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Social Butterfly #1
The Diary of a Social Butterfly
‘Jane Austen meets Bridget Jones… Hilarious’ Glamour
Meet Butterfly – loveable socialite, avid party-goer, inspired shopper and unwittingly acute observer.
Of course everyone thinks her life is perfect but having to contend with a conniving mother-in-law, a husband who doesn’t like parties, and a circle of friends who bring new meaning to the word competitive, Butterfly thinks her life is far from enviable. And as she lurches from crisis to crisis, trailing Jimmy Choos and pearls of wisdom along the way, it seems she might have a little more on her plate than she’s first realised...
Wicked, irreverent and hugely entertaining, The Diary of a Social Butterfly gives you a delicious glimpse into the parallel universe of the have-musts.
Meet Butterfly – loveable socialite, avid party-goer, inspired shopper and unwittingly acute observer.
Of course everyone thinks her life is perfect but having to contend with a conniving mother-in-law, a husband who doesn’t like parties, and a circle of friends who bring new meaning to the word competitive, Butterfly thinks her life is far from enviable. And as she lurches from crisis to crisis, trailing Jimmy Choos and pearls of wisdom along the way, it seems she might have a little more on her plate than she’s first realised...
Wicked, irreverent and hugely entertaining, The Diary of a Social Butterfly gives you a delicious glimpse into the parallel universe of the have-musts.
228 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2008
93 people are currently reading
1437 people want to read
About the author
Moni Mohsin
11 books113 followersMohsin grew up in Lahore, and describes herself as being from a family of "educated, westernised people". When General Zia ul-Haq came to power in a coup in 1977, her family began to feel less comfortable in the new, religious Pakistan, where political repression against nonconformists became routine, but remained in Lahore. Mohsin left Pakistan at 16 to study at a boarding school in England, and later attended Cambridge University, where she studied anthropology and archaeology. Afterward she returned to Pakistan, where she founded the country's first nature magazine. After General Zia's death she moved more decisively into the public sphere, working for the independent "Friday Times", where she rose to the ranks of features editor.
Her books include "The End of Innocence", her debut novel '"Tender Hooks" AKA "Duty Free", and "The Diary of a Social Butterfly". Her writing has also appeared in "The Times", "The Guardian", the "Washington Post", "Prospect", "The Nation", and other publications.
She now divides her time between Lahore and London, where she lives with her husband and two children. Her sister, Jugnu Mohsin, is the publisher of "The Friday Times", an independent Pakistani weekly.[1]
Her books include "The End of Innocence", her debut novel '"Tender Hooks" AKA "Duty Free", and "The Diary of a Social Butterfly". Her writing has also appeared in "The Times", "The Guardian", the "Washington Post", "Prospect", "The Nation", and other publications.
She now divides her time between Lahore and London, where she lives with her husband and two children. Her sister, Jugnu Mohsin, is the publisher of "The Friday Times", an independent Pakistani weekly.[1]
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May 21, 2023
This might be the most desi-est book I’ve ever read. If there was ever an award given for a story being too full of local references, this book would win by a landslide. Literally everything was relatable, or if not relatable then a version of reality that could be, and mostly horrifying in so hilarious a manner that I highlighted way too many paragraphs to actually be able to quote.
This is also, by far, the funniest Pakistani book I’ve read so far. I was entertained enough to highlight and then read out loud random scenes from here and there to my sister, my husband, even my friends at work. The book was so ridiculously over-the-top, so blatant in its characterization that it was impossible to not snort periodically at the absurdity. I was caught between wondering whether people like the main character could actually exist to trying to connect her to actual people I know. The social butterfly of our story, literally named Butterfly, is an exaggerated version of a rich South Asian housewife, superficial and selfish, obsessed with money and blind to all her faults. And she does all these things in so melodramatic a manner that it’s impossible to not snicker at her absurdity, even while uncomfortably realizing that people like her do exist to a certain degree.
I live in Lahore. In a big, fat kothi with a big, fat garden in Gulberg, which is where all the khandani, khaata-peeta types live. And don’t listen to the newly-rich cheapsters who live in Defence vaghera and say that, ‘No, no, Defence is Lahore’s best locality,’ because they are liars. They are just jay—jealous, bhai! Honestly, do you know anything? No offence, but you tau seem like a total paindu pastry to me.
Most of her inner monologue, delivered in short chapters which serve as snippets of her life instead of as part of a larger narrative arc, uses a very informal delivery, as if she’s addressing you directly. That means that the language isn’t the restricted, controlled writing of a literary piece of text, but rather the more free-flowing form of speech. There’s a lot of Urdu interspersed within the English, and usage of slang words is frequent. Most of the time Butterfly actually says ‘Oho, baba’ or stuff like ‘Defence vaghera’, the sort of vernacular that a lot of the people in Pakistan use when speaking. The Urdu-English mix of words that’s pretty common amongst a significant number of private school graduates in Pakistan is also majorly present. In fact, language is one of the major ways the author threads humour into the story.
Sara waqt apne baaray mein jokes crack karta rehta hai. So self-defecating he is.
Initially, the way the mispronunciation of English words was used as a comedic tool made me incredibly uncomfortable. I grew up being taught to be proud of how well I spoke English, in a country where knowing the language implies a direct correlation to your social status since only people on upper rungs of the socioeconomic ladder can afford to send their kids to private schools that allow that kind of fluency in the language. I had to unlearn all my horrible disdain towards people who misspelled or mispronounced words, and as an editor still find myself falling easily into patterns of condescension when people make mistakes. So I started out uneasy, and slightly defensive because I found the mix-ups so funny, and it actually took a while for me to ease myself into how continuously Butterfly messes up the language to hilarious effect.
Look at Aunty Pussy, honestly. She’s managed to get a visa, not only London ka but also a Shagging Visa, which means she can go to France, Spain, Italy, vaghera.
What probably convinced me to finally accept the book’s dedication to such a form of humour was that it was so decidedly in-your-face, so deliberate and exaggerated as a form of comedy that after a while I was snorting at every other mistake. Some words were so ridiculous, such as liposeduction instead of liposuction, or proper-gainda instead of propaganda, that I simultaneously laughed while rolling my eyes. In fact, the book even provided me with some interesting insights. A few years ago, a friend mentioned that Pakistani people pronounce English words exactly either as they hear them or read them. This was an observation I couldn’t stop noticing once it had been pointed out. Since a lot of people in this country only learn certain English words through sight (words like jalapeno or quesadillas, read in menus) or sound (in TV shows or music), they pronounce them exactly the way they read or hear them. The protagonist of this novel belongs to the latter category, and mostly pronounces things the way she hears them (wardrope, bagground). It is this particular quirk that the author twists into the most unexpected places.
Mummy had just then only heard of a wonderful new medicine that everyone’s taking. It’s an injection that you put it into your face and all the lines and things vanish, and your face becomes plump and smooth like an inflated cushion. I forget the name of the dawai. Haan, I’ve remembered, it’s called Buttocks. Bus, I’m ordering two crate-fulls tomorrow.
Of course, the humour can only be understood if you know Urdu too, since a significant portion of the book is actually in that language. In fact, this might be one of the first Pakistani book that leans so very heavily on cultural currency and expects its reader to not only know the language but also the country, the history, the politics. It makes sense, since this book is a compilation of articles printed in the newspaper The Friday Times as a humour column almost two decades ago. That means that a number of the jokes are also pretty outdated, but most of the stuff is still hilarious, no matter how long ago it happened, so I was willing to give even the cheesiest jokes a pass.
Such a coo I’ve done, such a coo keh not even Musharruf could have pulled it off.
It’s probably a good thing that the book focuses so heavily on humour, because otherwise Butterfly would be an insufferable character. Her lack of self-awareness, her dizzying narcissism, and her disregard for her own privileged existence is offset only by the fact that she’s an utterly ditzy person. By highlighting all her faults, it is easy to feel as if the author is poking fun of her along with us, as if to say, ‘Look, I know that rich, spoiled people like this are absurd. Can you believe how absurd they can be?’
My friends are socialists like me. There’s Mulloo, Flopsy, Furry and Twinkle. Most of their husbands are bank defaulters but they are all very religious and upright otherwise.
