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ghaameer-the-literary-vitamins · 2 years ago

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Zehan-Zaad: A Bold Attempt to Deviate from the Traditional Mode of Urdu Storytelling

Wasim Ahmad Alimi (PhD Scholar, Dept of Urdu, JMI, New Delhi)

‘Zehan-Zaad’ is a debut collection of Urdu short stories by a young essayist, translator, and storyteller, Tauseef Bareilvi. He comes from Bareilly district of UP. He’s got a PhD in Urdu literature recently from Aligarh Muslim University. The stories of Dr Tauseef Bareilvi are structurally interconnected. The technique of personification, psychological narrative, mix coding language (using English words and sentences directly written in English.), creating plots of sci fiction, keeping story ‘the shorter the better’ and taking themes and characters from different spheres of life are the major findings of ‘Zehan-Zaad’. The first and foremost verdict we may pass about his creative writing is that the writer has successfully attempted to adapt material and ideological culture of our time, rather than wandering in the past. The finest example for this claim is the sixth story from this collection, ‘Ashtray’. The story is based on the concept of re-virginity surgery, a cosmetic procedure used to reconstruct the torn hymen of a female.

As we all know that in our conservative society being sexually intimate with other hurts the ego of partner and religiously is a taboo as well. Tauseef Bareilvi has beautifully woven the threads of the concept for making of this story. For the confirmation one can read the tragic ending of the story, ‘Ashtray’:

“You have become hollowed from inside. You are not that Stella whom I met ten years ago. You are no more able to please anyone.”

These are the situations that compel female partners to go through hymenoplasty in our patriarchal society. As the female protagonist replies:

“Yes, I have been hunted by the situations.”

The adaptation of imaginative and scientific elements in his stories, predicts a good future of Urdu fiction. All the new themes that Tauseef Bareilvi has tried to utilize in his stories seem to be structurally connected with one another. The interconnectivity of the stories will be further discussed in detail later at the end of this paper.

The Title: The book, ‘Zehan-Zaad’ comprising of 136 pages of fiction is purely a product of a young writer’s imagination. The name itself gives meaning to the title, in Urdu, ‘Zehan’ means ‘mind’ (Imagination) and ‘Zaad’ is an adjective from the Persian verb, ‘Zaeedan’ which means to give birth to someone or something. Hence, ‘Zehan-Zaad’ can loosely be translated as ‘The product of an Imagination’. But in the depth of the word ‘Zaad’ are other meanings and surprisingly every one of them can be attributed to the title.

‘Zaad’ also means ‘the supplies and money of a long trip’ when it comes with Urdu word, ‘Raah’ (the journey) as ‘Zaad-e-Raah’ (supplies and money preserved for a journey) or ‘Zaade-e-Aakhirat’ meaning the supplies and preparations for the life hereafter. All this linguistic explanation is to define the title that it is not only the product of imagination but also the supplies and necessary preparations for the journey of creative writing. This collection has a story with the same title.

The Personification: The technique of personification has been used in the story, ‘Zehan-Zaad’ where a non-human character is described as living being. Two major creations of our imagination, ‘Tasneef and Taleef’ (Creative Writing and Composition) have been personified as the active characters and the ‘imagination’ that gives birth to them is in the center. The story begins with the fine concept of reproductive biology. The comparative elements between the creations of sperms in the womb and creation of story in the imagination racing to life have been highlighted in the beginning:

“Why are you crying my dear Qirtas? You need not to cry, you are not alone. If you think your existence is hypothetical, so is mine, want to make you assured. You are far better than those millions……Yes those are in millions in the race of life, but only one wins the race and all others lose their lives and get buried forever. You are not like them. You did not suppress your siblings in the battle of life.” (Zehan-Zaad, pg 75)

The story further unfolds itself with the dialogues between father and his children. Qirtas is a little bit upset who has grown up now to a handsome boy, repeatedly asking for traces of his mother. The next part of the story revolves around ‘Taleef’ (the composition), her innocent questions and some thoughtful answers from her father. The entire plot has been woven by simply personifying the roots of creating in such a living manner that you will feel like characters have not been personified, they are actual living beings.

