Real Men Keep Their Word: Tales from Kabul, Afghanistan by Akram Osman

Translated from the Dari by Arley Loewen

(Translation first published 2005)

This is the first ever collection of fictions in translation that I have read from an Afghan author. These stories cover a range of themes including honour, love and financial difficulties faced by ordinary people. A couple of stories depict the class-based hypocrisy of the rulers and powerful men against the backdrop of oppression on ordinary people.

I particularly enjoyed “A Free Coffin” which is a burlesque critique of a miser who is bent on saving little pennies when he is faced with the burial of a relative that he has to pay for. “The Secret Unleashed” and “The Moderate Politician” reveal the hypocrisy of a ruling class in Afghanistan which led to widespread disillusion and discontent among Afghan  masses.

The lead story titled “Real Men Keep Their Word” sharply portrays strong ethical values, ie unbending commitment to their word, unfaltering hospitality and even ubiquitous machismo Pashtuns are famous for . On the other hand, however, stories like “The Blind Eagle” and “A Crack in the Wall” didn’t carry much literary merit.

The foreword by Jamil Hanifi about Afghan novel writing and publishing history in Afghanistan was very informative. I had no idea things were so bad there with respect to Afghan publishing industry.

The translator, Arley Loewen, has chosen to translate Dari-specific expressions and idioms literally into English. For that reason the translations sometimes make an awkward reading. It would have been better if the local idiom was  translated into equivalent or near-equivalent English expression with an explanation of original Dari expressions in the footnotes. However the translator is of the view that translating peculiar Dari idiom into equivalent English idiom doesn’t do proper justice with the original and rich Dari expression in which the stories are originally written.

Afghanistan gets a great deal of bad press for all the wrong reasons. The society, its people, it’s culture and morals are lain under the burden of negativity that has gripped the country since Soviet forces invaded over three decades ago. This collection of stories present a different side of the society always under scrutiny of foreign “experts”.

I rate it at 3/5. Find the book on AMAZON.

Movie: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Year 1805. Off the Coast of Brazil. England and France are at war over the lordship of Europe. English navy captain Jack Aubrey receives orders to intercept a formidable French frigate which is twice in size and strength of arms and soldiers. Action begins.

You get to see a glimpse of how life would have been in the middle of the deep blue seas for men away from land and women. The pressures, the fatigue, and the sense of duty that was slowly transforming into full blown national patriotism at that time.

I enjoyed limited action scenes interspersed with depictions of intrigues and personal rivalry of comrades on a ship. The language of the script didn’t quite live up to the vernacular for a story set in early years of the 19th century. Film’s visuals were nonetheless a treat to watch. Rated at 4.5/5. IMDb Link

Movie: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

It is rare to find a woman as remarkable as Joan of Arc (1412-1431) in the annals of European Middle Ages who left a lasting influence on history in her short life before she was burnt at stake when she was only 19.

The film portrays the life of the French war heroine and her efforts to reinstall the deposed French ruler whose throne was usurped by the English as the latter inched along conquering the rest of whatever was left outside their control.

Joan of Arc’s presence, deemed heavenly and miraculous at that time, boosted French morale. She literally led the French army from the front to decisive victories against the English Crown which changed the course of the battle. The French ruler managed to become King after English defeat. Joan of Arc was caught by Burgundians who were English allies. She had a sham inquisition, convicted of witchcraft in a politically motivated religious trial and subsequently hanged.

Historical drama has the license to add in fiction to history to make it a presentable whole. However it doesn’t have the license to distort history in a way that depicts major and decisive events completely falsely, unless, of course, it’s “alternate history”.

The film, therefore, is grossly misleading in so far as it depicts major historical events. One example is French betrayal of Joan of Arc after she’s captured by the English. There was no betrayal in reality and it was out of the power of the newly installed French King to help Joan out of English captivity.