It also probably helps that the author leans all the way in into making her characters as preposterous as possible. I’m not actually sure if people like this can actually exist? While I’m certainly a very privileged person in terms of economic security in Pakistan, the tiny 1 percent that this book talks about are ones that I haven’t really encountered. I’ve certainly seen them on the periphery of parties, or casually engaged in conversation with them during work socialization hours, but I’ve never really hung out, never really engaged in what you could call a proper friendship. Which is why you could say that this book was also fascinating as a character study. Was it possible to be this vacuous and inane? Of course people are complex and multidimensional human beings, but the strength of this book rests on the fact that it doesn’t pretend to cater to any such delusions at all. Butterfly is completely self-centered and dim in as obnoxious a manner as possible, which is half the appeal of the writing anyway.
Haw, such a big scandal in our group, na! Tonky’s wife, Floozie, has run off with his best friend, Boxer, who is married to Floozie’s best friend, Dropsy. Just look! What a tamasha.
I suppose another appeal could be that so many real life people crop up pretty regularly throughout the story, and even though I can claim ignorance on the ins and outs of the Lahori social circle, a lot of names were still familiar. There were more names that I didn’t know than the ones that I did, and it actually took me a while to figure out that living, breathing people were making an appearance within the text, but it did eventually click on. Funnily enough, the first name I recognized was a prominent Pakistani author when Bapsi Sidhwa was mentioned, which I suppose says something about me. There were also regular mentions of designers, businessmen, and other supposedly important people who move amongst the circles of the rich and the fortunate.
Uff! Itni main exhaust ho gayee hoon, na, after this three-city tour of that small Indian god, Aruna Dhati Roy. Ek tau I don’t know why people keep calling her a small god.
Even politicians got an honourable mention, which makes sense since half of those who live in Pakistan are corrupt and thus loaded with money, so of course their circles overlap with Butterfly’s. Also, because living in Pakistan means that you can’t avoid politics, since so much of it affects our daily lives day in and day out. The author adds this into the narrative by starting each short entry with a real life news headline which is usually depressing and bleak. This, coupled with an equally inane headline about Butterfly’s own life, only highlights how very far removed her concerns are from the reality of Pakistan or the wider world. But what amused me more than these side by side comparisons was the fact that things that were valid 20 years are still completely valid now. Back then people were talking about the Bhuttos and the Sharifs and the Zardaris, about how all these political dynasties are dishonest and swindling the country, about how they keep running away to foreign locations to escape the consequences of their crimes. Switch on the TV these days and you will find the exact same conversations about the exact same people still going on.
God knows who will come now. Benazir or Nawaz? I am tau so sick of that silly ping-pong. They come, they loot, they go.
Honestly though, Butterfly doesn’t really focus much on the politics. In fact, anything that requires higher order thinking or critical analysis isn’t really her cup of topic. For that, we have Janoo, Butterfly’s land owning, Oxford-educated husband who listens to the news religiously, gets depressed over international news affairs, and frequently seems to be resisting the urge to throttle his wife. Even though Butterfly’s relationship with her husband is dysfunctional at best, it might also be the thing that provides the greatest number of laughs. Weirdly enough, even though both husband and wife are poles apart in their interests and manners, I felt like they both cared about each other in their own bizarre way.
Honestly, kya ho gya hai mujhay? Tomorrow I’ll forget my own name. Janoo says it’s the onset of premature dementia. Ji nahin, I said, premature ho gay tum. I tau am always fashionably late.
It’s through Janoo’s perspective that we get some semblance of sanity, because Butterfly is consistently exactly who she is from the very beginning: obsessed with wealth and brands and belonging to the ‘right family’. I saw a version of this behaviour back when my mother declared that it was time for my brother to get married, and we started getting these ‘fact files’ about girls who were of marriageable age. These were lists of girls with their accomplishments highlighted but also mentions of their skin colour and their father’s wealth and their possible family connections. It was a bizarre, otherworldly experience to know that this was an actual business that so many people took so seriously and in so heinous a manner. Butterfly is an extension of just that attitude, which places a higher value on being related to the right people and owing the latest clothes/shoes/car, cranked up to a thousand.
I mean, they should know from just looking at us with our Jimmy Shoe shoes and the two-two carrot diamond solitary studs in our years and our nice-nice, fair-fair skin that we are nice, rich, khaata-peeta, khandani types who’ve been to London hundred-hundred times.
For the most part, it’s obvious that the author has tried her hardest to mould Butterfly into the very worst version of that woman you meet in parties who asks when you’re having your next child, why you’ve gained so much weight, and how much your husband earns. I’ve met multiple versions of these women, all of them with pleasant, simpering smiles, who quickly launch into some of the most uncomfortable question-answer sessions I’ve ever had to endure. At this point I’ve perfected the art of laughing casually at some of the most invasive questions or racist, backward opinions I’ve ever had to hear, which was probably one of the major reasons I could laugh through Butterfly’s obvious ageism, or colourism, or sexism.
Last evening we went to see Aunty Pussy’s sister-in-law’s cousin’s neighbour’s daughter, who’s slightly darkish. Also, they’re saying she’s twenty nine, which means she’s at least thirty three. Vaisay tau Jonkers also is thirty seven and twice die-vorced, but he’s a man so it doesn’t count.
In fact, it isn’t a far stretch to say that this book is a perfect microcosm of the Pakistani mentality and can serve as a pretty good text for analysis. Most students, when aiming to study a piece of text in relation to a country’s culture, usually go for serious, more literary works, but I honestly think that books like these are so much better at providing cultural critique. Through Butterfly’s diatribes on marriage, adultery, and how men are treated differently compared to women, we can get a look at how Pakistani society treats its women, and how the country really thinks.
Men tau are like this only. Everyone knows. Can’t help themselves, na, becharas, poor things. That’s why also all the girls, Flopsy, Tinkly, Bobo, Furry, are holding tight to their husbands. Their husbands may be bore, they may be crack, they may be fat, they may be ugly, they may be ancient and decrepid, they may be kanjoos makhi choos even, but it’s better than them running off with someone else and the whole world feeling sorry for you. And also wondering what’s wrong with you.
Some of the stuff Butterfly says can even be considered risky, downright dangerous. In the past few years, I’ve watched as there has been a growing intolerance in Pakistan for any sort of criticism of the army or of religion. As a country which already exhibits an alarming amount of narrow-mindedness, you’d think we would reach a peak, but we keep surpassing even our own heinous standards. A few days ago, Pakistan recently had the youngest boy ever convicted of blasphemy. So it was a little shocking to read the anti-religious sentiment so obvious on the page. I think a part of it was also because usually if books do carry such opinions, they are expressed through the mouths of fictional characters. Because of the soul-baring, diary-style writing of this particular book, it feels more personal, more in your face.
God is on my side. I’ve always known, but now it’s official. If he hadn’t been, then he wouldn’t have ended Muharram in time for Basant, now would he? So all the mullahs and sarrhi botis can go fly a kite. Oh, sorry, forgot! They can’t fly a kite because they believe it’s anti-Islamic. Their nikahs will break, or some such thing, if they do so much as look at a patang. Well, they can go and do whatever it is that they do, because I tau damn care, frankly speaking.
But the very personal, conversational style that we encounter throughout the title has been done on purpose, according to the author’s note present at the end of the book. And I, for one, really enjoyed exactly the way it was written. I don’t think it was possible to take so horrible a character and make her lovable in any other manner. Because all of the things I hate the most in my characters are present in this book but raised up to such an infuriating degree that you can’t help but appreciate the dedication of the author into creating this character. Honestly, my final verdict was that this book was fascinating to read purely because you can tell that this character is full of stereotypes on steroids, and consistently hilarious. On some parts I literally laughed out loud, which happens rarely enough for me to sit up and take notice. I’m not sure whether a non Urdu-speaking person would even get all the jokes, but for all my Pakistani friends, this is definitely recommended.
As my friend Faiza says, the latest accessory is not the Prada bag but an Indian slung over the shoulder. So when Didi and Sally and Minnoo can have rich-rich Indian friends, why can’t I, hain? I am also not me, bachoo, if I don’t hook a big, fat Indian fish. When it comes to these things, no one is a better hooker than me, that I can tell you from now only.
***
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***
ORIGINAL REVIEW: My god, what an absolute trip this book was.
Review to come.
This is also, by far, the funniest Pakistani book I’ve read so far. I was entertained enough to highlight and then read out loud random scenes from here and there to my sister, my husband, even my friends at work. The book was so ridiculously over-the-top, so blatant in its characterization that it was impossible to not snort periodically at the absurdity. I was caught between wondering whether people like the main character could actually exist to trying to connect her to actual people I know. The social butterfly of our story, literally named Butterfly, is an exaggerated version of a rich South Asian housewife, superficial and selfish, obsessed with money and blind to all her faults. And she does all these things in so melodramatic a manner that it’s impossible to not snicker at her absurdity, even while uncomfortably realizing that people like her do exist to a certain degree.
