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The Heart Asks Pleasure First
An extraordinary tale of love in a world being torn asunder.
It is 2001 and Daya and Aaftab have just met in a park in Cardiff. She is studying ballet and he is practising in a law firm. She falls madly in love. He does, but he also cannot, because he is Muslim and there are certain rules.
Set in a world of students, Karuna Ezara Parikh sets up a dazzling framework of impossible, forbidden love, difficult joyous friendship, as she delves into migration, Islamophobia and jihad in the wake of a cataclysmic terror event that will have dangerous ramifications the world over.
Brilliantly crafted, this magical first novel reveals with great power and grace both the agony and the ecstasy of being human.
It is 2001 and Daya and Aaftab have just met in a park in Cardiff. She is studying ballet and he is practising in a law firm. She falls madly in love. He does, but he also cannot, because he is Muslim and there are certain rules.
Set in a world of students, Karuna Ezara Parikh sets up a dazzling framework of impossible, forbidden love, difficult joyous friendship, as she delves into migration, Islamophobia and jihad in the wake of a cataclysmic terror event that will have dangerous ramifications the world over.
Brilliantly crafted, this magical first novel reveals with great power and grace both the agony and the ecstasy of being human.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published September 21, 2020
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1303 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
June 3, 2021
2.5 stars.
I really wanted to like this book more. It had all the elements I would have absolutely adored: idyllic setting, lyrical prose, an inter-religious love story between two immigrants, a lot of history and friendships. But I didn't. It starts off well and mostly is not a disappointing read but falters quite a bit in its narration and structure. The lyricism gets over the top, too many character arcs make one befuddled and in its attempt to be correct and unique, it falls into the trap of hackneyed storylines. Things that discomfited me:
1.) The interactions between the lovers were a little too trite and corny for my taste. Sample this:
" She was a bowl of water and he was nothing but fallen flowers waiting to be gathered, thirsting."
"'I have your keys', she says quietly. 'Oh, Daya', he replied, voice cracking. 'You have my heart.'"
Nope nope nope.
2.)It undertakes the humongous task of representing a huge array of themes like communalism, racism, anti-immigrant violence, Islamophobia, 9/11, religious fanaticism but fails in conveying these issues with earnestness. None of these issues seemed to have a life of their own in the book. I appreciate the efforts that Parikh takes to portray them with sensitivity but they seemed to be painstakingly formed opinions not something that has been experienced, absorbed or reflected upon. The parts with such descriptions sounded hollow, infantile and sometimes even awkward.
3.) Islam has been really exoticised in here which is strange because the Muslim characters are from Pakistan and there isn't anything quite exotic about South Asian Islam if one has grown up in India. Rolled my eyes quite hard at this one: Daya had wanted to study Islam as the enemy, as the thing keeping Aaftab away from her. Instead, she fell in love with it, with the poetry and the piety and the ideas of immense purity. She fell in love with the calligraphy and male modesty, with the saints and the Sufis, the architecture and the tales of Arabia. I was a little vexed every time the sands and tales and scents of Arabia made an appearance which was quite a lot. My other issue is that when it comes to the Muslim characters, the plot is so predictable: their lives are defined by their religion, it controls and shapes their present and future and there is not much else to their personalities. The other characters have their ambitions, politics and sexualities that exist independent of their religious identity. This was sorely disappointing because Parikh does exactly what she vehemently proclaims to not do: she pigeonholes her characters.
4.) A LOT of self-awareness and righteousness. Daya's parents Asha and Gyan threw lovely parties, lived in a huge house with the most aesthetic decor right from Faiz on the wall and indigo bowls for fruits and a garden full of bougainvilleas. So basically in the prime of wealth, status and elegance. But it was again and again pointed out that they ran an organisation that employed hapless women, had impeccable political opinions, were generous to their domestic help and read quite a bit. I felt incredibly uncomfortable with this kind of virtue signalling. It gave the impression that class hegemony can be overlooked if you have noble intentions.
But considering the fact that it made me think quite a bit, this was worth the time. Some bits like when Wasim (a wonderful character with growth!) goes in search of the endangered flowers had so much beauty and grace. Since this was her first book, I am sure Parikh is only moving up after this. There is so much potential and talent in her writing. This one didn't quite hit the mark for me but I am hopeful for the ones ahead.
I really wanted to like this book more. It had all the elements I would have absolutely adored: idyllic setting, lyrical prose, an inter-religious love story between two immigrants, a lot of history and friendships. But I didn't. It starts off well and mostly is not a disappointing read but falters quite a bit in its narration and structure. The lyricism gets over the top, too many character arcs make one befuddled and in its attempt to be correct and unique, it falls into the trap of hackneyed storylines. Things that discomfited me:
1.) The interactions between the lovers were a little too trite and corny for my taste. Sample this:
" She was a bowl of water and he was nothing but fallen flowers waiting to be gathered, thirsting."
"'I have your keys', she says quietly. 'Oh, Daya', he replied, voice cracking. 'You have my heart.'"
Nope nope nope.
2.)It undertakes the humongous task of representing a huge array of themes like communalism, racism, anti-immigrant violence, Islamophobia, 9/11, religious fanaticism but fails in conveying these issues with earnestness. None of these issues seemed to have a life of their own in the book. I appreciate the efforts that Parikh takes to portray them with sensitivity but they seemed to be painstakingly formed opinions not something that has been experienced, absorbed or reflected upon. The parts with such descriptions sounded hollow, infantile and sometimes even awkward.
3.) Islam has been really exoticised in here which is strange because the Muslim characters are from Pakistan and there isn't anything quite exotic about South Asian Islam if one has grown up in India. Rolled my eyes quite hard at this one: Daya had wanted to study Islam as the enemy, as the thing keeping Aaftab away from her. Instead, she fell in love with it, with the poetry and the piety and the ideas of immense purity. She fell in love with the calligraphy and male modesty, with the saints and the Sufis, the architecture and the tales of Arabia. I was a little vexed every time the sands and tales and scents of Arabia made an appearance which was quite a lot. My other issue is that when it comes to the Muslim characters, the plot is so predictable: their lives are defined by their religion, it controls and shapes their present and future and there is not much else to their personalities. The other characters have their ambitions, politics and sexualities that exist independent of their religious identity. This was sorely disappointing because Parikh does exactly what she vehemently proclaims to not do: she pigeonholes her characters.
