Book Review: Chand Ehsaas (Poetry Collection)

My review of a hindi poetry collection 

https://criticspace.com/2019/11/15/book-review-chand-ehsas-criticspace-2/

Book Review: Footprints (Poetry Collection)

My review of an interesting collection of poetry 

https://criticspace.com/2019/11/19/book-review-footprints-criticspace/

Book Review: The half mother

Since common people only get to hear the media version of Kashmir, the story from only one side, Shahnaz Bashir, in his "The half mother" makes a bold effort to present the story of the other side. His attempt is a daring feat because being a male, he takes the task of portraying and narrating the story and emotions of a woman. The Half Mother is a powerful account of what a mother feels and goes through when her child is taken away from her infront of her eyes.

This is the main theme around which the entire narrative revolves. There are other minor themes and issues that the author attempts to raise here. These are, the position of women, loss mistaken identity, relationships, love, family, political manipulation, subjugation of common man.

The power of Bashir is such that this idea of half resonates throughout the text and gives jolts to the reader. Resultant of this, the reader is helplessly sympathetic towards the protagonist, Haleema but at the same time is in awe of her powerful transformation from a mute, voiceless, crying mother to becoming the leader of the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared Persons.

The two most important men in her life, her life, her father Ab Jaan and Imran also emerge as lively and realistic characters. They both meet their tragic fates which infuses pathos in Bashir's writing. Bashir's debut with this powerful and daring writing successfully gives voice to the women who suffer the most, especially mothers. They remain half not just as mothers but also in every phase of their lives.

Book Review: Call me Al

After writing the first novel, "The still point of the turning world" which was limited to college campus and terrorism effects on youth, Sheikh takes up the same subject charged with political flavour in his "Call me Al" He goes beyond college students and explores the life of a much mature and older character that he creates. At the surface level, the novel is about a person’s rise to power in his lifetime and all the ways he takes to reach that position. The life of the lead character Al (short for Almataash) is covered through the narratives of George Gary Grefory Jaffar (also called as GGGJ in the text seeing and narrating Al’s past), Almataash himself (narrating his present) and Edwin ‘Ned’ Steinberg (who is seeing and narrating Al’s future).  The interesting fact is that GGGJ and Ned are murdered by Al in the initial stages of the novel and the narrative is told by their spirits. By this, the author cleverly concocts this life and the afterlife.
One of the issues raised are GGGJ, the reporter’s hatred for Almataash as he knew Al was only an evil person. Other issue is Ned’s lonely life and his desire for love and and his death show how consuming one's career and job can be. So much so that they may earn and still they can not fulfill their own desires. Also, the plight of Indians gone to Pakistan after partition and not accepted as Pakistanis is discussed. They are called "second class" citizens, denied jobs and marriage proposals as the author has clearly highlighted. 
The most noticeable is the political tinge and an insight into how dirty and inhuman politics can be. This is most apparent on observing Al and his actions. The fact that he is the mastermind behind everything and yet given charge of taking care of public interest by offering him the most prominent political position makes it ironical. 
Everyone fears him and at the same time is in awe of him. But the reporter GGGJ knew Al was only doing evil and intended to kill him if given an opportunity. This intention of trying to end evil earns him a place in heaven in afterlife. Ned sees the future of Al and realizes his mistake of not protecting himself. But later he does wish for Al to suffer and his suffering comes in the most unexpected forms.
Al is not a round character but still different shades of his personality are visible. That makes him worth being placed in the title. Altamaash is shortened to Al and he tells people to call him Al (also implying Allah). This may mean he thought of himself as God. There are constant references to Al's body being fat and bulky. Perhaps the author suggested that size does not matter when brain is much more active. Massive size without any muscle and just fat can also evoke awe among all. The muscular Ned is one example of that. Politics and terrorism are interrelated. Al may not be a branded terrorist but his acts are no less than that.
Al is a bit selective about loving also. He loves his mother and daughter dearly, but ordered the murdering of his father. He idealized his grandfather but didn't mind his wife being sacrificed even when he was well aware how it would affect his daughter. Also, he is one smart fellow as he ensured his involvement never becomes obvious in all the acts that happen miles away in Pakistan while he is in England in exile. The back cover says he was an entertainer, but there are no instances in the text where he is shown entertaining anyone as such. Despite Al doing all heinous acts to get to the position is he is at, Sheikh develops him in such a way that the reader can not completely hate him or love him. His past and future are clearly shown but the exact reason and the events that led to his exile are not told clearly.
GGGJ and Ned fade away a little in Al's presence as the reader is never able to forget Al or think of what his next move could be. One noticeable thing appeared that GGGJ and Ned are murdered but there is no follow up investigation the readers get to know of. Does that mean that Al manipulated even the England investigation system? And why are there no relatives of either of the victims to inquire? Al did get punished by God for his deeds but that's a moral justification. What about justice at human level? 
The basic theme seems to be the moral lesson of suffering if you do evil. Al commits all atrocities, murders people, orders mass massacre but when it's his turn to suffer, he becomes a pitiable figure. 
The novel has sights of bloodshed and violence. The mob is manipulated and instigated into whatever Al wanted. This instigation and manipulation can be connected to today's incidents of mob lynching. Also, the value of a human's life is questioned through the acts of Al. He ordered the murder of anyone anytime for even slightest contraction. Blind hero-worship is also another interesting aspect of the novel. The case of A.D is one instance in this regard. His nephew's dying and his life's savings gone is not something he's sad about, on the contrary he's proud to have contributed in Al's revolution. Al's reactions to this are also noteworthy. This is relatable to the present scenario where people blindly start following anyone. (Asaram bapu, baba ram rahim) ignoring all the wrong deeds they did.
The women in Al's life are very different. His mother seems to never comment or guide or rebuke her son for all he does. Or perhaps she's completely ignorant of everything. Al's wife is also a bit contradictory as a person. She willingly followed him in exile, got married to him but she didn't want to give birth to his child and has no compassion for him at all.
The novel is a fictional account but the references to cities makes the fictional text seem realistic. Al’s character seems to come to life due to his directly telling  the reader about his thoughts. The coded names that Al keeps of people he knows and the ones in power more or less make the recall the actual political personalities of Pakistan. (1,069 words)

