REHANA ALAM
Les Miserables in Isolation
Les Miserables in Isolation
We were miserable. An unknown and virulent disease was amidst us. We were not sure of how to protect ourselves from it. Washing our hands seemed trivial in the face of the havoc it had created in the world. My husband and I were both in the vulnerable, above 60 age bracket, so we determined to follow the lock down rules to the letter. From March 20 we stopped all our activities outside the home, shut the door against visitors and sealed ourselves from the world. That was how we were going to fight COVID 19.
Soon, however, our gregarious natures felt parched for human contact. We yearned for mental stimulation. On the one hand we thanked Allah for making our voluntary incarceration comfortable and on the other we felt the urgent need to immerse ourselves in something that would help us to pass the time.
I have always been a reader. As we moved from place to place, because of my husband's job, I relied on books to tide me over before I made friends in the new country. Whether I had time on my hands or whether I was run off my feet with responsibilities, I had a book by my side. Reading soothed me, delighted me and informed me.
In the COVID 19 induced isolation, too, books were my companions. But soon I ran out of reading material and found myself at a standstill. That was when I started trolling the book shelves in my house, and that is when I hit pay dirt.
Twenty-six years ago I had bought Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, in two volumes. It still sat on the bookshelf, spotted with age. Over the years I had tried to read it several times, after all it was a classic. Movies based on the book had been made and remade. The stage play had broken records of success. It was first published in 1862 simultaneously in ten languages and in the past century and a half it had only garnered more and more praise.
So why had I not read it till now when I professed to be an avid reader? Its length and the overly fine print of its pages were demanding enough. But what made me give up every time I made the attempt was the fact that the story dragged and I had so many other attractive options in which to indulge. I never went past the first ten pages in 26 years.
Now in April 2020, for the first time there was a dearth of activity and entertainment. Now I picked up Les Miserables with a grateful sigh. Now its length was welcome and the fineness of the print was disregarded. I began to read....
What a book it turned out to be!! I am grateful for the lock down, though not its cause, for affording me the untrammeled freedom to read all of the nearly 1000 pages of this monumental work.
It is unquestionably a masterpiece. Thousands of reviews have been written about its expertly crafted characters, on the vastness of its scope, on the intricacies of its details and the sheer genius of the work.
From my point of view the most remarkable aspect was how much the story resonated with Pakistani society of today even though the story was set in France of nearly 200 years ago. The poor were still voiceless in Pakistan. They still hankered for justice and bowed their heads in submission when it was not granted. They were still illiterate and hungry. Violence and anger abounded. There was still very little hope on the horizon. And the rich were still mindless of the misery caused by them and by which they were surrounded. The world was still very much divided into the haves and have-nots.
The power of goodness in the face of indifference and evil is great in Pakistan too, just as it was in Hugo's world. As I read page after page after page I concluded there was hope. Goodness, even in small measure, can get rid of the clouds of misery and sorrow. Positive action even by a single individual can stave off institutionalized and rampant injustice and inequality. Les Miserable had the Good Bishop, we had Edhi sahib. The world trundled on because of the power of goodness.
We are all beset by COVID 19. We have no idea how long we will be held hostage by this disease. When will a cure/vaccine be found? When will life return to normal? In this time of uncertainty, because of the lock down, I not only got the opportunity of reading a world renowned classic but also had the time to ponder over it. I am certain humans will overcome the challenge of COVID 19. We are extraordinarily resilient. Moreover, there are enough good people among us to counter the fallout from the virus. We will prevail. Inshallah. Hope springs eternal.
Soon, however, our gregarious natures felt parched for human contact. We yearned for mental stimulation. On the one hand we thanked Allah for making our voluntary incarceration comfortable and on the other we felt the urgent need to immerse ourselves in something that would help us to pass the time.
I have always been a reader. As we moved from place to place, because of my husband's job, I relied on books to tide me over before I made friends in the new country. Whether I had time on my hands or whether I was run off my feet with responsibilities, I had a book by my side. Reading soothed me, delighted me and informed me.
In the COVID 19 induced isolation, too, books were my companions. But soon I ran out of reading material and found myself at a standstill. That was when I started trolling the book shelves in my house, and that is when I hit pay dirt.
Twenty-six years ago I had bought Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, in two volumes. It still sat on the bookshelf, spotted with age. Over the years I had tried to read it several times, after all it was a classic. Movies based on the book had been made and remade. The stage play had broken records of success. It was first published in 1862 simultaneously in ten languages and in the past century and a half it had only garnered more and more praise.
So why had I not read it till now when I professed to be an avid reader? Its length and the overly fine print of its pages were demanding enough. But what made me give up every time I made the attempt was the fact that the story dragged and I had so many other attractive options in which to indulge. I never went past the first ten pages in 26 years.
Now in April 2020, for the first time there was a dearth of activity and entertainment. Now I picked up Les Miserables with a grateful sigh. Now its length was welcome and the fineness of the print was disregarded. I began to read....
What a book it turned out to be!! I am grateful for the lock down, though not its cause, for affording me the untrammeled freedom to read all of the nearly 1000 pages of this monumental work.
It is unquestionably a masterpiece. Thousands of reviews have been written about its expertly crafted characters, on the vastness of its scope, on the intricacies of its details and the sheer genius of the work.
From my point of view the most remarkable aspect was how much the story resonated with Pakistani society of today even though the story was set in France of nearly 200 years ago. The poor were still voiceless in Pakistan. They still hankered for justice and bowed their heads in submission when it was not granted. They were still illiterate and hungry. Violence and anger abounded. There was still very little hope on the horizon. And the rich were still mindless of the misery caused by them and by which they were surrounded. The world was still very much divided into the haves and have-nots.
The power of goodness in the face of indifference and evil is great in Pakistan too, just as it was in Hugo's world. As I read page after page after page I concluded there was hope. Goodness, even in small measure, can get rid of the clouds of misery and sorrow. Positive action even by a single individual can stave off institutionalized and rampant injustice and inequality. Les Miserable had the Good Bishop, we had Edhi sahib. The world trundled on because of the power of goodness.
We are all beset by COVID 19. We have no idea how long we will be held hostage by this disease. When will a cure/vaccine be found? When will life return to normal? In this time of uncertainty, because of the lock down, I not only got the opportunity of reading a world renowned classic but also had the time to ponder over it. I am certain humans will overcome the challenge of COVID 19. We are extraordinarily resilient. Moreover, there are enough good people among us to counter the fallout from the virus. We will prevail. Inshallah. Hope springs eternal.
