SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY PAKISTANI FICTION BY MOHSIN HAMID AND KAMILA SHAMSIE

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 2 SOCIO-PSYCHO AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY PAKISTANI FICTION BY MOHSIN HAMID AND KAMILA SHAMSIE 51

2 Mahatma Gandhi has said that A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks, he becomes (The Story of My Experiment with Truth). In accordance to this, a country is a huge group of people with a strong bond of identity. A nation s identity depends upon shared culture, religion, history, language and ethnicity. In line with this, people s mind, thoughts and mentality create the nation they live in. A nation becomes what the people think, as the people themselves are the makers of their nation. Whatever is the condition of country, people s psychology always plays a pivotal role in it. Thus, the way people think, a nation moves and becomes. Similar to psychological factors, the analysis of a society is not possible without considering economic factors, as the motto of economic development is to make healthy and happy communities. There are many ways to claim the significance of economic development for a nation s overall progress. For example, due to economic development tax base is increased, again it is a fact that some of the very common facilities such as roads, infrastructure, parks, libraries and hospitals depend upon the taxes. Job development creates opportunities for better wages and benefits. Generally, economic benefits are the most vital forces to change the mind sets and psychology of common men. Pakistan. The present chapter deals with these two inevitable aspects of the society of 1. Socio-Psycho issues 2. Socio-Economic issues It is universally accepted that above mentioned elements of society influence each other and both together influence the creative mind of an artist such as Mohsin Hamid and Kamila Shamsie. 52

3 2.1 SOCIO- PSYCHO ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY PAKISTANI FICTION BY MOHSIN HAMID AND KAMILA SHAMSIE 53

4 Gordon Allport, a well known psychologist, defines socio-psychological issues as to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings" (Handbook of social psychology) A scientific study of human mind is influenced by actual, imagined or implied presence of others. This includes the study of mob-mentality, persuasion, attitude, social cognition, self-concept, ideology of youth, adolescence, collective awareness, study of racism with psychological perspectives and gender. Kendra Cherry explains the purpose of socio-psychological study in below mentioned words: What is it that shapes our attitudes? Why are some people such great leaders? How does prejudice develop and how can we overcome it? These are just a few of the big questions of interest in the field of social psychology. What exactly is social psychology and what do social psychologists do? - (Cherry, What Is Socio-Psychology ) With the help of the study of socio-psycho issues, reasons for various situations such as violence, aggression, discrimination, clashes of identity like self identity and social identity, group behavior and personal relationship can be explored. Mohsin Hamid has presented some potential examples which signify socio-psycho issues. He begins the novel Moth Smoke as My cell is full of shadows (Hamid, Moth). And suddenly he writes My inside is burning (Hamid, Moth). Initially, a reader may not understand the personification but after the comprehensive reading of the novel, the 54

5 reader would be able to grab the personification attached to the lines. Thematically, the line My cell is full of shadows (Hamid, Moth) describes the present scenario of youth of Pakistan. Social evils such as corruption, racial discrimination, bribing, violence and social exploitation have destroyed the life of common citizens of the nation. Further Mohsin Hamid writes My inside is burning (Hamid, Moth) that conveys the message that unlike the youth of other nations, youth of Pakistan are growing up without sufficient opportunities, information and services they require to meet their potential. These problems may be considered as social problems but the specific use of certain words such as Shadows and Burning confirms that the writer is giving more significance to psychological trauma affiliated to the situation. Validating Mohsin Hamid s thoughts, Ghulam Shabir Arain, a research scholar writes: There is mounting evidence to prove that lack of investment and an indifference to the needs of youth incur a high cost in terms of lost development opportunities, ill health and social, physical, mental disruption. And it means failure to fully support our present "asset" as well as next generation of parents and leaders - (Arain, Globe; The Global Journal ) The study of all the novels of Mohsin Hamid and Kamila Shamsie confirm that the problems which Pakistani youth face are heterogeneous. These differ from region to region. Some of them have psychological problems due to forced early marriages; some have psychological problems which have emerged from disease like HIV/AIDS. There are some people who find themselves helpless due to armed conflicts and there are also who have forgotten their ways due to misguidance. Expressing his agony, Arain, writes: 55

6 They (youth) have never let the nation down at any point of time. It is unfortunate that the youth, despite their contributions to national developments, find themselves trapped in a culture marked by guns, violence and drugs. All these have resulted in an unstable economy, a shattered confidence of foreign investors, lawlessness, and a break-up of the social fabric. - (Arain, Globe; The Global Journal ) Daru of Moth Smoke, who represents the youth of Pakistan, has played an inevitable role in the progressive movement of his nation but he is psychologically affected. Presently, Pakistani youth has lost hope for better future and hence has no expectation from the nation. Mob-Mentality is another method to explore the mind-set of people. Plato, the great philosopher had referred to the word Crowd Mind which is the same to the contemporary concept called Crowd Psychology. Opposite to the study of an individual s mind, crowd psychology is the study of the collective consciousness of a large number of people. One of the most apparent examples of mob-mentality is found in the novel Moth Smoke where Mohsin Hamid portrays the situation in Pakistan during India s experiments with nuclear bomb in The reaction of people was the same, irrespective of their reasons and positions. It is interesting that even though they belong to different social ranks, their feeling for the said incident is the same. When Daru is informed about India s nuclear experiment he asks: How do u (sic)know? Everyone knows outside. There is mayhem outside - (Hamid, Moth). Further the same situation is observed at the market place. Mohsin Hamid writes: The shopkeeper looks edgy, and the boy who 56

