Book Review: Jasmine Days by Benyamin

Book Review: Jasmine Days by Benyamin

Quote: That's why I told you the story of the Imam. Poor Ali, he is an idiot who ran to the river to see the monster of his own fiction. If we don't see where a person is coming from, then all our education and experience is useless.

In a Middle Eastern country, amidst the desert stands the City, full of immigrants from South Asia. In it lives rebellious Sameera Parvin, a Pakistani immigrant who works as a radio jockey. She is a crowd favourite, loves playing the guitar with friends and is content in the city that provides her identity and burgers.

Her happy days began to crumble when her friend Ali an enraged Shia Muslim begins to tell her tales of atrocities the King and the nation has done against Shias. As the story unfolds we learn of inner politics of a nation, and a joint family: the Taya Ghar which is Sameera's place of grounding as well as emancipation. Sippie aunty and Aisha aunty present the dichotomy of restricting/jealous female companionship and supporting female comradeship.

The double standards of Patriarchy that allow men of the Taya Ghar to access Facebook but brands it the seven-level hell for its women is funny. But Sameera and the other females of the family are sneaky, they make fake accounts and the teenage girls of the family are not going to cower to age-old restrictions, they will exercise their love, lust and rights through music, education and work.

Sameera's relationship with her policeman father is built on a few words and quiet evenings spent on the balcony. Her father's long-distance marriage with her mother who lives in Pakistan provides the independence to Sameera but also gives a dose of desperation that comes with the autonomy to her mother back home.

I absolutely loved the pacing of the narrative and the placement of Sameera. An immigrant with a better prospect than she had back home. Like other immigrants believes his Majesty is caring and benevolent ruler. The contradiction between economic stability that Sameera enjoys and the personal tragedy of Ali defines the whole novel to the end.

The nation goes into civil war and Sameera and her family have to decide which side they are on. As immigrants their loyalty is to the King; this stance of other communities from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan soon makes them target of natives, and eventually, it turns into Shia versus Sunni Muslims.

I enjoyed the world building of Benyamin, who also happened to autograph my copy. He builds a nation of no name, gives it a King with characteristics found in all the dictators and a population that is a minority but diverse and layers it with harsh history. The Malayalam Mafia and their little fights with Pakistanis gave this story a lovely jolt and showed how similar as well as different all the cultures are.