AN AWAKENING

 

 

The Reluctant Fundamentalist written by Mohsin Hamid is an engaging monologue by a Pakistani national, based in New York addressed to a curious American in a Lahore café. The book insightfully brings out the ever-present conflict between personal beliefs and politics.

The narrator, Chanez, talks about his life in the buzzing city and the turn of events that awaken his once dormant personal identity. From a young, vibrant 22 year-old, content with his ‘American’ life, his cushy job in a reputed firm, a girlfriend he loved albeit her being constantly hung up with the death of her former love to the lad’s brooding resentment of the same culture. The incidence of the fall of the Twin Towers not only brought about changes in the world as a whole but distorted his little ‘world’ as well. Not only did he experience a change in the attitude of the American nationals toward him but it also stirred up emotions leading him to return back to his native land. His home-coming was the final straw, making him turn to his roots, to the extent of deciding to grow a beard. His realizes his life, then on, is no longer the same with hatred to his foster home-town growing by the day leading him to give up his job ultimately. With its lively narration, the book does not compromise on reality and steers away from monotony. Mohsin, with cleverly camouflaged candour, manages to address the reader’s conscience while grazing on the East-West tensions. An intense emotion-packed read guaranteed to get you thinking on the futility and feasibility of most contemporary debates.