7 brings me my drink doesn t smile. Probably tense about nuclear thing. (Hamid, Moth,). Even though it was a mere experiment by India, people thought that India would attack on them. You know the first place they would nuke is Lahore Islamabad No. Lahore What about Karachi? and about Peshawar? - (Hamid, Moth,) There are many, who believe that mob-mentality plays a significant role in the diplomacy and international relationship. Mohid Iftikhar, a research scholar expresses his views that Pluralistic Ignorance is the central cause that creates the negative mentality among people of India and Pakistan. Pluralistic ignorance can be explained as when people unreasonably start disbelieving and ignoring others. In the case of Indians and Pakistanis, it is the fact they share the same myths and illusions and have the same stories - (Iftikhar, Improving Indo-Pak ). This sort of incident is described by Mohsin Hamid in Moth Smoke when Pakistan experiments a nuclear bomb. Seeing the screaming outside Daru asks: What s hell is going on? Manucci answers: We have done it, What? 57

8 We have exploded our bomb. - (Hamid, Moth,) Hamid brings together psychology and racism. Murad Badshah one of the characters of the novel articulates: The race of racism is no joke. Poor people are in trouble Let s be in trouble, Sindhi cap says, to the approving nods of the group. The Christians have the bomb. The jews have a bomb. The hindu have a bomb. - (Hamid, Moth) The incident shows the inherent animosity which has deepened more in the minds of people than at borders, parliaments or diplomats. Shakespeare has said: There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. (Shakespeare, Hamlet ). Regarding the same, Ammar Shahbaz, a columnist, writes in his articles: the connection between India and Pakistan is inherent and intrinsic, something that no political and military power can ever erode". (Shahbaz, The World has Seen ).The same case of inherent relationship is a hope to develop peaceful relation between the nations but at the same time, in the case of mob-mentality it is a curse. The comprehensiveness of the same incident manifests when even a common man such as a waiter at a tea stall in Pakistan is sad due to India s experiment with bomb. Hamid says: The shopkeeper looks edgy, and the boy who brings me my drink doesn t smile. Probably tense about nuclear thing. (Hamid, Moth) People of Pakistan feel the sense of insecurity even though there is neither official declaration from India to attack on Pakistan nor any threat shown from Pakistan s military that Pakistan is threatened from India, yet people are afraid. However, when Pakistan experiments a nuclear bomb, the anxiety turns into crowd 58

9 frenzy. Though the possibility of war between the two neighboring countries has increased, people in Pakistan start dancing into streets. Now in India, people also start thinking that Pakistan will attack Delhi or Mumbai. One of the most interesting findings of the chapter is that Indians and Pakistanis have pluralistic ignorance towards each other. When the world is sitting on the edge of war and terrorism, the best possible remedy of such problems is to enlighten the mind rather than developing the phobia. Another point to be explored with the reference of the novel Moth Smoke, is the characterization of Mumtaz. Socially, Mumtaz represents the condition of pseudo liberty of modern women. Mumtaz speaks the voice of women, who seem to be free but are not in the real sense. She is given the liberty for the costume she wants, she drinks, she loafs but when it s a matter of deciding about her pregnancy, she is not able to express her views. The perfect example of the pseudo liberty of Mumtaz is expressed when she confesses that she would not be loved by her husband if he would know that she is writing about prostitutes of Lahore and for the same reason she adopts name of Zulfikar Manto. This proves that when social suppression continues for a long time, people start accepting it as the part of life. Thus, a psyche is impacted by a social order. Mohsin Hamid has described some of the elements which inspire the readers to analyze the novel in a different way. e.g. Comparison of Mumtaz with Flame. Moth is an insect that has a fascination for flame. The fascination is so seductive that the moth goes closer and closer to the flame until it gets perished by the flame. Hamid has portrayed the character of Mumtaz in the same manner, which, like a flame fascinates Ozi and Daru, until they are perished. Berlin school of psychology has given a theory of gestalt. It means that people look at objects in toto and then pay 59

10 attention to parts and thus, perception is the outcome of the effect of various stimuli. Human being sees and understands objects, based on their cultural makeup and past experiences. The change of the weather, which is a natural process, is also compared with the mental condition of characters. All my life the arrival of the monsoon has been a happy occasion, ending the heat of the summer and making Lahore green again. But this year I see it as a time of festering, not rebirth. - ( Hamid, Moth,) The emotional chaos in the mind of Daru is expressed with the atmospheric movements. Just like the difference between rain and deluge, (torrential rain) he confesses that his mental stability is destroyed due to his fascination for Mumtaz. He knows that his attraction toward Mumtaz is developing at a lighting speed and he may fall down at any time. Narrative technique can be defined as a method and a technique adopted by the writer to tell the story. E.g. Stream of Consciousness, First person narration, second person narration, omniscient narrative technique and flashback. Margaret Laurence, one of the major figures of Canadian literature writes that different types of narrative techniques have different types of flavors which add something to the meaning of the work. I am not concerned at all about trying forms and means of expression which are new simply for their own sake or for the sake of doing something different l am concerned mainly, I think, with finding a form which will enable a novel to reveal itself - (The Manawaka \ITorld of I'-1Margaret Laurence,) 60

