01-10-2022
Today is a great day, we will be interviewing, shortly of course, two great, prominent individuals from the literary world and the visual entertainment industry. Why? Mostly to compare their lives and experiences with what we have in Nigeria. Our first guest is Nitta Sayuri from MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, How are you Sayuri? "
Sayuri: Oh, A.xveey-san I'm well, how are you?
A.xveey: I'm good. Tell us about yourself Sayuri, breifly.
Sayuri: Oh well. I'm...was, a geisha in Japan, a geisha is not a prostitute you see, we are more like ladies paid to keep men company, entertain them with our presence, we could sing for them, dance,tell stories, or play the Shamisen while another Geisha dances. I won’t pretend a geisha never gives in casually to a man she finds attractive. But whether she does or not is her private affair. Geisha have passions like everyone else.
A.xveey: Ok Sayuri, Thank you for that. You lived around what time?
Sayuri: The 1900s dear.
A.xveey: Okay Sayuri, I bet the 1900s was, well quite the time to be alive, am I right? We had both world wars during this time,a devastating thing, and the GREAT depression which was really, a great depression, literally. You witnessed this. Tell me, how was it?
Sayuri: In Japan we refer to the years from the Depression through World War II as kurotani—the valley of darkness, when so many people lived like children whose heads had slipped beneath the waves. As is often the case, those of us in Gion didn’t suffer quite as badly as others. While most Japanese lived in the dark valley all through the 1930s, for example, in Gion we were still warmed by a bit of sun. And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you why; women who are mistresses of cabinet ministers and naval commanders are the recipients of enormous good fortune, and they pass that good fortune along to others. You might say Gion was like a pond high up on a mountaintop, fed by streams of rich springwater. More water poured in at some spots than others, but it raised the pond as a whole.
A.xveey: Simply put those in Gion weren't quite affected by the depression courtesy of the influence of the men you had access to??
Sayuri: Yes!
A.xveey: Okay Sayuri, unto the next question, In what year did you visit America?
Sayuri: 1952 precisely.
A.xveey: Tell me something distinctive you observed.
Sayuri : Well, most Japanese at this time had electricity only during certain hours, for example, but the lights in American cities burned around the clock. And while we in Kyoto were proud that the floor of our new train station was constructed of concrete rather than old-fashioned wood, the floors of American train stations were made of solid marble. Even in small American towns, the movie theaters were as grand as our National Theater,and the public bathrooms everywhere were spotlessly clean. What amazed me most of all was that every family in the United States owned a refrigerator, which could be purchased with the wages earned by an average worker in only a month’s time. In Japan, a worker needed fifteen months’ wages to buy such a thing; few families could afford it."
A.xveey : Wonderful! Sayuri, have you heard of Nigeria?
Sayuri: Emm---
A.xveey: It's a country, my country. That's where I'm from.
Sayuri: Okay.
A.xveey: Sayuri do you know what year it is??
Sayuri: I'm afraid not, time here ----
A.xveey: It's 2022. 70 years more since you first visited America.
Sayuri: Oh!
A.xveey: Tell me something Sayuri, do you think Japan, the land of the rising sun has risen finally?
Sayuri: Oh yes! That's a long time not to have caught up or risen. Japan's definitely caught up.
a.xveey: Well Sayuri, I agree with you that 70 years is a long enough time to have caught up. Japan's risen. Risen beautifully and has caught up. But the giant of Africa is not quite A giant. It's 2022 and most families certainly can't afford a refrigerator, we do not have lights that burn around the clock certainly, stable electricity is a rare luxury that only the rich enjoy. An average workers salary is meager. Infact, there's no average, just the poor and the Rich, and things are not getting better Sayuri, things get worser each day. Our leaders our corrupt, infact everyone's corrupt and I didn't mean lightly corrupt, I'm talking inept corruption, you think there's any hope for us??
Sayuri: Well... who's to say? Things can look bad and turn right around the next day... We can only but hope and pray!
A.xveey: Hope and pray. We've done a lot of that believe me but Thank you! It's our independence day by the way, Sayuri.
Sayuri: Oh A.xveey-san, why didn't you mention that earlier? Happy independence day Nigeria.
A.xveey: Thank you! Thank you for your time and for letting us engage you, do have a wonderful day and pray for Nigeria.
A round of applause for beautiful Sayuri as she exits the stage please!
Audience: 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🖐️👏👏👏👏👏👏
A.XVEEY: Our next guest, is no other than the beautiful, exotic, phenomenal, highly distinguished, Oscar winning, Emmy award winner, professional actress, Viola Davis! a thundering ovation people!
