Fez — Moroccan author Hadi Bouabid presented “L’histoire de Gatsha et Langa” at Rabat Marriott Hotel’s “Vin Littéraire” (Literary Wine) on Wednesday, discussing the different ways children and adults can approach his philosophical tale.
Published by Hello éditions in June, the 66-page book follows two warriors who leave a drought-stricken village searching for water and fertile land.
For Bouabid, however, the journey is less about reaching a destination than about what adversity reveals in the people facing it.
“It can be considered a philosophical novel for adults and an adventure story for children,” Bouabid told MWN Lifestyle magazine.
He described the book as accessible across age groups while offering “several layers of meaning.” Its central tension, he explained, examines the psychological differences that emerge between people during periods of hardship.
A story with several ways in
Bouabid said the book deliberately shifts between forms, moving through elements of a traditional tale, a novel, and a more theatrical final section.
That structure allows younger readers to follow the adventure while giving adults space to engage with its questions about conformity, independence, and human behavior.
Those themes also resonated with Younes Chami, a Rabat-based entrepreneur who attended the presentation.
“There is the search for the self, so it makes us all question ourselves,” Chami told MWN Lifestyle magazine.
He described “L’histoire de Gatsha et Langa” as a philosophical tale that also touches on sustainable development and ecology. For Chami, the book’s relevance comes from how those themes connect personal reflection with contemporary concerns.
“It leaves us with many, many questions,” he added.
Water as a search for something deeper
Literary critic Salma Zniber similarly highlighted the double meaning behind the protagonists’ journey.
“They are searching for water, but it is really a search for truth,” Zniber told MWN Lifestyle magazine.
She said the simplicity of the narrative makes it accessible to children, while its symbolism gives adults a different entry point. She also emphasized the ecological dimension of the story, particularly its focus on water scarcity and drought.
Zniber compared the book’s storytelling approach to Indian tales such as “Kalila wa Dimna,” although she noted one key difference. While animals carry many of those traditional narratives, Bouabid places human characters at the center of his fable.
She also praised the book’s illustrations and described it as an easy read despite the profound philosophical questions running beneath the surface adventure.
Literature on the terrace
The discussion took place at La Terrasse Marriott, the Rabat Marriott Hotel’s open-air gathering space in Agdal. Marriott describes the terrace as a relaxed venue influenced by French and Parisian-style ambiance.
Against that informal setting, Bouabid’s book prompted a conversation extending beyond literature into ecology, self-questioning, and the ways people respond when familiar certainties begin to disappear.
At its core, “L’histoire de Gatsha et Langa” uses a simple search for water to ask a larger question like what happens when survival also forces people to reconsider what they believe?
