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- Start date
- October 3, 2013
- Finish date
- November 15, 2013
- Discussion
- Sakoon
- Discussion leader
- Nishith Vasavada
- Why we're reading this
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Set in Karachi, Pakistan, Sakoon is the story of a young woman's courage to raise her voice against injus…more
[close] Set in Karachi, Pakistan, Sakoon is the story of a young woman's courage to raise her voice against injustice. This is also the story of romance and suspense in the midst of an oppression and ethnic tension. You will see the other side of Pakistan, the one that both reinforces our current image and stands against some of the stereotypes.
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Review in ONE line:'A quintessential South Asian' story!
Reading this book really serves many purposes..It shows us a glimpse in a South Asian life..Be it India,Pakistan or Bangladesh...Social life and stigmas are almost identical..Though aftermath of breaking these social rules differ to a great degree between India and Pakistan,with B'desh being in the middle of these two..
This is a love/adventure story with a backdrop of India's painful partition..The story has many genuine,wayy too realistic Review in ONE line:'A quintessential South Asian' story!
Reading this book really serves many purposes..It shows us a glimpse in a South Asian life..Be it India,Pakistan or Bangladesh...Social life and stigmas are almost identical..Though aftermath of breaking these social rules differ to a great degree between India and Pakistan,with B'desh being in the middle of these two..
This is a love/adventure story with a backdrop of India's painful partition..The story has many genuine,wayy too realistic characters..A strong and independant female lead Sakeena who is also the main narrator of the story,is archetypal South Asian girl in her 20s..So is the male lead Rohan..This book depicts their love story their hardships,and their struggle with on-going political/sectarian strife in the ever-turbulent Pakistan..The book is in form of narration by multiple characters mainly Sakeena and Rohan,but also their dads and brothers..It took me some time to get used to this format of story telling,it was like that movie 'Vantage point'..Like one incident narrated with multiple different perspectives..
One thing I genuinely liked the most was that how the book tells the story of India's partition,probably the greatest migration in our history number-wise..With millions of Hindus who used to live in those lands migrating to India and vice versa..It was bloody,it was painful and a real human tragedy..ALso the book illuminates the issue of social prejudices so rampant in pakistan against muslims who left India to live in the new Muslim homeland in South Asia-Pakistan..They were sure that once they came to Pakistan,life will be good and they will build a new nation..They left their India estates and businesses (And as in story relatives too)to be in Pakistan..To build a new nation,only to be rejected from fellow Pakistanis on the basis of them not being 'authentic' citizens of Pakistan!!The story tells of these shattered broken dreams..Dreams of a new inclusive,accepting life in Pakistan...
The story also is about two young hearts in love..Who have to overcome social barriers to fulfill their desire to spend their lives together..Even in these times,2014..Love marriage is a taboo in conservative South Asian cultures(mainly in Pakistan but this applies to India too where one's caste decides one's social standing even in 2014!!)..Being from India,I know these issues firsthand,but the book might be of interest to anyone who is not from South Asia,to understand the complexities of South Asian and Muslim cultures..Although being from the same religion,Pakistan of today is absolutely torn due to Shia-Sunni struggle..Local vs Mujahir(muslim migrants who came from India in 1947 after partition) struggle,Pakistan vs Afghanistan issues and many others..Almost at the brink..Almost on a breaking point(as per WH report I just read yesterday Pak is on a brink....This is what happens when Prime minister of that country invites Talibans to a freaking CRICKET match!!I mean come on!!))..The book is an interesting one for whoever wants to know more about social dynamisms and interplay of these numerous factors that construct the complex Pakistani culture of today..
The book has three main storylines..Love story and history and adventures..
The love story part is very smooth..I liked it as this is a quintessential South Asian love story..Two young hearts love each other and want to spend their lives each other but they have to struggle to achieve that due to stigmas and social complexities..I will touch this base again after a while in this review!!
The part I enjoyed very much is the history part..It is very real and the pain of partition is still felt in the Indian subcontinent across the border..Sakoon is a story of Indian muslim migrant families and how the desire of a leading politician(
It is relevant even today and therefore the history part makes the Sakoon a compelling read!!This book is a must read for readers who enjoy historical fictions...
