Of nostalgia and self-contradictions
Kazi Anis Ahmed's debut book, Good Night, Mr. Kissinger and other stories, is a collection of short stories, “Chameliâ€, “The Poetry Auditionâ€, “Losing Ayeshaâ€, “The Happiest Day of His Lifeâ€, “Good Night, Mr. Kissingerâ€, “The Year of Returnâ€, “Ramkamal's Giftâ€, “Elephant Road†and “All My Enemiesâ€. From these short stories, I shall discuss “The Poetry Auditionâ€, “Chameli†and “Losing Ayeshaâ€. While discussing these short stories, I am going to show how society impedes our natural flow of creativity and makes us its willing subjects.
In “The Poetry Auditionâ€, Bahram and Jamshed are two talented brothers who decide to take different career paths for themselves. However, Jamshed's decision of taking up poetry as a profession becomes a cause of concern for his family members. Jamshed is an aspirant poet who writes about “despair†and “nihilismâ€. He reads his poetry out to the guests who were invited by his father to listen to recitation of his poems. After listening to the recitation, the Mawlana, chief guest on the occasion, requests Jamshed to give up mimicking western poets and their ideas. Instead, the Mawlana urges Jamshed to focus on reading more on Persian poetry to give him the “classical background†that he “lacksâ€. However, Jamshed gets the biggest shock when the Mawlana advises him to “pursue a careerâ€, to “go into the armyâ€. A common feature of Kazi Anis Ahmed's stories is the individual's struggle to come out of his self. In this particular story, Jamshed receives a shock from his family members. When his brother Bahram cites the examples of “many great poets†(44) who “went to the army†and like “Nazrul fought in Turkey during the Second World Warâ€, Jamshed explodes in anger and says, “Don't you think I've had enough lectures for one night, professor?†Jamshed's dream is shattered by the superior society's will.
In the short story “Chameliâ€, we also find the individual's struggle to come out of his self because of social and political barriers. In this short story, Galib falls in love with his neighbour, a Punjabi girl, Chameli. He leaves behind “a trail of hobbies --- toy, cars, kites, lackadaisical stamp and coin collections†and a “carefree†life because of all-consuming thoughts of Chameli, of his dreams “of kissing†her. The political strife before our Independence War and “troubles on the street†and his father's strict warning not to mix with Pubjabis do not stop Galib from having a chance meeting with Chameli. However, “the troubles that had been talked about for months did not settle, instead they had escalated into warâ€. After the war, Galib finds no trace of Chameli. Her “little blue house across the street was emptyâ€. Chameli becomes “unreal againâ€. Turbulent politics and displacement stop Galib's relationship from taking any effect.
“Losing Ayesha†reflects on the incidents of the narrator's ex-beloved. Ayesha is the narrator's ex girlfriend in the story. The narrator reminisces on his wonderful moments with Ayesha, who is a London-born Bangladeshi girl. Their relationship gets more passionate and intimate in the course of time. One day, the narrator goes to Ayesha's house with only her younger brother Numair present in the house. They secretly go to the rooftop where they kiss each other. Suddenly, they hear a thudding sound which comes from downstairs as “Numair had fallen†while playing with his kite on the other side of rooftop. His kite is tangled in the nearby tree branch. As a result, he tries to reach a branch to collect his kite, and thus loses his footing. Ayesha cries, “Numair, Numairâ€. By that time, Numair is no more in the world.
As a result of that untoward incident, “an enormous distance was opening up†between Ayesha and the narrator. As the narrator says, “The few times I went to her place during the morning period, we sat in the living room, amidst the relatives and visitors, particularly like strangersâ€. Without informing the narrator, Ayesha departs early for London one day.
Just like “Chameliâ€, Kazi Anis Ahmed's “Losing Ayesha†contains the themes of wish unfulfillment. In “Losing Ayeshaâ€, the narrator recounts how he misses his ex-beloved despite knowing that she is married with a couple of kids. The narrator sees “Ayesha in my memories, and improbably often in my dreamsâ€. However, reality sinks in when the narrator reminds himself of “living on another shore so incredibly far away that I can never hope to reach it againâ€. Similarly, in “Chameliâ€, the narrator says, “the ache she left behind in his heart felt true and permanentâ€. As a result of the social restrictions, none of the characters in these aforementioned short stories could come out of their existences through dreams. All the characters live lives of self-contradictions and duality. Anis's genius lies in this. He uses his power of imagination to portray the dual identities of human beings. Anis shows the gulf between body and mind. As in both “Chameli†and “Losing Ayeshaâ€, Anis depicts how human minds deal with nostalgia, self contradictions and failure to come out of their selves against the social restrictions.
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