In the Orchard, the Swallows by Peter Hobbs

                                           YONG RENN KAI - 4 CERGAS - 29/4/2014

In a village in Northern Pakistan, a man, whose name is unmentioned throughout, is released from prison. Weak and frail, he is found by a man called Abbas. Abbas took care of him in his home and helped him in his recovery. Much pain was felt when doing simple activities, and the man had to learn to overcome it and recover. One day, Abbas gave him and his daughter Alifa a notebook. Collectively throughout his stay, the man would write stories in his notebook. Stories about his life; his father, Saba, the orchard and the swallows that fly above and in it. Stories, once completed, would be given to his beloved.

From this novel, I have learnt that kindness exists even in the darkest of places. Things had changed around the village since the last time the man can remember, mainly because of the war. People are not as friendly as they were, and yet, there are men like Abbas who are still willing to help. Willing to give what they have and jeopardize themselves with the true intention of strangers. There is an Abbas in all of us, and we sure don't need the times to be dark to bring him out.

Another lesson I learnt is to appreaciate life and count our blessings. The man was presented an idea of 'boredom of recovery' from Abbas but truth is, nothing could be boring anymore. After all the years in prison, the man feels even the very essence of freedom, the feeling of non-confinement something worth enjoying. Watching the clouds go by, smelling the fragrance of the garden. Such bland activities and yet to the man, so magnificent to behold. And its these little things that we take for granted and it is where our blessings start.

One more lesson i have learnt in this novel is life's unpredictability. When he was a child, the man has never thought of change. He goes back to the same house, in the same village, meets the same           family, and  the same group of friends. But in life, as we grow older, the more we see things change,    and how rapid. Like the war-torn situation of the village, we can only adapt to change and find ways for it to work for us.