The Joy of Free Learning

Yesterday was one of those good days. It's easy to feel fortunate when an already good day was supplemented with a truly positive experience.

Anita Badami was born in India in 1961. In India she pursued and successfully completed a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Madras, and she studied Social Communications Media in Sophia College, Bombay.

In 1991, Anita moved to Canada, attended the University of Calgary and was awarded her master's degree in English literature. Subsequently her graduate thesis became her first of many successful novels, Tamarind Men.

On December 4th, 2008, Anita Badami graced Fanshawe College with her presence. She is now the writer in residence for the University or Western Ontario, but lives in Montreal. She only works four days of each month in London, so I count myself lucky to have been in attendance.

What I found to be completely inspiring was her complete mastery of the English language. Keeping in mind, that English of course, is her second language. Badami read from her Regional Commonwealth Writers Prize winning book, The Hero's Walk, and what overwhelmed me was the incredibly vivid descriptions she uses, while avoiding being 'wordy'. The prose was elegant and the storytelling seamless; Badami's writing encourages you to engage your imagination in a way that most of us haven't done since we were children, when imagination was everything. You find yourself picturing every texture, every breath, every subtle nuance that many authors seem to breeze right past, and most of us ignore day to day.

Badami exercises a phenomonal use of language, but is not difficult to follow. Although she is easily talented enough to justify it, Anita Badami has no attitude of pretentiousness, either personally or within her work. She exhibits a subtle humor and a blatant honesty, which are both admirable qualities in my opinion.

Anita Badami has written five books, and at this point I have yet to read any of them. Although I have every intention of absorbing the entire catalog.

In conclusion, I would like to comment that this experience cost no money. Zero dollars. I spent the rest of the day inspired and enlightened and all I did was show up and listen. These types of things are happening all the time in our communities, and it's important the we make the effort to experience them. Free knowledge and inspiration sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

But that's just me.