Infidel: The Hirsi effect

The Hirsi effectValsala qualifies ‘Infidel’ as “timely and significant”. For, it tells the story of a woman who braved a violent childhood and youth to evolve into a writer, feminist activist and politician to reckon with. Hirsi Ali, in narrating her life, problematises the Islamic faith and the socio-political circumstances in Muslim countries; Latin American Muslims being a doubly marginalised race.A tributeIt was not a very appropriate time to share a reading experience. And it did not turn out to be so either. Sheela Thomas, secretary to the Chief Minister, only took some time off to talk to about P G Tenzing, a friend who always followed his heart - when he crash-landed into the Civil Services at age 22, when he waded through the bureaucratic labyrinth relying on his own instincts to function as a beacon light, when he junked the cozy IAS moorings to set off on an Enfield Thunderbird for those miles he had to go before he slept.Magical imagesShaji N Karun chose for Bookie his last-read book, the one that he was absorbed in after Kutty Srank set sail. “Perhaps,” said he,  “that is why, the magical realism of Juan Rulfo was an all the more endearing experience. Kutty Srank, with its non-linear narrative, does have a fleeting element of the magical.” Solitary selfIn the neatly laid out home of this former technocrat, decked up with paintings done by his wife, the only nook that seemed messed up was his study. With books standing tall in the built-in cupboards extended down to the floor, encroaching into spaces like the teapoy, computer table and chairs and lying about in aplomb, the small room had a warmth that much-loved, much-frequented places radiate unlike the impersonal order of flawlessly tidy spaces.  He was only making a choice for the sake of Bookie when he picked Peter Carey’s ‘His Illegal Self’ from among the hundreds of books on his reading list.Magical memories“The very opening lines of the book were absolutely arresting for me.” - My mother asked me to go with her to sell the house. “I had gone through a very similar experience during a bad phase in my life. And the pain, the tumultuous emotions that bore down on me that day, everything came alive in that moment,” recounts Meera, talking with an urgency that grips you when the past floods your mind. ‘The feeling of Dejavu didn’t cease there’.An Indian classicOne of the profound moments in the novel, says Sudheer, is when Jeevan accompanies his father, Jagadbandhu Masai, to the banks of Ganga, both aware that those are their final moments together. The father asks the son, ‘Jeevan, is there anything that you want to ask me?’ He has taught his son everything he knows and is preparing to take leave of his role as mentor and guide. Jeevan, the inheritor of the knowledge, the prodigy, breaks down at the immensity of this moment of awareness.