Sunlight On A Broken Column

Attia Hosain
Chapter Wise Summary
Part One
Chapter 1:1
The novel begins with a description of Laila’s childhood home,
the Taluqdar household.
Baba Jan is seriously ill; so much so the Abida moves from the
“zenana” (harem) to the guest room the that led to the “men’s
wing of the house” so that she could be near Baba Jan. This was
enough to signal that he had not “much longer to live.”
While Abita withdrew into a “tight cocoon of anxious silence”,
Majida “dissolved into tearful prayers.” Soon the house got rife
with whisperings and uneasy communication, making Laila and
Zahra’s “girlhood” a “heavy burden.”
While, with no censor to Baba Jan’s library, Laila started reading
more, her nurse Hakiman Bua changed from “admiring” to
“remonstrating”, advising her to learn the manners and
etiquettes, and codes of behaviour appropriate for good
Muslim girl, so that she could easily get married.
Laila notices how Zahra began to spend more time with her,
despite having only her “kingship” and “fears” in “common.”
Yet, their conversation always “wheeled round a constant
pivot”— namely, the uncertainty waiting their lives after Baba
Jan’s death. Mention is also made of Hamid, who, Zahra thinks,
“will retire and come to live here.”
Chapter 2:2
The second chapter gives us a more clear view of the Taloqdar
household.
The chapter begins on Laila’s 15th birthday. She relates to the
reader that her birthdays are only remembered by her, her
teachers when “forms had to be filled up” and by her “only
companion”, Sita. Her reaction to this friend is defined as a
mixture of affection and envy, since the latter has got “a father,
a mother, a brother” that she has not.
At home, Abita expresses surprise on the discovery of the
birthday. Hakiman Bua recounts how she was born the year
when aunt Abita broke her arm, and they had a flood for which
Ahmed Mian, her father, had to take a boat to the courts. Laila
also mentions how Zahra applies “kajal” when she has favours
to ask and sympathies to attract.
Zahra informs Laila that Ammi had sent for Baba Mian that
morning, that he is with them now and Mohsin was also there.
She adds she had luckily eavesdropped on them while going to
ask something to Ammi, and that they were talking about her,
and will be sending for her and Laila soon. The task has been
assigned to Hakiman Bua but given to her slowness, Zahra has
reach Laila early. Hakiman Bua comes, complaints of the pains
in the joint, then complaints of the book that Laila is reading,
and escorts them to the discussion.
The discussion, that we discover is to be over Zarah’s marriage,
occupies a major portion of the chapter. Many incident of the
past have been recounted and the readers have been
simultaneously given insight into the natures and psychologies
of the characters. Moshin, who tries to assert his patriarchal
authority over the situation in the absence of an eligible male
figure (Baba Jan being sleeping in adjoining room, sick as
always, and Hamid being overseas), is cut shot by Abida who
emerges as an impressive woman fighting against masculine
tyranny.
The narrator makes us aware of the “stories about him
[Moshin] and the dancing girls of the city”. Though he has 4
children, he barely visits them, and his relationship with his
wife is restricted only to the conceiving of a child in infrequent
home visits. He, however, has an influential circle of friends,
dresses well, composes poetry, and is an authority on Classical
music and dancing; though he never did any work. (21) Moshin
is also against women’s education, revealed in his mockery of
Abida’s learning. Laila comments, “I dislike him.”
Abida is revealed to be a spinster, unmarried because her
loving father never found an appropriate man for her. We learn
that Moshin wanted to marry Abida. Majidha’s story is tragic:
15 years ago her husband had left her to follow the path of
sainthood, 6 years ago he had died a “gentle madman, posses
with his love of God”, in those 6 years Zahra has transformed
him into a saint.
We learn that Zahra has received a proper traditional Muslim
upbringing, reading the Quran, learning to sew and cook,
studying “a little English” at a Muslim School—something
desired by the young men in their would-be wives. On the
other hand, Laila has received a special Christian education,
learning English and dressing in “young mem-sahib” clothes—
something desired by his late father and religiously carried out
by Abida; this is despised by Mohsim.
While Moshim has found for Zahra a man of something around
30, a Government Officer, and a widower, who lost his wife
during child birth 4 years ago (the child also died), and wants to
settle the marriage. Abida wants the girls to be present in the
discussion so that they may know about the dealings and enjoy
some kind of freedom in an otherwise restricted and
conservative Muslim patriarchal household. This extremely
angers Moshim who repeatedly targets Laila since she her
upbringing was her responsibility. The negotiation of the
marriage, is however delayed, till the arrival of Hamid.
In the midst of it, Jumman breaks in the scene with his
daughter Nandi and wife. Nandi, who has complained twice of
being watched by the groom of the English family next door
while she bathed and being attempted to be molested by the
postman, was discovered by the family driver, with the cleaner
in the garage. While Nandi claims that she had gone there to
give the cleaner a shirt he had forgotten, her father is adamant
on making her a whore. He had decided to consult the family
on the matter, and so he was here.
Abida who maintains pardah in front of the driver, Noor Khan,
lends the responsibility to Moshin to investigate the matter,
who calls Nandi “a slut”, “a liar” and “wanton”. When Nandi
protests, revealing how he had tried to victimise her, Moshin
hits her with a stick across her shoulders. Laila, attempting to
save Nandi from the second strike (who was her childhood
companion), receives the blow, and runs to her room
screaming, “I hate you, I hate you”, blind with tears.
