“No black has superiority over any white, and no white has superiority over any black, except on the basis of Taqwa.”

So, the ninth instalment of Aab-e-Hayat is out and we get to indulge in yet another dimension of the story. The good thing is finally the readers are able to connect the dots a bit. Although I was expecting more of the Chunni track, this episode was adventurous and touching in its own way.

Progress

We are transported to the rain forests of the second largest African country the Democratic Republic of Congo and its deforestation program which is extremely harmful for the native pygmies living there. The country has been suffering from poverty and and civil wars for the past 45 years. Salar is the country head of World Bank there, and meets Petris Ibaka (hope I am spelling the name right). Ibaka is a native but has studied in Harvard School of Business. Despite living in the U.S for 25 years he has now returned to help his people. Ibaka makes Salar realise that the program is not only harmful for the natives, but also involves heinous corruption. He and Salar bond immediately and Salar is put in a dilemma of whether he should quit silently or raise a voice against it. Before he can manage, the corruption of the deforestation program is published as a cover story in Guardian. The story goes viral and the headquarter tries to hush it all up. Meanwhile, Salar presents his own detailed report on non-feasibility of this project, which makes the headquarter put all the blame (of treason and passing confidential information) on him and he is summoned to Washington. Salar is extremely tense about leaving behind his family (Imama, Jibrael, Inaya and third one coming soon). He bids Imama farewell in a pensive mood (which Imama notices as well) and leaves for Washington after receiving a mysterious phone call.

In the second part of the story, we get to know that Waseem and Saad were killed in a mass killing at their place of worship. Imama is living in U.S with Salar, is expecting her first child and this sudden loss puts her in depression. She tries to meet his father who brutally tells her off and puts the blame of Waseem and Salar’s murder on Sikandar Usman and family. She then realises that she was unintentionally going to beg her father for forgiveness (as predicted by him before she left his home). She snaps out of it but cannot deal with depression. Salar is extremely worried about her but cannot do much as he is busy with his Ph.D. and job. Finally, one day Imama asks to go to Pakistan for which Salar agrees. She has the intentions to leave Salar so that he can flourish without her nahoosat. She returns to Dr. Sibt-e-Ali’s house but is unable to find inner peace. One day Imama gets to meet an old woman who tells her the meaning of shukar and makes her realise that what she is doing with Salar is ungratefulness. Imama realising her mistake phones Salar telling her decision to go back to him.

The last scene describes a neurosurgery being done on a brain with 150+ IQ level. The surgeon is one of the best in the world but ‘someone’ whose life and death depends on this surgery is extremely worried.

Connecting the Dots…

Using the first episode as a key, we can make a few guesses about the storyline.

1. The way Salar has left Imama in this episode, does not bid well.
2. The assassination attack shown in the first episode may have been planned for Salar. Now that we know that higher authorities are not happy with his honesty and he is getting life threats as well.
3. Salar might be the old man who had lost his memory and whose son was feeding him. This may be in contrast with his high IQ and photographic memory. But God knows what he did to deserve it if this is the case.
4. Salar may or may not be the person whose surgery is being done. I doubt this because it is too obvious that Salar has a super-genius brain. But then, this surgery might be a result of the attack on him.
5. We will see more of Petris Ibaka, probably as a powerful official.
6. Jibarel is about to play a pivotal role in the story after he grows up.

Quality Rating

I would give a score of 3 out of 5 for pace, as the story is moving not very quickly. For character development, 4 would be appropriate. We have seen Imama going through much and luckily she has evolved in the process. The Imama we saw with Salar in Congo was a responsible and loving wife as opposed to the judgemental one we have been seeing in the past episodes. Salar remains Salar wherever he goes and we cannot detect any developments in his character. Overall the quality rating is 4.5 out of 5.

What to Expect

Unless a completely new track is introduced, I am hoping that episode 10 gives us more insight into Chunni’s track. Salar’s fate in Washington is questionable and we hope that no harm befalls on him. Imama will have to be stronger if she is to cope with living in dangers. She can take decisions but does not have the courage to fulfil them. May be she can be more of a help to Salar than she can think of. The episode was surely engaging and the readers anticipate the 10^th episode eagerly.

Looking forward to read your say on this episode.

