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When a dramatic tale set in Lahore’s notorious centre of prostitution, based on a real life painter of Pakistan is written by a French novelist Claudine Le Tourneur d’lson…. the very first question is more than obvious. Did she write Hira Mandi, recently translated in to English by Roli publications, to shock and provoke? Pat comes the reply, "Indeed, people might be shocked by what I have written, but that is not my rationale." In fact, hers is not even an outsider’s gaze. Rather, she who has visited and lived in Hira Mandi at well-known painter Iqbal Hussain’s house for months at a stretch has been in love with Lahore ever since she was teenager when she first read a story Indian Song steeped in its grand majestic moorings. No wonder Lahore comes
alive most resoundingly in her book. Only she word paints not only its
grandeur but also the decline of its architecture and art. Actually, as
one unfurls the pages of the novel, the social and political history of
Pakistan is laid bare. The interweaving of the historical narrative with
the story of its lead protagonist she reveals was intentional for she
did not merely want to write a racy novel but cared to create a
document.
The beauty, however, lies in the manner in which she has used the historical pegs, be it Partition, execution of ZA Bhutto, the return of Benazir Bhutto and other momentous events to reveal the conflicts, agony and, above all, triumph of the human spirit. None of her historical interjections stand out like a sore thumb, rather they gel seamlessly with the engaging storyline that begins and ends with a world seen through the eyes of the painter. That he happens to be the son of a courtesan also provides her ample room to talk and write about sex. The sexual escapades of her hero, some that hit one like a bolt in the blue, flow as a subtext in the narrative. Indeed, the entire story is not based on real-life accounts. There is flight of fancy but as the author herself says, "Readers can easily make out who’s who." Did that make her job doubly difficult? Writing fiction based on flesh -and-blood people, who can be identified can’t possibly be the easiest job on the earth. Perhaps, there were challenges, but she was determined to show the people a world that is considered taboo. This isn’t the first time she has traversed into a forbidden zone. A master in Egyptology, her first novel too is set in the streets of prostitutes of old Cairo. If and when she decides to write on India, once again it would be on the red -light area of Mumbai. Says she, "I am interested in people whose lives are not normal." A journalist by profession, she explains the need to turn a novelist thus, "Often our journalistic assignments, limited to a few hundred words, do not let us express what we feel about a particular subject." Hira Mandi, without doubt was one such subject that she empathised deeply with, more so the hero of her novel. She can’t help but exclaim, "Imagine, the grit of a man who fought against all odds and today has not only emerged as the great painter of Pakistan, but also a fine human being, only too eager to help all those destitute women." How intensely has she internaised his predicament is evident from the fact that though it took her years to research her subject and the corresponding milieu, she wrote the entire novel in just two months flat "for the story came from my heart." Yet another of her heartfelt dreams is to see the novel on celluloid. Of course, her last word on Pakistan has certainly not been said or written. The woman who has travelled all through Pakistan, except Baluchistan, will soon make her readers privy to the land across the Radcliffe Line, as seen through her eyes and through the people she has met. Judging by the scintillating portrayal she has managed in Hira Mandi, it sure will be no less fascinating. When India will figure on her writing radar, she can’t say. But yes she can sense an uncanny similarity between two nations, the defining difference being, "In Pakistan the weight of religion hangs heavy." Nothing, however, stops her from being in love with the country she has the courage to write fearlessly about.
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