A Thousand Splendid Suns: Heartbreakingly, Poignantly Real

Since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan last year, snippets of numbing news have been coming in almost every month:

• ·     Women have been forbidden from venturing out alone without a male accompanying her.
• ·     The heads of female mannequins have been wrenched off by Taliban representatives. As these supposedly represent vulgarity.
• ·   Women have to cover up if they wish to work outside home, either with clothes or even with a blanket if required. They can only take up teaching and medical professions.

Somehow, these seem like a chilling reminder of the Afghanistan of the nineties, that has been portrayed so touchingly by Khaled Hosseini in A Thousand Splendid Suns. The story of war-ravaged Afghanistan, it illustrates the devastating consequences of prolonged conflict on the lives of ordinary folk.

The novel traces the journey of two women from two generations - brought together by extraordinary circumstances, who become each other’s support system and shield one another in horrifying, inhuman conditions.

As usual, the author’s piercing gaze, combined with lucid, heart-touching storytelling touch a raw nerve. There will hardly be anyone who is not moved by this sensitive, heart-rending, tragic tale.

And what makes this story even more terrifying, is that those horrors are being replicated once again in present-day Afghanistan. Women are once again bearing the brunt of chauvinism and oppression. Hunger and starvation stare millions of common people in the face. They have become dependent on the charity of strangers to survive.

The Master Storyteller

Hosseini’s stories speak of the common man or woman of Afghanistan, the strife that splinters their lives, and the yearning for some stability and a sense of belongingness. The reader gets an immersive experience reading his books, other prominent works being The Kite Runner and When the Mountains Echoed.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, set in the Afghanistan of the 90s, mirrors his unapologetic stance on the socio-political realities of Afghanistan. Without mincing words and spinning a thoroughly engaging tale, Hosseini draws the reader into the painful realities of the war-torn country (the vulnerable, the weak and the under-privileged being collateral damage in any conflict). 

The newspapers bring us news of war-torn regions from across the world, but these remain nameless, faceless people to us. Hosseini creates such memorable characters that stay with us long after the last page is read, simply because they feel so familiar, so personal. Small details make them come alive as everyman who can be from any part of the world.

I could feel Laila’s anguish, Mariam’s despondency, Tariq’s helplessness, and the pain of countless Afghans like I was living through it. And sent a silent prayer for them, hoping they find some semblance of peace and happiness in their lives.

Women and War

At the heart of this story is Mariam, the doughty daughter of a man who refuses to acknowledge her existence publicly, as she is his illegitimate child. Shattered by her father’s neglect and her mother’s subsequent suicide, Mariam sees little joy in her young life. At fifteen, she is married off to the much older, self-centered, brutish Rashid who takes out his frustration on her in the form of beatings and other forms of cruelty. She resigns to her fate, and shuts her heart off from all human relationships, until Laila enters her life.

Laila who has lost her parents and teenage love Tariq to the sudden advent of civil war, finds maternal love and warmth in Mariam’s shelter. Their common tormentor Rashid leaves no opportunity to torture them both into submission (Hosseini shows domestic abuse in its most horrific, repulsive form).  

The unshakeable bond of humanity and love is what sustains these two women through their shattered lives that take the full brunt of the Taliban-led apocalypse.

Mariam’s final act of retaliation releases Laila from her prison-like hell. Terror begets terror and devastation, and no one knows and says this better than Hosseini. Still, the story ends on a note of hope and optimism amidst all the darkness.

(This story exemplifies the undercurrent of hope that runs through South Asian fiction, more typically those that are set in conflict zones. The Indian and Pakistani writing of the turbulent post-partition era, and the works of Bangladeshi writers portraying their struggle for independence, are bound with this thread of optimism. Writers are acutely aware of their responsibility to bring to the forefront the sufferings of common people in religious and ethnic conflicts.)

Triumph of Kindness Amid Tyranny

Their common tormentor leaves no stone unturned to torture Mariam and Laila, but their sisterhood endures. The way Laila tries to shield her senior from Rashid’s temper, or the manner in which Mariam fondly hovers over Laila and her daughter, bring a lump to the throat.

Just as the personal becomes public, the public tyranny translates into fractured, skewed man-woman relations at home. Expectedly, children bear the terrifying consequences of war. Their childhood is spent amongst explosions and kidnappings, and public executions of dissenters. At home, Laila’s kids, especially her daughter Aziza, are exposed to Rashid’s daily brutality. Along with the man-made and natural miseries, there is the undercurrent of deceit and betrayal that runs through these children’s lives.

The book is primarily a condemnation of the terrible forces that tear the country apart. The innocent civilians lose even the little joys of life like going to the cinema, wearing their choice of clothes, learning in schools, and travelling as they wish. Like the Bamiyan Buddha statues that are pointedly destructed, everything that is good and pure is systematically torn down by the ravaging rulers.

Among the sea of oppressive males, are the exceptions of Tariq and Laila’s Babi who retain their feminine qualities of empathy and tenderness throughout. They seem to embody the author’s worldview of equanimity and empathy.

Reflections in Today’s Afghanistan

We can’t help feeling a sense of despair at the present-day situation of Afghanistan. Abandoned by the US, and at the mercy of the ruthless present regime, how are the common people surviving?

Winters are harsh there, and we know for a fact that food supply is short. Aid sent in by friendly nations has been blocked, so what is carrying the people through in this torturous winter? It is appalling that the UN turns a blind eye, and the rest of the world pretend they don’t exist.

We hope the lot of the wretched people in Afghanistan brightens with time. Hope the children get a brighter future like Laila’s and Tariq’s kids eventually succeeded in getting. Hope the reign of terror ends. And let’s hope the Mariams wouldn’t have to sacrifice their lives to bring in that future.

#AfghanCrisis #AfghanPeople #KhaledHosseini