Brajesh's Review : Embroideries

I had loved "Persepolis", the last graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi that I had read. However "Embroideries" didn’t live upto my expectations.

The story unfolds over one afternoon, where 9 Iranian women of varying life narratives, get-together for a post-lunch tea session. The stories are interesting and a few are thought provoking, as well. Unfortunately the graphic renditions didn’t add much to the narrative. It’s a read of about 20 minutes, I would suggest you browse over this in a book shop and then pick-up Persepolis to experience the real power of the author’s narrative, graphic art as well as the Iranian story.

Rating : 3 / 5

Kim's Review : Angaaray

"Angaaray" - an Urdu Anthology of short stories, first published in 1932, was an explosive book that created a public furore for criticizing conservative Islam and British colonialism. It turned out to be,  an iconic book that changed the rules of Urdu literature and gave birth to the Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind / Progressive Writers’ Association - PWA.

Later on almost all the writers of Indian languages had their own organisations with the same aims and objectives: struggle against British imperialism for the liberalisation of India from the foreign yoke; struggle against imperialism, land for the tillers of the soil. The PWA organisation regarded socialism as an economic system, which could end exploitation and it is no surprise that most of the members were left leaning and later on became a part of the Communist party.

Inspired by British modernists like Virginia Woolf, D H Lawrence and James Joyce, as well as the Indian independence movement, the young writers from Lucknow, who penned this collection — Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmed Ali, Rashid Jahan and Mahmud-uz-Zafar — were eager to revolutionize Urdu literature. Instead, they invited the wrath of the establishment: the book was burned in protest and then banned by the British authorities "for hurting the religious susceptibilities of a section of the community".

Nevertheless, Angaaray spawned a new generation of Urdu writers and led to the formation of the Progressive Writers’ Association, whose members included, among others, stalwarts like Ismat Chughtai, Saadat Hasan Manto, Munshi Premchand, Mulk Raj Anand, Kaifi Azmi, Bhisham Sahni, Habib Tanvir, Sahir Ludhianvi and Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

This slim volume of short stories created a firestorm of public outrage for its bold attack on the hypocrisy of conservative Islam and British colonialism and all copies were burned except for 5. 2 of which were in the British archives. From here, it has been translated into English for the first time by Snehal Shingavi, assistant professor of English at the University of Texas, Austin, where he specializes in teaching South Asian literature in English, Hindi and Urdu.

This edition also provides a compelling account of the furore surrounding this explosive collection with never before seen police documentation and criticism of the ban.

Angaaray is a collection of 5 stories by Sajjad Zaheer, 2 by Ahmed Ali, 1 by Mahmud-uz-zafar and a short story and a one act play by Rashid Jahan. While the stories by the other 3 may seem commonplace today, the stories by Sajjad Zaheer could still be considered inflammatory, so it is quite courageous of Penguin to have published this translation.

Personally, I preferred the work of Rashid Jahan as I could empathise with her characters and got drawn into her stories much more easily. Also they are still contemporary, they aren't just something from a bygone age, they could as well be happening in your neighbours house today. As a gynecologist, Rashid was privy to the social, sexual and medical problems of her patients.

The stories by Sajjad Zaheer were the most difficult for me to connect to, as his writing style in some of the stories is a little too disjointed for my taste. Also, having lived in Islamic nations for 4+ years, I often found that my brain was screaming out at me "how could he write this? Was he begging for trouble?" and so his objective of forcing someone to rethink the widely accepted beliefs would still be in play, today. His stories focus on how religious and social restrictions damage the psyche. Economic vulnerability and sexual predation are linked together in his stories. However the most controversial of his statements in the book appear in Neend Nahin Aati / Can't Sleep
where he remarks that the Prophet might have made the migration from Mecca to Medina to escape his nagging wives. And that God might be a womanizing lecher.

Snehal Shingavi in her opening note says that : "repressed sexual desire and open sexual hypocricy were the intolerable sources of modern frustration for young English-educated men like Zaheer"

Mahmud-uz-Zafar's story was written in English and then translated into Urdu by Zaheer for this collection. Ali's 2 stories revolve around the economic and social vulnerability of women. I'm eager to tart reading his "Twilight in Delhi" which has been beckoning from my bookshelf since awhile.

At the end of the day, these 4 authors published this collection to hold a mirror up to society and encourage people to initiate change and Snehal Shingavi says he composed this translation with similar aspirations in mind, which I think he has done a good job of.

Rating : 3.5 / 5

Kim's Review: Minaret

Leila Aboulela is the first Sudanese author I can claim to have read and it was her presence at the Jaipur Literature Festival this year, that led me to buy and read Minaret. As a person, Leila came across as a gentle introspective soul and this feeling was reinforced while I read Minaret.

Minaret is a very moving and personal account of life, its realities, its hardships, how reality can change in an instant.

The story starts in London, flashes back to Khartoum in 1984-85, forward to London in 2003, back to London in 1989-90, back again to London 2003-4, London in 1991 and ends in London in 2004. This back and forth telling of the tale, evokes new questions, which get answered as you read along.

Najwa is a hijab wearing cleaning woman in London when we meet her at the start of the book, but 20 years earlier she was a mini skirt wearing, upper class westernised, well to do carefree young girl studying at the University of Khartoum with hordes of servants at her beck and call. Now, in London she is as anonymous as the Ethiopian maids who worked at her Fathers house in Khartoum.

