What you are seeing here is a night shot of Gulberg Main Boulevard. The photographer is probably flying somewhere in the sky. The traffic is flowing almost exclusively in one direction. The road is beautifully lit. Stars are shining (although you can’t see them in the pic but I can assure you they are… they normally do at this time of the night).

The time is almost 3:30 am…. It’s not your normal evening drive time. It’s way past midnight. If you are a foreigner watching this scene in Lahore, don’t be surprised just yet. Follow the traffic till it reaches its destination.

Almost 4:00 am. A road full of restaurants. All of them open and filled to capacity. Waiters taking coffee & tea orders. Buffet being served. Lavish food, not just breakfast, at 4:00 am. Families, friends, kids, all of them having a good time. At 4:00 am.

This is Lahore. Live and kicking…in the month of Ramazan…. at 4:00 am.

Image Source: Daily Times

This is the first installment of Talent@Lahore series, and we are going to talk about a 36 years old writer whose work has been translated in 20 languages, adapted for TV as well as an Italian operetta, and who has (most recently) been short listed among 5 other candidates from around the world for the prestigious Booker Prize for Fiction in 2007 - one of the most renowned literary awards in the world.

Mohsin Hamid takes over the throne of immensely rich literary heritage of Lahore, the only difference being that he writes in English not Urdu, yet remains very much in touch with all things Desi. Born in 1971, Mohsin went on to attend Princeton University and Harvard Law School, and worked as a management consultant in New York and a freelance journalist in Lahore, before moving to London. His claim to fame, however, are his two novels of international acclaim, both set in the backdrop of the city of Lahore.

For literary buffs in Pakistan, Mohsin Hamid would not be a stranger, mainly due to his first novel “Moth Smoke”. Published in the year 2000, the novel tells the story of a young man and his uneasy and complicated life on the fringes of Lahore’s elite, subsequent to him getting fired from his job at a bank. As soon as it was published, Moth Smoke started to receive positive node from literary circles across the world - something not very common for a predominently “local” novel. It went on to become New York Times notable book of the year and received reviews such as the following:

‘A first novel of remarkable wit, poise, profundity, and strangeness… Hamid is a writer of gorgeous, lush prose and superb dialogue… Moth Smoke is a treat’ — Esquire

‘Moth Smoke is both an irresistibly engaging adventure and a searching portrait of contemporary young people in Pakistan… The voice of the novel is its triumph, however: confiding, witty, self-lacerating, arrogant and humble, and unfailingly convincing’ — Joyce Carol Oates

The story of Moth Smoke also appeared as a television mini-series in Pakistan (which was very poorly made) and as an operetta in Italy (which I haven’t seen).

Seven years after Moth Smoke, in 2007, Mohsin came back with his second novel, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”. In September 2007, The Reluctant Fundamentalist was shortlisted as one of the top 6 books of the year to be considered for Booker Prize for fiction. Mohsin is the youngest writer this year to be shortlisted for this prize that comes with an award of 50,000 Pounds.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist explores the conflict experienced by an intelligent young man from Lahore who attends an elite university in US, works with a prestigious Wall Street organization and falls in love with an American woman, while at the same time dealing with a sense of uneasiness he feels with his imperialistic occupation, a discomfort enhanced first by the events in his home town Lahore, where Pakistan is at the brink of a war with India, and then the events in New York in the aftermath of 9/11.

This is what the Daily Telegraph had to say for this novel

‘An impressively intelligent thriller… a microcosm of the cankerous suspicion between East and West. But, more than that, it is a piece of technically accomplished writing that entertains at the same time as it makes you think.’

The entire novel is written in a single monologue, set at the backdrop of a small roadside cafe in Lahore’s Anarkali bazaar. The novel has been translated in 20 languages so far.

Whether or not one agrees with Mohsin’s political and socio-political views, or how various characters feel and act in his novels, one feels no reluctance in admiring the quality of craft, the art that comes freely and flowingly in his novels. Whether or not Mohsin goes on to win the Booker Prize this year, we can be assured of much more to come from this writer of immense talent as well as potential.

