seven days of shubnum khan

Shubnum Khan has always been drawn to words. In the same way that some of us are pulled into a stall at a fresh produce market by the sweet stickiness of ripe mangoes, the rich palette of aromas and a promise of explosive flavours. This attraction has born a novel that refreshes the reader’s palate, with its poetic use of Urdu and seamless union of Islam. Nothing seems out of place or forced in her well received first book of fiction; Onion Tears.

Tracing her progression from a girl who “had the same strange childhood I think every child has - exploring forgotten plots, learning about adults, imagining my future and worrying about insecurities” to the woman she is today, Shubnum admittedly misses the “freshness, recklessness and optimism of that little girl”. The years in between have not forsaken their wisdom on her though as she now recognises all the grays, which she only saw as a black and white before. Time has taught her about the self as much as about the complex nature of other people. But she does not use this understanding as an excuse to lock the world outside of herself; instead she draws out the beauty and depth of her characters from it.

In part, her use of food in her book is rooted in the role that it plays in her life even though she is by no stretch of the truth a connoisseur. “I think I learnt about food by always watching my mother and her sisters and in fact, all Indian aunties take so much effort and pleasure to make their food taste good. So I grew up watching and grew up reading books - so I had a love for words and I observed the cooking and braised the two together.”
This connection has led to another food-centric culture’s appreciation of her novel, and now Onion Tears has been translated to Italian.

-
I had a love for words and I observed the cooking and braised the two together
-

Shubnum gives honour to teachers and gardeners as she believes that through their tending and cultivation, be it soil or soul, they have a closer relationship with God and thus have a profound appreciation for the importance of life and the beauty of all natural things.

It is little surprise then to know that she is a teacher herself, tutoring English and Media Studies at UKZN. Like other fertile minds in the profession, Shubnum has an inherent eagerness to learn, from herself as well as her students. Daily she is taken through the realities of younger people who come from all corners of life, learning about their influences that come in the form of popular culture and social media. This stages a hot pot of interesting debates about social constructs, journalism and the state of matters in the country.
And therein is the link between teacher and gardener. Shubnum is the gardener that tends daily to the plants that in turn nurture and give her the sustenance to carry on tilling the soil and sowing the seeds.