Another story, ‘The Writer and the Writing’ in this collection has the same thematic approach, the same style of writing, similar usage of personification, equal pace of dialogues and resemblances of storiness. My earlier claim that Tauseef Bareilvi’s stories are structurally interconnected gets certified with the similarities between his two aforesaid stories. You just need to remove the title and merge two in one, you will get a single and, of course, a larger one. But this can’t be judged as a weak point of a writer, sometimes creative writings come as the extension of previous one.

The Sci Fiction: The headline of my essay suggests that the stories by Dr Tauseef are reconstructing the torn hymen of Urdu tradition of storytelling. Basically, what I want to conclude is that we, as Urdu readers, have become bored with repeated themes. Almost 70% of Urdu stories depict a particular culture. Names of the characters always being from Indian Muslim backgrounds, and the plots setting in the rural areas and characters doing ordinary things make no difference in Urdu stories. In terms of themes, usage of language, name of characters, and length of story, Tauseef Bareilvi has dared to deviate from this repetition and has created a new plotting world for his readers. He is giving a new direction to Urdu stories. His story, ‘Ta’zeeb’ (The Punishment) is a fine example of the same. It is a scientific story that deals about the fictitious scenario of a long future which seems to be around 2050s when air and water is severely polluted, agricultural land is deserted, inhaling oxygen only in balconies, forests are vanished, different species of worms and insects are extinct, glaciers already melted out and overtaken number of islands, global warming has grown to a higher and unbearable extent, sky is full of drones, flying carts and home delivery of daily life stuffs is being done through robots and drones, electric bulbs are regulated with censors, human breathing is dependent on oxygen cylinders and almost every aspect of life has gone online. And the love story of Wahid and Maria is beautifully running between the lines. They are college friends now a married couple, Maria is affirmative to settle somewhere in space or some other planet. Finally, the story ends on a tragic climax where communications between earth and the Maria’s planet are broken, and Wahid is upset thinking of those sperms and ovaries Maria had preserved in a ‘Scientific Lab’ for their family planning.

“What possibly would have happened to those sperms and ovaries? They did not choose a space life. What is their mistake that they would have been hanging in space due to gravity, they were to start a new life altogether, the life biologically linking me and Maria. At least this was the last thing to sustain an invisible relation between us.” (Ta’zeeb, pg 132)

What makes this story different, is the emotional touch between scientific pictorial descriptions of a long future. The moral of the story is that no matter how much developed the world becomes, machines can never destroy the human emotions and can’t cure the grief of a man.

Science-fiction (sci-fiction) is not something new. Comics and stories predicted about powered-cars, mass destructive weapons more than a century ago. Writers from their speculative imagination have frequently written about future. One such powerful story that I have gone through is of one and only Iranian Legend, Sadeq Hedayat. His mysteriously titled story, ‘SGLL’ (س گ ل ل) is no doubt a masterpiece in terms of sci fiction. He has written about two thousand years afterward world when human ethics, morals, emotions and lifestyle is completely changed, knowledge has become practical, family system is collapsed and people live in larger buildings like honeybees in their hives. The story of Sadeq Hedayat revolves around two intellectuals, Sosan and Tad. Unlike Sadeq Hedayat, in the story of Tauseef Bareilvi, time and space seem to be around near future but not the nearest one. In Hedayat’s story people are struggling for death and in the story of Tauseef, for life.

Although there is no comparison of one story with another, but the thematic way of storytelling unwillingly links a young writer with a legend.

