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Taboo: The Hidden Culture . . . . .
by Raza Latif
Dr. Fouzia
Saeed’s work has been the first definitive step towards
sifting out the myth and creating a factual account of what
life is all about in the Mohalla.
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The inspiration for this research is totally
relatable. In the opening chapter, Dr. Saeed touches upon the
association of dance and music with prostitution in our society.
In her own words, she talks about how she had to tackle with
this association as an annoying obstacle to her desire to learn
and master various classical and folk forms of dance. As a woman
she had to face discouragement due to one of the most clichéd
terms in our society- ‘achay ghar ke ladkian yay naheen
karteen’ (girls from good families do not indulge in such
activities). This obstacle set her on a quest and she spent
considerable effort in penetrating this uncharted domain of
social sciences in Pakistan. The book is a result of this extensive
research.
An interesting and integral characteristic of the book is its
non-judgmental treatment of the people of the Mohalla. Dr. Saeed
has worked on studying these people as individuals living in
circumstances that are unique. She has interacted with these
people not to find answers to whether they are good or evil
or how they can be eradicated. Rather, she has focused on studying
their life with an objectivity that is essential for any scientific
work. This approach has resulted in her work being real and
factual. It is neither sympathetic nor degrading towards the
subject and thus free of any myths or perceptions. She has reported
what she has seen and left it to the reader to form a judgment
if they cannot live without one.
Reading through the book, amidst all the scientific objectivity,
one does see traces of Dr. Saeed’s background as a human
rights activist. These traces always appear in the appropriate
context and make the reading experience worthwhile. Leaning
on her background, Dr Saeed asks some very valid questions in
the book. Questions which go right to the core of how we as
a society manage to live with our double standards. As an example
of these questions and reflections, Dr Saeed asks why is it
that a woman who is a prostitute is branded as an evil person
while her customer is let go with a slight slap on the wrist
(sometimes not even that!!!). She asks as to why traditionally,
prostitutes are blamed for sexual misconducts in the society
and not those who pay for their services. So, the book uses
the case of the women in the Mohalla and manages to find parallels
between women in the Mohalla and women anywhere else in the
society. With this approach, Dr. Saeed points out the inherent
exploitation of the ‘weaker’ sex that prevails in
our society.
The book is written in the first person thus keeping the reader
interested. With this style, the book does not suffer from the
typical dryness and monotony that usually accompany non-fictional
work. Speaking in first person, Dr. Saeed narrates one intriguing
anecdote or conversation after another and presents an almost
'sugar-coated' (for students who might have to read it as text)
peek in to the lives of people in the Mohalla.
The book is not only a peek in to the way life is in the Mohalla
but is also a source of interesting facts. For example, it is
interesting to know that Kanjar is a legal family name or ‘zaat’.
One thinks that it is a swearword (similar to the word ‘pimp’
in English). Reading the book one finds out that there are people
who carry this name proudly as their last name and have done
so for generations. These are people who act as pimps and facilitators
for the women of the Mohalla and their profession is a skill
that they inherited from their ancestors. In one of the chapters,
Dr. Saeed interviews an interesting character who goes by the
name of Mooda Kanjar (roughly translated, “Mooda the Pimp’).
This person is a political leader in the community and is very
vocal on the plight of people in his constituency. His interview
is interesting and is a worthwhile contribution to the question
of understanding the life of these people.
Another unique feature of the book is that it is interspersed
with quotes about the topic from various members of our society.
There is a quote from an actor, a professor and also from a
street vendor. These do well to convey the various perspectives
that people have when it comes to the people of the Mohalla.
After presenting her interactions and experiences with the people
of the Mohalla, Dr. Saeed sums up her work in the last two chapters.
In the second-last chapter, she presents the idea of co-existence
of influential men and prostitutes. She traces the origin of
this co-existence to historical times and establishes a symbiotic
relationship between the two. However, the argument seems to
be disconnected from the rest of the book. It seems that the
data in the preceding chapters is not enough to come to this
conclusion. Maybe the conclusion can be justified well with
other experiences that the author may have had. Or maybe there
was some information (that would have supported the argument)
that may have been omitted from the book.
Moving on to the last chapter, Dr Saeed sums up her entire work
to reflect the immense social pressures that women face in our
society. The setting is perfect and Dr Saeed plays a listener
to a conversation between a ‘normal’ girl and a girl
from the Mohalla. Reading the conclusion in the words of two
people who can be seen as characters in the story of the status
of women in our society, proves to be a treat. All I can say
is that I understood and agreed with each and every word of
it. This discussion is presented as a session of self-realization
where a young girl from the ‘normal’ part of the society
talks to a girl of the Mohalla and through their exchange of
ideas they come to conclusions about their similarities and
how they are part of a bigger system and have almost similar
roles to play. This session is very enlightening and makes one
think about how things are for the women in our country.
Overall, the book is a very interesting read and for those who
are interested in learning about people and social issues that
challenge us, it is a must-read. The book is also a source of
enlightenment as it sheds light on the life of a group of people
that has always been looked at from a safe distance. For all
of us who wanted to know everything about the Mohalla and were
afraid to ask, Dr. Saeed took the initiative and dedicated a
considerable amount of her scientific work in researching and
learning about these people. And not only that, in her reporting
of the lives of these people, Dr. Saeed went on to ask some
serious questions about the state of affairs for women in general.
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