Rah e Noor- Novel Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)
Say, "O you who are Jews, if you claim that you are allies of Allah, excluding the [other] people, then wish for death, if you should be truthful."
(Sura Jummah- Ayat Number 6)
Whenever I recite this thought provoking Ayat e Mubarka from Sura Jummah, I always wonder what the #death has in it, that ALLAH PAK has categorically challenged Jews to wish for it, in case they think themselves as allies of ALLAH and truthful.
Now check this line from Rah e Noor. Zindagi ki mehraab per likhi tehreer ka pehla lafz maut hai. Maut jor hai, tor nahi. Yes, this is the universal truth. Death, in reality, is simply a transition process, which teleport you from one universe (read jahaan) to another. So, what it takes to wish for death. The equation is quite simple. You wish for death and when it comes to you, you will get to know the truth of everything. The truth of your belief system and deeds. If they are proved to be valid, you will be rewarded by ALLAH PAK, otherwise, believe me dears, we are the one on the losing side and this loss is forever and no one knows what the term FOREVER means.
Coming towards Rah e Noor, Sumaira Hameed has chosen another interesting topic and this time she has come up with a win-win story. Rah e Noor is the story of three characters, who are all set to commit suicide, after-all what the hell is left in this not-so-friendly world. But the story takes you to a never seen before journey, which concludes on a very motivating note. Obviously, I wont tell you the whole story, as I don't want to be spoiler. You should read it to know what happens afterwards.
I feel, when life deprives you of every thing that you love & care, you are left with three emotions. Anger, Hate and Regret. Anger makes you weak, hate stimulates you to seek revenge and regret leaves you with frustration. Now take this phenomenon, what would someone do if he is on the verge of seeking revenge but is weak from inside and has nothing but frustration in his pocket. The result would be a big zero. So, what should one do, when life bereaves you of every damn thing that you cherish. It is the make or break scenario. I believe, all these three feelings (i.e. anger, hate & regret) are energies. If someone channelize them and make the positive & productive use of these energies, he will comes out as a survivor, and he will emerge as a real life hero. This is what we call a success story and the world is full of these success stories, out of which this Rah e Noor is one amazing affair.
The novel begins in a signature Sumaira Hameed's style and it reminded me of the start of her earlier offerings, Jog Aas and Wali. The novel briskly changes the mood and a bit of sadness gathers around you, when you get to know that the protagonists have started their journey towards the ultimate end (i.e. death) but with the passage of time, you feel, it is not a noir written by Sumaira, rather, it is a slice of life, coming of age emotional roller coaster ride that evolves the characters very smartly. I love the way how Sumaira changes gears from a mental hospital to Khewra mine and from full of life Pehelwan-land in Gujranwala to serene, calm & composed environment of land of Sufis, Multan and the story concludes in sub-urbs of lively Chakwal.
To tell you honestly, there are few movies & books, that you never want to be ended. You enjoy the proceedings so purely that you just want to continue the journey and never wish its ending to be happen in a near soon. To me, I place Imtiaz Ali's Highway, Sir Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani, ABC's TV Series Once Upon A Time, Showtime's TV Series Penny Dreadful and Ritupuarno Ghosh's Raincoat in this category. Yes, Rah e Noor, without any exaggeration, successfully manages its secured position in the same genre. This road trip tale is one, that I never want to be ended.
Being a poet, I believe, the most difficult thing is to sum up all you want to say in few words. Those poets are considered as greats who have shown their command in writing couplets in Small Behars. Similarly, novels like Borshay, Main Bint e Jameela, Rab ul Bashar and now this Rah e Noor can easily be converted into mega novels with more than one episodes but hats off to Sumaira by summarizing the whole story in only few pages and that too without compromising on the quality.
One unique thing that Sumaira has explored in this novel is the romance with the figure three (3). If you watch it closely, you will see the repetition of figure three (3) in many places in the novel. Check this, it is a story of three characters Haadi, Talal, Ibrahim (which basically is further originated from their three distinctive stories). Then comes, three (3) parts (pehar) of night. When they come out from the mine, they get to see three (3) Roshni... Zindagi ki Saans ki alamat, Bachey... Aik naya jahan abad honey ki alamat, Aasman... ALLAH PAK ki behisaab Rehmat ki Alamat. A small boy outside mine gives them three products, Shaheen, Safaid Phool, Khanjar. Three (3) moves (dao) of life. Pehla dao... Iman... ALLAH PAK ki adalat mein muqadma, Doosra... Sabar, Teesra... Raza... ALLAH PAK ki Raza pe Raazi. And last but not the least, Pehla Chakar... ALLAH PAK ne zindagi ko pasand kiya, Doosra Chakar... Zameen kahin nakhlistan hai kahin sehra... Insan ki zindagi, Teesra Chakar... Her shey her amal ki qaza hai... Zindagi ki nahi...
Talking about Sumaira's another strenght, the dialogue writing, here once again, she shines with the glory. See, how beautifully she uses the sweet Punjabi dilect, Ik Maan Meri O Piyari... Is Maa naal meri yaari.. Mera dil tey meri hayati... Main maa tu jind wari. It reminded me of the Gulzar sb's symbolical approach, when read Sumaira's words in the Para Gliding scene, Acha to uper se zameen aisi dikhai deti hai... Pehley maloom hota to woh safaid badlon mein aik ghar bana leta... Ghar ki khirkiyan khol ker roz aisa nazara kerta... The one statement that stunned me, Insan ke jism mein itni taqat hai to rooh mein kitni ho gi??? Kiyo ke Rooh jism se afzal hai... And this one has written Sumaira Hameed all over it, putting negative-positive in one phenomenon under same situation, Inhain Bhaa ki zabardastiyan achi lagney lagi thi... Inhain Bhaa ki zabardastiyan zehar lagney lagi thi... And this beautiful food for thought Kabhi dawa mein shifa hui hai??? Yeh to ikhtyar waley ke kamaal ka kamaal hai...
It is a fortay of Sumaira that she keenly observes the environment and minute details of her subject matter, due to which her writings stand out from the rest. The way she has used the native language of pehalwaans in Gujranwala is amazing. From their Kushtis and counting style, to the statement, Zindagi jeetney ke liye 360 dao aney chahiye... Warna sirf Aik (1)... Insan ko jeena ana chahiye... Mar to sab ne jana hi hai, she was all pitch perfect.
Overall, This novel is an epic road trip tale, that acts as an amazing motivation, that makes you count what we have, instead of what we have not. It has a message written loud & clear on it, Live the life, as it is the best blessing of ALLAH PAK. Don't take it for-granted.
Jab aap mout ki taraf safar shuru ker rahey hotey hain magar zindagi aap baahen khol ke aap ka istaqbaal kerti hai...
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