A Jab at the VIP Culture - Book Review "Diary of a Social Butterfly'' by Moni Mohsin
I will be very candid with you, when I first picked up this book I wasn't entirely convinced of the entertaining ride that was about to follow! The narrative was slightly difficulty to grasp in the beginning due to the protagonist's interesting command over the English language, or the lack thereof, and the crazy hilarious innuendos brought on by the deliberately misspelled words! Don't let it put you off though.
The protagonist, Butterfly Khan is an extremely pompous, blissfully ignorant, haughty, pretentious and vain socialite who lives in the colorful city of Lahore with her highly educated and somewhat grounded husband whom she calls Janoo, and her mollycoddled son Kulchoo. Her problems also includes her villager inlaws (who frequently pop up and never fail to embarrass their overbearing bhabi and bahu) and her ever-disappointing domestic help (a sore point for almost every Pakistani woman who can afford one!) and how the tumultuous world events will affect her next trip to Harrods or getting a US visa to visit her posh cousins. Her life revolves around keeping a social appearance by means of the top brands, highest price tags and the number of hello's she manages at the GT (get together) with everyone who is anyone.
The book is basically her journal, dating from 2001 to 2008. The author provides a stark background to Butterfly's biggest issues life through simple one line breaking news items from the relevant timeline. While the world struggles with 9/11, Daniel Pearl, Talibans, Iraq War, Palestine Issue, Afghan war, our dear Butterfly ponders how these events will affect her trips to UK and US and how these issues are irrelevant to her due to proximity or simple lack of understanding of the grand scheme of things.
The book does take some time to sink in. But once you understand the superficiality and the emptiness of our society resonating through the glamour and pretentiousness of it all; it suddenly opens up doors of another thought paradigm; challenging the snobby phoniness of our some of our elite class members (why do some politicians come to mind? Never mind!). As you embark upon the journey with the butterfly, who basically bares the ridiculousness of the life of a socialite in a country that is "going through a tareekh ka nazuk morr", you start appreciating how the author forces you to think and rethink the priorities of life in Pakistan and all that really matters or should matter at least.
The book is basically a jab at the VIP Culture of Pakistan, their shallow thinking and insecurities brought on about the constant pressure of worrying about their social appearances and public opinion of themselves.
Highly recommended to everyone who is open to challenging and changing the mindsets of our new and young society members who pride themselves with doing as little as possible, yet their boastfulness knows no bounds. A culture deeply steeped in identifying and defining the worth of an individual with the price tags and the designer labels and pats itself for being the loudest mouth in a drawing room discussion; thereby continuing to live in a bubble that further strengthens their illusion that they are instrumental in the progress of the nation and in fact a much coveted VIP in the society.
While the book may appear superficial on the surface, it is anything but.
Join us next month as we read the bestseller Origin by Dan Brown. See the Bookclub Event page here.
The book is basically her journal, dating from 2001 to 2008. The author provides a stark background to Butterfly's biggest issues life through simple one line breaking news items from the relevant timeline. While the world struggles with 9/11, Daniel Pearl, Talibans, Iraq War, Palestine Issue, Afghan war, our dear Butterfly ponders how these events will affect her trips to UK and US and how these issues are irrelevant to her due to proximity or simple lack of understanding of the grand scheme of things.
The book does take some time to sink in. But once you understand the superficiality and the emptiness of our society resonating through the glamour and pretentiousness of it all; it suddenly opens up doors of another thought paradigm; challenging the snobby phoniness of our some of our elite class members (why do some politicians come to mind? Never mind!). As you embark upon the journey with the butterfly, who basically bares the ridiculousness of the life of a socialite in a country that is "going through a tareekh ka nazuk morr", you start appreciating how the author forces you to think and rethink the priorities of life in Pakistan and all that really matters or should matter at least.
The book is basically a jab at the VIP Culture of Pakistan, their shallow thinking and insecurities brought on about the constant pressure of worrying about their social appearances and public opinion of themselves.
Highly recommended to everyone who is open to challenging and changing the mindsets of our new and young society members who pride themselves with doing as little as possible, yet their boastfulness knows no bounds. A culture deeply steeped in identifying and defining the worth of an individual with the price tags and the designer labels and pats itself for being the loudest mouth in a drawing room discussion; thereby continuing to live in a bubble that further strengthens their illusion that they are instrumental in the progress of the nation and in fact a much coveted VIP in the society.
While the book may appear superficial on the surface, it is anything but.
Join us next month as we read the bestseller Origin by Dan Brown. See the Bookclub Event page here.
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