After masterpieces like The Reluctant Fundamentalist (which
is on its way to movie theatres soon); Mohsin Hamid brings another amazing
piece of fiction our way. HTGFRIRA is a gritty & real look at small-town
India/Pakistan/any similar country & how the multitudes there are fighting
just to survive.
First of all, the best part of this book is that it is
written as a self-help book. The way Mr Hamid plays with words is an
inspiration to any of us with a love for language. He starts off every chapter
with titles like “Don’t fall in love” or “Avoid Idealists” and then goes on to
explain it in such a witty & engaging way that you cannot but want to know
more.
Hamid doesn’t ever name his protagonist but keeps using the
pronoun ‘You’ to describe the name character in the book – in one shot involving
the reader & making the book completely representative of the everyman.
The book starts with detailing the nuances of a
just-above-the-poverty-line family in a small town who get to relocate to a
bigger town nearby. The older son has to start working; the daughter gets
married but ‘you’ (the second son get to have an education; that’s where you
start off your journey.
From almost losing his life as a kid to his road through
school & college; this self-motivated & extremely self-aware young boy
is completely focused on being able to build a financially secure life for
himself. His mother’s death due to insufficient care only exacerbates this
resolve.
But then he falls in love inspite of the chapter marked
“Don’t Fall in Love”; this character of the ‘pretty girl’ is a beautiful &
welcome respite from the constant ambition of the book. This is not to say that
the girl isn’t ambitious, she has her own career path, going from being a
d-list starlet to becoming an eclectic furniture boutique owner. While the hero
has to forget about his romance; he manages to hang on to the last vestiges of
his love & is haunted by these memories. It is almost like his personal
cross to bear.
How the main character navigates through love, loss, shady
businesses, unhelpful political & bureaucratic hurdles is a story worth
reading; the examples given are reminiscent of experiences that I have either
experienced personally or seen happening. I love how, for example, the protagonist starts off a mineral water
business by putting boiled water in tampered bottles. At one point, when he is
given a choice of bringing down costs by not boiling the water, he refuses to
do it because he doesn’t want to compromise on quality. Because, of course,
there are some lines that should not be crossed.
This hilarious & often uncomfortable style of writing is
a great introduction to the Indian sub-continent & the way it works. It reminds me of Q&A before it became the
godawful Slumdog Millionaire especially the nuanced dialogue. It is a welcome departure from books either
bashing that part of the world or weirdly deifying it.
However, it is the
last few chapters that truly ties together all of these messages & stories
culminating in a weirdly satisfying yet not truly happy ending. I may be guilty
of heaping way too much praise on this book but experiencing this author
playing with words is truly a pleasure.
The tl;dr version: Read this book to get an amazing insight
into the new & improved Indian sub-continent. This rags-to-riches story is
written in a really cool self-help style that is both funny & brilliantly
written.
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