11 The narrative technique of the novel, Moth Smoke is also significant as Hamid uses narrative technique of multiple narrations. In multiple narrative technique, different narrators narrate different stories and sometimes there is also a story within the story. In the novel, all the three central characters are used as the narrators. The interesting thing is that all these characters are narrated by another person only. For an example Daru narrates Ozi and Mumtaz, while Mumtaz narrates Ozi and Daru. So, a reader understands characters according to the perceptions of other characters only. One of the purposes of the multiple narration technique is to show a character of the novels as per the experience and in relation with another character. Symbolically, there is no character in the novel that is able to express his feeling or condition. It says that if a person is good or bad, that is to be decided by others only. The mental condition of people of Pakistan is the same as the characters of the novels where common man is not able to share his views, opinions and emotions. Kamila Shamsie s In the City by the Sea has many ingredients for psychoanalysis and the character of Hasan is one of them. Kamila characterizes him as a confused adolescent who is struggling with himself. Hasan s mental chaotic condition creates a scope for the study of adolescent psychology. Adolescent psychology is the study of the mental issues, stages and various influences that a youth experiences throughout development into functioning adults. The novelist uses two important motifs; Dreams and Nightmares, to show the psychological movements of Hasan. The basic difference between dream and nightmare, dream is series of thoughts, visions, or feelings that happen during sleep while nightmare dream that frightens a sleeping person: a very bad dream ( Merriam Webster, An Encyclopedia Britanica ). The similar thing between them is that both of them are associated with human psychology and yet, are different to each other. The most 61

12 interesting experience of the novel is the one, when Hasan dreams to be a superman to save his mamu from troubles. In fact it was merely a nightmare of hasan, actually his mamu was not in any trouble. So in the entire novel, the happiness or the sadness of Hasan depends on what he dreams. From the beginning to the end, the novelist shows the character of Hasan in a mental trauma. In the City by the Sea, portrays Lahore, having an oppressive military regime, vividly recreates the confusing world of a young boy on the edge of adulthood. The beauty of illustration of the transformative power of Hasan s imagination can be observed when Hasan is shown pressing a stuffed ball to bring smile and dimple in the chicks of the ball. Hasan s fantasy for being Hassy-the super man to save his Salman mamu shows the difference between reality and wishful thinking. Shamsie portrays Hasan as a victim of psychological disorder called attention deficit, which prevails globally and has a high occurrence in Pakistan. Dr. Mohammad Khalid Zafar writes: Some of the most common mental health problems being reported in children are Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) -(Zafar, Why can t you, The Express Tribune ). Referring to the internal struggle of Hasan, Shamsie articulates the condition of her nation. Same as Hasan, Pakistan s problem is not from outside but from within. She indirectly suggests that instead of falling into the struggle at border, it (Pakistan) needs to solve the struggle within. The novelist, in her another novel, Broken Verses explores many psychological elements such as: Nostalgia Anxiety disorder Melancholy 62

13 Autism Bibliomania Depersonalization disorder The central character of the novel is Aasmani, who is a journalist and a daughter of a social activist. The first line of the novel confirms the significance of psychological elements associated in the novel; Her body is caught in the surf when I took back she is gone. ( Shamsie, Broken ). The novel deals with psychosomatic struggle of a daughter for her lost mother. Aasmani represents the people of Pakistan who feel marginalized due to several reasons such as excessive rumination, worrying and uneasiness after their separation from India. Aasmani suffers from Nostalgia, which can be defined as the yearning for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal association. The character of Aasmani is an example for those who have been losing hold on their present days due to the memory of the past. Even today, we come to read in news papers of Pakistan that even after 6 decades of independence, there are many citizens in Pakistan, who are still facing difficulties to live peacefully in their new Pak land. Due to their nostalgic mood, their lives have become pathetic, they find conflicts with others and consequently the conflicts bring miseries to their lives. The same sort of conflict happens with Aasmani who struggles to find information about her lost mother, but she is not supported by anyone and ultimately suffers from emotional aloofness. I looked upon the emptiness around me (Shamsie, Broken 23). The confused mental status of Aasmani also represents many Pakistanis who are as confused as Aasmani regarding their past. Similar to Aasmani who does not know whether her mother is alive or dead, there are many people who are not sure 63

