“I was, in four and a half years,
never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker.” But Changez’ perfect New
York world came crumbling all around him in the aftermath of 26/11. Not because
of the often clichéd targeting of the Asian Muslims in America, but because of
the demons brewing up inside his own head. “I was a modern-day janissary,” he
says, “a servant of the American empire at a time when it was invading a country
with a kinship to mine.”
The story unfolds as the
protagonist meets an American stranger at Anarkali
Bazaar in Lahore. He engages him in conversation, which is a cleverly
written monologue of his understanding, love and the subsequent loathing of America.
The excessively vocal Changez comes across as a person to be vary of, while the
silent American seems to be unwillingly drawn up into the conversation. But
here again Mohsin strays away from clichés as we realise that the real
fundamentalist is not the long bearded Pakistani from Lahore, but the suited
and sophisticated capitalist from America.
While talking to the American,
Changez reveals his past of an $ 80000 a year earning, Princeton pass out
working at Samson Underwood. The story meanders through his romance with Erica,
the daughter of a New York Investment banker. The love story, though endearing,
is entirely irrelevant to the real purpose of the book, but even here, Mohsin
skirts away from the usual Anti-Asian tone that a cross cultural romance in the
shadow of 26/11 supposed to have.
Changez’ reluctant fundamentalism comes to fore when on a trip to Manila, he
hears about the 26/11 terrorist attack and can’t help feeling elated at the
fact that someone had the courage and wisdom to strike at the US. Though, the
transformation of the protagonist from a hardworking evaluator to a reluctant fundamentalist is not entirely
clear, the writer tries to unsuccessfully attribute it to Changez being
mistaken for an American oppressor by the workers at the firm in Manila.
Changez’ disenchantment, though
not very well depicted, is not hard to understand. His hate of America is not a
result of any high Islamic values, but of entirely his own patriotism coming to
fore. His return from Pakistan with a beard and his botched up assignment in
Peru are just mere physical manifestations of what he always in him; a Reluctant Fundamentalist.
Mohsin Hamid has written a good
book, but with topic as relevant and fresh as this one, better things could
have been done. Thus a book that could have been an epic, remains at the most a
good read. In a terse and engaging language, Mohsin shows the Americans how
they look in the eyes of the rest of the world. The Anti-India undertone in the
book is hard to miss, but that was expected from a book written by a
contemporary Pakistani author. But what worried me most after I read the book
was that if a man who had so much going for him, is ready to give it all up for
fundamentalism, albeit reluctantly, then what would a man who has nothing, not
even education, be ready to give up.
A Review By Varun Saini, PGP 2011
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