I live in Lahore. In a big, fat kothi with a big, fat garden in Gulberg, which is where all the khandani, khaata-peeta types live. And don’t listen to the newly-rich cheapsters who live in Defence vaghera and say that, ‘No, no, Defence is Lahore’s best locality,’ because they are liars. They are just jay—jealous, bhai! Honestly, do you know anything? No offence, but you tau seem like a total paindu pastry to me.
Most of her inner monologue, delivered in short chapters which serve as snippets of her life instead of as part of a larger narrative arc, uses a very informal delivery, as if she’s addressing you directly. That means that the language isn’t the restricted, controlled writing of a literary piece of text, but rather the more free-flowing form of speech. There’s a lot of Urdu interspersed within the English, and usage of slang words is frequent. Most of the time Butterfly actually says ‘Oho, baba’ or stuff like ‘Defence vaghera’, the sort of vernacular that a lot of the people in Pakistan use when speaking. The Urdu-English mix of words that’s pretty common amongst a significant number of private school graduates in Pakistan is also majorly present. In fact, language is one of the major ways the author threads humour into the story.
Sara waqt apne baaray mein jokes crack karta rehta hai. So self-defecating he is.
Initially, the way the mispronunciation of English words was used as a comedic tool made me incredibly uncomfortable. I grew up being taught to be proud of how well I spoke English, in a country where knowing the language implies a direct correlation to your social status since only people on upper rungs of the socioeconomic ladder can afford to send their kids to private schools that allow that kind of fluency in the language. I had to unlearn all my horrible disdain towards people who misspelled or mispronounced words, and as an editor still find myself falling easily into patterns of condescension when people make mistakes. So I started out uneasy, and slightly defensive because I found the mix-ups so funny, and it actually took a while for me to ease myself into how continuously Butterfly messes up the language to hilarious effect.
Look at Aunty Pussy, honestly. She’s managed to get a visa, not only London ka but also a Shagging Visa, which means she can go to France, Spain, Italy, vaghera.
What probably convinced me to finally accept the book’s dedication to such a form of humour was that it was so decidedly in-your-face, so deliberate and exaggerated as a form of comedy that after a while I was snorting at every other mistake. Some words were so ridiculous, such as liposeduction instead of liposuction, or proper-gainda instead of propaganda, that I simultaneously laughed while rolling my eyes. In fact, the book even provided me with some interesting insights. A few years ago, a friend mentioned that Pakistani people pronounce English words exactly either as they hear them or read them. This was an observation I couldn’t stop noticing once it had been pointed out. Since a lot of people in this country only learn certain English words through sight (words like jalapeno or quesadillas, read in menus) or sound (in TV shows or music), they pronounce them exactly the way they read or hear them. The protagonist of this novel belongs to the latter category, and mostly pronounces things the way she hears them (wardrope, bagground). It is this particular quirk that the author twists into the most unexpected places.
Mummy had just then only heard of a wonderful new medicine that everyone’s taking. It’s an injection that you put it into your face and all the lines and things vanish, and your face becomes plump and smooth like an inflated cushion. I forget the name of the dawai. Haan, I’ve remembered, it’s called Buttocks. Bus, I’m ordering two crate-fulls tomorrow.
Of course, the humour can only be understood if you know Urdu too, since a significant portion of the book is actually in that language. In fact, this might be one of the first Pakistani book that leans so very heavily on cultural currency and expects its reader to not only know the language but also the country, the history, the politics. It makes sense, since this book is a compilation of articles printed in the newspaper The Friday Times as a humour column almost two decades ago. That means that a number of the jokes are also pretty outdated, but most of the stuff is still hilarious, no matter how long ago it happened, so I was willing to give even the cheesiest jokes a pass.
Such a coo I’ve done, such a coo keh not even Musharruf could have pulled it off.
It’s probably a good thing that the book focuses so heavily on humour, because otherwise Butterfly would be an insufferable character. Her lack of self-awareness, her dizzying narcissism, and her disregard for her own privileged existence is offset only by the fact that she’s an utterly ditzy person. By highlighting all her faults, it is easy to feel as if the author is poking fun of her along with us, as if to say, ‘Look, I know that rich, spoiled people like this are absurd. Can you believe how absurd they can be?’
My friends are socialists like me. There’s Mulloo, Flopsy, Furry and Twinkle. Most of their husbands are bank defaulters but they are all very religious and upright otherwise.
It also probably helps that the author leans all the way in into making her characters as preposterous as possible. I’m not actually sure if people like this can actually exist? While I’m certainly a very privileged person in terms of economic security in Pakistan, the tiny 1 percent that this book talks about are ones that I haven’t really encountered. I’ve certainly seen them on the periphery of parties, or casually engaged in conversation with them during work socialization hours, but I’ve never really hung out, never really engaged in what you could call a proper friendship. Which is why you could say that this book was also fascinating as a character study. Was it possible to be this vacuous and inane? Of course people are complex and multidimensional human beings, but the strength of this book rests on the fact that it doesn’t pretend to cater to any such delusions at all. Butterfly is completely self-centered and dim in as obnoxious a manner as possible, which is half the appeal of the writing anyway.
Haw, such a big scandal in our group, na! Tonky’s wife, Floozie, has run off with his best friend, Boxer, who is married to Floozie’s best friend, Dropsy. Just look! What a tamasha.
I suppose another appeal could be that so many real life people crop up pretty regularly throughout the story, and even though I can claim ignorance on the ins and outs of the Lahori social circle, a lot of names were still familiar. There were more names that I didn’t know than the ones that I did, and it actually took me a while to figure out that living, breathing people were making an appearance within the text, but it did eventually click on. Funnily enough, the first name I recognized was a prominent Pakistani author when Bapsi Sidhwa was mentioned, which I suppose says something about me. There were also regular mentions of designers, businessmen, and other supposedly important people who move amongst the circles of the rich and the fortunate.
Uff! Itni main exhaust ho gayee hoon, na, after this three-city tour of that small Indian god, Aruna Dhati Roy. Ek tau I don’t know why people keep calling her a small god.
Even politicians got an honourable mention, which makes sense since half of those who live in Pakistan are corrupt and thus loaded with money, so of course their circles overlap with Butterfly’s. Also, because living in Pakistan means that you can’t avoid politics, since so much of it affects our daily lives day in and day out. The author adds this into the narrative by starting each short entry with a real life news headline which is usually depressing and bleak. This, coupled with an equally inane headline about Butterfly’s own life, only highlights how very far removed her concerns are from the reality of Pakistan or the wider world. But what amused me more than these side by side comparisons was the fact that things that were valid 20 years are still completely valid now. Back then people were talking about the Bhuttos and the Sharifs and the Zardaris, about how all these political dynasties are dishonest and swindling the country, about how they keep running away to foreign locations to escape the consequences of their crimes. Switch on the TV these days and you will find the exact same conversations about the exact same people still going on.
God knows who will come now. Benazir or Nawaz? I am tau so sick of that silly ping-pong. They come, they loot, they go.
Honestly though, Butterfly doesn’t really focus much on the politics. In fact, anything that requires higher order thinking or critical analysis isn’t really her cup of topic. For that, we have Janoo, Butterfly’s land owning, Oxford-educated husband who listens to the news religiously, gets depressed over international news affairs, and frequently seems to be resisting the urge to throttle his wife. Even though Butterfly’s relationship with her husband is dysfunctional at best, it might also be the thing that provides the greatest number of laughs. Weirdly enough, even though both husband and wife are poles apart in their interests and manners, I felt like they both cared about each other in their own bizarre way.
Honestly, kya ho gya hai mujhay? Tomorrow I’ll forget my own name. Janoo says it’s the onset of premature dementia. Ji nahin, I said, premature ho gay tum. I tau am always fashionably late.
It’s through Janoo’s perspective that we get some semblance of sanity, because Butterfly is consistently exactly who she is from the very beginning: obsessed with wealth and brands and belonging to the ‘right family’. I saw a version of this behaviour back when my mother declared that it was time for my brother to get married, and we started getting these ‘fact files’ about girls who were of marriageable age. These were lists of girls with their accomplishments highlighted but also mentions of their skin colour and their father’s wealth and their possible family connections. It was a bizarre, otherworldly experience to know that this was an actual business that so many people took so seriously and in so heinous a manner. Butterfly is an extension of just that attitude, which places a higher value on being related to the right people and owing the latest clothes/shoes/car, cranked up to a thousand.
