Daaj (Sumaira Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shoby

Daaj (Sumaira Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

These violent delights have violent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder

Which, as they kiss, consume

Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare)

Do we ever realize what sort of society we are living in. Love, for which Marianne Williamson said, "An enchanted love, an awakened love, between two people is a blessing on the entire world." Love, which is the base of the humanity. Love, without which no Earth can survive is still considered something taboo. It looks like someone has written over the heart of everyone that hey, don't dare to touch Love, it is not for faint-hearted. Love, that was bestowed to conquer the worlds is now assumed to be prohibited, courtesy our so-called social norms which allow human devastation in large but never are kind enough to make two souls one. And I agree that Albert Einstein was so true in saying that, "The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."

Daaj that literally means dowery. Dowry that is considered to be almost a sacred entity for the women attached to it, especially the mothers that prepares the same & the brides. Dowry for which Quintus Horatius aka Horace (Roman Poet) said, "The great virtue of parents is a great dowry." But why to prepare a dowry as no one survives to avail the blessing.. Daaj, jo kisi ko naseeb nahi honey wala tha...

Sumaira Hameed's Daaj is not a story, it is an experience that takes you to the journey to a place in the pre-independence era, where society is plagued with various syndromes. Love is a forbidden act and men have to be the guardian angel, where they have to demolish this evil (read love) and what else could be the easiest way of doing so, other than finishing the prime cause, so in the words of Sumaira Hameed, Zameen apni kokh mein banjar ho chuki thi, jab se is kunwey ki koskh mein kokhey ujarney lagi thi... and there was no stopping for them in this regard.

Time was steadily passing by and every female culprit of the love was subjected in a punishment of throwing into the village well. Guardian angels were happy & proud of their strong valid acts whereas poor mothers were mourning over the loss of their wealth, the daughters. Yaar ki pakhi bani dikhai deney lagi to gaon ke aik aik mard ne kunwey ki rah dekh li or aik aik maa ke dil mein anni gaarni shuru ker di... Read what happens next in the fiction.

I believe Sumaira is at the top of our female leading writers list when it comes to show the actual social ongoing. She never shies in presnting the actual terms that the society uses in the daily speech and it makes her writing look so authentic. Stories like Main Bint e Jameela & now Daaj are evidences that she never goes below the belt but uses the original metaphors that validates the native linguistic approach, prevailing in the society on which her stories are based on.

Although Sumaira has written it as a period story but I feel this very situation still prevails somewhere in the society especially in the ruler areas of Indo-Pak region, where people still fight over the minor disputes of water or cattle. 

I admit that it is a bit difficult for an average reader to connect with these type of stories and they may find it hard to swallow the same because we the people living in a fad world don't know what it tastes to be like one of them. Gaon ki baas mein aurton ki ahen sisakti thi... Mardon ke sang in ke dil kuchaltey they... Un ke lams inhain taar taar kartey they... WHY??? Because, after seeing this serious genocide, they were losing every possible hope of living, till the time arrived when they decided to take revenge. Kunwey ki kanwariyon ke daaj ki tayari unhon ne apni jaano pe khel ke ki thi...

Daaj is a superlative of atrocity & revenge. Good thing is that writer here, has never intended to make a statement out of it and she has left it totally to the readers to be the judge and decide which segment of the society went wrong. Although its haunting but keep a check, somewhere around us, you may still find a place, where objects are all set to seek revenge...

Daaj ke soot kaat'tey kaat'tey, maon ne taatron ki dhaar bhi tez ker li thi...

PS: Don't forget to share your feedback in below box