Learning a subliminal lesson

Shaheen Akhter's award winning book Talash in Bangla has been translated into English by Ella Dutta and published by Zubaan in New Delhi, India. The translator has done a polished rendition which in my mind has been possible because she herself is a Bengali and hence accurately conveys the subtle nuances of the Bengali language and culture.
The Search portrays in fascinating, at times enchanting detail the travails of the central character Mary or Mariam as she is transformed from an innocent adolescent to a war ravaged woman who is tortured, raped, incarcerated by the occupying Pakistani soldiers and who teeters between sanity and insanity during her nine month ordeal that leads to the birth of Bangladesh.
History is replete with the stories of rapacious marauding armies following the path of least resistance to subject women of all ages to rape and murder as a means of asserting their supremacy over an occupied nation.
Mary's pathetic, heart-rending tale drives this truth deep into the readers' psyche. Much too deep for comfort and therein lies the success of this novel and its author. Weaving a myriad of sub-plots into the theme of the story, the reader is spellbound to turn page after page of this enigmatic tale. We who are native Bengalis and have gone through the cataclysm of the birth of Bangladesh will find innumerable episodes and characters that are immediately identifiable. Forty years after those horrific days we can possibly, through Mary's eyes, view things in a different perspective but let not that cloud the readers' view of the horrible atrocities of that war. Then again a thorough analysis, a self evaluation of those past events can set us free and finally put those demons to rest for Mary and her valiant "Birangana" sisters.
Visions of Bangladesh's war-torn countryside along with an enthralling description of marshy wetlands, rivers, villages and paddy fields will find resonance in every Bengali's heart. Mariam's tortuous and torturous journey is heart-rending. A beautiful but frail woman with "a moon-like face" is at the mercy of men, both friend and foe, and her inevitable violation in each relationship stirs the heart of the reader.
Through Mary's character the author has successfully portrayed a bitter truth that has fallen by the wayside in Bangladesh's war of liberation that the "Biranganas" as also other womenfolk who suffered in those times are no less freedom fighters than those able bodied young men, the defecting soldiers and all those who could bear arms and gave their lives, were wounded or participated in the war.
All the human feelings/failings of hatred, greed, malice, covetousness, fear, anger, love, betrayal are enmeshed in this tale which is painted on a very broad canvas with a large brush applying myriad hues. A large number of characters are portrayed which at times makes it difficult for the reader to keep track of but that in itself is the orgy of war, the utter mindless destruction, the carnage, the rending asunder where the actual purpose is lost sight of. The cacophony of war, it seems, requires a commensurate upheaval of our thought process.
In recent times the Liberation War of Bangladesh has been portrayed from various standpoints in the English language which will give not only the Bangladeshi diaspora but also readers interested in Bangladesh a rare insight into what really went on. Also these writings come from a storytelling literary viewpoint. Hence, fortunately they are shorn of political posturing or jockeying for ulterior motives.
The bloodshed, the shock, the turmoil is long gone. People have moved on, picked themselves up from the rubble and rebuilt their lives. This indeed is a time to ponder forty years after the War of Liberation. There is a subliminal lesson that needs to be learnt as we go along the twisted paths of Mary's journey. "Even though she lived in society, she was not a part of it. She was an exile in her own land." Her life remains incomplete and unfulfilled in so many ways. She is educated but the war shatters her dream, --- to become a "doctor when I grow up. I will not charge for visits to the poor.".
Mariam narrates her story to Mukti, a young researcher, in 1999, twenty eight years after the emergence of Bangladesh. It is a poignant tale of a woman who comes of age just before the turmoil of 1971 that forever changes the course of her life as also that of the entire Bengali nation. She is at various times captured and raped by the rank and file of the Pakistan army, including a major who befriends her for a while, granting her temporary respite from a rudderless existence. She is married twice but marital bliss eludes her as she is deserted by both her husbands. She spends time in brothels and the author skillfully portrays Mariam even when she is aged over 50 as "a person who had succeeded in punting along her aimless life for over thirty years".
The ending of the novel is enigmatic, phantasmagoric and reflects the dilemma in the author's mind of synchronizing and dovetailing Mary's earthly existence and her journey into the afterworld.
Shaheen Akhtar deserves credit for a well researched, interesting and entertaining work on an aspect of the Liberation War upon which we had almost shut the door.
The book was recently discussed at the Liberation War Museum, where it was introduced by Akku Chowdhury and reviewed by Asfa Hussain of The Reading Circle. The book was also discussed at The Reading Circle regular monthly meeting on 17 December, 2011. On both occasions the author Shaheen Akhtar was present.

Tanveerul Haque is a businessman, reviewer and a member of The Reading Circle . E-mail: tanveerhq@ yahoo.co.uk