I mean, they should know from just looking at us with our Jimmy Shoe shoes and the two-two carrot diamond solitary studs in our years and our nice-nice, fair-fair skin that we are nice, rich, khaata-peeta, khandani types who’ve been to London hundred-hundred times.
For the most part, it’s obvious that the author has tried her hardest to mould Butterfly into the very worst version of that woman you meet in parties who asks when you’re having your next child, why you’ve gained so much weight, and how much your husband earns. I’ve met multiple versions of these women, all of them with pleasant, simpering smiles, who quickly launch into some of the most uncomfortable question-answer sessions I’ve ever had to endure. At this point I’ve perfected the art of laughing casually at some of the most invasive questions or racist, backward opinions I’ve ever had to hear, which was probably one of the major reasons I could laugh through Butterfly’s obvious ageism, or colourism, or sexism.
Last evening we went to see Aunty Pussy’s sister-in-law’s cousin’s neighbour’s daughter, who’s slightly darkish. Also, they’re saying she’s twenty nine, which means she’s at least thirty three. Vaisay tau Jonkers also is thirty seven and twice die-vorced, but he’s a man so it doesn’t count.
In fact, it isn’t a far stretch to say that this book is a perfect microcosm of the Pakistani mentality and can serve as a pretty good text for analysis. Most students, when aiming to study a piece of text in relation to a country’s culture, usually go for serious, more literary works, but I honestly think that books like these are so much better at providing cultural critique. Through Butterfly’s diatribes on marriage, adultery, and how men are treated differently compared to women, we can get a look at how Pakistani society treats its women, and how the country really thinks.
Men tau are like this only. Everyone knows. Can’t help themselves, na, becharas, poor things. That’s why also all the girls, Flopsy, Tinkly, Bobo, Furry, are holding tight to their husbands. Their husbands may be bore, they may be crack, they may be fat, they may be ugly, they may be ancient and decrepid, they may be kanjoos makhi choos even, but it’s better than them running off with someone else and the whole world feeling sorry for you. And also wondering what’s wrong with you.
Some of the stuff Butterfly says can even be considered risky, downright dangerous. In the past few years, I’ve watched as there has been a growing intolerance in Pakistan for any sort of criticism of the army or of religion. As a country which already exhibits an alarming amount of narrow-mindedness, you’d think we would reach a peak, but we keep surpassing even our own heinous standards. A few days ago, Pakistan recently had the youngest boy ever convicted of blasphemy. So it was a little shocking to read the anti-religious sentiment so obvious on the page. I think a part of it was also because usually if books do carry such opinions, they are expressed through the mouths of fictional characters. Because of the soul-baring, diary-style writing of this particular book, it feels more personal, more in your face.
God is on my side. I’ve always known, but now it’s official. If he hadn’t been, then he wouldn’t have ended Muharram in time for Basant, now would he? So all the mullahs and sarrhi botis can go fly a kite. Oh, sorry, forgot! They can’t fly a kite because they believe it’s anti-Islamic. Their nikahs will break, or some such thing, if they do so much as look at a patang. Well, they can go and do whatever it is that they do, because I tau damn care, frankly speaking.
But the very personal, conversational style that we encounter throughout the title has been done on purpose, according to the author’s note present at the end of the book. And I, for one, really enjoyed exactly the way it was written. I don’t think it was possible to take so horrible a character and make her lovable in any other manner. Because all of the things I hate the most in my characters are present in this book but raised up to such an infuriating degree that you can’t help but appreciate the dedication of the author into creating this character. Honestly, my final verdict was that this book was fascinating to read purely because you can tell that this character is full of stereotypes on steroids, and consistently hilarious. On some parts I literally laughed out loud, which happens rarely enough for me to sit up and take notice. I’m not sure whether a non Urdu-speaking person would even get all the jokes, but for all my Pakistani friends, this is definitely recommended.
As my friend Faiza says, the latest accessory is not the Prada bag but an Indian slung over the shoulder. So when Didi and Sally and Minnoo can have rich-rich Indian friends, why can’t I, hain? I am also not me, bachoo, if I don’t hook a big, fat Indian fish. When it comes to these things, no one is a better hooker than me, that I can tell you from now only.
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I review Pakistani Fiction, and talk about Pakistani fiction, and want to talk to people who like to talk about fiction (Pakistani and otherwise, take your pick.) To read more reviews or just contact me so you can talk about books, check out my Blog or follow me on Twitter!
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ORIGINAL REVIEW: My god, what an absolute trip this book was.
Review to come.
July 16, 2011
In the words of the Social Butterfly(yes, there can be only one of her kind)"Oh baba!Such a tabahi book!I tau just loved it!"
August 9, 2016
Very funny till it got repetitive. And then I lost interest.
December 17, 2017
As a Pakistani myself, I found this novel absolutely hilarious. Butterfly's writing style, her view of the world and other people's view regarding her had me laughing from beginning to end. There were a couple of things I didn't exactly agree with (I remember this feeling, but I can't remember what those things were) but otherwise I had good fun while reading this.
February 21, 2011
This is the first book I read from this author and it made me seek out her earlier book 'The End of Innocence' which is a very different one from the book I'm currently going to talk about. I was hoping it would be kind of the same and was a bit disappointed to note that it was more of the serious types (I don't know why!) but glad the author came up with a sequel to this fabulous read.
'The Diary of a social butterfly' by Moni Mohsin, one of Pakistan's most celebrated columnists is a humorous satire in a noveau rich female's voice. Moni Mohsin, who was in Mumbai some weeks back to promote her new book 'Tender hooks' (which is a sequel to this one and marks the return of the Butterfly), shaped this book in the 90s in a column in Lahore's Friday Times. The book is a collection of these columns, wittily put together from 2001 to 2008.
The period covers a lot of turmoil in Pakistan including wars, militarization, the 9/11 incident, the President's US dilemma, earthquake, emergency rule, Benazir Bhutto's assassination and fundamentalist policies. It is almost difficult to believe that anyone can extract humor out of it in a light-hearted manner.The lead character Butterfly Khan sounds like a desperate-to-showoff kind of a wife, who thinks that her husband aka 'Janoo' (as she likes to call him), is dheela (No, his name is not dheela...dheela ki jawaani and whether he's sexy or not... ah!) While describing him she says "You say even one small thing and he corrupts like a volcano."
Butterfly's use of the English language is really interesting and throws up quite a few innuendos. The most hilarious one I found consists of Butterfly describing her mother-in-law's (The Old bag's) angina attack as vagina attack. The real highlight of the book is the way Butterfly interprets Pakistan's inner turmoil and political pressures. She talks about the Taliban in an almost dismissive manner and the most important thing on her mind if they come to power is that her foreign trips would be cut off. She shops as Harrod's in London and renames some of the most popular brands in the world to suit herself and she does not limit herself to just brands, goes on to include her family members as well. She believes she is the limelight of every part and a page three star. She lives in her own sweet world, surrounded by like-minded friends (Floozie, Mulloo and Dropsy), husband (Janoo), son (Kulchoo), sister-in-laws (Gruesome Twosome) and of course her mother-in-law (The Old bag). Not to forget Aunty Pussy (I'm serious and no, there is no Uncle Dick before you get any ideas of your own!)
Sometimes you end up wondering the actual reason behind Janoo marrying Butterfly but you are glad he did because this ends up giving you some of the most hard-hitting scenes in the book which I cannot go in further for fear of spoiling the story. Janoo is more interested in the world and his business but shahtoosh shawls and foreign shopping trips are the only thing on Butterfly's mind.
“Janoo tau, bechara, bilkul hi crack ho gaya. All day now he spends reading international news on things on the Inner Net,”she says when her husband is keeping track of the ravaging war. Butterfly comes across as a fresh change after Bridget Jones or even the Shopaholic series. Kudos to Butterfly for being so confident despite her shortcomings and hats-off to the author for creating such an identifiable character because I'm sure you've seen people who are at least fifty percent like this memorable house-wife (and no, I'm not talking about Savitha bhabhi :P) Read this one for Butterfly's charming voice and amazingly dumb wit and her literal grinding of the English language which gives us locutions like 'proper-gainda' and 'what cheeks!' I can't miss the next one for sure. As for this one, deserves a more than decent 4.5/5!
