"Life is very violent and uncertain in Pakistan at present," says writer Moni Mohsin, but there are some hopeful developments.
Pakistani writer, Moni Mohsin who is the author of the truly hilarious column and book, The Diary of A Social Butterfly — a witty, clever satire that will have you in splits – speaks to CNN-IBN's Amrita Tripathi on reactions to her book, what she's reading, and the Pakistan T20 win.
CNN-IBN: What kind of reaction do you get to The Diary of A Social Butterfly in Pakistan? It's a hilarious book, but of course very biting humour. Do people assume you're writing about them or making fun of them? Your sister's been quoted as a source of real-life dialogue?
Moni Mohsin: I've been very fortunate with my readers in Pakistan. They have read The Diary of a Social Butterfly entirely in the spirit in which it was written. They are amused, entertained and occasionally annoyed by it. They don't get too cross because I never name names so they all assume it is about their neighbours, never themselves. My sister is not so much a source of dialogue as she is about daily happenings in Lahore.
CNN-IBN: Is there any topic you wouldn't talk about in the column/book through these characters?
Moni Mohsin: I'm limited by the style of this column, not its subject. Since my narrator is a cosseted airhead, I have to write from her point of view. For instance she is unlikely to reflect in any depth on the causes of the credit crunch but she may wonder why it's been named after a cereal. I use Janoo as my mouthpiece when I want to highlight a serious issue but I can't let him take over - after all, it's her diary not his.
CNN-IBN: Do you have a favourite character?
Moni Mohsin: Mmm, not really. Jonkers, perhaps?
CNN-IBN: How do you view the way things are developing in Pakistan at present - from the military offensive and very real threat of terror, to how you see regular people coping?
Moni Mohsin: Life is very violent and uncertain in Pakistan at present because the Taliban have sworn revenge for the military offensive against them. Almost every week they bomb and kill scores of innocent civilians. But the development that makes me hopeful is that public opinion has swung against the Taliban in recent months. Ordinary people no longer look upon them as heroic Muslims but as blood soaked, ignorant extremists and support the army action against them.
CNN-IBN: Did you watch the T20 match? Are you excited about the victory?
Moni Mohsin: Of course I watched the final of T20! Coming after so many months of disappointments and violence and pain, it was the sweetest news.
CNN-IBN: What are you reading right now? Are you working on another book as well?
Moni Mohsin: Presently I am reading two books: The Yellow House by Martin Gayford, an account of the three months in 1888 that Paul Gauguin shared a house in Arles with Vincent van Gogh, during which period the two artists produced a stream of masterpieces, and Ali Sethi's exuberant debut novel, The Wishmaker, set in Lahore in the 1990s. I'm working in fits and starts - mainly fits - on a novel set in present day Pakistan.
(Moni Mohsin's The Diary of A Social Butterfly is published by RandomHouse India)
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