4.) A LOT of self-awareness and righteousness. Daya's parents Asha and Gyan threw lovely parties, lived in a huge house with the most aesthetic decor right from Faiz on the wall and indigo bowls for fruits and a garden full of bougainvilleas. So basically in the prime of wealth, status and elegance. But it was again and again pointed out that they ran an organisation that employed hapless women, had impeccable political opinions, were generous to their domestic help and read quite a bit. I felt incredibly uncomfortable with this kind of virtue signalling. It gave the impression that class hegemony can be overlooked if you have noble intentions.
But considering the fact that it made me think quite a bit, this was worth the time. Some bits like when Wasim (a wonderful character with growth!) goes in search of the endangered flowers had so much beauty and grace. Since this was her first book, I am sure Parikh is only moving up after this. There is so much potential and talent in her writing. This one didn't quite hit the mark for me but I am hopeful for the ones ahead.
July 15, 2022
ETA in July 2022: I waxed lyrical about this book for months. Gifted the copy to at least five of the closest people in my life. So I've been very very very conflicted about posting this for months here. Anyway, during the Jaipur Literature Festival in March 2022, the author posted a picture on their personal social media with this panelist who had happily posted on Twitter about "looking forward to discussing a book" with a certain cabinet minister of the current ruling party. I am not in favour of policing what people post on their personal social media pages, but when your book is based on interfaith love and has the quote "Being secular no longer means simply accepting that all religions exist. It means fighting back with love, for all religions. It means standing up." - I expect more from you than being "friends" with people who do not do enough to disengage themselves from those who are clearly not secular, and if I may add, responsible for the current situation in this country.
In the end, it's a person's choice (especially when in a position of privilege) to be associated with the kind of people they want to. But every time I look at my glowing review of this book, I am reminded of this incident. I'm not changing my original review of the book, while adding this to honouring the feelings I currently have.
Original review (5 stars): Karuna started writing this book in 2007 and only published it in September 2020 (in the middle of a goddamn pandemic.) I mean, wow!
The book is everything I imagined it to be, and more. The beautifully lyrical prose sweeps you off your feet - while sometimes the harsh realities of communal hatred and bigotry pull the rug from under you. I don't have the words to review this masterpiece yet. But this book was everything my heart needed.
If you appreciate the beauty of love and language, then please do yourself a favour and get this book. I promise it will bring insurmountable pleasure to your heart. <3
Special mention to Subhankar Roy for getting me a signed copy of this gorgeous book that has, wait for it, the author's personal inscription to me! <3
In the end, it's a person's choice (especially when in a position of privilege) to be associated with the kind of people they want to. But every time I look at my glowing review of this book, I am reminded of this incident. I'm not changing my original review of the book, while adding this to honouring the feelings I currently have.
Original review (5 stars): Karuna started writing this book in 2007 and only published it in September 2020 (in the middle of a goddamn pandemic.) I mean, wow!
The book is everything I imagined it to be, and more. The beautifully lyrical prose sweeps you off your feet - while sometimes the harsh realities of communal hatred and bigotry pull the rug from under you. I don't have the words to review this masterpiece yet. But this book was everything my heart needed.
If you appreciate the beauty of love and language, then please do yourself a favour and get this book. I promise it will bring insurmountable pleasure to your heart. <3
Special mention to Subhankar Roy for getting me a signed copy of this gorgeous book that has, wait for it, the author's personal inscription to me! <3
February 12, 2021
I did not sign up for this. And I have no stars to give.
Chapter 18, Page 208
This is what bothers me about this book. What has been portrayed here, is that Daya, the protagonist is the only person full of empathy and the only Indian capable of empathy.
Page no 212: "And Daya was realizing that in India not everyone felt empathy"
She even drags a 4-year-old kid, to prove her point.
4-year-old kids in reality are not filled with hate. I've never heard a 4-year-old kid preach hate.
Chapter 18, Page 208
This is what bothers me about this book. What has been portrayed here, is that Daya, the protagonist is the only person full of empathy and the only Indian capable of empathy.
Page no 212: "And Daya was realizing that in India not everyone felt empathy"
She even drags a 4-year-old kid, to prove her point.
4-year-old kids in reality are not filled with hate. I've never heard a 4-year-old kid preach hate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2022
Psh.
Too much lyrical, wondrous, enchanting, bewitching, luminous, bedazzling prose (see what I did there?); not enough story.
Overwrought and overblown.
Too much lyrical, wondrous, enchanting, bewitching, luminous, bedazzling prose (see what I did there?); not enough story.
Overwrought and overblown.
September 3, 2020
The Heart Asks Pleasure First is undoubtedly one of the best books I've read in a long time. The language is lyrical with the reader swept along as much by the poetic nature of the prose as the proficiency of the story telling. It is 'set in a world of students but breathtaking in its expansiveness.'
Ann Patchett's high praise of it is completely merited. She says, "A luminous, hypnotic novel, as much about the beauty of language as it is about the struggles of life."
Lisa Ray called it "An intoxicating and immersive exploration of the forces that shape our world and relationships."
Nilanjana Roy calls it "a wise and tender novel".
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Ann Patchett's high praise of it is completely merited. She says, "A luminous, hypnotic novel, as much about the beauty of language as it is about the struggles of life."
Lisa Ray called it "An intoxicating and immersive exploration of the forces that shape our world and relationships."
Nilanjana Roy calls it "a wise and tender novel".
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
December 4, 2021
This book is as difficult to dislike entirely as it is to like.
I genuinely didn't enjoy my reading experience, kept stopping and wandering off to other books, watched a lot of netflix, but kept going back, because I have a serious disability to DNF a book!!!
In short, it's a tale as old as time.
Or at least, as old as India, Pakistan, Hindu and Muslim, forbidden young love and friendships, togetherness and separation.
Like I said, as old as time.
Especially if you're from either of these countries, and watch movies.