'The Diary of a social butterfly' by Moni Mohsin, one of Pakistan's most celebrated columnists is a humorous satire in a noveau rich female's voice. Moni Mohsin, who was in Mumbai some weeks back to promote her new book 'Tender hooks' (which is a sequel to this one and marks the return of the Butterfly), shaped this book in the 90s in a column in Lahore's Friday Times. The book is a collection of these columns, wittily put together from 2001 to 2008.
The period covers a lot of turmoil in Pakistan including wars, militarization, the 9/11 incident, the President's US dilemma, earthquake, emergency rule, Benazir Bhutto's assassination and fundamentalist policies. It is almost difficult to believe that anyone can extract humor out of it in a light-hearted manner.The lead character Butterfly Khan sounds like a desperate-to-showoff kind of a wife, who thinks that her husband aka 'Janoo' (as she likes to call him), is dheela (No, his name is not dheela...dheela ki jawaani and whether he's sexy or not... ah!) While describing him she says "You say even one small thing and he corrupts like a volcano."
Butterfly's use of the English language is really interesting and throws up quite a few innuendos. The most hilarious one I found consists of Butterfly describing her mother-in-law's (The Old bag's) angina attack as vagina attack. The real highlight of the book is the way Butterfly interprets Pakistan's inner turmoil and political pressures. She talks about the Taliban in an almost dismissive manner and the most important thing on her mind if they come to power is that her foreign trips would be cut off. She shops as Harrod's in London and renames some of the most popular brands in the world to suit herself and she does not limit herself to just brands, goes on to include her family members as well. She believes she is the limelight of every part and a page three star. She lives in her own sweet world, surrounded by like-minded friends (Floozie, Mulloo and Dropsy), husband (Janoo), son (Kulchoo), sister-in-laws (Gruesome Twosome) and of course her mother-in-law (The Old bag). Not to forget Aunty Pussy (I'm serious and no, there is no Uncle Dick before you get any ideas of your own!)
Sometimes you end up wondering the actual reason behind Janoo marrying Butterfly but you are glad he did because this ends up giving you some of the most hard-hitting scenes in the book which I cannot go in further for fear of spoiling the story. Janoo is more interested in the world and his business but shahtoosh shawls and foreign shopping trips are the only thing on Butterfly's mind.
“Janoo tau, bechara, bilkul hi crack ho gaya. All day now he spends reading international news on things on the Inner Net,”she says when her husband is keeping track of the ravaging war. Butterfly comes across as a fresh change after Bridget Jones or even the Shopaholic series. Kudos to Butterfly for being so confident despite her shortcomings and hats-off to the author for creating such an identifiable character because I'm sure you've seen people who are at least fifty percent like this memorable house-wife (and no, I'm not talking about Savitha bhabhi :P) Read this one for Butterfly's charming voice and amazingly dumb wit and her literal grinding of the English language which gives us locutions like 'proper-gainda' and 'what cheeks!' I can't miss the next one for sure. As for this one, deserves a more than decent 4.5/5!
May 15, 2015
The main attraction of this book is the main protagonist 'Butterfly' and of course, her typical wanna-be aunties walli angrezi language. When I started this book, I was sitting in my university's library and I had to move out since I could not control my frequent bursts of laughter at her 'incorrect' English and her 'anyone who's anyone'and her general use of those silly yet somehow cool words that you want to repeat yourself.
As Mohsin said her self, the book is light but not shallow and highlights the insensitivities, insecurities and the artificial morals and personalities socialites like her put up - even in their relationships.
However, I feel like the book is far too long. Some parts seem repetitive and unnecessary and irritating, even. Specially at the end, when Butterfly is once again being all self-centred and not caring about people who were killed in the issues plaguing Pakistan at the time - well I got a little angry to be honest.
But overall, an intelligently written book and definitely worth at least one read.
As Mohsin said her self, the book is light but not shallow and highlights the insensitivities, insecurities and the artificial morals and personalities socialites like her put up - even in their relationships.
However, I feel like the book is far too long. Some parts seem repetitive and unnecessary and irritating, even. Specially at the end, when Butterfly is once again being all self-centred and not caring about people who were killed in the issues plaguing Pakistan at the time - well I got a little angry to be honest.
But overall, an intelligently written book and definitely worth at least one read.
April 23, 2015
"The Diary of A Social Butterfly" is the first book I've read from the author, Moni Mohsin.
The extracts of this book come from the author's famous column on The Friday Times that gained immense popularity among the readers and made Moni turn into a book.
The protagonist of the book "Butterfly" is a silly, insensible and inane socialite based in Lahore who not only loves to eat her husband's head but also gleefully raves and rants about different geo-political situations of her country. Take her to GT's, London, Dubai and she'll be the most happiest soul on earth.
The language used by the author is wittingly funny and at times, outrageous. I did not enjoy anything about this book except the witty language and typical Lahori phrases used by the author.
For me, it was only a satirical read with so many repetitions. I really had to drag it to the end because I can't leave a a book half-read.
The extracts of this book come from the author's famous column on The Friday Times that gained immense popularity among the readers and made Moni turn into a book.
The protagonist of the book "Butterfly" is a silly, insensible and inane socialite based in Lahore who not only loves to eat her husband's head but also gleefully raves and rants about different geo-political situations of her country. Take her to GT's, London, Dubai and she'll be the most happiest soul on earth.
The language used by the author is wittingly funny and at times, outrageous. I did not enjoy anything about this book except the witty language and typical Lahori phrases used by the author.
For me, it was only a satirical read with so many repetitions. I really had to drag it to the end because I can't leave a a book half-read.
July 8, 2018
What the hell is this book? I was suggested this one as an anecdote to a very intense one I was reading.
I started it but I can't bring myself to read any further than one and a half entry of this diary. JUST NO.
Why couldn't you the author stick to one language? And I realise that all errors in spelling and grammar are deliberate but they are a huge turn off.
I believe this will be the first book I leave unfinished in 2017.
I started it but I can't bring myself to read any further than one and a half entry of this diary. JUST NO.
Why couldn't you the author stick to one language? And I realise that all errors in spelling and grammar are deliberate but they are a huge turn off.
I believe this will be the first book I leave unfinished in 2017.
June 20, 2013
Cant believe how i even read this book.
The protagonist is an insensible character based in Pakistani high society. The biggest flaw of this book is that there is no plot and story. Can't see how it can appeal even a Lahore based Pakistani.
A big No from my side.
The protagonist is an insensible character based in Pakistani high society. The biggest flaw of this book is that there is no plot and story. Can't see how it can appeal even a Lahore based Pakistani.
A big No from my side.
December 25, 2023
Read it ONLY 'cause it is a part of my academic syllabus. Rated it 2 stars because it had more than enough stuff for me to problematize and write a 1500-word response paper.
Please do not subject yourself to this. 🙏🏼
Please do not subject yourself to this. 🙏🏼
June 20, 2023
i have never laughed the way i have than with this book. this was just such a treat. the main character - Butterfly can be annoying at first but then you grow to just sort of appreciate the irony and satire. super fun and very interesting. wish we got a little more of what was happening in the world at the time but i expect Butterfly didn't really care as much.
i think this might be a bit tough for non south asians to read but otherwise, super solid.
you can check out more of my thoughts about this book in this video i made: https://youtu.be/qgD0K8lTiHk
i think this might be a bit tough for non south asians to read but otherwise, super solid.
you can check out more of my thoughts about this book in this video i made: https://youtu.be/qgD0K8lTiHk
July 23, 2018
Hilarious! It is structured as diary entries and you can read it from anywhere i.e the entries are standalone. So I had it as a go-to book by my bed for a long time and used to read 2-3 entries whenever I felt the need for a laugh. That worked for me. Otherwise, you might find the humour a tad repetitive if u try to read it in one go. In any case, read it. It is fun.
August 11, 2013
light but not shallow, funny but thought provoking.
March 24, 2024
Pakistani politics—tiktok version.
January 9, 2021
"Don't worry, even if it is an earthquake, it'll only affect the poor parts of town. Earthquakes are very considerate that way."
Oh god, what a tabahi book. Moni Mohsin tau rocked my heart with her satirical piece of work. Between you, me and the four walls, I tau think this was one of the best pieces of comedy I had read from South Asian Literature. The protagonist, Butterfly, is tau total dhamaka. She lives with her husband and her dear, dear Kulchoo, helping at the house whenever she can as her husband tau, tauba, tauba, goes more and more antisocialist. But don't you mind Butterfly, okay? She is the most socialist person you will see, always on page 3 of the magazine. Offo, not for bad things, na. She has mastered the art of coming in front of the camera as many times as possible. To be honest, it is very simple. She has recognized the photgraapher na so she stands his camera ki lens every time she sees him. Bas, aur kya?
