Osama Siddique is a writer, legal scholar, and educator based in Pakistan. He has written two novels, the first – Snuffing Out the Moon – in English and the recent – Ghuroob-e-Shehr Ka Waqt – in Urdu.
His first unfolds across six eras in South Asia, from the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro to a dystopian future in 2084. The novel was later translated into Urdu as Chand ko gul karein to hum janein. His second, Ghuroob-e-Shehr Ka Waqt (The Time of the Setting City), is Siddique’s first work originally written in Urdu (an English translation is in the works). A poignant exploration of Lahore’s decline and resilience, it blends lyrical storytelling with sharp societal critique. Both richly imagined narratives traverse time, culture, and history opening a visceral, immersive world where despair and romance intertwine with sharp societal critique.
Transcending conventional genre boundaries
Difficult to categorise, these novels shift seamlessly between historical fiction, speculative narrative, and intimate human drama, transcending conventional genre boundaries. Each novel, while distinct, complements the other like two panels of a diptych, together forming a unified whole that bridges language, form, and genre to engage in a dialogue that extends across eras and borders.
At the core of Ghuroob-e-Shehr Ka Waqt lies the decline of Lahore – a portrayal both intimate and grand, reflecting Siddique’s attention to the deterioration of institutions, environmental degradation, and cultural fragmentation. The novel’s protagonist, Khalid, a lawyer, becomes a window through which we observe the evolution of our choices, both collective and personal. Through the lives Khalid intersects with, we encounter perspectives that transcend his own, bringing us closer to the varied voices of society.
While Ghuroob shines a mirror on our present decay, it also honours what remains. The novel’s treatment of Lahore goes beyond mere observation, blending nostalgia with a quietly persistent hope, suggesting that the city’s spirit may endure even as it is buried under layers of environmental and societal decay. Siddique’s portrayal is tender, rendering Lahore with Dickensian detail – veiled in smog and grey haze, but alive with the memory of a vibrant past. This elegiac tone, paired with a subtle optimism, invites readers to see the city not only as a landscape in decline but as a resilient entity capable of renewal.
Siddique’s ambition with these novels is immense, a kind of cumulus of wild and woolly condensation of ideas, places, and styles, as if he has created a world within each novel. In Ghuroob, 99 chapters serve as individual fragments of a larger mosaic, while Snuffing Out the Moon uses six chapters to traverse time and technique, from fables to folktales, science fiction, and satire. Each era in Snuffing – spanning from 2084 BCE in Mohenjo-Daro to Takshasila, the reign of Jahangir, the colonial upheaval of 1857, present-day Lahore, and the dystopian future of 2084 – creates a narrative puzzle box that spins out pulp, philosophy, and fervent humanism.
Both novels employ destabilising narrative structures that fluidly blend past, present, and future. Characters exist in liminal spaces, where time moves in a non-linear fashion, allowing the reader to experience moments that are at once anticipatory and elegiac. This destabilising treatment of time amplifies the novels’ thematic depth, making them less about linear plot and more about the nuances of existence. In Ghuroob, biting satire is laced with sarcastic humour that balances darker themes. This mixture of humour and gravity allows readers to confront the tragedy of modern life without becoming overwhelmed, creating a delicate tension that enriches the story’s emotional resonance.
The language that enriches the textured worlds of Siddique's novels can perhaps be best described as a fugue, where he takes what seem to be joltingly disparate sections, styles and subjects, only to reveal through skilful interweaving the pattern of the whole. Both books are a parable, a lament, as well as a warning shot. It is raw, honest, valuable, even essential – in its searing truth. Both Ghuroob and Snuffing Out the Moon are infused with the linguistic abundance of South Asia’s Dastan tradition, filled with idioms, metaphors, and imagery that capture the spectrum of life’s beauty and sorrow. His Urdu, laced with Punjabi expressions, calls to mind the poetry of Zafar Iqbal and Majeed Amjad, adding emotional depth that grounds his characters in their world. The idiom is contemporary, yet it connects seamlessly to literary traditions across languages, as Siddique draws upon the works of Pessoa, Keats, Shelley, Ghalib, Proust, and Saramago, ordaining a newness rooted in tradition, an approach that feels eternal and original.
Unrealised dreams
Central to Ghuroob is the theme of unfulfilled potential, capturing Lahore at a poignant moment of lost possibility. The novel’s portrayal of decline and what could have been evokes the haunting lines of Ghalib:
“Rahiye ab aisi jagah chal kar jahan koi na ho
Hum-sukhan koi na ho aur hum-zabaan koi na ho
Be-dar-o-deewar sa ek ghar banaya chaahiye
Koi hum-saaya na ho aur paasbaan koi na ho”
This reflection on unrealised dreams pervades both novels, urging readers to contemplate our own shared “what could have been.” It is a lament for not only a city but for civilization’s lost ideals—a quiet sorrow for how we might have chosen a different path.
