And Still The Earth Turns

If I’m being totally honest, the book’s main protagonist is an amalgam of two central characters, Asma and Qasim, they are the two pivots around whom the whole narrative turns and revolves. While the story is made up of many important characters, each of whom has their own arc and plays crucial roles as it progresses, it all comes down to the love story between Qasim and Asma. In a way, both characters and the story they tell, are incomplete without the other. Coming from completely opposite ends of society, they find common ground in shared beliefs and ideas.

So, in the spirit of fairness, I’ll break down my top interesting facts into five each for the two halves of the main protagonist.

Asma

1. She is an only child of a high-ranking bureaucrat who dreams of being treated more than as a mere trophy wife and wants to forge her own path in life.
2. She drives a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, which she bought with her own money and which played cupid in her first meeting with Qasim on a deserted road.
3. She is a dreamer and believes in true love conquering all odds even if that means going deep into the heart of terrorist territory on her own.
4. She is independent, determined and not afraid to make the first move to profess her love.
5. She works as a Counter Terrorism analyst in the country’s top anti-terrorism organization, profiling extremists and predicting threat patterns and formulating policies.

Qasim

1. He is the middle son among three brothers to a lower-middle-class family in Anarkali bazaar in Lahore.
2. Family means everything to him and he feels compelled to make up for the disappointment of his other siblings by making his parents happy.
3. He is on a full scholarship to University and dreams of becoming a bureaucrat so that the dreams of his father can be realized.
4. He ends up being a ball boy at a tennis club without having ever played the game.
5. He is the closest to his youngest brother and treats him like his own son, protecting him from harm and will do anything for him.