From spending evenings at clubs in Khartoum to evenings at the mosque in London, Minaret is the tale of struggle and search for identity. Shifting realities make Najwa question her beliefs, her values, her faith, her friendships, her politics.

The book does refer to the multiple coups and shifting political scenarios in Sudan, but through the eyes of Najwa who is disinterested in politics for the most part, until her father is executed during a change in regime and brief glimpses through the eyes of Anwar - a student activist - not above using and absuing his friendship with Najwa for personal gain.

Minaret is a tale of loss, of rediscovered faith, of immigrants and of exile. While Najwa is muslim and there are a lot of Islamic references through the novel, it isn't about Islam, it is about faith and how when all else fails, it is only faith that can sustain a human being. This is a feeling you get all over India as you wonder how the multitude of masses get through the day, and the only answer to that is "faith".

A touching, poignant book with a lot of passages that make you stop and reflect on them for awhile.

Rating: 3.5/5

    

Brajesh's Review: Reluctant Fundamentalist

If you haven't read Mohsin pick this one now. Great form, flow and construction, although the plot and insights could have been fresher.

Rating: 3/5


    

Kim's Review: Disgraced

Picked this book up on a whim, as it seemed to be in the vein of Jean Sasson's books. It promised a glimpse into the life of a young British-Pakistani girl growing up in a traditional Muslim immigrant family  in the 1980's.

Was it a good book? Well, it won't win any awards for the writing, but the story did make me empathise with her. It created an emotional response in me and isn't that what good writing is supposed to be about?

Saira is brought up in an ultraconservative Pakistani muslim family that lives in Britain, where the entire extended family is involved in the family garment business. Men rule the household with iron fists and women are treated as property to be used and abused.

The danger for someone unfamilar with Islam reading the book, is seperating what stems from religious practice and cultural practice,  since Saira herself is not sure of the distinction. Bullied into submission from a young age by all the men in her family, it is not possible for her to question any of their actions or decisions.

However, after being forced into an abusive arranged marriage with a distant family member on a trip back to Pakistan, she slowly summons her courage and uses all her wits to escape back to Britain where she finally lands in a safe house. It is here that she glimpses an alternate way of living her life and starts working outside the family business and outside the traditional ghettoes.

Unfortunately this respite is only temporary as she loses her job for no fault of hers and is forced to come up with money to pay off the debts incurred by her family. Her parents who keep sending money to relatives near and distant, back in Pakistan and her older brothers drug addictions.

The only way she can make money fast enough to repay the interests on the debts of the loan sharks is by selling herself as an escort. It is during this phase that Saira oscillates between guilt of doing something haram, even though her intention is halal - to help her parents.

The story ends abruptly  when she stops herself from committing suicide for the sake of her daughter and manages to follow her original dream of designing fabrics and textiles. A more "respectable" job.

The book gives the reader a glimpse into a slice of Saira's life. There are definitely a lot of questions, I would have liked answered. How does her family travel so frequently between UK and Pakistan if they are constantly in debt and money is tight?

A reader unfamiliar with the "extended familial responsibilities"  concept in the sub-continent, would have many more questions as to why a lot of the personalities in this book, behave or react the way that they do. In that manner, Disgraced isn't very illuminating. But it is a story that might have been repeated in a number of immigrant families from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka to the UK. It is a story that deserves to be heard.

Kim's Review: The Poison Tree - Planted and Grown in Egypt

A friend sent me the link to this yesterday. The book is legally downloadable for free from Marwa Rakha's own website. While currently available in English, she promises that the Arabic translation too will soon be online.

The book is written in a semi disjointed "part blog-part diary-part letter" fashion and someone who is used to a structured flow when reading, may start out feeling a bit disconcerted. But if you persevere you can gain some insights into Egytian culture, sexuality, morality and society. The unifying theme of the book revolves around gender stereotypes, dating and marriage and how men and women are held to different standards in society. While this may be true across the world, it is more pronounced in Egypt.


I often wondered how so many Egyptian friends and acquaintances kept ending up divorced within barely a year or two of marriage, sometimes with new born kids who were not even a year old. Some have ended up remarrying men who had been unfaithful to them during their first attempt at marriage. This being a very sensitive and private matter, I have never felt comfortable enough to actually ask them the question directly. But Marwa's book has shed some light on at least some of the reasons, which seem to lie in Social Conditioning.


There were parts that I skipped over, but there were also parts that are really insightful.


This book is worth reading if you are interested in human behavior or are visiting Egypt and would like to know a little more about people you will encounter.

But, I would highly recommend the book to any non-Egyptian girl/woman/lady planning to get herself an Egyptian boyfriend or Egyptian husband. Most Egyptian men think and operate differently from "Western" men and its important for a female to know what she is getting herself into before she gets in too deep.


While the book may also be guilty of stereotyping men and women, there are a lot of grains of truth behind the characterisations.


The book could be classified as chick-lit, but there is a lot you can begin to understand about Egyptian society and how it operates through the eyes of a Single Independent Woman


If you would prefer to read the book as a paperback or on kindle, they are both available via Amazon.



Also published on desicritics.org