Book Review: Love in the time of Affluenza

Fairy tales have taught us in childhood that getting married to the person you love meant a happily ever after. Spenser wrote his Amoretti sonnets in this light and more or less similar were Austen's concerns in her novels. It was implicit that everything would naturally fall in place. Truth is, the real game begins thereafter. How things go about when people play that game is what Shunali Khullar Shroff's maiden fiction "Love in the time of Affluenza" is about. It explores love, relationships and changing nature of marriage through the eyes of the protagonist, Natasha Singh. 
The central issue if the novel is extra marital affairs. The concept is quite in trend in this time in metropolitans. The author examines the question of it being wrong or right.  When discovered as an accomplice, our innocent narrator appears like a Christ figure punished by just everyone. That seemed far too stretched. Her husband's punishing her so much seemed irrational and not completely called for. Whether she is able to reconcile her differences with Nakul or not remains unsaid. 
To a certain extent, the author tries to find out the possible reasons also but not in much depth. Why exactly Trisha and Nakul in the novel become estranged is not told. The uncertainty  of the future of their twins remains unanswered. It is clear that even if one marries for love, relationships can still be complicated. The author harps on "the connection" necessary for a happily ever after. But seeing that as the plot progresses, it seems too ideal and unrealistic. 
In between all this, the author successfully creates 3 vivacious women characters with completely different personalities. They are matched up with their equally lively male counterparts. One is a homemaker who left her career to raise her children (Natasha), another is the unmarried, career-oriented woman, free-spirited woman (Nafisa), and the third who brings in the moral question (Trisha). 
The narrator's husband did not give her time and that clearly is one reason the author gives for these out of wedlock activities. 
The narrator throws and also is a part of the grand page 3 type parties due to the aristocratic and royal background of her husband. Famous Bollywood celebrities and also British royalty appear in these parties. Sometimes the description is elaborate enough to actually see the page 3 come to life.
The language is simple with some touches of wit and sarcasm to make the reader smile. It has lines in hindi here and there to make it sound more Indian than it is. The plot is linear without any digressions or flashbacks and the narrator keeps updating the reader herself. This makes the novel an easy read for an average reader. 
Other issues include the acknowledgment if the importance of the role of a homemaker, the issues with in-laws (predicted in many daily soaps), and most importantly, parenting. How the behavior of parents affects and how the environment at home is important in the upbringing of children remains in the background.

