[amazon_link id=”B008EKMBD2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Title : The Honey Thief
Author : Najaf Mazari, Robert Hillman
Genre : Literary / Folklore
Publisher : Viking
Pages : 290
Source : Publisher
Rating : 4/5

The Honey Thief is about the Hazara people of Afghanistan. My interest in this book was piqued when I remembered that Hassan, one of the characters in Khalid Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner” was also Hazara. In this book, the author Najaf Mazari, himself of the Hazara, relates his tales of his homeland and his people, to Hillman. Hillman then writes them up, hence the dual credit on authorship.

The book has 13 chapters, out of which 11 contain stories. The first chapter is titled Hazara, and serves as an introduction. The thirteenth talks of the food of the Hazara people. The book ends with recipes and a glossary of terms.

The stories are interconnected in that some characters feature in more than one story, although the stories themselves are separate. The tales are diverse; so one story is about Abbas Behishti and his relationship with his dearly beloved and respected grandfather Esmail, while another, the title story, is about Abbas’s apprenticeship into bee-keeping. A third is about Abbas’s journey to meet Baba Mazari, the leader of the Hazara, and do his bidding. Although on the surface, each story is about a particular event or happening, they also describe Hazara life, history, hardships and philosophy.

Afghanistan has had a tumultuous history, from being ruled by oppressive Shahs, to being subjected to Russian invasions. The author tells us that under each ruler, the Hazara have suffered; their lands have been stolen, their people killed and tortured. And in these trying circumstances, we are told, the Hazara have survived, eked out meager livings in hostile environments, on infertile lands, with grace and fortitude.

In my country of Afghanistan everything is arranged in such a way that your heart is broken again and again. It is not only wars that break your heart; it is the arguments that last a thousand years, the age-old jealousies, and of course, the poverty.

The people in these stories are Hazara and live in Hazarajat, an area in central Afghanistan. From the descriptions it appears that the area is ravaged by unjust rulers and mired in poverty. The people appear isolated, cut-off from the world at large. Progress of the outside world seeps through into these rural lands, in bits and pieces – a mention of an American magazine (Saturday Evening Post) here, and the use of a motorcycle (“Yamaha is the best for Afghanistan”) there. The families in these stories are large and remain together in small villages/communities, the men often having more than one wife.

The stories are written in simple un-convoluted language so as to give a “spoken” feel. It is almost as though these are fables, told by an elder to other younger members of his community, a passing on of heritage if you will. Indeed, the tone of the book reminds me of the Indian tradition of story-telling (a little like the Panchatantra and Jataka Tales although those are more pointed and stress on moral lessons), history passed on by word-of-mouth from grandparent to grandchild. It is then a privilege to be able to almost hear these wisdom filled, nuanced tales, as though from the skilled story-teller himself, a storyteller who conveys to us his love and affection for his ancestral roots and his people.

I was entranced by this charming, comforting book and looked forward to reading it every night before I went to bed. What a wonderful way to learn about the culture of a people! Highly recommended.