This is one of the most traumatic things I’ve read for ages. My heart aches for these young lost girls. So often, if they receive the unconditional love and support they deserve from their families, they would not sink to such degradation. The hypocrisy of the man is indeed shocking, but we know about that from the grooming gangs. We don’t hear much about the lost Muslim girls though.
My sister didn’t go down this path but because she wasn’t as academic as my dad hoped, she dropped sciences before O level, much to his shock. There was then a terrible dysfunctional atmosphere in which my mother, who was 17 years younger than my father and hated him, almost encouraged my sister in her rebellion, even when it was clearly harming my sister. Staying out all night aged 14 and 15, bringing men back to her room, dropping not only sciences but English and then art, both of which she excelled at.
She ended up addicted to heroin and one day jumped or fell in front of a tube, age 22. I was 21.
There is a terrible grief for all of the family . We were not Muslim, we were secular atheists. But, in the same way as Muslim communities are closed, many immigrants refuse to reach out for help. And many are absolute: ‘ if my daughter does not become a barrister or a doctor, I’m not going to support her.’ That wasn’t the way it was with my dad, who was a kind man, but I’m wondering if that was the way it was with the girls in this tragic story.
Can’t we agitate for the opening of a charity for lost girls in their teens and 20s? Provide guidance, show them that rebellion does not have to include self-destruction. Find their strengths, encourage them to build on them. Tell them about further education and the means to access it. Mediate between families.
The first step has to be better integration . My family was pretty well integrated, and reading this story it sounds as if the family of at least one of the girls was high achieving. But you can be high achieving and accepted and yet still not integrate. There needs to be a way of gently teaching adult immigrants about the values of this country and tolerance. We need to also let them know that it it’s okay if your child doesn’t immediately clamber up the career ladder you wish for them. There are other ways of living and being happy. But not this.
Do you know what happened to the two girls in the story, Hanif? I have a terrible heaviness in my heart. I’m writing this from hospital where I’ve had my second leg amputated, so I’m a wheelchairiie like you. Physical trauma is possible to tolerate if you have love. But if you are a child and you don’t have love and acceptance from someone in your life, be at your parents or your peers; if you like guidance, you can get very very lost. The world can be a dark and cruel place.
Wonderfully atmospheric writing thanks so much Hanif it is a great example of why you are so revered.
You could be there in this squalid, ill-lit room. The pace in your writing of the scene unfolding before me is electric with male sexual excitement yet all the time there is a tension that the men might turn aggressive. But unbeknownst to them the women are in control. Zarina and Qumar pull at the men's trousers as if they are going to have sex, but instead turn their attention to the humiliation of the older Sikh, a revered member of the community. The women smear him with curry instead of something tempting and sweet-smelling like ice cream. The sexual excitement has turned nasty, men are arguing, trying to pull the women off him. The Sikh is visibly upset. The performance has become a punishment. Then Zarina and Qumar change the spectacle again. Satisfying the male fantasy of lesbian sex, once more becoming objects. Once more too the men are voyeurs peering close-up at the women's genitals but it has lost its sexuality. It is sordid It ends with the bluntness of the performance. To the women, it is a job devoid of feeling that happens twice a week, like they are going to the supermarket. Meaningless. A way to make money. Zarina is hard and defiant. But the danger worries Qumar.
I want mor context. Who were they? Where are they now? There needs to be siomd work about the sex lives of the repressed religious, wherher Muslim, Christian or Hindu. You don't have to be Wilhelm Reich to see that sexual lust knows no boundaries....more please!!!
What a fabulous short story. It started off so contained and captivated me, leading me into a tunnel of surprise. I was there at the scene, laughing my head off. Or perhaps I was just another man being hoisted on his petard. So brave of Zarina and Quman! Thank you Mr Kureishi. More please
I must apologize for the excess of typos in my last comment.... Maybe I was too excited by the content, and its allmost extra-terrrestrial quality. That's what so great about, and the deadoan way in which you, Hanif, describe. When I mentioned being interested about the culture of sex in other cultures ( we know so little, we are so ethnocentric, even if the profess, woke-style that we are not),. I am really curious. I remember, after a visit to Morocco and noticing the apparent contrast between the open-ness, transgression (and implied protest) of westernised feminine beauty, and the women wrapped up in cloth, that I wanted to know more. I picked up Leila Slimani's book "Sex and Lies", which was enlightening. According to her, the commmunity most involved in casual and extra-marital sex are the fundamentalists or sympathisers of traditional 'morality'. The other wonderful eye-opener on aspects of this subject, is a small matserpiece of a film by Maryam Touzani, "The Blue Caftan" (2022). I have watched it several times. There is a maturity there that goes beyond the knee-jerk puritanism of contemporary discourse about love and sex. It is exceptional Hanif: if you have not seen it yet, give it a try... And everyone else.
That is the saddest show - and very suitable for social media I guess to which I’ll now share it - Hanif your life has been on so many levels from base to ace. Glad you ok -Maddi
This is one of the most traumatic things I’ve read for ages. My heart aches for these young lost girls. So often, if they receive the unconditional love and support they deserve from their families, they would not sink to such degradation. The hypocrisy of the man is indeed shocking, but we know about that from the grooming gangs. We don’t hear much about the lost Muslim girls though.
