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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 February 2000 Issue No. 467 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 February 2000 Issue No. 467
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Umm Kulthoum was born in the Delta village of Tamay Al-Zahayra -- her father was a local village sheikh, Ibrahim El-Sayed El-Beltagui. It is a background she was proud of. Her rise to fame from such a modest beginning highlighted her hard work, diligence and a wealth of talent.
Bitter-sweet roots
Umm Kulthoum was always very proud of her rural origins. Fatemah Farag, however, discovers that her small Delta village was untouched by her glory
Back in Tamay Al-Zahayra (photo: Antoune Albert)
Yet there is little to remember Umm Kulthoum by today in Tamay Al-Zahayra. To find the village way out in the governorate of Daqahliya, we were given instructions to go straight beyond the water fountain in Simbillawayn, the one with the contorted dolphins spouting water in a town with hardly any paved roads, past a canal filled with green, ominous-looking water, onto a road which ends in a motley growth of mud and raw brick houses. A faded and rusty sign on the road indicates that we have finally reached Tamay Al-Zahayra.
Umm Kulthoum is quoted as having described her village as "humble: the highest building in it did not exceed two stories. The greatest display of wealth was the umda's [mayor's] carriage, pulled by one horse. And there was only one street in the whole village wide enough for the umda's carriage."
Tamay Al-Zahayra now (photo: Khaled El-Fiqi)
Today the village has definitely grown in size, although not in affluence. On the dusty main road that splits it in half, everyone seems to know how to reach Umm Kulthoum's house.
The destination, however, proves to be a great disappointment. There is no house, nothing but an empty mud plot. "That is where the house used to stand," explains Sayeda Eid from the house next door. "It is where her brother, Sheikh Khaled, who was the umda of the village, used to live. After he died in 1954, the house collapsed."
Sayeda and her family have been neighbours of the El-Beltagui family for a long time. "We never saw Umm Kulthoum. She was never interested in coming to the village. If anyone wanted something from her, they would have to go to her in Cairo," she explains.
Adli Samir Khaled is the grandson of Umm Kulthoum's brother. He is an unemployed electrician who shares the dismal economic lot of his fellow villagers. "Most people my age are unemployed and we cannot get married. There is no factory or other source of employment nearby. I was refused a loan by the Social Fund for Development. I have to work as a day labourer carrying heavy loads at the market." He claims that the state has a responsibility to his village. "Everyone is always making such a fuss about the fact that Umm Kulthoum was born here. She sang for the army and the country and during the war gave her money to them. Why doesn't the government do something for us, then, to make our lives more livable?" questioned an angry Adli as he pointed towards the garbage-strewn canal which runs along one side of Umm Kulthoum's plot of land.
Coming towards us are four little girls and their mother, Oweinat Mohamed. I ask her whether she would like one of her girls to learn singing and become like Umm Kulthoum. "What nonsense," she exclaims. "I can just about manage to find enough food to keep them alive."
