Daily Times

Haroon Khalid Akhtar, son of the famous Urdu literary figure Muhammad Khalid Akhtar, published a novel Melody of a Tear in collaboration with Niyogi Books in India. The novel opens on the dialogue “in my case a chic, low-neck attire and some loud lipstick is in order to make me appear a complete woman at-last unconflicted and easy on the eye truly dressed to kill.” A dialogue that raises immediate question as to who this woman is?

The novel is a complex relationship between three central figures – Waris, Zara and Zaid. Waris is a writer who takes Zara into confidence to give a happy ending to his narratives. Zaid is a banker who is soft hearted and compassionate bringing forward tears to his eyes and it is this soft side of him that attracts Zaratowards him. Haroon here breaks stereotypes of how men too can cry-a taboo in our patriarchal society where a man is considered weak even if he sheds a single tear.

The main theme Haroon focuses on is the emotion of love. How love, true and pure, a devoted love can win all battles. How love can win hearts and purge the soul of all melancholy and grief.

From here Haroon takes onto the different narrative styles. He focuses on simplicity of style because what comes from the heart and what really goes deep inside you takes expression in the most simple and lucid ways. What the common man can understand is the key to success for to send the message to the masses is what the aim of a true author should be. But at the same time, he says that every writer has his own style and it is important to cherish one’s own writing style!

Magical Realism is a vast theme that takes on different personas in different novels. For instance, in the Harry Potter Seriesthere is a supernatural element at work, in Mohsin Hamid’snovel Exit West,it describes a world which is no different from the world we live in today except with one small difference:

“There are doors that begin to open”

The central theme is of migration and it is not just migration of place but of thoughts, values, culture, language and ideas. It’s like a “kaleidoscope.”

In Caribbean Literature it talks of venturing into the realm of the unfamiliar, the exotic so the concept of Magical Realism varies from country to country, region to region and from one thematic concern to another.

In the novel Magical Realism is seen as a potent force at work where there’s a complex relationship between characters that leaves one confounded. There are no simple answers. Rather one is left with ambiguities as to who is the real victor? Who is the real narrator? Do some people die or merely change forms? Who’s figment of imagination eventually makes love to Zara? The answers are as surreal as the questions themselves!

The writer has no villains in his story. Perhaps the only villain that he can identify with is the city of Karachi.

A cosmopolitan city with its perils and insecurities

“Karachi was littered with jhuggies, slums and tragedies”

whilst at the same time on the contrary depicting the warm- hearted Punjabis Haroon Khalid Akhtar was born and raised in a family where the love for books was immense. Following in his father’s footsteps who was an avid reader Haroon after writing over a 100 articles and short stories for Dawn collected as ‘Threadbare’ finally gave shape in the form of the novel-Melody of a Tear.

Haroon was a banker for 20 years before pursuing his career as a writer. He was passionate about writing and the advice he gives to the reader is to do what one is passionate about! For success does not only come with hard work but also comes with taking up what one enjoys and has a natural talent for. And he aptly puts it:

“Trust your instincts when bestowing benefit of doubt”

“HKA has brilliant imagination and an utterly original voice.” Says Mohammad Hanif the authour of The Case of Exploding Mangoes.

HKA talks of how it is one’s personal experiences that make room for the most original and imaginative story. He talks of how the fifteen minutes of music that he would listen to in the morning while driving to work were the most productive and lucrative moments. These morning hours led to the most creative thoughts enter his mind. They sowed the seed of perfection and originality and eventually became the brainchild of what turned into his most prized possession-Melody of a Tear!

The title of the novel rings with the resonance of the hymn that sings of the song of ups and downs in life. The melody of a tear, the notes of the musical instrument that conjure and sum up the story of the life of Zara, Zaid and Waris.

A great novel that weaves a story of characters, relationships, experience and imagination, Melody of a Tear is no doubt a story of “passion and compassion”

I will not reveal the end. Who dies? Who lives? And who becomes eternal? These are all questions that will remain an enigma! Read the novel to find out!

The writer can be reached at beenishmhmd@gmail.com