It is, in its essence, a young adult love story in the backdrop of the ever present, ever pointless communal hate, that seems to run the underbelly of this fascinating country of mine. And yet, with each clichéd thought and trite sentiment, I kept turning the page hoping that something new, something interesting would emerge.
An extremely beautiful lyrical prose is, for me, the one saving grace of this read. The lines are lovely. The metaphors are, mostly, extremely poetic. The atmosphere very immersive—be it that beautiful petal house, the lovely lighthouse or the park...A lovely poetic writing, but I wish the subject did justice to the style.
I genuinely didn't enjoy my reading experience, kept stopping and wandering off to other books, watched a lot of netflix, but kept going back, because I have a serious disability to DNF a book!!!
In short, it's a tale as old as time.
Or at least, as old as India, Pakistan, Hindu and Muslim, forbidden young love and friendships, togetherness and separation.
Like I said, as old as time.
Especially if you're from either of these countries, and watch movies.
It is, in its essence, a young adult love story in the backdrop of the ever present, ever pointless communal hate, that seems to run the underbelly of this fascinating country of mine. And yet, with each clichéd thought and trite sentiment, I kept turning the page hoping that something new, something interesting would emerge.
An extremely beautiful lyrical prose is, for me, the one saving grace of this read. The lines are lovely. The metaphors are, mostly, extremely poetic. The atmosphere very immersive—be it that beautiful petal house, the lovely lighthouse or the park...A lovely poetic writing, but I wish the subject did justice to the style.
August 27, 2022
"Everything you choose to do, is everything you choose to be. Choose wisely."
The Heart Asks Pleasure First by Karuna Ezara Parikh, a strong tale of love in a world being torn asunder. This book is different, the writing style of this debut book is flawless. Set in Cardiff, UK the book holds some amazing layers and underlying topics.
Daya, Aaftab, Waseem and others along with this who were a part of this story were really some of the most beautiful and difficult characters written. Each of them hold so much more to the plot along with some problems of their own to handle.
Apart from this in terms of culture and Islam, I felt the research and some underlying plot is little misleading and missing. Could have been better on that part. However, over-all I truly enjoyed the lyrical and magical words written in this book by the author.
The Heart Asks Pleasure First by Karuna Ezara Parikh, a strong tale of love in a world being torn asunder. This book is different, the writing style of this debut book is flawless. Set in Cardiff, UK the book holds some amazing layers and underlying topics.
Daya, Aaftab, Waseem and others along with this who were a part of this story were really some of the most beautiful and difficult characters written. Each of them hold so much more to the plot along with some problems of their own to handle.
Apart from this in terms of culture and Islam, I felt the research and some underlying plot is little misleading and missing. Could have been better on that part. However, over-all I truly enjoyed the lyrical and magical words written in this book by the author.
June 21, 2021
It makes a promising start but fails to live up to the expectations.
October 4, 2020
I wept under the moonlight after finishing this book because a) I didn't want it to end b) it broke my heart c) beautiful book like this are rare to find. 'Love conquers all' - be it religion, country or war. I didn't expect it to be what it is before started reading it. It was so poetical and the sentences were lyrical that I had to read every paragraph that caught my attention twice or thrice before moving to the next paragraph. More than Daya and Aaftab's relationship, I loved Daya's parents' relationship more. Omg! Their bond was so beautiful especially Daya's mother. (Mind you the characters in this book will set you high expectations for every possible relationship 😬) This book also dealt with inhumanity, stereotypes and bigotry. That was totally unexpected and omg! Karuna's views were so profound and something I loved so much. Ah, I am going to read every book she writes. This book deserves all the love and I mean it ♥️ Please please please read it if you love contemporary literature with lyrical prose.
April 20, 2021
I started writing this review around four times with a quote/excerpt from the book as I always do, and stopped four times, if not more. Why? Because every line in the book that I annotated transported my thoughts to a different place and I understood that I'll have to write about them again, I can't simply use them as the beginning of a review that will never do justice to this book. I will have to come back to them. Over and over again. I'll have to read and love them more than a dozen times, remember them and cherish them, just as I would this book.
Religion. Nationality. Jihad. Society. Love. Brotherhood. Freedom. Friendship. Love.
That's what this book is about. And more. And more. It's like a poem that the author decided to stretch long, and beautifully so. It's a poem that needs no descriptions because it has one in itself. It's strange how a book that ends in three hundred and ten pages covered so many themes, without it ever feeling like it was too much, or unnecessary, or irrelevant. No, not once. Everything aspect of this story fits with the whole like the lock and key model of enzymes that I came to know about them back in my undergrad days. It's interesting really: the lock is the enzyme and the key is the substrate. Only the correctly sized key (substrate) fits into the key hole (active site) of the lock (enzyme). Here, the substrate can be understood as the drug that's being developed for a particular illness where a specific enzyme has a prime role. Researchers figure out this active site or key hole of the enzyme that's causing all the trouble and come up with a key that fits. Whoosh. Issue resolved. This is how medicines come into existence (not all, but many many of them).
Let's use this analogy for this book. Where was I again? Oh yes, the parts of the story, the themes, they all fit into the story like the substrate does into the enzyme. Only, there is no medicine developed. Rather, what comes into existence is love. Pure. Daya and Aaftab. Asha and Gyan. I have to admit, more then Daya and Aaftab, my heart went out for Asha and Gyan. And the only reason I'm able to make peace with how the book ended is because Asha and Gyan got their due. I will forever wonder and ponder about all the what would have beens, what ifs, and only ifs that Aaftab and Daya would go through, but strangely enough, my heart was content. Because what more does a person need than to know that they're loved?
I know my words have made very little sense here but read this book, please? It has my heart. It'll have yours too.
Religion. Nationality. Jihad. Society. Love. Brotherhood. Freedom. Friendship. Love.
