A NEW art journal has made its appearance under the name Sohbet. It is a collaboration between the Research and Publication Centre, National College of Arts and One Nine Two (Pvt) Ltd. The editors, Nazish Ataullah and Suroosh Irfani were kind enough to send its first two issues to me.

The first article of the first issue is a conversation between Nazish Ataullah and Salima Hashmi with reference to the National College of Arts. Hashmi’s mood is reflective as she remembers the early years when she used to visit the institution in the company of her parents. In those days, the college was known as Mayo School of Arts. She recalls how it was raised to the status of a college and named the National College of Arts with Shakir Ali as principal. It is a lively conversation bringing to life the good old days when NCA was headed by a genuine artist.

In the following issue, a new study of the Shahnama, in the context of the troubled Pak-Afghan region, attracted my attention. The issue probes into the cultural history of the region, trying to discover, in the light of the Jungian theory of collective unconscious, a behaviour-pattern as expressed in the actions of the heroes and demons of Firdousi’s Shahnama.

Farida Batool, in her article, has conjectured that “the kings of Shahnama today are replaced with modern rulers” and that “the technology of modern warfare has substituted jinns and demon air fights. One could even say that the fantasy of the past is a stark reality today, and the inconceivable is believable.”

But Suroosh Irfani is more elaborate and has delved deep in the Jungian interpretation for the attestation of his conclusions.

“In the context of Afghanistan and the Taliban insurgency in Pakistan,” he says, “some of Shahnama’s heroes like Rostam and Kay Khosrow are assuming new meanings”.

He adds that “the new readings are gestures for recovering an Indo-Persian culture as a counter narrative in the face of religious extremism; a counter narrative of an inclusive and pluralistic culture that may yet help redeem Pakistan’s descent into chaos.” Taking cue from Mudassar Mansoor’s portrayals of Shahnama’s different characters, Irfani finds “a parallel between Zahhakian snakes devouring young men’s brains in the Shahnama and the brain-washed suicide bombers fuelling Taliban’s jihadi obsessions in Pakistan.”

Up till this point Irfani seems very convincing in his attempt to find characters and situations in the Shahnama which appear to repeat themselves in the turmoil of present times. But when he stretches this exercise too far it ceases to hold us in its grip. In fact, Irfani has now turned prisoner of his own logic. Seeing that Rostam is popular among the Taliban too, he is convinced that he carries in his dark soul a streak inherited from Zahhak. Now considering him demonic, he brings out in contrast another hero of Shahnama, Asfandyar, imaging him as a paragon of virtues. And how happy he is to find a namesake of Asfandyar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa!

Asfandyar Wali Khan, because of affinity of names, can stand, according to Irfani’s perception, as Asfandyar of the present age. And then he begins telling us about the surprising affinity of names between Asfandyar Wali Khan’s family and Shahnama’s heroes.

Doesn’t this exercise appear a bit amusing? It may be seen as an example of stretching a metaphor to the limit where it transforms from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The popular imagination in South Asia has accepted Rostam as possessing all those virtues which have been attributed to him in the Shahnama. The demonic image of Rostam as invented by Irfani and his favourite painters will pale into insignificance in the face of the venerated image built by the poetic imagination of Firdousi.

It also needs to be pointed out that no political leader of Pakistan, irrespective of the region to which he belongs, is worthy enough to be idealised to the point where he can be entrusted with the role the heroes of the Shahnama play when confronting the demons of their times. Irfani has not been fair to the epic heroes in such a comparison.

As for the case of Asfandyar vis-à-vis Rostam, I feel this young hero himself was behaving like the suicide bombers of our times. He knew very well that his vicious father with evil motives has entrusted him with the impossible task of arresting Rostam. But he, under the intoxication of power, undertook this suicidal mission and went on to challenge Rostam in a way that he had to accept the challenge to fight.

However, in spite of my objections to Irfani’s conclusions, I felt thrilled to find someone presenting a study of the Shahnama in the context of our violence-ridden times. This study revived my interest in the great epic whose heroes and their astounding achievements have been a part of our collective memory.