The author and the actor discuss migration, stories of homeland, a sense of belonging and more at the closing of London Literature Festival last year. Instep lends an ear to the podcast.
The universe of podcast(s) has become so vast that we are now introduced to a myriad of listening options from around the world. Southbank Centre’s Book Podcast is one such example. They have released the full audio of the panel discussion between Mohsin Hamid and Riz Ahmed with journalist and broadcaster Kieran Yates also joining them.
From Mohsin Hamid’s acclaimed novel, Exit West to Riz Ahmed, also known as Riz Mic, the conversation runs over an hour and tries to explore just why migration has become so important. It also covers why migration has been covered by literature for centuries and why that question continues to exist. It is also pointed out, in the podcast, that stories create magic; something the moderator said was palpable in Hamid’s Exit West.
In addition to discussing literature, they also spoke about the ‘brown’ experience as well as their works, respectively.
The panel began with the question that was directed at both gentlemen. Does home really exist for you?
Responding, Mohsin Hamid asked: “In geographical sense?” before being told in “imaginary homeland sense”.
“I left Lahore when I was three,” said Hamid, “I went to California and back to Lahore at 9 and America at 18 and London at 30 and back to Lahore at 38 – I’m 47 – so geographically I’m pretty confused about what home means but I suppose have gotten used to the idea of not really being at home in any place. But quite at home in more than one place, especially Lahore where I live now.”
He spoke further about what the concept of home is to him and how so many live beyond geography and how for so many of us “it partly feels like home” before being asked by Riz Ahmed: “Do you mean some of which of our lives are lived online?”
“All of that, I think,” said Hamid. “The human body doesn’t live in a place it used to....”
As for Riz Ahmed, when asked about his relatively recent visit to Pakistan, he said at one point, “I realised home is a place we build through fiction, through stories. Home is a story you tell yourself or is at least a story other people tell you – that you are included in and are allowed to be a part of, to be a protagonist in.”
Ahmed spoke about what home means to him, the coming of age generation and their right to “modify Britishness” and at the same time, “other people’s discomfort of British-ness. So, first, it was kind of like my neighbourhood. We were British Asian. You experience racism and you realise Pakistan and you’re able to idealise Pakistan so for me in teenage years, psychologically Pakistan was home but I had never been there.”
“Home becomes a story you tell,” added Ahmed. “And then you go to Pakistan and you’re like I don’t belong here. And so it was a big moment for me, going to Pakistan as a teenager, realising actually the pride I was trying to express must’ve been for mongrels like me a psychological no man’s land.”
To hear the brilliant hour long interview, head to SoundCloud and hear the rest of it. It is quite special. Literature, magic, stories, a sense of belonging and homeland. What can be better than that?
Mohsin Hamid, in addition to writing Exit West, is also the author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Moth Smoke, and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia as well as a book of essays called Discontent and Its Civilizations.
Riz Ahmed starred in the film version of The Reluctant Fundamentalist before landing the plum role that would put him on the global map. After starring in the almost-cancelled The Night Of, which led to a Time magazine cover as well as roles in prolific films like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Sisters Brothers, Venom and Jason Bourne, Riz Ahmed is currently creating a series called Englistan for BBC2 that is about three generations a British Pakistani family.
You can hear the complete discussion on SoundCloud at the following link: https://soundcloud.com/southbankcentre_book_podcast/hamid_ahmed