That's what this book is about. And more. And more. It's like a poem that the author decided to stretch long, and beautifully so. It's a poem that needs no descriptions because it has one in itself. It's strange how a book that ends in three hundred and ten pages covered so many themes, without it ever feeling like it was too much, or unnecessary, or irrelevant. No, not once. Everything aspect of this story fits with the whole like the lock and key model of enzymes that I came to know about them back in my undergrad days. It's interesting really: the lock is the enzyme and the key is the substrate. Only the correctly sized key (substrate) fits into the key hole (active site) of the lock (enzyme). Here, the substrate can be understood as the drug that's being developed for a particular illness where a specific enzyme has a prime role. Researchers figure out this active site or key hole of the enzyme that's causing all the trouble and come up with a key that fits. Whoosh. Issue resolved. This is how medicines come into existence (not all, but many many of them).
Let's use this analogy for this book. Where was I again? Oh yes, the parts of the story, the themes, they all fit into the story like the substrate does into the enzyme. Only, there is no medicine developed. Rather, what comes into existence is love. Pure. Daya and Aaftab. Asha and Gyan. I have to admit, more then Daya and Aaftab, my heart went out for Asha and Gyan. And the only reason I'm able to make peace with how the book ended is because Asha and Gyan got their due. I will forever wonder and ponder about all the what would have beens, what ifs, and only ifs that Aaftab and Daya would go through, but strangely enough, my heart was content. Because what more does a person need than to know that they're loved?
I know my words have made very little sense here but read this book, please? It has my heart. It'll have yours too.
October 29, 2021
The Heart Asks Pleasure First is the kind of book that pleases and informs, breaks and mends you all at the same time. I absorbed this book like sustenance. It's such a beautiful story, told even more beautifully that I couldn't help tabbing and annotating every second page as I sailed through. Karuna is such a poised storyteller that I'm in awe of her abilities. She handles the topics she touches in the book with so much sensitivity, aplomb and transparency that it's writ large why the book took such a long time to finish. Simply saying that this book is a love story of a Pakistani and an Indian would do injustice to rest of the things that this book intends to discuss too, things which exist in between the lines–the divisions, big and small, residing between people in present society, and our focus on what differentiates us rather than what connects us, that before belonging to a country and a religion, we belong to humanity first and foremost, how hate is not inherent but taught.
The book is an equivalent of a well tended garden. It's nicely structured, lush with ambiguities of language, and the author guides you across the poetic map of the story, from timeline to timeline, without allowing any room for confusion. Hers is the prose that aims straight for the heart, for the senses, even more so by retaining its ‘desi-ness’ through usage of hybrid language.
And saving ‘the best for last’, the characters. I left little fragments of my heart each for Daya, Aaftab, Wasim, Asha, Gyan, Colin and Kamla as I closed the book. Never in my life have I felt so connected to so many characters in a single book, all of them so compassionately realized that I wanted to hug them and protect them from the world that's inclined to break them. If the word ‘memorable’ was created with only one purpose, I would say it was to define these characters and this book. To sum up my final feelings, I'd like to borrow a quote from the book and alter it a bit because only words from this book, so beautiful as they are, can do justice to its kind:
My heart. Is there a place more emptier in all the world after finishing this book? Tell me, is there a place more fuller? ❤️
The book is an equivalent of a well tended garden. It's nicely structured, lush with ambiguities of language, and the author guides you across the poetic map of the story, from timeline to timeline, without allowing any room for confusion. Hers is the prose that aims straight for the heart, for the senses, even more so by retaining its ‘desi-ness’ through usage of hybrid language.
And saving ‘the best for last’, the characters. I left little fragments of my heart each for Daya, Aaftab, Wasim, Asha, Gyan, Colin and Kamla as I closed the book. Never in my life have I felt so connected to so many characters in a single book, all of them so compassionately realized that I wanted to hug them and protect them from the world that's inclined to break them. If the word ‘memorable’ was created with only one purpose, I would say it was to define these characters and this book. To sum up my final feelings, I'd like to borrow a quote from the book and alter it a bit because only words from this book, so beautiful as they are, can do justice to its kind:
My heart. Is there a place more emptier in all the world after finishing this book? Tell me, is there a place more fuller? ❤️
May 28, 2021
Forgive me if my attempt at reviewing this book makes little sense today. For, once in a while there come those books which leave you awestruck; they brim with so much beauty, you're not sure you can handle it. Such was The Heart Asks Pleasure First. Karuna Ezara Parikh has penned so much in barely 300 pages that I will always be in awe of her.
This debut novel is replete with so much poetry, so much pain and of course, so much love. It was as much Daya and Aaftab's story as was Gyan and Asha's, Wasim's and Colin's. And that's not it. Religion, Jihad, dance, literature, music, Communalism, friendships, partition, filial bonds- so vast is the book in its themes and yet it leaves a lingering ache. The ache, the want of more. More of everyone and everything in this breathtaking novel.
In a world of students, Daya and Aaftab meet in a land where Hindustan and Pakistan are buried and their borders seemingly obliterated- in Wales. They fall in love and unbeknownst to them, their bond will traverse the boundaries of faith and dogma, belief and society. To me, among other things, this novel really put a face to the existing xenophobia around the world. Yet the author never fails to amaze the reader with the poetry of it all- all big themes humbled and humanized. It is a tapestry I will come back to, again.
I wish I could hug Aaftab.
I wish I could sit with Wasim over a cup of tea he so lovingly makes. I wish I could hold Daya through her grief.
I wanted so much more but the beauty of this book lies in the fact that I was content. Absolutely and positively content.
Please read this book? It was everything my heart needed right now.
This debut novel is replete with so much poetry, so much pain and of course, so much love. It was as much Daya and Aaftab's story as was Gyan and Asha's, Wasim's and Colin's. And that's not it. Religion, Jihad, dance, literature, music, Communalism, friendships, partition, filial bonds- so vast is the book in its themes and yet it leaves a lingering ache. The ache, the want of more. More of everyone and everything in this breathtaking novel.
In a world of students, Daya and Aaftab meet in a land where Hindustan and Pakistan are buried and their borders seemingly obliterated- in Wales. They fall in love and unbeknownst to them, their bond will traverse the boundaries of faith and dogma, belief and society. To me, among other things, this novel really put a face to the existing xenophobia around the world. Yet the author never fails to amaze the reader with the poetry of it all- all big themes humbled and humanized. It is a tapestry I will come back to, again.
I wish I could hug Aaftab.
