KAMILA SHAMSIE’S FICTION: AN

ANALYTICAL STUDY OF DIASPORA

By
Asma Zahoor

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES

ISLAMABAD
May-2015
 ii

Kamila Shamsie’s Fiction: an Analytical Study of Diaspora

By
Asma Zahoor

M.A, Government College; Lahore. 1986

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
In English (Literature)

To

FACULTY OF ENGLISH STUDIES

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES, ISLAMABAD

Asma Zahoor  2015

 iii

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES FACULTY OF HIGHER STUDIES

THESIS AND DEFENSE APPROVAL FORM

The undersigned certify that they have read the following thesis, examined the defense, are satisfied with the
overall exam performance, and recommend the thesis to the Faculty of Higher Studies for acceptance:

Thesis Title: Kamila Shamsie’s Fiction: an Analytical Study of Diaspora

Submitted By: Asma Zahoor Registration #: 397-MPhil/Ling/Jan 09-19

Name of Student

Doctor of Philosophy

English (Literature)

Dr. Rubina Kamran ______________________________

Name of Research Supervisor Signature of Research Supervisor

Dr. Muhammad Safeer Awan ______________________________

Name of Dean (FES) Signature of Dean (FES)

Maj. Gen. Zia-ud-Din Najam HI(M) (Rtd.) ______________________________

Name of Rector Signature of Rector

_______________________
Date
 iv

CANDIDATE DECLARATION FORM

I Asma Zahoor

Daughter of Zahoor Ahmad Qazi

Registration # 397-MPhil/Ling/Jan 09-19

Discipline English (Literature)

Candidate of Doctor of Philosophy at the National University of Modern Languages do hereby

declare that the thesis (Title) Kamila Shamsie’s Fiction: an Analytical Study of Diaspora submitted by
me in partial fulfillment of MPhil/ PhD degree, is my original work, and has not been submitted
or published earlier. I also solemnly declare that it shall not, in future, be submitted by me for
obtaining any other degree from this or any other university or institution.

I also understand that if evidence of plagiarism is found in my thesis/dissertation at any stage,

even after the award of a degree, the work may be cancelled and the degree revoked.

______________________________
Signature of Candidate

Asma Zahoor
Name of Candidate
 v

ABSTRACT

This study explores Kamila Shamsie’s fiction as a site of postcolonial diaspora writing. Diaspora
is a significant concern in postcolonial theory. Most of the research done in Diaspora Studies in
general and Postcolonial Diaspora Studies in particular is related to history, economics, political
science, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Shamsie’s fiction brings to light her diasporic
consciousness which is based upon her own status as a member of modern transnational
diaspora. It is a presentation of a variety of diaspora characters. Also, the impact of major
historical events like World War II, colonization and decolonization of India, Fall of Dhaka,
Russian Invasion of Afghanistan, resultant Holy War, 9/11 and War on Terror is integral to her
work and to the characters portrayed in it. The present study establishes these dimensions in her
work along with an unearthing of how the power structures and the power practices designed to
perpetuate hegemony of some people on others influence individuals and compel people to leave
their familiar world. Simultaneously, it ascertains the identity issues created by displacement in
both cases of voluntary migration or forced expulsion/exile. In her work, Shamsie also presents
the hybridity and the loss of pure cultural identity created as a consequence of colonization and
educational hegemony of the West. It is a qualitative research where interpretive framework of
Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2003) has been applied to the study of three novels,
namely: Salt and Saffron (2000), Kartography (2002) and Burnt Shadows (2009). A text emerges
from its interaction with context and prevailing social conditions. The objective of CDA is to
perceive language use as a social practice. Therefore, interdiscursivity and situatedness of a text
are two important factors analyzed in this work. It explores the relationships among language,
ideology and power. Fairclough suggests three stages of CDA which are: Description,
Interpretation and Explanation, thus the design of the study. Whereas, the theoretical framework
of postcolonial diaspora theory by Edward Said (1978, 1991, 1999) along with Ashcroft et al.’s
concepts of place and displacement have been chosen to substantiate alienation and sense of
being out of place in diaspora subjects.
 vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page No.

THESIS AND DEFENSE APPROVAL FORM ........................................................................... iii

CANDIDATE DECLARATION FORM ...................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................v
DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT................................................................................................................ ix
INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1
1.1. Definition and Background of Diaspora .............................................................................. 2
1.1.1. Displacement, Alienation and Construction of Place ............................................... 3
1.1.2. Types of Diaspora ......................................................................................................... 4
1.1.3.Constitutive Elements of Diaspora ................................................................................ 6
1.1.4. Shift in Perspective on Diaspora Literature .................................................................. 7
1.1.5. Diaspora Fiction and Identity Issue .............................................................................. 9
1.1.6. Kamila Shamsie’s Fiction ........................................................................................... 11
1.2. Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................... 11
1.3. Objectives of the Study ...................................................................................................... 12
1.4. Research Questions ............................................................................................................ 12
1.5. Research Design................................................................................................................. 12
1.6. Why Kamila Shamsie—the Rationale ............................................................................... 14
1.7. Organization of the Thesis ................................................................................................. 20
LITREATURE REVIEW ..............................................................................................................21
2.1. Transnational Migration and Types of Diaspora ............................................................... 21
2.2. Common Features of Diasporas ......................................................................................... 24
2.3. Modern Concept of Diaspora ............................................................................................. 25
2.4. Diaspora and Literature...................................................................................................... 28
2.5. Diaspora and the Concept of Self ...................................................................................... 30
2.6. Pakistani Diaspora ............................................................................................................. 31
2.7. Historical Events and Creation of Diaspora...................................................................... 32
2.8. Politics, Culture, Sociology and Postcolonial Diaspora Literature.................................... 34
2.9. Depiction of Place and Displacement in Shamsie’s Novels .............................................. 40
2.10. Shamsie’s Narrative Techniques...................................................................................... 44
2.11. Diaspora, Language, Ideology and Power Relation......................................................... 45
2.12. Diaspora, Displacement, Alienation and Identity Crisis .................................................. 48
2.13. Post 9/11 Global Diaspora ............................................................................................... 51
2.14. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 54
METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................56
3.1. Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 56
3.1.1. Three Stages of CDA .................................................................................................. 58
3.1.2. Applications of Discourse Analysis ............................................................................ 60
3.2. Critical Discourse Analysis as a Research Method ........................................................... 61
 vii

3.3. Procedures for the Application of CDA............................................................................. 62

3.4. CDA as a Research Method ............................................................................................... 64
3.5. Levels of Discourse............................................................................................................ 65
3.5.1. Textual Level .............................................................................................................. 65
3.5.2. Discourse Practice ....................................................................................................... 65
3.5.3. Culture and Society ..................................................................................................... 67
3.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 69
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ....................................................................71
Part I .......................................................................................................................................... 73
"How Did It Come to This?" (Burnt Shadows) ........................................................................ 73
4.1. A Synopsis ......................................................................................................................... 73
4.2. Textual Analysis ............................................................................................................... 78
4.3. Context ............................................................................................................................. 207
4.4. Interdiscursivity ............................................................................................................... 212
4.5. Shamsie as Postcolonial Pakistani Diaspora Writer ........................................................ 231
4.5.1. Representation of Diasporas in Burnt Shadows ........................................................ 236
4.5.2. Shamsie’s Use of Language as a Diaspora Writer .................................................... 253
Part II ...................................................................................................................................... 255
"No City Like Home" (Kartoghraphy) ................................................................................... 255
4.1. Synopsis ........................................................................................................................... 255
4.2. Textual Analysis ............................................................................................................. 257
4.3. Context ............................................................................................................................. 351
4.4. Interdiscursivity ............................................................................................................... 355
4.5. Shamsie as Pakistani Diaspora Writer ............................................................................. 360
4.5.1. Use of Language as Diaspora Writer ........................................................................ 373
4.6. Kartoghraphy and Identity Crisis .................................................................................... 375
Part III ..................................................................................................................................... 383
Inescapable "Wounding Memories" (Salt and Saffron).......................................................... 383
4.1. Synopsis ........................................................................................................................... 383
4.2. Textual Analysis .............................................................................................................. 384
4.3. Context ............................................................................................................................. 438
4.4. Interdiscursivity ............................................................................................................... 440
4.5. Shamsie as a Diaspora Writer ......................................................................................... 450
4.5.1. Shamsie’s Use of Language as Pakistani Diaspora Writer ....................................... 456
4.5.3. Salt and Saffron and Identity Crisis .......................................................................... 457
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................460
5.1 Recommendation for Future Research.............................................................................. 476
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................478
 viii

DEDICATION

Dedicated to my country, my people, my parents and my teachers.

 ix

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
All praise and gratitude is due Allah Almighty who blessed me with the opportunity,
ability and strength to complete this task.

I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Robina Kamran, my worthy supervisor, whose invaluable

professional guidance worked as a lighthouse throughout the study. My profound gratitude is to
Dr. Shazrah Munnawar for her benign vigilance and administrative support and to Dr. Aalia
Sohail Khan, my friend and mentor, for her matchless academic guidance. I have great love and
deep regard for Mrs. Ghazala Tabassum, Mrs. Kulsoom Qaisar, Ms. Amina Ayaz and Ms. Sidra
Ejaz as well. Their prompt support and time facilitated in the execution of my project.

I also appreciate the role of my alma mater NUML in providing me with the opportunity of
research fellowship of University of North Texas.

Last but not least, I am indebted to the moral support extended by my brothers and sisters,
especially Naima Aapa, and my friends. Their loving concern and push has given me strength
and kept me focused. A special word of gratitude to my parents; their prayers have enabled me to
bear the onus of extensive research work.
 1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Diaspora, the key concept in my research, occupies a central position in postcolonial theory. The
twentieth and twenty first centuries have seen unprecedented dispersal and displacement of
people across the globe as a consequence of major historical upheavals, including the two World
Wars, decolonization, the Cold war and hot pursuit in the name of Russian Invasion of
Afghanistan and resultant Jihad which led to the War on Terror in this century. Globalization,
driven by free market economy based on capitalism, has increased the flow of capital. The
technologies of swifter means of communication, information, and transportation have
accelerated the movement of people, commodities, ideas, and cultures across the world. All this
has led to the considerable increase in the number and variety of Diasporas in the world. It is
aptly commented “Some people have left homes of their own free will, whereas others have been
compelled to whether formally or not. Some have been lured by hope, others driven by fear”
(Brown, 2009, p.1). Diasporas have brought about profound changes in the demographics,
cultures, and politics of the postcolonial world. These phenomena, especially as they are
associated with colonialism and its aftermath, have been most productively and extensively
explored in postcolonial theory and literary texts.

Under the generalized rubric of ‘diasporas’, my research aims to explore the impact of
place and displacement created by the major historical events like world War II, decolonization
of India, Fall of Dhaka, Russian Invasion of Afghanistan and resultant Holy War, 9/11and post
9/11 War on Terror on Shamsie‘s fictional characters, their experiences of displacement and
homelessness and identity issues like belonging, national origins, assimilation, and alienation.
 2

1.1. Definition and Background of Diaspora

The origin of the term 'diaspora' is Greek, 'dia' refers to 'through' and 'speirien' 'to scatter'
(Brubaker, 2005). In the beginning, the term 'diaspora ' was used in the particular context of the
Jews only (McMillan, 2009) but in post-colonial /neocolonial literature it goes with the issues of
place and displacement and resultant identity formation and identity crisis in the broader sphere
of life (Singh, 2011). 'Diaspora' with its connotative political weight is drawn from dispersal that
signifies an intentional or forcible movement of the people from the homeland into new regions
(Singh, 2011). In the tradition of Indo-Christian, the fall of Satan from the heaven and
humankind's separation from the Garden of Eden, metaphorically the separation from God
constitutes diasporic situations (Kumar Singh, 2008).

According to the Oxford English Dictionary Online, “the first known recorded usage of
the word diaspora in the English language was in 1876 referring extensive diaspora work of
evangelizing among the National Protestant Churches on the continent.” The term became more
extensively assimilated into English by the mid-1950s (Shanthi, 2012), with long-
term expatriates in significant numbers from other particular countries or regions also being
referred to as diaspora (Singh, 2011). An academic field, Diaspora Studies, has been established
relating to this sense of the word (Singh, 2011).

In the beginning, the term was specifically used for the forced exile of the Jews, but then
with the long history of colonialism and the apparent act of the withdrawal of the colonial
powers, i.e. decolonization, the varieties of place and displacement also changed, so does the
varieties of diaspora (Brubaker, 2005). This type of diaspora is also termed as postcolonial
diaspora. Most of the post-colonial writings directly or indirectly refer to this theme of place and
displacement which has been a major concern of post-colonial diaspora literature almost all over
the world.
 3

The concept of diaspora revolves around the identity issues of the displaced people.
According to Vocabulary.com online dictionary identity refers to a name or persona. Primarily it
goes with the individual characteristics by which a person is recognized or known. It can also be
taken as distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity .Here the personality
refers to the complex of all attributes—behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental—that
characterize a unique individual. With reference to diaspora, humans identify themselves with
the lands of their origin. There is a relationship between place and self-identification (Brubaker,
2005). The place is not a mere piece of land but includes language, customs, traditions, social
norms and conventions. Singh (2011) asserts that if someone is moved away from one’s place of
origin, the ‘self’ gets influenced by dislocation or cultural denigration. At a new place individual
gets cultural shock when exposed to different customs and traditions. The dialectic of place and
displacement has always been a feature of post-colonial societies whether these have been
created by a process of settlement, intervention, or a mixture of the two (Ashcroft et al., 1994).

1.1.1. Displacement, Alienation and Construction of Place

Geographical displacement leads to social, cultural and emotional alienation. The

alienation of vision which this displacement causes may not create a crisis in self-image but it
surely creates a difference. Our personal image is based on our association with the people
amidst whom we spend our lives, our experiences, our beliefs, and our training/education. The
movement from one place to another transport people amidst the people with different brought
up, different social, cultural and psychological orientation. These differences create linguistic,
social, cultural, racial or religious alienation. An adequate account of this practice goes beyond
the usual categories of social alienation such as master/slave; free/bonded; and ruler/ruled
(Ashcroft et al., 1994). However, these usual social categories are considered important and
widespread in post-colonial cultures. At times, even the voluntary immigrants also want to go for
differentiated identity.
 4

1.1.2. Types of Diaspora

Earlier discussion on Diaspora was firmly rooted in a conceptual homeland, the Jews
diaspora and the Palestinian diaspora, have been constructed as ‘catastrophic diaspora’
(Armstrong, 1976), or in Cohen’s (1997) terms, a ‘victim diaspora’ on the model of the Jewish
case. Then comes the model of ‘trading diaspora’ (Brown, 2006) which is apparent in the
writings of the writers among the colonizers like Joseph Conrad and E.M. Foster etc. This type
of diaspora, in John Armstrong’s (1976) words, is the ‘mobilized diaspora’. This is based on
Jewish as well as the Greek and Armenian experience (Armstrong, 1976). The majority of the
Chinese, Indian and Pakistani and African diasporas also fall in trading diaspora (Cohan, 1997).
Jewish, Greek and Armenian diasporas, can be taken as non-normative starting point for a
discourse that is travelling or hybridizing in new global conditions (Esman, 2009). There are
several recent extensions of the term. Some emigrant groups characterized as “long-distance
nationalists” are called diasporas by Anderson (1998) because of their continued involvement in
homeland politics e.g. Hindu Indians ,Irish ,Kashmiri ,Kurd, Palestinians ,Turks and many
others have been construed as diasporas in this way(Anderson,1998).

There are labour migrants, who maintain emotional and social ties with homeland-like
Bangladeshi, Filipino, Greek, Indian, Italian, Pakistani, Turkish etc. Many other migrant
populations are diasporas in this sense (Sheffer, 2003). Similarly trans-ethnic and trans- border
linguistic categories such as Francophone, Anglophone etc. (Baumann, 1996) have also been
conceptualized as diasporas .Global religious communities constitute yet another category
including Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, and Catholic diasporas(Sheffer,2003).

From the point of view of the homeland, emigrants groups have been conceptualized as
diasporas even when they have been largely assimilated (Baumann, 1996). Then there is a
residual set of putative or country defined diaspora. There are putative diasporas of the other
sorts, the White diaspora, the Black diaspora, the deaf diaspora, the liberal diaspora, the
fundamentalists diaspora etc. (Cohan, 1997). So the term is now applicable to ever broadening
 5

set of cases essentially to any and every namable population category that is to some extent
dispersed in space (Sheffer, 2003). The term now includes words like “immigrants, expatriate,
refugees, guest workers, exile community, ethnic community, overseas community” (Toloyan,
1991, p.4).

The trajectory of ‘diaspora’ somewhat resembles to that of ‘identity’ which has been
moved from being a technical term of philosophy and psychoanalysis to a key term throughout
the humanities and social sciences and which came to be widely used in media and popular
culture (Brubaker & Fredrick,2000).