14 about the existence of their belongings which they left during the time of partition. One of the examples of Aasmani s continuous nostalgic thoughts, is the first line of the novel: The old dream, once again ( Shamsie, Broken). From the beginning to the end, the novel describes the mental struggle of a woman for her mother. The novel starts with the same point and also ends with the same note to confirm that life begins and ends, but she stays at the same point of confused state of mind. Did she throw herself into the sea, or simply let it carry her away? Or did she struggle in the end to come to shore? Her name and the sand streams out of between my fingers, dissolves into the waves and carried way. - (Shamsie, Broken) Shamsie also shows emptiness of life in the following lines. A few hours later, they were gone. Dad and Beema on their way to airport, Rabia having tea at her in laws house. This was worse than the blankness of the morning, the emptiness vaster because it has sprung up where three people I loved had stood just a few minutes ago. - (Shamsie, Broken) The novelist represents the factual situation of urban society of Pakistan. In the cities like Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Peshawar the condition of some people is the same as Aasmani suffers from emotional aloofness, mental boredom and psychological trauma. An American journalist writes in an article: At first glance, trading green fields for gray grids would seem to be a trade up. - ( Urban Living Raises the Risk of Emotional Disorders. ). Kamila confirms the fact that the city slickers have, on average, more money, better food and greater access to health care 64

15 than the country folk. On the flip side, recent studies indicate that memory and attention can suffer in urban environments and psychologists have long known that city life takes an emotional toll. Urbanites are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression so the possible risk of schizophrenia increases dramatically among the people raised in cities. As Andreas Meyer writes, Some researchers have calculated that children born in cities face twice, if not three times, the risk of developing a serious emotional disorder as compared with their rural and suburban peers - (Urban Livings Raises the Risk of Emotional Disorder) After my mother disappeared I used to see her everywhere, not just in the form of other women but in empty spaces, too. She seemed lodged, like a tear, in the corner of my eye - (Shamsie, Burnt) One of the most unforgettable events of the recent time is the terrorist attack on World Trade Centre, USA. The attack put the entire world in the corridors of fear and anxiety. Although the attack caused death of thousands of the innocent people and created global political restlessness but, a deadlock it created, was the changed global perception of Pakistan and of other Islamic countries. Mohsin Hamid s The Reluctant Fundamentalist echoes the same message where Changez, a man from Pakistan, lives in USA, is fired because he is from Pakistan. He gets separated from his beloved. When the novel starts, Changez has returned from USA and now is seating at a restaurant. He sees an American tourist visiting the city. Hamid writes the first line of the novel when Changez speaks to the American tourist: Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard: I am the lover of Pakistan - (Hamid, 65

16 Reluctant). Unusually, the stress is given to the word Beard. After, the incident of attack on World Trade Centre, people have projected illogical fear of a man having beard on his face. The incident of 09/11 changed the attitude of Americans for entire Asia. Americans and Muslims changed their thinking for each-others. Both Pakistanis and Americans developed fear, anger as well intolerance for each other. Soon after the attack on World Trade Centre, the US government launched a war on terror and searched for suspects internationally. As a result of this, many Muslims and Asians, reported that they became the victims of harassment and hate crimes. Sikhs, who follow Indian religions, were targeted because the turbans on their head. Balbir Singh Sodhi was fatally shot on September 15, 2001, in Mesa, Arizona. Like other Sikhs, Sodhi was mistaken for a Muslim. According to the FBI report, hate crime incidents targeting people and institutions that identified with the Islamic faith increased from 28 in 2000 to 481 in Mosques were attacked as well as other religious buildings, including a Hindu temple in St. Louis, Mo., which was hit twice with firebombs in early Khalily claims that during last 3 decades, there has been constant increment in cases of mental health problems. The ethnic violence and political instability have played a big role for that. There is an alarming increase in the incidence of mental illness due to a persistent wave of violence, political turmoil and frequent changes in the social fabric in Pakistan - (Khalily, Mental health problems in Pakistani society ) Khalily expresses his opinion that there is a direct association between the present psychological problems of Pakistani and socio-economic adversities, 66

17 relationship problems and lack of social support. Claiming that change of mentality is the only key to overall success of nation, Nayyab Sharhandi writes in his blog that Why it s so hard to understand our people? Pakistan is the best country of the world and its people are really good but the thing is that we are not progressing because of the mentality of our people. (Sharhandi, We Need Change ). There is really a need of change in the mentality of Pakistan s people. They need to think beyond the old perspectives which they have been blindly following since years. 67

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19 Economic development of a nation can be defined as quantitative and qualitative change in economy. There are many parameters to examine the economic development of a nation such as standard of living, human capital, critical infrastructure, regional competitiveness, heath, literacy, safety and entrepreneurship of a country. Though, the term economic development is frequently used by common people and media, it is almost misunderstood. Economic diversification helps to expand the local economy and control the monopoly of a certain race of people to a particular work. At its heart, economic development is about building healthy economies in order to have healthy community. The scope of economic development includes the process and policies by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social well-being of its people. Generally, people consider the economic development as the base of overall development of a nation and people. Considering the facts of Pakistan s economic condition, as mentioned in Dawn news paper it holds 26 th rank of largeness economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), and 44th largest in terms of nominal GDP. But again due to the population of over 186 million (the world's 6th-largest), thus GDP per capita is $3,149 ranking 140th in the world. - ( Dawn, Pakistan s economic crisis ) It is also the fact that wars of decades and social instability, have impacted Pakistan's economy. Based on the study of history of Pakistan, in case of Pakistan s economic condition, there are many factors which affect the present scenario of economy of Pakistan such as: Continuous wars and battles Problems of terrorism Unemployment 69

