|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Barf Aashnaa Parindey
Reviewed by N. S. Tasneem BORN and brought up in Srinagar, Tarannum Riyaz started her career as a broadcaster at the All-India Radio, Srinagar. She is an alumna of Kashmir University where she obtained M.A. and M.Ed. degrees and started teaching in educational institutions. She is now based in New Delhi after her sojourn in Srinagar, where her husband, Dr Riyaz Punjabi, had been Vice-Chancellor of Kashmir University till recently. Over the years, she has contributed to Urdu literature four collections of short stories, two novels, four novellas, two books of literary criticism, some translated works and a collection of poems. Barf Aashnaa Parindey (Snow-Oriented Birds) is her latest novel that has drawn the attention of readers as well as critics. In this 544-page novel, she has delineated the life story of Sheeba, from her childhood to adulthood, nearing 35 years of age. She lives with her parents and siblings in a cosy villa on the outskirts of Srinagar. For a long time the novelist tells more about her parents and sisters than about Sheeba herself. At times the novel seems to be rotating on its pivot than moving forward. This style has the advantage of creating an ambience in which the main character comes into her own with the passage of time. Moreover, the social and cultural life of a well-to-do Kashmiri family comes into focus in this manner. Of course, the working class has also been taken notice of, not from the elitist outlook but from the humanitarian point of view. Woefully, the plight of Hato has never been depicted in the course of the ups and downs of the family.
It so happens that their guide Prof. Daanish becomes a victim of paralysis. The scholars consider it their moral duty to look after the ailing wizard individually as well as collectively. Here sympathy and empathy vie with each other to be of some service to the teacher who has earned national fame by his scholarly books. He is unable to communicate and is spoon-fed. His wife who is abroad shows little interest in his well-being. Sheeba’s maternal instinct drives here to be her guide’s guardian angel. She adjusts her work schedule according to the demands of her guide who is to be looked after like a child. The old-time helper Salim Mian and Sheba strike a cord of understanding between themselves to meet the varying needs of the Professor. A time comes when Sheeba has a crush on Dr Shervani from Bhopal at a seminar. But it is relegated to a secondary position to the ups and downs of Dr Daanish’s health. When he dies, Sheeba feels forlorn and bewildered. She can now find solace by going to her home where her mother is the sole occupant of a large building. The ravages of time ultimately render the mother and the daughter to such a position that they seem to be adrift on a boat in the turbulent waters of Jhelum. Sheeba appears, in the initial chapters, to be the alter ego of the novelist who is subjective in her narration to such an extent that the reader forgets whether the novel is in the first person or the third person. An interior monologue of Sheba further dims the demarcating line between the character and the narrator. The novelist moves in and out of the subconscious mind of Sheeba unobtrusively. At times she forgets to maintain equilibrium between the fact and the fiction. In this way, the reader is indeed fascinated by the chiaroscuro of human existence that defies ultimate reality. The poetic style of Tarannum Riyaz weaves a web that enthrals the reader from the beginning to the end. Nature is the screen on which images of birds, trees, streams, lawns, squirrels, reptiles, sunshine, moonlight, drizzling clouds and snowflakes are superimposed in a captivating manner. Barf Aashnaa Parindey is an epic poem in prose, as defined by Henry Fielding. The narrative is replete with poetic images of one sort or another. There is melody in her racy style that takes care of words, metaphors and similes in a captivating manner. The narrator has employed
variegated means that become an integral part of the narratological
pattern. The end result of these means is the presentation of social and
cultural nuances in the Kashmir Valley. In a way, this novel signals the
return of the good old days when all the communities lived in harmony
with one another and the moods of nature defined their mode of living.
|
This
novel is an academia in essence, as the story ultimately shifts to the
campus of a university wherein the research work is going on
systematically and seminars are held at intervals. Sheeba finds herself
with a group of researchers who are frolicsome, sympathetic and
studious. Here again time stands still for these boys and girls for a
while.