rizal loses the overcoat

Over lunch today, the table talk veered towards the life and times of Jose P. Rizal, the Philippines' national hero. It was an apt time too because on Sunday, June 19th, the country will celebrate his 150th birth anniversary.

For the longest time, Rizal has always been taught in history class as larger than life: he always had excellent marks in school; he was a talented artist (he was a sculptor, a poet, a novelist); he was a polyglot; he travelled extensively; and he was a doctor too. Teachers in grade school and high school would tell their students to emulate him. What a tall order for kids who could barely relate to his writings because they are being given as required reading!

With these in mind, I approached with dread the Rizal's Life and Works course (also known as PI 100) when I was in college. I shouldn't have feared all that much. My professor in this course recommended the book "Rizal Without the Overcoat" by Ambeth Ocampo (published by Anvil Publishing) as one of our reading materials to further understand the man whose profile pic is carved on every one-peso coin. Why does Rizal wear an overcoat in this sweltering heat anyway?

Instead of introducing Rizal the way I had heard before, the book irreverently pulled the National Hero  down from the typical historian's pedestal. Lo and behold! Rizal was human too! Articles in the book painted a picture of a Rizal who ate tuyo (dried fish) for breakfast; who, no matter how artistic, was hopeless in singing; who, despite having a larger-than-life persona, was really short in stature; and who may have also explored 19th-century Philippines taboo behaviours while in Europe (without the disapproval of the Padre Damasos of the time). Paciano, the older brother, wasn't spared either. He had his share of bloopers, with one caught on camera too! Gone, to me then, is the image of a stiff and unmoving Jose Rizal.

Rizal has finally lost his overcoat in this tropical country.

I doubt that the author intended to mar Rizal's reputation. Rather, by humanising him, Ambeth Ocampo has made Jose more relatable to the modern day college student  (who may also be living away from the prying eyes of his/her parents). He becomes an easy read, along the lines of the subjects of gossip columns and entertainment articles in newspapers.

Needless to say, instead of finding this reading material a boring chore, I treated it as entertainment. I easily finished reading this book from cover to cover in a day! If only all history books could have that same lightness that prepares students for more of the heavy stuff.