Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Brother : A Story of Hope and Survival from Africa’s Rebel Heart

Two half-brothers (having same father, different mothers). 
The elder one becomes  a very famous and well-respected personality. The younger one turns into a drug-addicted street gangster and spends a year in prison ( for a crime he did not commit). 
Once out of the prison, inspired by his elder brother's achievements, the younger one reforms himself through self-determination, and works for betterment of lives of the slum children in Kenya.
Sounds like an old run of the mill Bollywood movie story ? 
Yes, but it is not.
This is a real story . 

This book is an autobiography of the younger brother George Obama, whose elder half-brother is none other than the President Barack Obama. 
A well-written narrative story that takes the readers on a fascinating journey through  the life of George Obama.
His childhood days in his grandmother's home; his bonding with his French step-father; his education in some of the best schools in Kenya; his life taking turn for worse after his mother's divorce from his step-father; his life as a street-gangster; his tenure in prison and finally the road to rehabilitation as a community activist. 

An inspiring read that shows that there is hope for everyone. 
As the author put's it "Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it that there is hope for everyone".

Don't miss it !

[Author: George Obama  (with  Damien Lewis); Publisher: Endeavour Press Ltd; (Kindle Edition). Also published earlier as "Homeland: An Extraordinary Story of Hope and Survival" by Simon & Schuster in hardcover format (294 pages)]



Some Excerpts:
  • "Hope is not blind optimism … Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it."
  • "‘Stuff happens in life that we don’t expect,’ she cut in. ‘Look at me: whoever would have thought I’d end up here? But I deal with it; it’s not so bad; a good life can be made almost anywhere." 
  • "As I held that photo in my hand I felt a mixture of emotions coursing through my veins. There was pain at the fact of losing him, and losing all that love that so clearly showed in the way he was holding me, and the light in his eyes. And there was confusion, too, for this man cradling me with such tenderness was an utter stranger to me. If he had lived would I have called him ‘father’, as I was unable to do with Christian, and he call me ‘son’? And how then might my life have been changed? "
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