Chapter 3:3
This chapter immediately follows the previous chapter and is
divided into two parts, namely, that in Laila’s room, and in Baba
Jan’s room.
We learn that Laila had denied the company of anyone after
the incident. Zahra enters, and the conversation that follows
between them highlights themes of feminism, patriarchy,
restriction, claustrophobia, and ideas of the New Woman.
Nandi is destined to get a “beating” from father, and the
cleaner is to be “dismissed.” While Zahra sees no harm in it,
believes that it is what Nandi deserves, observes that Laila
should be “ashamed” for having interfered, and thinks that the
“only cure” for Nandi is “to get her married quickly”, Laila
vehemently protests against Zahra’s mentality that has been
narrowed down by generation of subservience to masculine
authority. Laila cries, “The cure for a good girl is to get her
married quickly; the cure for a bad girl is to get her married
quickly. Do you think of anything but getting married quickly?”
While Zahra is blind and blames it on Laila’s reading, the later is
able to see that it is only because Nandi is a “servant girl” that
she is to put this faith. Laila’s outburst indicates at a mind that
has been emancipated by reading. As a consequence, she
understands the commodification that women are subjected to
in a traditional patriarchal household.
She cries, “I won’t be paired of like an animal”, thereby
asserting anatomical independence. While Zahra leaves the
room dramatically and in tears, Laila feels like a “mean bully”
for her reaction.
The next part details the evening ritual of the Talukdar
household where Baba Jan is given his 6 pm medicine. The
episode indicates at the “authority” that this patriarch still
enjoys, despite the set back that he has encountered in a
matters of his health.
While Chuttan is not allowed in the presence of the women,
Karam Ali being the eldest in the house who had even seen the
two aunts from the childhood is spared the tradition. Laila
recounts how Karam Ali used to tell her and Zahra, stories from
the Arabian Nights; now, however, he generally doses of while
at the stories, blaming of it on the hearers.
The short conversation between Baba Jan, Abita and Karam Ali
reveals Baba Jan’s attempt to maintain his position in the
household. Abida did not talk to Laila during this time, which
made her thing that she perhaps “inwardly approved” of what
she had done.
We also get a description of Baba Jan’s three closest friends—
Thakur Balbir Singh, a Rajput and a stout and rosy man, named
as “Hunstey Dada”, Raja Hasan Ahmed of Amirpur, a poet, who
was renowned for his sexual revels in his youth, named “Motey
Dada”, and finally Mr. Freeman, a lawyer and scholar of
Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic, named “Gorey Dada.” Together,
these four men shared a sense of power, importance, and
authority, and treated Lucknow as the city to which they
belonged, and which belonged to them.
Chapter 4:4
This chapter focuses on Laila.
The chapter beings with a description of the dinner in the
Taluqdark household that is being conducted in the hare, in
aunt Abida’s room, since she has abandoned it.
The narrator describes for us the characters of Ustaniji, the
women who taught the aunts in Urdu, Persian and Arabic, but
could not teach Laila and Zahra because of old age. Then comes
Hajjan Bibi, the wife of one of Baba Jan’s close companions who
had spent the last impoverished years of his life with them after
losing all his money through speculation in war; Hajjan Bibi is a
voracious eater and a lover of spicy food. Then there are the
shy Asad of eighteen and sullen Zahid of sixteen, two orphans
of poor relatives; Asad is Laila and Zahra’s contact with the
other world, running on errands for them.
After dinner, when the others have left, Abida approaches Laila.
While Laila is still outraged, Abida takes a very elderly and wise
voice and asks her to “apologise” to Uncle Mohsin the next day.
Their short conversation reveals how Abida has trained Laina
and taught her to respect her elders, even if they are of lower
class. Abida finally tells her, “Never forget the family into which
you were born.” (38)
Deeply troubled, Laila goes to Hakiman Bua’s tiny room, which,
as she observes, is “cosy with love”, to seek “recognition”. She
naively asks Hakiman Bua about her mother and father—
queries which the latter returns with equal “simplicity that
asked no questions itself.”
When Laila asks, “Bua, this house was different when they lived
in it, wasn’t it?”
Her Bua returns, “It was bright and light. It was a house of
feasts and music and laughter and plenty” which reminds Laila
of the light and happiness that comes with festivals. Her mind
however does not fail to recognise the gore of “Bakreid” which
she distinguishes from “Eid” for its custom of slaughtering even
“the little” lambs who are forgotten in the excitement and
feasting. It is equally interesting to note how the narrator
recounts festivals, both of the Hindus and of the Muslims, and
accounts her experiences in them.
In search of the recognition, Laila finally wanders into her
parents’ room. This part of the chapter takes a surreal side as
she recounts the old days. The rooms were permitted to
“transient visitors” for “a while” after “the passing years had
softened the shock of their sudden emptiness.” Indications are
made that Laila’s parents perhaps were drowned into “the
cruel depths of the river.” Laila vainly tries to “fill” the room
again, until she is caught in a trance of memories. She finally
rushes out, switching off the lights in fear of “the next
morning’s questionings and impossible answers.”
Chapter 5:5
This chapter focuses on Mrs. Martin’s visit.
