A book review- Half Mother by Shahnaz Bashir

"Mothers are hardly ever pitied"- Maxim Gorky (1868-1963) In his novel 'Mother' 

Why do I read fictions? Well, I read fictions because I am addicted to good stories told with good literature. I read fictions because at times I recognise myself in many of the characters and most of all I read fictions because they take me nearer to people and places yet unknown to me. But when I had picked up this book, I didn't really expect any of these reasons to be satisfied. First,The book had the words 'a novel' written on it as if it had no bearings with reality. Second,as a contrast to the story's synopsis on the back cover, the book contains only 182 pages. Third reason was that, this was the author's first novel and that didn't really make it a safe bet.

I started reading the book, which is a tale of a woman during the time of insurgence in Kashmir in 1990s. The story was familiar for me as it was often heard . But as I turned the pages, I started to understand Haleema and her life around her father Ab Jaan and son Imran. Simple people living a very normal day to day lives and then time and circumstances tear them apart. Ab Jaan is killed in an army ambush and Imran is picked up by the army never to return to his mother again. Haleema's jouney form a shy reserved person who sincerely minded her own business to a vociferous leader of ARDP- Association of Relatives of Disappeared Person and her end, respected and surrounded by many but without her son by her side, was not only heart touching but it somehow kept me hungry wanting to know what had happened next.

The author successfully keeps political opinions and controversies out of the book. It is almost as if Haleemas of this world are not touched by the politics of the political leaders and warring factions. Its a story about simple people who protested against the opressive forces around them. Simplicity of language and the flow of the tale keeps one engrossed. Nothing changes, but the search in different jails and mortuaries, for their loved ones goes on and on. The apathy shown by the army officer Khuswaha and a highly placed political leader Mir Sahab is almost parallel. None spares the plight of the poor victims. Power, and absolute power, corruption , a strange unwillingness of the people in power to do anything about the plight of the common people who would often get cornered by millitants and army both with political parties in the sidelines, is potrayed in the story over and over again. A touch of socialist thoughts are reflected with the sharp difference potrayed between the rich and famous in the valley and the suburban poor milieu.

The storyline is stargely reminiscent of Maxim Gorky's 'Mother' where Pelagea Nilovna mother of Pavel represents the working class in Russia under the rule of Tsers. She, like Haleema works and fends for her only son Pavel as the husband is spineless and weak and only a source of trouble. The thematic setting is almost parallell. In 'Mother' the story is woven against the backdrop of Pre-Russian Revolution and in 'Half Mother' the setting is the time of insugence in Kashmir. Both are the  tales of a mother raising her voice against the opressive forces of the time. In one of his interviews, the author Shahnaz Bashir does express his liking for many Russian authors like Leo Tolstoy and Gorky, Chekov. Hence an influence is but exopected.

The only disconnect that I felt with the story was that although the incidents were very linear, they were often very onesided and almost took an impassive view of the reasons behind the insurgency and the sufferings of many other communities in the valley. But then to defend the author, he did say that it is an imaginary tale and imagination will always have biased views.

But overall, its a brilliant attempt by the author to write about those terrible times. He uses the language beautifully to make his satement. The character of Izhar is interwoven in the theme as if to make a statement of what jounalism should be and what it is. May be one day the Imrans and Pavels would come back and find their homes empty, because time has posed as a villain and had robbed them off their lives. The line which beautifully sums up the plight of the valley is 'The reports on Kashmir are on the lower shelves- handy, yet dusty,scrabbled and shop soiled, Kashmir is mentioned everywhere-in books,news reports, political reports, but it has disappeared form the world, an enforced disappearance on its own.'

( Disclaimer: Besides the spoiler this article does not by any means contain my personal or political opinion about Kashmir)

Of Samosas, Patties and microwaves.

This post is an objection and a loud cry against the injustice that reigns in  the food outlets of India today.The situation is actually a human rights violation to the rights of mankind, who love the crispy crunchy flaky outer layer of two awesome food article named 'Samosa and Patties.'