Yours Truly

Noor-us-Saad

“Agar woh (Khutba-e-Hajja-tul-Vida) Nabi-e-Kareem (ﷺ) ki apni ummat kay liye akhri wasiyyat thi to hum buhot bad-qismat hain kay un (ﷺ) ki sunnat to aik taraf, un (ﷺ) ki wasiyyat tak hamen yad nahi, amal karna to buhot door ki baat hai.”

Finally, that which was expected from Umera Ahmed’s pen has come. The story which was going pretty straight for the past seven episodes has taken off in another dimension. Personally, I found this sudden turn in the story expected and pretty much connected to the previous tracks as we were already given a blue-print in the first episode. Let’s find out what this episode had in store for us…

Progress

The episode was woven in a matrix of excerpts from the last sermon of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ). The first thing that was condemned in this sermon is sood (interest). Imama tricks Salar into confessing that what he does at the bank is not halaal because of the unavoidable involvement of interest. Salar feels extremely uneasy about this subject and tries to avoid listening to the last sermon but Imama continues and each excerpt unfolds bits of new tracks.

We were introduced to Ghulam Fareed, a poor watchman at a school, who is heavily burdened with debt and interest. Despite having financial help from his working wife and two elder sons, he is unable to provide for his eight children and clearing off his debts seems a daydream. Chunni, his ninth daughter, was highly unwanted even before birth and lives a life of pure misery and neglect. To cut a long story short, Ghulam Fareed finds a way to ‘earn’ money by taking his share in the alms for the local Masjid by the owners of the school he works in. He manages this by double-crossing the Imam of the Masjid who is a fraud himself and puts all the sadqaats coming in interest-ridden investments. Moulvi sahib feels cheated by this act (according to him, it was only his right to peculate in the alms) and takes revenge from Ghulam Fareed by ousting both him and his wife from their jobs and defaming him to the extent that the family is socially boycotted. Ghulam Fareed losing his sanity, kills his wife and children , except one. Chunni (real name Kaneez) is miraculously spared by her father and is taken by the neighbours temporarily. She soon becomes centre of attention because of the aids received by authorities and finally lands with his maternal uncle, just for the sake of the aid she was entitled for by the government.

Another track introduced was of Ahsan Saad, a young boy who watches his mother being beaten every now and again by his father. He is brain-washed by his father that women who do works of ‘be-hayaii’ (shamlesness) deserved to be beaten and insulted. These shameful acts, according to his father’s definition, ranged from disobedience to not cooking food properly. Ahsan Saad develops fuzzy questions in his mind like should such women be even revered as mothers?

We also get to know that Hashim Mubeen has lost his son Waseem and now his remaining progeny is demanding to distribute all the worldly possessions he acquired by trading his faith. There is guilt in his heart regarding Imama and he wants to ‘confess’ some things too.

So a Little Guess Work…

The question of relationship of these newly unfolded tracks to the main Salar-Imama track is confusing and frustrating. Let me share with you what I have guessed.

Ahsan Saad is the Son of Saad from Peer-e-Kamil (ﷺ)

Remember the hypocrite university fellow of Salar who used to pose himself as a staunch Muslim but was involved in almost every sin that Salar used to do? There is a very good chance that Ahsan is the son of the very same Saad. The clue (along with the name) was in the following excerpt:

“Aur us ka baap aik ideal baap tha..baraish darhi kay sath Islami Sha’air par sakhti se kar-band…jo apni zindagi ka aik bara hissa maghrib mein guzarne kay bawajood aik misaali aur amali Musalman tha.”

Imama Hashim is Chunni/ Kaneez

A crude guess is that the miserable little Chunni we were introduced to could be our very own Imama. For Chunni it is mentioned that she neither needed this name nor this charactersistic (Kaneez), she was chosen by Allah for something else. This might be hinted at the extra-ordinary events in Imama’s life.

If we take this hypothesis to be true, then the question is who was Hashim Mubeen in this whole story? Following are some theories…

1. She was adopted by her eldest maternal uncle who bought some land for farming by cashing the cheques she received. In Peer-e-Kamil (ﷺ), Imama’s friend Tehreem says to her:

“Tumharay dada Musalman magar ghareeb admi the. Woh kaasht-kari kiya karte the, aur aik chhotay se kaasht-kar the. Rabvah se kuch faslay par unki thori buhot zameen thi.”

There is still some doubt as to who this uncle was, as farming is associated with her grandfather, not uncle. May be she was later adopted by someone other than the uncle. But one thing is certain, Hashim Mubeen’s family was poor before they converted and thus may be related to Ghulam Fareed.