The book has something for adventure lovers too..As the book is action packed and after first 10 chapters,fast paced and with a thrilling plot..Sakoon captivated me with its love story,violence and adventures..The story is about on campus struggle between student unions,about how the Pakistani dictator had banned other student unions who did not agree with his vision of Pakistan..And how religious fundamentalism can ruin lives of people..It is all very real and it impacts all countries of South Asia to a degree but Pakistan has the most problem among all these nations..IN the story,I liked the character of Kaneez,who is a brave Afghan girl.who wants to become a reporter and tell her story,how she takes on a thug union leader Ahmed Khan and how it makes her and her mother's lives complicated..Kaneez and her mom are my most favorite side-characters of the story...
The plot of the story in a nutshell:Sakeena,a young lady in her 20s loves her brother Anwar's best friend Rohan Qureshi and dreams about marrying him..Rohan feels the same about her..Sakeena comes in touch of Kaneez's mom who is a passionate writer from Afghanistan,eager to tell her story,this makes Sakeena want to write and express herself too..And they interview a thug which leads to trouble..I won't give away many spoilers but the story is really interesting and captivating,it has something for everyone....It's a tragedy in 2014 that the most time these two lovers could spend together without being judged by family,friends and strangers was the time the two spent together in their situation!!But that's South Asia for you!(To any1 who is reading this review and is not from South Asia-Have you ever imagined best friend of a neighbour of your 5th cousin's aunt getting all worked up to find a suitable boy/girl for you??THAT happens in India and other countries of the subcontinent!Thats a reality and thats why any westerner or non-South Asian who wants to know more about South Asian complexities should read this book!!)..I admired Sakeena's courage and passion about expressing herself much like real life Pakistani super hero Malala..In my mind Sakeena is the hands-down main character of the story....
Another thing I liked the most about the sakoon is its characters-other than the main heroine Sakeena,the story has a bevy of strong realistic characters..Most notables among them being Kaneez and her mother as I said earlier,but also Nabeela,Rohan's idealistic kind hearted grandmother,who is the moral voice of reason of her family..In the beginning I liked her character the most of them all... The format of the story is narrations by multiple characters as I said earlier,which caused me some confusion,but at the same time this format made the story very likable,in a way like when you read the story you feel that you are there,in the front of that character and he/she is telling you the story in person!!It was interesting!!The story has better female characters compared to male characters and I liked it too(I am a feminist!)..Rohan is certainly the best male character in the book..But both his grandfather and Sakeena's dad, and Sakeena's brother Anwar also have compelling stories of their lives to tell us,the readers!!
Another interesting character is that of Col.Majid..Who is an ISI agent and his story is that of a redemption of sins of his brother..This was very moving and inspiring actually..
The author has mastered the art of giving life to ordinary characters like Rickshaw driver Lala Latif..His character shows us that India or Pakistan,common decency still remains in hearts of average people of these two nations..And there's still hope for us all!
The book has a clear message to us all,to all the countries,that unchecked religious fanaticism will invariably lead to demise of a nation...Be it Pakistan or India..Self serving and corrupt leaders who brainwash their people to serve their narrow self interest will ultimately cause downfall of themselves as well as their countries..In the end who suffer the most are humans,like us,who are all the same..Just humans who want a good life and don't get it because of this denial and fundamentalism..Which is really sad..
How I liked/felt about diff parts of the story-
The beginning-It was a little confusing as I kinda struggled to remember back-stories of individual characters..This phase lasted like for 10 chapters after that the flow of the story became lucid..
Sakeena and Rohan's love story-I liked it..
Sakeena and Kaneez's adventures and encounters with thugs..My most fav part of the story
The climax-also very very fast paced and action packed..Thrilling..This is around 65% mark and lasts till almost 95% mark of the book..
The aftermath-it was good..
The end-I liked it too..
The plot-very realistic,fast and lucid after first 10 chapters..
Narration-Confusing at the beginning but one gets used to it after a while..and brings a new dimension to the story..
The history-this is a bonus in the story.The historical background of the partition and riots,broken dreams and the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971(the war in which India won and created Bangladesh!Yay!)..It all was very intriguing..Being an Indian,I am proud of India's triumphs in these wars but knowing the Pakistani perspective on the war was interesting in the book..False sense of pride and unwillingness to accept and face reality leads to creation of chaos and Pakistan of today is an example of that ..(Like blaming everything on 'Zionists' when there are almost NO Zionist or even Jewish people who live inside Pakistan For example!....This absolves them from facing realities and finding a way out of chaos..This is sad but leaders make up such fictions to save their faces in their people and the problem/chaos continues!!)..
WHo will like Sakoon the most-
Those who want to remember 'Good ole days'before the partition..
Young readers who like historical fictions(like me)..
Feminists and readers who like to read stories with a strong female lead..