She has so many nice nice friends who tell her so many nice, nice things too, na. Flopsy, Tinkly, Bobo, Furry. She has all these girls holding tight tight to her husbands so that they don't run away with some cheap-sa secretary, you see. And poor Jonkers, her cousin, he tau had his kismat only wrong. Always marrying these secretary types who are only after his money. And then, lo, it is Butterfly who has to handle everything. What will her family do without her?
And don't even get me started on Aunty Pussy. Arrey, her mother's sister na. Very rich they are. Jonkers is her son only. Hers and Uncle Kaukab's but we don't see Kaukab anywhere much so I tau damn care about him. Then we have Janoo's family. Let me see. There is the Old Hag, Janoo's mother na. And her sister Psycho--sorry, sorry, Saika. And her other sister, Cobra (okay, baba, Kubra). Vaisey I can say Butterfly knows everyone, na? At least all the important ones.
So Butterfly is tau total fun. She keeps me entertained so much. And the way Mohsin showed her? Uff, tauba, tauba! When will I read a better comedy? The lingo is beautiful. And don't you dare say it is not. I mean, what cheeks! This is a social piece and I damn care what you say. Vaisey tau she lives in Pakistan. No, no, not in Isloo. No, she tau lives in Lahore but she knows every who-who to as far as Lun-dun. Fun, hai na? So go and meet Butterfly soon!
Oh god, what a tabahi book. Moni Mohsin tau rocked my heart with her satirical piece of work. Between you, me and the four walls, I tau think this was one of the best pieces of comedy I had read from South Asian Literature. The protagonist, Butterfly, is tau total dhamaka. She lives with her husband and her dear, dear Kulchoo, helping at the house whenever she can as her husband tau, tauba, tauba, goes more and more antisocialist. But don't you mind Butterfly, okay? She is the most socialist person you will see, always on page 3 of the magazine. Offo, not for bad things, na. She has mastered the art of coming in front of the camera as many times as possible. To be honest, it is very simple. She has recognized the photgraapher na so she stands his camera ki lens every time she sees him. Bas, aur kya?
She has so many nice nice friends who tell her so many nice, nice things too, na. Flopsy, Tinkly, Bobo, Furry. She has all these girls holding tight tight to her husbands so that they don't run away with some cheap-sa secretary, you see. And poor Jonkers, her cousin, he tau had his kismat only wrong. Always marrying these secretary types who are only after his money. And then, lo, it is Butterfly who has to handle everything. What will her family do without her?
And don't even get me started on Aunty Pussy. Arrey, her mother's sister na. Very rich they are. Jonkers is her son only. Hers and Uncle Kaukab's but we don't see Kaukab anywhere much so I tau damn care about him. Then we have Janoo's family. Let me see. There is the Old Hag, Janoo's mother na. And her sister Psycho--sorry, sorry, Saika. And her other sister, Cobra (okay, baba, Kubra). Vaisey I can say Butterfly knows everyone, na? At least all the important ones.
So Butterfly is tau total fun. She keeps me entertained so much. And the way Mohsin showed her? Uff, tauba, tauba! When will I read a better comedy? The lingo is beautiful. And don't you dare say it is not. I mean, what cheeks! This is a social piece and I damn care what you say. Vaisey tau she lives in Pakistan. No, no, not in Isloo. No, she tau lives in Lahore but she knows every who-who to as far as Lun-dun. Fun, hai na? So go and meet Butterfly soon!
June 24, 2021
This book was gifted to me by a friend on my 18th birthday and it remains one of the wittiest books I have read since. Of course, when I first read it I was too young to really grasp the double entendres, puns and innuendos but a second reading one summer after college had me gasping for breath in new ways when I finally understood references like Uncle Cock-Up and Aunty Pussy. This book provides me with entertainment each time I read it and has served as a good means of bonding with my mum. Moni Mohsin is an excellent satirist when it comes to Pakistani High Society and manages to expose the rich for all their hypocrisies and phoniness without offending anyone. Now if that's not a talent, I don't know what is.
If you liked my review, do feel free to stop by my Instagram here!
If you liked my review, do feel free to stop by my Instagram here!
January 29, 2025
I was curious when I stumbled across this title a while back, and I've had it on my TBR list for a long time.
The book, however, did not live up to expectations, and I'm abandoning it after reading 75pagea.
The author has a great talent for proceeding with her narrative, replacing words with similar sounding ones that are in no way connected (e.g. sole for soul; years for ears, etc) . This is great for making her protagonist look silly and vapid, but after a while, it got irritating as I was either ignoring them or appreciating the authors wit and disconnecting from the story.
Also, after going through 40% of the book , I had no idea where the story was headed and found Ms. Butterfly grating on my nerves,.so I'm going to go with a single star.
The book, however, did not live up to expectations, and I'm abandoning it after reading 75pagea.
The author has a great talent for proceeding with her narrative, replacing words with similar sounding ones that are in no way connected (e.g. sole for soul; years for ears, etc) . This is great for making her protagonist look silly and vapid, but after a while, it got irritating as I was either ignoring them or appreciating the authors wit and disconnecting from the story.
Also, after going through 40% of the book , I had no idea where the story was headed and found Ms. Butterfly grating on my nerves,.so I'm going to go with a single star.
May 24, 2014
What a suprise! The first book by the author. I needed something lighter after the Indian Summer and this fit the bill. Very light, yes, highly entertaining, yes, but still somehow more than just some frivolous pakistani chick lit.
And I have to admire the writer's ability to write wrong. In the afterword she wrote that really she has heard the expressions used and sometimes I can see them spoken in my head (I did live in India for a while) and they seem "true". And few of the styles of expression seem soooooo familiar.
A bit of a challenge the urdu/hindustani/hindi here and there. Know a few words and some structures and with my knowledge of Bangla filling in the gaps.
And I have to admire the writer's ability to write wrong. In the afterword she wrote that really she has heard the expressions used and sometimes I can see them spoken in my head (I did live in India for a while) and they seem "true". And few of the styles of expression seem soooooo familiar.
A bit of a challenge the urdu/hindustani/hindi here and there. Know a few words and some structures and with my knowledge of Bangla filling in the gaps.
March 30, 2013
The author communicates to the readers at two different levels .. firstly portraying the geo-political history of the world (and Pakistan) during the critical period of 2001 till 2008 ... and secondly presenting the 'vain' outlook of a typical subcontinent socialite and the ppl around her ... !
Although it is a collection of Moni's (much loved) column from TFT ... the book in totality is a interesting (but a bit draggy after the point) read!
Although it is a collection of Moni's (much loved) column from TFT ... the book in totality is a interesting (but a bit draggy after the point) read!
May 5, 2013
I loved it! it was really funny, mostly because of butterfly's ignorant attitude and horrible English.
August 11, 2023
I read The Diary of a Social Butterfly in one sitting, reason is that it was not bulky at all. When I first saw this book, mere word "social" was enough to exhaust me because I was already tired of sociolinguistics lessons. I was like, "Gosh! Here we go again with these social and then awkwardly social elements" without any idea that this book will let me have very fine experience of what Salman Rushdie called, "Chutnification". I enjoyed the book because while reading it, I had all the guts to read (alone) in such a manner as if it wasn't me but Butterfly speaking while taking pride in almost everything. I switched my voice and put it on a sober track whenever it was "Janoo's" turn to speak and of course Butterfly did not give him much chance to say anything. If anyone knows Urdu and of course people who know Urdu/Hindi can enjoy this novel so much and for this reason I would like to describe Butterfly ignoring all the political mess as,
آگ لگے چاہے بستی میں ...
While reading, I felt like I was full of beans after a tiring day. Language has played such a wonderful role that it proves to be a driving force behind the creation of humour in the story for instance, Ms. Mohsin makes use of mispronunciation and code-mixing .
Butterfly and Janoo are poles apart when Janoo is worried about all the political mess, Butterfly cares least about it. Her indifference is tolerable as it doesn't really offend readers. They give her an edge for she lives in her own microcosm and cares less about what's happening in the country. I guess, that's totally fine for her.
( I tweeted, "Sitting on an old sofa, still awake reading The Diary of a Social Butterfly by @moni_butterfly for my pop fiction class & believe me when I tell you this is the happiest I’ve felt about doing an English degree- beautiful, beautiful stuff."
