Book: Moth Smoke | A Story of decisions, drugs and decline Ramble in the Jungle

The decline is intriguing. At times, it’s innate. No sooner have we realized we’re declining, than we’ve reached the bottom. This is the story of Dara Shikoh, not the should-be successor to Shah Jahan, but the protagonist of Mohsin Hamid’s ‘Moth Smoke,’ the book for this week’s episode.



Set in a nuclear Pakistan and a debilitating socio-political landscape, Daru has lost his job, is trying drugs, having an affair with his best friend’s wife, and taking up crime. He’s descending into chaos, but rarely is he fighting against it. His nihilistic attitude is invisible to him but apparent to us.



In this book, we see how there are always two choices in life. We have the good and difficult choice and the bad and easy choice. Not only can’t we differentiate between the two, but we think the latter is better than the former. This is the dilemma of a decline. We feel we are righteous in our wrongs.



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