Readers who love romance and love stories..
Readers who like adventure/action books...
Readers who are open minded and want to know the Pakistani perspective on the country's struggles and history.
A westerner or any one who wants to know complexities of Pakistani culture..
This actually includes almost anybody!!So I highly recommend the book to you all!
Thank you!!
...more
Reading this book really serves many purposes..It shows us a glimpse in a South Asian life..Be it India,Pakistan or Bangladesh...Social life and stigmas are almost identical..Though aftermath of breaking these social rules differ to a great degree between India and Pakistan,with B'desh being in the middle of these two..
This is a love/adventure story with a backdrop of India's painful partition..The story has many genuine,wayy too realistic Review in ONE line:'A quintessential South Asian' story!
Reading this book really serves many purposes..It shows us a glimpse in a South Asian life..Be it India,Pakistan or Bangladesh...Social life and stigmas are almost identical..Though aftermath of breaking these social rules differ to a great degree between India and Pakistan,with B'desh being in the middle of these two..
This is a love/adventure story with a backdrop of India's painful partition..The story has many genuine,wayy too realistic characters..A strong and independant female lead Sakeena who is also the main narrator of the story,is archetypal South Asian girl in her 20s..So is the male lead Rohan..This book depicts their love story their hardships,and their struggle with on-going political/sectarian strife in the ever-turbulent Pakistan..The book is in form of narration by multiple characters mainly Sakeena and Rohan,but also their dads and brothers..It took me some time to get used to this format of story telling,it was like that movie 'Vantage point'..Like one incident narrated with multiple different perspectives..
One thing I genuinely liked the most was that how the book tells the story of India's partition,probably the greatest migration in our history number-wise..With millions of Hindus who used to live in those lands migrating to India and vice versa..It was bloody,it was painful and a real human tragedy..ALso the book illuminates the issue of social prejudices so rampant in pakistan against muslims who left India to live in the new Muslim homeland in South Asia-Pakistan..They were sure that once they came to Pakistan,life will be good and they will build a new nation..They left their India estates and businesses (And as in story relatives too)to be in Pakistan..To build a new nation,only to be rejected from fellow Pakistanis on the basis of them not being 'authentic' citizens of Pakistan!!The story tells of these shattered broken dreams..Dreams of a new inclusive,accepting life in Pakistan...
The story also is about two young hearts in love..Who have to overcome social barriers to fulfill their desire to spend their lives together..Even in these times,2014..Love marriage is a taboo in conservative South Asian cultures(mainly in Pakistan but this applies to India too where one's caste decides one's social standing even in 2014!!)..Being from India,I know these issues firsthand,but the book might be of interest to anyone who is not from South Asia,to understand the complexities of South Asian and Muslim cultures..Although being from the same religion,Pakistan of today is absolutely torn due to Shia-Sunni struggle..Local vs Mujahir(muslim migrants who came from India in 1947 after partition) struggle,Pakistan vs Afghanistan issues and many others..Almost at the brink..Almost on a breaking point(as per WH report I just read yesterday Pak is on a brink....This is what happens when Prime minister of that country invites Talibans to a freaking CRICKET match!!I mean come on!!))..The book is an interesting one for whoever wants to know more about social dynamisms and interplay of these numerous factors that construct the complex Pakistani culture of today..
The book has three main storylines..Love story and history and adventures..
The love story part is very smooth..I liked it as this is a quintessential South Asian love story..Two young hearts love each other and want to spend their lives each other but they have to struggle to achieve that due to stigmas and social complexities..I will touch this base again after a while in this review!!
The part I enjoyed very much is the history part..It is very real and the pain of partition is still felt in the Indian subcontinent across the border..Sakoon is a story of Indian muslim migrant families and how the desire of a leading politician(
It is relevant even today and therefore the history part makes the Sakoon a compelling read!!This book is a must read for readers who enjoy historical fictions...
The book has something for adventure lovers too..As the book is action packed and after first 10 chapters,fast paced and with a thrilling plot..Sakoon captivated me with its love story,violence and adventures..The story is about on campus struggle between student unions,about how the Pakistani dictator had banned other student unions who did not agree with his vision of Pakistan..And how religious fundamentalism can ruin lives of people..It is all very real and it impacts all countries of South Asia to a degree but Pakistan has the most problem among all these nations..IN the story,I liked the character of Kaneez,who is a brave Afghan girl.who wants to become a reporter and tell her story,how she takes on a thug union leader Ahmed Khan and how it makes her and her mother's lives complicated..Kaneez and her mom are my most favorite side-characters of the story...