The other thing that irked me greatly was the use of modern language especially the dialogues and (disappointingly) American accent of few actors. The guy who played Dauphin/King of France was a complete joke. He with his looks, hair cut, and peculiar constitution is well suited for a character of a baseball junkie in downtown Philadelphia but certainly not the King of France in the 15th century.  My rating 3/5. IMDb Link

Movie: Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams (2006)

(Countries: Bosnia, Croatia, Austria, Germany; Language: Bosnian)

This film depicts the degree to which life in contemporary Sarajevo is affected by Yugoslav war of the 1990s. The story takes its cue from the systematic rapes of 20,000 women by Serb soldiers.

It’s about a single mother who lives with 12-year old girl in relative poverty. The girl is known to be the daughter of a Muslim martyr of war but unlike other children of martyrs, she doesn’t know the circumstances of her father’s death. Other children think her claim is dubious when she fails to produce the death certificate of her father that is required for gratis school trip. She will have to pay for the trip if she can’t prove that her father was a martyr.

The girl demands proof from her mother but in vain. When things heat up between the mother and the girl, it is revealed that she was actually conceived after her mother was raped by Serb soldiers at a camp. This brutal realisation that she is actually daughter of a rapist Serb serves to bring her closer to her mother with whom she hitherto had strained relationship.

It’s a moving tale of love, war and fate. Plot and acting get 3/5. IMDb Link

Rough Music: Blair, Bombs, Baghdad, London, Terror by Tariq Ali

(First published: 2005)

This oddly titled book is a collection of political commentaries written in the aftermath of London bombings of July 7 2005. It covers British politics and media coverage of “War on Terrorism” around that time.

It particularly discusses Britain’s role in the build up to the Iraq war. A leaked secret memo from 10 Downing Street made it clear even before 2005 that, as we know now, the dossier justifying the invasion of Iraq was known to be full of lies. The author contends that Tony Blair had already decided to back George Bush on Iraq, and only after having decided on that he (Blair) looked for evidence to justify his policy.

The US and UK devised two schemes to justify Iraq war. First, they decided to trap Saddam through UN arms inspectors. They hoped that Saddam would refuse and that would provide a justification for the war but Saddam played a shrewd hand and circumvented the plan. Later on, lies about WMD were prepared, a big media hype was created and finally the invasion of Iraq was proceeded with.

The highlight of the book is in the detailed account of Blair government’s spat with the BBC. The BBC is often criticised for its uncritical war coverage in Iraq and its conformist approach toward government’s policy. This became true only after the ouster of the the Director General of the BBC, one courageous Greg Dyke, was engineered by Blair’s spin doctors.

A BBC journalist named Gilligan under Dyke’s instructions interviewed the UN weapons inspector David Kelly who informed the BBC that the evidence for the war in Iraq was completely made up. Later, David Kelly was found killed. His death was considered a suicide but something was amiss. This led to a big controversy which resulted into an inquiry led by Lord Hutton.

To cut long story short, the author argues, that it was Tony Blair and his chief spin doctor, Alistair Campbell, who made sure BBC is censured and its top positions filled with toadies who wouldn’t be critical of the government’s policies toward the Bush doctrine of war.

There is another long article that provides a detailed analysis of the role British media played in the run up to the war. It’s worth reading. There is another article about Britain’s current “first-past-the-pole” electoral system, which he calls “unrepresentative” system of a “representative” democracy.

One example of the system in place in the UK comes from 2005 general elections. Labour in that election got a mere 35% of the popular vote. Given the nature of the system, since all other parties got fewer votes than Labour, the later was to form the government and continue with its policies even though in real democratic terms Labour was unpopular with the majority of British voters.

The author argues for a change in the British electoral system towards more representative and accountable governance than this system currently produces. On my rating scale this book gets 5/5. AMAZON LINK

Movie: Days of Glory (2006)

(French: Indigènes); Country: Algeria; Languages: French and Arabic)

This film is by a French-Algerian director. WWII forms the backdrop. French colonial government in Algeria and Tunisia enlists locals into the army and takes them to mainland Europe to fight. Those native soldiers are indoctrinated into believing that they are fighting for their “French motherland” but most of them are poor folks who enlisted in the army for money.

