Dear readers, or shall I call you friends?
Jorge Luis Borges says friendship is born in shared solace, and here, I don't feel alone.
Everyone knows. Türkiye is bracing for the runoff polls on Sunday. Politics, like an insatiable wave, are sweeping through my nation. No corner has been left untouched. The air is thick with debates. Every coffee shop conversation and every family dinner is teeming with discussions of policies, promises and partisan passions. Murmurs, gossip and conspiracies lurk under the surface.
This is not surprising at all. We adore politics. It is ingrained in us from an early age. Politics is like a sport to us. We begin our day with modernization debates, warm up with Ottoman nostalgia, intensify the exercise with the secularism-conservatism dichotomy and cool down with patriotism. Our political muscles are some of the strongest, especially evident in our traditional coffeehouses ("kahvehane"), where you can easily find a group of people engaged in heated conversations, striving to save the world, uncover the role of the rich in global dynamics or critique Ankara's education strategies. This never changes. If you don't believe me, visit a kahvehane in the country next time and feel free to share your feedback.
Where was I? Ah, yes, we are heading to elections, and politics have dominated the Turkish atmosphere. It is almost impossible these days to find a good read in the sea of election articles.
Amidst this frenzy, I find myself weaving words to ignite a collective consciousness. With a twinkle in my eye and a hint of irony, let me regale you with a short piece beyond the realm of Turkish elections – a realm where life's curiosities beckon. Something to prove we have not lost sight of other enchantments. Something that transcends the ballots and leads us to wonder.
Dear friends,
Beyond the ballots lies a world of enlightenment for our minds and souls. As seekers of knowledge and wonder, we must honor curiosity; otherwise, freedom fades away, and pessimism knocks at our door.
“Wonder” always reminds me of Jules Verne, a maestro of imagination, who evokes a world of boundless possibilities, where science and adventure intertwine, and the human spirit soars on the wings of curiosity.
We meet Verne when we first discover the joy of reading – “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and others. His books find a place in every child’s home library. But, when we grow up, we forget him. He just disappears. So does the “wonder” in our lives.
I revisited Verne in my 30s and realized his true genius. Is it about a midlife crisis? Maybe.
Just recently, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, at a seaside cafe near my neighborhood in the Anatolian side of Istanbul, where waves lap against the shore softly, I reread “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” Maybe, the weather was just great. Or, the ice latte and vanilla-flavored pipe tobacco accompanied each other very well. Or, it was the refreshing scent of spring in the air.
They all played their part, but I believe it was Verne.
In the book, he says: “The sea is everything. It covers seven-tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides. The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence. It is nothing but love and emotion; it is the Living Infinite.”
Genuinely simple, descriptive and majestic. I devoured the book that day.
Verne’s readers are urged to adopt an adventurous and explorative line of vision. They are inspired by limitlessness. It is a testament to the power of literature.
According to the British director Ridley Scott, Verne “was the ultimate futurist.” He is right. Verne fascinates the human mind with the concept of the future. The philosophy you find in his lines calls you to ponder about what lies ahead. In half of the 1880s, he dreamed big, and some of his dreams are still relevant today. Unbelievable. Verne is an ultimate futurist.
Dear friends,
Allow me to conclude with his famous quote, inviting you to dream.
“I dream with my eyes open," Verne says.
Warm regards,
B.T.