The plot of the story in a nutshell:Sakeena,a young lady in her 20s loves her brother Anwar's best friend Rohan Qureshi and dreams about marrying him..Rohan feels the same about her..Sakeena comes in touch of Kaneez's mom who is a passionate writer from Afghanistan,eager to tell her story,this makes Sakeena want to write and express herself too..And they interview a thug which leads to trouble..I won't give away many spoilers but the story is really interesting and captivating,it has something for everyone....It's a tragedy in 2014 that the most time these two lovers could spend together without being judged by family,friends and strangers was the time the two spent together in their situation!!But that's South Asia for you!(To any1 who is reading this review and is not from South Asia-Have you ever imagined best friend of a neighbour of your 5th cousin's aunt getting all worked up to find a suitable boy/girl for you??THAT happens in India and other countries of the subcontinent!Thats a reality and thats why any westerner or non-South Asian who wants to know more about South Asian complexities should read this book!!)..I admired Sakeena's courage and passion about expressing herself much like real life Pakistani super hero Malala..In my mind Sakeena is the hands-down main character of the story....
Another thing I liked the most about the sakoon is its characters-other than the main heroine Sakeena,the story has a bevy of strong realistic characters..Most notables among them being Kaneez and her mother as I said earlier,but also Nabeela,Rohan's idealistic kind hearted grandmother,who is the moral voice of reason of her family..In the beginning I liked her character the most of them all... The format of the story is narrations by multiple characters as I said earlier,which caused me some confusion,but at the same time this format made the story very likable,in a way like when you read the story you feel that you are there,in the front of that character and he/she is telling you the story in person!!It was interesting!!The story has better female characters compared to male characters and I liked it too(I am a feminist!)..Rohan is certainly the best male character in the book..But both his grandfather and Sakeena's dad, and Sakeena's brother Anwar also have compelling stories of their lives to tell us,the readers!!
Another interesting character is that of Col.Majid..Who is an ISI agent and his story is that of a redemption of sins of his brother..This was very moving and inspiring actually..
The author has mastered the art of giving life to ordinary characters like Rickshaw driver Lala Latif..His character shows us that India or Pakistan,common decency still remains in hearts of average people of these two nations..And there's still hope for us all!
The book has a clear message to us all,to all the countries,that unchecked religious fanaticism will invariably lead to demise of a nation...Be it Pakistan or India..Self serving and corrupt leaders who brainwash their people to serve their narrow self interest will ultimately cause downfall of themselves as well as their countries..In the end who suffer the most are humans,like us,who are all the same..Just humans who want a good life and don't get it because of this denial and fundamentalism..Which is really sad..
How I liked/felt about diff parts of the story-
The beginning-It was a little confusing as I kinda struggled to remember back-stories of individual characters..This phase lasted like for 10 chapters after that the flow of the story became lucid..
Sakeena and Rohan's love story-I liked it..
Sakeena and Kaneez's adventures and encounters with thugs..My most fav part of the story
The climax-also very very fast paced and action packed..Thrilling..This is around 65% mark and lasts till almost 95% mark of the book..
The aftermath-it was good..
The end-I liked it too..
The plot-very realistic,fast and lucid after first 10 chapters..
Narration-Confusing at the beginning but one gets used to it after a while..and brings a new dimension to the story..
The history-this is a bonus in the story.The historical background of the partition and riots,broken dreams and the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971(the war in which India won and created Bangladesh!Yay!)..It all was very intriguing..Being an Indian,I am proud of India's triumphs in these wars but knowing the Pakistani perspective on the war was interesting in the book..False sense of pride and unwillingness to accept and face reality leads to creation of chaos and Pakistan of today is an example of that ..(Like blaming everything on 'Zionists' when there are almost NO Zionist or even Jewish people who live inside Pakistan For example!....This absolves them from facing realities and finding a way out of chaos..This is sad but leaders make up such fictions to save their faces in their people and the problem/chaos continues!!)..
WHo will like Sakoon the most-
Those who want to remember 'Good ole days'before the partition..
Young readers who like historical fictions(like me)..
Feminists and readers who like to read stories with a strong female lead..
Readers who love romance and love stories..
Readers who like adventure/action books...
Readers who are open minded and want to know the Pakistani perspective on the country's struggles and history.
A westerner or any one who wants to know complexities of Pakistani culture..
This actually includes almost anybody!!So I highly recommend the book to you all!
Thank you!!
...more
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