Amar Bail - The Novel by Umera Ahmed - Page 26

Originally posted by: Popo.

Hey, Popo!

arey haan! You too are a book nerd.. join us! :'D

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Originally posted by: -ZaYalicious-

Hey zaya, love ur analysis on umer 😳 detail comment later :P

some random facts :P recently i read tm kaun piya ad it's idiotic plus i found out gul e rana is based on a short story that i read ages ago :P Have u read both of them ?

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Originally posted by: farahs_6

You are right... Trust and unserstanding are also good reason to get married.. Not evry marriage has to be love marriage.. I would have been perfectly ok if it was some other girl... But Aliza alll her life, only craved for love and undivided attention... Starting from her parents, nobody lived her or gave her attention.. Only umar gave her the attention or care she needed, but he also purposefully hurt her... She deserved a life partner who would give her undivided attention and pure love, because this is what she always yearned for.. But now, we know , she will have a life partner, who is marrying her, mostly for Umar's sake.. Yes..he did like her and was fond of her, but here also, she was not his top most priority.. As i said, i would have been ok, if it was someone otger than Aliza... But i think aliza genuinely deserved love, after all she went through, all her life... And because Junaid did not actually love her in true sense, makes me, not like him...

In the scene, when aliza saw both umar and junaid for the first time, together in kfc, when she called, both of them , one by one, junaid cut her call..and told umar, a friend was calling.. But when she called umar, he picked up her phone , but then shehla cut it down.. Also, then umar got up to see, where was aliza, here, and was worried, tht she had seen both of them, but junaid kept eating and wasnt worried abt aliza at all... He only said tht i would have to lie again... He kept eating...

In another scene, later after all the fiasco, when junaid and umar were together again in a restaurant, when aliza and junaid's wedding date had been fixed again, junaid asked..ye tumhari cousin is tarah baad main karay gi..tubmain kia karun ga? And unar instantly said..what do u mean by tumhari cousin? Ur bride to be..and junaid said..yes yes my bride to be... And then it was umar again who said tht she would be a loving wife and mothere, ti which junaid agreed.. I mean tht these are not big things ofcourse..but these subtlety pointed out tht for junaid, aliza was not as important , as she was for umar.. Junaid did not care as much for her, or in other words, she was not his top most priority.. He obv cared for her, but not as much, because he did not truly love her, in tht sense... It was umar, who was the main reason, fir their marriage.. Initially he also said, ke umar ki liye, main kisi se bhi kar leta... And in the end , he said i am doing it for you, for myself, for our families and because i dont want to break all relations with umar's family.. So umar was always the driving force, due to which he agreed to marry aliza... Tht being said, i know he was a nice person and he would take care of aliza, but because i think aliza deserved true love, makes me not like him

Originally posted by: -ZaYalicious-

Ash - Imma so busy, so replying late.

I took the meaning of Amarbail as the ever growing corruption and the faults within the bureaucratic and judicial system. And another friend of mine took it as somehow like Aleeza learned to speak up, express her views through Umer, so he kind of became a host plant to her.. though I never get my friend's point. :P But I think the first interpretation suits better.. what do you interpret it as?

Originally posted by: -ZaYalicious-

Umer Jahangir's character is like a beauty on a whole new level. He was actually what they call a 'grey character' that makes a book a piece of literature. He had some real, major negatives which kinda stood out. And the good points, though less, were something that, when combined with his negatives, actually came out as a character whom you can't help but fall for.. the real and one of its kind.

Umer was, at the beginning, a guy with a living conscience. He just could not do anything wrong like other men in his family and have a sound sleep. He definitely was desperate to be away from his father from the very beginning but his ambitions and goals were checked by his moral. It was so vivid in the scene when he could not bear the shame of Jahangir's third marriage. He just could not roam around pretending as if nothing had happened because, at that point, he had not embraced the elite lifestyle to maximum. He was weak at certain points. but well.. fast forward to six years later and there was another Umer Jahangir in front of, the one moulded and shaped into a corrupt bureaucrat. Six years later, he was just another Jahangir or Abbas Haider, not worse to that level but to some extent.. he was just one of them.The part of Shehbaz Muneer's murder .. it literally portrayed Umer's character like an open book to the reader. It conveyed the message that after having started his career in civil service, he had done things he wasn't supposed to. He played his role in the corrupt bureaucracy and its practices and with years, his lust just grew and was never satisfied. In fact, he had come to a point in those six years where his conscience was practically dead. His ambitions and actions began to unchecked and this is the point where Umer Jahangir became my most favourite literary character of Urdu books.

