Butterfly was born out of a conversation between two Begums at a ladies' lunch that author Moni Mohsin happened to overhear in the early 1990s. And thus began Butterfly's life as Lahore's Bridget Jones -- "unforgettable character, utterly flawed and unintentionally funny who becomes a prism through which we can see an entire world, in this case the world of Pakistani society" as the book flap says. Mohsin's new book The Diary of A Social Butterfly (Random House) is a selection of the columns that were published in The Friday Times between January 2001 and December 2007.
Mohsin was born in Lahore, studied Social Anthropology at Cambridge University and is now settled in London with her family. "I try and squeeze some work – journalism and novel writing – in between looking after my two children and my husband!", she says. In Bali to attend the literary festival, Mohsin types out the responses to an e-mailed questionnaire mailed to her by BW Online's Sanjitha Rao Chaini.
How did the set of columns come about in the first place? And the thought of compiling them in a book?
The column came about as a result of a conversation I overheard in the early 1990s. Two Begums at a ladies' lunch were chatting. One, a rather plump lady with designer sunglasses and enormous diamond studs was extolling the virtues of her new 7 yard shahtoosh to her friend, a slinky Aunty dressed in a chiffon sari and a sexy, strappy blouse. When the plump one asked the Aunty whether she too had a collection of shahtooshes, she purred: "I don't wear shawls, baba. One ends up looking too much like an ayah." I realised then that there was scope for a column in the voice of a rich spoilt begum lampooning that way of life.
My editor at The Friday Times had been trying for some time to get me to edit a collection of my columns for publication but I was hesitant for I thought that Pakistanis had already read the columns and would not be interested. But when I attended the Jaipur Literary Festival earlier this year and saw the interest Indian readers had in Pakistan, I realized that there was a bigger market for my columns than I had envisaged. So, on getting back to London, I reopened the Butterfly file and began editing. Before the year was out, the book was ready for publication.
Does the book aim to show how insensitive the super rich can be?
My column mocks the selfishness of the rich but I would like to think that not all rich people are quite as superficial and self absorbed as the Butterfly. Her husband, Janoo, is not.
Do you think Page 3 people are getting unnecessary attention the world over?
I think wealth, when combined with an unenquiring mind and the lack of social conscience, can make Butterflies of us all.
Suppose Page 3 was to be banned?
Although I think that the current obsession with celebrity is unhealthy, I'm not sure I would agree with banning Page 3. It has its place and as long as it doesn't eclipse serious, hard news, it's fine by me.
What in your opinion do you think Butterfly should do to patch things up between India and Pakistan?
I don't think the poor Butterfly is in a position to end hostilities between India and Pakistan! All she can do is shop in Delhi and befriend Indians – but she's been doing that quite dedicatedly for quite a long time now.
You have been writing these columns for quite some time. What has been the response from within Pakistan and outside Pakistan.
Pakistanis have been very generous in their response to my column. As long as I'm not too personal – and I'm careful never to cross that line – they laugh at themselves readily. The only other place the column has been published is India. So far the response from Indian readers has also been largely positive.
From what I read in the excerpts, the book has deliberate spelling errors. Your comments.
The Butterfly went through college in the serene knowledge that she was passing time till she achieved her real destiny – marriage to an eligible man. Therefore she did not waste time mastering grammar or spelling.
The book you recently finished reading. And the books you grew up reading...
I finished Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger last night and learnt this morning that he'd won the Booker prize. I grew up reading Enid Blyton, Archie comics, Alice In Wonderland and Arabian Nights and later Kipling, Austen and the Brontes, punctuated of course by stacks and stacks of cheap romances by Mills and Boon!
What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment, I'm working on publicity for The Diary of a Social Butterfly! But there are hazy plans to start a novel soon...
Personalities 
Butterfly was born out of a conversation between two Begums at a ladies' lunch that author Moni Mohsin happened to overhear in the early 1990s. And thus began Butterfly's life as Lahore's Bridget Jones -- "unforgettable character, utterly flawed and unintentionally funny who becomes a prism through which we can see an entire world, in this case the world of Pakistani society" as the book flap says. Mohsin's new book The Diary of A Social Butterfly (Random House) is a selection of the columns that were published in The Friday Times between January 2001 and December 2007.
