Lead Review
- Book: The Return of Faraz Ali
- Location: Lahore
- Author: Aamina Ahmad
The Return of Faraz Ali is on one level a family saga spanning two generations of a South Asian family and on another level a description of regime change during Partition in the 1960s and 1970s. But it is much more than that: it is also a murder mystery; it has flawed characters typical of noir novels; it is a romance, and it’s a literary creation that transports the reader to the heart of India and Pakistan.
The novel opens with brief flashback of five-year-old Faraz jumping across the roofs of the Mohalla – the red-light district of the ancient walled city of Lahore – trying to escape his kidnappers. The drama of this opening is pricked like a balloon when his mother, a Kanjar or prostitute in the city, negotiates and hands him over, apparently willingly, soon after. The novel continues many years later, with Faraz as a young police officer in Lahore, assigned to tackle student pro-independence riots during the anarchy of the late 1960s. Traumatised by what he has seen and done during the riots, Faraz is both relieved and bewildered when he is directed to head away from the riots to a new posting, with a mission to cover up the death of a child prostitute in Lahore’s ancient city. He quickly decides that this is an opportunity to track down the family from whom he was snatched as a child. Alongside Faraz, we gradually learn who was behind his kidnapping and much later we discover the reasons that he was ordered to return.
The book explores what is meant by home and country, and the political turmoil within India is reflected in the characters and their desire to experience a true sense of belonging. Faraz can barely remember his mother, his family and his home: he is now respectably married with a child of his own. Revisiting the inner city of Lahore during his mission offers an opportunity to reconnect with this place and perhaps find his family and his place in the world. It is significant that the adoptive family that brought him up was loving and still supports him, but his urge to discover his true identity is overwhelming. He knows that if anyone should discover his lowly origins, he would lose his reputation, his wife and his career, so his quest to find his mother must be discreet. Yet his conscience leads him to disobey orders to frame a local druggie for the child’s murder. He knows he must discover who was responsible and to get justice for her, even if that risks everything and sets an unstoppable train of events in motion.
Meanwhile, Faraz’s birth family is unaware that he is looking for them. They have more immediate problems than the politics and world events around them. Their struggles are universal and timeless, though ironically characterised by the pro-independence slogan “bread, clothing and shelter”. In order to obtain even these basic essentials, the inhabitants of the Mohalla – the Kanjars – trade whatever they have, and for the womenfolk, that means their bodies. There’s an art to this form of prostitution, involving dance lessons, reciting classic poetry and personal beautification but the shelf-life of a prostitute is limited, and each must soon induct her daughter into the trade, to become the next breadwinner. For the inhabitants of the Mohalla it seems that their fate is dictated at birth. Apart from Faraz, few seem to escape and even those who do are effectively kept women, who risk losing everything if their often feckless, faithless lovers choose to ditch them.
The novel has an extensive cast, each vividly drawn, and we get to know the main characters intimately. There’s a sliding scale between authority and powerlessness; we meet scheming councillors and rich, traditional landowners but also pimps, prostitutes and junkies. Each has their faults but those at the bottom of the heap are helpless to change their lives for the better. Faraz’s sister is a faded film star. Her stage name is Heera – or diamond – and while she is famed for her professional acting ability, many of the other characters also have to adopt pretence and false appearances in order to hide things about themselves that would bring them down, if widely known. This is even true of the more powerful characters, in certain situations and at certain times. We learn that those who appear to be in control also have masters above them to whom they are beholden. As the story unfolds, we see younger characters who aim to bring about change in this way of life and bring reasons for optimism about the future.
For the initiated, there’s a fascinating introduction to elements of Indian and Pakistani heritage and culture, including poetry and dance. Ahmad employs a rich vocabulary in the novel that is enhanced by the inclusion of Lahorian words and phrases that are not explained. This is total immersion in the culture and Google translate is recommended if you want to get maximum value from the terms used! The educated élite Pakistani characters employ an officer-grade English that today sounds comical in its correctness. The author has conducted an abundance of research and there’s a bibliography if you’re keen to read more.
The Return of Faraz Ali is a heart wrenching tale of likeable characters who experience betrayal and loss. Across all classes of society some have everything taken from them, even their true identity, and many of them never recover what they have lost. Yet the novel has optimism, happiness and humour – enough to make a truly satisfying read. Highly recommended.
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