I wish I could sit with Wasim over a cup of tea he so lovingly makes. I wish I could hold Daya through her grief.
I wanted so much more but the beauty of this book lies in the fact that I was content. Absolutely and positively content.
Please read this book? It was everything my heart needed right now.
May 2, 2023
I have tear stains on two pages of this novel. It’s been years since a book gets that. I highlighted. Made notes. Wrote stuff in the brims. This novel made me a romantic fool. Beautiful metaphors, a plot that is heart wrenching and so real. One can feel the story in one’s own hands. The poetry, the want for home, the knowledge that “home is elsewhere”, but the want for it making you travel to beaches and hotels and lakes and back to ideas of motherlands in the East: motherlands that don’t necessarily exist.
February 25, 2021
The Heart Asks Pleasure First by Karuna Ezara Parikh is as beautiful on the inside as it is outside. Poetic, soulful writing wrapped in the rich beauty of Urdu and it’s prose; the story of a forbidden love between Daya, an Indian student studying Dance and Aaftab from Pakistan, a practicing lawyer in Cardiff. We follow how they instantly bond over their different yet familiar love for language, religion, food and chai; through borders and nationality, falling irrevocably for each other and how it unfolds.
I absolutely loved reading this one, a book both personal and political, I’m in awe of how wonderfully Karuna plays with words and fragments of time and memory, letting us drift away with pieces of passioned moments, bringing them up when they’re no longer ours but the mere thought of them are comforting.
Her characters are beautifully carved, vulnerable to their heart’s desires and bound by unsaid rules, wanting to risk everything to steal every last moment.
I felt Daya, Aaftab and Wasim reflect parts of me in so many ways, parts that I’m sometimes shy to embrace and I thought it was beautifully done.
Although this is Daya and Aaftab’s story, I fell in love with Daya’s parents, Asha and Gyan, and their love for each other; and Wasim, who will forever have my heart.
May be we resort to fiction not only as an escape from our everyday reality or things we might feel the need to run from; but also to find traces of our lives in these imagined worlds, hoping to find solutions to our own.
I believe some books, like people come to us when we most need them and this is exactly how it felt.
I absolutely loved reading this one, a book both personal and political, I’m in awe of how wonderfully Karuna plays with words and fragments of time and memory, letting us drift away with pieces of passioned moments, bringing them up when they’re no longer ours but the mere thought of them are comforting.
Her characters are beautifully carved, vulnerable to their heart’s desires and bound by unsaid rules, wanting to risk everything to steal every last moment.
I felt Daya, Aaftab and Wasim reflect parts of me in so many ways, parts that I’m sometimes shy to embrace and I thought it was beautifully done.
Although this is Daya and Aaftab’s story, I fell in love with Daya’s parents, Asha and Gyan, and their love for each other; and Wasim, who will forever have my heart.
May be we resort to fiction not only as an escape from our everyday reality or things we might feel the need to run from; but also to find traces of our lives in these imagined worlds, hoping to find solutions to our own.
I believe some books, like people come to us when we most need them and this is exactly how it felt.
November 3, 2021
"He bowed to her like she was God and he knelt before her like he was preparing to pray. He entered her like she was the entire world, from the east like the sun enters the day with nothing but the need to fill it with light."
.
.
The Heart Asks Pleasure First has consumed me as a whole. So much so that I don't think my review can justify the splendor of this book. After I finished reading it, I looked at the wall and zoned out thinking about Daya-Aftab and their yearning for each other, Gyan-Daya and their perfect romance, and Wasim and his selfless love. This book has touched my heart in places that I never thought existed. It has broken my heart and healed it. No other book can surpass this. At least not yet.
.
.
This book is about love, grief, loss, yearning, religion, literature, art, and friendship. I could never place them all perfectly in one story until I read this one. Daya, a dance student in Wales happens to meet Aftab, a law student from Pakistan on a sunny afternoon by chance. Their love blossoms but secretly. They long for each other but only in the shadows of the room.
.
I will go back to reading this book time and again because I know for a fact that it has the power to heal. ❤🌻
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The Heart Asks Pleasure First has consumed me as a whole. So much so that I don't think my review can justify the splendor of this book. After I finished reading it, I looked at the wall and zoned out thinking about Daya-Aftab and their yearning for each other, Gyan-Daya and their perfect romance, and Wasim and his selfless love. This book has touched my heart in places that I never thought existed. It has broken my heart and healed it. No other book can surpass this. At least not yet.
.
.
This book is about love, grief, loss, yearning, religion, literature, art, and friendship. I could never place them all perfectly in one story until I read this one. Daya, a dance student in Wales happens to meet Aftab, a law student from Pakistan on a sunny afternoon by chance. Their love blossoms but secretly. They long for each other but only in the shadows of the room.
.
I will go back to reading this book time and again because I know for a fact that it has the power to heal. ❤🌻
August 31, 2022
The Heart Asks Pleasure First is the debut novel of Karuna Ezara Parikh. The plot follows the love story of an Indian and Pakistani who meet in the United Kingdom. The story divides itself in between Pakistan, India, and the UK, amongst both the couple Daya and Aaftab, as well as the various members of their family and social circle. The novel is a grand time. I felt almost immediately invited into Daya's life as if she were a friend. Whether she was hanging out with her South African friend Colin or going to her dance classes, I felt completely absorbed in her interactions. I believe this is due to Parikh's extremely fast-paced style. Parikh completely pulls us into her imagined world, even as the life these two have built for themselves begin to fall apart...
A contemporary South Asian themed Romeo and Juliet, The Heart Asks Pleasure First sifts through family expectation, culture, nationality and religion, to reveal the common thread that binds us all: a need to both give and be given love.
A contemporary South Asian themed Romeo and Juliet, The Heart Asks Pleasure First sifts through family expectation, culture, nationality and religion, to reveal the common thread that binds us all: a need to both give and be given love.
May 21, 2021
Always a sucker for inter-faith love stories
While Ali and Nino involved a Christian and Muslim, THAPF involves a Hindu and Muslim, and what more from India and Pakistan, set in the UK, where the past subjects of the colonial power, meet and, of course, fall in love :)
What works: The language is butter, extremely lyrical and cannotes a world of emotions with the simplest of vocabulary. I don't know the number of times I cried and smiled with Daya and Aaftab and Wasim.
