In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Mueenuddin is a Pakistani-American writer, born in 1963 in Los Angeles, United States. His debut book In Other Rooms, Other Wonders appeared as a complete guide to post-partition Pakistan class system and its shortcomings. It was released in 2009 and won multiple prizes, including short listed for the National Book Award. By bringing up the character of feudal lord K. K. Harouni, this collection of short stories highlights the socio-economic exploitation in different classes and the resultant alienation. This unique labyrinth of power and control over minorities announces the destruction and alienation of every individual in rural Pakistani settings to the global audience.   

The collection revolves around K. K. Harouni and his employees in different settings in these following stories e.g., Nawazudin Electrician, Saleema, Provide, Provide, About a Burning Girl, In Other Rooms, Others Wonder, Lily, A Lady of Paris and A Spoiled Man. Mueenuddin instills an epilogue in the context of Pakistani social orientation that goes like, “Three things for which we kill – land, women, gold”. It indicates the inclusion of Pakistani masculinity and its impact based on religious beliefs, physical factors, class division or complex tribal values. 

The critically acclaimed book showcases the analysis of Pakistani society in sophisticated language while being unbiased to any specific detailing. In a nutshell, it further discloses the Pakistani masculinity caught in a paraxial state between colonial delineations of power, the subsequent rise of corruption in a postcolonial aftermath, and the resulting confusion about issues of identity. In an interview, Mueenuddin clarifies his approach towards this book as deliberately not political but humanistic. Because, heresy, the mention of failing institutions like economic situation and political scenarios work as satire on the aftermath of multiple cultural effects on Pakistani society. The continuation of, to some extent, the same scenarios depict the society collectively as something fading away and dying. The unjust regulation of resources and power hierarchy authorizes the chaos that the proletarians have to meet a disappointing end. Ascendency, power and money are the defining factors. Since money and social position are interdependent, alongside other factors, the female body as an easiest alternative victim of Pakistani masculinity is also exhibited in this book.