Of Necessity And Wanting by Sascha A. Akhtar

 

Of Necessity And Wanting by Sascha A. Akhtar.

Published 11th October 2020 by The 87 Press.

From the cover of the book:

Of Necessity & Wanting is a collection of lyrical, atmospheric stories of varying lengths set in urban Pakistan.

At its forefront are the concerns of people who are lower down on the metaphorical ‘chain’ of status and power, especially in the context of their symbiotic relationship with 
those they see as 'other', 'privileged' or 'fair'.

Akhtar’s breath taking prose, which combines social realism with complex and intricate plots, desires, and psycho-geographies—represents a ground breaking exploration of women’s rights, such as independence and emancipation, in South Asia.

Sharply observed and tightly spun. Sascha has the eye of a poet and the ear of a wanderer. She writes precisely and lyrically. It’s a thing of beauty. Mohammad Hanif. Author of A Case Of Exploding Mangoes, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti and Bhutto: The Musical.

There is a familiarity in Akhtar’s characters that reminds us that, whomever or wherever we are, we share the same truths. Deliciously written, always entertaining and filled with striking imagery, Akhtar’s stories do the most magical thing - they show us who we are. Nik Perring. Author of Beautiful Words, Beautiful Trees, and Not So Perfect.

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What a fabulous, and eye-opening collection of short stories from Sascha Akhtar about life in urban Pakistan. 

Of Necessity and Wanting gives us a fascinating, detailed, and often shocking glimpse into the lives of some very different characters who are seen as 'lower down' in the context of their own social circles, but who are nonetheless alike in their shared requirement for the things that they need to live, and the things they desire in order to fulfil their aspirations.

The first story is The White Cage. This is about Rumina, known as Guddi, a young girl from a middle class family whose mother has high ideas about climbing the social ladder and ensuring her daughter marries well. This was such an interesting look at the whole marriage market business in Pakistan and the booming beauty industry that fuels the obsession with being fair of complexion. This was my favourite and ends with the most wonderful 'punching the air' moment.

The second story, Paani: Water, is told from the point of view of a country boy made good, Akram, who finds himself running the household of a wealthy family in Karachi. This is the most shocking of the three, as it examines the water politics of Pakistan.

The third story, Janat Ki Huwa: The Air In Paradise, is the story of Javed and Zainab and is essentially a love story about two young people trying to make a living in Karachi, highlighting the reality of life at the lower end of the social scale. For me, this was the most heart-warming of the three tales, despite the difficulties they face in their lives.

This collection, when taken as a whole, highlights many aspects of life in Pakistan that may seem strange to the sensibilities of those of us brought up in a country like Britain, but Sascha Akhtar writes  so beautifully that she carries us along with her lyrical prose and immerses us completely in another world. She expertly shows us what it means to be human, which makes these tales relatable to all. Alongside the more distressing and absurd parts, there are moments of joy, heartache, frustration and longing, and a desire to better ourselves, that we can all recognise, whatever our background. There are certain truths that link us all, and this is where the magic lies.

There is such much in these pages that will set you thinking long after you have finished reading this book, especially about women's rights in south Asia; the huge gulf between rich and poor; social mobility; and the complex relationships between people who are reliant on each other, even though their lives may seem worlds apart. For me, this makes it a book that has the power to educate as well as entertain, and is one which I hope will be read widely.

Of Necessity And Wanting is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Isabelle Kenyon for sending me a copy of this book on behalf of Sascha A. Akhtar and The 87 Press in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Born in Chaklala, Rawalpindi in 1976, Sascha Akhtar has led a life less ordinary. Her ancestral roots are Baluchi, Kashmiri, Pathan and English, and she has lived in Peshawar, Karachi, Islamabad, Murree, U.S.A and the U.K.

She grew up in a mixed-race literary family in Pakistan. Her maternal grandfather, Haq Nawaz Akhtar who was the closest thing to a father to her, was a Government servant dedicated to real change in Pakistan, in addition to all his charitable works, including an organization that worked to free the poor fishermen falsely imprisoned in Indian and Pakistani jailed for accidentally crossing over international waters. In his lifetime, they managed to free over 1500 poverty-stricken fishermen. He was also the author of 9 + books of poetry and fiction in Urdu and works of non-fiction including the important If Truth Be Told: An Alternate History of Pakistan and India. ( Sang-i-Meel Publications, 2007 Lahore).

In 1995, Sascha went to attend Bennington College, Vermont, U.S.A. She left for America on a scholarship at 18 with $1000 U.S. Dollars, that she had earned herself as a teenager doing a T.V.  commercial for Nestle Cerelac. At that time, she was a fashion model in Pakistan doing catwalk and print shoots while being a youth empowerment advocate with KZR.

When she reached college, her first job was as a food server in the dining hall. She lived in America for nine years, in which time her jobs included waitressing and house painting.

Her love of stories and storytelling began at home. Her love for Pakistan came from her grandfather, who loved his country terribly and helped it and the poor throughout his lifetime.

She dedicates this collection to him —a poor, young poet who was given the takhallus (pen-name) Akhtar in his village in Sargodha and was to keep the name throughout his life. Above all, he transcended the circumstances of his own birth.

“The characters in Of Necessity And Wanting are all reflections of my beloved Grandad Haq Nawaz Akhtar. Long may he live on.”

Her debut fiction comes after an 18 year career in writing, during which time she has had six collections of poetry in English published in the U.K. Sascha Akhtar also wrote for almost a decade for Libas Magazine - interviewing Nadeem Aslam, William Dalrymple, Mohammad Hanif, Kamila Shamsie and Aamer Hussein to name a few. 

Her literary criticism, film reviews, op-eds and features can also be found in the archives of Herald, The Express Tribune, Blue Chip and Himal. Currently, Sascha is a Poetry School London Tutor and judge for the Streetcake Prize for Experimental Writing. Her course ‘Breaking Through Writer's Block,’ has been published by The Literary Consultancy, London as part of their ground-breaking #BeingAWriter online programme.

She is dedicated to the promotion of the Urdu language. In this regard, she is working with The Stephen Spender Trust as an Urdu translator, taking Creative Translation methods to schools in the U.K. She has taught at the Poetry Translation Centre, London, working with poems by Kishwar Naheed.

Upcoming is a book of translations from the Urdu of pioneering feminist fiction writer Hijab Imtiaz from the Indian Subcontinent is due in 2021 with Oxford University Press, India. Hijab Imtiaz was also the Subcontinent’s first female pilot in 1936.