The Taluqdar household is taken over by an air of liveliness as
the doctor informs them after the “morning visit” that “Baba
Jan’s condition showed a remarkable improvement.” While
Zahra and Laila had caught themselves in “pearls of laughter”,
Abida decides to prepare some “Halva” to reinstall her “stock of
delicacies.” Laila is overjoyed as she loves to crack eggs and see
the white milk pour out of black earthen pots. She, as well as
Zahra and Majida, however, soon discover that they are not of
much help for Abida, and so they decide to dye their “dopattas”
in a corner of the courtyard.
While dying, Zahra is disturbed by the sweeping of the sweeper
woman and she shouts at her in an “offensive manner.” Though
Laila tries to point out her fault, she realises that her “books”
that have taught her “to think of human dignity” would have
the bear the blunt of Zahra’s criticism.
Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Mrs. Martin, a
garrulous widow who earns her living by privately tutoring
children of rich families, much in the fashion of a governess.
She talks a great deal about herself, about Laila’s parents,
about how she raised Laila and gave her a proper initial
education—something which she believes had framed all of
Laila’s later academicals achievements, and calls Laila by the
name “Lily”—something that Laila despises.
Mrs. Martin also raises the topic of Sita Agarwal, Laila’s only
friend. This makes Laila think of Sita whose uncle was arrested.
Laila remembers a particular day when she and Sita and
watched wounded protesters of the Indian struggle for
freedom, lying, being carried away in the blazing heat, who had
beaten by the police; that day Sita and Laila had vowed to
become Satyagrahis and fight for their country’s cause.
The episode of Mrs. Martin is quiet comical. While she time and
again insists on returning to her “home” to “rest” her “bones”,
implying England, she has visited that country only once with
her husband; her parents had settled in Calcutta and her
reminiscence hinted at high connections and lost wealth. She
companies that her husband would have never allowed her to
life anything, and on one occasion, Mr. Freeman has observed,
“This Mrs. Martina actually exists—strange as it may seem, but
who was Mr. Martin? He must be a myth; no human being
could have married that woman.”
She finally reveals the cause of her visit as to ask a favour of
Abida. She wants Abida to arrange for her and her friend, who
was desirous of seeing the lightings and festivities of Muharam,
for the procession from the house of Abida’s relations. Abida
willingly agrees.
The chapter concludes with the brief visit of Sylvia which forces
Laila to think about her school. This brief episode focuses on
ideas of racism, identity and conflict. While Sylvia poses as this
superior girl in the school, always picking on Laila, her sister,
Myra was Laila’s friend and has revealed to Laila that “Sylvia is a
liar” and that she doesn’t let their mother to visit the school to
protect her lie of her being an “Italian” while in reality she is a
“dark woman.”
Chapter 6:6
This chapter deals with the two orphan brothers, Asad and
Zahid.
The narrator mentions how Mrs. Martin was the only
Englishwoman who ever visited the Taluqdar house, and the
only one who was given access to the zenana, for not even sons
of Baba Jan was allowed there. Consequently, her visit was
quiet an event. She had revived memories, yet the mood
reminded them of present anxieties and sadness.
After dinner, when Laila enters her room, she finds Asad there
waiting for Zahra who had asked him to buy her a wool; he has
come to hand her the wool.
In their conversation, we get a glimpse of Asad as well as a
glimpse into the political scenario. Asad is bitter over his fate,
as well s disillusioned on learning about how people are judged
by the worth of their wealth in the world. It seems that he
harbours feelings for Zahra, for he is sullen over her
indifference. He also recognises the “wall of silver rupees” that
stands between the brothers and the sisters. Zahra and Zahid
enters the room and Zahid mentions how he had seen Sylvia
with different “Tommies* on the Mall.” The conversation finally
gets tensed with Asid persistent pointing of his dissatisfaction
with life and society, until Zahid mentions that there are
possibilities of riots breaking out this Muharram.
They are finally interrupted by Hakiman Bua who asks the boys
to go to their room, for it was too late for them to be there. The
narrator mentions, “There presence in our room at any time
met with disapproval”, thereby revealing the orthodox sexual
politics that underlie communications in a traditional Indian
household.
The chapter ends with Hakiman Bua scolding the girls to go be
up so late, and directing them to go to sleep. The narrator
however mentions “I could not sleep for a long time, thinking of
Asad’s bitterness and despair.”
*I think Tommies is probably a way of referring to English lads,
for Tommy is a common English masculine name.
Chapter 7:7
With chapter 7, the world of the Talqudar house is called back
to normality.
The narrator mentions how the days passed, one like another,
first with a degree of wonder, until even the awareness of the
wonder was lost, and time settled down again in the colourful
murmur of everyday. Baba Jan’s condition caused no more
anxiety, Nandi’s name was barely taken by her mother, and the
house saw all the vendors of biscuits, pastries, ice cream and
bangles.
With Laila, even the readers get a moment of breather.
Chapter 8:8
Chapter 8 brings in the conflict with emotion and pragmatism.
Majida had Ram Das, the family jeweller, called for, in
preparation of Zahra’s wedding. While the women sat selecting,
Naid Sahid, the manager of the estate and Lala Ji, the
accountant, came in to consult Abida regarding a matter. Abida
was able to “decipher the writing of the professionals by whom
tenants had their applications and requests written” and had
helped Baba Jan occasionally in the “estate work.” The narrator
mentions that they only consulted Abida when they were about
to take a decision for which they were not ready to “take
responsibility”. This again indicates at the power dynamics in an
orthodox household where men never consider women
worthwhile of handling economical and authoritative
responsibility. Ironically, the fact that they only come when the
matter includes taking of “responsibility”, reveals their
opportunistic mentality that aims at evading responsibility for
serious matter, and placing it on a woman’s shoulders.
