“Everyone knows me….No ball, no party, no dinner, no coffee morning, no funeral, no GT – Get Together, yaar – is complete without me. Meet Butterfly, Pakistan’s most lovable, silly, socialite.”
The book blurb on the cover says it all. Moni Mohsin’s “The Diary of a Social Butterfly” is an engagingly witty and humorously sarcastic underlining of the stark difference, intellectual and physical, between the haves and have-musts in any society.
Butterfly Khan is a endearingly silly, self-centered and self-conscious socialite living in Lahore. Her world revolves around herself, and nothing else. Live and let live is her mantra, which roughly translates to let me enjoy my parties and GTs and “let the fundos (the fundamentalists) go off to some island and make their own bore kingdom, where no one is allowed to laugh..”.
This book is her journal starting from January 2001 to January 2008, some of the most tumultuous years in the history of Pakistan. While the world around her is in a state of flux – the attack on Twin Towers, abduction of Daniel Pearle, terrorist attacks in Madrid and London, US war in Afganistan, etc. – Butterfly remains a nearly impassive and uninterested bystander, whose only concern is how these events will impact her next shopping trip to London or her ability to get a US visa.
[color-box color=” customcolorpicker=” rounded=false dropshadow=false]“..not like my Mummy, who always taught me to keep my little finger in the air when holding a teacup..” [/color-box]
While it is easy to hate such a character, Moni Mohsin has managed to bring out exceedingly well, the innocence of her character, the predicament of a person who has never been exposed to anything except the importance of the perfect dress, the latest lifestyle trends, and the importance of making an appearance at every social gathering. Butterfly’s priorities in life are clear in her conversations with those around her, such as her comparison between her mother-in-law and her own mother – “..not like my Mummy, who always taught me to keep my little finger in the air when holding a teacup..”. This illustration is further accentuated by the endearing tolerance that Butterfly’s husband, lovingly referred to as Janoo, displays towards her. One can see that he, in spite of being an “Oxen” (studied at Oxford, baba!), does not blame her for her personality nor confront her for her lack of sensitivity to anything except the latest car their neighbor bought.
The book itself seems superficial in the beginning, but as you read it, you realise it is anything but that. It is a to-the-point, first person account of the sensitivities and shallow personalities of the modern elite, and the insecurities pertaining to social well-being (the log-kya-kahenge (what will people say) attitude) and relationships a person has, irrespective of the social strata one belongs to.
[color-box color=” customcolorpicker=” rounded=false dropshadow=false]This book is Butterfly’s journal and deals only and only with her view of the world. [/color-box]
Don’t go looking for any views on events around the world or any insights on the political and religious unrest in Pakistan or the rest of the world during this period, except for the one-line sub-heading in each chapter. This book is Butterfly’s journal and deals only and only with her view of the world.
The language of the narrative takes some getting used to, and for someone not familiar with the local Pakistani terminologies, one may find oneself referring to Google repeatedly for meanings of phrases like “paindu pastry” and “tabahi wedding”. But once one gets used to it, it is an enjoyable read, and the reader is able to fully appreciate the satire and the many layers built into the narration.
Goodreads rating: 3.42/5
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