Nazuk: A Powerful Portrait of Baloch Women’s Struggles

I have always interpreted the quote, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” as a metaphor, denying the worldly meaning and focusing on the discrete sense it creates. But not until I read the book “Kingdom and Exile” by Albert Camus. Judging by the title, it establishes a scenario of a king ruling in his kingdom with absolute power and authority. But owing to certain reasons, he was compelled to exile and relinquish his power. That’s how I correlated the book with its title. I was totally left bemused when I started reading it, flapping one page after the other and realizing the book isn’t like how its title says; it’s different inside. It’s actually a collection of six intriguing stories, each with different lessons. This book, which contains amusing stories, was written by Albert Camus, a French author and philosopher. He narrated and published his book in 1957, and soon after, he died in a car accident in 1960. For his magnificent write-up, he was awarded a Nobel Prize in literature. ‘Kingdom and Exile’ is a book of 126 pages, completed within approximately 6 days without making us invest more time in it. The flow of stories makes us read them in no time. Each of the stories revolves around a new protagonist with different roles as a character in the story. I enjoyed reading all 6 stories, but I was more absorbed with the first story of the book, “The adulterous woman,” who follows her husband on his business trip when she is asked to. Undoubtedly, her husband loved her and made her existence real, but more often than not, she realized he was more involved in his business, which made her wonder about the probability of his affection. It eventually made certain boundaries between them where she kept her uneasiness to herself, making her feelings isolated within herself. But at the end of the day, he was her husband who always made her feel valued, so she ended up accepting the meager way of being valued. The other five stories were relinquishing; they always made me wonder about the end of them. But woefully, I was baffled by the ending most of the time because I thought there must have been a better ending. Though the book is interesting, it could have been in its best version if it had emphasized explicitness. I was actually finding it hard to understand because of the vocabulary. Overall, it made me willing to read it because I wasn’t bored and stayed focused. The best part of reading it was becoming involved as an invisible character in these stories who secretly observed the characters playing their roles. Since it is always better to surround ourselves with print media, read new things, and expand our domain of learning, this book is relevant to all those who are sluggish enough to start reading. It will keep us interested and focused throughout each story.

Holding this unforgettable book in my hands made me realize that time may take away the people we love, but it can never erase the feelings we share with them. Before Your Memory Fades is a touching novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, published in 2022. Set in the peaceful Café Donna Donna on a hillside in Hakodate, Japan, the book explores love, loss, regret, forgiveness, and the importance of expressing our feelings before it is too late. At first, the idea of the story seems like a magical dream. A special café has a seat that allows visitors to travel back in time and meet someone from their past. However, the journey comes with strict rules. Visitors cannot change the present, they can only meet someone connected to the café, they must remain in their seat, and most importantly, they must return before their coffee gets cold. Through four emotional stories, Kawaguchi presents different kinds of love and regret. The characters include an orphaned girl, a struggling comedian, a heartbroken sister, and a young man facing his own mortality. Their experiences show how fear, anger, pride, and unspoken feelings can create deep regret. Although they cannot change what happened in the past, their brief meetings help them understand their feelings and face the present with greater courage. The most important lesson of the book is that we cannot change the past, but we can change how we live in the present. Sometimes, a few honest words can heal years of sadness. The story encourages us to forgive, express our love, and value the people around us while we still have the opportunity. What makes this book special is its gentle and emotional writing. It reminds readers that sadness is not only a sign of loss; it is also a reminder of how deeply we have loved. The novel encourages us to ask ourselves: What would we say if we had only a few minutes with someone we deeply miss? In conclusion, Before Your Memory Fades is a meaningful and emotional book that teaches us not to wait for the perfect moment to express our feelings. We should appreciate the people we love, forgive others, and speak from the heart before time takes the opportunity away. By: Mahnoor Haider

The author Arslan Athar is based in Lahore. However, belongs to Hyderabad. In his novel Forty Days of Mourning, he weaves together themes of identity, migration, political questions, displacement and diaspora. He also flexes out human emotions of love, hate, betrayal and loss. The book is a refreshing piece of work sprinkled with a Pakistani flavour. Fatima Bhutto was the author’s mentor. She helped him navigate the troubled waters of writing and storytelling. Saleema and Ali are the protagonists. And Naveed, a soldier to Ali, acts as the villain. The city of Hyderabad is itself shown as a living character, with the description of the marketplace and the women in burqas; the city mattered a lot. As Saleema, in an act of disloyalty to Ali, twists the truth around to save herself from disgrace, Ali sends her to Surriya’s in Lahore on the pretext that she was going to be a grandmother and her daughter needed her. But was this really the matter? Or was there a graver issue at hand? Ali definitely did not know of Saleema’s infidelity, but he knew something much bigger. Hyderabad now belonged to India! And the people of Hyderabad would have to flee in order to save their lives. The women lost their husbands and sons. They had to figure out life in that moment, too. Where would they take shelter? Refugee camps? Saleema was a strong woman. She was growing with time. She was becoming more mature. She held onto her secret, careful not to spill it out to anyone. She was able to manipulate and swim through circumstances. The one person who knew her secret was Rukiaya, the maid, and she made a deal with her to set her free in return for her silence. Why the novel is titled such because there is constant mourning going on. First, it is with Ali’s mother’s death, then its Saleema saddened by her engagement to her cousin, which didn’t last long, then it is in Ali’s death and finally in the annexation of Hyderabad. Where would Hyderabad belong? India or Pakistan, or will it become independent? The novel explores the collapse of a political order through the eyes of Saleema Ali Khan, a woman whose personal struggles mirror the fate of the state she loves. It is interesting to know how the author depicts history through the relationships, conversations, homes and silences. The reader sees how the personal and political are entwined. When one reads the title, one is not too excited about buying the book. But despite the morbid title, the novel offers an interesting and colourful take on life in Hyderabad, Deccan. On the whole, the book is a marvellous read. Despite being the author’s debut book, it promises a high level of maturity and coherence. A great read!

By Shamsa Najeeb A Thousand Splendid Suns is an extraordinary novel by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan writer and journalist currently living in America. Hosseini gained international recognition with his debut novel, The Kite Runner, and this brilliant work stands as his second novel. The book follows the parallel lives of two women: Mariam, a rural woman who is sent to Kabul to marry an older man named Rasheed, and Laila, a local teenager raised by open-minded and educated parents.The story is set in Kabul, Afghanistan, against the turbulent backdrop of the early rise of the Taliban. At its core, A Thousand Splendid Suns focuses heavily on the inequalities and hardships that Afghan women endure daily. The narrative masterfully explores how Mariam and Laila survive these harrowing challenges with deep bravery and heroism. Additionally, the characters in the book are written with such profound realism that readers cannot help but sympathize with their struggles. Khaled Hosseini has done an exceptional job of creating a masterpiece that is both deeply moving and emotionally gripping. It serves as a classic tribute to the courageous and resilient women of Afghanistan. In a nutshell, A Thousand Splendid Suns is one of those rare books that stays with you forever, fundamentally transforming your worldview regarding Afghanistan and its women.