Diaspora is now treated metaphorically, as Stuart Hall(1993 )suggests, “Diaspora does

not refer to those scattered tribes whose identity can only be secured in relation to sacred
homeland to which they must at all cost return” , as is the case with Okonkwo in Things Fall
Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958). But in the case of the writers like Kamila Shamsie, it goes with
“not by the essence of purity, but recognition of a necessity, heterogeneity, and diversity by a
conception of ‘identity’ that lives with and through a process, the idea of difference by hybridity”
(Hall, 1993). Stuart Hall (1993 as cited by McMillan, 2009) also argues that identity is a
performative process, continually negotiating through a complex historical process of
appropriation, compromise, invention, and revival. In this sense otherness is not fixed and
predetermined rather ever evolving (Brown, 2005). Cultural identity in this formation is an
articulation fostered in a complex structure of diverse phenomenon and contradictory yet
connected relations (McMillan, 2009). The cultural identity of diasporas is rather a dialectically
continuous and disruptive unstable point of identification that is made within the discourse of
history and culture. This idea reveals a duality as ‘double consciousness’ (McMillan, 2009, Said,
1999).
 6

1.1.3.Constitutive Elements of Diaspora

There are three constitutive elements of diaspora as quoted in a research paper ‘Diaspora,
diaspora’ by Rogers Brubaker (2005). “The first is dispersion in space, the second, orientation to
a ‘homeland’, and the third, boundary maintenance.”(Brubaker, 2005):

i). Dispersion

It is the most commonly recognized criterion and most straightforward. It goes with forced or
otherwise traumatic displacement that may exist within or outside the borders of the homeland
(Brubaker, 2005).

ii). Homeland Orientation

The second constitutive criterion is the orientation of a real or imagined homeland as an

authoritative source of values, identity and loyalty. Four of the six criterions specified by Safran
(1991) are concerned with the orientation to a homeland which includes: “maintaining a
collective memory or myth about homeland; regarding ancestral homeland as the true, ideal
home and as the place to which one would eventually return; being collectively committed to the
maintenance or restoration of homeland and to its safety and prosperity; and continuing to relate,
personally or vicariously to the homeland, in a way that significantly shapes one’s identity and
solidarity ( Safran,1991as quoted in ‘Diaspora’ diaspora’ Brubaker, 2005)”.

iii). Boundary- Maintenance

The third constitutive element according to Armstrong (1976) is boundary maintenance

which involves the preservation of a distinctive identity vis-à-vis a host society .Boundaries can
be maintained by deliberate resistance to assimilating or an unintended consequence of social
exclusion.

Stuart Hall holds, the “diaspora experience …is not defined by the essence of purity, but
by the recognition of a necessary heterogeneity and diversity by a conception of ‘identity’ that
lives with and through, not despite difference, by hybridity.” (Hall, 1993, p. 235)
 7

1.1.4. Shift in Perspective on Diaspora Literature

Recent literature on diaspora claims a marked shift in perspective. There have been
changes in perspective on diaspora studies .These changes are discussed below:

1. The old perspective was immigrationist, assimilationist and nationalist (McMillan, 2012). It
took nation states as units of analysis and assumed that immigrants made a sharp and definitive
break with their homelands and that migration trajectories were unidirectional and that migration
inexorably led to assimilation (Cohan, 1997).

2. The new perspective rejects these assumptions. It holds the view that diasporic literature
transcends the old assimilative, immigrant paradigm (McMillan, 2012). Now the diversity of
immigration circumstances, class backgrounds, gendered transition and the sheer multitude of
migration experiences form the basis of a new perspective.

Diaspora along with such terms as transnationalism, globalization and transcultualism do

not refer to something fundamentally new in the world rather they are the new labels for old
phenomena. Even the unprecedented circulation of people, goods, messages, images, ideas and
cultural products signify a basic re-alignment of the relationship between politics and culture,
territorial states and de-territorialized identities (Singh, 2012). Brubaker (2005) says that it is not
that we have passed from the age of nation states to the age of Diaspora (Brubaker, 2005). The
age of Diasporas does not open up new possibilities of non-exclusive practices of community,
politics and difference (Clifford 1994, p.302 as quoted in Brubaker, 2005).

Over the course of nineteenth and twentieth centuries states have gained the immense
capacity to monitor and control the movement of people employing latest sophisticated means of
identification and control including citizenship, passports, visas, integrated data bases and
biometric devices (Cohan,1997). The change in political status also affects human movements
across borders, e.g. Sajjad, a born Indian Muslim, in Burnt Shadows could not go back to the
homeland because at the time of Partition he was in Turkey. Similarly, free movement between
Pakistan and Afghanistan was affected by the War on Terror.
 8

Migration has never been unidirectional or permanent. The migrants cannot make a sharp
and definitive break with their homelands. They do sustain ties with the country of their origin
(Brubaker, 2005). But it would be absurd to think that nothing has changed or distance-eclipsing
technologies of communication and transportation do not matter. They do.

The nation state is the “primary conceptual other against which diaspora is defined and
often celebrated” (Tololyan, 1991). In all cases, the term diaspora carries a sense
of displacement; that is, the population so described finds itself for whatever reason separated
from its national territory, and usually, its people have a hope, or, at least, a desire, to return to
their homeland at some point, if the "homeland" still exists in any meaningful sense (Tololyan,
1991). Some writers have noted that diaspora may result in a loss of nostalgia for a single home
as people "re-root" in a series of meaningful displacement (Tololyan, 1991). Shamsie presents a
series of displacement of a variety of characters in Burnt Shadows. In this sense, individuals may
have multiple homes throughout the series of their displacement, with different reasons for
maintaining some form of attachment to each (Shamsie, 2009). Diasporic cultural development
often assumes a different course from that of the population in the original place of settlement.
Over time, remotely separated communities tend to vary in culture, traditions, language, and
other factors. The last vestiges of cultural affiliation in a diaspora subject are often found in
community resistance to language change and in the maintenance of traditional religious practice
(Tololyan, 1991).

Diaspora Literature involves an idea of a homeland, a place from where the displacement
occurs and narratives of harsh journeys undertaken on account of social, political or economic
compulsions (Brown, 2005). The dispersal initially signifies the location of a fluid human
autonomous space involving a complex set of negotiation and exchange between the nostalgia
and desire for the homeland and the making of a new home, adapting to the power relationships
between the minority and majority, being spokespersons for minority rights and their people
back home and significantly transacting the contact zone - a space changed with the possibility
of multiple challenges (Tololyan, 1991).
 9

1.1.5. Diaspora Fiction and Identity Issue

Displacement often leads to the identity issue, as argued above. Be it Shamsie’s fiction or
other diaspora writings like Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958), Wide Sargasso Sea by
Jean Rhys (1966), The Village by the Sea by Anita Desie (1982), The Kite Runner by Khalid
Hosseini (2003) or Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1990), all reflect diaspora resulting
from place and displacement and its impacts on human self and identity formation.

No matter where we are or what we do it is difficult to forget our roots altogether. Our
ancestral origin logically forms the basis of our identity. To understand one’s identity it is
necessary to grasp the things which go into its making. Awareness and appreciation of what we
count towards the unification of our national/collective identity are also of paramount importance
(Cilano, 2013). There is a connection between identity and diaspora. The rich fabric of our
cultural background gets reflected in our identity and self-image and our identity is based on our
history so diaspora and identity are evidently interrelated ("On diaspora lit," 2012). Our past and
present are permeated with the spirit of diaspora. Migration which provides a basis for diaspora
has always been a kind of search for relocation for a better future or greener pastures. Migration
in majority cases provides a means of forging a new identity and a new life. But we take our past
along and in the migrated land people also keep reminding us of our difference ("On diaspora
lit," 2012).

Diasporas learn the language of the migrated land to ensure, assume and enhance their
new identity. Besides language, migration also affects peoples’ value system (McMillan, 2012).
Christian Cuniah (2006) says in ‘Identity in Diaspora and Diaspora in Identity’ about the
changing values that the family unit is put under considerable strain, where one person migrates,
the same is true for the migrant, who undergoes a process of change and
adaptation(Cuniah,2006). Hiroko‘s identity constantly gets influenced during her long journey
from Japan to India, from there to Pakistan and from Pakistan to the United States. Her son
 10

especially suffers from an identity crisis because of his mother’s origin and his father’s
nationality no matter how much he tries to prove his worth as a global citizen having multiple
nationalities (Shamsie, 2009). In the same way, whatever the good intentioned ex and neo-
colonizers like Burton and Harry have done to favour Raza or his family, also resulted in
disaster, the highest of which is seen in the prologue where he is presented as a prisoner ready to
be transported to Guantanamo Bay(Shamsie,2009).

In Aliya’s case in Salt and Saffron we can see a constant conflict between family values
and practices in the migrated land. Her inner self gets transformed so there are visible signs of
change in her identity formation (Sheffer, 2009). Similarly a variety of displacement-- physical,
personal, social and spiritual lies at the heart of Kartography. So in a way all the stories written
by Kamala Shamsie are the stories of the displaced people. The displacement may be voluntary
or involuntary but it is very much there. It affects and conditions the lives of her fictional yet life
like characters.
 11

1.1.6. Kamila Shamsie’s Fiction

In Kamala Shamsie’s fiction, the meanings of the texts emerge from the context of the
personal situatedness /place of the characters as individuals, as citizens of particular countries
and as inhabitants of an international community where, despite all the tall slogans of
globalization, humanity and the like, tug of war for supremacy has always been going on. We
live in a world where despite all segregation, boundaries, and barriers people at the helm of
affairs go on creating visible and invisible riots in the lives of innumerable innocent people
whose whole existence get entrapped in a series of chain reactions which are not of their own
making. Whether it is Hiroko Tanaka of Japan, a direct victim of an atomic explosion in World
War II, or Ashraf of India or their only child--they all fall victim to the hegemonic designs of the
colonial or neocolonial powers (Shamsie,2009 ). Players may change but the game remains the
same.

Similarly, Maheen of Kartography suffers displacement at the same place where she has
been living since her birth and fall of Dhaka influences the lives of those who are not directly
involved in the war or the power games behind it. Shamsie depicts how innumerable people have
to suffer displacement many times for a historical event which is not of their own making, choice
or control. The story of Dard-i-Dil family in Salt and Saffron is yet another tale of displacement
which creates diaspora (Shamsie, 2002).

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Postcolonial Diaspora Studies has a special interest in dealing with the associations of
Diaspora with colonialism and its aftermath which have become the central topics of post
colonialism. Diaspora is a multidisciplinary field, which draws on anthropology, geography,
psychoanalysis, sociology, history, political science, literary studies and cultural studies.
Shamsie’s diasporic consciousness, based on her own experiences as postcolonial diasporic
 12

subject, finds an expression in her fictional narratives. The study is designed to ascertain to what
extent Kamila Shamsie has incorporated the affective and material impact of place and
displacement and the resultant diaspora created by colonialism and neocolonialism in her novels.

1.3. Objectives of the Study

The objective of the study includes;

 to explore Shamsie’s fiction by means of the critical frame work of postcolonial diaspora
theory

 to study the diasporic consciousness based upon writer’s own status as a member of
postcolonial transnational diaspora and

 to present a variety of diasporas created by the major historical events

1.4. Research Questions

1. To what extent Kamila Shamsie’s fiction reflects diaspora as a result of colonialism /neo
colonialism?

2. Why do place and displacement condition the panorama of life Kamila Shamsie depicts in her
fiction?

3. How does displacement created by the major historical events create identity crisis in the life
of different individuals of diaspora communities?

1.5. Research Design

It is a qualitative research in which Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2003) has

been applied to three novels by Kamila Shamsie which are: Salt and Saffron, Kartography and
Burnt Shadow. They have been selected on the basis of the similarities of the issues that emerge
from my research questions. The text of these novels has been analyzed in the light of the
 13

postcolonial diaspora theory of Edward Said in combination with postcolonial theory of place
and displacement and different definitions of diaspora by different theorists.

The texts of the selected novels have been explored with the help of Critical Discourse
Analysis (CDA) of Fairclough’s model. The main objective of all the different approaches to
critical analysis is to raise awareness regarding how different strategies are employed to enact
relations of power by means of discourse (Griffin, 2005). CDA offers a powerful resource of
analytical tools for the researchers that can be used for the interpretation and meaning making
process of written and oral texts (Fairclough, 2003). It further enriches analysis by combining
close reading with a broader contextual analysis, including discursive practices, intertextual
relations, and sociocultural factors.CDA puts more emphasis both on the fine-grained details of
the text and on the political aspects of discursive manipulations (Wodak & Meyer 2009). It leads
to better understanding and interpretation of the text in a broader context .Though it is not a
discovery mechanism, it serves to confirm, explain, interpret and augment the initial insight and
to communicate and justify that insight in a detailed fashion to others (Huckin, 2002).

The notions of ideology, power, and hierarchy along with sociological factors are seen as
significant for an interpretation or explanation of the text (Fairclough, 1989). In this study, CDA
has been used to analyze the relevant portions of Shamsie’s texts for the textual analysis to look
for the issues raised in the research questions. I followed Fairclough model of CDA because he is
among those linguists who traced the influence of the power relations on the contents and
structures of writings (Huckin, 2002). Fairclough's line of study is also called textually oriented
discourse analysis (Huckin, 2002) and it is suitable for the present research. His model deals with
the place of language in social relations of power and ideology, how language figures for social
change and language discourse as an element of social changes like globalization, new capitalism
etc. (Fairclough, 2003).
 14

1.6. Why Kamila Shamsie—the Rationale

Kamila Shamsie, a Pakistani fiction writer, falls into the category of modern,
transnational diaspora (Brown, 2005). She was born in Pakistan, had her schooling in Karachi,
then studied in an American university and has been working in England since 2007.She has
first-hand knowledge of a conflict within individual’s self as a result of diaspora created by
colonialism and neocolonialism. My study aims to explore Shamsie’s fiction as a representation
of postcolonial diaspora writer using Edward Said diaspora theory of alienation and being out of
place in combination with Ashcroft (1989) postcolonial model of place and displacement. This
sense of being out of place is one of the major undercurrents of post-colonial literature.
Displacement, whether physical or metaphorical, often leads to identity issues. Shamsie’s fiction
revolves around the identity issues created as a result of the power practices of the colonial and
neocolonial power stakeholders and their mindset to perpetuate the power structures. She reflects
their impact on the lives of her fictional characters and the course of events their lives take.

Kamila Shamsie, being herself a part of the diaspora community, has depicted Pakistan,
her native country, and Karachi, her, native city, in almost all her novels. She, like Chinua
Achebe, got her education in the West. She opted to write in English so that her voice could be
heard at the international level. Her novels present the non-Western perspective of the world.
Displacement and belonging, movement and dislocation and alienation, the main features of
diaspora, all find an expression in her narratives .She represents that diasporic cultural tradition
which has no absolutes. It is in a perpetual state of transformation quite in keeping with Gill
Deleuze’s philosophy on the ontology of becoming (as quoted in De Landa, 2002). Shamsie
portrays that situation and context both contribute to relocation and recontextualization of being,
self, and identity.

Kamila Shamsie is a postcolonial writer, who mainly focuses on the issues of

transnational migration, place and displacement and diaspora. In most of her novels, Karachi, her
 15

birth place, is the centre and the rest of the world is a periphery. I opted for doing research on her
fiction because she is one of the few Pakistani writers who are acknowledged both at national
and international level.

Shamsie was born in Pakistan in 1973 in an affluent and literary family. Her family
already has many writers, including her mother, Muneeza Shamsie, a literary critic, and her
great-aunt, Attia Hossain, the fiction writer. So her literary aspirations definitely got
encouragement. After completing her schooling in Karachi, Shamsie got her university education
in the United States of America. She finally settled in the UK, but she has homes in all the three
continents. Therefore, one may claim that she herself has firsthand knowledge of diasporic
experience. Karachi, her home city in Pakistan, provides the setting of her first four novels
while Burnt Shadows (2009) covers several continents. Nevertheless, this novel is partly based in
Karachi as well. Shamsie’s love for her first home, Karachi, is portrayed in a vivid yet complex
way. She paints a vibrant picture of a lively city without romanticizing it. Her extensive
experiences and vast exposure have provided her a different perspective on her home
environment. She explores cross-cultural encounters both at personal and political levels, inter-
national relationships and ever evolving relative identity issues. Particularly she portrays the
impact of deep-rooted cultural history and family expectations on the subjects of a diasporic
community like hers e.g. Aliya is Salt and Saffron and Raheen in Kartography.

Shamsie’s first novel In the City by the Sea (1998) was published when she was just 25. It
is set in Karachi and presents the upper-middle class elite and their experiences in a politically
unstable homeland. Its focus is an 11-year old Hasan who leads a comfortable life in a secure,
loving and rich family until his world is changed altogether when he sees a young boy, like
himself, falling to his death while flying a kite. He is made aware of the impermanence of life
and how intensely one’s protected milieu can change. This event is followed by the detention of
his most favourite uncle, Salman Mamoo, who is subsequently imprisoned for treason. The
oppressive military rule and the turbulent political environment of the country infiltrate the novel
as it badly influenced Hasan’s sheltered world. The young boy takes refuge in his imagination -
his make-believe friends include characters from Shakespeare and from Arthurian legends.
 16

Shamsie herself tells in one of her interviews that this novel is written in sheer nostalgia for her
homeland (Shamsie, 2014).

The protagonist of Salt and Saffron (2000), Aliya, like Shamsie herself, is a modern
diaspora subject. She returns to her affluent family in Karachi after studying in an American
university. This experience and exposure have enabled her to view her culture from a different
perspective and with new psychological insight. Aliya is from a traditional, aristocratic Nawab
family and after her international exposure and Western education she begins to question the
values with which she has been brought up particularly when she meets a man from a poor
locality who is the ‘salt’ to Aliya’s ‘saffron’. The social hierarchy is rigid in the culture in which
she has been brought up and she begins to feel the burden of the family heritage she has been
carrying. Salt and Saffron both celebrates and questions the culture of oral storytelling. Aliya is
aware of the vibrancy and richness of her family stories and the art of storytelling itself and this
storytelling culture has helped to create a web of ‘family identity’ which she now wishes to
loosen. Salt and Saffron is an exploration of the search for a balance between individual identity
and ancestral and cultural heritage.

The story of Kartography (2002) begins when Karim and Raheen, the protagonists, are in
their early 20s. In flashback Shamsie depicts their 1970s childhood which is related to the
interlinked tales of their parents’ past. As Karim and Raheen’s friendship develops, the tension
of their personal story is set against the turbulence of political violence in Pakistan. The
flashbacks particularly emphasize the 1971 Civil War. Once again, the writer explores the
experiences of the wealthy elites in an unstable nation, which is constantly in some kind of crisis.
Just like Hasan in Shamsie’s first novel, the position of the wealthy characters depicted in this
novel is also not secure and they have the awareness that they are standing on the perilous
ground. The title ‘Kartography’ refers to Karim’s wish to create a detailed map of Karachi. He
has the realization that the city of Karachi, has no printed map and the locals rely on their
intuitive knowledge and personal experience to move around. Karim’s wish to create a map
suggests his love for his home city. It also expresses his desire to create order in the city disorder
(Gayer, 2014). He has drawn his first map while leaving his homeland at the will of his father.
 17

His passion for map-making for Karachi remains intact throughout the novel. Raheen, on the
other hand, fails to understand his need to make a map. Shamsie incorporates the personal stories
of her fictional characters with the political and social background which is touching and
sensitive. She presents the much-neglected story of the succession of East Pakistan within
original and lively fictional stories (Myerson, 2002).

