian descent. He put the story into words so rich it made me afraid for the story to end. I just couldn’t get enough of it. The result is indescribable.

Stolen Lives reveals a true life story that many of us would find hard to believe. Refusing vehemently that such a thing could happen, I searched the Internet for proof that those things did occur. Yes they did, and I was both flabbergasted and enlightened.

The story starts in the late 1950s. It is about a family who was living the good life only found in fairy tales. They had everything except the precious moments of their lives when they were imprisoned in a desert jail for about 20 years for a crime they did not commit. They belonged to a high society, had an abundant wealth, power, a famous name. Malika, the oldest daughter, was born to be a princess. She was adopted by the ruling king and she literally grew up in a palace. They had a powerful father who was executed. Apart from their mother and the two servants who went with them to prison, they were all children. The youngest child was three-and-a-half years when they were jailed, and when they were released, he was a man who was deprived of his childhood and early adulthood, but had lived his life to the fullest.

They lived with cockroaches and mice and who knows what else. They starved. Yet, they created a world of their own. Amid all their suffering, they found God and with Him they survived. They had courage no one could ever fathom except maybe themselves. They hoped. I still can’t find the right words to describe what this family went through despite the fullness of the authors’ account.

From the beginning of the book, your mind would totally wander off to events you thought unimaginable. Be warned, the authors would make you leave the present time without your consent. But with this book, from beginning to end, I was with the family. So caught I was with the story that it almost felt like I was one of them. One couldn’t help but live, laugh, play, fight, struggle, escape and survive with the rest of them all through the 293-page book. I felt their anger, hatred, pain, and most of all, their unwavering love, and support for one another.

Though the book didn’t make me cry buckets, I left their world a better person, enriched both in mind and in spirit. I deeply admire the courage, faith and belief of Malika Oufkir. Reading her relive the past, I began to accept and understand that things happen because they are meant to. Most of all, I accepted myself for what I am. I stopped caring about what other people would say behind my back. I can now walk with my head held high, welcoming the beauty of the world. I have become more appreciative of life, of my blessings, of my family and friends and of my benefactors who never had a doubt on sending me to school. Most of all, I became more aware that God is with me all along.

The day I finished reading the book, I started living my life the way I should have done a long time ago. I let go of anger, grudge and bitterness. I no longer hate the world.

The book was written for people to see that no matter what happens in our lives, other people could be dealing with something worse. We should be grateful for the blessings that are being bestowed upon us by the Supreme Being. Some of us might think it is just another book with a fancy title but it made a huge difference in my life.

Thanks to Malika Oufkir, her insatiable appetite for life made me more eager for mornings to come and for the sunshine to peek through the thick clouds. She’s all a woman should be. All facets of life were covered in her narration and she guided me to view life from a rich, poor, royal blood or not, hero and villain’s perspective. Needless to say, I was transformed into someone else. I am glad our paths crossed at the right time and at the right place. Too bad, I don’t own the book but then, having gone through all its pages is more than I could ask for.