Book Review: Untouchable (Mulk Raj Anand)

I finally took a plunge into Dalit literature and began with a landmark text by Anand. Highly recommended read by all readers, I had to read and write what I felt.
The novel in itself is a masterpiece by a non-dalit writer. He remains detached and let's the characters come to life completely on their own, this novel mainly revolves around the events that happen in one day in the life of the protagonist, Bakha.
The novel clearly brings out the cruelties suffered in the name of caste distinctions and the effects it has on the people. Also, it touches other issues like position of women, hypocritical nature of society, clash of religions and cultures while the subjugation of Indians by the British continues in the background (the arrival of missionaries to the scene and their attempted conversion of Hindus to Christianity) giving reference to the presence of colonialism.
Interestingly, Indians are shown to discriminate amongst each other on caste basis, while Britishers are shown discriminating against all Indians together on race basis.
The text shows how the caste system is present in the remotest corners of the society and people irrespective of castes have blindly accepted it as their fate or God's will (as they put it). In the name of God's will, they suffer inhuman treatment at the hands of society by cleaning other's dirt, being bestowed with the title 'polluted' and begging for food. What would happen if they for once refused to clean that dirt? The 'polluted' people clean the dirt of the 'unpolluted' who pollute the place themselves.
But people like Bakha are so submissive and fearful because they don't have any power and resources. They have resigned to their destiny (Bakha's father Lakha has) considering this is what they were born to do. Yet, Bakha dreams. He dreams to be able to wear the English saheb's uniforms, play hockey etc.
Ironically, lower castes are called polluted (as is with Bakha) but molesting the lower caste women does not pollute the 'unpolluted' people (as in the case of Bakha's sister Sohini). Gandhi's speech towards the end serves to heighten the irony more vividly when all shout "harijan ki jay". In the morning as the day progresses, the same people abuse and shun the same Harijans and by evening the shout "harijan ki jay" for the same Harijans in congruence to Gandhi's speech.
Gandhi's speech also brings different reactions among the crowd. This is where Anand brought about the powerful effects of English education on Indians (Indians in blood and colour but Englishmen in tastes ideals and morals, as Macaulay would say). They boast of the English writers they have read but there is no mention of any Indian writer which speaks for the snobbery and cultural disconnect Indians had to suffer from and continue to suffer even today.

Book Review: Animal farm (George Orwell)

As the new year's resolution to read canonical texts, I began with Animal Farm, considering it be interesting owing to its title. As I read the back of the book being about farm animals taking control of their destiny, the idea itself seemed inviting to be read through. I began thereafter.

Initially as I read began, I found an Old Major (pig)instigating the animals to fight for equality or rebellion as it would be called and as he completes this last task for life, he dies. Next, animals fight against the unfair treatment they went through due to human acts (symbolised by Jones, their owner). Quite willingly, the animals get ready to fight and under the leadership of Snowball and Napoleon they do get the farm free and name it "Animal Farm". They have their own commandments which would be like a modern day constitution and also have a national anthem with a title suitable to their community. As the chapters progress we see the duo of Snowball and Napoleon (pigs) having their own differences and Snowball as a result getting expelled. Till the end and even after the end of the novel, I couldn't find out what happened to Snowball and Mollie (cat). Further as the novel goes, we see how Napoleon and other members of his species takes total charge of all other animals and despite the idea of equality, he becomes more equal than others just because of his schematic designs (keeping dogs on guard and choosing not to work while all other animals work). Considering the interest of the readers, I wouldn't want to write anything about the end leaving it to the readers to analyse that part.

Clearly, the duality of the human race has been satirised (they behave in some way and act in another). The animals vow never to use any human things or human ways but the very acts of allotting work to everyone and hence carrying it out are human ways. Establishing the windmill, Napoleon's trade deals for eggs are human too. But also indicate that no person, country or organisation can exist in isolation. Boxer's tragic end also talks of the dark realities of human ways of using labour when they have strength and thereafter getting rid of it in anyway possible when their strength days are over. The reference to Queen Victoria in the initial chapters hints to the victimisation of the human race due to colonisation. The animals also have their own anthem which they sing with a lot of zeal. That again hints to the patriotic element and the fact of abandoning it towards the climax also talks of the change of loyalties of the characters (animals here). One more notable fact is about the mob mentality. How the mob can be manipulated to any use due to it's innocence and single mindedness. Squealer (pig), whose a loyal follower of Napoleon performs this manipulation part yet and yet again throughout the text.