While fighting in French trenches, in order to survive, they forget their personal lives back home and the reason they joined the army (money) and must think of themselves as “sons of the glorious France” so that they remain steadfast in the battle and therefore win it. These contradictory feelings are so craftily embedded in the narrative of the film, which makes it without doubt one of the finest war dramas I’ve seen, like the Bosnian movie (No Man’s Land).

The film also depicts 3rd grade treatment those Algerian and Tunisian soldiers received from high ranking officials. Those footsoldiers were sent to the most dangerous combat operations to maintain the frontline, they bore the brunt of death and injury before others, but when it came to promotions or even leave, white homeboys were preferred over Franco-African soldiers and officers (mixed breed), and those of mixed breed were preferred over the natives.

It’s actually based on a true story. Those soldiers who fought for the “French motherland” were deprived of their military pensions after Algeria achieved independence. Apparently, this film led to change in French law in regards to WWII soldiers from the colonies fighting under French command.

The unmistakable humanity of the film and its depictions of fear and vulnerability of apparently battle-hardened soldiers must get it a straight 5/5. IMDb Link

Movie: No Man’s Land (2001)

(Bosnian: Ničija zemlja); Countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Italy, France, Belgium, Britain; Languages: Bosnian, English, French, German)

It’s a war drama by Bosnian director Danis Tanovic set in Bosnia during the war of the 90s. Three soldiers, two Bosnian and other Serb are trapped in no man’s land while neither side will allow the other to come and rescue them. Their problem is compounded as one of the injured Bosnian soldier is lying on a mine which will explode if he moves.

Since either side is unable or not allowed to come to rescue those soldiers, they call on the UN peacekeepers to step in. The UN commander refuses to lend help since the UN forces are there to keep peace and it’s beyond their mandate to get involved in these sort of situations. One officer, however, bypasses his superior and decides to step in. The operation ends in a horrible way.

It’s not full of action and doesn’t have an intense plot as in other war dramas. Nonetheless, it’s one of the most excellent war dramas I have seen. At times ridiculous and at times tragic, this film highlights just how the ultimate victim of war is humanity itself. My rating is 4/5. Here’s the IMDb Link.

A Letter to Pakistan by Karen Armstrong

(First published 2011)

Karen Armstrong attended the Karachi Literature Festival 2011 and spoke on themes of religious harmony and inter-faith dialogue. Her speeches were largely based on her latest book “Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life“. She took the opportunity to write a compressed version of her book with particular reference to Pakistan. Being a den of terrorists and their large support among the religiously demented people, Pakistan’s socio-cultural mess was the obvious choice for the special attention.

Reading the book, or rather booklet, I was reminded of something a Muslim guy said while listening to a non-Muslim about how peaceful Islam was. “We Muslims love to be told that our religion is one of peace.”

Her efforts are well meant and she raises some very important aspects of our religion which Muslim societies have either forgotten or stopped believing that they make up the core of their religion. It is about the ethics of being human and about compassion. She takes the reader through 12 steps to lead compassionate lives; of how we should look at ourselves and the world and try to form a response which is in line with Islam as well as our humanity. The purpose is to improve things through self reflection and action rather than condemning the other and resorting to acts of violence.

She makes an interesting point about Jahiliyah, the primal condition of mankind. She argues that jahiliyah is very much alive today in every society in the world. She says she see jahilyah in her native Britain, recognises it and makes an effort to engage with jaahils to change their attitude. There is also jahiliyah in Muslim world and that we Muslims should also make an effort to correct it at home. Her point is that we should start correcting ourselves at home before we can point fingers to others.

