Aug
03, 2006
A Good
Addition to Urdu Literature
The
latest book of Dr. (Mrs.) Shamim Aleem Sondhi Mitti
Ka Attar is a worthwhile addition to Urdu literature.
A retired Professor of the prestigious Osmania University
of Hyderabad, she wields a prolific pen, both in
English and Urdu, and has to her credit eight books
in English mostly on topics related to her discipline
- Public Administration. This is her second work
in Urdu and like the earlier book Aks-i-Kayenaat
is quite unrelated to her academic field.
I have just finished reading her second book, a
bouquet of short essays, columns, stories and lively
comments on a variety of subjects. No matter what
the genre, her writings carry a generous sprinkling
of humor that brighten up the contents and nudge
the reader to keep on reading.
She has lectured to her disciples for 35 long years,
and rewarded for it by being appointed as the Head
of Department, but in this collection there is not
a single piece where the reader gets the impression
that she is lecturing to him. She is always self-effacing.
Often she weaves subtly her theme into the fabric
of a short story. The reader is left to draw his
own conclusions. Her write-up on Credit Cards conveys
her critique of the hair-splitting Mullahs’
views on riba (interest) and how they fault even
innocuous, and often unavoidable, commercial dealings.
It is more effective than the works of many a scholar.
She has a deep revulsion against the South Asian
system of dowry and has given vent to it in some
of her short stories. For instance in her story
‘Contract Marriage,’ the poverty-stricken
parents of a young girl are constrained to ‘sell’
her in the so-called marriage after marriage, for
a month each, to old Arab Sheikhs with deep pockets.
The parents did not have enough money to provide
and attractive dowry for her marriage.
In another story, the poor father of a young girl
agrees to sell his kidney to secure enough money
to spend on the dowry for her marriage.
Several of her pieces portray the inferior, discounted
status of women in the South Asian cultural milieu.
Very effective and moving are her stories in which
old men manage to seduce poor and subordinate teenage
girls. “Badnami ka Gharda” and “Cheeta”
fall in this category.
In these stories she also insinuates that a man
is lewd and lecherous by nature. This traits remains
with him till the end. He waits like a predator
to pounce upon a vulnerable woman. She describes
how men old enough to be their victims’ grandfathers
have impregnated poor and young servant girls under
their watch and command. Like Manto, Mrs. Aleem
has perhaps tried to unveil the ugly reality beneath
the sophistication of noble decent, laudable culture
and gray hair.
In her story about the decision of a 60-year old
widow to remarry, she portrays the vulnerability
of a woman in our society. Hameeda, vivacious, pretty
lady, had endeared herself to all her friends and
relations who respected her and sought her company
as she injected joy and vibrancy into their monotonous
lives. But, this popular lady becomes a virtual
pariah soon after she lost her beloved husband.
To resume enjoying life and purveying happiness
all around, she decided to marry again despite her
age. She explains: ‘A woman needs a protector.
As long as a man’s name is attached to her
own, every one treats her with respect and dignity.
Once she loses the title to have the suffix of a
male’s name her own, she stands devalued and
is viewed through a different prism by the same
people. She becomes vulnerable.’
Here I would like to interject a few words about
the changing status of women. Throughout history
women have been badly suppressed. The Roman civilization
treated them as inanimate, moveable property at
par with slaves, the Chinese made them physically
handicapped by tying their feet. The Ottomans had
vast harems, the Hindus thought women had no separate
existence apart from their husbands, hence the custom
of Sati. Even the West accorded them franchise not
long ago. The struggle of women all over the world
has been bearing fruit and the trend cannot be stalled
or reversed. The continuing maltreatment in some
cultures deserves denunciation and will surely disappear
with the march of time and events.
To break fully from the hoary cultural traditions
would take time. Many educated Brahmins, for instance,
acknowledge now the bane of the caste system in
Hindu society. Its hold is weakening, yet it is
still there.
Mrs. Aleem’s short story “Kis ka khoon”
is an artful projection of the problems caused by
the case system. She does not even touch on the
history, implications of the Brahmanic designs and
the efforts made to do away with it, including those
of Mahatma Gandhi. She simply presents how an otherwise
noble and likeable elderly Brahman lady of a village
refuses to let her son marry a girl of lower caste;
how she loses blood in an accident and needs transfusion.
The villagers who had the utmost affection for the
noble lady were unwilling to give their blood to
her, lest they contaminate her own by the infusion
of their inferior blood. The doctor, educated in
the Western scientific tradition, is surprised at
the belief of the simple village folks, ignores
their apprehensions and arranges the transfusion
of the blood of the lowest caste villager as it
matched the old lady’s own blood.
On regaining consciousness, the old lady realizes
the falsity of the belief and willingly agrees to
the marriage of her son to the lower caste girl
of his choice. Blood knows no caste, she admits.
The realization comes with the intervention of modern
education in the form of a doctor in this case and
the exercise of rationality.
The write-ups included in the chapter on the glimpses
of life in America, shed light on several aspects
of life in this country that we normally do not
pay much heed to. These sketches are thoroughly
entertaining even for persons who have lived in
this country for decades. For, the writer’s
perceptive mind notices the oddities that generally
go unnoticed. Often she introduces personal experiences
in order to add a touch of conviction to her narration.
Her writings are invariably thought provoking. And,
her compositions make piquant reading and reflect
her command of the Urdu language. Above all, each
piece carries a subtle message.
The Modern Publishing House of Darya Gunj, New Delhi,
has published the book. In the US, it can be had
from the author who may be reached at: shamimaleem@hotmail.com.
- arifhussaini@hotmail.com