A 2017 short film, ‘Carbon: The Story of Tomorrow’ written and directed by Maitrey Bajpai and Ramiz Ilham Khan, featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Prachi Desai, also sets the same environment of future (2067) when oxygen and water are costlier than diamond and gold. The only thing which prevails is carbon. The film begins with the tale of our planet’s greenery which for now has become a story of grandmothers only:

“Endless blue skies, Children playing in the lush-green fields, Romance amidst the first rain, Sound of the ocean, Water everywhere, And oxygen to breathe, Many years ago, our Earth used to be like this.”

The film has 11 million views on YouTube. The story of Dr Tauseef Khan also sets in future but doesn’t make the surroundings horrific, whereas the film horrifies the scenario by the scenes of murders, smuggling of oxygen and water, trafficking of women by the migrated citizens of Mars. Reading the story makes you a little emotional while watching the film terrifies you about the future.

Writing too much about every story one by one will only spoil the interests of readers. The concluding lines about the collection, Zehan-Zaad can possibly be pronounced is “The Briefest Stories having the Taste of Mix-coding Language, memorable characters, exciting themes and a virgin style of creative writing in Urdu.”

(The book is the recipient of Sahitya Academy Yuva Prushkar for 2023. Have a fabulous experience of E-book with lowest price @ NotNul. Hard copy can be bought from Urdu Bazar. One can also get it directly from the Publisher @ 9971775969 Arshia Publications, Old Delhi)

#Urdu Fiction #Tauseef Bareilvi #Wasim Alimi #Short Story #Urdu Criticism

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thefaithletters · 5 years ago

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Confronting Our Values: To a Troubled Muslim Community

Dearest whose trust in the Muslim community has been lost after an immensity of love,

On this day, nearly fifteen hundred lunar years ago, our Prophet Muhammed ﷺ was born. His birth changed history. His legacy, and our religion, was built on the foundation of our Prophet's character before he received revelation: honesty and trustworthiness.

Yet, our ummah is plagued by corruption, deceit, manipulation, and hypocrisy. These qualities are in every human society, to some extent. It's normal that some Muslims will have these qualities (after all, most Muslims don't choose their religion but rather treat it like cultural inheritance). But to find these qualities in the ones who have put themselves in positions of being entrusted to revive the message in the hearts, of people, who are elevated for that role, and who are privy to the spiritual hunger and thirst of vulnerable people --that is among the greatest fitnahs.

I am concerned about how desensitized we are becoming to news of this nature. I notice it in myself, and I see it in friends: a spiritual fatigue that doesn't want to be spoken about.

And it breaks my heart.

When there's a lack of consistency or agreement between two beliefs (or values) or a belief and behavior, the mind enters a state of cognitive dissonance. This state of unrest feels heavy and unsettling, and people are naturally motivated to alleviate this discomfort by changing their behaviors, adopting a new belief or idea, seeking new information that offers an alternative paradigm, or deciding to reduce the importance of one of the beliefs or values that are in disharmony. This seems like the state of the majority of young American Muslims today.

The more dangerous trend I see emerging is what I consider spiritual fission. In this state, people can no longer identify or point to the countless directions in which their faith has been shattered. It's a chaotic state, and it's too uncomfortable to confront directly so it naturally leads to numbness and apathy regarding anything religious or an inability to engage with such topics deeply.

Our religious institutions and spiritual leaders are largely responsible for the young generation's disconnection from their mosques and communities (parents play a significant role, too, but that's a topic for another time). It's stories like the ones that came out recently that have caused many people deep despair in spiritual communities.

We are all flawed people. The issue isn't that a Muslim committed a major sin or was fallible to his desires. The real issue is the lack of truthfulness in how it's handled by many involved. Deceit is what erodes trust, and trust is the foundation of faith and community. When it is revealed to a spiritual leader and the community members who closely work with him in a leadership capacity that he is no longer able to uphold his responsibility, the right thing to do is proactively step down and acknowledge a struggle and need for improvement.

Of course, none of us have heard of this type of honorable handling of such situations happening in our communities (I really hope I'm wrong here). Why? Money and ego.