Broken Verses (2005) is once again set in Karachi. It deals with idealist fundamentalism
and the conflict it creates in the life of the protagonist and her mother, whose absence creates all
the difference. Aasmani Inqalab, the protagonist, is a young woman in her 30s.She struggles with
the tragedy of the absence of her mother, Samina, a feminist activist who disappeared 14 years
ago, along with her lover, ‘The Poet’. He is a revolutionary, who is presumed to be murdered.
Aasmani remains in a state of grief but she has mixed feelings towards her mother - she is
intensely proud that Samina fought for her beliefs yet angry and hurt that she –the only child, has
been neglected and abandoned for the sake of politics. Consequently, Aasmani has always been
in a state of confusion. She is uncertain about her own belief-system and sense of identity. She is
torn between her wish to carry on her mother’s work and her need to free herself from the
shadow of her powerful mother. Her character does not develop as such – and by the end of the
novel we can see her making a documentary on her mother’s life and work but does not seem to
be moving forward. This perhaps represents a country that is still haunted by and tied to
idealistic visions of the past (Cilano, 2013).

Burnt Shadows (2009), Kamila Shamsie’s fifth and epic novel, is the one that is set
outside Karachi. It covers more than half a century. It begins with the fatal day of the dropping of
the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, and moves on, through colonial India to Partition, from
where starts Hiroko, the protagonist’s another displacement to Karachi, the city which later has
to cope with another huge influx of refugees during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The
involvement of the world power stakeholders, neocolonialists and the rest of the world in Afghan
Jihad and then World Trade Centre attack on 9/11 and the post-9/11 world, all are a part of
Shamsie’s epic novel. All this is woven around the stories of two families that include
individuals of several different nationalities and a number of cross-cultural relationships.
 18

Burnt Shadows begins with a prologue with the depiction of post-9/11 world where an
unnamed man – naked, chained and terrified prisoner is ready to be transported to Guantanamo
Bay who is at a loss of his wits to wonder “How did it come to this?” (Shamsie, 2009, p.1)

From here the novel takes a gigantic turn and quickly transports the readers to 1945
Nagasaki-Japan, before coming back to Guantanamo Bay at the culmination point, setting out to
answer this gigantic question. The protagonist is a Japanese woman, Hiroko Tanaka, whose
German fiancée, Konrad Weiss, vanishes with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki on
9th August 1945. Her sufferings caused by radiation bring her to Tokyo where after treatment she
starts working with the Americans as a translator until one day an American’s justification for
the dropping of the bomb that it was necessary to save the Americans’ lives, compels her to leave
Japan. She moves to India where Konrad’s half-sister lives with her British colonial husband,
James Burton. A number of cross-cultural relationships develop: Hiroko establishes a close and
lasting bond of friendship with Konrad’s sister -Elizabeth, before falling in love with Sajjad Ali
Ashraf, an Indian Muslim. During the Partition of British India, Hiroko and Sajjad are in Turkey
on their honeymoon from where they are forced to move to Pakistan instead of returning to
India. After living in the refugee camp for sometimes they settle in Karachi and have a son,
Raza. Thus, Sajjad loses his native city, Delhi, in the same way as Hiroko lost her motherland,
and Shamsie explores the relationship between place and identity along with relationships
between people from very different cultures. Shamsie’s narrative links the stories of the Burtons
and the Ashrafs over decades coming to a crucial point when Burton’s son Harry gets involved
with the CIA and later with a Private Military Corporation(PMC) Arkwright and Glenn(A&G)
as a contractor and goes to Afghanistan during the War on Terror. He takes Raza, Hiroko and
Sajjad’s son along as a translator (Shamsie, 2009).

Burnt Shadows raises and explores many topical and contentious issues. Shamsie’s
fictional characters struggle to grasp their national identity, the role of religion and politics in it,
and the impact, these issues have created on their own lives. The whole novel moves towards
finding an answer to the question asked by the unnamed prisoner in the prologue “How did it
 19

come to this …?” (Shamsie, 2009, p.1). Burnt Shadows is a thought-provoking discourse as it
raises questions more than answers, but this is what brought Shamsie to the limelight on the
global scene. Through this epic novel, she shows the continuity of the hegemonic practices from
Nagasaki to Guantanamo Bay. Shamsie portrays the personal stories of two cross-cultural
families whose losses and pains “bring to life the real human suffering behind war and politics
and which have never been considered by those who wage wars for their own vested interests”
(O’Reilly, 2009).

Shamsie’s recent novel A God in Every Stone (2014) transports the readers to a different
place and time .It is a tale of three different empires: the ancient Persian, the Ottoman state and
the British India. Its huge span encompasses two continents and it deals with two important
historical events of the 20th century. It deals with the theme of war and its impacts on human
loyalty and the destruction of the empires. A God in Every Stone has an epic quality. It begins as
a love story, but then encompasses different subjects like colonialism, nationalism, war, gender
and archaeology. Shamsie weaves the personal tales with the historical event to great political
effect. (Shamsie, 2015)

I have chosen Kamila Shamsie’s novels to study diaspora as she presents a variety of
Diasporas in them. Her postcolonial background and exposure and experiences of the
neocolonial, globalized world (Spivak, 1990) lend her a vantage point to deal with the real life
issues like displacement: physical, social, psychological and identity crisis both emotional and
political.

By and large all Kamila Shamsie’s novels are written in the background of major
historical events e.g. dropping of the atomic bomb in World War II, Partition of India, I971 Civil
War and Fall of Dhaka, Russian Invasion of Afghanistan and resultant Jihad and then the Fall of
the Twin Towers on 9/11, the post 9/11 world and the impact of all these events on micro level
human life. All these events are the result of a tug of war for supremacy of the national and
 20

international power stakeholders. Since Kamila Shamsie is well-versed with the world and
Pakistan history so she has blended it in her fictional discourse.

The chapter wise division will be as follows:

1.7. Organization of the Thesis

This Chapter i.e. Chapter 1 has dealt with the introduction of the study, statement of the
problem, objectives of the study, research questions, delimitations of the study, significance of
the study, methodology used for the exploration of the text, definition and history of diaspora
and the rationale of choosing Shamsie’s fiction.

Chapter II of Review of Literature focuses on the issues raised in the research questions
in the context of historical events and worldwide trends in power politics and their impacts on
literary discourses.

Chapter III of Methodology deals with the theoretical frame work used for the study,
salient features of the Fairclough model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and research
design adopted for the exploration of the texts in the reflection of the research questions.

Chapter IV of Analysis comprises the detailed analysis of the selected portions of the
selected texts. The analysis elaborates the issues of place and displacement, identity crisis,
power, hegemony and ideology in Shamsie’s fictional work.

Chapter V of Conclusion will provide a summary of the whole study, findings of the
analysis and recommendations for the future research .It will be followed by references using
APA 6th Edition for citation.
 21

CHAPTER 2

LITREATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews literature and works pertinent to the present study and its concern of place
and displacement, diaspora and identity crisis. Diaspora as a phenomenon can be traced back to
antiquity (Brown, 2006). However, in the postcolonial world, far larger movement of people has
occurred across the world (Said, 2000). As a field of academic studies, it is informed by
contemporary conditions of global capitalism, globalization and diaspora, though it implies
different histories and modes of experience by different people (Banerjee et al., 2012). Its
emergence as a field of studies has been paralleled or even affected by the emergence of a world
that appears to be shaped by an ever-greater degree of dispersal of peoples and the consequent
rise of new forms of collective identities (Banerjee et al., 2012).

2.1. Transnational Migration and Types of Diaspora

Mark Shackleton (2008) writes in the introduction of Diasporic Literature and Theory –
Where Now? “The notion of diaspora in particular has been productive in its attention to the real-
life movement of peoples throughout the world, whether these migrations have been through
choice or compulsion.” (Shackleton, 2008, p .ix) He further writes, “But perhaps of even greater
significance to postcolonial theory has been the consideration of the epistemological implications
of the term – diaspora as theory.” (Shackleton, 2008, p .ix) He elaborates, “Such studies see
migrancy in terms of adaptation and construction – adaptation to changes, dislocations and
transformations, and the construction of new forms of knowledge and ways of seeing the world.”
(Shackleton, 2008, p. ix)
 22

Diasporas can be conquerors and settlers like Spaniards in America and Normans in
Britain, refugees escaping wars or persecutions like the German Jews, the Iraqis and the
Afghans, peasants fleeing drought and famine like nineteenth century Irish and Mexicans in
twenty first century in America, as unemployed labourers, like Turks, Indians and North
Africans in contemporary Europe, skilled workers or highly educated professionals like Asians
and Africans in the Gulf countries and the developed world, merchants like Indian traders in east
Africa. Most of the afore-mentioned migrants are voluntary but some are forced like Africans
transported to America as enchained slave labourers (Esman, 2009).

According to an estimate published by the United Nations in 2005, “three percent of the
world population live outside the country of their birth” (Esman, 2009, p.32). Globalization, a
trend set by the main stake-holders of international free market economy, has accelerated the
speed of migration and “majority of the migrants move from low income to the rich
industrialized countries but some move to middle income and low income countries as well to
take advantage of better job opportunities” (Esman, 2009, p.5).

Though initially it was believed that the transnational migrants are among the poorest of
the poor in their native lands and they used to migrate for better earning (Cohan, 1997). This can
be termed as forced dispersal that corresponds to the classical concept of diaspora. However, the
most recent trends all over the world indicate that migration is one of the bright options for the
rich because they can afford it. They opt for it for several reasons. Better educational and
employment facilities are the prime reasons for their migration. Most of the Asian, African and
especially Pakistani English fiction writers fall into this category of immigrants. Such people
rebuild their lives in their host country and prefer to make it their second home. They often make
communities there and constitute diaspora from the country of their origin (Esman, 2009). Such
diasporas “tend to lead transnational dual existences, economically and occupationally in their
host country, but socially and culturally still in old country…they call upon their homeland for
cultural reinforcement” (Esman, 2009, p. 5).
 23

Even in homeland their special focus is their birthplace or the village or country where
once they lived but in some cases "the homeland is only an ideological construct"(Brubaker,
2005), the product of a myth or collective memory, e.g. “Jews, for millennia yearned for
Jerusalem as their lost homeland they had never seen but could only visualize in their
imagination” (Esman, 2009, p.5). Generally speaking, diaspora communities adapt to the new
environment while maintaining transnational sentiments and material links by visiting their
former homeland and being in touch with people living there.

Diasporas usually learn and use the language of their host country, and participate in the
mainstream educational, political and economic institutions (Cohan, 1997). But despite this
active participation they may maintain a dual or hybrid identity, summoning the one or the other
as "different situations may require” (Esman, 2009, p. 7) like Shamsie studied in an American
university and has been working in England, got British citizenship but also loves to retain her
original identity as Karachiwalla (Shamsie, 2014) and not the English version of it as
Karachiites.

Diasporas that are reinforced by a separate religious tradition maintain their distinct
religious identity even when their members have been fully accultured to the local mainstream
and participate actively in mainstream institutions e.g. Jews in Britain, Sikhs all over the world
and Muslims in the West love to retain their separate religious identity (Brown, 2005).

Diasporas are the unofficial ambassadors of their own indigenous identity in the host
country. They become important non-state actors in international affairs. According to Esman
(2009), diasporas function in trilateral sets of relationships in the post-colonial world; that
involve:

i. “their country of origin, the homeland, its government, political movements, mass media
sources of information, their extended family and friends;
 24

ii. their host country, its government, and the economic, political, educational, and
informational institutions that affect the survival, well-being, and adaptation of the
diaspora to its new and often less-friendly environment; and

iii. the diaspora itself and its many linkages with the homeland, host country, and segments
of the diaspora in other countries and in other cities of the host country”( Esman,2009, p.
10).

In Shamsie’s case, she maintains her ties with the country of her origin and her family.
She keeps herself informed about what has been going on its political and social scene and writes
about it in her fictional and non-fictional discourse. She has adopted the language and the dress
code of the host country. She has been working with a renowned international media group and
in general life seems to be at ease there but even then loves to visit her country time and again,
loves to writes about the city of her origin.

Presently, diaspora as a term is applicable to the immigrants who leave their homelands
for better opportunities of earning and learning in different parts of the world. It has resulted in
their assimilation as by adapting to the new environment. Simultaneously, modern means of
communication make it possible for such diasporic individuals to maintain links with the place of
their origin.

2.2. Common Features of Diasporas

Robin Cohen (1997), an economist, sets forth some common features of Diasporas which
are applicable to postcolonial Diasporas as well. They are:

i. dispersal from an original homeland, often traumatically, to one or more foreign regions;

ii. alternatively, the expansion from a homeland in search of work, in pursuit of trade, or to
further colonial ambitions;
 25

iii. a collective memory and myth about the homeland, including its location, history and
achievements;

iv. an idealization of a putative ancestral home and a collective commitment to its

maintenance, restoration, safety and prosperity and even to its creation;

v. the development of a return movement that gains collective approbation;

vi. a strong ethnic group consciousness sustained over a long time and based on a sense of
distinctiveness, a common history and a belief in a common fate;

vii. a troubled relationship with host societies, suggesting a lack of acceptance at the least or
the possibility that another calamity may befall the group;

viii. a sense of empathy and solidarity with co-ethnic members in other countries of
settlement; and

ix. a possibility of a distinctive, creative, enriching life in host countries with a tolerance for
pluralism. (Cohen,1997)

These features have been exemplified above in the form diasporic identities found all over
the globe since time immemorial.

2.3. Modern Concept of Diaspora

Modern expanded concept of diaspora in the globalized world is rather a departure from
the classical concept. As stated above, it refers to a “migrant community that maintains material
or sentimental linkages with its home country, while adapting to the environment and institutions
of its host country” (Esman, 2009, p. 9). Talking about modern diaspora, Brown (2006) writes,
"Becoming a diaspora is a long –time business of managing change and continuity, and of
negotiating old and new senses of 'identity as people come to terms with their new environment”
(Brown, 2006,p.26). This is true of post-colonial diaspora subjects as well.
 26

While looking at the category of diaspora we also have to keep in mind the patterns of
movements; who journeyed from where and to what destination, for what reasons and with what
resources. Resources also include attitudes as well as money and skills. In postcolonial diasporas
we can find the difference in the patterns, objectives, resources and attitudes in the movements of
the colonizers and the colonized.

In the neocolonial world after 9/11 there is hostility to in-comers with different ethnic
origins ---like discriminations against the Muslims, the Pakistanis and the Afghans in the West in
general and America in particular. The Muslims are considered as ' problem people' (Brown,
2006). They are stereotyped as terrorists in world’s new grand narratives (Said, 1978) for the
justification of discriminatory laws. Islam is equated with terrorism and Muslims with terrorists’.
The postcolnial “Othering” (Said, 1978) continues in the neocolonial world as well in the garb
security concern.

Often migration needs a zeal for and a vision of broader horizon. It also desires for an
awareness of the potential change and connections, information and some material resources to
make the decision to move thousands of miles. Shamsie, as a modern diaspora subject, is
privileged to have them all. Through her writing, Shamsie has proved her worth as a
distinguished Pakistani Diaspora writer.

As opposed to Cohen’s stated features above, what unifies diaspora is not the fact of origin
in a particular part of the world but the assumptions, social structures and cultural patterns which
the migrants often bring with them. A diaspora community also has a sense of being in some way
still connected with the place of their origin as well as belonging to their new homelands.

Members of South Asian diaspora often identify themselves in composite and multiple
terms reflecting they have more than one source of personal origin or means of self-identification
e.g. Asian American, British Pakistani, British Muslims, Canadian Sikh, etc. They manage their
many different identities in combination and move with considerable ease in and between
 27

different public and private environments. They feel at home in the adopted land but with
knowledge of ethnic and religious distinctions which make them different from older members
of the host society as well as other strands of diaspora (Brown, 2005).

In the more recent times an added dimension of diaspora identity is in its connection with
other parts of the diaspora through ties of kinship particularly among the wealthy and more
educated who have been able to seize the opportunities of global migration and employment
(Esman, 2009). In quite a new way, they become transnational individuals, at home in the places
where they have settled, put down strong roots and constructed supportive social and cultural
networks, yet linked in many ways to the countries of familial origin, while at the same time
recognizing their connections with a wider diaspora. It is quite true of Shamsie who told in one
of her interviews that she has homes in all the three continents (Shamsie, 2014). The experiences
of such transnational diaspora and their sense of self and of belonging tell us much more about
the profound changes occurring in the modern world (Brown, 2006). Shamsie also falls into this
category of transnational individuals.

Mishrah (2007) is of the view that ‘Diasporas’ are precariously lodged within an
episteme of real or “imagined displacements, self-imposed exiles…they are haunted by specters
arising from within” (Mishrah, 2007, p.9).He says, “…diasporas are fluid, ideal, social
formations happy to live wherever there is an international airport and stand for a longer, much
admired historical process” (Mishrah, 2007, p. 9). He further adds “…diasporas have a
progressivist as well as a reactionary 'streak' centres on the idea of one's 'homeland' as very real
spaces from which alone a certain level of redemption is possible(Mishrah, 2007, p.9).” And
when a homeland is not available in any 'real' sense, it exists as an absence that acquires surplus
meaning by the fact of diaspora (Brown, 2005). It is not unusual for the two versions; the
physical and the mental to be coalesce into an ahistorical past going back to antiquity (Mishrah,
2007).
 28

The new postcolonial diaspora surfaces precisely at the moment of postmodern

ascendancy; it comes with globalization and hyper mobility, it comes with modern means of
communication already fully formed like aero planes, internet, video links webcam, cell phones
etc. (Singh, 2012).In the world of visual media now ‘net’ constitutes the ‘self’---indeed
homeland is now available in the confines of one's bed room.

