There is something more to Ruby Rauf

 

By Ambika Shaligram


Name: The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby R

Author: Moni Mohsin

Publisher: Penguin Random House India

Pages: 276


It’s very easy to assume that Moni Mohsin’s latest work, The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby R has no surprises. On the surface, Ruby Rauf comes across as a familiar character, a person we know. One who has aimed high, but inevitably has her fall from grace. An industrious student studying in London, Ruby is working hard towards her Master’s degree so that she can grab a job back home in Pakistan and lead a comfortable life which was snatched from her and her mother, when her father passed away.

In London, she happens to attend a speech by Saif Haq, a has-been actor, who is testing waters in Pakistan's politics. He still has charisma, good looks and convinces Ruby into quitting her degree and returning home to work as the social media manager for his political party, Integrity. Of course there are other compelling reasons for Ruby taking up the offer, which everyone in the subcontinent can relate to, especially those who have no access to power, to correct the wrongs done to them.

That’s how Ruby starts out, earnestly believing that Saif can and would be a harbinger of change. Slowly but surely Ruby changes hues, coming to believe that the end justifies the means. She acquires predatory wings, swooping down on those who try to mock/question Saif on social media. This is where The Impeccable Integrity…scores. The conflicts, the chasm and the hope harboured by the masses described by Mohsin in the book are not unfamiliar. It’s easier to draw comparisons to what is happening in our country; the devouts vs the questioners/non-believers, patriots vs betrayers that one encounters while navigating the moral and political minefield on Twitter and elsewhere on social media. Unless we are a troll ourselves, we can only haphazard how the troll and abuse machinery works.

Written with a light yet witty approach by Mohsin, known for her popular Butterfly series, The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby Rauf makes sense of the world that is manipulated by political machinery. It is cleverly written and there is something more to the straightforward story of Ruby.

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