"Zameer?" Woh talkhi se hansa. "Is dunya mein zameer naam ki koi cheez nahin hoti, Aleeza. Kam az kam mere liye jese insaan ke liye tou nahin jisne poori zindagi haram khaya aur kamaya ho aur uske pait mein ab harmaam ki itni ameezash ho chuki ho ke na tou woh halal kha sakay na kama sakay."

"With power, I'll be able to do everything that I haven't managed till now."

"What I've made in the last five years, I would not make in even ten years if I were abroad."

Umer's words about the NGO part were so good. I really read deep into his character that time.. the way he said that he won't just remove the thorns of the cactus plant if it's harming him, he would remove the plant itself.. 'play safe and take no risks'. If anything or anyone was an obstacle in his path, he wouldn't even rethink before getting himself rid of that person or thing. That was the first moment that the new Umer was revealed. But later the Shehbaz Muneer mess turned him into a cold blooded and immoral man. He was kind of moulded into that.. he tried to resist and stand up for the injustice that Shehbaz went through but what? He gave up to the system. That's the deeper analysis that at the end, everyone has to give up in front of the influential system. The system he was a part of was too strong to defeat, there was no choice for Umer Jahangir to raise a voice against it. He may be someone whom Aleeza could not win an argument from, who was too aware when compared to Aleeza but when compared with the likes of Jahangir/Ayaz, he was too naive. He was too naive to survive in the civil service and that's what the men in his family changed in him. These people have no choice but to let go off their conscience and do what the service requires them to do. At last, the simple thing is Umer Jahangir gave up in favour of the system because his lifestyle wouldn't have been luxurious if he had moved away from the negatives of the system and lived a mechanical life in America or the UK.

The positives now. Despite having been conscience-dead, Umer Jahangir was capable of emotional attachment. It was kind of difficult to digest that a man so blinded by power and lsut was capable of loving someone so genuinely. The fact that he could love and care for at such a morally dead point is the beauty of his character. This characteristic really makes him the grey character. His love for Aleeza remained intact during those 10 years. There were times of literally no contact with her, yet he loved her the same way. It was not just pain on Aleeza's side, it was on his side too. "Us ne Aleeza ke saath apnay zehen ki screen pe Junaid ko ubhartay dekha aur woh saans nahin le saka".. this spoke volumes. The amount of pain and determination it would have taken him to sacrifice his love was so heartbreaking. We didn't get to see his side of the story much but some little instances say too much. Now before this post goes into Umer-Aleeza direction, let me get back to the point. I must say a little about Umer and Zara's relationship. Throughout the novel, Umer expressed dislike and contempt for her. But the reality was far different. It there's any time I have failed in interpreting a situation in a book, it's defo this. At one hand, Umer blamed Zara for leaving him and went as far as saying that Zara was wrong in not putting up with Jahangir's demands although he knew well what kind of stuff Jahangir wanted Zara to do. How on earth could Umer not realise the position her mother was in and what kind of a jerk Jahangir was? But well... on the other hand, he cried after that conversation. The last person he though at the the time death was none other but Zara. I don't understand if he loved Zara and just pretended to hate her or he did really hate her? Maybe it was somewhere b/w hate and love. Plus, he just wanted his parents out of life and wanted to act indifferent towards them. And Zara's return and meeting her only meant an opening to all the painful memories of his childhood, the resentment towards his mother for leaving him in the hell hole with Jahangir. I reached the conclusion that Umer wanted his parents out of his life so that he wouldn't have to revisit his past which was nothing but melancholic. Back to the topic, Umer loved only a handful of people.. Junaid, Aleeza and perhaps Nano and Judith too.

Umer Janahgir is such a well etched character. There's a kind of black and dark beauty to his character.. and it so striking. The little instances in the reveal so much about him. As Umera said in the foreword, 'Amarbail ek kirdaar ka novel hai', it really was the novel about Umer Jahangir. His character left such a huge impact on me. He's not the crush kind like Jihan or Salaar but he's beautiful in another way. From his bad childhood to his bad habits, to his intense love for Aleeza.. everything was so beautiful. And yes, what I really liked about him was his practical and realistic outlook towards life. He wasn't someone who gave Aleeza false hopes.. he would tell her properly that there wasn't an escape in life, that they were all a part of lost generation, that the people belonging to elite class are empty handed when it comes to relationships. He was the man who knew himself more than anything. He didn't let anyone know more about himself than he wanted to. He had this mysterious aura around him when it came to other characters and readers both and till the end you keep guessing what he really though. I swear I still wonder if Umer really thought that Aleeza hated him or maybe he knew that it was just Aleeza's temporary hate towards him.. I do get the feeling that maybe he knew Aleeza would cry the day he would die. He knew his faults and that was so deep about him. He is what I call a well etched character.. Umera Ahmed presented him so differently at every point and towards the end, she just tells you the most painful thing and you end up loving the character more.

