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Friendship in hard times

Nausheen Rahman comments on a poignant story
A captivating book from the very first page, Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad not only has an enticing title, but also a very appealing sub-title, "The True Story of An Unlikely Friendship". Who doesn't like to read about friendships that actually exist/existed, especially unlikely ones?
The story spans two countries, two continents, and has an intriguing background. The entire book is in the form of e-mail letters two women write to each other; this correspondence forges a firm friendship between them. There's May, an Iraqi, who lives in Baghdad - in one of its worst periods. She teaches English Literature and Human Rights to university students, And there’s Bee, an Englishwoman who lives in London with her husband and three daughters, and is a journalist working for BBC World Service.
What is most delightful is the easy camaraderie that springs up between two people of such different backgrounds and lifestyles - but who also have a lot of common beliefs, dreams and fears. The friendship that blossoms is unexpected, yet somehow understandable. It is unexpected because of the differences in their situations, and understandable because of the strong conviction the two women have in individual freedom and human dignity.
Through the e-mails (which begin in January, 2005 and continue till October, 2008), we come to know, not only about May's and Bee's lives and their viewpoints on various issues, but also about the prevailing unbearable circumstances in Iraq. The story takes on a significant aspect when a plan is made to help May and her husband, Ali, to flee from Baghdad ---to safety, to a life of of normalcy, of sanity.
As the two women who've never met, come to know each other better, an unwavering understanding grows between them. Their concern for each other's welfare makes them even closer and they start considering each other family members: "I have this feeling that we are family already" (says May to Bee). Ali tells May "A real sister would not care to do what Bee did and help us like that". May even addresses Bee as "Dearest Sister" and develops a genuine fondness for Bee's daughters. Meanwhile, Bee and her husband, Justin, try to do all they can to expedite May's arrival in the United Kingdom.
May and Bee gradually become dependent on each other's e-mails: From May to Bee: "I read your letter and held it close to my heart and said maybe someday we will all meet”. From Bee to May: "I can cope with the idea of never meeting you, but not with the idea of your e-mails just ceasing".
May’s e-mails are often an outpouring of her thoughts and feelings as living conditions in Baghdad go from bad to worse. She is a Sunni and Ali is a Shia; this makes matters even more difficult and they become more and more frustrated and desperate. Bee's cheerful, interesting e-mails keep them going, particularly when they are about her little girls or contain optimistic messages: "The more bad luck we overcome, the better”; "A big load of bad luck means that the same amount of good luck is on its way"; "The darkest hour is before dawn”. These words of encouragement help to keep May's morale high — even in the darkest of moments. She appeals to Bee: "Please don't stop writing because your e-mails give me hope that there are still good people in the world".
We experience May's ordeals vicariously - as we seem to live her hard days with her. She says that her country is "flooded by a bloodbath, that Death is everywhere, and that people are getting massacred and even buried alive".
Our being able to perceive the status of moderate Muslims and of women in Iraq, gives the book a special flavour.
May’s unbiased, rational observations on Islam and its distortions also make reading this book a pleasure: "Extremists add their own rules and regulations and do more harm than they realize. Islam was never, ever a religion of violence, nor was it a religion that harboured hatred towards other religions. In fact, Moslems need to treat people of other religions well, and to protect them".
May’s character is very interesting. She says that she has never in her whole life obeyed the social rules. She sees irony in teaching her students Human Rights and Democracy when the country’s Shi’ite government is "made up of militiamen", and where there's not just the lack of security, but of everything. We have to wonder at her tenacity and resilience as she confronts one gigantic problem after another.
A publisher offered to compile the exchange of epistles in the form of a book. Bee's endeavors to collect funds for May's studies (PhD) in the United Kingdom were successful, after all. Neither of the women had any intention or idea whatsoever that, one day, their candid, heartfelt words would be read by so many - all over the world.
We must thank modern technology for this blessing of a book, the ending of which can fill anyone's heart with joy; after years of looking forward to meeting each other, May and Bee finally come face to face - in London. (There's a photograph of them embracing).
NAUSHEEN RAHMAN IS A TEACHER AND LITERARY CRITIC.