2. Alternatively, the owner of the school might be Hashim Mubeen (already converted and rich). He could have given alms to the Masjid so that he could inject his own beliefs in the minds of the children learning Quran there.

The obvious loop-holes in this theory have led me to another hypothesis…

Imama Hashim is NOT Chunni/ Kaneez

I have more faith in this one. Following points go in the favour of this theory

* Umera Ahmed is a clever writer and she would not put such obvious clues. She made two different points in time to appear as same in Aks. She might be using this trick in this one too

* In Peer-e-Kamil (ﷺ), it was said about Imama that surely she was among the children who are born with a silver spoon (Page 81). We can see clearly that Chunni was born in extremely unfavourable conditions

* The owner of the school can be Salar as we all know he runs a school in a village.

* In the first episode, there is a scene narrating CIA finding something in a man’s past and his relation with a girl. This girl was born at the time the man was in Pakistan. The girl can be Chunni and the man Salar

* In the next scene a girl is shown holding her dad responsible for her family’s It can be possible that Salar may have adopted Chunni.

Ghulam Fareed is Alive

I have a hunch that Ghulam Fareed was not tried for his crimes may be because he was not in his senses anymore. He might still be alive and might play an important role in upcoming events.

Much to Look Forward to

This episode bore the signature style of Umera Ahmed and was definitely a starting point for graver episodes coming ahead. It, however, proved very challenging for me to review, so please forgive me if I have thrown some wild theories J Still there is a lot of ambiguity because only a few tracks have been unfolded. The pace was definitely good (4 out of 5) and there was satire in-between the lines that made up for humour. Let us see what Umera Ahmed has in store for us in upcoming episodes.

Thank you all for your support.

Yours Truly

Noor-us-Saad

Let me put it this way, my faith in Aab-e-Hayat has been restored now.  This episode not only had far more to offer than the previous one but also answered some of the questions that I raised previously.

****SPOILER ALERT****

Progress

Petris Ibaka is approached by a senior journalist Anderson Cooper who had been following the Congo issue lately. In their secret meeting, (which was also recorded), Ibaka openly talks about the corruption associated with that project and excessively mentions Salar’s name as an honest and helping officer. CIA gets apprehensive about this meeting and plans to execute Ibaka after obtaining his research documents. Ibaka is cornered in Brooklyn, New York, gets shot while defending himself, gets caught and taken to a New York hospital. After an initial surgery he is transferred via helicopter to Washnigton in order to lure Salar out of his hotel room. News channels were ordered to show Ibaka as a victim of car accident with full bio and passport size pictures repeatedly so that Salar sees it and gets out of his hotel room. When Salar goes to see Ibaka dying, his passport, laptop and other stuff are stolen.  Problem arises when a video appears on Youtube, captured by a schoolboy showing the full recording of Ibaka being attacked in New York and taken by two white guys. The video (as per social media trends) goes viral and the CIA are now stuck because they showed Ibaka having an accident in Washington afterwards. Cooper and his team also make the recording of the meeting with Ibaka public along with the false text message from Ibaka that he would not be available to meet them. These messages were sent to Cooper and other journalist after the video was recorded by the child. On top of it all, Ibaka’s girlfriend discloses his will that if he dies in an ‘unnatural way’ people of Congo should rise up against the oppression. The people of Congo do rise up against oppression and mass riots break out.

Earlier, before Salar reaches USA, Imama is called by her gynaecologist for an early check-up. She is unknowingly given injections to cause labour pain and is convinced by her doctor for a pre-mature delivery. She gives birth to a boy Muhammad Hameen Sikandar while Jibreel (her oldest son) takes extra-ordinarily cautious responsibility of his younger sister. Imama after hearing about the whole scenario anxiously call Salar (whose phone connections are restored just in time) to ask about his well-being. When the call is connected, they both cry and Salar offers a sajdah for his gratitude towards Allah that his family is safe. Due to all the uprising of people of Congo and media hype, Salar Sikandar’s status has been restored by the World Bank (only to deal with him later).

