The book is a real treat to peruse and ponder; the author has candidly sought to unveil the grossness of human behaviour in the typical Pakistani perspective
Mohammad Ali Khan’s Read No Evil is a book of satire and humour meant to censure the vices and evils rampant in the society. The title of the book is reminiscent of the popular American fiction writer Steven W White’s e-published fantasy novel Read No Evil – ‘a thrilling novel of suspense that challenges the perception of readers with altered text, hidden codes and other clues not found in conventional fiction’.
But the analogy cannot be stretched any further as in the former book, the unwary reader is led to perceive a volley of satiric attacks on evils like pride, vanity, hypocrisy, misanthropy et al in the form of an interior monologue juxtaposed in sharp contrast to the fantastic ‘Sci-Fi’ world of make-believe, pivoted on the possibilities of ‘computer intelligence’, in the latter book.
Satire is a popular literary genre concerned with social criticism on a wider scale. Sometimes it is harsh and unrelenting like Swift’s but for the most, it is camouflaged in a seemingly harmless verbiage prima facie seeking to amuse the reader. Irony, sarcasm, innuendo, inversion, inflation, and wit are its cardinal elements.
Noted American satirist Ambrose Bierce viewed satire, although pessimistically, as ‘an obsolete kind of literary composition in which the vices and follies of the author’s enemies were expounded with imperfect tenderness’. The actual pitted against the fictive and vice versa is a common practice with literary satirists. Swift excelled in the art when he employed allegory to disguise his satiric designs.
The book in view has been dexterously designed to denigrate the vices and evils rampant in the society. Since satire evokes humour, the hall-mark of a true humourist is his ability to laugh at himself which the author here does in abundance. For all his pride and arrogance, the humourist (or satirist) might rail at the whole human race, including his own stock and milieu, but he would rarely forget that he himself was a member of it. This is the impression that a thoughtful reader is apt to gather from a reading of the text in this case. The diction is pungent while its ironic implications are incisively pertinent to the contemporary socio-cultural scenario.
The book encloses some twenty-eight chapters which the author denominates ‘self-essays’ purported to be ‘the result of a fit of (a long-drawn) creative drunkenness’. He further elaborates that ‘this book is not strictly limited to the upwardly mobile strata of our society; humour and satire is for everyone’. According to him ‘the various topics discussed herein take a critical look at the various aspects of our society and culture’. The protagonist of the essays might be the author’s own persona but the themes in more than one way are highly ‘relatable’.
The titles of the essays bear a schematic design consistent with their actual import e.g., Cinderella – the Un-bed Story, To Retire from Religion, Pakistani Mythology, Tickle Your Soul, Save the Rooster, Son of the Soil, Geography Unearthed, Team Work, The Whole Tooth, Islamabad, The Morning Predicament, The Devil in Pattaya, Beware of Dog, and A Conversation. The satirist knows which targets are worthy of abuse; he aims at them with marked conviction and concision, too.
Some excerpts from the book would highlight its ruling attributes foreshadowing its curt satiric intent:
‘We neither expect the Mufti to carry all the religious symbols nor expect the Pope to jeopardise his career by getting married. Nevertheless, if secularisation of religiosity could further lead to retirement of these religious persons it would be a great gift to the human world.’ (To Retire from Religion)
‘Pakistan was created in the past and it remains so for over six decades now. All the school children of the country believe its creation to be a past event and if need be, they cautiously refer to it in future anxious.’ (Pakistan – A Grammatical Perspective)
‘To the ascetic his tirade, at places focused on human infirmities including the sensual, might seem a little obscene, but then obscenity is a part of life and hence it cannot be estranged from literature’
‘Politically speaking, Pakistan is supposed to be an Islamic Democratic Republic, which on a practical level carries none of those attributes. The micro-bikini of democracy is specifically designed to prolong the ecstasy of a few who refuse to reach the climax of their greed.’ (Pakistani Mythology)
‘I am the only human being who can unabashedly lay claim to belonging to Islamabad without having to explain where I originally came from. How many of us can make that claim? Let us be realistic, no one. This does arouse jealousy in the human heart, but then my family did not come with a mandate to change hearts.’ (Son of the Soil)
‘The land inhabited by the humans is called real estate. Despite the overwhelming ratio of water in the constitution of the Earth, humans prefer to live on land whilst having swimming pools in their backyards.’ (Geography Unearthed)
‘The hoard of cars and taxis at an intersection, offers a special case study in individual pragmatism. Without any prejudice towards the volume of traffic, which is an indirect result of years of the nation’s favourite nocturnal pastime, the problem that it creates for the person on the main road is unspeakable.’ (Taken for a Ride)
‘Armed to the chest, she is rumoured to have squeezed her way forcefully through the various facets of life, ensuring her promotion on a regular basis. The importance given to her by the hopeful male fondlers in the office is exemplary… Her female colleagues can do nothing but scorn her behind her back.’ (TeamWork)
‘The concept behind this trail (Trail Three, a popular walking track in the Margallas) originally was to provide egoistical levity to the high and mighty living in Islamabad. The elite were supposed to climb their way up the mountain, discuss metaphysical aspects amongst each other and finally look down upon the entire city. In case these activities resulted in shedding of physical weight, was purely incidental.’ (Islamabad)
‘The mere fact that two persons face off, albeit across a flimsy separation called net, exudes competitiveness. Had it been for the people of the Sub-Continent to develop the rules of the game (Tennis), their inane nature would have forced both players to stay on the same side of the court in a spirit of friendship and be the winners at the same time, thereby marking the end of competition and excellence.’ (Sports Illustrated)
‘I looked around sheepishly to observe if the spectators in the hall were watching me to find out if my face gave away my dark side. For a person brought up in layers of artful hypocrisy, this was a natural reaction. To my surprise, however, everyone seemed to be keenly watching the show, unaware of my presence… There was perhaps nothing evil about it; if it had been, some entity might have tried to stop it. There was no Satan amongst us; only humans. Perhaps this was not even the time to think about vice and virtue. The girls were virtuously going about their act whilst the spectators watched them with reverent appreciation.’ (The Devil in Pattaya)
All said, the book is a real treat to peruse and ponder. The author has candidly sought to unveil the grossness of human behaviour in the typical Pakistani perspective. To the ascetic his tirade, at places focused on human infirmities including the sensual, might seem a little obscene, but then obscenity is a part of life and hence it cannot be estranged from literature. Herbert Read has already classified vulgarity into the one badly done and the other, nicely done. The latter adorns literature, cf. Lawrence (DH) and Manto.
Read No Evil
Author: Mohammad Ali Khan
Publishers: New Line/Readings, 12-K, Gulberg 2, Lahore
Pages: 193; Price: Rs350