2.4. Diaspora and Literature

Past studies on migration featured the concept of Diaspora as being established on the
presumption that group membership engenders a certain type of solidarity massively perceived
different from other groups. Yet, as long as diaspora consists of shared memories and similar
attributes, these are likely to diminish or assimilate the dynamic environment as time passes by
(Chambers, 2011). To further discuss this meaning of diaspora, this research shall interlink the
diasporic literature written by Kamila Shamsie and its interplay with power and language, among
other elements. The concept itself has enmeshed immensely with the studies of race, country,
identity, migration and identity in the past years.

Diaspora is also regarded a descriptive term which ‘meant displaced communities of people who
have been dispersed from their local homeland by migration, exile, or immigration (George,
1996). Before the 1990’s, diaspora was extensively applied with reference to the Jewish and
African experience of physical resettlement which was usually ‘enforced’ (Bauman, 2008). But
in recent times, as the use of diaspora has widened to encompass a greater range of peoples, so
its theoretical power has also heightened.

Diaspora in its definition moves from a basic, descriptive tool to a concept that covers a
multi-faceted social dynamics (Bauman, 2008). Congruently, diaspora has developed from a
concept mainly linked with geography, migration, and movement towards as a field of study that
concerns with identity construction and confusion (Gray, 2009). In the more recent as well as
theoretically advanced evaluation, diaspora means “the doubled relationship or dual loyalty
 29

which exiles, migrants and refugees carry for places. They are connected to the spaces they
presently occupy and they are also continuously involved with their connection “back home”
(Gray, 2009).

There are various reasons why diaspora has increasingly come to be synonymous with
migrants and migration. Many of the people whom literature describes as diasporic are not, in
fact, migrants but the offspring of migrants or what they call as the second, third generations of
those who previously experienced migration (Morey, 2011). In another point, the term migrant
pinpoints to a nation-centric sociology, where nation and society are uncomplicated and the unit
of analysis is set into the country (Morey, 2011). On a second note, migrant is to be
misconstrued because when it is used as a euphemism for “not from this place,” it marginalizes,
racializes and set out specific people (Morey, 2011).

“Immigration” has become equal to the name of race, a new name but one which is
functionally equal to the old definition (Jameson, 1986). Because of the advanced means of
communication and transportation it is further glorified by the concept of globalization. Getting
education in the advanced countries and settling there for better opportunities have been on the
rise in the recent years. Another distinction is that migration pertains to a one-off event and it is
conceived as an act of dislocation or re- location. Migration is taken as a one-way process by
which previous affiliations are severed to be exchanged by new affiliations (Jameson, 1986). In
modern societies, migrations are more commonly multi-directional and multiple (Jameson,
1986).
 30

2.5. Diaspora and the Concept of Self

‘Self’ is a person's essential being that distinguishes him/her from others. It is considered
as an object of introspection or reflexive action. Dictionary.com defines self as a person with
respect to complete individuality. Online The Free Dictionary refers to it as the total, essential, or
particular being of a person. Experience, perception, emotions and thoughts all are related to
one’s place and displacement and all combined together go in the making of one’s self.

According to Bassnet & Trivedi (1999), diaspora reflects the influence of both, the local
and the global on peoples' conceptions of self: a “multiplicity of belongings and identities”
(Bassnet & Trivedi, 1999). The hybrid identities that feature diasporic communities do not
necessarily require a post-modernist diffusion of identity, in which “culture becomes a free-
floating landscape; its parts are continuously in flux” (Bassnet & Trivedi, 1999). Instead, these
are always and constantly founded in power relations such as those linked with economic,
political and cultural processes. However, these must be considered as the products of “a long
history of contrasts between unequal cultures and forces (Rahman, 1991).” Shamsie herself is the
best example in this connection; she belongs to Pakistan, a part of an ex-colony. Despite being
educated in an American university and a establishing herself as a renowned writer and journalist
she encountered great difficulties in acquiring British citizenship.

According to Stuart Hall (as cited by Berendse & Williams, 2002) the use of the concept
of diaspora enables the writers and scholars to develop various frameworks for understanding the
formation of identity. Hall explains the consciousness of diaspora as a product of differentiation
and this difference is generally stressed against homogenizing national concepts. A stereotyped
national culture is defined contrary to the “generalized image of otherness which the diaspora has
established” (Said, 2003).
 31

2.6. Pakistani Diaspora

Shamsie is distinct with her diaspora stories since she lives and writes in Pakistan unlike
most of the other diaspora writers who reign throughout in the Western world. Diasporic writing
falls under classification such as ethnicity, hybridity and nationality (Chambers, 2012). The
geopolitical, economic, and post-colonial circumstances have shaped the post war "new
migration" in the updated phase of globalization. However, Shamsie’s global interconnections
and the use of modern technologies promote a more dynamic theme in diaspora. As such, she has
magnified the diasporic consciousness among migrants because the old place and abode can be
so much more present in the lives of migrants (Chambers, 2012).Migration is stressed by the
absence of permanence and the borders between Pakistan and some host countries such as UK ,in
Shamsie’s case, render too much fluidity in her works.

For Britain and some European nations, diasporas, represent the implosion of their old
empires and a counter migrational direction (Procter, 2003). In this context, migration into the
West by those people from overseas or the old colonies is tainted with complex economic,
political and psychological legacies of colonialism in the postcolonial world. The national
symbolism of European nation-states is founded mainly on the imaginings of homogeneity. They
clash with new realities – different racial, linguistic, cultural, and religious nature of their
cosmopolitan societies, as characterized by the great population of the Muslim people (Mondal,
2008).

All diasporic journeys are sophisticated and intricate and Shamsie presents the diasporic
journeys of her fictional characters with all their intricacies. They are entrusted into multiple
modalities such as gender, race, economic class, religion, language, etc. Text, for Foucault
(1969), is not merely verbal but an interwoven entity of verbal and non-verbal components of the
social apparatus such as power and its implications in broader spectrum.
 32

2.7. Historical Events and Creation of Diaspora

My Literature review mainly focuses on my research questions in the context of major

historical events and their impacts on literary discourses which can be taken as modes of
presentation, representation, hegemony and resistance. In all such discourses language is
employed as a tool for the presentation and propagation of ideology as well as a means for the
perpetuation of hegemonic order or resistance against it. The contextual background of daispora
in general and Kamila Shamsie's fiction in particular is to be probed into, to have a better
understanding of the power structures that led to the creation of diasporas she presents .

The very notion of inter-discursivity makes a text an interactive mode within a network.
Fairclough (1992) coined the term “interdiscursivity” when he accounted for the more
overarching concept of “intertextuality”. He defines intertextuality as “the property texts have of
being full of snatches of other texts, which may be explicitly demarcated or merged in, and
which the text may assimilate, contradict, ironically echo, and so forth” ( Fairclough, 1992, p. 84
as quoted by Jian-guo, 2012, p. 1312). Foucault (1969) regards history as analects of dispersed
events which have to be re arranged, reduced and effaced in order to reveal the continuity of
events.

After the fall of the Berlin wall and disintegration of the second super power of the
world, the only super power had to create some grand narratives for the justification of opening
new fronts, running business of arms and ammunition and divert the attention of its citizens from
some real issues. Some enemy had to be created. Islam was selected for this purpose and
growing civilization consciousness was created to increase a rift between Islamic and the
European world or to be more exact Western world (Said, 1978).

There is a whole flux of history and power politics behind it. After 9/11, the Bush regime
created a dominating version of reality to legitimize its future actions. It has not only tried to
 33

impose its own version of the reality but also insisted on a criterion for the evaluation and
understanding of the so-called truth. This is how the only super power and its stakeholders
generated an illusion of the truth which they went on propagating and projecting for quite some
time. In the meantime, grand narratives about 'War on Terror' were created to implement their
policies for the perpetuation of their hegemonic designs (Chomsky, 2005).

On the other hand, the slogan of globalization was raised to promote capitalism. Guelke
(2006) raises question about globalization. He holds that globalization practically encourages a
cross-pollination of cultures so that identities do not remain bound to particular civilization. It is
an important addition to the political discourse pertaining to 9/11 and post 9/11 world order. It
traces the roots of terrorism in its multiple forms across the globe (Guelke, 2006). He
encapsulates the beginning and end of Afghan Jihad, the evolution of war lordism, the
establishment of Al-Qaida in Afghanistan, the establishment of connection by Israel and the
USA between Al-Qaida and Taliban, the Palestinian Intifada, Saddam Hussain, and the Kashmir
cause, etc. (Guelke, 2006). He legitimized the employment of extra judicial methods to allow
detentions of those non-US citizens who were suspected of terrorism without the privilege of an
attorney under the Patriot Act (Guelke, 2006).

There is much hue and cry about 'Clash of Civilizations'. The term was coined by
Huntington (2000). However, Stanley Hoffman in Clash of Globalizations (2002) criticizes
Huntington’s conception of the clash of civilization as hazy. He adds that Huntington fails to
take into account sufficiently the conflict within each so-called civilization. Rather he
“overestimated the importance of religion in the behavior of non-Western elites, who are often
secularized and westernized"(Hoffman, 2002, p. 105). The overlapping and juxtapositions that
are characteristics of a world where multiple power structures and their discourses are colliding
against each other and getting transformed find endorsement in Declan’s (2012) thesis on
"Fundamentalism and the 'Clash of Civilizations”. He highlights how children wearing Nikes in
the Middle East celebrates the collapse of the Twin Towers on 11th September, 2001. Such
images are highlighted on the world media to broaden the gap.
 34

Throughout the world, because of electronic and print media and the global networking,
there has been constant propaganda about certain stereotypical notions about the Muslims in the
West. This is how the power stakeholders create a justification for their power practices. Modern
imperial power structures of the only super power induced a sense of indeterminacy within the
identities of their subjects as American imperial ambition becomes more overt. Chomsky (2005)
in his Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance, highlights "Imperial
Grand Strategy” (Chomsky, 2005, p.11) devised by the foreign policy makers in the USA to
enforce their hegemonic order at the expense of their subject masses, both within and without the
USA.

2.8. Politics, Culture, Sociology and Postcolonial Diaspora Literature

Postcolonial Diaspora Studies is a complex thread of politics, culture, sociology and

literature. Loomba(1998) says that social and historical developments are very textual and they
can be taken out of their literary representation for example the details about the dropping of
bomb on Nagasaki in World War II and the unprecedented destruction it caused contain the real
history. Shamsie has presented this whole incident with reference to her protagonist ,Hiroko
Tanaka’s life .She beautifully blends Japanese culture, social customs and traditions along with
the bleak political scenario in which Japan was made to surrender unconditionally. Thus,
generally speaking, postcolonial literature reflects the anti-colonial struggle and try to uncover
the evils of hegemonic designs of the colonial rule in the colonies in particular and the rest of the
world in general.

The very act of colonization also influenced the mode of being (Fairclough, 2003) of the
colonized subjects linguistically, educationally and culturally. This was by design .For example;
in "Minutes on Indian Education" Lord Macaulay (1835) stated the very notion behind teaching
English to their subjects was to create "a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English
in taste, in opinion, in morals, and in intellect” (as quoted by Ashcroft et al, 1998, p. 430).In
Twilight in Delhi, Ahmad Ali (1951) presents Asghar who decides to wear English clothes and
 35

adopt their ways of living. Similarly the protagonist of The Heart Divided (Shah Nawaz, 1948)
returns from England with the resolve to live like an English man. The linguistic and cultural
identity of the colonial subjects was influenced by the hegemonic designs of the colonizers.

It may suffice to say, the major impact of place and displacement as brought about by
colonization, decolonizing and neocolonial trends, has given birth to a confusion about collective
identity (Cilano, 2013). It is a tragic fact that most aspects of personal and national identities are
lost with cultural colonization. However, Shamsie in her postcolonial diasporic discourse
highlights the indigenous modes of beings as well. She and her protagonist Raheen in
Kartoghraphy prefer to be identified as Karachiwallas instead of Anglicized Karachiites.

There is a strong relationship between language and identity. Shamsie belongs to that part
of the world which once used to a part of a British colony .Even after becoming an independent
state so long ago, the impacts of colonialism linger on. For example, use of English, the
language of the colonizers as a language of prestige. Shamsie prefers to write her novels in
English. This can also be taken from another angle. Hawley (1998) takes it as a rejection of the
present and the ex-colonizers’ monopoly over the instruments of communication which in post-
colonial terms is known as abrogation.

Like any other post-colonial diaspora writer, Shamsie, justifies “abrogation” and
“appropriation” as a linguistic process which is a direct result of colonialism. As Ali (1984) puts
it, “the language has to bring the weight of my national experience” (Ali, 1984, p.2). Thus, by
using language as a tool, postcolonial English diaspora writers like to signify their varied cultural
experiences. This argument is supported by Ramadan (2004) who argues that “language conveys
one’s own spirit.” Hence, language is “appropriated” in a number of ways to show different
cultural experiences of the post /neo colonial writers such as
Shamsie(1998,2000,2002,2005,2009,2014), Achebe(1950,1960,1964,1987), Desie (1974,1982),
Hamid(2000.2007,2013) and Hosseini(2000,2007,2013) just to name a few.
 36

Shamsie regards English as her first language which Ahmad (1997) regards as an impact
of the colonial culture. He elaborates that the objective behind the compulsory teaching and
exposure to English language and literature was of sharing Western values (Ahmed, 1997). This
was a colonial construct which shows the excellence of the West in managing their colonies. As
such, literature serves an ideological purpose through which the importance of indigenous
cultures was downplayed.

But then consequently, the post-colonial literatures which developed, showed variance
from the centre in terms of the representations of place and certain themes. The most significant
aspect is the depiction of place and displacement, among others, in terms of representation,
resistance, hybridity, nationalism, language, etc. (Brah, 1996). These issues are shared by most
post-colonial diaspora writers, and the attacks which they used to maintain distance and
“difference” while “adopting” the language, is the main characteristic of post-colonial literature.

This is why in postcolonial diaspora writings the geographical significance of each

domestic culture does not overcome the racial or ethnic part of the character searching for his or
her identity (Eakin, 1992). As an example, in a Muslim diasporic writing, the Muslim is taken as
the main source of culture from which the character’s identity is taken. However, this identity is
open to linkages and not being restricted to their peculiar nature. The concept of identity is
closely related to the concept of self. Burke & Stets (2009) define the concept of 'self ' as
consciousness of one’s very own identity in terms of physical, social and psychological being.
Postcolonial diasporic self comes out of a sense of alienation and difference from the hegemonic
circle (Woodwarth, 2008). Other psychologists and sociologists define the concept of identity in
varied contextual backgrounds like family, region, value system, caste, creed, nationality,
religion, status etc. (Thumboo, 2008). In his book, Identity: Youth and Crisis, Erikson (1968)
shows the idea of identity as being relative to another group. He also describes that there is a
stronger identity which emerges when the weaker group is taken from the dominant group or
from one community. In Shamsie’s fiction the issues of identity crisis of various characters are
related to their place and displacement. For example in Burnt Shadows Raza, a born Pakistani,
son of Sajjad, an Indian diaspora and Hiroko, a Japanese diaspora, has to experience identity
 37

crisis because of the origin of his mother who had been a victim to atomic bomb explosion in
World War II .Salma, his girlfriend refused his proposal by saying that he might have some
physical deformity because of his mother. This identity crisis led to his escape in an Afghan
refugee’s population as Raza Hazara. This momentary escape paved the way for his permanent
displacement from his home in Karachi. The culmination point of this identity crisis echoes in
the question of “Who am I?” (Thumboo, 2008) as we see him in the prologue as a naked,
nameless prisoner waiting to be escorted to Guantanamo Bay. This serves as a conceptual outline
for evaluating identity crisis in any literary paradigm. We find another example of identity crisis
of the kind mentioned above. In Burnt Shadows, when the colonial wife ,Elizabeth Burton ,tries
to pay a complement to her young boy Henry who was playing cricket in the garden saying,
“such a young Englishman” he scowled and retorted, “ I’m Indian” (Shamsie, 2009. P. 83).He
was sent to England not to be Indian where he was mocked at by the English boys for his Indian
accent. He had to leave England and join his mother in America, learning from his previous
experience he prepared himself to learn the American’s modes of being, but “Even so, on the
first day of school his foreignness overwhelmed him to the point of muteness” (Shamsie, 2009,
p.170), but then he decided to part with his previous identity and declared himself American
Harry.

Like colonialism, globalization also has its impact on peoples’ identity. The concept of
globalization became popular after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the break-down of the
Cold War system. In sharp contrast to the colonial period, globalization is taken as the dwindling
of national boundaries and state institutions in favour of multinational economic activity and
transnational migration (Legrain, 2002). It is also regarded as intensified cross-cultural
interactions, of course, facilitated by technology, as well as an explosion in multidirectional
migrations of various peoples (Sassen, 2008). Joseph Stiglitz(2002), an economist and winner of
the Nobel Prize defines globalization as " the closer integration of the countries and peoples of
the world . . . brought about by the enormous reduction of costs of transportation and
communication, and the breaking down of artificial barriers to the flows of goods, services,
capital, knowledge, and people across borders”(Stieglitz, 2002, p. 9).
 38

Like all human endeavour, globalization processes, are also strongly affected by the
values and objectives of the people involved in them (Legrain, 2002). Theoretically,
globalization should benefit all people across the globe, for it produces greater overall economic
activity. The achievement of an equitable distribution of the added value demands the people at
the helm of the affairs to exhibit the virtue of self-sacrifice to serve the higher purpose of the
good for all. But the fact remains that the colonial mindset never lets it materialize (Stieglitz,
2002) even in the postcolonial world. That is why globalization has been, for many, as something
feared and resisted. Induction of corporate culture is yet another manifestation of power and is
seen as a real threat to local values and local economies. The Western, secular value system of
the major economic actors is seen as a neo-colonial slur to people with non-Western cultural and
religious values (Stieglitz, 2002). Mohsin Hamid (2007) in The Reluctant Fundamentalist and
Shamsie (2007) in The Broken Verses highlight lights such identity issues for the Muslims in the
West in the post 9/11 world.