The men sat “behind a screen” and exchanged “sheets of
brown paper” that immediately reminds Laila of the day
Jumman brought his wife’s brother’s aunt, who had come to
plead on behalf of his son for his failure in paying the rent. The
sobs of the woman, who is described as worn with age and the
rigours of a merciless life, are ultimately drowned by the
“voice” of “logic” that destines the expulsion of her son from
the tenantship. The decision was taken by Abida, and when
Laila asks her if she could do nothing to help that woman, Abida
answers, “I do pity her, but what is there for me to do? This is a
matter of principle, my child. Life will teach you to subordinate
your heart to your mind.”
The episode indicates at the rationalistic side of Abida,
something essential to maintain order in the household in the
presence of the eroding authority of Baba Jan. Perhaps, Abida
has been hardened by the circumstances of life.
Chapter 9:9
Chapter 9 introduces us to the interesting figure of Mushtari
Bai.
While recounting the interesting women that Zahra and Laila
met during their visits to the Taloqdar house, Laila mentioned
about a “very thin and very dark” woman, Mushtari Bai who
visited them one night as they sat to dine. Ustaniji and Hajjan
Bai were not happy about the fact that Abida and Majida did
not observe pardah from her, for her was a “courtesan”.
Laila recounts the time she was taken “down the forbidden
streets” by her father to meet Mushtari Bai and a “courtly
gentleman”. Her father had asked her to emulate the man’s
salam and her naive failure at it had given them a kind laugh.
Her father had said to Mushtari Bai, “An English governess
cannot teach her as you taught us lessons in etiquette and
courtesy.” The narrator had seen her the next time at the
wedding feast of the Raja of Amirpur’s grandson where she
“sang and danced” at it was this encounter that had made her
conscious of the latter’s social identity.
Mushtari Bai was a courtesan to whom the “richest and most
cultured of aristocrats” had come to seek “favours” and had
“squandered their fortunes.” After an “illness”, however, that
had “robbed her of her voice”, she had “turned to God to
expiate the sins of her life”, donated her “wealth”, which she
considered “tainted”, to “charities”, and herself had become a
“wandering merchant.” And now, the narrator mentions,
“When she came it was a sign of great need, but even now her
ragged dignity shunned pity.”
Mushtari Bai informs them that she was passing by the house
and had come to enquire about Baba Jan’s health. Abida takes
the opportunity to ask her if she would be “kind enough” to
distribute the money at “the Pearl mosque”. As the women
partook their dinner, “everyone pretended to be unaware” of
her left hand that she hid behind her sari. The narrator
mentions, “I was not the only one who had seen her hiding
pieces of bread while we ate.”
Chapter 10:10
Chapter 10 takes a stance on religious practice.
The narrator recounts that in the “first week of Muharram” the
doctor asked Abida to send for “uncle Hamid”, indicating that
Baba Jan had not much to live, and “a tight heaviness
shadowed the house.” The narrator mentions, “Our
circumscribed sorrow found universal echoes at night spreading
and quivering in a circle round the city, and sounding the clear
star-crowded sky.”
The chapter creates a rhythmic flow of “Hasan. Husain.” that
ultimately coheres into an incantatory preparation for the
darkness awaiting to befell in the next chapter.
Abida and Majida began to spend more time in Baba Jan’s
room, and even the girls went to pay their morning and evening
respects, Baba Jan kept lying silently in his bed, betraying no
sign of their presence.
On the ninth night of Muharram, Asad read the stories of the
Prophet and a hysteric atmosphere of heightened sensation
electrified the whole room. Ustaniji and Ramzano began
beating their breasts, wailing “Hasan” and “Husain” until the
late collapsed on the floor.
After the incident, Zahid expresses his anger over the
“hypocrisy” of men who are able to wail in a “crowd” in an
“organised” form during the ritual and chew “pan” and talk
casually about their “incomes” and “indigestions” the very next
moment. He believes that “people use religion to get rid of
their hysteria” and expresses disgust at the distortion of
“historical facts thirteen hundred years old”, which according to
him, “divides us.” The episode indicates at the violence and
hatred that Zahid bears in his breast. When Laila retorts, “Will
your hatred unite us, Zahid?” the latter silences her with a
mocking attack on her habit of reading. Zahra, quite angered,
asks them leave for their room.
At night, while Zahra expresses her disgust over Asad’s
mongrel-like nature, Laila reveals her amazement at the
“volumes of hate” that the “small” and “weak” Zahid conceals
inside him.
Chapter 11:11
Chapter 11 takes place the next morning and prolongs the wait
for Babu Jan’s death.
Due to Babu Jan’s imminent death, the girls are not allowed to
go to the main “procession in the oldest part of the city”—
something they had been excited for, for it ensured an
opportunity to escape the sombre environment of the house.
Moreover, there were “rumours of riots” on the day as
informed by Mohsin. While Majida moan Hamin’s delay, the
girls felt “impatient” by the circumstances.
In the day, Laila and Zahra goes to the “roof”, along with
Ramzano and Saliman to eye the smaller processions that
moved to join the main one. After Nandi was “sent away”, Laila
had started talking to them more often.
