Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Agony of Afghanistan

Khaled Hosseini's novel, A thousand splendid suns, richly deserves the accolades it has received. Hosseini is an Afghan, now settled in the US. He gives us a glimpse of the grim struggle for existence that is the stuff of daily life in Afghanistan - or was at the time when the mujahideen were trying to drive out the Russians, when the mujahideen fought amonst themselves for control and, later, when the country came under the control of the Taliban.

The novel' s special contribution is its focus on the plight of women. It deals with the lives of two women, Miriam and Laila, thrown together by reason of having got married to an ageing (in Miriam's case) and aged (in Laila's case) tailor, Rasheed. Miriam is the illegitimate child of a wealthy businessman in the city of Herat. Her father keeps her mother, a cook, and Miriam at a distance. When Miriam's mother dies, her stepmothers get her married off to Rasheed who is from Kabul. Miriam is in her teens and Rasheed in his forties.

Laila's misfortune is even worse. Her family is killed in the shelling of Kabul and she's badly wounded herself. She's nursed back to health by Rasheed and Miriam until Miriam understands the motivation behind Rasheed's concern- he wants to acquire Laila as a second wife. Rasheed is in his sixties then and Laila in her teens.

The novel deals with the humdrum existence of the trio and the two children they have (one is Laila's through her teenaged lover before her life fell apart). It's a grim struggle for existence, unrelieved by anything joyful (except the two children). There is nothing the two women can expect by way of caring from Rasheed. The only reason they have to stay with him- and endure his taunts and his endless beatings- is that there is no way they can survive otherwise. What awaits them outside Rasheed's humble house is even worse. It is a tribute to Hosseini's craftsmanship that he's able to sustain the reader's interest in this colourless existence.

As you read through the novel, you begin to wonder whether there is anything left but despair and wretchedness, whether there is any salvation at all for these two helpless, yet cheerful women, whether such a life is worth living at all. Finally, salvation arrives in the only way it possibly could......the reader is left at once happy and saddened at the outcomes.

Hosseini gives us an idea of what life under the Taliban is like- no music, no TV, no education or jobs for women, women can't even go out unescorted, nothing to life other than what purports to be the pure Islamic way of life. Taliban rule is a return to some barbaric past, except that even in that past, one would like to believe, things were not as bad.

You may have your reservations about America's posture towards Islam in general, its attitude towards Palestinians and Iran, about the so-called clash of civilisations. But, when it comes to the Taliban, there is no room for doubt as to the rationale for the US and its allies waging war against them. A Taliban take over of Pakistan is the ultimate nightmare for that unfortunate country, for India and for the rest of the world.

40 comments:

BRS said...

oh! perhaps you should not have revealed the plot. I was planning to read the book :-(

T T Ram Mohan said...

BRS, You are right, I shouldn't have mentioned the ending. I've made a change but too late for you, I guess!

-TTR

VM said...

Sir, I completely agree with your views on Khaled Hosseini and the Taliban. I'd also like to add though that, perverse as it may sound, it was the US that helped in creating the Taliban....they wanted radical Muslim groups to take root in order to throw out the Russians from Afghanistan and threw their support behind such groups. Well, guess what.....you reap what you sow, all the blowback is coming home to roost. Secondly, I doubt if the Taliban can truly run over the administration in Pakistan. Zardari and co may be using the Taliban threat as leverage to extract more money from the US. With nearly a million strong army and police forces, it's hard to believe that the administration and the masters that control it can't do more than what's been done so far.

K.R.Srivarahan said...

The observation in the last paragraph regarding America's posture towards Islam has now become anachronistic after President Obama's speech at Cairo university. Welcome though the theme of the speech, his statement that America and Islam share common principles of justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings borders on the absurd. Perhaps, falsehood is acceptable if it would help in reducing friction.

Anonymous said...

Even the book "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, is worth a read.

web design bangalore said...

Taliban group is famous for terrorism TTR sir I respect your views on the taliban and khaled hosseini group.

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