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BOOKS
Ashes To Dust
Plucking the plangent chords of human misery
By Mitali Saran
Uzma Aslam Khan's
debut novel, the story of Noble Rot, is a history of aspirations-carefully
nourished, fortified by despair, and fated to collapse under its own dubious
weight. It's the story of how people lurch after chimeras, imagining that
they are taking control of their lives, only to find that life had them
firmly in hand all along.
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The Story of Noble Rot
By Uzma Aslam Khan
Penguin
Price: Rs 200
Pages: 217
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Malika, the young wife of the carpenter Chaudry,
wants to rescue her five-year-old son Momin from a wretched life as a
labourer in Mr Masood's carpet factory. She dreams of sending him to school,
but her aged husband, a stern father, will only put money aside for their
baby daughter's dowry. When Chaudry lets Mrs Masood cheat him out of payment
for the third time, an aggravated Malika decides to take matters into
her own hands. She surreptitiously withdraws Momin from the factory and,
so that Chaudry won't find out, keeps him with her all day at the house
of the widower Mr Saeed, where she works as a maid.
Malika also gains access to the Masood household,
which has cheated her own family of so much. Mrs Masood yearns to shake
off the spectre of her wild roots, a camel-riding grandmother who taught
her to fear witches and obey her husband. Masood, however, treats his
wife like furniture. The ferment in her soul finds forbidden expression
in drink-and gives Malika unexpected powers over her. Then things begin
to unravel: Malika is ambushed by her own illicit desires, Momin grows
in curious ways, and Mrs Masood's mind begins to disintegrate. In the
last apocalyptic pages, the whole tragically implodes upon itself.
 Khan
writes well, if not wonderfully. Her story is interesting, but not gripping.
Her characters intrigue, but we are not terribly sorry to see them off
the last page. What she does well is to pluck at the more plangent chords
of human misery-not being able to provide for a child, not being loved,
being constantly tripped up by fate. She also paints a sensitive portrait
of the marriage between Chaudry and Malika.
With this novel, Khan establishes her writerly
competence. It's a pleasant enough read, but in a world short on time,
her next effort will have to make the leap from pleasant to compelling.
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