What doesn't: I wish the ending was a little more elaborate, and there are certain detours and subplots involving others characters that did not improve the experience.
Will still recommend it for 'em subcontinent cultural feels!
While Ali and Nino involved a Christian and Muslim, THAPF involves a Hindu and Muslim, and what more from India and Pakistan, set in the UK, where the past subjects of the colonial power, meet and, of course, fall in love :)
What works: The language is butter, extremely lyrical and cannotes a world of emotions with the simplest of vocabulary. I don't know the number of times I cried and smiled with Daya and Aaftab and Wasim.
What doesn't: I wish the ending was a little more elaborate, and there are certain detours and subplots involving others characters that did not improve the experience.
Will still recommend it for 'em subcontinent cultural feels!
December 20, 2020
I finished reading this book a few days ago. Generally I pick up my next read right after, but this book made me want to wait, to let it all settle in. I don't think I'll be over it anytime soon, and I'll definitely be reading it again. Loved every bit of it. They way it's written, the story, the characters, everything. There's poetry in each word. Would have loved to know more about what happened later on in the story though.
Absolute gem!
Absolute gem!
June 7, 2022
If BEAUTY could be described in words, this book is the playground!!
December 5, 2021
The Heart Asks Pleasure First: the title itself is poetry and the novel is no different. The writing is so poetic and lyrical that it'll take you to another dimension. I love how religions are addressed in the novel, how stereotypes and bigotry is represented. The book talks about Love, it's a novel about not two persons in love, but Love itself. How it mould us, hold us together, and how it break us apart, how everything in the world belongs to Love. Daya and Afthab and their eternal love for each other despite the vast social, religious differences between them: the political conflicts fuelling their mental struggle, what's gonna happen to them in that alien country? Wasim, their beloved friend, one who carries a meadow in his heart: what's his predicament ? Why's all the wildflowers wilting? And the life of all those immigrants with it?
Parikh portrays so many events, both factual and fictional, with an infusion of limitless themes including racism, misogyny, Islamophobia and family conflicts. But I find some of them unrelated and a bit overwhelming at some point. But its spurting literariness got me all heart eyed! Perhaps I cherish Daya's parents: Gyan and Asha, more than our protagonists, maybe their love is too good, too fictional, to be true and it accelerates our fear that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature. What I enjoyed most is the enormous references of literature and poetry in the novel and the haunting calmness of the prose and thus, the novel made its way to one of my favorite reads of the year. So please please, read this book, will you?
Parikh portrays so many events, both factual and fictional, with an infusion of limitless themes including racism, misogyny, Islamophobia and family conflicts. But I find some of them unrelated and a bit overwhelming at some point. But its spurting literariness got me all heart eyed! Perhaps I cherish Daya's parents: Gyan and Asha, more than our protagonists, maybe their love is too good, too fictional, to be true and it accelerates our fear that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature. What I enjoyed most is the enormous references of literature and poetry in the novel and the haunting calmness of the prose and thus, the novel made its way to one of my favorite reads of the year. So please please, read this book, will you?
September 6, 2021
I may be partial here. Because the novel has its flaws. But it has done the most important thing, transport me to the life of its characters. I could miss Aftab like Daya does or I could miss Daya like Aftab does. Perhaps long for a friend like Wasim or Colin.
April 20, 2021
This is a dazzling debut novel, and I can't wait for what Karuna Ezara Parikh writes next. From the first page to the last, it is clear she is a talented writer, her prose fairly dripping with poetry. What the novel could have used is better pacing and structure. In the hands of an excellent editor, I have no doubt this work could have been transformed into something sublime. The opening of the book was so beautiful I immediately called several friends and told them to start reading it right now. However, as the novel went on, I didn't feel so certain. The pacing was off. The first part of the book flowed beautifully, but the latter half felt at times forced.
I have rated it three stars mostly because the ending was extremely unsatisfactory for me. I am all for letting your audience draw their own inferences, but this felt more like taking the easy way out. There were sections of the book that were dragged out too long, while others were dizzying to read, with each page taking us to a new scene/location/timeframe, so that a single chapter may bounce back and forth and all around the world in a very jarring manner, while others seem stuck in a single moment that at times is stretched out far too long.
The relationship at the crux of this novel, between Daya and Aaftab, was simply not real to me. I found myself far more interested in the other characters, even minor ones like Kamla the househelp, and in Daya's parents' story. Forbidden love is an old trope, and if it's going to be the central theme of your work, you need to do something fresh with it. It's one thing for a couple to hide their love from a disapproving world, it's quite another for the protagonists of the story to hide their love from the readers. Time and again I felt we were being told to believe in their love, but it was a lot of telling and no showing, so it just seemed unbelievable.
Aside from that, I did enjoy the book, and look forward to re-reading again in the near future. Which to me is a the sign of a good book. Read this book for the beautiful language, for the nuggets of wisdom buried here and there among more lofty ideals, and for some truly interesting characters.
I have rated it three stars mostly because the ending was extremely unsatisfactory for me. I am all for letting your audience draw their own inferences, but this felt more like taking the easy way out. There were sections of the book that were dragged out too long, while others were dizzying to read, with each page taking us to a new scene/location/timeframe, so that a single chapter may bounce back and forth and all around the world in a very jarring manner, while others seem stuck in a single moment that at times is stretched out far too long.
The relationship at the crux of this novel, between Daya and Aaftab, was simply not real to me. I found myself far more interested in the other characters, even minor ones like Kamla the househelp, and in Daya's parents' story. Forbidden love is an old trope, and if it's going to be the central theme of your work, you need to do something fresh with it. It's one thing for a couple to hide their love from a disapproving world, it's quite another for the protagonists of the story to hide their love from the readers. Time and again I felt we were being told to believe in their love, but it was a lot of telling and no showing, so it just seemed unbelievable.
Aside from that, I did enjoy the book, and look forward to re-reading again in the near future. Which to me is a the sign of a good book. Read this book for the beautiful language, for the nuggets of wisdom buried here and there among more lofty ideals, and for some truly interesting characters.
