FICTION

MARCH 28, 1994 ISSUE

MY SON THE FANATIC

By Hanif Kureishi
March 21, 1994
The New Yorker, March 28, 1994 P. 92

Surreptitiously, the father began going into his son's bedroom. Parvez would look for clues. Ali was getting
tidier, throwing away everything including his old toys, computer disks, videotapes, new books, and clothes.
Without explanation Ali broke up with his English girlfriend and stopped ringing his old friends. Parvez was
unable to bring up the subject of Ali's unusual behavior. He was slightly afraid of his son, who was developing
a sharp tongue. Ali was studying to be an accountant. Parvez couldn't sleep; he went more often to the
whiskey bottle. Parvez had been a taxi-driver in England for more than twenty years. Like him, most of the
drivers were Punjabis. They worked at night, leading a boy's life together in the cabbies' office. Parvez
couldn't discuss Ali with his co-workers, he was too ashamed. All his dreams in England would come true if Ali
would behave. He finally talked about Ali to two other cabbies, who convinced him Ali was a drug-addicted
killer, selling his belongings to buy drugs. Parvez discussed this with Bettina, a prostitute who Parvez had
befriended and known for three years. Bettina told Parvez warning signs to look for. Ali was not a drug
addict. Parvez came home late one night, and heard Ali getting up and praying. Without fail, Ali would pray
five times a day. Parvez had grown up in Lahore where all the boys were taught the Koran. Parvez took a
night off to go out with Ali. He wanted to tell him stories about his family in Pakistan. At dinner, Ali criticized
his father for drinking alcohol and eating pork. Ali said Parvez was too implicated in Western civilization,
and that the Western materialists hated them. Ali said he was willing to die for the cause. Parvez tried to talk
to Ali about "his" life philosophy, but later got angry with Ali and beat him. Ali asked him, "So who is the
fanatic now?"

Published in the print edition of the March 28, 1994, issue.