To illustrate the effect of place and displacement in identity crisis and post-colonial
context, let us take Shamsie’s novels as examples. In her novels, it is shown that Pakistan came
from a turbulent past and its literature is not without the traces of its socio-political developments
which shaped the country’s temporal and spatial landscape (Farahani, 2007). Individual and
collective identity underwent a transfiguration since an individual consciousness of individuality
and identity cannot be put in a vacuum separate from the socio-political developments within
one’s environment (Farahani, 2007). Pakistani writers like Kamila Shamsie ,Attia Hosseini,
Munnezza Shamsie, Bapsi Sidhwa, Zulfiqar Ghaus, Mumtaz Shah Nawaz etc. have to deal with
identity crisis in the context of Partition, the secession of East-Pakistan, the Martial Law of the
1980s, and the political developments since the 1990s (Farahani, 2007).

Gayer (2014) delves deep on the issue of Muhajir identity and throws light on the socio-
political moves that compelled the migrants to opt for a separate identity. Munnezza Shamsie
(1997) is of the opinion that the Partition of the Indian Sub-Continent created a vacuum within
the 'Self ' and identity of the Pakistani people both on the individual and the collective level.
Cilano (2013) argues that on the official level, an effort has been made to create a “conception of
 39

a harmonious Pakistani national unity”. The emphasis in this connection is on the construct of a
'homeland' which creates a sense of belonging and also helps provide a collective national
identity above all ethnic divides.

Shamsie's Salt and Saffron, Kartoghraphy and Burnt Shadows incorporate the power of
Muhajirs' mythology to justify the migration of the Indian Muslims leaving everything behind to
be Pakistanis .This illustrates how this version is popularized to establish a sense of belonging to
Pakistan (Cilano, 2013).Zafar in Kartography tells Asif, the feudal, that their parents left their
homes and everything behind at Partition not to be Sindhis or Muhajir but to be Pakistanis
(Shamsie, 2002). In the same novel she reveals the revival of Muhajir identity because of the
wrong policies of the provincial and federal government.

While Kahf (1999) is of the opinion that in terms of character, it took some time after the
independence and the Muslims' migration to Pakistan to adopt a collective identity. Because the
individuals were pulled out of their community before they shared their own personal
experiences from a personal perspective. The process of actual assimilation was gradual.

Strauss Hall’s(1993) theory of diaspora mentions that instead of thinking of identity as an

“already accomplished reality, which the new cultural practices represent “identity must be
taken as a “production” which is not always completed, but constantly processed and usually
constituted within, not externally to its representation” (Watson, 2000). Hall (1990) affirms that
the “re-acquaintance of this identity is usually the topic which another scholar, Frantz Fanon
once termed as a “passionate research” (Watson, 2000) and that such a “conception of cultural
identity had a significant role in all post-colonial struggles” (Watson, 2000).

The post-colonial model of place and displacement purports an unusual crisis of identity
which is related to the development or recovery of an effective, determining relationship between
self and place (Ashcroft, 2002). It signifies a “valid and active sense of self may have been
eroded by dislocation, resulting from migration, the experience of enslavement, transportation,
 40

or 'voluntary' removal for indentured labour (Ashcroft, 2002).” On the contrary, this may have
been destroyed by cultural denigration or the conscious and unconscious oppression of the
indigenous personality and culture of the colonized by a supposedly superior racial or cultural
model of the colonizer. The dialectic of place and displacement is often a characteristic of post-
colonial societies such as the South Asia and Africa due to the dynamics of settlement,
intervention, or a combination of both. Shamsie’s fiction is representative of this juxtaposition of
the historical and cultural differences, place, displacement, and a pervasive concern with the
legends of identity and authenticity (Ashcroft, 2002). It retells the past (Ashcroft, 1989). Such an
orientation would have to acknowledge that this is an “act of symbolic rediscovery” (Ashcroft,
1989). This involves “imposing a symbolic synchronicity on the experience of dispersal and
confusion, which is the tale of all enforced diasporas” (Ashcroft, 1989). This leads to the
restoration of a “symbolic greatness or fullness, to go against the broken stems of the past”
(Ashcroft, 1989).

2.9. Depiction of Place and Displacement in Shamsie’s Novels

Inherently, in all her novels, Kamila Shamsie proves herself as a superb storyteller. Her
special anecdotes about Pakistani family life in all the three novels reflect the greater tale of a
divided nation. In Burnt Shadows, Shamsie reveals a prisoner’s story. Its prologue questions:
"How did it come to this?” (Shamsie, 2009, p.1) through the voice of a naked prisoner who
thought he would be "wearing an orange jumpsuit” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 1) when he dressed again.
It depicts the popularly distributed images of Guantanamo Bay with less imagery but with
greater context of this Western incarceration (Stanford, 2008). Shamsie’s novel unfolds the story
of a series of place and displacement of the prisoner, his mother and his father from the
colonized and Harry and his mother from the colonizers’ side. The novel is ambitious in scope
ranging from the geographic and chronological breadth; it leads the audience from Japan’s
momentous World War II landscape unto the independence and Partition of India and Pakistan
amidst the local military regime and the US intervention (Shamsie, M., 2002) uncovering power
practices and power structures that ensure the hegemony of the powerful. It also leads to the War
on Terror between the United States and Afghanistan about which Adam Hodge (2011) writes in
 41

the introduction to his book, The 'War on Terror' Narratives: Discourse and Intertextuality in the
Construction of Sociopolitical Reality, that 9/11 merely happens to be one narrative about the
world on that particular day .He further adds that in order to break down its dominance one needs
to go beyond the picture propagated by the USA government and the media. What Hodge aims
at, is to illuminate the connection between micro level discursive action and macro level cultural
understanding. Shamsie displays this micro level discursive action and macro level cultural
understanding by linking the American with a gentle face to Kim Burton when Hiroko tells her,
“Kim, you are the kindest, most generous woman I know. But right now, because of you, I
understand for the first time how nations can applaud when their governments drop a second
nuclear bomb” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 362).

Kamila Shamsie created a counter narrative to present the other side of the picture and
her novel craftily moved to place one of the protagonists as an instrument of insight and
experience in the context of global destruction. This swift movement is combined by a selection
of national and cultural allegiances of the characters. In this enriching weave of individual and
national stories, Shamsie based the moral foundation of the novel on Hiroko Tanaka-Ashraf, a
survivor of the atomic explosion, who serves as a formidable reminder of the unprecedented
violence caused by the dropping of Atom Bomb in World War II. It is through her moving
insights that Burnt Shadows reveals its didactic view on the weakness of the new, nation-state.
Shamsie has shown how the crisis of identity is affected by the tragic national events between
Imperial Japan and England, the post-colonial India and Pakistan, a neo- colonial U.S.A., and a
Talibanized Afghanistan all are indicted as perpetrators of injustice and violence (Lowe, 2002).

According to Zinck (2010), the protagonist, Hiroko, became "the novel's interpreter of
personal and collective losses, of narratives of renewal of ties and estrangement, betrayal and
atonement... (Zinck, 2010, p.12)”. Shamsie overcomes the limited paths of ethnicity and religion,
which were taken as the main sin of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. "Shamsie
provides the consciousness and historical conscience through the colonial and post-colonial
disjuncture of the story for the conqueror’s forms of the modern and global world.” (Loomba,
2005, p. 97)
 42

Shamsie presents individual and collective national identity with an almost inconceivable
weight of history such as the World War II, British colonial rule, independence and Partition of
India, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and its Taliban recruitment and growth, and the
formidable 9/11 and its subsequent American intrusion into Afghanistan and Iraq. In the
presentation of these historical events, Shamsie lets the reader deciphers the historical
relationship between the colonizers and terrorism (Spivak, 2004). The writer has also brought
forth the other issues embedded in identity and culture by focusing on the global dynamics of
imperialism, enculturation and history.

Shamsie, being well-versed in contemporary history and latest global trends, explored
global events such as the trends of globalization, new world order, and hegemonic designs of
past and present super powers. She depicts the problems of the conditional and religious binaries
created by the West such as modern/regressive, secular/fundamentalist, western/non-western to
justify the global War on Terror. Adrian Guelke (2006) in his book Terrorism and Global
Disorder legitimized extrajudicial measures employed by the USA which allow the detention of
all those non-US citizens who were suspected of terrorism without the privilege of a legal
counsel under the Patriot Act. Shamsie, on the other hand depicts the impact of such laws on the
lives of those who exist in the world which is the 'Others' for the West and the Americans.

So in retrospect, there is a huge scope of Burnt Shadows and the timeline spans about 60
years. Language is also used as a class and cultural division, which further complicates the
problems of colonization, culture, racism, and wars.

What is going on at the macro level, is presented by Noam Chomsky (2005) in terms of
“The Imperial Grand Strategy”( Chomsky,2005,p.11) devised by the USA foreign policy makers
to enforce their hegemonic order at the cost of the subject masses, both within and outside the
USA discriminating the Americans and the ‘rest’. Shamsie (2009) refers to it by showing Kim’s
preference to travel only in those countries where she does not need a visa and her realisation of
 43

the difficulties Hiroko has to encounter for getting European visa because of her Pakistani
passport.

In the 4th Global Conference of Interculturalism, Meaning and Identity (2011), Shamsie’s
novels were explained in terms of the theme of identity vis a vis Rosi Braidotti’s theory of
nomadism. This theory illustrates a character that is in a constant state of becoming. As Braidotti
has depicted, a nomad is always reconstructing him/herself according to the varied experiences
he/she meets on his/her journeys (4th Global Conference of Interculturalism, Meaning and
Identity, 2011). This partly provides a migratory framework in the identity assessment of
Shamsie’s characters in Burnt Shadows.

For instance, Hiroko experiences dramatic, historical events which transpired from the
Second World War up to post 9/11 Terrorist attacks in New York City. These major events
support the impetus for each of her physical relocations and her respective “inner” relocations
(Yoneyama, 1999). Shamsie shows how Hiroko’s identity undergoes constant change because of
different political and cultural processes along with a series of displacement. In Shamsie's works,
history is neither rhetorical nor literary but instead a group of material and political
circumstances under which the individual struggles for meaning (Ahmed & Mukherjee, 2011).

Shamsie negotiates the identity of her fictional characters through a process of adaptation
and resistance and how they maintain their individuality/difference in the characters’ dynamic
interaction with the collective as a social adaptation (Gilmore, 1994). Shamsie's stories show the
modern concepts of the global, transmuted by the indeterminate nature and access of digital
information in the virtual age. They reflect a mobility of agencies and culture which is beyond
economic status, nationality, ethnicity, or race (Boehmer, 2010).

Harry’s character also shows comparatively comfortable position of the ‘Whiteman’ on

different locations. His personal discomfort is not akin to the institutional or political positions
available to him. It has more to do with his own inability to find his own abode. His smooth
 44

reconnaissance of the world illustrates the distinct, social capital wielded by Shamsie’s
characters. Whereas race, economic level and nationality serve Harry's goals, Raza's life is ruled
by the limitations of these elements (Ahmed, M., 2011).What Shamsie indirectly portrays is that
the world power structures in their globalized versions accommodate the 'white man' and the
'other' quite differently and hence lead to different types of identity issues.

In these literary instances, Shamsie finds hybridity limiting and generalizing the Pakistani
aspect of her British identity. Burnt Shadows does not render conciliatory narratives or provide
easy use of either Western or South Asian audiences. They go against the assumed rational by
forsaking their states of immigration and thus challenge their colonial citizenship and its
fundamentally attached privileges (Koshy, 2008). Shamsie’s novels gather attention to a special
type of a narrative history, one in which the subject is no longer beholden to base her or himself
in migrant locales but is based or rewired through the post-colonial nation.

2.10. Shamsie’s Narrative Techniques

The literature of the Third World usually serves as the representation by which Western
subjectivity might explain itself (Koshy, 2008). According to Morey & Yaqin (2010), through
her works, Shamsie “resurrects aspects of story-telling [where] one begins to ask ... what is at
stake in remembering and forgetting the past." Her stories address such concerns through irony
and paradox and through allegory. For one, allegory now becomes a global allusion and not a
national character.

In her novels, Shamsie concisely depicts how the drawn borders make people suffer great
pains no matter what the root cause may be. To illustrate, both Salt and
Saffron and Kartography, show the nations coming out of a chaos. Shamsie, in these instances,
has presented evidence of her great sense of identity as she is immersed in a special sense of
Pakistani history.
 45

It must be noted, however, that all things historically undergo continuous transformation.
Far from being formally fixed in some idealized past, they are subject to the persisting role of
history, culture and power .For example the Mujahedeen of the yester years are taken as the
terrorists of today. Ultimately, identity pertains to the names given to the different ways people
are positioned and placed within the narratives of the past (Watson, 2000) and the living, ground
realities of the present.

2.11. Diaspora, Language, Ideology and Power Relation

Use of language in Fairclough’s terms is a discourse which is a form of social practice

(Nash, 2012). This reflects that language is a mode of action or that it is socially pregnant. It
shapes the social conditions and it constitutes or socially transforms or creates (Nash, 2012).
CDA explores the tension between the two aspects of language – the socially shaped and the
constitutive. As it is, language is often constitutive of:

i. Social identities;

ii. Social relations;

iii. Knowledge and belief systems.

CDA then emerged as a theory of language which emphasizes the varied functions of language
and which oversees every text as continuously having the “ideational,” “interpersonal” and
“textual” functions of language (Nash, 2012).

In Burnt Shadows, Shamsie connects a moving saga which starts with a young,
Japanese woman in Nagasaki, in World War II and ends up after more than half a century thence
with a Pakistani prisoner who was to be sent off to Guantanamo Bay (Shamsie, 2009). The writer
skillfully depicts cartography of culture and diaspora. She illustrates, for instance, how in Indo-
Muslim society, the emotional landscape of mourning is usually communal instead of being
personal. For example, Urdu has no phrase for leaving a person with solitary grief. Shamsie also
 46

denotes the preference for the nuclear family against the extended one. As the matriarch of the
solid Ashraf family in New Delhi (before the Partition) strongly declares, “maa-dern” is a word
“made only to cut you off from your people and your past (Shamsie, 2009)”. Complexity of
intercultural relationship is also reflected by Sajjad’s failure to taste sushi even after 35 years
with Hiroko. It signifies the presence of unexplainable and inherent predispositions and
preferences which span from the loyalty to one’s culinary heritage to the cognitive geography of
marriage (Dhume, 2009).

Pakistani culture and ideology is also reflected by the way the characters are bent on
some fundamentalist preferences. For instance, the personal happenstance of political events
depicts Hiroko’s 16-year-old son asking her to cover her legs so as to be “more Pakistani”
(Shamsie, 2009, p. 289). The cultural values are also shown in the extending of the
Kameez sleeves on a Karachi beach, in the bearded youth’s sense of entitlement as he searches
bookstores for covers which dare illustrate women, in the obscureness of needing to pass
“Islamic studies” so as to register as a law undergraduate.

Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows evidently provides an “important historical

counterpoint to long standing Orientalist tropes (Ahmed, et al., 2012).Shamsie’s novels also
highlight the notion that people do experience Pakistan in complex ways. It does not have a
homogenous culture or a homogenous language. She also illustrates an exploration of fiction and
literature which cannot be relegated to any single language as no unitary language has a
monopoly of Pakistan (Cilano, 2013). She explains that the writers should understand that they
come from a point of ignorance and writing is as much about learning as it is about
expressing. While English fiction continues to entertain accusations of patronizing Western
audiences, it does bring interesting facets and new dimensions about Pakistan to higher heights.
Cilano (2013), while talking about the representation of Pakistaniness in English fiction by
Pakistani writers, says that her analysis of more than two dozen novels does not provide her a
single definition of Pakistaniness rather it creates a spectrum that runs from a reinforcement of
dominant modes of belonging to reinvent the terms of collective attachment like the idea of a
homeland.
 47

Banerjee (2010) says that Kamila Shamsie puts the questions of displacement and
diaspora as mere anxieties while Shamsie portray them in her fiction as living realities. Even as
a child, when she was very intrigued and obsessed by English novels, she noted that none of the
stories ever took place in Karachi (Shamsie, 2014). Her imagined world was the world of
foreigners. Hence, she figured out that when she grew older, she would write a novel which
would be set in her own country (Banerjee, 2010).

Shamsie’s way of expressing the stories of persons and of the nation is delicately
representative of the series of traumatic displacement, experienced individually and collectively.
There are various themes involved, such as distrust, disruptions, confusions, etc. These are all
bridged by the common event of their country’s partition as it weaves a similar experience in
personal and national significance. Shamsie impressed the idea of home as the focal point of her
diasporic writing (Nyman, 2009). She perfectly qualifies the notions of shared homeland and a
sense of a globally dispersed community, even when she herself entirely stays in Pakistan.

Salt and Saffron illustrates counter discursive approaches to negotiate a non-essentialist

identity. The discourse of power is countered by the wit of the writer in coming up with word
games and neologisms, which aims to replace the authoritative language and politics with
statements that do not entirely represent its real sense (Nyman, 2009). The main character’s
linguistic game with another character in London to discuss the national trauma of Partition is
exemplified by the use of the counter discursive as follows:

Not a lot of interesting words that rhyme with Partition. I wanted to write a ghazal, in
English, for a class. With Partition as the rhyme. Partition. Ma’s mission, Pa’s wishin.’
Turns into a country and western song. Allowing for half rhymes isn’t too rewarding
either, Partition. Fruition. Revision. Condition.”

“Division,” Baji said.

“Mauritian,” said Samia, and saved the day. (Shamsie, 2000, p. 37)
 48

As literature or theory goes beyond its inherent context, it is inevitably relocated and
recoded to a local, customized setting. The process and politics of adaptation make this special
and language and power are entrapped within this dynamic of relocation (Ashcroft, 2010).

Most of Shamsie’s characters have one thing in common: they have a love for languages
(Abbasi, 2010). It is not of personal preference or resonance. She uses language as a plot device
since diasporic people have to develop a unique relationship with each other and hence, they
have to speak in a shared language (Nash, 2012). Shamsie explained:

So I had Hiroko and Konrad’s relationship developed around Konrad’s need for a
translator who knew both Japanese and German. But as often happens with novels that
plot device quickly became a troupe of the novel – a symbol of various characters’
willingness to enter different worlds and experiences and make them their own.
(Shamsie, Signposts, n.d.).

