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December 7, 2003
Review: Hung out to dry
DR ENVER Sajjad is at his best when describing a situation, as he likes attending to minor details. He is versatile in the selection of his themes but in most of his 65 stories written over a period of 29 years, the focus remains on man’s behaviour in given circumstances. His skill at describing the behaviour, attitudes and reactions of people is a manifestation of his in-depth and thorough observation of life in its various forms.
Enver Sajjad’s focus is on people consigned to the backwaters of poverty, illiteracy, superstition and the social ills that go with these misfortunes. What can a sharp observer derive from the days and nights of such a society? Understandably, most of his characters reflect a behaviour characterized by bitterness, helplessness, uncalled-for anger, and so on — all emanating from a lack of prosperity, enlightenment and a balanced approach.
His story “Peepal Say Mohabbat Kay Saath” depicts the class of people who abandon their rustic or simple ways of life to become upwardly mobile and modern. The main theme of the story resembles the subject of numerous Pakistani films, but Sajjad penned it in the late fifties and was thus one of the first to conceive the idea.
A village couple migrates to the city where the husband falls prey to his weaknesses and takes to boozing. Meanwhile his miserable wife cries over her fate while wishfully recalling the good old days of their life in the village. In time she too would embrace modern habits to get back at her spouse.
In another story, “Janam Din”, Rasheed is jealous of other people’s achievements and thinks he can do better. His extreme feelings lead him to his grave when an angry crowd beats him to death.
“Parto” is the story of Jamila’s unfulfilled young love. Years later, as a mother of a young daughter, Jamila fulfils her own desires by helping her daughter elope with the boy she loves. No doubt, Sajjad’s stories show glimpses of life that exist outside the realm of normality. Mothers are rarely ever like Jamila. How do people who think differently and behave in a manner generally unacceptable respond to certain situations involving themselves and their children is the point he lays emphasis on.
“Siyah Jhanda”, the last story in this Majmuah, speaks volumes on how religious sentiments of our gullible villagers can be exploited by pir, fakirs and quacks. Saleem, the protagonist, leaves home to go to the mausoleum of his father’s murshid. When the gaddi nashin’s talismans fail to get him a job in any of the mosques and he subsequently runs out of cash, he becomes a thief and flees the village with the booty. On his way to an unknown destination, he comes across vultures feeding on a dead animal. An idea comes to his mind and he buries the animal. Sitting beside the grave, he tells passers-by that his murshid was going to the nearby village on a preaching mission when the earth opened up and the murshid went into it. The animal’s grave turns into a pilgrimage point and Saleem becomes a pir. Many would expect the story to end here with Saleem leading a life of comfort and leaving a legacy of falsehood behind. But Sajjad at this stage gives a nudge to Saleem’s conscience. He remembers how as a child he was taught to always tell the truth. On the first Urs, he tries convincing the followers that the shrine they revere so deeply does not belong to any pir and that the legend has been built on falsehood, but people don’t listen to him. Declaring him to be insame, they beat him to death.
The collection has a number of stories that have been named after various diseases such as “mirgi”, “cancer”, “rabies” and “gangrene”. Is it so because the author is a doctor?
Majmuah
By Dr Enver Sajjad
Sang-e-Meel Publications,25, Shahrah-i-Pakistan, Lahore. Tel: 042-7220100
Email: smp@sang-e-meel.com
ISBN 969-35-1444-0
579pp. Rs500
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