Book Bits - The Covenant of Water - Chapter 1
Welcome to Book Bits, a feature specially designed to accomodate my filthy habit of starting a book and never finishing it. However, with any book we can get bits of wisdom, even if we just start. Today's Book Bits covers The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. I'm not one for reading the little insert on the cover, so I just jumped into it.
The book opens with simple exposition while screaming the obvious injustice, “She is 12 years old and she will be married in the morning.” As an adult, if you told me I had to be married to a man three times my age tomorrow I’d probably curl up into a ball and cry. I can only imagine it for a child.
Taking place in Travencore, India in the early 1900s, obviously it is a different time and place. It reminds us of how far we have come and the undeniable strength of will it takes the human spirit to overcome things daily. Even today, there are children who have endured horrendous crimes and never make it out. The results being either a cycle of dependency and violence or death. We wonder if this young bride will make it out.
However, that was not her saddest day. The term evokes memories of her father.
Her father, whose eyes probably foretold hope as he held her in his furry arms like a loveable bear. Her father, who believed in her intellectual prowess and promised to send her to high school and college. Her father, who swore she would never marry young.
A string of gentle promises, now broken by death.
So today, she says, “Good bye lagoon. Goodbye creek.”
Remembering the words of her father, “Faith is to know the pattern is there even though none is visible.”
We are her and she is us. If we do right and follow the code of justice, we’ll make it out of this, we tell ourselves.
We have to.
HOMEWORK: Since this book was suggested to me by a prolific philanthropist I will volunteer at one of the many charities she has given her time to: Houston Children’s Charity.
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