the ToI – the world’s largest selling English paper – puts out a supplement where a South Indian – to be precise superstar Rajnikant – is referred to as a Southie. What next? a Muslim referred to as a Mossie, a North Indian as a bhaaiya, a Gujarati as a Gujju, a Mizo referred to as a Chinky, a bengali as a Bong, a Marwari a Maddu ? Tut, Tut.. ToI .. one really expected better from you. Maybe, it is time to let you on to a secrert. The editor is not a function on the word processor or DTP software. It is a person who knows and understands language and structure — and ensures that work put out by people like Subhash K Jha is cleaned up.
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I approached the book with some trepidation. I am not particularly fond of authors from the sub continent who write in English. I often find their narrative overtly lyrical, pretentiously mystical, and deliberately desi. But, so many people had told me so many good things about the novel that I succumbed. After purchasing the book, it lay on my table for three weeks, pristine in its cellophane wrapper. Running out of stuff to read, i opened it two days ago – and the book enthralled me from the first line.
I liked the sense of minimalism in writing. No unnecessary adjectives or adverbs. No takeoffs into the mystical / philosophical nature of eastern life. And no justifications for anything. It is a narrative that is shorn of pretense. The story is a monologue between the main protagonist Changez and an unseen American. And the monologue is an explanation of why a 20 something, ambitious, and brilliant young man from Princeton – who is expected to reach the top of his profession in the US – packs up and goes back home to be a teacher at the university.
Changez is very much a product of today. Someone who is very comfortable in his skin. Who neither makes apologies for his country, nor is his ‘culture’ in your face. He could be any of the friends that we have in the west, who are cosmopolitan – who feel equally comfortable in both worlds. And then disaster strikes. 9/11 happens.And Changez – like many we know – is appalled at his momentary sense of joy and satisfaction when the towers come down. And, this proves to be the turning point in his life.
At the time of 9/11, I was working at Zee at that time and we were at Chintamani Plaza. The first floor was full of television sets. And I was walking out for a meeting. I was stopped by this bunch of collegues huddled around a TV watching the footage of the planes ploughing into the WTC. At that time someone said – they bombed it, they have guts – we will never be able to do something like that. Even in a place like India, in a modern, cosmopolitan, broadcast environment, there was this satisfaction that the towers came down. “now they know how we feel” was a common response one heard. And, Mohsin Ahmed‘s articulation of the satisfaction that Changez feels while enjoying a drink in a hotel room in Manila is an echo of similar sentiments in Mumbai.
9/11 brings down more than the towers. It crumbles Changez’s life. His girlfriend – who is emotionally damaged – recedes further into depression. Changez finds himself isolated from his professional ‘bretheren’ and his well constructed life begins to unravel until an encounter with an old man who loves books.
‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist‘ is not a book that glorifies fundamentalism. Nor is it one that calls for violence. There is no good or bad. There just is. Even when Changez makes a seemingly anti-American statement it is tinged with a sense of embarrassment that we all feel when we behave badly.
Read the book – it is definitely worth a buy.
Technorati Tags: Mohsin Ahmed, The Reluctant Fundamentalist
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There is a nasty bug going around and I have caught it.
symptoms – dry cough that racks your body and hurts your ribs, shivers, fever that leaves you drenched in sweat when it breaks, extreme weariness
All in all very uncomfortable. The doctor speculates that it is viral and is treating me for that .
aside : i love the terms bacterial and viral – they cover such a multitude of sins !
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