Little Maryam By Hamid Baig

“”The wound is the place where the light enters you.””-Rumi, is the quote that welcomes the reader’s into the world of LITTLE MARYAM. RUMI- a 13thcentury Persian poet with immense talent and power to put the complexities of human life in few words. “”Brevity is the soul of wit.””

His works are translated into many world languages. Rumi’s quote is an apt opening for the book.


LITTLE MARYAM BY HAMID BAIG has two parts, SAADIQ HAIDER is the title of the first part with ten chapters. MARYAM is the name given to the second part of the book with seven chapters. LITTLE MARYAM is Hamid Baig’s debut novel. The author has lead the novel in a steady phase with clean &clear plot, appropriate descriptions, diligent characters all in a compelling style.


The term Literature generally refers to any written or spoken material in any language. It encompasses every sphere of human life like culture, tradition, history, psychology etc. Poetry, short story, drama, novel etc are the various genres in the world literature.
Literature is the most effective mode of expression to represent this world. To depict the human life in all its richness, it uses a distinctive form to expresses various emotions and feelings. These varied emotional expressions are called RASA (FLAVOUR), Sentiments in English literature. The Nine emotions included are termed as NAVARASA. They are (SHINGARA) love, (HASYA) humour,(KARUNA) grief, (RAUDRA) rage,(VEERA) valour, (BHAYANAKA) fear,(BIBHATSYA) disgust,(ADBUTHA) wonder and (SHANTHA) tranquillity. Love is of two folds- love in union and love in separation.


Author has taken stupendous effort in depicting SHINGARA &KARUNA RASA in the LITTLE MARYAM.

“”Open the book to page99 and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you””, said English novelist and poet Ford Madox Ford. This book bears testimony to this. The page 99 also serves the reader’s the taste and flavour of SHINGARARASA at its best.

The author uses the word KALPAVRIKSHA –a wish yielding tree, in three different places in the book in three dimensions which provides enough evidence for his wide reading and interest in other languages.


I quote from page 36,

“”Maryam is…well, she and her father are members of a higher class of people, Saadiq. A class that you and I do not belong to”.

“”Baba, we don’t care about things like that. Maryam and I are the same, in our hearts. Society can dictate some things, but it can’t decide whether or not she and I can be friends. I won’t let allow it.””

Author showcases the bias in the society in the simple way &at the same time the heroic qualities of saadiq. Love transcends all barriers.


BIBHATSYA & KARUNA RASA together can be a tough time in one’s life. In the pages of 58 &59, the author has meticulously handled the situation. LITTLE MARYAM is a sensitive tale of life’s ups &downs. It brings out the intense emotions of painstaking and grief-stricken individual.

‘”People are like stained –glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.

 

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