Forty Days of Mourning

Fatima Bhutto was the author’s mentor. She helped him navigate the troubled waters of writing and storytelling

The author Arslan Athar is based in Lahore. However, belongs to Hyderabad. In his novel Forty Days of Mourning, he weaves together themes of identity, migration, political questions, displacement and diaspora. He also flexes out human emotions of love, hate, betrayal and loss.

The book is a refreshing piece of work sprinkled with a Pakistani flavour.

Fatima Bhutto was the author’s mentor. She helped him navigate the troubled waters of writing and storytelling.

Saleema and Ali are the protagonists. And Naveed, a soldier to Ali, acts as the villain.

The city of Hyderabad is itself shown as a living character, with the description of the marketplace and the women in burqas; the city mattered a lot.

As Saleema, in an act of disloyalty to Ali, twists the truth around to save herself from disgrace, Ali sends her to Surriya’s in Lahore on the pretext that she was going to be a grandmother and her daughter needed her.

But was this really the matter? Or was there a graver issue at hand? Ali definitely did not know of Saleema’s infidelity, but he knew something much bigger. Hyderabad now belonged to India! And the people of Hyderabad would have to flee in order to save their lives.

The women lost their husbands and sons. They had to figure out life in that moment, too. Where would they take shelter? Refugee camps?

Saleema was a strong woman. She was growing with time. She was becoming more mature. She held onto her secret, careful not to spill it out to anyone. She was able to manipulate and swim through circumstances. The one person who knew her secret was Rukiaya, the maid, and she made a deal with her to set her free in return for her silence.

Why the novel is titled such because there is constant mourning going on. First, it is with Ali’s mother’s death, then its Saleema saddened by her engagement to her cousin, which didn’t last long, then it is in Ali’s death and finally in the annexation of Hyderabad.

Where would Hyderabad belong? India or Pakistan, or will it become independent?

The novel explores the collapse of a political order through the eyes of Saleema Ali Khan, a woman whose personal struggles mirror the fate of the state she loves. It is interesting to know how the author depicts history through the relationships, conversations, homes and silences. The reader sees how the personal and political are entwined.

When one reads the title, one is not too excited about buying the book. But despite the morbid title, the novel offers an interesting and colourful take on life in Hyderabad, Deccan.

On the whole, the book is a marvellous read. Despite being the author’s debut book, it promises a high level of maturity and coherence. A great read!