Hashim Mubeen comes to Sikandar Usman’s house and asks him to give him Imama’s contact number because he needs to return something of Imama’s. He is living in an old home and most important of all, has converted to Islam.
In continuation with the bar scene, Salar (World Bank Vice President now) completes his sentence that he believes in a one night stand but only with the Hoors. Jacky (who is a set-up by CIA as expected) is further humiliated when Salar leaves her with writing one sentence in Arabic on his visiting card:

أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم

Goodbye Ibaka and Welcome Hameen!

One genius went, another arrived. Let’s have a moment of silence for Petris Ibaka who died a hero… and two moments of joy for our little jinn (as described by the writer). We had all been thinking that the boy mentioned in Spelling Bee contest scene as being Jibreel. But Jibreel is now introduced to be a genious, responisible and introvert kind of boy. Now we know that that boy must be Hameen. I am super-excited to have more of this kid that would be a challenge for Imama and Salar. Remember Sikandar Usman’s wish: ‘Main dua karta hun tumhari aulad tumhein waise hi khwaar karay jaisay tum mujhe kartey ho?’ This boy is the answer to his grandpa’s wish.

Return of Chunni

Alright it is not a return but just a mention of her. For those of us that were of the opinion that Chunni is not Imama (including me) high five!! Chunni/ Kaneez is mentioned as being raised as the fourth child of Imama and Salar. For now, I have faith that Salar would adopt Chunni as he must be the school owner mentioned in her story.

Also, if Hameen is the kid in Spelling Bee contest then Chunni must be his younger sister mentioned in that scene. Because Hameen is said to be 9 years old at that time and his sister is seven, while Inaya is older than him.

New York/ Washington Confusion Resolved

In my last review I wondered why NY was mentioned earlier in the episode while later all was set in Washington. As I have complete faith in Umera Ahmed’s capabilities, it could not have been a mistake. This confusion was resolved in this episode as Ibaka was initially attacked in NY but then was deliberately taken to Washington.

Oh Ye Noble Salar Sikandar!

We, the fans, were quite in pain when Salar apparently accepted Jacky’s advances. He restored his stature as he virtually slapped her offer in her face. I actually laughed out loud when I read what Salar wrote for Jacky :-D One thing is certain though, that the CIA would go to any length to lure him into a trap.

The Operation Scene Again!

Who is that neuro surgeon? Who in the world is the patient? And who for crying out loud is witnessing that surgery? I have a feeling that the surgeon must be Hameen. But if the patient is Salar (which I doubt) then he would not have been doing the surgery. Or is he so confident that he would take the risk? Please share your own theories.

Quality Rating

The episode was medium paced. Umera Ahmed can develop characters with her eyes closed. Things went from worse to perfect so smoothly that you felt like flowing with them. The overall quality of the episode was worth 4 out of 5 in my opinion.

Please share your own review of Aab-e-Hayat with us in your comments

Yours Truly

Noor-us-Saad

The journey of Aab-e-Hayat came to an end this Sunday. As many die-hard fans of Peer-e-Kamil (saw), I too was over the moon about its sequel. But did it satisfy us? Well, that is a tad bit complicated, so let’s break it down. I will try to be as concise as possible, without summarizing the story.

Things We Loved

•  Like all the other fandoms, the return of our favourite protagonists was the first thing that attracted us. We wanted to see more of Salaar and Imama’s married life and we got what we wished for. Although, sometimes Imama got overboard with her ungratefulness, that was all part of the plan. It was Salaar’s azmaish in the form of his wife’s bad behaviour.

• The whole sood (riba/ interest) thing was beautifully integrated within the story. The concept of unlawful earning and its consequences was explicitly presented. Someone like Salaar whose whole carrier revolved around this economic system had to go through immense internal and external struggle to stand up to it.

• For me, the best part of the novel was the track of Ghulam Fareed and his family. Their part was perfectly relatable. The way riba was shown destroying lives seemed so painfully real. Ghulam Fareed, a man of average intelligence and meagre resources was driven mad by the devastating fruits of riba. It was touching to see that he came around and let go of his self-inflicted hatred by just seeing how well his daughter was raised by Salaar and his family.

•  Family bonding was a main highlight of this novel. It is not necessary for a woman to make an outstanding carrier to make her family proud of her. Imama was a perfect example of this. Despite being a house-wife, she was the pride of her husband. She sacrificed a lot in order to support her husband and children which made her the nucleus of her family.