Audience: 👏👏👏👏🖐️👏🖐️👏👏👏👏👏👏🖐️
A.xveey: Viola dear, how are you doing?
Voila Davis: Very well, Thank you. How are you?
A.xveey: I'm good Viola. Thank you. I have a few questions to ask you Voila, may i go on?
Voila Davis: Yes, you may.
A.xveey: When were you born Viola?
Voila Davis:1965
A.xveey: How would describe your family Voila?
Voila Davis: "We were “po.” That’s a level lower than poor"
A.xveey: I've read your Memoir Ms Davis. You had a rough childhood, you endured a terrible living condition, I'm glad you emerged from all of that strong and you achieved your dream, that's not only beautiful,but inspiring, Congrats on that.
Voila Davis: Thank you.
A.xveey: Tell me a bit about your growing up.
Voila Davis: I’ve heard some of my friends say, “We were poor, too, but I just didn’t know it until I got older.” We were poor and we knew it. There was absolutely no disputing it. It was reflected in the apartments we lived in, where we shopped for clothes and furniture—the St. Vincent de Paul—the food stamps that were never enough to fully feed us, and the welfare checks. We were “po.” We almost never had a phone. Often, we had no hot water or gas. We had to use a hot plate, which increased the electric bill. The plumbing was shoddy, so the toilets never flushed. Actually, I don’t ever remember toilets working in our apartments. I became very skilled at filling up a bucket and pouring it into the toilet to flush it. And with our gas constantly being cut off because of nonpayment, we would either go unwashed or would just wipe ourselves down with cold water. And even the wiping down was a chore because we were often without towels, soap, shampoo. . . .We couldn't afford laundromat everytime and when dirty clothes piled up, we washed our clothes by hand in cold water and soap and hung them to dry. We would hang wet clothes over doors or a chair because a clothesline would be exposed to snow, rain, and/or freezing cold air that would make the clothes turn to ice.
A.xveey: Wow! I don't know what else to say than WOW.
Voila Davis: Yeah.
A xveey: So you went through all of this aware, clearly conscious of the fact that you were poor?
Voila Davis: Yes!
A.xveey: I'm guessing that this was in comparison with the fact that other people around had better living conditions than you?
Voila Davis: Exactly.
A.xveey: Ms. Voila, I'm a Nigerian, so you'll forgive me, it's a common trait among us; comparing horrible situations we've gone through, endured, to know who has suffered the most but do you know that these living conditions you endured, that led you to describe yourself as poor is the reality of many Nigerians? And you know what?
Voila Davis: No, what's what?
You made mention of toilets that you have to use a bucket of water to flush? Well, that's almost a normal phenomenon in Nigeria, people who use water in a bucket to flush their toilets don't walk around thinking they're poor. It's just the way the toilet works.
Washing clothes with hands? It's as normal as breathing for us, owning a washing machine is something people brag about . 80% of Nigerians wash clothes with their hands. 80%. None of these people consider it a characteristic of poverty. Washing with hands is the way clothes are washed. It's a fixed normality. Some people use old clothes as their towels, Shampoo? Pfft...What? Only people doing hair care use shampoo.
I'm ranting I know, but it just struck me as odd while reading your book, how you mentioned things we consider as normal, is what for you, was considered poverty.
Like I said, it's the Nigerian trait in me, forgive me, I'm not trying to invalidate your experiences and how it's shaped you.
Voila Davis: Well...I don't know what to say really. I'm just stunned that what I went through, all I suffered is a normalcy for some people, I would never imagine that. It makes me almost grateful? that I didn't grow up here, imagine being poor here? Woo! I'm sorry, for how things are. I can see you're hurt by it.
A.xveey: Thank you Voila. Thank you. I am, hurt that is. Its my country and I love it, it hurts when something or someone you love and want to keep loving keeps hurting you and there's no hope of the hurt stopping.
Voila Davis: I understand that, Sorry. I pray and hope for you that it gets better,that things change.
A.xveey: Thank you, again. It's our Independence day today, did you know?
Voila Davis: I did not. In that case, Happy Independence Nigeria.
A.xveey: On her behalf, Thank you. Let's schedule and talk some other time, talk about something else, not Nigeria.
Voila Davis: (Chuckles)That would be nice.
A.xveey: I know right? Thank you for your time. Have a beautiful day Ms. Davis. Bye.
Voila Davis: Bye!
A.xveey: Another ovation for Voila Davis!!!!
Audience: 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏(till light fades)
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