During this episode, the histories of the servant-girls are
revealed. Their mother was sold as a “child during the famine”
and brought up by Laila’s grandmother who “trained her as a
maid-servant” and married her to a “young man” who later left
her for an Ayah. The girls, her daughter, had joined her
mother’s servile fate ever since they could fetch and carry
things, and the norm has been thus ever since.
After watching the processions Laila complains of a headache
and the maid-servants offer to give her a massage. As they
“soothed” her, she falls asleep, and is woken up by Zahra for
the meal. She observes that the summer is not far.
Chapter 12:12
In this chapter, Baba Jan’s death is played out behind the climax
of Asad’s betrayal of his feelings for Zahra.
After the meal it is discovered that Zahid and Asad are not in
the house and Zahra conjectures that they must have “gone to
see the procession in the city.” Soon, Hakiman Bua comes with
the news that a riot had broken in the Central Market. She got
the new from the cook who in turn got it from his brother.
While the processing was passing by the “big Hanumanji
temple”, the top of its “tazia” got “stuck” in the “peepul tree”.
The only possible way to untangle it was by cutting the branch
of the “sacred tree” that was destined to make the “Hindus
angry.” As the procession went to the job, someone blew conch
in the temple which made some “hot-blooded” people throw
stones at the “heathen sounds”, causing the fight to break lose.
About 4 o’clock Zahid returned, alone. He informs them that he
and Asad had planned to go out separately and then meet after
the procession at a friend’s house near the University. At the
signs of trouble and sight of police, he had immediately gone to
the friend’s house and waited for Asad there, and later came
home.
Two more hours drag by after which firing starts in the road. At
this point Zahra sobs, “He said he wanted to die. I didn’t believe
him. I didn’t mean to hurt him...” thereby betraying her feelings
for Asad.
After another hour, Ram Singh, the watchman, comes with the
news that Asad’s arrival. He had been unfortunate to be caught
up in the panic of the procession, had managed somehow to
run into a lane where he saw an old man slaughtered in front of
his eyes, after which he ran into a house, which he later
discovered to be the house of dancing girls. Though the men
were hostile in the beginning, the mention of Mushtari Bai had
softened them, after which they took care of him and finally in
the evening one man volunteered to return him to his home.
However, the sound of firing near the vegetable market had
tested the man’s bravery and he had denied to go any further,
while Asad, “now within three miles of home”, denied to return
with him and rushed through the streets. Seeing the police
men, he ran towards them, and finding Khan Abdul Latif, had
collapsed in front of him like a “puppet with cut strings.”
Khan Abdul Latif had been financially helped by Baba Jan in his
education and career when he was young. Intimate with the
family, he had taken the child to a doctor, and then returned
him to his home. The doctor had said that he was safe and
needed only some rest. The incident however had left Asad in
high fever.
Later that night, Majida calls Laila, and she and Zahra (who had
not been able to sleep) goes to Asad’s room. Majida orders
Zahra to bring some water (that Asad had asked for) and asks
Laila to run Asad’s feet, for he was in high fever. In a state of
delirium, however, Asad betrays his feelings for Zahra, uttering
feverishly, “Zahra, darling, Zahra, don’t leave me, don’t ever
leave me. Zahra, Zahra...”
It is too much for Zahra to take, who immediately rushes out of
the room. Though Majida asks Laila too to go to her room, she
comes to Asad, soothes him, and then returns to her room.
Majida commandingly observes, “There is no need to
remember what he said in his delirium.”
In their room, while Zahra is stricken with horror at the thought
of what will be her fate, Laila, who is enraged at what she
considers Zahra’s selfishness and senselessness, struggles with
her “confused thoughts, pity for Asad, anger at Zahra,
impatience with her mother”, trying to comprehend “the
meaning of love and truth and duty” as she went to sleep.
The next day Majida moved in the girls’ room while Zahid was
asked to stay with Asad. The incident of the night was not
mentioned again, but, as the narrator observes, “that night had
decided that Zahra would be married to the first suitable
person.”
Four days later, the doctors advised to be immediately sent for
Hamid, but Baba Jan died before he could arrive.
Chapter 13:13
This chapter describes the death of Baba Jan which has been
depicted with a sense of ritualistic horror.
The narrator observes that it was a “still afternoon”. Since
morning the aunts had not left Baba Jan’s room and when
Hakiman Bua came in crying, and it was a sign enough that
Baba Jan was no more.
Laila “echoed the prayer” for her “beloved Aunt Abida whose
life had no purpose but its dedication to her father.” When she
went into his room, he saw Abida sitting upright, supporting
Baba Jan, whose eyes blankly staring at her, while Baba Mian
read the Quran. A sudden shaft of “horror” paralysed her and
as she heard “a strange noise” “gurgle in his throat” and the
“whiteness of his beard stained with a poisonous black flow”,
she ran out of the room screaming.
Chapter 14:14
Chapter 14 details the mourning.
Hamid arrived and the family went to Hasanpur, to their
ancestral home, for the last time with Baba Jan. The narrator
mentions with irony, “For centuries the ancestral village had
received back in complete finality the sons it had not been able
to hold while they lived.”
“The zenana” as the narrator observes, became “busy with a
life that grew from death.” She describes for the readers those
women who came and wept and wailed and retired to
gossiping. Abida, however, did not cry.