Farah, finally done with Umer's character! Hopefully by weekend I will do a character analsysis on Aleeza too.

P.S. Ignore the typos because mujhe namaz parhni hai, so I don't have time to correct them. xD

Originally posted by: -RisingAsh-

OMG Farah !!! So so soo BANG ON !

Exactly my thoughts regarding this question of Junaid's love for Aleeza and Umar's love for her. THIS IS SPOT ON !

I actually always thought how can Junaid fall in love with Aleeza, just like that.. I mean the day they met in Islamabad, uss din se hi lag raha tha jese koi baat hai.. but they didn't reveal anything. I am not talking about the fact of him being Umar's friend cuz that I got to know kafi pehle. Just that I couldn't get how can he fall in love with her.. how can he know her itna k usey pyar karne lage.. cuz it was so evident that he didn't fall only for her outer beauty but also inner one.. especially after the leap.. it was shown how much respect he has for her.. etc..

BUT there was always something that used to make me think twice over his love for her.. I started thinking he was the right choice for her post leap thanks to all the happenings. BUT when Umar's matter came out n all that hoopla of press n stuff.. the change in his behaviour made me think again.. I knew very well at that time that he is worried for Umar cuz they are friends ( they hadn't revealed it yet in the novel ) but there was a while when he clearly stopped talking to her.. no contacts.. nothing. Jese kuch hai hi nahi.. I really felt bad for Aleeza tab cuz actually uske khayal ki tarah how can their relation can be at risk for the sake of a third person .. even a friend ? Uska matlab hai k relation is not the first priority, that friend is.. there.. I didn't really like Junaid.. I mean.. he kind of gave me "I don't really care about it" wali vibes.. and this thing got even more clear when Umar and Junaid's relation was revealed and the way Junaid was behaving in the restaurant. I DID NOTICE EVERYTHING YOU MENTIONED ON THAT ONE .. and I was actually noticing un dono k reactions Aleeza ki call pe. Junaid k bare mein jo mere dimaagh mein khayalaat arahe the that he doesn't really "care" woh wahan saaf waazeh horahe the.. he didn't take notice of Aleeza's call at all when he was with Umar ( at that time Aleeza and Junaid weren't talking ) and he kept eating.. jab k Umar's first reaction to her call was shock, cuz after that engagement night this was the first time that there was some kind of contact between the two.. and then he PICKED UP the call.. uss ko farq nahi para k uss k samne kaun hai kaun nahi.. ( I, for once felt.. maybe he won't receive the call cuz Junaid is in front of him.. usey bura na lage n stuff k uss ki fiance usey phone kar rahi hai.. but uss bande ne woh call utha kar mere iss yaqeen mein aur izafa kar diya that how pure his heart is towards Aleeza.. woh usey jab bhi bulaye gi woh ayega.. woh sunega.. no matter kia halaat hain.. no matter woh kahan hai .. but he would actually leave every work behind only for Aleeza ) and then when he got to know she also called Junaid tab usey yaqeen hogaya that woh wahin kahin hai.. toh instead of hiding or eating just like Junaid.. he stood up from his place and started looking for her !! Cuz he KNEW that If Aleeza got to know the truth uss ka kia reaction hoga.. what will she feel.. what all she will go through... Mere Umar ko ITNAA zyada khayal tha Aleeza ka ❤️ ... yahan mera dil phir se agaya Umar pe.. post leap..

this showed Umar ka love was selfless.. uss ki first priority was Aleeza .. since always.. he always did this.. mujhe kabhi nahi bhoolta aur na hi bhoolega k when Crusty died Umar came to Aleeza to console her and stayed 4 days there instead of one, itna busy hone k bawujood.. WHO in the world does that ?! I mean who really ... Also that day when Aleeza got operated and he comes from Islamabad just to see her, with Judith for the first time, and stays again with her.. Yeh choti choti batein hain.. magar yeh bohat bari bari cheezon ki nishaani hain.. I just love even mere scenes of this novel .. Umar and Aleeza k especially.. !