Moni Mohsin's reply: 'Thank you. You’ve made my day. ☺️" )
آگ لگے چاہے بستی میں ...
While reading, I felt like I was full of beans after a tiring day. Language has played such a wonderful role that it proves to be a driving force behind the creation of humour in the story for instance, Ms. Mohsin makes use of mispronunciation and code-mixing .
Butterfly and Janoo are poles apart when Janoo is worried about all the political mess, Butterfly cares least about it. Her indifference is tolerable as it doesn't really offend readers. They give her an edge for she lives in her own microcosm and cares less about what's happening in the country. I guess, that's totally fine for her.
( I tweeted, "Sitting on an old sofa, still awake reading The Diary of a Social Butterfly by @moni_butterfly for my pop fiction class & believe me when I tell you this is the happiest I’ve felt about doing an English degree- beautiful, beautiful stuff."
Moni Mohsin's reply: 'Thank you. You’ve made my day. ☺️" )
May 19, 2018
Massacre of English at the hands of a Desi affluent Lahori Auntie to suit sketching her social scene, I will return to it in a bit as this is beyond ordinary and deserves some space, rather an academic investigation!
The continuous encounters between two antithetical characters Butterfly a shallow, pretentious (ڈرامے باز) party postulant and her husband, Janoo—a sane, sedate, Oxford graduate, intensifies presence of one another.
There is no coherent plot in the novel instead appearance of Butterfly’s contrasting colours one after another in concisely crisp chapters. The burden she bears all the time is maintenance of her party self image and in the process we find her simultaneously unfolding as nasty & naughty, sap & stubborn, bountiful & belligerent, jealous & ostentatious, en masse a showy social machine that is a star in her own capacity. She joyfully brags about her high profile connections, shopping big brands, foreign travels, property, BMWs, society weddings, and charity balls. Moni has also at parallel included bigger events in each chapter that even coddled people like butterfly cannot stay aloof from—“9/11, the invasion of Iraq, the Kashmir earthquake, the tsunami, Lal Masjid, Banazir’s assassination, larger socio-political and economic trends of recent years, rise of consumerism, increasing cultural alienation between rich and poor, gradual breakdown of law and order, the face-off between civil society and army, women’s growing presence in work place, tension between landed gentry and nouveau riche, and the multifarious pleasures and pains of globalisation” during Pakistan’s most turbulent times, Jan 2001-2008.
A feminist lens, not entirely appropriate here though, makes me say that there in female protagonist is a desire not to submit, socially, sexually, physically and personally in terms of identity. Further views on marriage, mistrust on men (they have thurky gleams even at 65), and husband mocking could be related to some version of feminist thought but in its most conservative appeal only. Precisely, man-hating is not feminism, at all.
The narrative is bold. Female butterfly openly discusses males, their harami smiles, and fat-fat muscle. It’s a window into the lives of well offs but how authentic, remains questionable. Apparently Butterfly is an upper class lady obsessed with Khandanipun, liberal in her views, aggressive in bashing conservative ideas/dressing, experimental in religious adventurism, develops love for Gandhi and shows affinity for Indians. She is in rich-hunt and dismisses poor or people less modern to her liking.
“very paindu but very rich family from Faisalabad, you know, the kinds who keep fridges in dining room and cases of mangoes under their beds”
In Moni’s words it’s “neuroses of insecurities to which people [of] position are prey”
On language: this is the most striking feature of The Diary of a Social Butterfly. Moni’s English (a step sister to Mera’s English) acutely exhausts various possibilities of divergence from standard and being wrong. There are misspellings resulting from false phonetic realisations of words, incorrect intonations, funny parsing, inter language rhythmic parallels in word selections, literal translations of idioms and proverbs, transliteration of Lahorie Urdu phrases, imitation of Urdu morphological patterns, morpho-syntatic fusion, mixing/switching of codes, casual code borrowing, cute contractions, and concocted onomatoepiac equivalences— all intended and well thought out. To showcase just a few instances: liposuction in Moni’s English becomes liposeduction, menopause – menoapplause, Massachusetts – mesaachewsits , Jumerah beach – Humera beach, Gucci – Goouchhy, condominium—condom, angina – vagina, Mossad – Masood, egocentric—egg centric, Sara Suleri – Sara Guleri, Meatless days – Meatless ways, ex-thief minister—ex-chief minister, bizarre – bazzar, Saiqa – Psycho, Kokab – Coke up, Kubra – Cobra, Asghar – Oscar. We find innovative expressions like tight-tight shirts, lose-lose morals, thin-thin models, little-little clothes, peecha churraoed, figure-shigure, Jano more bore than Pal Gore, marroed another chutti, bachoeed bal-bal, loots bank, latkaoed work, paindu crowd, Khata-Peta, daba k PR ki, Ya kismat Ya naseeb, sale-shales, begumshobji, shweeto, tu, vaisay, B-b-b-bgum ji, su-su stains, haw hai bechari, small-sa, cosy-sa, tit-for tit, our nose will be cut and our faces will be blackened, I’ll see if my shoes even listens, how my nose will be cut if I do not get the visa, Urdu swear words Kameeni, Kutti, abbreviations like GT for get together, Paris Sheraton—Paris Hilton.
Linguistic innovations in this literary text provide rich data for a detailed study in the field of language varieties, language evolution and world Englishes. Multiple interpretations and implications of such language mess are possible. I find it a text that could be used for parallel understanding of local idiom and membership of a multilingual Pakistan or simply an error correction exercise, a puzzle. Moreover, it would be interesting to think of possible answers to questions as:
What purpose such language fulfills in world literature or generally in current text? How exaggerated is such use, do we see such discourse in action in society? Has this text lost global appeal? Who is the target audience here? How semantic awareness and pragmatic understanding of certain local context is helping reader reach the meaning? On level of discourse does this text as a whole cohesively carries some solid ground to justify such creation or has the objective been met, if any? How to name/categories such discourse? And even further applying critical discourse theories (CDA) say a feminine or masculine lens or a Marxist analysis of consumerism or prevalent privileged class system. How the entire debate can be framed with the help of theories and concepts in linguistics?
Even as a native Urdu speaker some Urdu-English fusions, I found irritating :)
The continuous encounters between two antithetical characters Butterfly a shallow, pretentious (ڈرامے باز) party postulant and her husband, Janoo—a sane, sedate, Oxford graduate, intensifies presence of one another.
There is no coherent plot in the novel instead appearance of Butterfly’s contrasting colours one after another in concisely crisp chapters. The burden she bears all the time is maintenance of her party self image and in the process we find her simultaneously unfolding as nasty & naughty, sap & stubborn, bountiful & belligerent, jealous & ostentatious, en masse a showy social machine that is a star in her own capacity. She joyfully brags about her high profile connections, shopping big brands, foreign travels, property, BMWs, society weddings, and charity balls. Moni has also at parallel included bigger events in each chapter that even coddled people like butterfly cannot stay aloof from—“9/11, the invasion of Iraq, the Kashmir earthquake, the tsunami, Lal Masjid, Banazir’s assassination, larger socio-political and economic trends of recent years, rise of consumerism, increasing cultural alienation between rich and poor, gradual breakdown of law and order, the face-off between civil society and army, women’s growing presence in work place, tension between landed gentry and nouveau riche, and the multifarious pleasures and pains of globalisation” during Pakistan’s most turbulent times, Jan 2001-2008.
A feminist lens, not entirely appropriate here though, makes me say that there in female protagonist is a desire not to submit, socially, sexually, physically and personally in terms of identity. Further views on marriage, mistrust on men (they have thurky gleams even at 65), and husband mocking could be related to some version of feminist thought but in its most conservative appeal only. Precisely, man-hating is not feminism, at all.
The narrative is bold. Female butterfly openly discusses males, their harami smiles, and fat-fat muscle. It’s a window into the lives of well offs but how authentic, remains questionable. Apparently Butterfly is an upper class lady obsessed with Khandanipun, liberal in her views, aggressive in bashing conservative ideas/dressing, experimental in religious adventurism, develops love for Gandhi and shows affinity for Indians. She is in rich-hunt and dismisses poor or people less modern to her liking.