20 Tumbling stock market Unprecedented inflation Declining exports Loss of foreign exchange through terrorism Influx of local people from war ridden area and their rehabilitation - ( Saeed, Pakistan: poor economy, rich country, The Express Tribune ) Andre glorifies the significance of economic development in Money is Root of all evils that common men work and struggle for money. When he is in debt, he also cries for money. The basic difference between human being is also due to money because money makes a person rich or poor. Considering the population as one of the root causes of the economic condition, an anonymous article says: The major problem in Pakistan is increase in population which is directly effecting our economic growth. Of course, due to higher rate of population, we should increase our investments but due to less financial reserves this investment is not possible. - ( Economic of Condition Pakistan, Made for Pakistan) At the heart of the novel Salt and Saffron of Kamila Shamsie, lies the socio economic condition of Pakistan. To lament the economic discrimination in Pakistan, she represents two classes of Pakistan which are completely opposite to each. The title itself reveals the theme of the novel. Salt represents the Poor and Saffron represents 70

21 the Elite class. The novelist presents her ideas on how socio-economic discrimination is one of the most complex (and damaging) inequalities in the society because it is so closely linked to other forms of inequality and discrimination. The factors which determine a person s socio-economic status have subtle influences on a person s individual identity. Factor such as ability, family background, ethnicity, accent and choice of clothing; reading material, language, leisure activities, political and food preference etc. These identifying markers are often used to (wrongly) judge a person s social placement within society and the perceived value of that placement. These perceptions and judgments are damaging because they are often used as a way of devaluing people who are thought to be of lower status. Trevor Phillips the chair of the Equality and Human Right Commission of U.K, alerts us about the dangers of socio-economic discriminations: This inequality can affect a person s self-esteem and motivation which may impact on other areas of their lives such as their health and employment. This disadvantage can lock whole generations of families into cycles of deprivation and stop social-economic mobility within whole communities especially when poverty is usually an underlying factor. (Phillips, What is socio-economic? ) When Aliya, a central character of the novel Salt and Saffron, gives tips to waiter her arrogance for her money is observed. She says; I tipped him more than generous amount.( That was another tip of dadi for making the lowly feel lower) - (Shamsie, Salt) About the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, Riaz Haq, a 71

22 retired government official who worked in tax collection in Pakistan for 38 years writes: This is a system of the elite, by the elite and for the elite, and It is a skewed system in which the poor man subsidizes the rich man. - (Riaz Haq, Working for the Few). The New York Times published the news that Pakistan s elite pays few taxes and widens the gap among financially unfortunate and fortunate. Much of Pakistan s capital city looks like a rich Los Angeles suburb. Shiny sport utility vehicles purr down gated driveways. Sabrina Tavernise writes: Elegant multistory homes are tended by servants. Laundry is never hung out to dry. But behind the opulence lurks a troubling fact. Very few of these households pay income tax. That is mostly because the politicians who make the rules are also the country s richest citizens, and are skilled at finding ways to exempt themselves. - ( Tavernise, Pakistan s Elite ) Pakistan s policy of strengthening elites and devastating poor gets articulated in the following passage: All this does is unmask the real character of this capitalist regime that has come out unashamedly and blatantly to strengthen the rich and the mighty in an economy that faces record deficits and is in an eternal 72

23 financial crunch. All doubts have been cast aside as the burdens of the system and its crisis are squarely resting on the shoulders of the deprived and disenfranchised masses. This is in reality an open declaration of a class war as the crumbling capitalism in Pakistan has made the ruling class more insecure. They have shed all pretence, hypocrisy, deception and have revealed their true colours with naked economic repression of the already impoverished masses. It is ordinary people on the street who are paying for the plunder of this cruel and callous Sharif government and their crony capitalism. The rich are being exempted from taxation and the capitalists given unprecedented incentives to raise their already huge profits whilst the poor are being subjected to more and more indirect taxation. The combination of these two policies have wrecked havoc in the form of astronomical levels price increase and inflation and diminishing purchasing abilities. People are being forced into absolute poverty, hunger, starvation and this not only in Thar and Cholistan. - (Khan,L. Pakistan; Strengthening the rich,devasting the poor ) The emerging gap among the poor and the rich is the problem for not only Pakistan but for any nation of the world. But in Pakistan it causes more dangerous effect due to lack of a workable tax system. As in Kamila Shamsie s Salt and Saffron, where the difference of earning also affects human emotions, Shabbar Zaidi says: 73