Ghuroob and Snuffing share a thematic focus on environmental decay. Shrinking rivers, polluted air, and the erosion of natural landscapes all reflect the growing urgency of ecological decline. Siddique’s portrayal of these issues aligns with Amitav Ghosh’s call for climate awareness in South Asian literature. Yet, rather than preach, Siddique weaves these themes naturally into the fabric of the novels, underscoring the importance of preserving both nature and culture without compromising the narrative’s artfulness.
Despite the overarching greyness and sorrow, Ghuroob is, paradoxically, a deeply affirming work. Siddique’s characters, though often defeated by their circumstances, possess a quiet resilience and a persistent love for others. The novel does not simply focus on loss; it celebrates those who continue to care, seek justice, and resist the forces of decay. Figures like Khalid’s aunt, who selflessly mentors neighbourhood children, and the ex-intelligence officer who fights land seizures, offer counterpoints to the overwhelming power of those who exploit and corrupt. These characters create an atmosphere of affirmation, suggesting that even in times of despair, small acts of resistance and connection remain meaningful.
The novels are filled with a vibrant array of characters, both real and imagined, reflecting the intricacies of society. In Snuffing Out the Moon, Siddique breathes life into historical figures such as Jahangir, depicted with his cat-like curiosity, alongside imagined characters who embody the spirit of their times. Prkaa, a young man in Mohenjo-Daro, questions the motives of a priestly cult while perched on a towering tree, foreseeing the city's collapse – an eerie harbinger whose warnings resonate with history. Buddhamitra, a monk in Takshasila, wrestles with his peers’ departure from Buddha’s teachings, while two cunning fortune seekers swindle the elite during Jahangir’s reign. Mir Sahib, a minstrel caught in the deception of the British Raj rebellion, and Rafiya Begum, a weary widow navigating Lahore’s legal labyrinths, add layers of struggle and resilience. Billa, the gunda with a good heart, and General sahib, modelled on Parvez Musharraf, grounds the narrative in sharp realism.
In Ghuroob-e-Shehr Ka Waqt, the characters deepen the novel's exploration of societal decay. Taiyyeba Khala, an artist and scientist, battles the suffocating rituals of academia, embodying a poignant blend of intellect and longing as she resigns to embrace a universe filled with the mysteries of astrophysics and existential reflection. The enigmatic prisoner, shuffled between camps, represents the fate of many Pakistani leaders. The mysterious narrator, who lives on a tree and brings to mind Italo Calvino’s The Baron in the Trees, wreaks havoc on soldiers and symbolises defiance against oppressive regimes, such as the reimagined dictator Jabr-ul Haq, evoking the spectre of Zia-ul Haq. Monkeys morph into mythical creatures, linking past and present through stories from the Jatakas to the Tilism-e-Hoshruba and Qissa-e-Chahar Darvesh, enriching the novels’ worlds with folkloric and historical depth. Each character, whether symbolic or flesh-and-blood, serves as a prism through which the full spectrum of human experience – ambition, empathy, cruelty, and hope – is revealed.
Both novels are ultimately parables of society’s fall and the cost of lost integrity. The corruption in institutions, the manipulation of narratives, the exploitation by elites – Siddique’s novels do not gloss over these realities. Yet, the novels also serve as a call to action, a reminder that resilience lies within human connection, justice, and compassion. His critique of modern life is sharp, yet he finds room for dignity amid the ruins, a quality that makes his novels not only relevant but essential reading.
Ghuroob-e-Shehr Ka Waqt and Snuffing Out the Moon thus become, in Siddique’s hands, vast canvases upon which the fragility and strength of society are painted. His novels are meticulously crafted mosaics of satire, cultural critique, and humanism, honouring language, culture, and identity while exposing the fractures within. These works remind us of the stakes involved in our choices and the endurance needed to navigate an era of rapid change.
Siddique is an exacting thinker, and he doesn’t provide glib answers to the difficult questions his books raise. Instead, he invites us to reflect deeply, not only on what we have lost but on what might still be recovered, and on the enduring spirit that propels us forward. It is this clarity, this unflinching examination of loss alongside potential redemption, that makes his novels both urgent and timeless.
Through Ghuroob-e-Shehr Ka Waqt and Snuffing Out the Moon, Siddique has crafted a powerful reflection on resilience, revealing that even amid decay and disillusionment, human connection and justice can prevail. His novels transcend the boundaries of South Asian literature, offering a universal meditation on loss, resilience, and the relentless march of time.
Nikhil Kumar is a climate communications professional and an independent writer based in Delhi
