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The Wish Maker VERY rarely does one come across a young voice with quite a new yet mature and somber approach to life and people around. This pleasant combination do we meet in Ali Sethi’s The Wish Maker. The book has arrived on the literary scene with a whiff of fresh air. We have a fair glimpse of the changing Pakistan, especially of the youth. Late night parties, musical concerts, boys and girls visiting restaurants, clubs et al together. What comes as a surprise is the schoolchildren watching blue films, drinking stealthily and politics creeping into schools. Saif, a minister’s son, manipulates to be selected the monitor, but in vain. Change has certainly ushered in elder’s circle, too. Progressives like journalists, lawyers and artists are raising their voice against the military-cum-mullah pact that has given Pakistan a bad name. Even the poet when saw Zaika (before her marriage) predicted, "Bhai inquilaab tau tum laogi". In a way, the writer coveys that only the youth can bring forth change in the country.
With Chhoti’s family, we are taken to the feudal world of yore days: purdah and endless restrictions on women. The author feels that the change is inevitable since "the landholdings are smaller in every inheritance". Samar Api’s long stay with Daadi’s family away from village and final good-bye to it after her mother’s (Chhoti) death obviously indicates a gradual rebellion against the feudal system. Finally, she meets her ‘Amitabh’. The author seems to be well versed in weaving a colourful tapestry of the plot very deftly with no loose threads. It finishes where it starts, interlocking so many subplots. The flashback style is handled with great dexterity, from Daadi’s school days, her childhood memory of Partition, her own marriage, his mother’s trip to the hills along with Nargis, to his father’s marriage and death soon after display Ali Sethi’s unique narrative skills. With great ease, the story changes over to Naseem and the driver, Barkat. No heavy demands on our credibility; no transgression. One wonders at such a coherent and well-knit work, that too from a young debutante. Still the reviewer feels that the feudal life in Chhoti’s family in Multan is simply sketchy, while Ali Sethi relishes detailing through out otherwise. Another aspect that charms the reader most is poetic language that sweeps us away with it: "The house was undergoing a slow revival./Sleep clung to corners doused in shadow." Begum Roshan Ara’s musical notes are described in the finest ever stroke of language, "She went up and touched the place where she was heading `85 . But she touched it and went past it". Short and lilting sentences like "Small smile of contentment/she watched him watch himself" have a haunting quality that gets etched on our mind long after we have laid the book. The beauty of the piece gets enhanced by a rich sprinkling of humour, wit and satire herein. Stating what democracy stands for in Pakistan, Zakia’s words are a fine example of wit, "Everyone we know is a minister, or knows a minister. We are the minister class ... ." Even minor characters display their power of wit and satire like Barkat commenting, "The poor man is poor, and the rich man is rich." All this provides a fair window to Sethi’s rich felicity in language. Eventually, I feel like
quoting Khaled Hosseini of The Kite Runner’s fame, "The
Wish Maker, in Ali Sethi’s mature and sure-handed prose, is an
engaging family saga." Ali Sethi steadfastly resists the usual
cliches about both Islam and his native country. Instead, he offers a
nuanced, often humorous, and always novel look at life in modern day
Pakistan." The Wish Maker rightly deserves a
special niche in the realms of this genre. It stands as a class by
itself in this respect.
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The
protagonist Zaki, a fatherless son, is brought up by two strong women—his
mother Zakia is a firebrand journalists who fights against repression
and injustice, hence her house becomes the centre of activity of women
lawyers, journalists and professionals, while Daadi too puts up a
brave face against the odds of life. Undoubtedly, it centres around
Zaki’s family, yet political turmoil in the country is referred
through the characters time and again. Daadi and the family watch TV
and discuss the situation. Elections are held empowering a particular
set of people still the vicious circle of dethroning goes on. Daadi
and her school friend Seema feel that nothing has changed, as the army
has come to power again and elections failed worth their name. Because
"as a nation, Pakistanis are a generally resilient people.
Decades of repression have taught them the tricks of survival".