24 In this country, no one asks, How did you get that flat in zayfair? It s a very good country for the rich man who has chauffeurs, servants, big houses. The question is who is suffering? The common man. -( Zaidi, Tavernise s Pakistan s Elite ) Nasir Aslam Zahid, a former Supreme Court justice, agreeing with Mohsin Hamid and Kamila Shamsie s portrayal of moral decay of elite people in the novels such as Moth Smoke and Salt and Saffron, writes: In my time, it was considered a moral thing for a person to file a tax return. Today, corruption has broken all records. - (Zahid, Pakistan s elite ). The novelists send the message that in Pakistan, people have lost the respect for rules due to the moral decay and thus, merit has been forgotten and cheating has become a way of life. Somehow, the scenario in India is the same. One blames politicians, bureaucrats and government officers for swindling, hoarding and sending their money to Swiss Bank. The situation in Pakistan is the same where elite people don t think twice when they have to pay for their entertainment and other leisure. Faiza Mirza writes: Most of us work and every year we demand our respective employers to evaluate our performance. Some of us even fight with our immediate supervisors for a raise, however, very few of us think about giving an increment to our servants. Or is it just because we assume that the affects of price hikes only apply to us? - (Mirza, Letting the rich get, Dawn ) 74

25 Shamsie scorns the people who corrupt the society and expand the gap between Salt class and Saffron class. She shares a message that Pakistan s people whether the rich or the poor, need to understand that taking benefits of their predicament is not only against the principles of basic human rights but also causes cruel effect on the economy. It is the time when people should realize that if they don t pay the taxes as per the rule, they are increasing the inequalities. It is clear that the constant war and terrorism have affected the economy of the nation. Shamsie, in her final novel Burnt Shadows, writes about life of people living in War Forever condition. The situation of War Forever affects almost all the factors of society. The novelist depicts many examples where people are fighting for the food, they are killing and selling their children due to the drought. Regarding the impact of terrorism and wars on Pakistan s economy, the finance minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar himself confessed that: The mass explosions of in Pakistan were due to the exacerbation of these contradictions. With the down turn in the capitalist world from the early 1970 s, the ruling classes rapidly abandoned any pretentions of social reforms and embarked upon the policies of trickle down or neoliberal economics. (Dar, Daily Time Elimination of terrorism will make Pakistan ideal market. ) In another novel, In the City by the Sea, Kamila Shamsie indirectly portrays economic problems of a place, governed by military regime. She writes how the need of strengthening military power affects other areas of development. She describes in the novel that just because of the importance given to the military, the idea of building 75

26 a new school in the area was dropped. Now, there are many areas in Pakistan where due to militant importance, others projects of development would be over looked. Considering the role of privatization in the present economic condition of Pakistan, Mr.Lal Khan writes: Every regime in Pakistan since the imposition of martial law by the vicious dictator Zia ul Haq has been carrying out these policies in one form or the other. Both so called democratic regimes, especially the PML ones in the 1990s, and during the current period have proved to be bulwarks of the dictatorship of financial oligarchy. Instead of substantial social reforms, workers hard won rights and reforms have been brutally chiselled away. Even those reforms failed to alleviate poverty and were defeated by the inflation and the incapacity of capitalism to sustain such reforms. The later PPP regimes made a mockery of those reforms with its Public Private Partnership. Sharifs have come, all guns blazing in a crusade against the workers, not as a beacon of hope but as an expression of the despair of the populace. - (Khan, Pakistan; Strengthening, ) Validating the reasons of Pakistan s poor economic condition, it is said that another challenge is inflation. Inflation means increase in the prices of commodity. It badly affects the salary based groups. When inflation rate is high in a country then it generates the public debts, which is about 70 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. In Pakistan, this problem is increasing day by day. So how does one overcome this problem? Again, in Pakistan, there is a problem of immediate change in the situation of regional and international market. Utilities such as gas, electricity, water is another 76

27 cause of a problems because IMF forced the under develop countries to enhance their rates which is affecting the common man or salary based groups. They don t save much; in fact they just fulfill their basic needs. Articulating the economic problems of Pakistan, Mohsin Hamid depicts character of Daru in Moth Smoke who represents financially collapsed personality. Daru validates the idea of how First Epistle to Timothy in New Testament "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." When the apostle Paul his young disciple, Timothy, had this to say: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (sic). - ( The Old Testaments, Bible) Daru s unemployment is the basic problem for his downfall. He represents a young man of Pakistan who is well educated, skilled and talented yet he is unable to find a job. Daru was working in a bank as an office assistan,t but is fired due to his misbehavior to one of the regular clients of the bank. Over the years, many less developed nations and the developing nations have tried to cure the problem of unemployment of which seems quite prevalent in Pakistan and its neighbor countries. Pakistan s Labour force survey of states that the reasons and causes for this depends upon many things such as demographical condition, national politics and policies, regional politics and social situation ( Labour Force Survey , Pakistan Bureau of Statistics ) 77

