Author: Rahman Abbas
Translator: Sabika Abbas Naqvi
Publisher: Penguin India
Pages: 256
How Long it Took Me To Read: 5 days
Plot Summary: Mumbai was almost submerged on the fatal noon of 26 July 2005, when the merciless downpour and cloudburst had spread utter darkness and horror in the heart of the city. River Mithi was inundated, and the sea was furious. At this hour of torturous gloom, Rohzin begins declaring in the first line that it was the last day in the life of two lovers, Asrar and Hina.
The novel's protagonist, Asrar, comes to Mumbai, and through his eyes the author describes the hitherto-unknown aspects of Mumbai, unseen colours and unseen secrets of the city's underbelly.
The love story of Asar and Hina begins abruptly and ends tragically. It is love at first sight which takes place in the premises of Haji Ali Dargah.
The arc of the novel studies various aspects of human emotions, especially love, longing and sexuality as sublime expressions. The emotions are examined, so is love as well as the absence of it, through a gamut of characters and their interrelated lives: Asrar's relationship with his teacher, Ms Jamila, a prostitute named Shanti and, later, with Hina; Hina's classmate Vidhi's relations with her lover and others; Hina's father Yusuf's love for Aymal; Vanu's indulgence in prostitutes.
Rohzin dwells on the plane of an imagination that takes readers on a unique journey across the city of Mumbai, a highly intriguing character in its own right.
Things I Liked:
1. This book, it's very premise, appealed to me from the get go. To be honest, as a life-long Mumbai person, any book or film for that matter, that's set in my city has my interest. I am always curious to see my city and read about in a new light. Especially, in a book like this where the city becomes so much more than just a backdrop to the action. A book where the city is front and center and part of the narrative.
2. Mumbai- there is the city that I know and inhabit. And one that I occasionally see in spurts and glimpses. A drive through a different part of the city or a wandering around a part of the city on special occasions and experiencing something different from my usual normal. To me this book was just that, a step inside a world that's new to me. Very far removed from my view and experience of a city I know so well. So I can only imagine what it must feel like for someone who's not from Mumbai. Because you often get to see just this one side of the metropolis in films and books. The other, very real side, is often clean forgotten. So, for me reading about this side of Mumbai was very interesting and enjoyable.
3. I remember 26/7/05 very clearly. Anyone who was in Mumbai on that day will remember it in stark detail. My family and I were driving down from Pune to Mumbai, after spending a week with my aunt her daughters. The whole drive down was insane, it was raining the whole way and on the Expressway the visibility was close to zero. Thankfully, my father, who's been driving since he was 10 and in the hills of North Bengal, was well equipped to drive through the deluge. We drove through water-logged streets and a city that was shutting down rapidly. We got home just in time and took long naps to sleep off the weird rain-soaked drive. When we woke up and saw the News, it was a horror show. My city was drowning.
Over the next few days we'd hear heartbreaking stories of loss and strife. Of nature's ire and how a cloudburst had nearly wiped us away. It was horrible. And over the years more stories have emerged. But I had never read a book, where that cataclysmic event forms the climax to a story. So, this natural calamity, that hellish day from long ago, being a pivotal point in a story was something I was drawn to and I think it's something that's done very well here. It builds this dread in the pit of your stomach as you are reading this story. You know what's coming and you can't stop hurtling towards it.
4. What I liked best about this book was that it was difficult to really categorize it. You know how there are books that you can neatly categorize and put in neat little genres? This is romance. This is a thriller. A horror novel. This book...not so much. Sure it has a romance at the heart of it. But it's also about an immigrant to this giant city. It's a coming-of-age novel. A story about heartwarming friendships. A novel about family, desire and lust and love. There is also myth and mythology and a touch of magical realism. It's rich and layered and hard to put in a box.
5. I really enjoyed the writing and the translation felt like it captured the essence of the story. I also really appreciated how desire and love and sexuality are dealt with in this book. I liked the tone and the way in which the author about these things without making them seem tawdry.
6. It's odd reading about a character who you know it about to die soon. It's a peculiar situation, getting to know them and getting to like them and knowing all along about their impending death. This aspect of this book was unique and occasionally painful. Especially, since we know this young, very much in love couple are going to die and all of their dreams and hopes and all that life that still had to live will be lost in the rain. I tried to occasionally not think of it and just focus on the page in front of me...but like any good love story, this looming tragedy made it so much more poignant.
7. Asrar~ I really like him. He's not perfect, he's so human and that's what makes him so real and wonderful. I really liked getting to know him and spending time with him and I absolutely loved seeing my city through his eyes. His thoughts and musings and his past and his dealings with the people he meets and knows and loves were all wonderful and he really does leap out from the pages and feels like someone you know.
Hina~ she shows up a little late in the book and something about her and her whole family story just surprised me. I don't want to spoil things for you, but this storyline had me very, very surprised just by the paths it took the story to.
I really like Hina. She reminded me of girls from college. She could easily be a friend from college. We don't get to know her as well as Asrar but her world too comes alive in these pages.
8. This book is full of characters, big and small, insignificant and significant. So people inhabit these pages and each of them, no matter how fleeting are fleshed out so well and infused so much humanity and heart. So many of them have full and very engaging back stories that I really enjoyed getting lost in.
Rating: 4/5
This book was very kindly sent to me for review by the publishers, but the thoughts and opinions are all my own.
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