'Can setting be fate' by Fatimah

I’d like for you to relax and think deeply while you read this. You should be introspective and turn your searchlight inward, towards yourself.

And when you’re through reading, I hope you’ll be grateful enough to thank God that you’re lucky enough to be literate.

Can setting be fate? Does where and when we are born really determine our destiny? Is our fate set according to the circumstances surrounding our birth?

I took a course, The Early Moderns, my 40marks CA question was “if character is fate in Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge, then it can be argued that setting is fate in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. At the time, I merely answered the question based soley on the characters in the novels and their various circumstances.

I didn’t bother to reflect on real life situations as regards the question. I just based my arguments and opinions using the novels and I limited my sphere of reasoning to the world created by the authors. I never thought about it in relation to real life. Until last weekend.

I went to my secondary school for a reunion. A lot of old students of the school were expected and we were all filled with excitement at the thought of seeing old faces and finding long lost friends.

Just as I entered the school, I saw the lady who was the ‘official’ school photographer. She had been taking photos before I entered secondary school, now, five years after I left secondary school, she’s still a photographer in that same school. We simply knew her as Aunty Queen.

Aunty Queen’s daughter was in my class back then. Temiloluwa was her name. Her father was one man who worked for the school. I don’t know exactly what his job was, but I know he had many wives and numerous children.

Temiloluwa was one of those numerous children. Back then, she had to assist her mother with her work as a photographer after school. She would either help sort the photos, give the owners and collect money, or go to her mum’s shop in town.

She didn’t have it easy like most of her mates. When we were all paying for our JAMB forms, Temiloluwa didn’t pay and we asked her why. She said her mum couldn’t afford it at the moment, and that her dad couldn’t be bothered. So SS3 Orange students contributed some money and gave it to her for the JAMB form. She was one of our own, and so we did what we could.

So when I saw Aunty Queen that day, I asked about Temiloluwa. She told me that she was in the hall. That she was busy in the hall. Immediately I entered the hall I saw Temiloluwa at the entrance of the hall with a stack photos, waiting for the owners to come and claim them and pay for them.

Just like she used to do back then as a secondary school student. We chatted for a while, I was going to the hostels and she said she was going to meet me there. I was expecting to see her again so that we could have a more lenghty conversation. But I didn’t see her again, even though it was late evening when I left the school premises.

The next day, I started thinking. Wondering. Asking myself questions. Had Temiloluwa even gone on to a tertiary institution? I didn’t ask her, but if I were to guess, I’d say no.

Was she going to end up a photographer just like her mother? She was already getting good in the business anyway. Did her education stop at secondary school level? Or was she just yet to gain admission five years after WAEC? Had her fate been decided already? Was it her destiny to capture images of people on paper?

And then I thought of myself. I didn’t gain admission immediately, but the next year I did UNILAG Diploma even though it was quite expensive. If Temiloluwa couldn’t get UME admission, that diploma wasn’t an option for her because her mother couldn’t afford it.

I thought of some of my friends who went straight to private universities because their admission processes are less cumbersome than federal and state universities. Temiloluwa’s mother couldn’t afford that either. She was stuck in the same position, most likely to continue her mother’s profession, simply because of the circumstances surrounding her birth.

What if I was the one in Temiloluwa’s shoes? I probably wouldn’t have gotten the education and exposure I’ve gotten now. If I had been born to an illiterate Hausa man, I’d probably have been married off by now and be nursing my fourth baby instead of a brand new B.A degree.

If I had been born to a roadside beggar, I’d probably have a bowl in front of me, begging for daily bread. If I had been born to an illiterate market woman, I’d probably be selling tomatoes too now. But I’m lucky. I was born to my Alhaji and Alhaja.

So today, I have good and sound education, lots of opportunities ahead of me, lots of choices to make, and a future that looks bright.

Temiloluwa wasn’t born into less fortunate circumstances than I because I’m more deserving. No. I’m only luckier than her. But for an accident of birth, I could have been in her shoes, or far worse off. It’s merely my luck that I was born into the family I was born into.

What if I was born into really unfortunate circumstances where getting good education would have been next to impossible. What if I was the daughter of an agbero and a paraga seller?

Until last week, setting as fate was something I only looked at in literature, not in real life. But now, I realise setting is fate. Now, you have malaria and use Lonart or Artesunate and you’re fine.

Those that lived in the times before a cure for malaria were discovered would have perished from the illness. It’s just your luck that you live in these times when malaria has a cure. Those dying from HIV/AIDS now are unlucky. Future generations would be lucky enough because they’ll live in a time when the cure for HIV/AIDS would have been discovered.

The time and place you’re born into may determine your whole life story. Sometimes, it shapes your fate and destiny. Whenever you see people that are less fortunate than you; less educated, poorer, less civilised or of lower social status, do not raise your shoulder and feel superior.

Rather, say a silent prayer to God for having it better than them, for being luckier than them. Because, but for a mere accident of birth, you might be in a worse situation.

Fatimah is a writer and an aspiring baby girl. Check out her awesome writings on the wanderinglass.com and follow her on Twitter @FlawlessMilo

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