Rust Never Sleeps

At 21,Deen is not your average textbook romantic. His disapproval of the circuitous tracks that establishments...

At 21,Deen is not your average textbook romantic. His disapproval of the circuitous tracks that establishments,emotional failures and destiny,have put his life onto is drowned in the momentary reassurance of heroin,pethidine and marijuana. Love,lust and desperation struggle for a coherent definition in his head. Music is escape at times,and a refuge at others. Shazia Omars protagonist in her debut novel Like A Diamond In The Sky might not be completely representative of the contemporary Bangladeshi youth,but she agrees that he is also not removed from the latters reality. Disillusionment is everywhere. So is substance abuse. The problem in countries like ours is,we dont talk about them, says the 30-something author from Bangladesh.

Despair and urban alienation,along with a volatile establishment that is struggling to meet the demands of a growing,eager nation,has become a part of the long list of sordid home truths of Bangladesh,like several other South Asian countries. But does being brutally honest question a writers responsibility towards his/her country? The job of a writer is to turn a critical eye towards most things. And if I talk about the problems plaguing my country,it is not because I have a Western readership in mind. Its because I love my country,I want people to take notice and change things for the better, says Omar.

It was when she was studying to become a social psychologist in the London School of Economics that the idea of the novel took shape in her head. I was surrounded by socialists and leftists. My protagonist is very socialist in spirit one would notice, says Omar. And then it was her stint at a rehabilitation centre in Mumbai that brought the problems of addicts,their relationship dynamics,and their negativity,before Omar. I had gone there for academic reasons and to train as a counselor. I came back with a story I had to tell, says the Dhaka-based author.

Omar had grown up mostly in Canada,studied across Europe and USA. But I used to spend all my vacations in Dhaka. And I also completed my high school from there, she adds. But one would question,how Omar,who had spent most of her life away from Bangladesh,could be honest to the truth of the fringe-sitters,the ghetto of the country. First of all,this is a work of fiction. And secondly,I had visited villages and slums for a course in LSE. So,I had an idea how things worked in that social strata, explains Omar.

Music,in Omars debut novel,works on various planes as metaphors,as a give-away of Deens suppressed dreams,and at times as a character itself. Music works as an inspiration for several people. One way to deal with addicts is to make them channel their energy into creative pursuits like music, says Omar. Also,its representative of the vibrant music scene in Bangladesh. Youngsters,like Deen,juggle genres like jazz,blues,rock,baul gaan,fokir gaan etc with consummate ease. Instead of taking to drugs (theres a sharp rise in addiction in the country) they could find reassurance in music, feels Omar.

While Pakistan has been trying to catch up with the meteoric rise of Indian writing in English,Bangaldesh is a slow starter. Writing English fiction is very new to Bangladesh. And the readership is also restricted. But we have also formed a forum whereby we are trying to give a concrete shape to Bangladeshi writing in English, says Omar.

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