Besides novels, Mohsin routinely writes articles for publications such as New York Times, Washington Post, and Time magazine. You can visit Mohsin’s Website to take a look at his career, find excerpts from interviews and a number of articles written by the writer.

His books can be found at all major book stores in Pakistan. You can also buy them online if you live outside Pakistan.

2007 Booker Prize will be announced on Oct 16, 2007. Keep an eye on this link for details.

But are we doing enough?

Looking around while on the road, watching TV, surfing the net, reading papers, it becomes pretty clear that we are not doing enough. It’s just not enough. We all know that we have poverty in our country; extreme poverty in extreme remote areas, half of our population is still illiterate, half has less than normal access to medical facilities, many have no access to clean drinking water, many are wronged but don’t have a support system to seek / attain justice, many just don’t know what to do. We all know that. We read it in papers.

We also know that these deficiencies, the extreme inequality in society, leads to rising crimes, social tension, law & order chaos, terrorism. We all know that. We have it all in our society.

We also know, have heard of, have been to, a number of charities in and around our cities. As i said, some donate a little, some much more. but nobody seems to be doing enough.

The question is what more can we do?… the answer is very simple. Donate More. Donate to the right charities and starting this Ramazan, donate a bit “more” than what you normally do. A little bit extra percentage, multiplied by all of us, the entire population of those who can, and it can be a good beginning. It can literally change / save lives. And who cannot donate a bit “more”? when we can buy one more bottle of pepsi, have one more lavish iftaar and buy one more DVD, we can also easily donate a bit more… more than what we normally do.

And it’s not much effort. With technology comes convenience. Once you have selected your favourite charity, you can practically donate as much as you can and as many times as you want in literally 5 minutes.

Here are a few ways to donate. Most of the charities offer all or some of these facilities for your own convenience.

a) Internet Banking - Most of the banks offer internet banking. Most of the charities take donation online. So just log in, and transfer money from your account to your charity organization. It takes 3 minutes or less. It doesn’t matter where you are, you can do it from your home, office, from anywhere in the world.

b) SMS - Don’t want to get into the risk and hassle of internet banking? No problem. We all have mobile phones. Many charities accept donations through SMS. For example, type “life” in the message space and send to 7770 and you have donated Rs. 20 to Shaukat Khanum Memorial.

c) Credit Card - Got one? Why not go to your charity’s website and donate online. It takes 2 minutes or less. Again you can do it from anywhere in the world.

d) Traditional Route - No problem again. Just write a cheque and drop in. Or walk to your bank and donate by transferring funds to your favourite charity’s account.

The idea is: just Donate More. If we all do, it may be a good beginning!!!

Nopes… I didn’t say that. Albert Einstein did. But he was practically resonating my thoughts when he said it; the thoughts I would have a few decades later. To me, this is precisely what makes Einstein the most brilliant mind of modern times.

Now how is Einstein related to Lahore? One may rightly question. (adding a loud and clear “Hain Ji?” afterwards to magnify the emphasis, manifolds) Did he ever eat phajjay kay payee, Hain Ji? or shout bo kataaa while flying a kite at the rooftop of Lahore Hotel? No. (that may have been Benjamin Franklin). The truth is, Einstein has nothing to do with Lahore. But I do; which is exactly why I am writing this post at LMB.

Now what do I have to do with Lahore? The answer is very simple. Lahore is where the home is. I don’t think I can explain it any better… oh wait a sec… I could also say, Lahore Lahore aye… but I am sure somebody else has already said that (thousands of years ago, and then every year onwards)

The idea of this post is simply to write my first post at LMB (which I senselessly have) and introduce myself (which I conveniently haven’t). I may be writing more. I may even write too often. Or I may just disappear altogether. The idea is to get it rolling first and see what happens.

Afterall, Einstein also said, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new”… I wonder why he said that!!!