Review of “The Diary of a Social Butterfly.”- by Moni Mohsin

Title: The Dairy of a Social Butterfly

Author: Moni Mohsin

Publisher: Random House India in 2008

Genre: Fiction, Indian Literature.

Pages: 228

Purchase Link: here

Book Blurb:

Meet Butterfly, Pakistan’s most lovable, silly, socialite. An avid partygoer inspired misspeller, and unwittingly acute observer of Pakistani high society, Butter is a woman like no other. In her world, SMS becomes S & M and people eat three tiara cakes while shunning “do number ka maal”. ‘What cheeks!’ as she would say.

As her country faces tribulations– from 9/11 to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto–Butterfly glides through her world, unfazed, untouched, and stopped short only by the chip in her manicure.

Wicked and hugely entertaining, The Dairy of a Social Butterfly gives you a delicious glimpse into the parallel universe of the have-musts.

About the Author:

Moni Mohsin is a British-Pakistani author/writer. Based in London the author has 5 works of fiction under her name  The End of Innocence, The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby R and Tender Hooks aka Duty-Free, and two books of collected Butterfly columns, The Diary of a Social Butterfly and The Return of the Butterfly.

You can read more about her and her works on her website, here.

My thoughts:

This book was given to me by my sister-in-law when she moved in with us and happened to share her collection of books with me.

The past whole year I have been low on reading and reading some self-help books or nonfiction books was not on my mind recently, I thought of reading something light and that’s how I happened to pick this book.

The book doesn’t have a story. The book is a collection of columns written by the author which used to get published in The Friday Times, Pakistan’s first weekly newspaper.

When I started this book I was actually going through some realization. The protagonist of this book is so relatable to me that it feels like she just lives next door to the neighboring nation.

The social butterfly is every aunty, every toxic person you happen to meet in social gatherings of your family. The ones who decide what are more good trends, which one is dressed well among the people in the social gatherings, the ones for whom “log dekhne ayege– log kya kahege– to log toh dekhte hi reh jana chahiye.” the protagonist is based on this very typical egoistic, hypocritical mindset.

We all have that one person who cannot miss any event happening, from birth to high-end parties, to weddings to death, and also the only one who knows what’s the new “Gupshup” (gossip) in the market. That’s exactly what this book portrays.

The book also portrays the political changes that happened in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and the exact judgemental picture the world has about Pakistan and from the 9/11 tsunami hitting SouthEast Asia, India, Sri Lanka to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

While half the world was either having a war, political tensions, or terror attacks– the social butterfly must look out for her not-so-good-looking, twice-divorced cousin a bride that should be of her aunt’s preference, should have all the latest high-end handbags to foreign brand cosmetics and also a timely foreign trip vacay to have a status in her social group.

The butterfly is the star of every high-end party happening in Pakistan’s high-end society. Her husband who is a well-to-do businessman seems to be practical, worried about his nation and is more engrossed in worldly political issues. Jaano as she calls her husband is always hooked to the TV watching the news and reporting channels to stay updated about the happenings around the world.

While for our cute butterfly that’s so bored that she pities herself for spending her precious life with such a boring man.

It gives a lot of glimpse into Pakistani high-end society and how the most important thing to some people would be what’s trending and how to keep up with the social gatherings and how its a must to show up or else–people might conclude something is wrong in the family than to know and keep up with the constant political changes happening in the country and the emergencies that the country have been through.

This satirical book based on the high-end society is relatable as it’s the same in India. I can exactly relate as I keep having encounters with such females from time to time. The only turn-off for me are the constant Hindi/Urdu jargons used throughout the book. At one point I was bored reading them.

The book is an easy breeze, can be read in the first sitting, and is a lightweight enjoyable book. One can relate to it and see a glimpse of Indian society as well.

I would rate this book 3 stars on 5.

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