Local Author Logan Nathan’s "Buhle",
A Lyrical Contemplation of the Resilience of the Human Spirit
BY KALYANI GIRI
JANUARY 15, 2010

HOUSTON: There’s an unmistakable lyricism in the way writer Logan Nathan crafts a story. He is skilled at creating vivid images that inexorably drags the reader over a tumultuous landscape of stark emotions. Born and educated in South Africa, Nathan lived through that country’s apartheid era, the seething quagmire of racial discrimination that defined South Africa’s past. Like other South Africans of color, he too endured the humiliation of being thrown out of restaurants and from being barred from public restrooms. He witnessed the indignities inflicted by the security police when they stormed into homes in the middle of the night accusing hapless residents of crimes they did not commit, and he was privy to the divide and rule policies visited upon citizens by a minority White- only government desperate to maintain its unholy supremacy. That system of oppression began with the arrival of the first White settlers in 1652 and continued for 350 years.

Yet, nowhere in Nathan’s book Buhle is there even a trace of bitterness; rather, it is a lyrical celebration of the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Buhle, which means beauty or beautiful in the Zulu language of KwaZulu Natal, navigates the rugged terrain of the human psyche and explores the ripple effects of violence, moral dilemmas, loss of innocence, devastation, despair, and finally, of hope and absolution. The book’s protagonist Buhle is a beautiful 18-year-old girl living in a tiny village settlement huddled amidst verdant sugar cane fields in Harding, Natal. One night while returning home from her job as a domestic maid, she is waylaid and brutally violated by an Indian man Devraj whose friend Rupin, seated in a car nearby, hears Buhle’s cries and does nothing to help her. A child of mixed heritage that is born of the savage union threatens the equilibrium of the otherwise docile village and leads the security police to the village where they massacre inhabitants. Buhle flees to freedom along with several of her neighbors. The police, knowing that they’ve gone too far in slaughtering innocent people, attempt an elaborate cover up, an event based loosely on the infamous Sharpeville Six Massacre of 1960.

Buhle (pronounced bush-le) is replete with imaginative metaphors; interwoven into the richly detailed tapestry of the book are an arresting array of Zulu customs tinged with colorful local lore. The author’s intrinsic understanding of South Africa and her people and his courage and grace in juggling several sensitive issues like racism and rape make Buhle a compelling read. For Nathan however, the book was an intensely personal experience.

“My book is based on real events, only the location is different. Buhle’s character is real, she is someone very close to me,” confided Nathan with quiet intensity. “When I heard about what had happened to this person, I was angry. I realized that going through life with bitterness would only hurt me. The book was cathartic as it helped me cleanse myself of negative emotions.”

He began writing Buhle without a plot and the characters ebbed and flowed and found shape on his keyboard.

“There are some secrets that we bury so deep, yet they impact everything we do. Rupin’s sin was that he did nothing to stop an atrocity. Though later, both he and Devraj found redemption,” said Nathan.

A League City resident, Nathan moved his wife Savy and their two children Yurisa and Gershwin to the US about 20 years ago. Trained as an Analytical Chemist, Nathan worked for the international company Lubrizol Corporation for 37 years and recently retired to dedicate his days to his true vocation, writing. Buhle is his second published book; the first was Triangular Destiny, a suspense thriller. He has authored two other novels that he hopes to publish soon and has written a plethora of freestyle prose and poetry.

“Writing for me is an expression of my soul and I find it very comforting and uplifting to put on paper what flows through my mind,” said Nathan.

Buhle ($15,99) is available at Amazon.com