“Like the compass’s needle always finds north,so also a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember this,Mariam”. Said Nana to her daughter Mariam,all but five yrs old.

Thus began the novel of Khaled Hosseini’s “ A Thousand Splendid Suns”. I had read his “The Kite Runner” a few months back. An extremely sensitive novel written with so much passion that it moves you and makes you feel for the author..sometimes you juxtapose yourself with that of the author and try to feel his pain.A novel that dealt with the lives of a father and a son who were uprooted from their motherland,Afghanistan, after it got embroiled with the Taliban uprising and tried to find peace and shelter in a foreign land. The novel ends with the arduous journey of the hero through Pakistan into troubled Afghanistan to rescue the grandson of their gardener. May be he was trying to correct a wrong done nearly two decades back. May be he was trying to find solace for his troubled soul, condemned to suffer for a breach of faith.

A doctor by profession, Hosseini’s writing was so engrossing, that it took me by surprise. Intensely written,with beautifully crafted words,it was a living memoir of a person,whose writing had surpassed many well known authors. Truly,  a novel sparkles only when you live through it..

But,now, back to the beginning..I was talking about “A thousand Splendid Suns” ,Hosseini’s second book to hit the stands.It takes us back to an Afghanistan which was beginning to feel the heat of Mujahideens fighting to free their motherland from Russian occupation. Clearly, a country in turmoil, citizens divided over their allegiance to or against the occupation. Yet against this backdrop love flourishes, in the heart of Laila and Tariq. Mariam dreams of having a child of her own and starting a family with Rasheed. Mariam, who was the daughter of Jalil,a wealthy businessman, an illegal child, got out of wedlock. Despite her unflinching devotion to her father, she ultimately bows down to family pressure and marries a man twenty years her senior. The most touching scene comes in when she boards the bus with her husband and tells Jalil “you were ashamed of me, I should have realized that”.

The story revolves around the lives of these two women, Laila and Mariam,two contrasting characters,brought together by the force of fate, Laila agreeing to marry Rasheed,to escape starvation and to have roof over head..disregarding the price she has to pay for this compromise.

We also see the crumbling life in and around Afghanistan, through the eyes of these two ladies,joined  by extraordinary circumstances to endure a pitiable existence with the hope of a better future. We feel the pain and despair of Laila and Mariam  who want to escape the inhuman treatment that they receive from Rasheed. And we cry for Mariam ..for her supreme sacrifice so that Laila can lead a life of freedom and happiness.

When Mariam is led to be executed,she thinks of her life,"she thought of her entry into this world,the "harami" child of a lowly villager,an unintended thing,a pitiable,regrettable accident.A weed.And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back.She was leaving it as a friend, a companion,a guardian. A mother.A person of consequence at last." She is happy and content for she is able to help Laila and her children realise their dreams.

“A Thousand Splendid Suns” is must,must read for all you book lovers..which makes us realize how insular we have been to the sufferings of a nation..