Lajoo -a luscious GIRL-ismat chughtai. Review on Urdu Book Review - Delhi

The great novel by ismat chughtai is a satire on marriage and morality. Its an ambiguous and metaphorical statement on sexuality and our attitudes to morality globally as applied to women who are outgoing and labelled as luscious or too hot to handle .The new wave of urdu writers like manto , bedi and ismat or amrita preetam have produced the most innovative and creative literature in india light years ahead of  the present literature its comparable with the works of abdullah hussain and qurratul ain haider who are more traditional but equally rebellious the book in question is a remarkable triumph for femininity which celebrates attitude without attitude and morality applied to both sexes in an equally painful manner more in comparison with balzac then indian literature as its whimsical but ironical though it never loses its  optimism , yet its venomous humor is cause celebre .

The story revolves around a lewd muslim lecherous man , called mirza sahib who like a typical global male is a chauvinistic archetype addicted  to alcohol and dancing girls , tawaifs and prostitutes.Our heroine is a carefree , luscious beauty who enters his life and crosses the threshold of his house as a maid , her nakhras and  adas are too good to be ignored by any redblooded male like me or mirza , so inevitably an illicit affair starts and lajoo moves in as a mistress of the man and house as well .mirza is so enamoured he stops going to his lecherous haunts as lajoo entertains him at home with dancing and gazals and mirza is so won over he proposes to her and they enter nikaah which makes them the holier then holy and hilariously their legal connection modifies their relationship .

This is the pivotal part of the unique story as lajoo now expects more as a wife  and mirza still wants an entertainer so the ultimate result is disastrous  as  mr mirza goes  back to his wayward women and lajoo bored to bits as a housewife gets involved with a younger toyboy as lajoo is a real woman not a caricature of the endlessly sufferring indian woman who will be tormented and bear any vicissitudes the following exploration of adultery is masterfully handled as only a woman writer can do with a psychological blow to the ego of mirza as he discoversthe scandal and in a rage he beats up lajoo and bestowing her with talaq throws her out of his life and house .

But this is where the magical twist now awaits the reader and humanity , as our writer is a genius [i know women arent supposed to be so but there  are exceptions to all rules ]and she delivers a slap to the morality of our so called moral contractors who I think she regards as immoral vultures .lajoo enters mirzas house next day wearing the ensemble costume he saw her in the first encounter and goes about doing her chores as a maid as if nothing had transpired and its a sheer blessing for the poor mirza who sheepishly accepts her back and the unholy reunion is re -established as just what I would expect from a genius writing on the institution of marriage.

In lajoo the concept of sin , love , marriage has been altered for all ages to come and ismat makes history as she did with lihaaf[on child rape and lesbianism ], but for that she was jailed by the authorities and ill write on that another time .here she is revolting very subtly and the maturity of this book is too hard to handle for squeamish , the religion is not being questioned its the personal conscience which defines religion or society for that matter which is being debated and the story is brilliantly outlining the authors personal opinions as applied to social injustice and moral recklessness not just for the gender bender but for all the stereotypes as she damns them to hell with lajoos emancipation heres to the emancipation of lajoo and the luscious girls as they make me feel alive and keep my heart beating and my mind ticking , lets pray for more ismat chughtais .lets see how ratnam, amir khan and kareena interpret  it in bollywood style.

I do think amir will handle it well as he did fanaa last year and kareena was superb as omkaras desdemona which is another literary masterpiece .but they have to be very defiant if they are sincere to the story , as defiant as the writer was when she wrote this  masterpiece and that was a miraculous happenning god bless lajoos and may ismats soul rest in peace amen dedi cated to ava suri my best and most intelligent female friend on mouth shutkudos to cool water