The title and the storyline on the back cover gave me a pretty good idea of what the novel must be about. But the words 'Shortlisted For Man Booker Prize 2007' caught my attention.
This is the story of Changez - a Pakistani boy, who goes to the US for higher studies and gets a job in a well-known firm in New York city after completion of the course. He also falls in love with a white girl, Erica. Just when he thinks that things cannot get any better, 9/11 happens. Almost overnight America's perception of the people of his faith changes. As he tries to come to grips with it, America invades Afghanistan. And that changes Changez in ways that he previously would have thought to be impossible.
If you ask me whether I liked the novel, I would be hard pressed for an answer. There isn't anything in it which couldn't have been guessed, at least by any Indian - Muslim or otherwise. I find the author's views rather biased. Of course, most of us are like that. But if he were to spare a moment stepping into the shoes of people of other faiths, he would not be able to hold them responsible for secular Muslims' switch to fundamentalism, at least not completely. For those who are either not religious or consider religion as only part of their identity, it is very difficult to understand those whose religion is a major part of their identity. To be sure, I am as unsettled by an ordinary person who walks about in office or public places with a vermillion streak across his forehead (the so-called mark of a 'devout' Hindu!) as I am by people bringing prayer mats to office. As far as I am concerned, my relation with my God is a private thing and completely different from my public persona. When the two are mixed there is bound to be some uneasiness, some uncertainty. That's because others can't figure out where your first loyalty lies - to your country or to your religion. e.g. in the novel, Changez is angry when America invades Afghanistan, because that is a fellow Muslim country. This religion-based fellowship is something that others, especially Hindus, might find hard to stomach - maybe because there is no Hindu country in the world. Naturally, whenever there is a cross-border act of terrorism, any non-Muslim Indian, at some point, however flittingly, is bound to wonder if the Indian Muslims sympathize with our neighbor because of the religious affinity.
Of course, it does not mean that all Muslims should be viewed with suspicion. During my stay in India I have had Muslim friends who have been very open about celebrating other faiths - not because they had to, but because they liked to. And I am sure that majority of Muslims are like that. But unfortunately, those few who aren't are more vocal than those who are. The moderate Muslims don't speak up and so can't be heard, thus playing right into the hands of those who want to foment communal tension and spread the belief that 'they are like that only'. After all, there is no way to distinguish between those who are secular and those who aren't - this applies to Hindus and Muslims both.
There is one more angle to it. If you don't want to be treated differently, then you have to make an effort to blend in. There are no two ways about it. If a community abides by a set of laws that are different than the laws set by the country's constitution, then it is setting itself apart from the rest of the country by that very process. Sad but true. A news item on the international page of Mint a few days back read as follows - Philippines president Benigno Aquino formally received a draft law for the creation of an autonomous area for the country's Muslim minority. Need I say more?
Coming back to the novel, I also wonder why the story in a nutshell at the back of the book mentions that Changez is betrayed by the Western country and Western woman that he loved. Erica does not reject Changez because he is a Muslim. She rejects him because she cannot forget her first love, though he is long dead. If Erica didn't have any psychological issues, Changez would have ended up betraying her because his Pakistani family wouldn't have accepted a Firang Bahu of different faith in their fold - irrespective if whether 9/11 had happened or not. So, I think the novel would have done fine without Erica.
As I read this book, I painfully realized that in this day and age, many events have the potential to turn each one of us - no matter what our faith - into a reluctant fundamentalist.
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