My sister didn’t go down this path but because she wasn’t as academic as my dad hoped, she dropped sciences before O level, much to his shock. There was then a terrible dysfunctional atmosphere in which my mother, who was 17 years younger than my father and hated him, almost encouraged my sister in her rebellion, even when it was clearly harming my sister. Staying out all night aged 14 and 15, bringing men back to her room, dropping not only sciences but English and then art, both of which she excelled at.
She ended up addicted to heroin and one day jumped or fell in front of a tube, age 22. I was 21.
There is a terrible grief for all of the family . We were not Muslim, we were secular atheists. But, in the same way as Muslim communities are closed, many immigrants refuse to reach out for help. And many are absolute: ‘ if my daughter does not become a barrister or a doctor, I’m not going to support her.’ That wasn’t the way it was with my dad, who was a kind man, but I’m wondering if that was the way it was with the girls in this tragic story.
Can’t we agitate for the opening of a charity for lost girls in their teens and 20s? Provide guidance, show them that rebellion does not have to include self-destruction. Find their strengths, encourage them to build on them. Tell them about further education and the means to access it. Mediate between families.
The first step has to be better integration . My family was pretty well integrated, and reading this story it sounds as if the family of at least one of the girls was high achieving. But you can be high achieving and accepted and yet still not integrate. There needs to be a way of gently teaching adult immigrants about the values of this country and tolerance. We need to also let them know that it it’s okay if your child doesn’t immediately clamber up the career ladder you wish for them. There are other ways of living and being happy. But not this.
Do you know what happened to the two girls in the story, Hanif? I have a terrible heaviness in my heart. I’m writing this from hospital where I’ve had my second leg amputated, so I’m a wheelchairiie like you. Physical trauma is possible to tolerate if you have love. But if you are a child and you don’t have love and acceptance from someone in your life, be at your parents or your peers; if you like guidance, you can get very very lost. The world can be a dark and cruel place.
This is the kind of story telling that first got your writing noticed decades ago, and with good reason. Thank you for re-sharing!
Wonderfully atmospheric writing thanks so much Hanif it is a great example of why you are so revered.
You could be there in this squalid, ill-lit room. The pace in your writing of the scene unfolding before me is electric with male sexual excitement yet all the time there is a tension that the men might turn aggressive. But unbeknownst to them the women are in control. Zarina and Qumar pull at the men's trousers as if they are going to have sex, but instead turn their attention to the humiliation of the older Sikh, a revered member of the community. The women smear him with curry instead of something tempting and sweet-smelling like ice cream. The sexual excitement has turned nasty, men are arguing, trying to pull the women off him. The Sikh is visibly upset. The performance has become a punishment. Then Zarina and Qumar change the spectacle again. Satisfying the male fantasy of lesbian sex, once more becoming objects. Once more too the men are voyeurs peering close-up at the women's genitals but it has lost its sexuality. It is sordid It ends with the bluntness of the performance. To the women, it is a job devoid of feeling that happens twice a week, like they are going to the supermarket. Meaningless. A way to make money. Zarina is hard and defiant. But the danger worries Qumar.
Great storytelling as ever. Reading this I can see how you nourished your genius by stepping out of comfort zone.
What a marvellous piece of writing, Hanif..
I want mor context. Who were they? Where are they now? There needs to be siomd work about the sex lives of the repressed religious, wherher Muslim, Christian or Hindu. You don't have to be Wilhelm Reich to see that sexual lust knows no boundaries....more please!!!
What a fabulous short story. It started off so contained and captivated me, leading me into a tunnel of surprise. I was there at the scene, laughing my head off. Or perhaps I was just another man being hoisted on his petard. So brave of Zarina and Quman! Thank you Mr Kureishi. More please
Yes It sounds like one of those nights where humankind strips itself down and you do not actually like it at all
Blimey, that's strong stuff. Great article.
I found it disturbing and repellent. And pathetic.
Excellent writing, as usual, highly disturbing and sad story
You should develop this into a screenplay, Mr. Kureishi.
I must apologize for the excess of typos in my last comment.... Maybe I was too excited by the content, and its allmost extra-terrrestrial quality. That's what so great about, and the deadoan way in which you, Hanif, describe. When I mentioned being interested about the culture of sex in other cultures ( we know so little, we are so ethnocentric, even if the profess, woke-style that we are not),. I am really curious. I remember, after a visit to Morocco and noticing the apparent contrast between the open-ness, transgression (and implied protest) of westernised feminine beauty, and the women wrapped up in cloth, that I wanted to know more. I picked up Leila Slimani's book "Sex and Lies", which was enlightening. According to her, the commmunity most involved in casual and extra-marital sex are the fundamentalists or sympathisers of traditional 'morality'. The other wonderful eye-opener on aspects of this subject, is a small matserpiece of a film by Maryam Touzani, "The Blue Caftan" (2022). I have watched it several times. There is a maturity there that goes beyond the knee-jerk puritanism of contemporary discourse about love and sex. It is exceptional Hanif: if you have not seen it yet, give it a try... And everyone else.
Well that’s quite a shocking and rather depressing tale and very apt. I wonder what happened to them?
And also a fantastic piece that leaves you reeling.
The truth is right there…
Is it fiction Hanif ?
I doubt it!
That is the saddest show - and very suitable for social media I guess to which I’ll now share it - Hanif your life has been on so many levels from base to ace. Glad you ok -Maddi