BOOK REVIEW: 'Gohar Hone Tak'

'Gohar Hone Tak', Mateen Ahmed Khan in his precise introduction informs us the book is the first novel written by Fateh Ali Anwari and that Anwari has been involved in writing, both in English and Urdu for a long long time. He has not been bound down to any particular genre be it literature or science, education, advertisement and above all Journalism.
Through his foreword Anwari allows us to share his views on literature and look at the lines of demarcation he draws to distinguish literary writing from other writing.
Anwari has rightly called it a novelette. spread over 104 pages, the story is told in bits and pieces. The characters are quite few mostly appearing to add a shade to emerging picture, Sarfraz and Maya remaining the center of interest and Nabeel being the third line to complete the triangle.
We are asked to believe the characters of the story are fictitious. In that case it is puzzling as to why the author has chosen to put the main player in a precarious condition i.e. orphanage at early childhood, perhaps to portray the love and care of Christian couple for Muslim child and miserable life of a girl whose mother happened to be a low cast Hindu, the untouchable.
Sarfraz becomes a journalist, rather a reporter, having ample opportunity to roam about, see what is happening, go beyond the appearance, probe and look for the causes of event that are taking place and has the liberty to pronounce his finding. He has to communicate whatever he thinks, to do that he has to use simple language, straight and to the point. So the story is told in first person. The narration is in a matter of fact manner without being philosophical and avoiding the description of the intricacies of human nature.
The writer skilfully describes the natural surroundings and likewise conception of his religion, probably unacceptable for orthodox person, now a days called fundamentalists. He preaches not only harmony between different religions but rejection coercion and any interest other than the idea or belief itself.
For reason best known to the author main characters of the novel are driven through different phases of their lives the places they have to line in and the epoch making evens they are witnessing if not with heightening speed at least at the jet one. The days Fraz spent at Aligarh, the Shimla conference he covered for his newspaper, the process of partitioning of India, the blood bath that followed are examples of hasty treatment.
The only argument in favour of such treatment could be the attempt to compress it into a short novelette. As said earlier the style is quite plain simple, straight forward and to the point one doesn't have took for some thing deeper in between the lines. So is the language bearing no stamp of any particular area.
Tolerance and enlightened interpretation of religion emerges a theme.
Anwari himself being well versed in production and printing affairs has taken good care in this regard. Four colour title is attractive and binding durable.