• The last episode marked some reunions. I loved the scene between Jibreel and Aisha. Their conversation radiated a deeper understanding of each other’s psyche. The scene reminded me of the relationship between Zaini and Karam from Man-o-Salwa. The air of suffering from the past and the promise of a better tomorrow was encompassing Jibreel and Aisha, just like Zaini and Karam.

Things We Didn’t

• For many of the readers, the plot seemed divided into chunks which they couldn’t put together. At times, it was hard to connect the tracks, especially the timeline was all jumbled up. I personally, do not complain about this. Some pieces of art challenge your mind, Aab-e-Hayat attempted the same. Those who are familiar with Umera Ahmed’s writing style will have less to complain about, she has done the same in many of her novels like Aks, La -Hasil and Man-o-Salwa.

•  The use of superlatives was many a times overwhelming. Ok, we get the point that Salaar and his children had extraordinary brains, facing extraordinary situations, but did it need to be stressed so much? For a piece of writing in which all the other things are subtle (the message about riba, the relationship between characters, the adverse effects of religious hypocrisy) the constant use of ‘zaheen tareen’, ‘azeem tareen’, ‘behtareen’ was a little hard to digest.

•  The inconsistent pace. Some parts of the story were elaborated in great details, like that of Salaar and Imama’s initial married life. While others seemed rushed and half-cooked. The readers couldn’t connect with Jibreel, Humain, Raeesa and others, as they did not experience their character development properly.

• One dimensional characters. Speaking about character development, I felt most of the characters to be categorically black or white. Salaar and his whole family are white, Saad and his whole family are black, so are the US government and the CIA (may be a darker shade even). We know it is a work of fantasy but greying out the characters might have been more realistic and relatable.

• Correct me if I missed something, but there was a point that the sniper (the one appointed to assassinate Humain) missing to shoot someone once, despite his expertise. It felt that we will get to know more about this missed chance, but we never heard of it again.

                                                                        “AAB-E-HAYAT:
                                                      Alif: Adam aur Havva (Adam and Eve)
                                                    Bay: Bait-ul-Ankaboot (House of spider)
                                                   Hay: Hasil-o-Mehsool (The acquired and the toll)
                                                  Yay: Ya Mujeeb-us-Sayileen (O You Who answers to prayers)
                                                Alif: Abdan abada (The Eternal)
                                                Tay: Tabarak-alladhi (The Blessed)”

Aab-e-Hayat (Elixir of Life in English) was probably the most awaited novel in Pakistan after its phenomenal and life-changing prequel Peer-e-Kamil ﷺ. We had been hearing news of its publication for almost 5 years and when Khawateen digest finally announced that the first episode was due to appear next month, fans were over the moon (and so were Khawateen digest’s sales :) )

First, a little background on why is Aab-e-Hayat is so near and dear to us! Peer-e-Kamil ﷺ was and remains to this day the most influential saga for our generation, that inspired, intrigued and then transformed many lives. The story however, remained incomplete as Hashim family’s side of the story had been paused when Imama left her house to save her Imaan. They still need to see the Light and still need to be saved. Both Salar and Imama’s life had been transformed in Peer-e-Kami ﷺ and now Aab-e-Hayat came to flip the coin and narrate the tale of their journey beyond.

The first episode was more of a teaser of what comes ahead and looks very promising. Knowing Umera Ahmed and her skills, and getting glimpse in terms of ‘taash kay pattay’, one remains assured it will be a novel par excellence. Will it exceed Peer-e-Kamil ﷺ, only time will tell. Reviewing it is a huge task as I am extremely biased towards it ;), but will try to remain as critical as possible.

Pace (3 out of 5)

Seven episodes later, I regret to say, we do not have much progress in the story. Majorly, the story focuses on the couple’s bumpy married life, Salar’s attempts at being a perfect husband and Imama’s cycles of ungratefulness, realization (in some cases) and regret. One major breakthrough was seen at the end of the sixth episode when Salar and Imama were confronted by Hashim Mubeen and son at a restaurant. We had all been expecting this confrontation but still my pulse raced while reading that scene. A blueprint was provided in the first episode, keeping that in mind, we have a long long way to go. No complaints though, the more the merrier. :)
“Aurat kay liye buhot sari naimaton mein se aik naimat us k shauhar ka us ki zaat par paisa kharch karna bhi hai. Aur ye naimat kiun tha, wo isay aj samajh payi thi.”