The Rani of Amirpur arrived and gave consolation, “Lean to live
with sorrow, my child, for it will be your constant companion.”
Anger by the “strange consolation” and “resenting accepted
patterns of thought”, Laila put her arms around Abida’s neck
for the first time after Nandi was sent away, and rested her
cheek against her; touched by the simplicity of the child’s
expression, Abida ultimately burst into tears.
That night, Baba Mian kept vigil and read the Quran as a light
burned continuously in Baba Jan’s room.
Chapter 15:15
Chapter 15 marks the entry of Hamid and his wife Saira.
Hamid and his wife, Saira, arrived the morning after Baba Jan’s
death. The narrator describes them for us. Hamid was equal in
“temper” with his father which has “strained” their “relations.”
Influenced by “ideas of reform among Muslims”, Baba Jan had
sent his sons to “English Universities” to use the British’s
weapons against them. Hamid had, however, ironically turned
into an Englishman much to Baba Jan’s disappointment. He
adopted their “alien ways” that was “abhorrent” for Baba Jan.
Moreover, to his utter disbelief, Hamid joined the “Indian Civil
Service” instead of staying at home to “look after the estate.”
The narrator mentions: “To him [Baba Jan] the estate was the
outward symbol of all those values to which the family owed
dutiful, sacrificial obedience.” By the time Hamid decided to
retire and return home, it was too late, and then “time and
sickness” made communications impossible.
Hamit was the English gentleman. He looked like Baba Jan
would have in his youth, dressed immaculately in Western
clothes, and preferred to speak English. Saira, a woman
belonging from an orthodox Muslim family, who had observed
pardah before her marriage, had been “groomed by a
succession of English ‘lady-companions’” by Hamid to fit his
lifestyle. Tall and handsome, she was Hamit’s “echo.” Their
sons, Kamal and Saleem were in England, pursing education.
After their arrival, Abida abdicated responsibility. Laila felt
“afraid” when away from her. That day, they left for Hasanpur.
Chapter 16:16
Chapter 16 is dedicated to an interlude on memory, home,
time, and childhood, as the girls drive from ‘Ashiana’ (88), their
Lucknow home, to Hasanpur.
The narrator mentions at the very beginning, “There was
always a sense of excitement at the thought of going to
Hasanpur. It was more than the pride of possession seeing the
land spread out to the horizon, rich and green; it was the
fulfilment of a deep need to belong; it was a feeling of
completeness, of a continuity between now and before and
after. In the city the past attacked the present and the future
was lost in conflict.”
The sense of “completeness”, the “fulfilment” of the “deep
need to belong” that is provided by Hasanpur undoubtedly
refers to its status as the ancestral heritage of the Taluqdar
family and the way it roots them to their culture and past,
thereby giving them a sense of continuity and validity. The
same helps them to exercise power. The reference to “the city”
as a space where the “past attacked the present”, refers to the
riots and disturbances unleashed in the era of the Indian
nationalistic struggle when communal animosity also took a
threatening shape. Consequently, the “future” for the “city” is
“lost in conflict” making the time-to-come uncertain and
chaotic. In contrast to the city, “Hasanpur” is in stasis; it is a
place where time has frozen, as a result of which Laila is
haunted by a fair of memories of her childhood.
The lengthy description of the road, and the evocation of past
that it triggers, gives the readers an opportunity lighten
themselves from the monotonous seriousness of the previous
chapters.
Though the occasion is a sombre one, the girls often forget
about Baba Jan and are caught in excitement. They are
however reminded of the loss of the patriarch by Hakiman Bua.
The narrator mentions how Baba Jan had worked extensively to
preserve the road, until it got too expensive to maintain them.
On arriving at the ancestral home, Laila is greeted by Sharidan,
the Mirasin.
Chapter 17:17
Chapter 17 brings into light themes of justice, exploitation of
poor, and to some extent the plight of women though the
reintroduction of Nandi.
In the house, women came to mourn Baba Jan. Laila and Zahra
are soon reunited with their cousin, Zainab, a “pump, shapeless
girl of sixteen” who “accepted her plainness” with “good
humour” and awaited her marriage impatiently to be able to
“wear jewels and nice clothes.” It was she who introduced the
subject of “sex” to Laila, which the girls say as “a girl’s
inevitable martyrdom whose horror could only be lessened
through bawdy jokes.” Zainab’s grandmother was a dancing
girl, but after her marriage in the household, she was treated
with the same respect that was paid to the other wife; only in
matters concerning “marriage and property” were distinctions
made.
Laila, Zahra and Zainab move to the veranda where they spot
Nandi. After she was send here, she had been with her uncle,
hated by his wife and being called a “burden” despite doing “all
the work”, and beaten by her grandmother. The narrator
mentions, “Nandi’s eyes were like the dust-covered fields.”
Hardened by circumstances, Nandi speaks boldly of the fate
poor and innocent women have to suffer, while the “uncles and
cousins” get away because of their sexual identity, the privilege
that comes with it, and the power they enjoy. Women of higher
status also get away with many sins, as proved by the example
of the “moulvis’s daughter” whose illegitimate child was got rid
of secretly and thereafter a husband was bought for her. While
the other two girls scold Nandi, for what they consider her
wickedness, Laila, comprehending the truth behind everything
can only remain quiet, and at one point only utters, “You
shouldn’t be so cruel, Nandi.”