June 5, 2021
A love story that also embraces a story of friendship between the three main characters, something not often seen. Heady writing dripping with honey, that’s how I’d describe the way Parikh writes. The story picks up so much pace in the second half, and that was beautiful to witness.
November 25, 2020
A truly beautiful read!
Loved the story, characters, setting , everything except the ending, which I found a but sudden & abrupt.
The writing is really great and almost like poetry.
Loved the story, characters, setting , everything except the ending, which I found a but sudden & abrupt.
The writing is really great and almost like poetry.
March 8, 2023
All the stars for the beautiful writing of KEP !
September 26, 2021
3.5 stars
Review soon!
Review soon!
September 6, 2021
And in that moment, nobody saw, but two guns would cock their heads and look at each other with recognition.
'Old friend!'
'I thought it was you!'
'Have you been here a while? You look beat up!'
'A few years.... seen some blood, done my job. And you?'
'I've been in America!'
'Ah .... no wars, just school kids then?'
'Very funny!'
'It's good to see you.'
'You too, brother. When we left that factory.... I didn't know if we would ever meet again.'
'Well, here we are.'
'But not for long.'
'Who knows, if one of them dies, we'll be reunited for good.'
'And if neither?'
'Then I'll see you along the way...'
'Goodbye, old friend.'
'Goodbye!'
'Old friend!'
'I thought it was you!'
'Have you been here a while? You look beat up!'
'A few years.... seen some blood, done my job. And you?'
'I've been in America!'
'Ah .... no wars, just school kids then?'
'Very funny!'
'It's good to see you.'
'You too, brother. When we left that factory.... I didn't know if we would ever meet again.'
'Well, here we are.'
'But not for long.'
'Who knows, if one of them dies, we'll be reunited for good.'
'And if neither?'
'Then I'll see you along the way...'
'Goodbye, old friend.'
'Goodbye!'
August 16, 2021
"Who comforted whom? Whose hands clawed at whose chest? Whose tears stained whose shirt? Who sobbed into whose mouth? Which one's howls emptied into which one's heart? They had been one for so long, they did not know how to separate."
What is love? We love our parents, friends, books, career, husband, wife, children. But I'm not asking about that. Love for soul. Do you believe in soulmate?
"Tell me a secret" Daya had once said to Aaftab.
"You're my only secret" he had replied.
Daya, which means Mercy, an Indian, a Hindu.
Aaftab, means Sun, A Pakistani, a Muslim.
They fell in love.
Change is the only constant, that's what I believe in. Through ages, time changes everything. Our thinking process, character, behavior, believes, everything will be different from what we were a few years ago. So how can anyone love one person constantly from the day they met untill death? We often praise that they have been in love for twenty five years or thirty years, or for so long. But it won't be only because of love, there's trust, respect and maybe sacrifices.
When it comes to true love they say religion, age, colour, family background, nationality, nothing matters. In true love two souls met, not two human beings. But is love only enough to live? No. We need financial support, family, friends.
Respect is the most important thing, more than love. Being in a relationship doesn't mean taking everything for granted. When one felt she or he no longer wanted to be in this boundary, and decided to break it, respect that decision, understand instead of taking revenge and destroying.
"remember I'm yours. No earthly damage will undo that."
If you believe in true love and can constantly love one person for ever, it's good. But we should not accept this from everyone. We are individuals, different from one another. When will our society including me and you will understand and accept this? Breakup and divorce are choices, decisions, not a crime.
"I no longer want to feel the guilt of holding you away from your fate, I do not want to feel the sadness, of holding myself away from mine. It is my immense love and not a lack of it that says next words...
Goodbye Aaftab."
What is love? We love our parents, friends, books, career, husband, wife, children. But I'm not asking about that. Love for soul. Do you believe in soulmate?
"Tell me a secret" Daya had once said to Aaftab.
"You're my only secret" he had replied.
Daya, which means Mercy, an Indian, a Hindu.
Aaftab, means Sun, A Pakistani, a Muslim.
They fell in love.
Change is the only constant, that's what I believe in. Through ages, time changes everything. Our thinking process, character, behavior, believes, everything will be different from what we were a few years ago. So how can anyone love one person constantly from the day they met untill death? We often praise that they have been in love for twenty five years or thirty years, or for so long. But it won't be only because of love, there's trust, respect and maybe sacrifices.
When it comes to true love they say religion, age, colour, family background, nationality, nothing matters. In true love two souls met, not two human beings. But is love only enough to live? No. We need financial support, family, friends.
Respect is the most important thing, more than love. Being in a relationship doesn't mean taking everything for granted. When one felt she or he no longer wanted to be in this boundary, and decided to break it, respect that decision, understand instead of taking revenge and destroying.
"remember I'm yours. No earthly damage will undo that."
If you believe in true love and can constantly love one person for ever, it's good. But we should not accept this from everyone. We are individuals, different from one another. When will our society including me and you will understand and accept this? Breakup and divorce are choices, decisions, not a crime.
"I no longer want to feel the guilt of holding you away from your fate, I do not want to feel the sadness, of holding myself away from mine. It is my immense love and not a lack of it that says next words...
Goodbye Aaftab."
January 4, 2021
How often do you read a book about which you want to talk a lot but are not able to find the right words to describe the way it made you feel because you are scared that your words won’t be able to do justice to the beauty of the book.
THE HEART ASKS PLEASURE FIRST is not just a book for me but a world in which I lived in with Daya and Aaftab. While reading this book I was transported to a different world. This is one of its kind book that requires your patience and complete attention. If you are reading other books simultaneously with this book, then it would be injustice with this book. When you give it your full attention you’ll be able to fully absorb everything it offers.
This book made me feel each and every feeling that exists in the world- I laughed, cried, felt loved, hurt, raged and what not. There were moments when I read some lines again and again to absorb it all in me. It left me speechless as well as thinking about a lot of things at a lot of places and I think when a book makes you think that is good. I can re-read this book n no. of times. I loved the way the author has written the book from the start to the end, not even at a single place I felt that it’s her debut book. She felt so experienced. She knew what she was supposed to do with the story to the reader and how. I’m surely going to look out for more of her work.
