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Vanity Bagh THE crime: terrorist bombings of 11/11. The accused and convicted: Imran Jabbari. The sentence: 16 long years. The reason: the contents of Anees Salim’s book Vanity Bagh. Imran is 18 months into his prison sentence. Every day in prison seems an identical nightmare filled with dark rooms and disquieting thoughts. Most of which fixate obsessively on Vanity Bagh; his mohalla. The outdoor garden where he plants vegetables provides him with some relief. But he is soon transferred to the Book Room as his new workplace, where he binds blank books. In this empty place mental ablutions in the way of strange simulations and fantasies of jailbreak fill his head.
Between the buildings and streets, we find Imran the way he was; the son of the Imam of the neighbourhood mosque with a meddlesome but matronly mother, a younger brother with a hole in his heart and a little sister. He and his friends are six young men with little motivation, basic education and no prospects. Like most young people they seek their place in the world. They are united in a desperate desire for respect and recognition by their neighbourhood even if fearful. Their infamous idol in whose image they wish to make themselves is Abu Hathim, the local don now retired and disabled. So they form a gang called “5 ½ men,” who to their dismay are not known merely avoided. Their crimes more aspirational than actual. Till they were used as unwitting pawns in a terrorist attack; simultaneously becoming perpetrators and victims. Bad decisions, immoral choices and terrible lies are all threads in this maudlin tapestry. The author’s sometimes casual turn of phrase and relatable anecdotes only serve to add another layer of discomfort as they stand in stark contrast to the sombre circumstances. Vanity Bagh tells the tale of a young man struggling to find his feet but it is far darker than a regular coming of age novel set against the backdrop of poverty, apathy and communal violence. The realities of a protagonist heavily influenced by hyper violence; the frequent religiously motivated clashes in his locality and glamorised bloodshed on his screen. The crushing reality of a life staggered by false advertising, untrue headlines and broken promises.
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Then in the pale pages of those very books appears the textual recreation of Vanity Bagh in all its faded mundane glory. A scrapbook of his life soon fills the blank pages of the sloppily bound books. The tale unfolds at an uneven pace as memories trickle out of him pleasant and painful of events significant and mundane. Each page is another step which led to his incarceration.