I don't know who to thank for my discovery of Jasmine Days written by Benyamin, (Benny Daniel) and translated from the Malayalam by Shahnaz Habib. The book won India's new JCB Prize for Literature, awarded annually with 25 lakh INR (about $54,000 AUD) to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer working in English or translated fiction by an Indian writer. It's funded by a manufacturer of earthmoving and construction equipment. (Yes, you read that correctly. Can we imagine any of our Australian mega construction companies funding a literary prize? No, we cannot, more's the pity.)

Apart from the story itself, the other thing that's interesting about Jasmine Days is its publisher. Juggernaut Books is a two-year-old mobile venture. On the back of my hardback edition, next to the barcode on the dustjacket, there's a QR code. You use it to read this book on your phone. Do look at their website to see how Juggernaut market their books, it's quite unlike the publisher websites we're used to, offering books under various headings such as Readers Club New Releases, Quick 15-minute reads; Secrets of Parenting, Grow Your Vocabulary and the Fit India Movement. At the back of Jasmine Days on the last page there are the QR codes for both Android and IOS Apps to read their book, concluding a 9-page section spruiking the Juggernaut App for Indian Readers, and their fresh, original books tailored for mobile and for India. Starting at 10R. That is about 20c, I think...

Anyway...

Jasmine Days features the Pakistani diaspora in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. Sameera Parvin is a feisty young woman who joins her father and other relations while her mother stays home in Pakistan with the other children. While she waits for her certificates to arrive from Kerala, Sameera starts work as a radio jockey. She's a natural chatterbox and she thrives in her job, though there are times when the internal politics trouble her. The station broadcasts in two languages, Hindi and Malayalam, and the two teams practice mutual hostilities with exclusion tactics such as speaking in the language that the other doesn't understand. It takes the collapse of society for these internal divisions to resolve.

Jasmine Days is a metaphor for the Arab Spring. (Benyamin lived in Bahrain from 1992 to 2013). Discontent erupts in this unnamed country where 'second-class citizens' (the Shia minority) have no legal status in a Sunni dominated autocracy. Sameera's friend Ali represents the hopes and dreams of many in the Middle East—and he is jealous of the people of Iraq:

I imagine the excitement and energy they must have felt when they ran into the square, [Firdos Square in central Baghdad] knowing that after years of waiting, the door to freedom was finally open. Will I ever be that lucky? (p.61)

However, an Iraqi refugee overhears their conversation and warns them that, while it is important to rebel against dictators, it can be worse afterwards than before if the people divide along sectarian lines. [As we have seen in Iraq]. As a Sunni Muslim who lived in a Shia-dominated area, he faked a Sunni ID to avoid the violence but was then attacked by fundamentalist Sunnis looking for people of their own sect leading fake lives. And it's not just Iraq, he says, there's the lesson of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya where—in the name of democracy—fanatics have introduced Sharia Law. He is wary of what he's seen of democracy. Don't forget, he says, that Hitler, Saddam, Hosni Mubarak and Gaddafi also came to power through elections.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/09/25/jasmine-days-by-benyamin-translated-by-shahn... ( )

Beyond YA fiction into the Bahraini Uprising (2011)
Review of the English translation hardcover (2018) of the Malayalam original മുല്ലപ്പൂ നിറമുള്ള പകലുകൾ Mullappoo Niramulla Pakalukal (literally: Jasmine Coloured Days) (2014)

There is somewhat of YA tone in this story which takes place in a fictitious location called The City with events that make it easily identifiable as a proxy for Manama, the capital of Bahrain at the time of the citizen uprising of 2011 which was suppressed by the authorities. Once you read that author Benyamin himself lived in Bahrain from 1992 to 2013 the parallels are even more obvious.

The subject of the novel itself would obviously make it suppressible by Bahraini authorities, and author Benyamin makes a further remove by presenting the work as his translation of an actual secret book by the protagonist Sameera Parvin. Sameera is a radio jockey who lives with her extended family of Pakistani workers in The City. The family does not have citizenship in the country and are generally considered second class along with the Shia majority of the population. When the citizens' uprising begins, Sameera is torn in her loyalties between her family of radio friends and musicians (several of whom support the uprising) and the Bahraini authorities, whom her father and uncles work for as police officers.

The YA tone comes mostly from Sameera regularly referring to baba (father), ma (mother), chachas (uncles) and aunties (aunts). This constantly re-enforces her junior age, although she is in her twenties. It was more of a psychological reading thing, as the subject of the novel is well beyond YA fiction and the references are from elder respect.

Benyamin's writing made for a very compelling story, especially as it is one that may not be generally known in the west. The novel is actually part of a duology which will be continued in അല്‍-അറേബ്യന്‍ നോവല്‍ ഫാക്ടറി Al-Arabian Novel Factory (English translation expected in 2019), which I will certainly be on the lookout for. There is a teaser chapter of it contained in my edition of Jasmine Days as well.

I don't think Jasmine Days has gotten much of an international release, even though it is the winner of the inaugural Indian JCB Prize for Literature. I came upon it purely by chance as I had been googling whether Vivek Shanbhag (author of the terrific Ghachar Ghochar had anything new out in translation. I then saw that Shanbhag was a member of the JCB Prize Jury and had highly recommended Jasmine Days. It was a relatively easy find and purchase via consignment on Amazon. ( )