When Laila asks if Nandi will be come back to her, Nandi retorts
that her grandmother would not able to deny the former’s
request.
Chapter 18:18
Chapter 18 is one of the most surrealistic and symbolic of
chapters so far.
After the evening meal Zainab had to go back to her home to
see her grandmother, who could not come to the mourning
due to age and illness. The girls decide to accompany her to
escape the “atmosphere in the home” that “oppressed” them.
Nandi guided them with a “lantern.”
The “lantern” here can be seen as a metaphor of human
consciousness, in search of meaning—a search that can only be
conducted by taking a dive into the dark, uncertain and chaotic
‘unconscious’, symbolised here, initially, by the darkness of the
night, and then by the indistinguishable darkness in the
Zainab’s house. The darkness gives the author scope to talk
about many issues, that otherwise can seldom be raised and
questioned. Laila’s journey may even be compared to a
‘catabasis’.
Zainab’s father was a “short” man with a “round paunch” and
“red” beard, who laid on a “string bed” outside the house,
smoking “hookah”, and only “galvanised into action” by
occasions that demanded “vase quantities of food” to be
“cooked” (99). Her mother, who had “knowledge of medicinal
herbs” from which she prepared “potions, plasters and
purgatives”, was resented by the “village hakim and vaid.” She
had six children—three sons older than Zainab, and two
younger daughters. She also had “unlimited courage” that she
got from her unshakable “faith” in God. Zainab’s father had
been content with the rent he got from his land and so they
were “poorer” than others in the family.
The girls first encounter Kalvi, the blind maidservant, who was
washing “pots and pans.” Thereafter they move to Zainab’s
grandmother’s dark “stuffy room”, vaguely lit by “lamp-light.”
At her feet was Kalvi’s “anonymous mother”, “as ugly as
poverty, as thin as hunger.” Though this shark description, the
author gives us a glimpse in the fates of all those nameless
women, starved throughout their existence, of the mere
delicacies of life, struggling hard against circumstances, who are
ultimately consumed by the cruel claws of time. Kalvi’s
“anonymous” mother thus becomes a symbol of womankind,
particularly the poorer ones, who suffer in anonymity and are
lost in the very same.
Zainab’s grandmother greets the girls and then mourns Baba
Jan’s death. Thereafter, Zainab’s eldest brother enters. The
narrator mentions, “He was very thin, very pale and had wild
curly hair.” He had been a clever boy and was send to the
Aligarh University by his mother, who funded it by selling some
of her jewellery. After a year, however, he had returned home
“a delicate consumptive.” Laila had seen his shelves stocked
with “Shakespeare, Macaulay, Ruskin, Dumas and Conan
Doyle”—things he had brought back from the university.
However, when his father decided to sell them, he reacted by
setting them all on fire. Thereafter, he hardly spoke to his
father; only his mother gave him “unquestioning love,
understanding that he felt cheated by life.”
In the conversation that follows between him, Laila and Zahra,
he takes the voice of all those who have been cheated by
society into repression and suppression of their existence,
delivered through a quasi-monologue that shakes Laila to the
core. The tiredness he complains of represents the fatigue of
the (underprivileged) human race whose hopes have been
curbed by the constrains of life and society. No doubt the
questions that he raise question the very fundamental
principles and dynamics of society; they reflect the
hopelessness, pessimism and nihilism that had engulfed him.
Quiet memorably he says, “What if my freedom gets tangled
with the freedom of others? Life is like knotted skeins of thread
and one gets caught in the tangle not knowing the beginning or
the bed.” The words reflect the complexity that exists at the
very heart of the concept of freedom, that can’t be simply
achieved by riots, protests, or partition. Indians are enslaved by
British, but they had been equally enslaved and tyrannised by
Indians rulers. Mere evacuation of British won’t establish
freedom. There is perhaps an echo of Marxist idea of ‘class
struggle.’
As Laila leave with Zahra, she observes, “Her brother disturbed
me as if a cripple watched me skipping and dancing by”,
thereby indicating perhaps at an element of guilt. After all, she
has had some kind of privilege, sanctioned by wealth, power
and her father’s wish, even if curbed by her gender, to
illuminate herself, that he didn’t have.
Chapter 19:19
Chapter 19 talks about the peculiarities of the husband-wife
relationship in an orthodox Hindu family and ponders on
questions of future.
After the ritual ceremonies of the third day, the mourning had
broken, and as the narrator mentions, they “were left to think
of the future.”
The girls went to the “terrace” in the “oldest part of the house”
which was “almost always deserted” to find some time
amongst themselves. The conversation between them raises
the issue of marriage and the peculiarity of the martial
relationship in a tradition family. Laila notes that Zainab had
mentioned to her earlier that the “brides of the household”
were “kept in rooms behind the terrace” where their
“bridegrooms” almost “crept up” through the “steep stairs” at
“night” and left “as stealthily before anyone was awake.”
Zainab’s mother still never comes in front of her father when
her “grandmother” is present, even after they had “children.”
Laila thinks this practice to be “ridiculous” and gives the
example of “Hamid Chacha” and “Saira Chachi” who talk to
each other no matter who is in the room. Laila appreciates that,
and Zainab comments, “Perhaps you will go about arm in arm
with your husband talking ‘git-pit, git-pit in English.”
They later retire to the “neighbouring orchard” where Zahra
observes that they may have to “stay here in Hasanpur.”
