Title: Becoming
Author: Fouad Azim
Publisher: Page Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-68409-492-9
Pages: 318
Genre: Historical Fiction
Interviewed by: Ella Vincent
Author Question with Fouad Azim
Today we are talking with Fouad Azim author of “Becoming.”
PBR: What inspired you to write Becoming?
I wanted to write of children growing up and coming of age, the challenges and hurdles they must face and overcome as they become young adults. I wanted to show that these rites of passage are universal across geographic and indeed in many ways across cultural boundaries and that this is becoming even more true in a world that is increasingly more connected and therefore ever more relevant if we are to understand each other.
I also wanted to share part of the beautiful land and people of Pakistan with the world. Too little is known of this part of the world by those living in the West except what makes the news and that is unfortunately more often than not too negative.
PBR: Who are some of your favorite authors that inspired your writing?
I think that everyone is affected to some extent by all that one has read and that has a significant role in ultimately determining one’s own style and sometimes inspires and conspires for him or her to undertake the task.
However, for me the most important authors relevant to this novel would be the historic fiction of James Michener, the deceptively simple writing of the masterful Ernest Hemingway and perhaps a subconscious desire to do for my own land what the gifted Khaled Hosseini did for Afghanistan in his unforgettable “The Kite Runner”.
PBR: You described the beauty and nature of Pakistan so well in the novel. What do you want readers to know about Pakistan that they might not know?
Pakistan is a blessed land in many ways. Geographically it is situated between Iran to the west, Afghanistan to the northwest, China to the north and India to the east.
In the south it extends to the rich waters of the Arabian Sea and in the north, the towering Korakoram mountain range that is the northwestern extension of the Himalayas caps its rugged North West Frontier.
From the desolate deserts of Balochistan, the lush arable fields of Punjab, some of the highest mountains and peaks in the world of the North West Frontier Province and the densely populated cities of Sindh bordering the Arabian Sea in the south, Pakistan enjoys a variety of terrain and climates.
PBR: The relationship of Nyla and Junaid is so special, especially when they look at the stars. Is there any special symbolism about stars in the novel?
When we look up at the heavens, we instantly look back in time, thousands and even millions of years back in time; that is how long it took the light from those stars and galaxies to reach us. It makes us realize our very fleeting moments of existence in the timelessness of the limitless Universe. For two souls to come together and be joined with each other in love, for the infinitesimally short period of time, a span of a few years, is very precious.
For Nyla and Junaid, the starry skies not only magnify their special feelings for each other, in this story, they are also the means of their coming to realize and appreciate their heretofore undisclosed love for each other.
PBR: What do you want readers to learn from Becoming?
That the struggle to try to become the best of our ability is the journey and its end. We all find ourselves in different stages of this endeavor in our own lives and how we respond to what has come to be our lot determines the life we live and the way it affects others around us. That the best and most fortunate among us are those who come to sacrifice their own selves for the good of others and in doing so they find that they have achieved their own peace and happiness. That a Higher Being, a Higher Power seems to guide and empower their best intentions and actions.
Also, that we are all just one people with the same hopes and dreams, fears and heartaches, the same desires and the same emotions that just happen to live in different parts of this one beautiful planet that we call home.
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