Character Evolution (4.5 out of 5)

No one can make you simultaneously hate and love a person more than Umera Ahmed. I knew Imama from the prequel as a mature, reasonable and understanding person. Now she has turned into a typical ungrateful, grudge-keeping and self-pitying wife. In her, Umera Ahmed depicts a woman who has braced hardships and trials bravely and patiently, but now when she is in the hands of a loving and caring husband, she is being extremely judgemental. One thing I cannot understand is her materialism. The way she has been planning and insisting about owning a villa or estate is beyond me. May be we will get an insight later.

“Woh sirf aik hi bat ka jawab dhoondhnay ki koshish kar rahi thi: Usay Salar par ghussa kiun ajata tha? Yun chhoti chhoti baton par…itnay salon mein jis aik ehsas ko who mukammal taur par bhool gai thi who ghussay ka ehsas hi tha…
…who namaz mein dair tak is sawal ka jawab dhoondhti rahi aur usay jawab mil gaya. 9 saal mein us ne pehli bar apne lye kisi ki zuban se muhubbat ka izhar suna tha. Woh ‘ehsan’ karney walon kay hujoom mein thi, pehli bar kisi muhubbat karne wale kay hisaar mein ai thi, Gila, shikwa, naaz, nakhra, ghussa, khafgi ye sab kaise na hota? Usay ‘pata’ that kay jab woh roothay gi to woh usay manal le ga, khafa hogi to woh usay wazahatein de ga, maan tha ya gumaan tha…lekin jo kuch bhi tha ghalat nahi tha. Itnay salon mein jo kuch us k andar jama hogaya tha , wo kisi lavay ki tarha nikal raha tha. Ahista ahista woh normal ho rahi thi.”

As for Salar’s character, he has exceeded my expectations at being a good human being and a loving and understanding husband. The way his mindset has evolved is evident in his actions. But I have a feeling (and I am afraid to express it) is that one day or the other he will crack and his fears towards Imama’s disloyalty will take a toll off their married life. Just as it did when Imama went to meet Jalal Ansar (who has ‘evolved’ or should we say ‘devolved’ very much on his own).

Anticipation for the Next Episode (3.5 out of 5)

The way story has been appearing up till now, there was little room for anticipation on the basis of narration alone. BUT, as the first episode has teased a lot of great stuff to look forward to, anticipation for next instalment remains high every month.

On a different note though, scar on Salar’s shoulder due to knife attack by Hashim Mubeen was superb. In Peer-e-Kamil ﷺ I thought it would be because of his many adventures, but the way it was connected to the next part of the story was mark of a brilliant writer.

Humour (3.5 out of 5)

Umera Ahmed is notorious for her heart-wrenchingly sad stories, but occasionally there are bits of one-liners that lift off the mood. This criterion may not be the best for judging a good novel, but common people like us love these little jokes, right? :)

Some examples are:

“Saeeda Amma: ‘Ye samnay wale Zahoor sahib ka baitay ne Amina ko kaheen dekh lia tha, Maan baap ko saf saf keh dia tha kay shadi karoonga to sirf isi larki se. Khala ki beti se bachpan ki mangni bhi tor di’
Is bar Salar ne halvay ki plate table par rakh di. Woh kam az kam Imama kay kisi aisay rishtay ki tafseelat mazay se halva khate hue nahi sun sakta tha.”

“Saeeda Amma: ‘Ooncha lamba jawan hai. Qad tum se bhi koi adha foot zyada hi hoga’
Amma mubalighay ki akhri hadon ko chhoo rahi theen. Salar ka apna qad 6 feet 2 inch kay barabar tha aur adha foot zyada hone ka matlab taqreeban ponay 7 feet tha, jo kam az kam Lahore mein paya jana mumkin nahi to mushkil zaroor tha.”
“Aurat izhar-e-muhubbat aur satayish ko kabhi hum-maani nahi samajhti. Ye kaam mard karta hai aur ghalata karta hai.”

Well that is it from my side. This is my first review for Reviewit, so if there are any shortcomings (I am sure there are), please do let me know.

Looking forward to your feedback. :)

Noor-us-Saad

This was yet another slow-paced episode of Aab-e-Hayat but I would call it a ‘mood-setting’ episode. Umera Ahmed’s stories do not contain flashy words; rather she engages the readers with a strong build-up with simple language that makes you indulge in the situation the characters are facing. We readers have a strong complaint to make though, the episodes are getting smaller and smaller every month, and with slow pace, we do not get enough material to make our own speculations.