Sadly, many of our spiritual leaders are financially reliant upon their image and reputation as people of God among the community. This means that a religious leader who becomes exposed for a betrayal of his position may suddenly lose all his income and face an overwhelming fear of instability and anxiety about the future. So the survival instinct kicks in (especially if family is involved) and the man no longer sees the moral and ethical layers of the situation.

Money and religion should never mix. Easy to say, complex to implement. I know. Yet, necessary and true, nonetheless.

Another primary reason so-called spiritual leaders don't step down or come forward truthfully when they've betrayed their positions of trust is probably that they don't want to lose their status in the community. Being a celebrity imam can become so ingrained into someone's identity that it becomes almost like an addiction to attention or power. This is also connected to a larger societal shift in values (studies show an upward trend of youth who say they want to become famous). It's even more connected to the shift in values hierarchy we have as a larger Muslim community. Authenticity, truthfulness, integrity...those are all secondary to knowledgeability, charm, and "success."

Until we become a people who hold honesty and trustworthiness among our highest values, our leaders will continue to reflect us.

As we continue to remain obsessed with image and reputation in the community independent of actual virtue or character, we continue to cultivate a culture of hypocrisy and double-lives. People only hide the sins that aren't yet accepted by the community. It's only a matter of time before the scope widens.

I have nothing juicy to say about the recent news regarding Usama Canon. Like many of you who had only love and admiration for Usama Canon and the community he founded, this week's news have been tough for me. I participated in Ta'leef's Refining the Core program earlier this year and met Usama Canon in 2016 when he came to Maryland to give a talk. He was one of the few people who took the time to answer a question I had with careful consideration and respect. I left that talk feeling a sense of hope. And then when I started learning about Ta'leef and participated in their community, I continued to carry with me the hope for our community to be healthy, respectful of all people, and authentically striving for goodness. For the good that he's done, and if this in fact his way of acknowledging the harm he's made and making amends, I pray for his wellbeing. And if this is Ta'leef's uplifting of accountability and honoring their positions of trust, I pray for their success and healing.

Like many, I wish I were surprised by this. Sadly, I know this kind of stuff happens. I’ve witnessed misconduct and heard about it from friends. I’ve tried to speak up about the betrayal of authority and unhealthy behaviors, but the disappointing reactions I got were discouraging. I talked to the spiritual leader who I had witnessed inappropriateness from, and his response was gaslighting. It was a complex and spiritually fatiguing experience. In the end, I just removed myself from the community. Though I didn’t experience abuse, my faith was deeply tested and my heart hurt. I almost lost my religion. I was lucky to be able to notice and protect myself from anyone taking advantage of me. I can’t imagine the pain actual victims endure, and it saddens me that the community cares more about the celebrity abusers than the “nobodies” who are abused (often the most vulnerable members of our communities who don’t have powerful families, financial resources, or impressive professional titles).

I've had my faith and hope in this community shattered a few times, and every time God somehow found a way to remind me that there are still beautiful people out there who are true seekers. They aren't the ones with the followers and fans and financial ties to their religion or spirituality. More often than not, the modern-day companions of the Prophet (the ones he referred to as his brothers and sisters he hadn't yet met) are those who keep their good deeds concealed and remain patient in the face of oppression. Their words aren't tweet-worthy and there are no fun perks to being their friends. They treat their family members and parents better than anyone else. They are known for their honesty and trustworthiness. On the day our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born, I pray we are all able to take a moment to be truthful with ourselves about the state of our hearts. Where are we not truthful? What steps must we take to embody more honesty and trustworthiness? Where is our faith hurting? How are we in community? What are our own hierarchies of values? How can we be better believers?

Salam.

P.S. I share these thoughts selfishly because they continue to occupy my mind. I release them here so that I no longer carry the burden of their release. I’m not spiritually superior for writing this. Most know my deep struggles with my faith.

#islam #muslims #muslim community #taleef #usama canon

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