Glimpses of contemporary Pakistan

At least, there is one thing common between the two bitter neighbours, India and Pakistan. Like there are many worlds within India, there is no one Pakistan. There is the feudal Pakistan, the world of rich landowners and family feuds. There is strife-torn tribal Pakistan in the north-west of the country, governed by its own rules and regulations. Nobody has been able to rule it from outside. There are the armed forces, the men who really matter in the country. And then there is the sprawl of the urban middle class.

The Wish Maker is a tale of middle class Pakistan — educated and urbane. This is the world where drinks do the rounds regularly, youngsters get high on drugs and boys and girls seek each other out. The narrator, Zaki Shirazi, grows up in modern Lahore. He is a regular fellow, shy and not talkative. His concerns, his ambitions are no different from those of other city-dweller boys in the subcontinent in the 1980s and 1990s.

 

The main story itself is ordinary — fatherless Shirazi grows up in a house full of women. There are cousins who take him through the paces of adolescence, and a female relative who wants to break free. But there are sub-plots woven seamlessly into his world, which gives a glimpse of the other worlds within Pakistan. Partition, to begin with. The exchange of population created permanent fissures in the subcontinent. Ali Sethi, the son of well-known Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi, is just 25. But he has been able to capture the trauma and terror of Partition quite well. The narrator’s grandmother grew up with Sikh neighbours who had to leave Lahore after Partition. His mother’s parents migrated from Kanpur to Karachi. It was a new world for them into which they had to fit.

More than 60 years later, Pakistan has not been able to shake India off its conscience. Indians may have moved on with the Lahore nostalgia, but Pakistanis have not been able to cut the chord that once bound the two people together. The staple diet is Indian films and music whenever people in Pakistan look for entertainment. Indian whiskey, smuggled through a circuitous route, is equally popular. The strain resonates right through the book.

The Wish Maker takes shape against the backdrop of Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan after Zia-ul-Haq’s death in a plane crash. There is euphoria to begin with. People feel she will drive the country to prosperity and modernity. Later, despair begins to sink in. There are charges of corruption against her. And even her most vociferous supporters begin to lose hope.

What also stands out is the view provided by Sethi of rural Pakistan. India carried out land reforms at a very large scale after Independence which brought to an end the world of large landowners. This hasn’t happened in Pakistan. Consequently, the old order in its villages continues to flourish.

In the final analysis, are the insights provided by Sethi into contemporary Pakistan any good? It must be said that the world of mullahs, Taliban and jehadis is not there. There is the odd reference but such elements are always on the periphery. The internal politics of the country has been dwelt on at length, but there is no interpretation. Far from a shortcoming, this is the strength of the book. It is a look at the world through the eyes of a child. It is honest reportage without any twist. It follows the golden rule of writing — just tell the truth. It does not aspire to be anything more than a child’s observation of the world around him. Thank God for that.

It might not have enough masala for those on the lookout for such stuff. And long indeed is the list of such seekers. But those who can still enjoy the innocence of childhood must read Sethi’s book. It is tempting to lapse into a narrative of what is saleable. The author could have easily introduced one or two hardliners. But that is not the world of a boy growing up in urban Lahore. Whatever a child should see and observe Sethi pens with honesty and style. The prose is easy and effective.

For long, the role of women in Pakistan has given rise to much speculation. Are they victimised or are they liberal? The answer is that it is a mixed bag, much like India, though the lot of the average woman here may be better. This is where Sethi scores again. He observes the behaviour of women across three generations. There are women who are well educated and exposed to the modern worldview, and there are women who are uneducated and bound by religious faith. There are traditionalists, keepers of the age-old faith, and there are westernised women. Full marks to Sethi for bringing alive their different worlds with sincerity and sensitivity.

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THE WISH MAKER

Ali Sethi
Hamish Hamilton (Penguin)
Rs 499; 416pp