Humbled and composed, so, Mr. Tololwa Mollel presents himself. Not that outspoken, at least not for the get go, but let him share/ tell a story… MY! You’d definitely not cease to be Amazed (with a capital A). The articulation of his voice is just near perfect. Speaking in a rather composed manner he’d take you places; you’d meet angels/ ghosts and see them talk, Hilarious isn’t it? Well, no words (at least not from me) could explain his ability/ talent/ skill of telling stories (or performing stories as so he puts it).
That is “the” Tololwa Mollel, renowned author of Children’s stories, dramatist and storyteller with multiple of books published internationally and several plays created and adapted for performances, who graced our night at Soma with his delightful tales.
The Night, when and where we met the author, was filled with joys and smiles from the faces of the audience. The young bloods, dominating the room, accompanied by the few elders present altogether shared the jokes and laughter. It was refreshing. Simply entertaining (and educative).
The Talk was just so insightful. The Fictional in Non-fiction and Non-fictional in Fiction, not a new concept in itself, but still worth it to initiate discussion among the participants. This was among the topic that transpired the Monday Night “Meet the Author” activity of 15/08/2016. In response to Mama Elieshi’s, the author of “Parched Earth”, question whether there is an absolute work of fiction, Mr Tololwa asserted for that, “Even the most un-life like fiction starts with life,” he even remarked on the famous J. K. Rowling’s Harry Porter novel series.
“What advice would you have for the aspiring writers or rather a younger you?” This was the question that lead to the discussion on “The Trials and Struggles of a Writer”. This topic definitely needs a whole independent session to have something concrete to present on and have impact; however Mr. Tololwa had a thing to contribute to pending the independent session. “…30 years back I’d obviously advice the (then) younger me to look for a job/ satisfactory career to pay the bills. This would definitely enable me to indulge into more writing.” Though yes, writing could become that career that could pay the bills, but there is another threat (in the SWOT of readership) that “There are not ENOUGH readers”.
To the greatest of Soma’s advantage, the motion of READING once again arose. This being initiated by the aforementioned threat, questioning the scope of readership within our respective communities. The motion always provides new thoughts which are advantageous upon Soma’s implementation of its core objective of promoting readership. So was this discussion profitable. “READ. JUST READ. YOU MUST READ. YOU MUST READ TO WRITE (for writing comes from experience)”. The most important of them all statements was “JUST READ TO ENJOY!” this compliments our slogan saying Culture, Leisure and Learning and the leisure part covers the enjoyment.
The (Story) Telling, the Talk and the Night was all enjoyable. In one word – EDUTAINING!