2.12. Diaspora, Displacement, Alienation and Identity Crisis

The post-colonial theorists Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin (1989)
connect alienation with a sense of dislocation or displacement. They think that a group of people,
particularly those from the immigrant cultures, feel a sense of belonging and distance when they
think of their country and as they search for their own, inherent values (Puar, 2007). Culturally-
alienated societies usually show a weak sense of cultural self-identity and they discredit
themselves. Presently, the most extraordinary illustration of this alienation among peoples from
post-colonial countries is a desire for all things American - from music, television, apparels,
slang, etc. (Puar, 2007). Culturally alienated people will also exhibit small knowledge or interest
in the history of their host community. They have no real stake in them.
 49

There are many kinds of diaspora such as the Jews, the African, the Pakistani diaspora
which pertains to the Jews, Africans and Pakistani overseas. They are citizens who have
migrated to another country (Sassen, 2008).Pakistan has a very large diaspora, with 7 million
people in 40 countries (Rogers, 2013). More than 1 million of these people live in the U.K.
Hence, British Pakistanis are the second largest diaspora after Saudi Arabia (Rogers, 2013). This
diaspora stems back in history as they have been settling in the British isles for 400 years and
even before Pakistan was founded (Ahmad, A., 1987). Even the name, Pakistan, came from a
British origin. It was first coined by a Cambridge University student as an acronym for the
important parts of Punjab, the Afghan Borderlands, Kashmir, Sindh, and Balochistan (Hamid,
2007). Hence, the Pakistani diaspora has various British roots.

In the last half of the twentieth century, Pakistani diaspora has achieved a lot of things. It
has become the second, biggest ethnic minority in the U.K., a rich contributor to the cultural,
economic and political life of the nation, and a source of major national insecurity, as some of
the most critical terrorist threats to the U.K. still come from Afghanistan and Pakistan (Hamid,
2007). This diaspora has a special interest in the civil engagement and soft power between the
U.K. and Pakistan. Pakistan is still important to the foreign policy of the U.K. The same is true
with the other Diasporas, which have built themselves in their host countries. These diasporic
people have tried to overcome their circumstances overseas and try to dignify their existence in
foreign lands.

To illustrate how great historical events create displacement which leads to an identity
crisis in the life of displaced people, we look into the September 11 terrorist attacks. This
exemplified event is a major historical event that created an identity crisis in the lives of those
who were already displaced and were wandering diaspora. This was also very traumatic for the
different diasporas in the Western world, mainly the Arab and the Muslim diasporas. Even ten
years after the Gulf War and the Rushdie affair, most of these people have moved on from being
religious radicals to being more active in their multicultural rights. Shamsie presents the same
theme in Burnt Shadows when she depicts how Abdullah ,an Afghan, Kemal ,a Turk and Raza a
Pakistani are haunted by the FBI ,how the wave of nationalism took over America and New
 50

York, the most metropolitan city of the world becomes “ a net casts to the winds to catch any
Muslim”(Shamsie ,2009).

To point out, young, British Pakistanis were already making a more positive role in their
contemporary society. With the initial batch of immigrants at the verge of retirement, the
alienation seemed to be over for most of them. They seemed to have assimilated themselves in
the general society. But all this was swiped when the September 11 attacks ensued. This was also
aggravated by the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and then, the path for their new and enlightened
future ceased (Rothberg, 2009).

The global dominion of the English language at present time is very significant because
no country is now living in isolation. The discussion of pluralism and multi-culturalism is often
important in the understanding of peoples. Fundamental to this is the vital role of literature,
language and words (Rothberg, 2009). The issues of language, identity and migration are central
in postcolonial diaspora writings. There are many English language writers of Pakistani descent.
Kamila Shamsie is one of them. They are part of Pakistani diaspora. As many people inquire on
their ‘Pakistani’ identity, the theme is extended to the various migrations to and from Pakistan,
which exposes the different views about “home” and “belonging” in a new world.

The identity crisis is complicated by the fact that Pakistan is an ideological state and its
notion was trans-geographical (Werbner, 2004). The universalism of Islamic philosophy has also
translated to the fact that most Pakistani English writers perceive themselves in global
perspective and yet, they still identify with Pakistan. Nonetheless, geography has persisted to
assert itself, bringing about conflicts in ethnicity and language (Werbner, 2004). Pakistani
English writing has never been devoid of its foreign influences, not just in language, but also in
all aspects of world literatures in English and its history and features all are different to other
Pakistani literatures because its distinct language evolved through the East-West encounter
(Werbner, 2004). As Shamsie (2002) explained, since English was the language of the colonial
 51

power, the way the language was acquired, became a transit of migration. It meant establishing a
dialogue with the British on British terms and being akin to their thoughts, ways and norms.

2.13. Post 9/11 Global Diaspora

The events after September 11 showed the vulnerability of the Islamic diaspora in the
U.K. and around the world. They have made a mark in the critical, historical events. This
vulnerability blurs the attempt to distinguish Diasporas in terms of their origins such as
indentured labour, genocide, slavery or in terms of their types such as cultural, imperial, labour,
trade, or victim (Bhalla, 2008). Ironic as this may sound given the emphasis on certain origins, it
is obvious in historical terms that even with varied origins; the experiences of several Diasporas
usually converge. Specifically, labour and trade Diasporas usually become targets of principal
violence, particularly if they attain economic prosperity (Bhalla, 2008). Most of the Pakistanis
who migrated to the U.K. like other Arab migrants to Europe and the U.S. came as economic,
labour migrants (Bhalla, 2008). After the 9/11 days, they have been subjected to mere hatred and
xenophobic fears due to their religion. Born and raised in the diaspora, they have nonetheless
usually felt like rejected outsiders and second-class citizens.

To a specific extent, the Pakistani diaspora is integrated into various nations in Europe.
Like the other immigrants and ethnic minorities, it confronted issues linked to discrimination and
assimilation due to the cultural and religious differences (Abbasi, 2010). Even when they were
assimilated like any other minority communities, the Muslims generally still feel marginalized
(Abbasi, 2010). Central to these issues pertain to their religious identity and practices. For one,
the issues of the hijab and the mosque building remain vital in the Pakistani community. There is
also the issue of political representation. In geographic representation, the majority of the
Pakistani diaspora shows themselves through ghetto communities. To illustrate, the places of
residences for the Pakistani diaspora in the U.K. and Denmark include South Hall in West
London, and Bradford City in Yorkshire (Abbasi, 2010).But then there are some like Kamila
Shamsie, Lord Nazir, Chaudhry Ghulam Sarwar, just to name a few who rose to high pedestals,
 52

but still their longing for their homeland are manifested through their actions in practical life be
it a literary or political career.

According to Aziz (2013), a false identity is instilled through all types and means of state
and institutionalized coercion and manipulation among the Pakistanis. He writes that the lack of
clear cut consistent and well informed policies about religious and political institution,
curriculum designing, social justice, law and order and accountability and the condition of being
in a constant state of war have badly affected Pakistani society. Long years of social turmoil
have inculcated hatred, intolerance and violence. All this has naturally negative impact on
Pakistani people residing in the country and Pakistani diaspora elsewhere.

What happened as an after math of Afghan Jihad and the so-called War on Terror has
been used for the stereotyping of the Muslims all over the world. In Pakistan the violence is
inflicted at the expense of the Baloch, Pashtun, Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi, Hazara and other
indigenous identities (Aziz, 2013). Aziz goes on adding that the newly applied Arabized identity
had some peculiar characteristics such as its detachment from South Asia and closeness with the
Middle East; self-hatred or the manifestation of hatred towards South Asian descent and the
obsessed attempts of tracing Arabic, Central Asian or Iranian genealogies; and the patronage for
the foreign invaders in history; and sympathizing with present worldwide terrorists or jihadists
(Aziz, 2013). But, what Aziz ignored in this regard, is constant propaganda, and support for
further division, on part of the ‘Occident' to penalize the Orient'(Said, 1978).

The narrow-minded, shallow, skewed and imaginary distorted Muslim identity has
become the greatest curse for the Pakistani nation (Aziz, 2013). Shamsie throws light on it by
referring to fanaticism of the youth in Karachi, who ordered the shop keeper in the book store to
destroy all the books with the titles displaying pictures of women (Shamsie,2009).The
burgeoning ideologies coming from this false identity now pose serious threats to the world
peace and the very survival of the country itself. However, the Pakistani people are still groping
in the dark to identify their real enemy. The Pakistani people, generally, have developed
 53

sympathies for the Jihadist terrorists since they can relate to their angst and they have common
sentiments and shared identities (Aziz, 2013). Hence, it further leads to confusion and division
among the collective citizens. Ultimately, this identity crisis has generated a population which is
crushing towards double standards and pretensions. Hence, the national events bring forth a
dilemma among its own people .Shamsie presents the after effects of Afghan Jihad on Pakistani
society.

Pakistan is at a strange juncture of its history, the very notion behind the creation of
Pakistan goes with establishing a Muslim welfare state which ensures peace for all, but the
cultural invasion in the guise of more than free so-called liberal media under the strong influence
of the India and the West, has badly influenced their social beliefs, family values and society
norms. They are at the cross roads and quite confused about their identity. Interestingly, they also
have an extraordinary love-hate relationship with their Muslim and Pakistani identity. The
collective guilt of living “immoral” or un-Islamic lives (and more of the other diasporic social
systems) pushes them towards greater religiosity. But Shamsie, does not present such version of
Pakistani diaspora, she either presents transnational modern diaspora who have been at ease
everywhere or victim diaspora like Raza who has always been eyed suspiciously by the
American intelligence agencies like FBI and CIA because of their Pakistani origin.

In addition, the 9/11 incident pinned down the “truth” as a main word in motivating the
Muslim narratives (Ranasinha, 2007). Writers and editors suddenly felt the compulsion to be
more factual and insightful of the real conditions circling being “Muslim” or Islam, in general.
Muslim women, as they grew restless of their misrepresentations, intended to express their
reality without having to take sides in each issue or be more secularist as against being
fundamentalist (Ranasinha, 2007).They initiated Muslim characters of feminist caliber, a concept
which was completely innocuous in previous times. They showed the difference between
patriarchal traditions and Islam. Nevertheless, the 9/11 stigma made the situation and the
identities more complex since there are storytellers and there are just readers. The elements of
distortion and confusion ensued (Abbasi, 2010).
 54

2.14. Conclusion

Diaspora and the consequent identity crisis are the key issues in my study of Kamila
Shamsie's fiction which are related to people's movement across international borders. This has
been a common phenomenon throughout the recorded human history, but in recent times it has
become more frequent.

The notion of “Muslim” as a stigma has become a repeatedly used motif in literature in
the post 9/11 era. Abdullah tells Raza in Burnt Shadows “New York now is nets cast to the
winds, seeking for any Muslim to ensnare” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 353). The attacks on the Western
power centres signified varied questions which sharpened the Muslim writers’ narratives while
diminishing their name values. Muslim writers became less foreign and people become more
familiar with their works. More new generation immigrant writers are shaping the way their
Muslim identity is retold through their artistic craft.

As an outcome of this identity crisis, people have an apparent disconnect with the past
.Most Pakistani live in a state of deep denial and confusion (Aziz, 2013). Shamsie’s fiction does
not glorify the existing state of affairs in Pakistan but presents a picture from non-Western
perspective.

Shamsie fictional, yet life like characters are flexible, vibrant and progressive and their
love for their homeland is above board. The world relates Pakistanis only to corruption,
extremism, terrorism, and violence (Aziz, 2013) while Shamsie presents their humane image by
presenting the picture of a thief who helped Raheen, Karim and Zia to safely reach their home
and by presenting a lunar street in the month of Moharram to facilitate Purdah observing Muslim
women to reach their place of worship (Shamsie, 2002).
 55

In this regard, the works of Kamila Shamsie are great examples of Pakistani diaspora in
the U.K. in the post-colonial period. She writes with greater depth and sensitivity and a skillful
yet sensitive observations of their torn society. She also makes important points of the said
identity crisis and confusion. Singh (2012) argues that she illustrates her people as a
“disempowered refugee, the disinterested immigrant, and the dissident citizen”. Nevertheless,
she emerged as a great example of Pakistani writing in English after 9/11. She has successfully
validated the notions of self, identity and the notions of “others” in relation to the present
political contexts.

A major point to note is, how the diaspora is stereotyped to be a problematic and
unintegrated minority grouped by their beliefs into backward practices like forced marriage and
honour crime (Hassan, 2013). Hence, Shamsie’s collective works highlights the attempts of the
Pakistani diaspora to eradicate the prejudices and false assumptions about their people. They
want to integrate and assimilate into their host country, yet they also want to retain their own
identities. This is where the confusion and crisis set in. The social and political institutions do not
let them retain their unique identity. They do not support the diasporic people's identities either
as Pakistanis or as Muslims.

After 9/11, generalizations about Islam thrive yet there are many unsettled issues and
varied engagements. Good writing, such as Shamsie’s and other diaspora writers, only reveal the
more complicated matters which the historical 9/11 and the past historic events have wielded into
the self and collective consciousness of the people. The fight against terror has also made matters
more complicated as the Muslims inched their identities through the waves of misunderstanding,
mistrust and division. Shamsie’s fiction has only unfolded a tip of the iceberg, so to speak .Her
overall credit is to expose the hegemonic designs that provide the basis to all the power
structures which lead to great human tragedies like dropping of the atom bomb and establishment
of prison camps like Guantanamo Bay. Her writing refers to colonialism, decolonization and
then emergence of neocolonialism and the large scale physical, social and psychological
displacement these historical moves lead to.
 56

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1. Methodology

After a detailed review of literature related to postcolonial diaspora, neo/ colonialism and
place and displacement theories, and relevant perspectives to thematic analysis of the use of
language in Kamila Shamsie’s fiction, this chapter deals with the kind of methodology and
methods required to be used for the analysis and interpretation of postcolonial diasporic
discourse of place and displacement in the selected texts by Kamila Shamsie, namely, Burnt
Shadows, Kartoghraphy and Salt and Saffron.

The purpose is to see how diaspora has been presented and resistance is created by
creating a counter narrative to see the picture from another angle. The text is an example of
discourse, which as a has broader applications; ‘every spoken or written text like news items,
fiction, drama and interviews, etc. can be taken and evaluated as discourse’ (Fairclough, 2003).
The text of the three above-mentioned novels is rendered in writer's voice and dialogues of her
fictional characters, The purpose is to examine how Kamila Shamsie, herself a member of
modern diaspora, reflects different shades and manifestations of the Edward Saidean postcolonial
diaspora theory of being out of place (1999) and Ashcroft et al.’s postcolonial theory of place
and displacement (1989). The text has been examined at three levels in accordance with
Fairclough's model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) which has been discussed in detail
later in the chapter.

Griffin (2005) states, ‘discourses have meanings, force and effects within a social
context.’ Whereas the main focus of CDA is on 'discourse' which cannot be understood without
 57

the context. The context, as per Fairclough (2003), influences people to determine the direction
of their understanding, outlook, responses and activities; it also influences peoples' perception.
So the context of Shamsie’s fiction, the major historical events, national and international trends
behind them is studied with the help of method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA).

This study also aims to develop an understanding of the specific, explicit and implicit
themes that govern the use of language in the texts under study, and how they contribute towards
making Shamsie’s fictional discourse a discursive practice. Awareness of discursive norms and
their implications uncovers the ideological interests of the writer which make the texts a possible
tool of resistance used through those discursive structures (Griffin, 2005). Fairclough (1989)
believes that a close contextual analysis of linguistics and semantic features of the texts is
required for the understanding of the relationship between language, subject and social processes
which keep on changing with the change in language use .Therefore, Fairclough's interpretive
framework is used for the analysis of the texts and for the understanding of relation of language,
the subjects and the social processes.

CDA is naturally embedded within Critical Theory, a paradigm developed in the last
three decades and its critical movement begins from the Frankfurt School. As Wodak and Meyer
(2009) quotes Horkheimer (1937) who defined objectives of social theory as follows:

 to critique and change society that is meant to improve its understanding by

integrating social sciences,

 to show how social phenomena are interconnected,

 to produce knowledge that helps social actors emancipate themselves from

domination through self-reflection, and

 to describe, explain and eradicate delusion by revealing structures of power and

ideologies behind discourse, that is, by making visible causes that are hidden.
 58

The scope of the CDA, hence, is not only language-based rather its critical perspective
attracts scholars from various disciplines. The aim is to uncover patterned mechanisms of the
replication of power asymmetries. Anthropology, Linguistics, Philosophy and Communication
Studies, among others, shares this inclination.

CDA is one of the most popular fields of language studies in recent times. This approach
combines critical stance with the analysis of language at the discourse level. In this way it brings
the social and the political into linguistics domain. This problem-oriented approach has social
claims and ethical relevance (Wodak & Meyer 2001).

3.1.1. Three Stages of CDA

Fairclough in Language and Power (2001) talks about three different stages of CDA.
They are: Description, Interpretation and Explanation.

i. Description is the stage in which discourse is connected with the linguistic/semantic

features of what is stated in the text.

ii. Interpretation is concerned with the relationship between text and interaction and with
seeing the text as a product of a process of production, and as a resource in the process of
interpretation. Here discourse is analyzed as a social practice.

iii. Explanation is concerned with the relationship between interaction and social context and
with the social determination of the process of production and their social effect. This
stage of the analysis deals with interdiscursivity.

While applying CDA to the selected excerpts of the text at the description level I will
delimit the textual analysis to search for the main theme(s) that emerge from my research
questions .These themes include place and displacement, identity crisis, representation,
resistance, ideology, hegemony and diaspora. At the interpretation level I will explore the
 59

context of the selected discourses .And at the explanation level l will relate the description of
themes with the interpretation of the context.

Power and the misuse of power have been the most prominent themes of CDA. It takes
language as an essential part of social studies (Van Dijik, 1990). Fairclough's model of CDA
combines linguistic analysis, social science and political commitment to expose many issues of
today's world, especially related to power, ideology, hegemony and the tug of hidden wars for
domination and supremacy.

