Love and the impediments it runs into
The first reaction reading through the pages of The Crooked Neem Tree is one of unhappiness at not reading it twenty years back. The appeal would have been tenfold. Nevertheless I felt twenty years younger and wanted to guzzle the entire book in one day.
It is a moving portrayal of a sheltered young woman's life in the early 1960s. Written in 1971 and published a decade later, it narrates the story of a young Punjabi, Seema, growing up in East Pakistan. She gradually becomes aware of social injustice and personal betrayals. She falls in love with Tanvir, a young Bihari. When Tanvir breaks off this relationship she gets engaged to Qamar, a Punjabi cousin. Learning that Qamar is responsible for a friend's happiness, she ends the engagement and turns to Khalid, a Bengali student she meets at the university. However, she never stops loving Tanvir.
In a politically charged atmosphere we find that 'Urdu-Wallahs,' despite half a century or more of staying here, do not learn Bangla. The differences which separate the characters in love are also race and culture, years of prosperity vs. ages of poverty. All the characters are in one way or another in search of roots and at one point we cannot but pity the non-Bengalis. Tanvir says, "I have no right to ask you to share my rootless life; wherever we go in Pakistan, we shall be Mohajirs, refugees, and outsiders." Nasreen is not accepted because she is a non-Bengali and is ultimately wedded to an aged non-Bengali. The underlying theme is a tussle between the haves and the have- nots. Tanvir rejects Seema on the ground that she is the daughter of a bureaucrat and cannot ultimately cope with poverty. Though Seema states that position and money are not everything, Tanvir insists, "Without it there is nothing, one becomes desperate, loses all one's finest qualities, and forgets everything only to get a little money to sustain oneself."
Niaz Zaman takes a dig at the CSPs maybe to voice the opinion of many more of her time. When Seema asks Khalid to study for the CSS examination he retaliates by pointing out that only a few CSPs think of the teeming millions. The very person to criticise the nose-in-the-air attitude of the CSP, once "made in the C.S.P academy", will be shocked at the idea of spending his evening on the pavements of Jinnah Avenue or in Casbah. Often he might even change his wife because of his recent high market value!
To bring life to the story, the writer takes us back to those good old days when we used to have rag days. Visit the USIS and study at the British Council, go to Nanking, Chow Chin Chow and have baby ice cream. But despite all these mundane affairs the whole story revolves round Seema's intense love for Tanvir and Khalid's for Seema. Khalid always fears losing Seema just when he has found her and Seema regrets losing a friend. "There were times we fought and argued but these had been between friends." She has given too much of herself in her love for Tanvir and "one cannot shut off love as one shuts off a tap."
Every line reminds us of the author's proximity with the new generation .Her portrayal of racial prejudices is amazing. Through the proposal and rejection of mixed marriages she has very successfully depicted this disparity. There is no dearth of funny notes. The conversation between Seema and Khalid is simply hilarious. Khalid tries his utmost to convince her of his love, but Seema is adamant and snubs him: "Arguments do not convince a girl."
"What does? Physical force? I think the cavemen were right when they clubbed the women they were interested in and dragged them off by their hair to their caves".
Everyday language is in use, easy diction makes it a tangy piece to chew. Zaman's skill in the use of imagery with which she describes Seema's forlorn state is remarkable. Seema writes letters to Tanvir, tears them into small bits and scatters them out the window, watching them float softly past the crooked neem tree like little falling paper flakes. "My love bore flowers as bitter as the Neem tree", she says.
The book is rather a research on human nature and relationships; some isolated lines are proof enough. "Human beings are by nature very adaptable and women more so." "Some people are not psychologically prepared to get married because they see love as spiritual and platonic and cannot bear to think of the physical closeness because it sullies the purity."
Our social values of the time are reflected in the marriage episodes of Seema's friend Nasreen. "Any girl who was an easy conquest was unworthy of marriage" is Rashed's mother's comment. She might be pretty but what could she bring with her? A refugee from India with no land, money or backing, she would only hinder rather than help her son's career.
A vivid description of traditional marriage is also brought in for young readers. The truth in her description comes up in the lines when she says girls look pretty on their wedding day but their fear and nervousness prevent their being truly beautiful; on her walima a mixture of shyness and fulfillment makes the plainest bride a thing of beauty. In fact, every line in the book relates to our every day life, making it one of the most interesting and relaxing books to read amongst all those mind drilling books of today.
A marriage like Nasreen's sets a girl wondering. She has become a woman not gently with love but brutally. We expect that somewhere there must be our ideal companion, our soulmate whom we have only to meet once and know forever that we have found what we have sought. But life does not work out that way. Sleeping Beauty waits in vain for her Prince Charming, Snow White remains locked up in her glass coffin, the prince never comes. Sleeping Beauty chooses a substitute but, physically aroused, her innermost being is never awakened and the pretty young girl deteriorates into the slovenly matron shouting at servants and children alike or else into the butterfly which flits from lover to lover never knowing true love with any. What philosophy of life!! As a continuation we can bring the soliloquy of Seema into consideration. Tanvir has starved her of love. With Khalid she is friendly: "What did it matter, all marriages are not built on love, a lasting union can be based on deep friendship, understanding of intellectual and emotional needs".
Niaz Zaman defends men too. Not all men are philanderers. A man can also remember his true love. Sometimes it is women who refuse to marry their lovers, preferring wealth and security to the uncertainties of love with an impecunious lover.
She embellishes her story with interesting dialogues. Seema asks Khalid what a "pearl girl and a diamond girl" mean. Pearl girl graceful, simple, quiet, with a deep hidden well of emotion; whereas diamond girl is vivacious, glamorous, always on the go, all fire, anger and laughter, and changing moods.
People often mix culture with religion. After Khalid and Seema's marriage there is a slight clash of cultures. The projection is incredible. Humor is injected in a casual way to break the monotony. Khalid jokes with Seema, telling her he should marry a Bengali girl to see what it's like. "After all we are allowed four wives. I'll have only two and find out which will make a better wife-------- my hot blooded Punjabi or my docile Bengali."
The end of the book reminds us of Devdas in the sense of unquenched love. Tanvir sends word and Seema rushes to the hospital, a mad woman bereft of reason. "What right had I to weep for him", but love does not listen to reason. "I had known him alive and had been happy. All I cared for was that he should be in the same world under the same sky, sun and moon. How would I live knowing he was dead, the face I loved and had never touched while it belonged to a living man could crumble into dust? She faints and when she comes to, she finds Khalid, anger, anguish and love all over him: "You loved him terribly, didn't you?"
"Yes, I loved him long ago, ages and ages ago, but you are my husband and I love you above everything else in the world."
"You always loved him more than me, didn't you?"
"What we don't succeed in getting always seems more desirable than what we do. Please believe me. I'm happy to be your wife."
An extremely touching tale. Read it and you'll find old wine in a new bottle.
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