Though Laila is not disturbed by the thought, Zainab is doubtful
of her. “What about your city friends?” she questions, and Laila
answers, “I have none. Sita had written she will be going to
England to study” and mentions to the reader how she was full
of pity for herself and envious of her friend.
On the mention of where they would like to go, Laila mentions,
“I want to go right round the world” and Zainab mocks her,
saying, “I want to go to the moon.” When the former “firmly”
states, “I’ll go one day...I’ll go round the world”, Zainab reminds
her that she does not even have the power to decide whether
she will “go to college.”
Chapter 20:20
Chapter 20 signals the change.
Abida had become “quite” and had begun to spend in prayers.
This is noticed by Zainab’s grandmother, who opines that she
should be given the bliss of matrimony, something to which
Majida and Saira agrees.
One morning, Laila and Zahra are called for by Hamid. As they
enter, Laila notices the Renaissance paintings that decorated
Hamid’s room, and the “fan” that hung stiffly from a thick
wooden beam. Hamid was himself at the chair, smoking his
“pipe.” Abida, Majida and Saira are also present in the room
and Asad and Zahid soon join them.
Hamid, much like Abida in chapter 3, expresses his belief that
“elders should not force their decisions on the young” and for
that reason have summoned them so that they may “listen to”
what the elders “think is best” for them. Laila thinks, “What if
we did not agree? What alternative was there for us?” and
indeed she is right, for as we soon discover, Hamid is the exact
patriarch as his father, Baba Jan. Stirred by ideas of
westernisation and modernity, he may agree to led the children
listen to the decision taken about their future, but as proved
from Asad’s case, this freedom is ironically a hollow one, for
Hamid would not listen to the other’s wishes. Thus, despite the
sense of modernity associated with Hamid, in reality he is as
much a patriarch and an authoritarian as his father, the
representative of the older generation.
Hamid announces that Zahra will stay with her “Amma” as per
Majida’s wishes, in Hasanpur until her marriage (that he will
settle after he is convinced of the man Moshin has selected for
her).
Next is Laila’s turn. Hamid observes that he has “always
believed in the education of girls” for it will “best fit them for
their responsibilities in this changing world.” The mention of
the “changing world” undoubtedly brings in the issues of Indian
struggle for freedom and the partition (soon to take place),
along with the flow of westernisation, that has already set the
country in flux. It is this state of flux, this concept of
transformation that has taken the Taluqdar household with
Baba Jan’s death and Hamid’s entry.
When Saira interpolates that men nowadays wanted their
wives to be “educated”, she is silenced by Hamid with the
insulting statement, “I wish you would stop interrupting with
your irrelevant remarks”, thereby perhaps reflecting the fact
that though Hamid had educated himself in the global ideas of
women’s education, in the heart of his hearts he had still not
been able to unshackle himself from the chauvinistic ideas of
the inferiority of the female sex, and consider her of equal
footing. If so, then we are left with a vital question, at least at
this point in the text, namely, are all of Hamid’s grand ideas of
women’s education hypocritical, maintained in order to
preserve his superior westernised image in the society? Or does
he really feel the need for such a change.
Hamid offers Laila to continue with her education, and on being
questioned as to whether she wants to stay with Abida in
Hasanpur till “schools and collages re-open” or with them in
Lucknow, she chooses the former.
Finally, Hamid turns to Zahid and Asad; they are allowed to
continue with their studies till they are fit to enter the world of
employment, but until then they are to be sent off to a hostel
to be disciplined. Zahid agrees, Asad however expresses his
wish to go to “study at the Jamia in Delhi.” The thought of
someone denying Hamid’s authority is unbelievable. Tension
spreads though the room. And as when Asad mentions that be
shall “work there” to support himself, Hamid menacingly
retorts, “you make your own decisions without consulting
those who have made you fit to do so!” At this point, Laila
observes, “I was frightened, recognising the voice of authority”
and places a fundamental question, “Why must power always
be used to humiliate?”
It is only because Asad uses the weapon of his orphan-hood,
that Hamid leaves the matter without extending to violence
perhaps. The silence is shattered finally by the “muessin’s call
to middle prayers.”
Chapter 21:21
Chapter 21 is the final chapter of the first part of the book and
ends on a note of self-recognition on Laila’’s part.
“After Baba Jan’s death it was as if right hands had been
loosened which had tied together those who had lived under
the power of his will and authority.”
Within a year Abida and Zahra are married. Abida is married to
Sheikh Ejaz Ali. Hakiman Bua has been very happy, and Laila has
envied her happiness and faith. When she rose to Abida’s side
the night before the marriage to convey to her, her “love and
loneliness”, she found that it was her aunt who “sought”
“comfort and assurance.”
Zahra is married to Naseer Bhai in the ‘Ashiana’ with much
“feasting, music and dancing”, yet the ceremonial aspect of
marriage was not all together forgotten.
The married is carried out according to tradition, and during the
rituals, while all others are full of joy and excitement, Laila finds
herself torn apart with questions. It is at this moment that she
questions in a pitiable instance of self-recognition, “Why was I
allowed to become different?”, indicating that she had finally
fully recognised her sensible consciousness, emancipated by
education and reading, that will never let her live an ignorant
life like her cousins. She has seen the truth in things, her heart
has begun to sceptically strive for answers that womankind was
tamed by patriarchy to overlook and forget, she can never be
the same.