I have selected Fairclough's model of CDA for it draws on different fields like linguistics,
social theory and political science. These constitute the background of my study and deals with
both textual analysis and context in the production, consumption and interpretation of the text.
An in-depth analysis of a text is not possible without taking into consideration its context and
inherent ideology and power relations embedded in it. Similarly, close grammatical/ semantic
analysis is essential to provide the basis for critical analysis and lends it validity in the field of
language studies. My study deals with the semantics at the textual level for the themes to be
explored and how Shamsie uses language to point out the hidden and explicit power structures
and also how language makes texts a discursive practice embedded in certain ideology.

Fairclough's interpretative framework is employed to analyze the texts to understand the

relationship between the use of language, the subject and the social processes. This framework
consists of his ideas about CDA and language. My focus of analysis is on the use of language in
the text of Shamsie's fiction—the written discourse. As a post-colonial diaspora writer, she
writes back to the Empire (Ashcroft et al., 1989) to offer resistance to the grand narrative created
by the world's powerful actors to justify the misuse of power and to stereotype the ‘Other’. This
has to be proved in my study. The language of such discourse cannot be regarded as neutral or
objective; rather it constructs a reality to be represented from another angle. This deep function
of the language necessitates the discourse to be critically analyzed.
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Critical discourse analysis starts from the view that messages in language, whether
written or spoken, are ideological and may be used as tools for social control and domination of
some groups by others(Siguake, 2011). So the objective of CDA is to perceive language use as a
social practice. It explores the relationships among language, ideology and power (Wang, 2010).
Language, in this regard, is an ambiguous and multi-layered phenomenon. Hence, it is unable to
provide a linear description of any social event.

Discourse analysis theories are greatly influenced by Foucault's philosophical thoughts,

the key point of which regards language as an invested tool. Griffin (2005) also holds that
language is not a neutral tool for message transmission rather all communicative events are
constituted through language, e.g. novels, dramas, poetry, interviews, etc.

So language in social life, whether used in actual experiences or their verbal, oral or
written accounts, has particular ways of understanding and seeing the world. Since the focus of
the study is to explore Kamila Shamsie's fiction as an expression of postcolonial diasporic
consciousness, it is necessary to have an understanding of the extent of CDA as a research
strategy to help analyze, interpret and explain written text of her narratives.

3.1.2. Applications of Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis cannot be taken as a uniform approach, apparently employed to study

language in use. Rather, it is a combination of different methods and every method evaluates
language from a different angle. But these different methods of analysis combined with discourse
analysis help in understanding the text. According to Fairclough (2003) social analysis and
textual analysis are two important parts of discourse analysis. He holds that no social analysis is
possible without closely looking at the use of spoken or written language. Similarly, no textual
analysis is possible without looking at the theoretical consideration involved in its production,
distribution and interpretation. Therefore, all textual analyses are based on the analysis of socio-
cultural conventions. Also, linguistic analysis is an essential aspect of all types of qualitative
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inquiries. As language is the main building block of a discourse. It is through language that
people actively engage in discursivity. This is why; language use and the choices of the words
made to communicate it are significant in Fairclough's model of CDA.

Writing fiction is a discursive practice. Kamila Shamsie, also, tries to present certain
ideology and constructs 'another' version of great historical events that influence nations and
individuals and international power politics. She, a part of modern diaspora and a representative
of post-colonial world, writes back to the Empire to create resistance against hegemonic
practices of the past and present colonizers. According to Lehtonen (2007) fiction as a discursive
practice is enabling and constraining in the sense that new texts are created within constraints. A
fictional text can be taken as a form of oppression as well as empowerment and resistance.

Fairclough (2013) denies that there is one single way of analyzing any problem.
Interestingly, he believes that, after selecting one research topic, the scholars construct their
object of research by theorizing it. Its transdisciplinarity is one of the outstanding strengths of the
approach where researchers may prefer a detailed analysis of the selected data. So it is rather a
flexible methodology in which linguistic analysis can be combined with different conceptual
frameworks to critically analyze texts in accordance with the research questions. My research
will be based on thematic textual analysis of the texts as the detailed analysis of all the linguistic
features is beyond the scope of my study.

3.2. Critical Discourse Analysis as a Research Method

In the light of my research questions the main focus of my analysis is on the study of
presentation of diaspora in Kamila Shamsie's fiction, how she uses language, how she presents
major historical events, how she constructs the reality of her fictional characters and their lives
and the impact of these events in their lives. All this will be evaluated with particular references
to postcolonial diaspora theory of Edward Said combined with the postcolonial model of place
and displacement presented by Ashcroft et al. (1989) in, The Empire Writes Back.
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To address these questions with reference to Shamsie's novels, I will use Fairclough's
model of CDA as a research method. Different theorists have used the same method with
different nomenclature e.g. Mills (1997) describes it as Critical Linguistic/Discourse, Griffin
(2005) takes it as Critical Discourse Analysis and Critical Linguistics; Fairclough (2003) regards
it as Critical Language Study (CLS) whereas Van Dijk (2009) as Critical Discourse Analysis.
Fairclough’s model of CDA, under the influence of Foucault, is in favour of such an analysis of
the text in which small choices in the use of language may be evaluated to see how they
contribute to convey the message the writer intends to convey. His version of CDA focuses on
language in use with particular reference to its relationship with social practices, identity crises,
power structures and ideologies. Fairclough (1989) offers an interpretative framework for
discourse analysis that is helpful in the application of CDA to a fictional text, taken as a
discourse. According to Fairclough, discourse emerges from a text in interaction with its context.
Lehtonen (2007) also holds that this model of CDA is based on the principle that texts can never
be understood or analyzed in isolation, but in the webs of other texts and with reference to its
social context. So study of intertextuality and evaluation of text in the context of social events,
form the basis of CDA and the main objective of my study is to see the impact of major
historical events in the lives of fictional characters of Kamila Shamsie's chosen novels.

3.3. Procedures for the Application of CDA

CDA, according to Fairclough (2003), brings critical language awareness and helps in the
exploration of the use of language. Foucault (1972) says that discourse constitutes the object,
Mills (1997) is of the opinion that discourse does not simply construct material objects like
group of plants but also constructs certain events and sequence of events into narratives which
are recognized by a particular culture as real or serious events (Mills, 1997). Just like Shamsie
constructs the history of Dard-e-Dil family interlinking it with the history of the Mughal and the
British Empire. Similarly, she relates the question raised in the mind of a naked, unnamed
prisoner ready to be transported to Guantanamo Bay in the prologue of Burnt Shadows with the
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discourse of an American with a gentle face in Tokyo hospital saying it was necessary to drop
atomic bomb on Japan to save the American lives, bringing out the continuity of the power
structures and the power practices. Both Mills and Foucault agree that reality is constructed
discursively. Fairclough (2003) ponders on the questions whether there is no reality outside
discursive structures and can social life be reduced to language description only. Post
structuralist theory of discourse takes discourse as any written or oral text as a linguistic account
of identity, power, knowledge and social practice. Since the objects are constructed discursively
so their study requires an intertextual and multidirectional approach. No text is a product of
isolation, but the result of a process which makes it situated and relational, therefore, the
meanings inferred from it, are also context bound and relational. For example ‘War on Terror’
can be taken as a continuation of the previous world wars and the perpetuation of the hegemonic
order though apparently under the cover of ensuring peace as Harry Burton puts it in Burnt
Shadows that “we make a desolation and call it peace” (Shamsie.2009,p.347), while looking
around the war torn Afghanistan.

My focus of analysis is on the language in use in Kamila Shamsie's fictional texts which
are viewed as discourse written with specific purpose—to write back to the Empire to offer
resistance. Language of such discourse cannot be regarded as neutral or objective rather it
constructs a reality with the help of presentation and representation of things and events from a
different perspective. This function of the language requires discourse to be critically analyzed.

The procedures adopted are taken from interpretative framework of Fairclough. Regarding
this framework, he first identifies three levels of discourse namely, context, interaction, and text.
All these levels contribute to the process of the production of a text. A text emerges from its
interaction with context and prevailing social conditions. Therefore, interdiscursivity and
situatedness of a text are two important factors to be analyzed. Fairclough suggests three stages
of CDA which are: Description, Interpretation and Explanation.
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3.4. CDA as a Research Method

The most important thing about Fairclough's model and approach is flexibility.
Fairclough (1989) himself takes this procedure not as a holy writ or a blueprint but as a guide.
The researcher can adapt it as per need. So keeping in view the requirement of my research
questions, at the description level instead of focusing on different linguistic features I will only
focus on the thematic textual analysis, link it with the textual context at the interpretation level
and with broader interdiscursive social practices and social structures at the explanation level.

Human agency is influenced by the surrounding, s/he lives in, and whatever one says or
writes is done on purpose and is in response to something else. One may assert then that the
elements of interdiscursivity and intertextuality contribute in its making. No written or oral text
emerges in a vacuum; it is always a part of a chain reaction. It is a consequence of the author's
intended decision and his or her intentions to convey a specific message that cannot be set aside.
The choice of linguistic forms in terms of vocabulary and grammatical structures are all
deliberate reflecting the ideological positioning of the writer and a text evolves from this
perspective. Fairclough's model of CDA begins with this aspect of discourse analysis. The
selection of words and grammatical structures reflect the ideological and socio-cultural derives
behind any discourse—oral or written. All these determine the relationship of language, ideology
and society.

Firstly, I will scan the selected texts to look for all the relevant portions which are in
keeping with the main focus of the study that is how Kamila Shamsie writes back to offer
resistance by presenting history from 'the other's’ point of view. This stage encompasses the
description of thematic features of the discursive practice of her fiction. Next I will move on to
evaluate and analyze those passages for interpretation of the discourse to look for the answers to
the research questions (Chap. 1, p. 8) before moving on to explanation of the whole exercise in
the light of the theoretical model of postcolonial diaspora theory.
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Fairclough's model of CDA consists of three levels of analysis; it constitutes different set
of theories and criticism. Each level can be dealt with separately but it is significant to take them
holistically.

3.5. Levels of Discourse

Three levels of Fairclough’s model of discourse are:

i. Textual level

ii. Discourse practice

iii. Culture and society

3.5.1. Textual Level

The first level of analysis is in linguistic/language dimension. It deals with the description
of the language and texts. The text encompasses the production of language in written form for
reading. Fairclough adds transcript of spoken language and various kinds of semiosis into text.
So for him all relevant symbols that carry meaning can be taken as texts (Fairclough 1989, 1992,
2003). It corresponds to the view that discursive does not only include language above the
sentence but also language in use (Cameron, 2001).

3.5.2. Discourse Practice

At the next level, texts are seen as products and the process of discourse (Fairclough,
1989, 1992). While interpreting a text the analyst has to go back to see what kind of motivations,
social structures and practices have influenced its making. The negotiation of the meanings of a
text is thus seen as interplay between its production, the text itself and its interpretation
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(Fairclough, 2003). In other words, the context, linguistic form and possible reception of the text
are seen through the lenses of the research questions. But the main focus of Fairclough's CDA is
on the text and its production and to determine what conditions of production resulted in certain
properties of the texts, i.e. linguistic forms.

As Fairclough’s method of CDA evolved, there has been a shift in focus from highly
detailed formal analysis towards concepts of intertextuality (Fairclough, 2003) and
transdisciplinarity ((Fairclough, 2005). Linguistic analysis still provides the basis for criticality
.However the focus has become more diverse. Fairclough himself mentions that the finding of
any particular study depends upon the perspective of analysis (Fairclough, 2003). The
diversification and deepening of theories related to CDA reflects this. Instead of a fixed
methodology, the analyst must choose whatever seems relevant to the particular "problem" at
hand (Wodak &Meyer, 2001).

Here the concept of discourse practice itself requires attention; the analyst has to move up
to societal level to make sense of it. For Fairclough, like many others, society is organized on
three levels: the highest is that of social structures, followed by the level of social practice, and
social events or situations being the lowest (Fairclough, 2003). The initial level of deep
structures operates as a network of choices, displaying the potential for what is possible and what
is not in a particular society. This leads to the level of social practices in the various institutions
like political, religious, educational and familial, etc. of the society that limit and constrain what
potential gets actualized, and finally, social events or situations are the concrete manifestations
of the actualized potentials.

Social events have a linguistic dimension as well as para linguistic dimension attached to
them to them; “language itself becomes the structure of meaning, potential discourse practice
assumes the place of social practice and actual texts… become the realizations of these potentials
as actual language in use.” (Fairclough, 2002, p. 23-24) In Foucault's terms, discourse practice
can also be called the order of discourse. Fairclough's discourse practice is “the discursive side of
 67

social order” (Fairclough, 1989, p.9) which is “action as well as representation” (Fairclough,
1992, p.23), “discursive process as part of social practices” (Fairclough, 1992, p, 25) and “a
social ordering of linguistic variation” (Fairclough, 2003, p. 24).

These definitions lead to the point that discourses are socially determined and their
production, distribution and consumption are all socially influenced. Regarding production, a
text is always produced in a certain environment, for certain purposes. In case of distribution,
there always has to be a medium and an audience. In case of consumption, a text is read in a
certain situation (Fairclough, 1989). All actions, whether linguistic or nonlinguistic have a
human component. It is humans who construct and interpret text. Therefore, peoples' ways of
acting, thinking and viewing the world and reality itself are all at least partly conditioned by
social factors.

3.5.3. Culture and Society

The third level of Fairclough's model attempts to link the structures and practices of
society to the structures and practices of discourse. There is a relationship between actual texts
and social practices so the first level of the model is related to the second.

Fairclough's approach to this second level of CDA takes on following perspective.

Language is discourse, which is determined by orders of discourse i.e. practices of institutions.
Production and interpretation of the texts and discourses are also socially construed to a certain
extent. These discourse practices are in a dialectical relationship with actual language use.
Although social structures and orders of discourse determine actual discourses their nature as
language in use also leaves room for individual creativity and struggle (Fairclough, 1989). In
interpretation, the concerned stage, here, states that analyst should look at the production and
interpretation of the texts with context of the relevant discourse(s) and participants' cognitive
environment (MR) (Fairclough, 1989).
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In Fairclough's later work, there is a shift towards a more dynamic and historical
approach which focuses on changes in discourse types and processes as reflecting changes in
society(Fairclough, 1992,p.35-6). Here the above-mentioned discourse types rise to prominence
under the term intertextuality that refers to production of new texts, genres and discourses by
combining existing ones in ways that either maintain or challenge existing configurations of
power in society (Fairclough, 1992). On the basis of intertextuality, genre becomes central to
Fairclough’s theorizing; it can be understood as not only a certain text type but also as having
particular ways of production, consumption and distribution (Fairclough, 1992).

Both society and discourse are dynamic and ever evolving. The order of the discourse
changes due to the changes in the structures of the society. Hence, the genres and their relations,
give the analyst an opportunity to gain insights into the nature of these changes by looking at the
manifestations of intertextuality, i.e. texts (Fairclough, 2003)

The ideas of genres and intertextuality as the essentials of discourse practice which hold
much of Fairclough's recent thinking — come mainly from Bakhtin for whom all the diverse
spheres of human activity involve language. Language in use and utterances consist of content,
style and structure which are largely determined by the particular sphere within which that
language is used. Utterances consist of simple or primary genres, which may or may not be
absorbed into complex or secondary genres e.g. we can think of casual conversation, it exists in
itself, as a primary genre, but can also, for example, in fiction be part of the complex genre of
literature (Bakhtin, 1986, p. 60-62).

All utterances are responses to other utterances, and all that has been heard and/or
understood surfaces in the hearer's own language use at some point and in some shape. This
applies to both primary and second genres: words and ideas in casual conversation spread and re-
emerge as do ideas and complex thoughts in scientific writing. These all utterances whether
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spoken or written, simple or complicated, transient or recorded, are seen as links in a chain that
respond to previous utterances and predict future ones (Bakhtin, 1986).

The relevance of this to Fairclough's model of CDA roughly goes like this: firstly, there
are genres, constructs or 'building blocks' of language as social practice that can be used to join
language together with other narrowly social or broadly human practices and activities.
Language as a social practice is associated with and even determined by certain spheres of
human activity, then it must be concluded that human existence i.e. society is in fact at least
partly discursive or to be more specific linguistic. Secondly, the concept of intertextuality lends
credibility to the idea that discourse is socially constitutive. Because all language is built on past
utterances and gives life to new ones then those orders of discourse or genres that manifest
themselves at a society level of discourse practice must contain within them a certain real past
and also a possible future. Thus for Fairclough language is both a social practice and socially
constructive. (Naski, 2010)

Another dimension enters at the third and highest level of Fairclough's model of CDA i.e.
social theory. This stage does not deal with language or linguistic structures or even genres
related to certain social situations instead it deals with concepts that go with power and politics
and other structures of human society. This is what Fairclough's CDA entails.

3.6. Conclusion

The fundamental factor of Fairclough's model of CDA is discursivity for society. Reality
can be seen as analogous to language. It can also be analyzed and changed linguistically. In
between discourses of society and existence and actual texts there are practices of the generic
and specific institutions and situations that produce and reproduce the various discourses that
either maintain or aim to change the power relations between people and segments of society.
Finally, texts can be analyzed as specific instances of these discourses as using the enormous
 70

range of linguistic tools available to us in order to make a difference in the eternal struggle of
discourses.

All the three levels are logically connected and have their basis in existing theories; on
linguistic level there is Hallidayian grammar, on the discoursal level Bakhtin's ideas and the
social variations of language in use and on the social level we find Foucault’s theory of language
and power providing an understanding of a society that combines the major currents of political
science instead of rigidly favouring one over the other. (Naski, 2010)

My application of CDA Fairclough’s model in the next chapter is based on three steps
pertaining to thematic textual analysis encompassing: description, interpretation and explanation
of the selected parts of the text. It is then followed by the analysis of the context of the novel
interdiscursivity found in it and based upon this analysis I have looked for the issues raised in my
research questions about impacts of major historical events on place and displacement on
Shamsie’s fictional characters, the interplay of power, ideology and hegemony manifested
through the historical events creating identity crisis among diaspora and evaluation of Shamsie’s
fiction as postcolonial diaspora writing.

