Abdullah Hussein was a maestro of Urdu literature and one of the finest authors of the 20th century. Hussein was born on the 14th August, the same day on which Pakistan emerged on the world map. He was born in a feudal family which must have led to providing a mindscape and raw material for his masterpieces like Udas Naslain (The Weary Generations), Nadar Log etc. It would be an understatement to simply say that Hussein was a towering literary figure. He was the man who chronicled the saga of the partition of the subcontinent in a way it was never done before and he was a trendsetter of our weary generations. His works are famous for the themes of partition, loyalty, love, abandonment, nostalgia etc. It would not be wrong to refer to him as a writer of Border Literature or a partition writer. Hussein wrote Udas Naslein in 1963 and translated it into English in 1999. The english translation is known as The Weary Generations has sold over a million copies and is now beyond its fortieth edition. The Weary Generations, a debut novel, won Hussein the AdamJee Literary Award which depicts what a masterpiece it is.
To begin with, there are two main characters in the novel, Naim and Azra, whose pre and post partition story of love and abandonment is the gist of the novel. Along with that, the plot consists of Roshan Agha, Mahinder Singh (Naim’s friend), Ali (Naim’s step-brother) and Chaudhary Beg (Naim’s Father). The Weary Generations, when read carefully and analysed properly, looks like an autobiographical novel as well. The protagonist Naim has a lot of things in common with Hussein, like sharing a close bond with his father. Hussein was aware of politics from quite an early age and it reflects in this novel as well as he writes about various political events and how the pre and post partition events give rise to an element of nostalgia and misery in the lives' of the characters.
The novel has been divided into three parts: British India, Hindustan I and Hindustan II. The first part consists of ten chapters and traces the narrative from RoshanPur to the First World War. The beginning is very powerful as the first chapter has a vivid explanation and leaves the reader to imagine the vast acres of RoshanPur and how Roshan Agha saved that British officer and as a reward he was asked to take as much land as he could within twenty-four hours. The beautiful details of the honey-pot with a hole in its base and Roshan Agha marking the boundaries of his land with it ‘A man on horseback, holding aloft a leaking jar of honey in his hand…’ show that Hussein has that art of writing with the element of ‘imagism’ incorporated. This piece of land i.e RoshanPur becomes the central focus of the novel and gives birth to one of the two leading dynasties i.e the Khan clan. The next few chapters bring into the limelight the life of the protagonist Naim and the ‘Dastar Bandi’ of Roshan Agha’s son Nawab Ghulam Moheyuddin Ali Khan later known as Roshan Agha as well. Here Hussein brings in the theme of love and borders at the same time. When Naim goes with his uncle to Roshan Agha’s ceremony, he sees that people from different religions, casts, social statuses have gathered together and he even mentions important personalities like Annie Besant Gopal Krishna Gokhale etc. The idea of ‘hierarchy’ among the Indian peoples is brought forth and how the British and Indian Nawabs sat in the front row depicted the socio-political borders that existed even before the partition. In the next few chapters, Azra, an upper class girl, falls in love with Naim but due to some misunderstandings this story ends here.
Hussein moves on to describe Naim’s journey towards RoshanPur where he is reunited with his father. On his way, Naim sees a white man murder an Indian peasant and yet again Hussein brings in the idea of colonialism and British hierarchy. When Naim reaches RoshanPur Hussein’s descriptions of the fields and pre-partition subcontinent are so rich and his writing is painted with magic that helps the reader to actually imagine himself in those places. Naim meets Mahinder Singh, a Sikh boy who later becomes one of his closest friends. This depiction of Muslim-Sikh friendships shows how before te bloodshed and violence of partition everyone lived peacefully with each other. The First World War and its aftermath with all the poignant and heart-wrenching details helps the reader to sympathize with Naim when he loses his arm and almost makes one cry when Naim finds out that Mahinder Singh has been killed as well.
The next two parts Hindustan I and Hindustan II follow the narrative of both pre and post partition events. From Azra and Naim’s wedding to their complicated and detached life and the pre-partition rallies and the struggle for a separate homeland, Abdullah Hussein writes about love, pain, anger, turmoil, existential angst, nostalgia and death. Incorporating more than one theme at a time Hussein crafts a novel based on the events revolving around the partition of the Indian subcontinent, second on a description of the socio-political aspects of an undivided Punjab and third on a love story that starts, blooms, and eventually dies along with the British Raj in India. Hussein writes about various events that took place during the partition like the Amritsar Killings, the Simon Commission and Khilafat Movement etc. He paints a beautiful yet dismal image of the streets of Lahore when Ali travels there in order to escape the problems at RoshanPur. The way Abdullah Hussein tells the story of the Great Divide and makes use of physical and metaphorical borders to show the elements of hierarchy and colonialism that was enrooted in the British India is worth praising.
Nevertheless, The Weary Generations remains ‘a chronicle of modern India reflecting the angst of an entire generation…’ as Rakhshanda Jalil says. It remains one of the best novels based on the horrors and miseries of partition as well as the peaceful pre-partition India. It brings into account that a border is not just barbed wire that separates two pieces of land but it can exist between two people, an unseen yet very strong boundary that leads to a separation more painful than partition.
Conclusively, people who are interested in reading Border Literature and seek to comprehend the origins of the historical events that led to the creation of Pakistan must read it.