Some of the twelve steps to compassionate life is learning about ‘compassion’, ‘looking at your own world’, ‘compassion for yourself’, ’empathy’, ‘mindfulness’, ‘action’; it ends at ‘recognition’ and ‘understanding your enemies’ so you don’t hate them for hate’s sake but for the sake of justice. I don’t like the term she uses because it sounds characteristically Christian and is open to misunderstanding, i.e. ‘loving your enemies.’

In short, it is an attempt by a renowned scholar of religions to make Muslims practice the core of their religion instead of succumbing to the view of religion as a demarcater of difference and as a political tool to wrap up all grievances in. My book rating 3/5

PUBLISHER’S LINK

A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear by Atiq Rahimi

Translated from Dari by Sarah Maguire and Yama Yari

(First published 2006)

It is a work of fiction from an Afghan expat which has been translated neatly into English. The regime of Hafizullah Amin and Nur Muhammad Taraki, who deposed Daoud Khan, the president of the short lived Republic of Afghanistan (1973-1978), forms the background of the story.

Two friends who are not involved in political activity are taken for rebels when, one night, in a state of merry drunkenness, they are found in breach of the curfew hours in the city of Kabul.

The narrative starts with a confused, nauseous and nightmarish monologue of the main character, Farhad, who regains consciousness at a strange place but cannot make out where he is and what has happened to him.

After a painful attempt to make sense of his surroundings, he begins to piece together his thoughts as he rewinds the events of the last night. He remembers being rescued from a sewer by a woman and taken to a dark and quiet place. The woman has a young son who thinks his father has returned after a long absence. In fact, as we later learn, the husband of the woman was killed in a political upheaval a few years ago.

Farhad wants to leave the place and return to his family in the other part of town. His mother and siblings must be worried about his sudden disappearance. But he cannot leave the house as the street outside is strewn with jackboots in search of would-be rebels.

The woman and her somewhat irritating but endearing child take care of Farhad. The mysterious and quiet posture of the woman intrigues him as he wants to know more about her. His heart kindles with amorous feelings for her as he learns about her plight. He wants to do something for them, but in fact, it is he who needs to be done something about as his life is in danger.

His mother is informed and she arranges for a trafficker to escort him to Pakistan where his father, who walked out on his mother with a second wife, lives. Farhad is forced to leave the country against his will. He has no choice; he must go in order to save his life.

He is rolled up in a carpet and put in a jeep and a long and perilous journey to Afghan-Pak border begins. He arrives at the border town where he is supposed to spend the night before crossing over to Pakistan. There, due to his being a clean-shaved, jeans-wearing Kabulite, he is mistaken for a “godless communist” by the devout village-dwellers. They chase him out of the mosque and subject him to torture till he bleeds. The novel ends there.

It is an emotional saga of Afghanistan’s war torn families, their broken dreams, wasted aspirations and a life of continued war and famine which is now in its fourth decade. The most important character in this novel is that of the rescuer woman. She comes across as extremely determined to do anything it takes to help the suffering, often to the point of putting her own life in danger.

My rating: 3/5. Find the book on AMAZON.

The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad by Tariq Ali

(First published 2010)

This is a detailed analysis of, as the author dubs it, the first 1000 days of Obama’s presidency. The book critiques Obama’s domestic and foreign policies and concludes that, contrary to the expectations of the world, the president has done nothing of note to bring the “change” he so fervently promised to his people and to the world. In his characteristic way of naming chapters, Tariq Ali calls him the “President of Cant”.

The argument goes that save for Obama’s stance on the Iraq War, he hadn’t promised anything fundamentally different in the first place. So it shouldn’t have been expected of him to roll back the American imperial project. His policies in Af-Pak, his stance on Iran and his staggering silence on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories was there to be seen since before he was elected.

At domestic front Obama turned out to be a one-dimensional politician who looked for “consensus” and “compromise” to the point of killing any major reforms which the country direly needed. Handling of the financial melt down and Health Care reforms both get a detailed treatment in the book. The author predicts that Obama will probably be a one-term president.

My rating 5/5. Get the book on AMAZON