28 It is fact that out of those unemployed people, more than 45% of them are young people. Waqqas Qayyum expresses types of unemploybility. 1. Unemploybility of Illiterate, Unskilled and Untrained people 2. Unemploybility of Educated, Skilled and Trained people - (Qayyum, Causes of Youth ) So far as the first type of unemploybility is concerned, the reasons are like lack of education, lack of skilled oriented programs, structural mismatch in academics, lack of experience, regional and province wise discrimination in proving the job (such as reservation rules). He expresses his fear that if initially skilled and clever young men are getting the job and if their knowledge is not incorporated with work experience then their knowledge will remain useless and will create anarchy in future. The youth unemployment in Pakistan is prevalent due to improper counseling of students. There are a few institutions which provide training to the students coming out from the education hubs. In the developed countries where the problems of unemployment is controlled, young students are directed to those professions who are likely to open new avenue of success and prosperity for them in the upcoming future. This is not found in Pakistan. This structural unemployment is also the reason of high urban unemploybility in Pakistan. It really lacks some of the institutions which can train, motivate and guide students and young people to become not only educated but also employable. Hamid in Moth Smoke writes about the valueless hunger for the paper degree of people: Badly. They want foreign qualification - (Hamid, Moth). Daru expresses his agony for being rejected by employees that: Eight c.v. s, seven flat out 78

29 rejections - (Hamid, Moth). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics declares that Unemployment Rate in Pakistan decreased to 6 percent in the second quarter of 2013 from 6.30 percent in the first quarter of Unemployment Rate in Pakistan averaged 5.43 Percent from 1985 until 2013, reaching an all time high of 7.80 Percent in the second quarter of 2002 and a record low of 3.10 Percent in the fourth quarter of Corruption is one the major causes of the present collapsing economic status of the nation. When Daru meets Butt sab to be recommended for a job, his hunger for work is expressed: I know banking, And I m hungry for a chance. I will work hard. That s the problem. Work hard at what? There just isn t that much work this days. Things are tight these days - (Hamid, Moth) Being unemployed, gradually Daru reaches to a condition that he is not even able to pay his electricity bill. I wake up sweating, staring at a motionless ceiling fan,damn they have cut my electricity - (Hamid, Moth). Lamenting the same issue of Pakistan, the International Monetary Fund of Pakistan gave its assessment that Pakistan s economy is at a high risk of deteriorating into crisis and growth is too slow to significantly improve people s living standard. Mohsin though his novel, depicts how economic performance has been substandard and average of domestic product growth is degraded in recent years. Indirectly, the novelist describes the condition of cities like Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and other cities where economic vulnerabilities 79

30 and crisis are high with sub-par growth. Mohsin comments on inflation in following words: Power prices have been rising faster than a banker s wages the last couple of years. - (Hamid, Moth). One of the leading news papers of Pakistan Tribune published the following news on 02 November 2013 under the headline of; Inflation hits highest level in 16 months. ( Tribune, 02/11/13) ISLAMABAD: Inflation in the country increased at a faster pace in October and touched 9.1% the highest rate in 16 months despite the statistical organization showing half the actual increase in prices of electricity. Electricity prices for domestic consumers rose 15.82% in October, Similarly, prices of high speed diesel and petrol were also calculated as an average and put under the category of motor fuel, showing only a 2.6% increase. In October, the government had increased diesel price by 4.3% and petrol price by 3.8%... Simultaneously, there are many people who believe that one of the prime reasons of Pakistan s present condition is privatization. It privatization is considered as policy measure program for economic improvement. The program was initiated when Nawaz Sharif became the ruler of the nation. The root cause for implementing this program was economic collapse of soviet union in The purpose of this was to improve the GDP and the national economy. Mohsin Hamid makes a satirical attack on privatization and writes: thanks to privatization and the boom of guaranteed profit - (Hamid, Moth). Indirectly Hamid shares, the opinion of labor class people of Pakistan who have always denied the concept of privatization. He, through the characters like Daru, Murad Badshah and 80

31 Mannuci depicts that although there was economic improvement in Pakistan but some groups of people have never supported the program. He indirectly articulates the situation of 2005 when, major demonstrations and worker's revolt took place in Islamabad by the PTCL Workers Unions Action Committee, in an attempt to privatize the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL). Jhumpa Lahiri writes about the Moth Smoke: novel turns on a brutal hit-andrun accident involving a complex socioeconomic triangle: - (Lahiri, Money Talks in Pakistan ). Mohsin Hamid writes in Moth Smoke that: There are two social classes in Pakistan The first group, large and sweaty The second group is much smaller collectively remarked as Elite - (Hamid, Moth). The novelist slams the economically discriminated society of Pakistan by portraying an incident of car accident where Ozi, who is driving a Pajero, crashes with a boy in bicycle. And there is no one who comes to help that boy to take hospital. A man in Suzuki takes him there. Indirectly he depicts all three classes of Pakistan s society called, the elite class, the middle class and the poor class. When the accident takes place, it's the Suzuki's owner who drives the dying boy to the hospital, bloodying his back seat in the process, but ultimately he is blamed for the crime. The writer represents Ozi as an extremely wealthy man who hovers and always stumbles in the money glare. Hamid also sets the action over a single, degenerate summer, when passions run high and moral lassitude prevails. And like Fitzgerald, Hamid probes the vulgarity and violence that lurk beneath a surface of affluence and ease. Hamid tells the story of a modern day Lahore; a city where some people drink liquor like Johnnie Walker or Rum or Vodka, pop Ecstasy and boogie down to ''Stayin' Alive'' as the rivalry between Pakistan and India goes nuclear. The chief character of the novel is Daru Shezad, a middle-class young man, pushing 30, 81

