Book Excerpt: From Pashas to Pokemon by Maaria Sayed (Published by Vishwakarma Publications, 2024)

An exclusive excerpt from Maaria Sayed’s From Pashas to Pokemon (Published by Viswakarma Publications, 2024)

When I look around at the egotistical adults surrounding me, I feel we wouldn’t have problems if I’d shed light on how every relationship in the world could be worked out on the simple give and take rule I’d established at the tender age of five. All we ever need to invest in is a giant weighing scale which could fairly divide the quantity of the exchange. Emotions, raw materials or artistic creations, we need a measure to evaluate what we lose and gain. It would eliminate greed and deceit, masters and slaves. This was my mind-blowing concept to get rid of the capitalistic greed in our socially democratic republic of a country that I referred to as meanness at five. But as I grew up, my mental creation of the weighing scale was replaced by giant political concepts and the desire to earn heaps of green notes. In a way, my degree of innovation faded into acceptance and I spent hours dwelling upon the values instilled in me as a child.

Nani Jaan would put a finger on her lips and point towards the bathroom door right after she took a moment to work out my query about Nana Jaan. I had irked her by my candid question and this meant she needed to rephrase her profound finding on manhood.

‘Shh. Of course, he is a real man. But that is also because of the royal gene pool he draws from.’ Nani spoke in a tone convincing herself rather than me.

The sound of the bathroom flush was the instantaneous signal to put an end to her yarn. Nana Jaan would join us soon and we had to stop gossiping about him. With all the rudeness and lack of discretion that I grew up around, the one thing I must acknowledge is the suaveness of my family members to instantly stop the conversation when the subject walked towards us and quickly change the topic, in most cases to the eternal love story of Yusuf and Zuleikha which has marred love expectations among the Muslim youth.

As I grew up, I lost track of the authenticity of her tale about my Nana Jaan’s origin but I could see the visual so clearly before me. I could see the Arabian Sea’s shimmering blue waters, the bright blue skies with clusters of clouds glistening, untouched by any form of pollution, and somehow the arrival of the boats spelled out excitement, almost like the beginning of a new Amar Chitra Katha comic book. I could feel history being written in that very moment, and I had the swollen sensation of looming pride because my blood had contributed to it. When I think hard about what has been lost in the Indian narrative sense after our generation of partition writers, I am bound to relate it all to the omission of my Nani Jaan’s presence in the lives of our writers.

Excerpted with permission from the author Maaria Sayed and the publishers Vishwakarma Publications of From Pashas to Pokemon (Published May 2024)

About the Book

At 25, Aisha has seen more than many people do in a lifetime and has understood one thing: no matter who you are and where you are from, there are things that you can study and others that you can actually learn from and grow.

Lively tales from family history and everyday life in a Mahammad Ali Road colony in Mumbai form the background of Aisha’s internal journey. Childhood memories mingle with her experiences while studying in London, and are woven into a sharp commentary on the transformations in India over 20 years as she ponders her place in this ever-changing world. The novel narrates the story of many journeys. It is a journey of growing up: the journey from childhood to adolescence, youth to old age, from one culture to another, and a glimpse of past to present times.

About the Author

Maaria Sayed is an Indian filmmaker and writer whose work focuses on the sexual and spiritual liberation of women, evolving Muslim identities, and South Asian life.

She has been supported by Cineteca di Bologna, Sharjah Art Foundation, and Busan Film Commission, among others, and was a delegate and jury for the UN-backed Asia Peace Film Festival in Pakistan. She regularly holds workshops on cinema for students and teaches intercultural communication to executives of multinational companies.

She is a graduate of literature and cinema, and obtained her fellowship on Asian media production and collaboration in South Korea. She is passionate about Sufi poetry, folk music, Indian theatre and cats- big and small. This is her debut novel.

About Author

Editor_Kitaab

Namrata is a published author who enjoys writing stories and think pieces on travel, relationships, and gender. She is a UEA alumnus and has studied travel writing at the University of Sydney.

She is also an independent editor and a book reviewer. Her writings can be found on various sites and magazines like the Asian Review of Books, Contemporary South Asia Journal of King’s College-London, Mad in Asia, The Friday Times, Daily Star, The Scroll, Feminism in India, The Brown Orient Journal, Inkspire Journal, Moonlight Journal, The Same, Chronic Pain India and Cafe Dissensus.

Her short stories have been a part of various anthologies . She has also published two short story collections of her own along with two solo titles as well. She is currently working on her debut novel. She loves travelling the length and breadth of the world and enjoys capturing the magic of life in her words. She is always in pursuit of a new country and a new story.

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