Review: One; The Story of the Ultimate Myth by Mansoor Khan

The author explores this from a historical point of view through Abhay’s thesis which traces the genesis of the faulty perspective on reality to its earliest, most primitive form, the drawing of a physical boundary between man and nature, a partition of their individual domains, a boundary that separated the civilized from the wild and in its modern form, “us” from “them”. It is a singular moment when man first learns the secret of fire and uses it to create this imaginary boundary. Khan’s lens on the new versus the old, the modern versus the traditional debate is more biologically aligned and has, at its heart, philosophical and scientific reasoning. He is articulate and seductive in the presentation of how civilized humanity and its erroneous reasoning of creating artificial boundaries has led to our present-day ecological, financial and societal collapses. While humanity has often been labelled as the virus that will destroy its host, the planet, Khan goes on to specify that it is “civilized” humanity that is the virus. While indigenous tribes and cultures have continued to live in harmony with nature, the bedrock of modern scientific progress has been built on a sacrificial approach driven by a self-serving, selfish organism at its centre.

At a secondary level, the author explores the process of othering and creating boundaries by showing the reader what happens to the two protagonists when they challenge society’s most cherished notions. Dr Abhay’s treatment by the scientific community when he questions its motives and methods, his banishment to seclusion and paranoia; Sonal’s treatment by academia, her family and community when she challenges notions of development through the lens of equity are markers of how the process of othering works. Through these events, the author demonstrates how the very pillars of independent thought and rational inquiry, which we view as the defining characteristics of a civilized, modern society are just better-disguised cousins of the same barbaric and violent “others” they seem to define themselves in opposition to or claim to have evolved above.

Lastly, the author challenges the notion of boundaries through the line that defines the sane from the insane. Through the treatment meted out to Abhay and Sonal by the residents of Dinshaw mansion, the author tries to show that the declaration of insanity is perhaps the last bastion of defense the organism or the whole has against those that threaten to challenge its authority. For, in an increasingly complex and unpredictable world, who decides the boundary between the sane and the insane, those who are acceptable and those that must be cast out? For what better way is there to invalidate those who do not kneel before the altars of the same religion or science or dominant worldview than to label them insane? Khan shows that in many ways the perception of what we hold to be true, sane, logical and progressive is a tightly-controlled militantly administered doctrine that, perhaps, is the only binding force that holds modern societies together.

One of the challenges of penning a book such as this is the interplay between the dissemination of theory and the plot of the story itself. What is the only jarring element in this otherwise well-narrated story is the neat division between the sections pertaining to the scientific theory and those that refer to the characters. The author could have employed a more gradual narrative tool than relegating information to a scientific treatise that is then clumped together in sections which might be a bit tedious to get through due to there being little interplay between them and the prose of the story. The exposition of the idea of One and its interplay into the world of the protagonists could be more gradual, pervasive and smoother, perhaps through a bit more show than tell. The whole process seems to be rather prematurely bookended through the final events in the book.

Despite this, One is still a startling tale of resistance in both thought and action. In Abhay and Sonal, Mansoor Khan gives us protagonists who aren’t afraid to walk the talk, no matter the consequences. Their courage and ability to create positive change through the garden they bring to life, in an environment that is very much against them speaks to their resoluteness and the fortitude of the human spirit, which is a beacon of hope in our otherwise dark times.

Percy Bharucha is a freelance writer and illustrator with two biweekly comics, The Adult Manual and Cats Over Coffee. Instagram: @percybharucha

Years ago, in a philosophy class, I remember learning that our brains are fundamentally logic-making machines designed to seek patterns in everything we observe. But the brain is also a machine capable of turning on itself. One by Mansoor Khan is a fascinating journey through similar haunts. Its protagonist Abhay, a once-celebrated genetic engineer, formulates a theory that challenges the very bedrock of modern civilization. The central thrust of this theory, which he refers to as One, is that most modern global issues or crises stem from a contorted perspective or an erroneous perception of reality. The logic-making machine functioning erroneously. At the same time, he is befriended by Sonal, a former sociology professor betrayed by her own mind. Through her character, the author explores what happens when the mind is replaced by its baser substitutes. What follows this unique friendship is a short, yet rather chilling story that involves exploring unique dimensions of the concept of perceptual boundaries and the process of othering.

The author explores this from a historical point of view through Abhay’s thesis which traces the genesis of the faulty perspective on reality to its earliest, most primitive form, the drawing of a physical boundary between man and nature, a partition of their individual domains, a boundary that separated the civilized from the wild and in its modern form, “us” from “them”. It is a singular moment when man first learns the secret of fire and uses it to create this imaginary boundary. Khan’s lens on the new versus the old, the modern versus the traditional debate is more biologically aligned and has, at its heart, philosophical and scientific reasoning. He is articulate and seductive in the presentation of how civilized humanity and its erroneous reasoning of creating artificial boundaries has led to our present-day ecological, financial and societal collapses. While humanity has often been labelled as the virus that will destroy its host, the planet, Khan goes on to specify that it is “civilized” humanity that is the virus. While indigenous tribes and cultures have continued to live in harmony with nature, the bedrock of modern scientific progress has been built on a sacrificial approach driven by a self-serving, selfish organism at its centre.

At a secondary level, the author explores the process of othering and creating boundaries by showing the reader what happens to the two protagonists when they challenge society’s most cherished notions. Dr Abhay’s treatment by the scientific community when he questions its motives and methods, his banishment to seclusion and paranoia; Sonal’s treatment by academia, her family and community when she challenges notions of development through the lens of equity are markers of how the process of othering works. Through these events, the author demonstrates how the very pillars of independent thought and rational inquiry, which we view as the defining characteristics of a civilized, modern society are just better-disguised cousins of the same barbaric and violent “others” they seem to define themselves in opposition to or claim to have evolved above.

Lastly, the author challenges the notion of boundaries through the line that defines the sane from the insane. Through the treatment meted out to Abhay and Sonal by the residents of Dinshaw mansion, the author tries to show that the declaration of insanity is perhaps the last bastion of defense the organism or the whole has against those that threaten to challenge its authority. For, in an increasingly complex and unpredictable world, who decides the boundary between the sane and the insane, those who are acceptable and those that must be cast out? For what better way is there to invalidate those who do not kneel before the altars of the same religion or science or dominant worldview than to label them insane? Khan shows that in many ways the perception of what we hold to be true, sane, logical and progressive is a tightly-controlled militantly administered doctrine that, perhaps, is the only binding force that holds modern societies together.

One of the challenges of penning a book such as this is the interplay between the dissemination of theory and the plot of the story itself. What is the only jarring element in this otherwise well-narrated story is the neat division between the sections pertaining to the scientific theory and those that refer to the characters. The author could have employed a more gradual narrative tool than relegating information to a scientific treatise that is then clumped together in sections which might be a bit tedious to get through due to there being little interplay between them and the prose of the story. The exposition of the idea of One and its interplay into the world of the protagonists could be more gradual, pervasive and smoother, perhaps through a bit more show than tell. The whole process seems to be rather prematurely bookended through the final events in the book.

Despite this, One is still a startling tale of resistance in both thought and action. In Abhay and Sonal, Mansoor Khan gives us protagonists who aren’t afraid to walk the talk, no matter the consequences. Their courage and ability to create positive change through the garden they bring to life, in an environment that is very much against them speaks to their resoluteness and the fortitude of the human spirit, which is a beacon of hope in our otherwise dark times.

Percy Bharucha is a freelance writer and illustrator with two biweekly comics, The Adult Manual and Cats Over Coffee. Instagram: @percybharucha