32 who grasps at a lifestyle he can never fully possess. Due to his best friend Ozi s father he could study at a prestigious school of Pakistan. But while Daru does better on entrance exams, it's Ozi who jets off to obtain that most coveted of commodities in the urban Pakistan: a foreign degree. Somewhere along the way, Daru's disappointment sours into resentment. The novel opens when, Ozi has moved back to Lahore, straining the already bad-tempered friendship between him and Daru, trying for their reunion, When Daru visits Ozi s home, he gets annoyed at the palatial home and expensive cars. Gradually he starts flirting with Mumtaz who is sensuous and sexy. Though Daru privately calls Ozi a ''lucky bastard'' who lives off dirty money, he's not the one to turn down his expensive alcohol. ''Black Label is fine by me,(sic)'' (Hamid, Moth) he tells us, ''provided someone else is paying.'' (Hamid, Moth) Only it's not fine. Daru, when he is working in a bank, he is rritated by a client at the bank who has deposited $30,000, Daru takes pleasure in saying the man's check hasn't cleared. ''I'm enjoying his discomfort,'' (Hamid, Moth) he admits. This attitude gets him fired, and soon Daru is too broken to pay his electric bill. So as the cool crowd continues to party in air-conditioned mansions, Daru sits at home and sweats. He spends whatever money he has on hash and eventually heroin, which he scores from a dealer named Murad Badshah, and proceeds to sink into a miasma of anger and alienation. When he's really bored, he kills moths with his badminton racquet. He starts selling hash to the party crowd, and he revels in the fact that, for once, the rich depends on him. In addition, Mumtaz, whose marriage to Ozi is actually full of chinks, begins showing up at odd hours at Daru's door. While Ozi is frequently away on business, it's not hard to guess what ends up happening. But the illicit adventures turn rank, making Daru feel more 82

33 disenfranchised than ever. The party crowd dismisses him as a sleazy drug dealer, and while Daru is falling in love, Mumtaz won't leave her husband and a child. Like most of the people surrounding him, Daru is a largely dislikable character. Despite his indictment of the jet set, he is himself a snob who condescends to the poor. When the going gets rough he beats his servant and withholds his pay. He turns his back on his well-meaning middle-class family, though not before asking them for a loan. Desperate to be what he is not, he is hooked on drugs that relieve him only temporarily from the burden of being who he is. But behind the toxic haze emerges the emotional architecture of this trenchant novel, a lost friendship, a mother's death, a broken marriage, a doomed love affair. Unlike the driver of the Pajero, Hamid steers us from start to finish with assurance and care. Both the novelists have used weapons of symbolism to illustrate the financial condition of their homeland. There are some elements used by these writers which in some way converse about socio-economic issues. These elements or key-words are like Air Conditioner and Cars. The scenario cannot be better described than in the words of Burke (2010) when he uses the analogy of the car Suzuki Mehran for the middle class in Pakistan and says: In Pakistan, the hierarchy on the roads reflects that of society. If you are poor, you use the overcrowded buses or a bicycle. Small shopkeepers, 22 rural teachers and better-off farmers are likely to have a $1,500 Chinese or Japanese motorbike. Then come, the Mehran drivers. A rank above them, in air-conditioned Toyota Corolla saloons, the small businessmen, smaller landlords, more senior army officers andbureaucrats. Finally, there are the luxury four-wheel drives of 83

34 feudal landlords, big businessmen, expats, drug dealers, generals, ministers and elite bureaucrats. The latter may be superior in status, power and wealth, but it is the Mehrans which, by dint of numbers, dominate the roads. Similarly Mohsin Hamid also uses the words Pajero and Suzuki to differentiate between financial condition of Ozi and Daru. I sit in the back of Ozi s Pajero. I ve never sit in a Pajero before. Costs more than my house - (Hamid, Moth). Moreover once when they are coming back from a midnight party, police do not stop the m for investigation so Daru says: Police don t stop us our drive home. We are in Pajero at all - (Hamid, Moth). Every time when Daru utters the word Pajero, he gives certain stress over the word that indicates his consciousness for the difference between him and his best friend. The novel Moth Smoke has two major characters to represent sweating class of people; Mannuci and Murad Badshah. Once Hamid writes: Indeed nothing made Murad more happy than the distress of rich - ( Hamid, Moth). This confirms the confrontation between rich and poor. Air conditioner is also given a special treatment. Daru has not even a single penny to pay his bill and his electricity connection is cut off. He remembers his old days by missing his air-condition and state the definition of a real rich man: They wake up in the air-conditioned house, drive air-conditioned car, go to air conditioned offices, grab lunch in air conditioned restaurants - ( Hamid, Moth). It is submitted that long lasting internal problems of Pakistan and its effects on foreign relationship have led to limited development in economic sector in Pakistan. Pakistan has failed to develop export business for other manufacturers which has 84