“very paindu but very rich family from Faisalabad, you know, the kinds who keep fridges in dining room and cases of mangoes under their beds”
In Moni’s words it’s “neuroses of insecurities to which people [of] position are prey”
On language: this is the most striking feature of The Diary of a Social Butterfly. Moni’s English (a step sister to Mera’s English) acutely exhausts various possibilities of divergence from standard and being wrong. There are misspellings resulting from false phonetic realisations of words, incorrect intonations, funny parsing, inter language rhythmic parallels in word selections, literal translations of idioms and proverbs, transliteration of Lahorie Urdu phrases, imitation of Urdu morphological patterns, morpho-syntatic fusion, mixing/switching of codes, casual code borrowing, cute contractions, and concocted onomatoepiac equivalences— all intended and well thought out. To showcase just a few instances: liposuction in Moni’s English becomes liposeduction, menopause – menoapplause, Massachusetts – mesaachewsits , Jumerah beach – Humera beach, Gucci – Goouchhy, condominium—condom, angina – vagina, Mossad – Masood, egocentric—egg centric, Sara Suleri – Sara Guleri, Meatless days – Meatless ways, ex-thief minister—ex-chief minister, bizarre – bazzar, Saiqa – Psycho, Kokab – Coke up, Kubra – Cobra, Asghar – Oscar. We find innovative expressions like tight-tight shirts, lose-lose morals, thin-thin models, little-little clothes, peecha churraoed, figure-shigure, Jano more bore than Pal Gore, marroed another chutti, bachoeed bal-bal, loots bank, latkaoed work, paindu crowd, Khata-Peta, daba k PR ki, Ya kismat Ya naseeb, sale-shales, begumshobji, shweeto, tu, vaisay, B-b-b-bgum ji, su-su stains, haw hai bechari, small-sa, cosy-sa, tit-for tit, our nose will be cut and our faces will be blackened, I’ll see if my shoes even listens, how my nose will be cut if I do not get the visa, Urdu swear words Kameeni, Kutti, abbreviations like GT for get together, Paris Sheraton—Paris Hilton.
Linguistic innovations in this literary text provide rich data for a detailed study in the field of language varieties, language evolution and world Englishes. Multiple interpretations and implications of such language mess are possible. I find it a text that could be used for parallel understanding of local idiom and membership of a multilingual Pakistan or simply an error correction exercise, a puzzle. Moreover, it would be interesting to think of possible answers to questions as:
What purpose such language fulfills in world literature or generally in current text? How exaggerated is such use, do we see such discourse in action in society? Has this text lost global appeal? Who is the target audience here? How semantic awareness and pragmatic understanding of certain local context is helping reader reach the meaning? On level of discourse does this text as a whole cohesively carries some solid ground to justify such creation or has the objective been met, if any? How to name/categories such discourse? And even further applying critical discourse theories (CDA) say a feminine or masculine lens or a Marxist analysis of consumerism or prevalent privileged class system. How the entire debate can be framed with the help of theories and concepts in linguistics?
Even as a native Urdu speaker some Urdu-English fusions, I found irritating :)
July 4, 2022
Okay…so I feel like I have never read a book like this one before, It doesn’t have a plot going on, like the story doesn’t have a beginning or a turning point or an ending…it is more of a few years of some lady’s life but I get that! It actually discusses a lot of interesting and important topics but in a fun way and easier way to understand without making it too complicated or too political. Honestly I never knew how people lived in Pakistan, it is like we have that sort of stereotype about them..or maybe it is just me idk. But seeing how the fancy type of them lived, how they were super extremely rich and lived a spoiled life, I honestly didn’t imagine that before…and I always love to learn something and gain information from books so that’s the part I liked about it probably.
January 24, 2022
Very funny and punny. Must’ve worked quite wonderfully in the original form as a running column, however it gets a bit repetitive when read as a book. Nevertheless, very rare to come across such a funny book from an Asian writer, reminded me of Wodehouse. Also, a sharp insight into the upperclass urban Pakistan, a light read that can compliment some other heavy readings.
August 8, 2020
Hilarious!!
April 8, 2022
Wonderfully witty & a super light read for anyone who likes it desi 😋
January 5, 2023
Though I'm rating it three stars but this book successfully highlights the actual situation of Pakistan in a very light and humorous way.
January 11, 2016
O how irritating the Butterfly is!
I know she's meant to be - and I really know that I not a target reader for this sort of book - but it's just parties/sharties, GTs, planning for ludicrous expenditure at her poor son's wedding and Balls at the Sindh Club - over and over and over (and over) again.
The ticker tape news is a great idea (Janoo hogging the TV during 9/11), but under-used, I thought.
I kept reading as the back of the book suggested there would be some sort of revelatory change towards the end.
I dont think I'm Spoiling it for anyone to say that I didn't feel this happened at all.
Such a missed opportunity - the author has great observational skills and very funny (mis)use of language - and I think she could have done much more.
What about the massage / waxing women? Who see everything and say nothing - including here
Similarly the tailors (and surely interior decorators etc).
Her journeys to London could have emphasised that it's not only in India and Pakistan that people have more money than sense.
And
this
is
a
SPOILER
cos
I
kept
hoping
it
would
happen
What I kept hoping for was her son to turn out gay, and her not to realise / be able to see this. Here's hoping.
Lastly, the other interesting unexplored thing for me was how many older women turn out so smart, when the younger ones are ... well, Butterflies? Is it a cohort effect? Or will the Butterflies get better?
I know she's meant to be - and I really know that I not a target reader for this sort of book - but it's just parties/sharties, GTs, planning for ludicrous expenditure at her poor son's wedding and Balls at the Sindh Club - over and over and over (and over) again.
The ticker tape news is a great idea (Janoo hogging the TV during 9/11), but under-used, I thought.
I kept reading as the back of the book suggested there would be some sort of revelatory change towards the end.
I dont think I'm Spoiling it for anyone to say that I didn't feel this happened at all.
Such a missed opportunity - the author has great observational skills and very funny (mis)use of language - and I think she could have done much more.
What about the massage / waxing women? Who see everything and say nothing - including here
Similarly the tailors (and surely interior decorators etc).
Her journeys to London could have emphasised that it's not only in India and Pakistan that people have more money than sense.
And
this
is
a
SPOILER
cos
I
kept
hoping
it
would
happen
What I kept hoping for was her son to turn out gay, and her not to realise / be able to see this. Here's hoping.
Lastly, the other interesting unexplored thing for me was how many older women turn out so smart, when the younger ones are ... well, Butterflies? Is it a cohort effect? Or will the Butterflies get better?
July 7, 2014
I was torn in the beginning of how I felt about the book. I suppose even while I was in Pakistan, I never really knew what the upper class really was like, so at first the book seemed over exaggerated. Wouldn't women with money be at least decently educated and had interests other than "socialist-events"? But as I read the book, I suppose somewhere it clicked through in my head, and I think I was a lot more convinced after the reading the author's afterwords too. Though I suppose, I'm not so ready to believe in Janoo's innocence too easily either . . . ..
I really enjoyed how the author balanced Butterfly's frivolity with commentary on geo-politics as it happened. Not to say that anybody reading this book would suddenly become an expert on Pakistan's civil views. But I quiet enjoyed Butterfly's observations on 9/11 and Lal masjid etc
For one who does not know any Urdu, this book may be tough to understand as the author is using a lot of colloquial language. Would I say it is a great satirical read? I don't know, because there were so many parts where I was so genuinely disgusted and angry at Butterfly. Which is to the great credit to the author's writing style. . . .
I really enjoyed how the author balanced Butterfly's frivolity with commentary on geo-politics as it happened. Not to say that anybody reading this book would suddenly become an expert on Pakistan's civil views. But I quiet enjoyed Butterfly's observations on 9/11 and Lal masjid etc
For one who does not know any Urdu, this book may be tough to understand as the author is using a lot of colloquial language. Would I say it is a great satirical read? I don't know, because there were so many parts where I was so genuinely disgusted and angry at Butterfly. Which is to the great credit to the author's writing style. . . .
May 18, 2015
I don't know where to start with this book, I thought to begin with it was badly translated, as some words are really used out of context. But the afterword is written in plain English.
This book in places was just plain ridiculous. It's amazing to think that some people live like this. Taking money off thier children and family members to buy designer clothes, shoes and make up!! Towards the end butterfly begins to see what's going on around her in the world but still lives a high life.
This was one of them books that however much I disliked the style of writing I still had to keep reading it. This was a relatively quickly read in the style of a diary.
This book in places was just plain ridiculous. It's amazing to think that some people live like this. Taking money off thier children and family members to buy designer clothes, shoes and make up!! Towards the end butterfly begins to see what's going on around her in the world but still lives a high life.
This was one of them books that however much I disliked the style of writing I still had to keep reading it. This was a relatively quickly read in the style of a diary.
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