"Begum Nawazish Ali": Bringing the house down
Jyoti Malhotra -
Monday, May 19, 2008 1:22 PM
India may pride itself on its free, frank and fearless TV, sometimes even making the news look like it belongs to the underside of a girlie magazine, or, so ably experimenting with the wholly unique Jack-the-Ripper-meets-his-mother genre.
But there’s nothing you see in India that even remotely compares with ‘Begum Nawazish Ali,’ a Saturday night show on Pakistan’s Aaj television channel that has shocked and awed this country for the last couple of years, and given the military-mullah establishment a special one in the solar plexus, week after unforgiving week.
So consider the facts : Ali Saleem, a young man barely 30 years old, dresses up in a sari every Saturday night and interviews the who’s who of Pakistan. All of Pakistan admits he brings the house down. Turns out the TRPs are crashing everything else in sight.
This Saturday young Ali’s guest was Salman Taseer, the newly anointed governor of Punjab who belongs to the Pakistan People’s Party. It was a riot. Perhaps I should amend that and say “she” -- or is it “he” -- was a riot… Truth is, no one cares a jot whether Ali Saleem is gay, bisexual or transsexual. The `phirangi’ press is much taken with the young man’s sexuality, and the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times as well as Gay.com have all interviewed him and found that he’s the son of an army officer. The Washington Blade even summoned an anthropologist to explain to its readers that in parts of South Asia, the existence of the ‘khusra’ is not such a horrifying phenomenon.
As for the Pakistani press, I suspect, they, along with the rest of the country are rather having a blast at the whole idea, laughing at themselves, even as America and the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, all variously treat Pakistan as a spectacle other times of the day.
So there he was, Ali Saleem was this Saturday night, dressed in a glittering, green chiffon sari and sleeveless blouse, his facial hair superbly removed, his plump upper arms betraying none of the bulges young men like to lean towards. The blusher on the cheeks was highlighted beautifully, the exaggerated eye make-up accentuated his golden brown pupils, and not a single, streaked hair was out of place in the fashionably uplifted hairdo. Other bodily parts were uplifted too, but so be it. The magnificent Begum had me glued to the TV set as she flapped her eyes, moved her hands to her cheek or cross-rested them on her knees. The eunuch act was poised perfectly. She was at once the crassly clapping street corner ‘hijra’ as well as the upmarket drag queen that is sometimes part of the self-conscious metro crowd back home.
She teased Salman Taseer so openly, he was plainly uncomfortable. But not for one second did she allow him the luxury of knowing that both of them shared the same biological imprint. She taunted him, saying how grateful she was to be in his house, that he had consented to the interview. We can call you Begum Maasi, he said. Drop the “si’’, she said coquettishly, just call me Ma. No, no, replied Salman Taseer, laughing, except that his laughter had just a hint of hysteria in it. She asked him about his politics, about the future of Pakistan, about his hopes and fears for the country. I am extremely hopeful, he replied with obvious relief, hoping the interview had taken a more serious turn. I believe Pakistan is on the right track. Pakistan zindabad, he said. Now that I am here with you, I know that I am on the right track too, Begum Nawazish said.
Read New York Times' coverage
The delicious skewering had by now begun to tell on Salman Taseer’s face. Ali Saleem saw it too, I think, beneath all those kilos of make-up, and quickly summoned Taseer’s son to the studio. Everyone kissed all around. Finally, a few family values were restored. The interview had been recorded earlier for sure, but I don’t know if it was being replayed or not because Salman Taseer had just been made governor a few days ago. The gentleman will soon move into the magnificent, Raj-style bungalow on Lahore’s Mall Road, which comes with acres and acres of parkland. Trust a Pakistani TV channel to destroy the decorum that comes with the job description.
The photo in this post has been linked from the NYTimes.