by Maha Khan Philip

Brilliant debut. This is a post-9/11 novel with a special focus on Pakisthan women. But if you thought it is about how Bush or Bin laden traumatizes the Burkha clad woman, you are in for a surprise. Read this fresh, crisp, debut novel – and you will not put it down. It is upright on your face.

It reminded me so much of many of those grand plots we developed in our college days, those which never got materialized!
The introduction to this 9/11 pakisthan is through an upperclass Oxford educated Pakisthani woman who cannot live outside drag parties and casual sex. Well, that was quite an introduction! No body told me so far about this part of Pakisthan, well of South Asia. My Victorian senses raised their antennas, but I thought of continuing. And there comes more:

– An immensley popular reality show that makes the hay in post 9/11 sunshine. Guess what is called – “Who Wants to Be A Terrorist?”
– A media hungry woman director who converts the story of a domestic-abused village woman to an Oscar winning movie of how Islam kills women
– An ISI agent who is torn between love and business
– Assassination of Benazir Bhutto

It is a riot of strong feelings, contemporary politics, fuedalism, fundamentalism, West Vs Us, betrayal, lose – all entangled with the basic thread of female friendship. What looks like fun-filled companionship of three women suddenly takes surprising turns and gets mixed up so much with the larger canvas of nation and politics. The turmoil puts to test relationships; and not all relations can survive the load.

We have seen before in Literautre, how the larger history gets mixed up with individual lives; but this time it looks so fresh. It looks fresh perhaps because the individuals are portrayed here not as passive participants in the overhaul; but as active agents who messes up things for themselves and those around. It also feels fresh because there are various perspectives and threads running along the theme
– a woman who hates, but eventually writes a novel of female victimhood (Her parallel commentary is more interesting than the shallow novel she writes)
-lots of narrative techniques involving chaptes of e-mail communications, media footage, news paper articles and novel inside novel. You never feel bored!
– most importanlty, a conspicous mockery at the taken-for-granted stereotypical characters we have in our minds. You would often say -“Really, I never thought so”

Read this novel. It might shock you a bit in the beginning, but you would see the point as you go on. If you miss this novel, you miss a dramatic piece of debut writing, a fresh look on women’s world and especially a side of South Asia most didnt know existed! But keep your prudish bag outside, before entering.