From the Self-Quarantined ‘Solitude’
A Soldier’s‘Lone Long Walk’
Outside my self-imposed solitude, the fear of coronavirus has gripped, around
the globe, as the demon has started wreaking havoc across continents. Messages
on social media and talk shows on TV have added dread and scare to further
spread of the virus. I, beside seeking mercy from God, have taken refuge in my
books putting in the study room shelves. Here I have “A Lone Long Walk” in my
hands that is just a new arrival.
This book is simply amazing. It is unique and non-traditional. Although the
author, Tahir Mahmood, is apparentlya latest entry into the English writers’
club, yet his short stories have off and on been appearing in newspapers as well
as on web portals, which was taken as a happy surprise by many keen readers. “A
Lone Long Walk” is his first book that has recently hit the bookstalls; the
language, style and technique of the book is so attractive that I read it twice
during my ongoing corona-quarantine ‘solitude’ at home. One wonders how and why
would a man with tactical background write a non-military, non-traditional and
pure-literary book, that too in prose, which is a difficult form of expression
even for the native English. In Pakistan, English prose and short story writing
is very much rare – hardly there are mentionable names in this field; there was
a need to fill this gap and Tahir Mahmood seems to have done it well.
While going through his various short stories (keep in mind the order) like “Traveller”,
“At Crossroads”, “Choice”, “Line”, “Riddle”, “Red Roses in the Courtyard”, “She
Lives in the Garden”, “Where Cherries Grow”, “Rise and Fall”, “Mortals
Immortals”, “Dust” and “Solitude”, it seems that a title of stories is so
carefully chosen that it completes the circle of life of a ‘Traveller’ that he
is. During the course of his ‘Lone Long Walk’ and the process of thought, he
comes across hardships of life, love and sacrifice, call of duty, parting of
ways and loneliness in the end. The same process bears lessons into the
philosophy of life from dawn to dusk and birth to dust. It is like the diary of
Vagabond, wanderer of Wasteland or the vagrant of Great Expectations.
One realizes that a ‘soldier’ too feels, thinks and observes like us. He too is
a human. He too has a heart. He too dreams of a life of his choice, though,
obviously, he is trained in a manner, as a soldier, that ‘duty’ comes in the way
of his choice as first priority. The love of Motherland runs supreme and that is
the message of the 110-page book of only 28 short stories in row. This makes the
reader think whether a gun-carrying soldier can really have such a fine-tuned
pen in his other hand? Written technically correct, symbolically meaningful and
metaphorically evocative, “A Lone Long Walk” is a must read in one go of a 3-4
hour long sitting. It is a precious addition in the latest times with lasting
impact. Like Bano Qudsia’s Raja Gidh, the reader will need to reread it because
it gives an added taste of philosophical soliloquies once you re-intrude in the
author’s kingdom of ‘solitude’. In first attempt, one gets taste of the
sweetness of the language he uses, and in the second read one understands the
depth of his message.
The generation of today’s soldiers had opened its eyes amidst the dreaded war on
terror. There had been no respite, since early 2004, either on frontiers or on
inside fronts – they confronted the enemy and the enemy shadows head-on – which
on one hand has battle hardened our jawans and officers and on the other hand
changed their lives from training drills to real-time operations, mostly at the
cost of their lives. The tragic part is that the WOT has cost over 70,000 lives,
beside everything relating to social fabric, cultural life and economy, but the
most prideful of all is one shining example, which many of us miss to mention
while the contemporary world doesn’t forget. That shining example is, not a
single soldier or officer of Pakistan’s armed or civil forces has ever turned
his back from the ‘call of duty’ – unlike other nations who have ratio of
deaths, suicides, drug uses, desertions and hypertensive brawls with fellow
soldiers due to pressure of forced operational duties. Tahir Mahmood’s narration
from “Choice” to “Nomads” throughout the pages revolves around this fact, which
he proudly mentions in every story. Sometime, his ‘call of duty’ argument over
the ‘call of love’ embarrasses the reader but, given the hard fact of
battlefield, where seeing death eye to eye is not just fiction but real – the
author therefore chooses being a soldier, not a lover. His “Lone Long Walk”
proves that ours is not a Candy Land, but the most sacred of all Motherland. We
have to save it and protect from all evils and odds, and that we will.
Outside my distanced ‘solitude’, the fear of death is dancing in the streets as
twenties of suspects and infected people have been picked from my area and
shifted to hospitals. Once again, the Pakistan army has been handed the task to
come in the aid of civil administration and fight the monster. Equally exposed
and vulnerable, as they are human too, the jawans and officers, doctors and
paramedics are doing their duties in order to save the lives of the people. The
personnel of Rangers and police have cordoned off the entire vicinity where I
live, all the exit points towards Murree Road have been sealed fearing further
spread of the deadly demon.
The soldier’s ‘long walk’ continues; this time he is out to probably brave the
biggest of all challenges of life. The task is gigantic. I am sure our jawans
and officers will win no matter how grave the challenge is. Look, howTahir
Mahmood sums up his book in thesewords? It seems as if he is thinking ahead of
time;the relevance of his lines with the newborn enormous challenge is amazing:
“The struggle for ‘good’ passes through the garden of life where rose blooms
next to a thorn. Thus, incongruity also needs to be understood as it sows the
seeds of evolution and progression. Who knows the value of peace more than a
proud soldier who actually has to undergo the rigors of war? Yet, the desire for
peace never deters him from war. The struggle for survival and quest for beauty
go side by side, and reach the zenith of wisdom that embraces all through divine
compassion and forgiveness”.