"Death remains inescapable and inseparable from soldiers; yet life remains a beautiful journey they chose to die for.” — ‘Mortals Immortal’

Belonging to a country that has one of the largest armies in the world, every Pakistani grows up hearing stories of the nation’s brave and strong soldiers who sacrifice their personal lives for the protection of our beloved motherland. Yet, seldom do we get the opportunity to understand the personal depths of their journeys towards becoming our nation’s guardians. And that’s exactly the emotion Tahir Mehmood has so beautifully dwelled upon in his first collection of stories, titled A Lone Long Walk: Tales of Life, Love and Duty.

The book is a collective of prose and poetry that draw upon a side of being in service which we must have thought about, but never really thought over. As one reads along, a soldier’s passion and resilience for the ‘motherland’ — the term which the writer prefers to use — can be heard, felt and admired.

A personal favourite is ‘Mortals Immortal’ for its sentimental precision. It tells us that a man’s decision to serve his country not only changes his own destiny, but also of those close to him and redefines the meaning of love, togetherness and even happiness, as these emotions get forever shadowed by the bigger act of selflessness.

In capturing the harsher realities of their lives, Mehmood writes: “While at home, he tried his best to converse with both lonely women, but their conversation mostly remained pretentious. The three lonely characters were fighting their own wars, yet supporting each other ... the mother expressed her love for him in tears which she never shed in front of him and the wife never shared her fears about his safety and the future of the child she was to give birth to.” However, the story does not end here; it ends with the soldier’s son wanting to join military service to honour his father, thus, once again, leaving behind the lonely women.

In a similar vein, almost every story or poem takes a brief, but deep, dive into how a soldier’s personal life intertwines with his duty. There is something charming, yet painful, in getting to learn about the life of a soldier. What makes them even more immersive is the fact that each story is inspired by a soldier whom the author — himself a veteran of the Pakistan Army — had the pleasure of knowing during his own journey in service of the country. This inspiration is reflective in the book’s title itself, which affectingly captures and summarises Mehmood’s awareness and experience of life, war and freedom.

A debut collection of stories and poems attempts to plumb the emotional depths of soldiers who subsume their own lives to their sense of duty towards the country

In the titular story, Mehmood mulls over life and its meaning for a soldier and, in doing so, he presents an insight for his readers: “In the dark winter night, the soldiers embark on their missions that are rarely known to the men living in peaceful dwellings. The deep gorge, fast flowing ravines, snow-clad mountain tops, thick forests and stormy oceans; all witness the resolve of a man versus man, and man versus nature. It is ironic but true that peace is sought through wars. ‘Peace and war’ is like a hide-and-seek game between life and death and soldiers play this game.”

But although the book is undoubtedly packed with convincing plotting, I do wish the author had devoted similar attention to his characters. In his crafting of the ambience and background of any place, there is an outpouring of information that allows the reader to not only imagine, but feel the chilliness of the weather and sense the tension in the air. However, the narrative strength falls short when illustrating the characters at the centre of the story. Their representation is often limited to mere pronouns, and that is all you will know about them.

The reader can envision the unnamed characters’ lives, feel what they must be feeling, but cannot imagine their expression or see their existence. Thus, while the richness of setting makes the collection an intrinsic work of fiction, the flatness of characters dulls the plot and restricts the reader’s imagination.

Nonetheless, their encounters have been created with such affecting and imaginative prose that readers could well imagine themselves in the characters’ places. Mehmood develops his plots around themes of love, courage, choices and sacrifice. He infuses the tales with emotional insights that lead one to reflect and speculate on the greater questions of life. For the same reasons, some titles will leave you wondering and hopeful for the unknown, whilst some may leave the heart feeling a little out of sorts.

Moments of anticipation — and there are many — leave one wondering about promises met and unmet, of the many what-ifs, of dreams that transform completely on their way to coming true. In ‘The Remains’, two young hearts fall in love and a promise is made, “to look at the Great Bear and think of her.” Except that he avoids gazing at the constellation of stars while she sits under them each night.

Once again, yet another soldier has been given a choice, but there is only one path he can actually take. Thus a “promise was made which remained unmet for long as the soldier’s heart was strong enough to fight the many battles between life and death, but not strong enough to gaze at the starry sky and think of the lost love.”

Out of the 28 pieces of writing in the book, five are purely poetic whilst the rest read like songs of heartbreak. Several stories, among them ‘Love Across High Mountains’, ‘She Lives in the Garden’, ‘A Lone Long Walk’ and ‘The Man Who Lived the Hundredth Cut’, stand out for their compassion and honesty. Unfortunately, Mehmood’s poetic pieces do not feel as impactful as do the short stories. He places his emotions and intentions well, but something is lost in the journey of an idea from mind to paper and what the readers get is not very exceptional.

Reading English prose by local authors is always a welcome treat, and Mehmood is most definitely a writer in the regard. His style is simple and friendly, yet perfectly captivating. Despite their varying plots, the collective message is the same: the life of a soldier is one of love for the motherland and loyalty to duty.

The reviewer is a development professional, writer and currently training to be a wellness counsellor

A Long Lone Walk: Tales of Life, Love and Duty
By Tahir Mehmood
Ferozsons, Karachi
ISBN: 978-9690026347
116pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, December 20th, 2020