Novelist Matshidiso Taleng salutes Omoseye Bolaji on his Birthday

By Matshidiso Taleng (below)

If you want you can call him "Heaven Sent" "an Angel from above" I personally consider myself blessed to know Mr Omoseye Bolaji and today (August 16) on his birthday, I feel like saying happy birthday to him would be plain, because through all the years I've known him, he has taught me everything I needed to know about literature.

When I published my first book in 2013 I had no clue who Mr Omoseye Bolaji was, a journalist from the Free State news came to me at the Bloemfontein Library one day and said Mr Bolaji's been looking for me and struggling to get my contact details from anyone, that he wants an interview with me, I asked her who Mr Bolaji was and why can't she do the interview instead, she told me that Mr Bolaji wants to do the interview himself, we then set an appointment for the next day for me to go to their offices.

When I got home that day, I surfed the internet and searched for Mr Omoseye Bolaji... And God was I amazed, to have read such great stories about this man! It then scared me a little because now I didn't know what was I going to say and prayed I don't say something stupid during the interview with the great literary bard, I even wanted to cancel the interview right there and then.

The next morning I went there and waited in the other room where this lady from yesterday was, I sat with her and had a little chat while I wait for Mr Bolaji to finish what he was doing in his office, he called me to his office when he was done, I got there and here's the first thing he said to me "wow! Its the Supper star herself, you're very difficult to get hold of, but I guess that's what you supper starts do, very busy" and then he laughed. It baffled me a bit because yesterday was the first time I heard of him and that he's been looking for me, I asked him what he meant by "very difficult to get hold of" because he knew people who had my contact details, he said he asked them but they didn't give them to him, we don't know why.

So we did the interview and despite my nerves and all, the interview went well, then he asked for my email address, since from that day I made it my mission to read all the books written by him and since that day.Mr Bolaji started sending me so many stories and articles to read, sometimes I'd want to lie and say I read them, but I knew he was going to ask for my opinion on whatever he sent at that time, so then I'd read and give him my thoughts, I was confused at first as to why this man was sending me so many stories and articles, but I got to know when he said to me one day "you see, now you're coming right, I always knew you were a smart young lady" that's when it hit me that Mr Bolaji's actually mentoring me to be a greater writer, I ended up enjoying the stories, most of them were funny, and some of them were sad, but they were the most exquisite stories I've ever read.

When he told me that he was going back to his country, I was crushed, I started wondering how he was going to continue mentoring me and if he will continue, because I assumed that once he got home he was going to forget or be too busy to attend to my emails, but he promised to keep in touch, and till today he still is.

I remember with my second book (a novel, Unfolding the Documentary). It started as a short story on my blog, Mr Bolaji read it one day and said to me "this is a beautiful story Star, you just can't leave it like this" I asked what he wanted me to do, he said I should prolong it and make it a novella or novel, I laughed and thought the Old man was crazy now, and that Old Age was getting to him, I didn't think I could do it, but he encouraged me and said if I think I can't make it a novel then I should make it a novella because it was a beautiful story that just can't be left like that. So then I did it, he was with me every step of the way, there came a time when my laptop crashed and I lost everything and I didn't have back-up, I cried so much and emailed him, told him I was giving up because now the story was gone, he said "Relax star, its not the end of the world, this happens to many of us, relax.. The story will come to you again if you've forgotten what you wrote, it'll come and you'll write again"

At that time I didn't understand what he was saying because I was frustrated, I beat myself up for thinking I could ever write a novel, I thought it was God's way of showing me that I could never write a novel, that I should just stick to poetry, but the great ever so shy and always ready to advice, Malome was there to help me throughout all that unhappy period of my life, the story came bit by bit in my head but now all I could remember was towards the end of it, I spoke to Malome about it and he said I should start my story there... I should start it with the end, then as I go further I'll remember how I went about it or I'll even come up with a new storyline. My creative juices came back and I wrote. He laughed at me when I told him that the story exceeded and it doesn't end where he knew it ended, then he said to me "now you have your Novel Mama" I finished the book, published it and dedicated it to him, all because he knew all the blood sweat and tears that I went through to get it done and was with me every step of the way, though he was halfway across the world, he managed to help me through that difficult time.

Knowing Mr Bolaji (pix, above) has been a privilege and a blessing in my life, I have never met anyone of his calibre be so kind and helpful in anyway possible, I thank him for his undying support and mentorship, he is simply the greatest of them all.

I have never seen him angry at all and I hope I never will, even when someone has upset him by saying hurtful things about him, he'd still talk good about them and tell me not to fight with them or start disrespecting them in any kind of way. When he got sick, I remember he used to refer to himself as "the old dying Malome" or "the old finished Malome" hahahaha! Well you're not dead Malome, just getting older.. I did tell you that you'll still be here when my book is out and here you are... Still alive and kicking, hahaha! Happy Birthday Malome, may you grow even older to see more years of joy and happiness, God bless you to continue mentoring me and the long list of others, may He bless you to continue being the soft-hearted person that you are at all times... Suke!