I loved how amazingly and beautifully she has crafted not only Daya and Aaftab’s love story but Daya’s parents, Asha and Gyan’s too, Daya and Wasim’s relationship, Aaftab and Wasim’s brotherhood and Kamla’s relationship with Asha. The way each and every character is developed is amazing and shows the work the author has put into this book. All the characters had a story of their own too which was well told. The writing style is different yet engaging that you’ll want to save some lines to go back later and feel their warmth again and again. It made me long for more and more for each character.
The ending of the book is something I didn’t think of to be honest I didn’t want this book to end. I was continuously longing for more and more of the stories of these characters. I wanted to get into the book and hug some of them and tell them that I could feel their pain. I’m so much in love with this book that I’m still drooling over it.
I want to recommend this book to each and every one of you. Please, please, please do read it, it will give you the sukoon you didn’t even know you were in need of.
THE HEART ASKS PLEASURE FIRST is not just a book for me but a world in which I lived in with Daya and Aaftab. While reading this book I was transported to a different world. This is one of its kind book that requires your patience and complete attention. If you are reading other books simultaneously with this book, then it would be injustice with this book. When you give it your full attention you’ll be able to fully absorb everything it offers.
This book made me feel each and every feeling that exists in the world- I laughed, cried, felt loved, hurt, raged and what not. There were moments when I read some lines again and again to absorb it all in me. It left me speechless as well as thinking about a lot of things at a lot of places and I think when a book makes you think that is good. I can re-read this book n no. of times. I loved the way the author has written the book from the start to the end, not even at a single place I felt that it’s her debut book. She felt so experienced. She knew what she was supposed to do with the story to the reader and how. I’m surely going to look out for more of her work.
I loved how amazingly and beautifully she has crafted not only Daya and Aaftab’s love story but Daya’s parents, Asha and Gyan’s too, Daya and Wasim’s relationship, Aaftab and Wasim’s brotherhood and Kamla’s relationship with Asha. The way each and every character is developed is amazing and shows the work the author has put into this book. All the characters had a story of their own too which was well told. The writing style is different yet engaging that you’ll want to save some lines to go back later and feel their warmth again and again. It made me long for more and more for each character.
The ending of the book is something I didn’t think of to be honest I didn’t want this book to end. I was continuously longing for more and more of the stories of these characters. I wanted to get into the book and hug some of them and tell them that I could feel their pain. I’m so much in love with this book that I’m still drooling over it.
I want to recommend this book to each and every one of you. Please, please, please do read it, it will give you the sukoon you didn’t even know you were in need of.
May 14, 2021
--for what is love but the ability of humans to both mirror and reflect back?--
Sometimes, you come across books that are so beautifully written that it is difficult to review them. The Heart Asks Pleasure First is such a book for me and the fact that it is a debut novel by Karuna is what really wins my heart. When I started this book, I knew it would be a 5 star read for me and it is now my favourite book and it will be with me forever and I'll come to it over and over to relive this experience and to relive the characters.
It's characters: Aaftab and Daya, Waseem and Colin, Gyan and Asha were so beautifully written and portrayed throughout this book and each having their own battles to tackle. Waseem was honestly such a sweetheart, his story and whenever he was mentioned, I would always smile goofily. Gyan and Asha are what you call an OTP because they were just so perfect and I think it was them that really made this story so beautiful.
Daya and Aaftab, their story is just like any other, a girl and a boy, they fall in love and what could possibly go wrong? However their love is forbidden for the fact that he is a Muslim, he is a Pakistani and loving a Muslim is forbidden and loving a Pakistani is a big no because 'it is against the rules'.
--It is a trick of Time, to keep certain incidents for herself, and leave us in the deal, the regular intimacy if familiarity.--
It's lyrical writing covered various topics like Love, Religion, Jihad, Society, Xenophobia, Brotherhood and Friendship. The writing style left me overwhelmed by its beauty and simplicity everytime. It had everything. I loved how this book covered everything, it had Daya and Aaftab, it had Waseem and his story, Colin and his story and then there were different stories that were binded together to make this book one, never did it ever put me off and I was only starving for more when this book ended. There was this excerpt about guns where there is a conversation between guns that will stay with me forever.
It has left within me this uncertainty, this hollowness and I cannot comprehend the ways in which this book has affected me.
I know my words do no justice to this book but I will gladly shove it in your face and tell you to please please read this book!!
Sometimes, you come across books that are so beautifully written that it is difficult to review them. The Heart Asks Pleasure First is such a book for me and the fact that it is a debut novel by Karuna is what really wins my heart. When I started this book, I knew it would be a 5 star read for me and it is now my favourite book and it will be with me forever and I'll come to it over and over to relive this experience and to relive the characters.
It's characters: Aaftab and Daya, Waseem and Colin, Gyan and Asha were so beautifully written and portrayed throughout this book and each having their own battles to tackle. Waseem was honestly such a sweetheart, his story and whenever he was mentioned, I would always smile goofily. Gyan and Asha are what you call an OTP because they were just so perfect and I think it was them that really made this story so beautiful.
Daya and Aaftab, their story is just like any other, a girl and a boy, they fall in love and what could possibly go wrong? However their love is forbidden for the fact that he is a Muslim, he is a Pakistani and loving a Muslim is forbidden and loving a Pakistani is a big no because 'it is against the rules'.
--It is a trick of Time, to keep certain incidents for herself, and leave us in the deal, the regular intimacy if familiarity.--
It's lyrical writing covered various topics like Love, Religion, Jihad, Society, Xenophobia, Brotherhood and Friendship. The writing style left me overwhelmed by its beauty and simplicity everytime. It had everything. I loved how this book covered everything, it had Daya and Aaftab, it had Waseem and his story, Colin and his story and then there were different stories that were binded together to make this book one, never did it ever put me off and I was only starving for more when this book ended. There was this excerpt about guns where there is a conversation between guns that will stay with me forever.
It has left within me this uncertainty, this hollowness and I cannot comprehend the ways in which this book has affected me.
I know my words do no justice to this book but I will gladly shove it in your face and tell you to please please read this book!!
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