Hanif Kureishi - The Black Album

Shahid, exasperated, resumes work on his computer .

There you have it, Strap, my hard-working baby brother. Times are moody, I have to admit, but he’ll sort us out, won’t you, bro? Hey, Strap, look at the dreamer.

StrapperLike me.

ChiliYou?

StrapperYeah, me, man.

ChiliThey ain’t dreams, they’re drug hallucinations!

StrapperFuck off, man. You should’ve sorted the cash! You kept sayin’ London was too small a place for ya. Is it small enough for you now, Chili, eh — this small enough?

ChiliShhh, let the boy work, Strap. Hey, what’s the score, bro?

Shahid( tetchy ) What’s free speech to you, Chili?

ChiliDon’t bend your knee.

StrapperWindbag! You done shat yourself when those heavies came in for their money!

ChiliThat’s just a game, Strap. But this here now –

He clutches hold of Strapper, as he addresses Shahid .

— this here is pure censorship. Nothing terrible will ever happen to us, unless we will it. That’s just the way it is. But evil’s been done to Strap, practically from day one he’s been censored. Don’t do this! Stop there! Stay away from that! He don’t deserve to be wasted. If you want to fight for anything, fight for him.

ShahidI think I want to be a writer.

ChiliWhat’s wrong with being a travel agent?

ShahidYou try it! Papa left everything to you. Ammi needs you.

ChiliYou want me to be like all the other Pakis in their dirty shops, humourlessly keeping their eyes only on the pennies dropping in their palms? Go and work there if you like it so much. I give you my place! But you won’t either. We ain’t ones to make sacrifices, are we, bro?

ShahidJust go home, Chili, please. Papa worked his arse off.

Chili remains silent .

( Insistent .) To give us a decent life.

Chili And what is that? Do you know?

He grabs hold of Shahid .

Why won’t you tell me?

ShahidLet go of me!

ChiliNo one knows!

He slaps Shahid. Shahid goes to punch him, but Chili slaps him again .

Now shut it!

ShahidFuck, fuck!

Shahid returns to his computer, as Chili and Strapper lie wasted .

After a time, Shahid covers his trembling brother with a blanket and continues working .

Morning dawns. Chili gets up and takes Strapper out with him .

There is a knock on the door. Shahid shuts down his computer, tidies himself and opens the door to Riaz, Brownlow, Chad and Hat .

Riaz Salaam a-leikum , Shahid.

Shahid Wa-leikum salaam .

Riaz and the others take their seats in the room .

RiazCome, remind everyone of the topic you want to debate.

ChadYou call us here for what, when the issue is obvious?

ShahidI hope it is. John Milton said long ago that he who destroys a good book kills reason itself. The best way to respond to the book is to guard against that.

HatAre you talking of that book?

ShahidYes, Hat. There’s been a long history of books being banned — Joyce’s Ulysses was burned in New York and then Lawrence, when he wrote Lady Chatterley’s –

HatIs that Lawrence of Arabia?

ShahidNo, D. H. Lawrence — he wrote a lot about physical passion — sex –

RiazSo did Barbara Cartland. ( Addressing the others .) See how calm I am?

They laugh .

Shahid( continuing ) History shows that books can’t be suppressed. Dr Brownlow, surely you see how this is the road to dictatorship of the mind, like in those Communist states.

RiazThat is presumption and arrogance.

ShahidI am asking the brothers to consider that the telling of stories helps us all. It starts a conversation, however hard that may be.

ChadYou agreeing with that blasphemer?

ShahidI am talking of what we need to do. As a poet yourself, brother Riaz –

RiazThis is not about us but the mind of the author –

ShahidAnd that mind you should defend!

RiazThis is the presumption I am talking of, brothers!

Shahid( powering on ) He has said time and again he has your view of the world — the migrant’s view. He celebrates what you are because out of you come new things.

RiazThere is nothing new after Allah’s revelations.

ShahidBut even these are not without dispute.

Riaz( angry ) What do you mean?

Shahid( overlapping Riaz’s question ) I have read the history. There were verses added to the Koran –

Riaz( interjecting ) — and refuted by Allah himself as the work of Satan!

ShahidBut the fact of those verses remains. And if these were the work of Satan, you have to agree his mischief made the faith stronger.

RiazIt enabled Allah to warn us about Satan, agreed.

ShahidThen can’t you accept that the writer is also being playful, and his new work will only make the faith stronger?

RiazWhen there is so little known about us Muslims in public, we have a right to ensure the ummah — the Muslim community as a whole — is represented in ways that promote all of us.

Brownlow( to Shahid ) This is a n-n-new form of racism here, when the Muslim working class is persecuted by middle-class, Cambridge types.

ShahidAren’t you being hypocritical, Dr Brownlow?

BrownlowI have never subscribed to the British obsession with class loyalty. We should seize this moment — for the first time under Thatcher, there is the real possibility of persecuted classes making a difference. You have a cause, a passion that could place you in the vanguard of changing this country!

ShahidIsn’t it even more crucial then that the cause is a right one?

BrownlowWhat matters is the commitment to kick the old order out of its complacency. Stand firm, Tariq — the new world order will be created by your class!

ShahidLiterature is not a political party! Brother Riaz here is asking us to become policemen of storytellers.

RiazIn these times, it is the duty of every Mussulman to become a policeman for his faith. The Ayatollah has made that very clear in his fatwa. He who does not act is not a true Muslim.

ShahidBrother Riaz, you asked me to prepare your poems for print. You even accepted I could play with the words a little to make them fit today’s way of speaking. Will playing with your words make me satanic in your eyes?

RiazForget this literature-shiterature talk. Let me ask you directly — if a character comes to your home in Sevenoaks and abuses your mother and sisters, what will you do?

ChadYou got a problem, brother?

Shahid( snaps ) Don’t call me brother! Why should you be more of a brother than any other man in the street?

ChadYou confused, brother — ( To the others .) Or he hiding something.