Now before I raise a hue and cry about the case, I need to take you a bit down the memory lane. So it all started when I was young and was bred on the street foods of Delhi. Now Delhi street foods are quite chatpata spicy but they are a curious combination of Punjabi, Hariyanvi and Mumbai street food. So my youth was surrounded by papri-chat, golgappas, bhelpuris, and masala chukandar , fruit chats, bhel papri and most of all aloo tikkis and samosas. 

Delhi street food- origin - Indian Peninsula.(only veg. Non veg was an addition in late 90's

And then came Samosas- well crispy flaky coating of flour with succulent aloo and matar(green peas) with loads of spices filled in. Served with khatta-mitha chutney . But deep fried and crispy crunchy. It wasn't till much later when I was transported to Kolkata that I learned that Samosas can have lots of fillings,other than the omnipotent aloo and can taste much better.

Well, in Kolkata they are known as Shingara. The recipe is the same, but the only difference was the artistic variety to the fillings that are added here. Like: Aloo Motor(greenpeas),fullcopie'-r(Caulifower)
Mangshor(mutton keema) and even Misti Kheerer Shingara(Condensed milk) and of course the regenerated version of Shingara i.e.Gujia( filled with suji-coconut and nuts-all grated and stirred with sugar)

Shingara as they should look -like this
OR

The issue here is not the variety, its just an introduction to how this eternal food was maligned and maltreated with vigor by the food outlets of Kolkata and India. The teleybhaja (deep fried vegetables) shops and any sweet shops have a wooden box with one side glass cover and with a bulb inside where it would keep all the Kochooris and Shingaras and telebhajas warm and crispy. The operational word here being 'crispy'.

.

But now they look like this.:(

Another victim of the same violation of crispy rights is the Patties or as we so lovingly call it the Paatiees. The crispy and flaky baked confectionery item filled with veg and non-veg fillings, which crackle when you bite and melts in your mouth as you chew. A successful way of eating patties is only complete when you have to dust the flakes off your clothes and litter the floor. You can surreptitiously eat them off your clothes too,if no one is looking.

THE MURDER OF CRISP KINGS:

Gone are those good old days when you never ate these food items during any social occasions and even if you did you felt quite embarrassed with the flaky residues. Now with smart age gadgets we have Microwaves and limp,no flakes, no crisp and no taste- Samosa-Shingara-Pattiees.

You dare order for one of these in any food outlet and they would dish out one, out of the microwave with 30 sec warming time and lo and behold you will have the Samosa/Shingara/ Pattiees in front of you, piping hot but sans the crisp and flakes. I mean, instead of biting into them, you need to tear them out like a chapati and treat the filling like a portion of  curry and eat them!!

They would taste exactly like 1 hour old 'Luchi Tarkari' or 'Rooti Tarkari with a coating of butter'. Gone are the flakes and the crisp and the rustle and the murmur of those delicious delicacies. I have often tried to counsel the shop owners/ waiters/ servers, that  Samosas/ Shingaras/Patties should be either warmed with bulbs (check out the wooden boxes. The heating device is fine) or Ovens( Not micro or macro, just simple oven) or non stick frying pans on low heat( they might have blisters on their outer layer but it will be crispy). But my prayers,advice has absolutely fallen into deaf ears. The menace of microwave has brought an end to the crispy and flaky era of the great heritage of Samosas/Shingaras and Patties. You can cry, shout slogans or plead for mercy but all in vain. The food will go into the micro-ovens and they will come out 30 yrs older with a sad demeanor. 

The only saving grace is that magical 1hour time (4-5pm),when all the sweet shops serve piping hot 'Kochuri and Shingaras' . But as for the crispy oven fresh hot patties, they are a breed which has gone into archives only to be replaced by the micro-oven-ed version. Flury's, Monginis, Kathleen, Sugar & Spice, Cakes, My Cake Shop, Great Eastern , Grand, and many many many more have conspired to let the patties die a lumpy-limpy  death. Is it really time to bid a final adieu to the era of crispy flakes?