****SPOILER ALERT****

Progress

Salar is summoned to a meeting at World Bank Headquarters where he presents his case with all the facts and figures he could gather regarding the non-feasibility of the project in Congo. The panel however is unimpressed as each of them has their own benefits attached to that program. They try to convince Salar in every possible way to either resign silently (on account of personal reasons) or continue working on their terms. Salar however insists on either conducting an audit of the project or resigning on the terms of the report he presented. Failing to reach an agreement, the panel tries to buy off Salar. He leaves disheartened as he did not expect them to stoop this low. One of the higher officials Alexander Rafael attempts to lure Salar into a trap that he would be made the vice-president if he continues to work in that project in complete submission to the World Bank’s policies. Needless is to say that Salar refuses his offer straight away.

After leaving the office Salar feels a heavy burden regarding this dilemma and reviews his life which has been in turmoil lately. He tries to contact Imama but is unable to do so. He later comes to know that Petris Ibaka (who was also in USA) has had an accident in Washington and heavily wounded. He goes to see Ibaka dying in the Hospital, only to return to find that his travel documents and laptops have been stolen from his hotel room. Unable to comprehend this situation, he comes to realise that his phone signals have been controlled and he is secretly being stopped from contacting anyone (most probably by CIA). He manages to contact his father through public phone, who tells him later that Imama and the children are not at their home at Kinshasa. Apparently they have been abducted to an unkown place. Salar loses control at this news and feels more helpless and desperate than he did on the night he was tied up at Margalla hills.

He goes to meet Rafael first thing in the morning who tells him that the Bank is unable to help him as he has already resigned. Rafael also makes snide remarks about him that change Salar’s mind on asking any more help from him. At that moment Salar decides to leave the hope of finding Imama and children to Allah and also to end the World Bank’s dominance by establishing his own institute.

Meanwhile, Petris Ibaka dies in the hospital but he manages to do make sure that the World Bank sees its end.

In the last seen we see a man and a woman in a bar. The woman (Jacky) gets very attracted to the man who is not drinking alcohol and asks him to dance but he refuses. Jacky asks him if he believes in a one-night stand and he agrees.

Some Questions

Was Ibaka in New York or Washington?

At the begining of the episode it is said that Ibaka is fighting for his life in a hospital in New York. Later on we find out that he had an accident in Washington. Salar (who was in Washington) goes to see Ibaka and comes back to his hotel. Washington is at least at a 4 hours’ drive to New York. We do not get the notion that Salar travelled this much in a single day. So the question is whether he saw Ibaka in the hospital or someone else? Who was witnessing Ibaka’s surgery (if it was really Ibaka) that was mentioned in 9^th episode?

What did Petris Ibaka Do to Ensure World Bank’s Doom?

Did Ibaka pass the evidences of corruption to someone who can actually make a difference? Or is it all up to Salar to do something about the program?

What Makes Salar’s Life So Restless?

What is it that makes Salar and Imama’s life so bumpy and restless? Is it because of Salar’s interest-based jobs in banks? Or is it because he is not serving the higher purpose for which he was gifted with an extra-ordinary IQ?

Is Salar’s Family Safe?

I think we can safely assume that Imama and children are not in immediate danger. Imama has been somewhat useless in this whole story and has a role yet to play. She might do something on her own to help Salar out of this situation.

Is That Salar in the Bar with Jacky?

The personality sketch of the person in the bar fits perfectly to Salar. But is it really him? If it is, then why on earth is he enjoying company of another woman? Or maybe this is a part of his plan.

Quality Rating

This episode was solely focused on Salar, whose stubborn side was witnessed again. The way he loses control because of the possible jeopardy his wife and children might be in, was very touching. One can easily relate to the helplessness he feels. I would give 3 out of 5 for character development.

Pace was slow, and at times it was felt that things are repeated. A score of 2 would be appropriate for pace.

Overall, the episode bore many signature elements of Umera Ahmed’s pen. Apparently the story has many dimensions that are yet to be told. But if current pace and size of episodes is to be continued in future, I am afraid it would be a very long wait for us readers to reach to the end. All in all, I would give a score of 3.5 out of 5 to episode 10.

Please share your own review of Aab-e-Hayat in your comments:)

Yours Truly

Noor-us-Saad