Mirza Waheed explores family, loss and the digital abyss

ask: what is this The Origin of “Mariam”& son‘? one: I started thinking about people like Maryam many years ago. You know, 2016-17…the emergence of ISIS and the destruction of Iraq. In those days, you heard these guys on the news all the time...”So-and-so fled to Iraq and went to fight in Syria.” But that’s all you get, there’s no other way to find out any other information about these people… So I started thinking more and more about their families… and I started thinking, who were those people? What kind of people are they? Then I started thinking about a middle-aged woman, with personality, a completely ordinary lower-middle-class career woman, British Indian, who lived a decent life and achieved something despite setbacks. She raised her son, she loved him, and then he disappeared… One of the things I tried to do in the novel is that this is not the son’s story, this is Maryam’s story. This is not a story about radicalization or indoctrination… I wanted to stay with Mariam and explore aspects of her character that relate to her being a woman in London, with her own life, her own thoughts, her own wishes and longings and losses. ask: have so much your business bring out about one young widow suddenly putexist spotlight. one: She’s also in a spotlight of her own making because now she’s starting to have some doubts about herself. So I wanted to explore this idea. What is the role of surveillance, and what is the role of being monitored? Who are the observers in this dynamic? So on the surface this person is looking at her, but at some point she starts looking at herself… “Okay, what have I been doing all these years? Is this really what I’m supposed to be doing? Is this who I am? And it’s a bit of a slippery slope. ask: figure ofJulian become like that voices of many people’s heads today question magic digital world. one: The world of technology is so big, so vast, so all-encompassing that oftentimes… we take what’s given to us. There is very little room left for us to examine, question and scrutinize these things. How to be sure that all of these things are good, correct, and true? …what happens in our world is that we are asked to consume these things that are packaged elsewhere. Whether it is algorithms, whether it is artificial intelligence, whether it is technology tycoons, or a group of capitalists, whether it is a few extremely rich people who can rival the country, everything is top-down... The danger is out there for my generation and perhaps even for future generations… Don’t associate with those people, avoid those people… Now, we can keep our children safe indoors, but the danger has walked in, it hides behind screens in so many ways that we can’t keep an eye on it. And it’s so deep, it’s like a maze. As a parent, and as a person living in this era, this has always been on my mind… How kids are affected, what they become, because you can’t control it… There are a lot of influences happening on the internet. When I say impact, an entire life has been shaped. So I did want to spend time in the novel and try to explore that. Well, what if this guy spends all his time online…she probably keeps him safe…he doesn’t hang out with bad boys, but the question in the novel is: What if I don’t close all these loops? … We’ve seen it happen in real time in our lives. A mass, a large group of people who are influenced, transformed, radicalized, turned into something else, or used for some purpose… We have seen this happen time and time again, whether in India, South Asia, Pakistan, the UK or the West… Someone benefits, whether it’s a corporate tech bro, someone selling cars or miracle drugs, or someone peddling hate, bigotry or bigotry… Q: Today world, Who are you not even taking into account be an individual exist unless you There is one Numbers exist. and it is Such a strange space, Especially for all of us who have ever known a life Before that. one: It’s simpler, but it’s a nicer, softer, kinder world… I do want to look at the dark underbelly of the internet, but I don’t want to write a novel about it either… I want to be with Mariam, I think I’m already with Mariam. But I do want to look at this dark underside, which is dark, but it’s not really the underside. It’s everywhere.