INTERVIEW
TO readUzmaAslamKhan’sThe
Miraculous TrueHistory of Nomi Ali
is to experience love—slow,gentle,
leisurely.AsthePakistaniauthor
herselfsays: “Love is the opposite of
hate...youlovewhoyoulove.”She
hasbeenin lovewiththe business of
words,or maybe the life of wordsand
letters, andthecharacters thatin-
habitherworks.HerworkThinner
ThanSkinwason ManBooker long
list andTrespassingwasnominated
for theCommonwealthPrize.Tres-
passingwonthe FrenchPrizefor the
BestFictionat theKarachiLiterat-
ureFestivalin 2014.Shewonthe
Bronzeawardat theIndependent
PublisherBookAwardsforTheGeo-
metryof Gods.
TheMiraculousTrueHistoryof
NomiAlidefies easy definition, and
thatis reason enoughfor the author
to callit “historicalfiction”. Set in the
AndamanandNicobarIslands,the
bookcoversthe periodof the Second
WorldWarandtheintertwiningof
thelivesof prisoners on theislands
withthe seemingly intractablefights
andbiasesof thecolonialmasters
andtheirenemies.
On the oneside,thereis the Brit-
ish whocouldnotcarelessfor the
prisonerswho, evenafter serving
theirterm,or on beingacquitted,
couldonlyhopeto live on the island
on a plotof landgrantedto them.On
the other,we havethe Japanese who
havethebacking of the Indian Na-
tionalArmy(INA),buttheINAis
unableto reinin theirextremities.
Amidstall thisis Nomiandher
brotherZeeas alsotheirfriendAye.Theirlivesareentangledwiththe
inscrutablewaysof worldpowers.
Interestingly, eachof thecountries
whereUzmaAslamKhanhaslived
featuresin somewayor the otherin
her work,includingEngland, Japan,
the Philippines andOceania.
It is a plotso complicatedthatit
tookher26 yearsto completethe
story.Shewrotefournovelsin the
meantime, butshehad an abiding
desiretofinishthe storyof NomiAli.
Andto thinkthatthisworkcame
aboutby accident.
Many yearsago,Uzma Aslam
Khanwasbrowsinga libraryshelffor
a preferredtitlewhen a bookfell off
theshelf.Shepickedit up andread
thetitleandtheinformationon the
jacket.Shewasengrossed.It was
abouttheAndamans. Thatset the
seedfor NomiAli’sstory.Excerpts
from an interview she gave
Frontline:In India,historyis beingwritten
anew.Somecriticsevencallit, half
in jest,historicalfiction.Asthe
authorof “TheMiraculousTrue
Historyof NomiAli”,whatdoes
historicalfictionmeanto you?
Wheredoeshistorytakea back seat
tofiction?
Therewriting youspeakof is done by‘The story has to
come from within’
Interviewwiththe PakistaniauthorUzma AslamKhan.BYZIYAUSSALAM
“For a woman from Pakistan who grew up with a
history constructed by power, historical fiction
serves a different purpose. It is not to silence and
hate butto enrichand empathise.”