It is pertinent to mention here that in the next chapter I have italicized the excerpts taken
from the novels for the analysis for the sake of differentiation.
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CHAPTER 4

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The previous chapter deals with the detailed review of Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse
Analysis (CDA) that is the chosen mode of analysis here. Whereas the three chosen texts by
Kamila Shamsie are: i) Burnt Shadows (2009), ii) Kartoghraphy (2002) and iii) Salt and Saffron
(2000). Burnt Shadows is an epic novel that begins with details of World War II in Japan and
ends at Guantanamo Bay covering major historical as well as political events in between. The
atomic bombing on Nagasaki, Partition of India, Russian Invasion of Afghanistan and resultant
Jihad, 9/11 and the post 9/11 world with special reference to War on Terror appear as events that
contribute to the action of the novel. Kartoghraphy is written in the background of Civil War in
Pakistan in 1970-71 and 1986 onward and Fall of Dhaka in 1971. And Salt and Saffron relates
events and actions at the backdrop of Partition of India in 1947. The analysis here centres
Shamsie’s narratives describing the representation of postcolonial diaspora (of Edward Said’s)
theory and post-colonial model of place and displacement (Ashcroft et al.) in them. The design
of the present chapter follows Fairclough’s three steps model of CDA comprising description,
interpretation and explanation. At the description step, as stated in the previous chapter, only the
themes of the selected pertinent excerpts are analyzed whereas the detailed linguistic analysis
that is beyond the scope of this study has been avoided. Interpretation deals with situational and
historical context of the text. And explanation links these two dimensions to explore
interdiscursive practices, social structures and social practices that provide a context for Kamila
Shamsie’s fiction.

As discussed earlier, Fairclough’s (2003) model of CDA combines the textual analysis
with social and political commitments to expose the issues related to power, identity and
hegemony. In the following section, the textual analysis of forty eight excerpts from Burnt
Shadows, forty three from Kartography and twenty six from Salt and Saffron on the basis of
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their relevance to the themes that emerge from diasporic strains will be done. All the excerpts
taken from the novels are italicized for the sake of differentiation. The analysis of all the three
novels will be done one by one, starting from Burnt Shadows reversing the chronological order
in which the selected novels are published. The rationale behind this order is the presentation of
a greater number of diaspora characters in it. The analysis will consist of three parts, Part I will
deal with Burnt Shadows, Part II with Kartoghraphy and Part III with Salt and Saffron.
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Part I

“How Did It Come to This?” (Burnt Shadows)

4.1. A Synopsis

Burnt Shadows, Kamila Shamsie's fifth novel, is a counter narrative which in post-
colonial terms is written as a mode of resistance to the grand narratives propagated by the
powerful Western and American media to justify their War on Terror. It begins with the
presentation of an unnamed captive, unshackled and stripped naked in the readiness for the
anonymity of an orange jumpsuit, he wonders: "How did it come to this?"(Shamsie, 2009, p.1)
The vastness of the question as applied to a prisoner in Guantánamo Bay is a challenge to which
this epic and a skillfully controlled novel rise in the oblique and unexpected way. (Jaggi, 2009)

Burnt Shadows is a tale of the displacement of the protagonist Hiroko Tanaka along with
many other characters, namely, her husband Sajjad Ali Ashraf, her son Raza Konrad Ashraf,
Abdullah-an Afghan refugee boy, Elizabeth, James Burton’s wife and James Burton‘s only son
Henry who later on changes his name to Harry. Hiroko, a Japanese victim of the atomic bombing
during the World War II, saw her world turned into fire, ashes and shadows in Nagasaki on 9th
August 1945 (Shamsie, 2009). She believed that her German fiancé Konrad was turned into a
shadow on a rock outside the church where he was going when the bomb was dropped, her father
was turned into a reptile with his body covered with scales as a result of the atomic bomb
explosion. Later on, her father died as well. Fatefully, Hiroko was branded for the rest of her life
as a war victim with the marks of the burnt images of the birds on her back. These bird images
were from her mother’s silk kimono that she was wearing to celebrate her engagement when the
bomb exploded. Japan, her homeland, was made to surrender by another dropping of the second
‘New Bomb’. Hiroko, one of the direct victims, could not be treated in Nagasaki hospitals
because they were overrun; she was taken to a hospital in Tokyo by her vanished fiancé’s friend
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Watanabe. There she was treated by the American doctors. She talked to them in English, so they
offered her a job of a translator and she accepted the offer. She started working with them and
thought of getting settled in Tokyo instead of going back but then she heard one of the
Americans, whom she thought to be a kind person because he had a kind face, saying that the
dropping of the bomb was necessary to 'save American lives’. This justification was so shocking
for her that she decided to leave that world far behind and sailed to colonized British India where
Ilse (who later became English Elizabeth), her vanished German fiancé's half-sister, lived with
her husband. He was an English man named James Burton. She befriended Elizabeth who took
great care of her. Despite all the comforts she enjoyed at Burtons there was a sense of non-
belonging and uncertainty of the future.

The Partition of India was round the corner and she was once again at the cross roads,
thinking of the roads that vanished, and the road that could be taken. There was an Indian
Muslim, Sajjad from Dilli (the colonized part of the Indian capital), who used to come to Delhi
(the colonizers' world) and worked with James Burton. He was the only person in India about
whom Konrad had a very good opinion. She started learning Urdu from him and they fell in love.
Despite Burtons' reservations, they got married and were sent to Turkey by the Burtons on an
extended honeymoon so that Hiroko could be saved from witnessing further violence. They
planned to come back when things would settle down after the Partition. But when Sajjad went
to the Indian Consulate to arrange for his return he was told he could not because he was a
Muslim and because he himself had opted for leaving India so now that choice could not be
undone.

The Partition made his return impossible and Sajjad who had never dreamt of leaving his
birth place was permanently displaced from his homestead ‘Dilli’ to Pakistan; a forced
migration. They lived in the refugee camp in Karachi from where they moved to Nazimabad.
Hiroko started working as a teacher and Sajjad joined a soap factory as a general manager. They
had a son Raza. He was a sharp boy and inherited his mother’s physical features and her love for
languages. Despite a Pakistani born; he suffered from an identity crisis. His mother’s ancestry
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and looks and the fate of the atomic bomb stricken contributed to this suffering and/or a sense of
displacement in him.

The story moves on to the point where things change drastically in Pakistan. Pakistan
came into the grip of an international war after the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
America decided to fight a proxy war to defeat the Russians giving it the name of Jihad and
involving Muslims from all over the world. There was an influx of Afghan refugees, Muslim
youth from all over the world and arms and ammunition into Pakistan. Training camps for the
Mujahedeen were established in different parts of the world including Pakistan. Elizabeth and
James’s son Henry, who had changed his English name and nationality, had become American
Harry. He joined the CIA to defeat Communism and came to serve in Pakistan. He had loved
India and had been fond of Sajjad. He came to see them in Karachi. He took Raza as a Hazara
(an Afghan tribe of Mongol origin). He was warmly welcomed by Ashrafs. They shared with
him Raza’s problem of not qualifying his Islamic Studies paper in the intermediate examination
and he promised to counsel him. He told Raza that Kim, his only daughter, had the same test
anxiety but she overcame it by following certain strategies. He also promised Raza to help him
getting admission in some American university.

Raza shared his plan to get admission in an American university with his girlfriend
asking her to marry him so that they could live together. But she refused by saying he must be
deformed because his mother had been a victim of the atomic bomb. She even asked him to go to
America and not to tell anyone about his origin. It was the greatest shock of his life. He had a
realisation of a different physical appearance and his mother’s being ‘less Pakistani’ not only
because of the way she dressed up but also because of her origin. However, he was a born
Pakistani and yet was treated as an outsider. He tried to take refuge in the dream of America by
mentioning Harry’s promise in front of his parents but Harry refused to acknowledge he made
any. This was devastating for Raza. He decided to go to Soharab Goth to see Abdullah, an
Afghan refugee boy, whom he had met at the beach and had introduced himself to him as Raza
Hazara. From Soharab Goth he wanted to buy a cassette player. He became friendly with
Abdullah, who was working as a gun runner since the age of twelve. He started teaching English
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to the Afghan children and learnt from Abdullah how to use, dismantle and assemble AK-47.
This exposure gave him confidence and he ultimately qualified his examination. When he went
to see Abdullah thinking of leaving his dual existence as Raza Hazara he came to know that
Abdullah had to go to one of the Mujahedeen camps. He decided to accompany Abdullah to the
camp and then disappear from there, but that was a misadventure. On his return, he found out
that his father got killed while searching for him on the fish harbour by Sher Mohammad,
Harry’s rickshaw driver and a local CIA agent. The absence of the father made him feel
‘homeless’. He left for Dubai and started working there in a hotel. Hiroko was left alone. She
sold everything in Karachi and moved to Abbottabad where her friend Rehana lived and when
there was a possibility of Pakistan going nuclear she left for America and started living in New
York with Ilse.

Harry came to see Hiroko in Abbottabad and told her he had left CIA and wanted Raza to
join him in Arkwright and Glenn. She agreed, so he went to see Raza in Dubai and took him to
Miami. He worked in Miami’s head office as a translator and occasionally visited some other
places with Harry but then the Twin Towers (2001) also fell and the War on Terror started.
America decided to attack Afghanistan. Arkwright and Glenn, the private military company, was
employed by the CIA to work for it and Harry took Raza along because of his resemblance with
the Afghans and because of his knowledge of many languages including Pashto. Raza’s
displacement from Karachi led him from Dubai to Miami, from Miami to Afghanistan, from
Afghanistan to Canada and from Canada to Guantanamo Bay.

On the other hand, Henry Burton, Elizabeth and James's only son, when young had to be
sent to England against his will, for he took India as his ‘home’. His parents didn’t like the way
he started identifying himself as an Indian and they thought they would be leaving after the
Partition and he should have settled there by then and should not see the violence in India. He
left India at the age of seven but remained an alien in England despite being a British national.
The memories of India haunted him throughout his life. He had to undergo another displacement
when Elizabeth, his mother, finally decided to part ways with his father. He went to America,
prepared himself to talk and behave like an American before joining a school. On the first day at
 77

school he decided to join a group of American boys and not that of the immigrants’ boys, he
went to them and said “Hi! I’m Harry” (Shamsie, 2009, p.265). He thought America as a just
state that provides refuge to all immigrants like him who wanted to be Americans. He wanted her
to be the only super power after defeating Communism to ensure democracy and justice in the
world. That was why, he joined CIA first and then Arkwright and Glenn-- a private military
company (PMC) working for the CIA. He kept moving around the world and finally went to
Afghanistan, where he was killed by an Afghan. Ironically Raza, his foster son, was charged
with his murder and hunted all the way until caught in Canada from where he was sent to
Guantanamo Bay.

Abdullah, the Afghan boy, mentioned earlier, got displaced because of the Russian
Invasion. He lived in a Refugee camp in Peshawar with his family, he came to Karachi with a
truck driver to supply arms, and then at the age of fourteen he went to a training camp for
Mujahedeen. The Cold War turned into the War on Terror by the world power-stakeholders and
the Mujahedeen of the yester years became the terrorists of the present day world .Abdullah, the
youngest in the family, who had been sent to America by his family to earn a better living for his
kith and kin, became a taxi driver in New York after the end of the Cold War. But after 9/11 he
was haunted by the FBI for being a young Afghan Muslim. His brother Ismail sought Raza's help
to get him cross the American border to enter Canada from where he could return to
Afghanistan. Raza asked Harry’s daughter Kim to help Abdullah cross the border. In the
meantime, Harry got killed by some Afghan while playing a cricket match in the compound they
used to live in .The world became a different place for Raza and he had to suffer a long traumatic
displacement before reaching Canada. There life brought two friends together again, but for a
short while.

Raza met Abdullah after a lapse of twenty years and told him he had arranged for his
journey back home, but Kim called the police. Realizing the impending danger, Raza disguised
again, now as Abdullah, to make Abdullah’s rescue possible. From there he was arrested as a
suspected terrorist to be taken to Guantanamo Bay, a prison camp set up by the only super power
of the world to keep suspected Muslim young men to investigate in a way against all rules and
 78

regulations mentioned in the charter of human rights. It’s a place where identity, memory,
humanity, morality, justice, ethics all were left behind and the only thing left was a traumatic
sense of displacement where everything ends.

4.2. Textual Analysis

A selection of forty eight excerpts from Burnt Shadows for analysis has been done with a
rationale that they depict the theme of place and displacement. Other than this, the significant
themes also include the impacts of the major historical movements like colonialism,
decolonization and neocolonialism and events like World War II, the Partition of India, Russian
Invasion of Afghanistan, Muslim Jihad, 9/11 and the War on Terror on the individuals’ causing
destruction, displacement, diaspora and identity crisis. Shamsie begins her narrative with the
description of a prisoner ready to be transported to Guantanamo Bay as a result of the War on
Terror and links it with a victim of the atomic bomb that was thrown on Nagasaki on 9 August
1945 during World War II. The prologue, the first of the selection (Text 1) for analysis, sets off
in following words:

Text (1): Once he is in the cell they unshackle him and instruct him to strip. He
takes off his grey winter coat with brisk efficiency and then –as they watch, arms
folded-his movement slow, fear turning his fingers clumsy on belt buckle, shirt
buttons.

They wait until he is completely naked before they gather up his clothes and
leave. When he is dressed again, he suspects, he will be wearing an orange jump
suit.

The cold glean of the steel bench makes his body shrivel .As long as it's possible,
he will stand.

How did it come to this, he wonders? (Shamsie, 2009, p.1)

 79

Description: The main theme the prologue highlights is in the last sentence “How it came to
this, he wonders?” Shamsie begins her narrative with the description of ‘an unnamed prisoner’
who is brought to a cell and instructed to take off all his clothes. The identity of the powerful is
also kept vague ‘they unshackle him and instruct him to strip’ but the authority at their command
is made obvious through the execution of their command ‘to a strip’. ‘He’, the unnamed prisoner,
takes off his grey winter coat with brisk efficiency but his movement gets slow after that. Fear
turns his fingers move awkwardly on his belt, buckle and shirt buttons. While following the
instruction they wait until he is completely naked .They gather up his clothes and leave. He
suspects that when he is dressed again, he will be wearing an orange jump suit. The cold gleans
of the steel bench make his body shrivel and he decides to stand as long as possible. He is at a
loss of his wits to think of the reason or the cause of his being there in such a state “How did it
come to this he wonders?” All the supporting details lend weightage to the question he asked
himself. They imply inhumane treatment which brought him on the verge of mental disaster, as a
consequence of traumatic displacement. Shamsie invokes utter alienation of the prisoner.

Interpretation: The context of the prologue is related to the innumerable traumatic

displacements human beings have to suffer from on account of power politics. The situational
textual context is the arrest of a suspected terrorist. The broader historical context is War on
Terror and Guantanamo Bay prison camp. Shamsie touches both from non-Western perspective
to depict human misery they led to.

Explanation: The prologue begins with anonymity but ends at a very powerful utterance
directing the readers to the main theme of the novel—the acute sense of displacement and
identity crisis the nameless prisoner is subjected to. The very instruction ‘to strip’ is not only to
remove all clothes and be completely naked but symbolically it stands for deprivation and loss of
identity, honour, privileges, and possessions. The prisoner who is mere ‘he’ without a name-the
very first identity of a human, is brought to ‘the cell’, a jail or a prison, and ‘they’ some figures
of authority or the representatives of the authority ‘unshackle’ him not to free him but with the
instructions to strip. The fear of ‘them’ is so intense that no resistance is offered despite the cold
 80

weather, rather ‘he takes off his gray coat with ‘brisk efficiency’ that refers to the increased
efficiency, the fearful rapidity of action and then there is a dash, a pause indicative of the fear
and shame, of the loss of identity that goes with dress and covering of body and self-image. This
overpowering fear and shame turn his fingers clumsy and movement slow on belt buckle and
shirt button. He doesn’t stop or refuse to go further in following the instructions, but carries on as
instructed though slowly and awkwardly. There is an acute awareness of the authority of those,
who go on watching him completely undressed and arm-folded as if completion of their mission
is their only concern. They keep waiting until he is completely naked. They gather up his clothes
and leave banishing any possibility of dressing up again, to protect him from the harshness of the
weather or to retain his honour and identity. He suspects his future dressing will be similar to all
those who are arrested to be sent to Guantanamo Bay. That is, when he is dressed again, he will
wear an orange jump suit, the only dress code for the prisoners in that prison camp. The uniform
of the prisoners once again goes with the deprivation of individuality and in turn identity. The
sense of shame and loss of identity are matched with the loss of hope for the future as well. The
resolve to stand as long as he can is with the doubts how long he can, how long a human can
endure, and the choice he has to make is a choice between the devil and the deep sea, sitting on
the cold steel bench in icy cold or standing completely naked. He fails to understand how he has
come to this. The question is kept ambiguous. He wonders about his state of affairs and his crime
for which he has been brought there. Indirectly it questions the establishment of such prison
camps for the human beings. It is indicative of the ruthless treatment they are subjected to.

When we relate the tale of the prisoner Shamsie depicts in the prologue to the wide social
practice of crime and punishment and prison camps it serves as a reminder of the violation of all
the rules and regulations decided by the world peace keeping organizations like UNO and what
has been decided in Geneva Convention about the prisoners of wars. No human rights charter is
applicable in that part of the world. To link it with Fairclough’s model of CDA, the above-
mentioned textual analysis of the prologue can be seen in the contextual background of the War
on Terror. By putting it in the larger context of life we can see it as a social practice ensured by
the world power structures. We can find the echo of this depiction happening in the real life
account of many people who are taken to Guantanamo Bay as suspected terrorists. Abdul Salam
Zaeef (2010), Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan till 2002, writes in his memoire that he was
 81

arrested by the Pakistani officials in early 2002 to be handed over to the Americans. He narrates
“Pakistani and American soldiers stood around me... The Pakistani soldiers were all staring as
the Americans hit me and tore the remaining clothes off my body. Eventually, I was completely
naked...” (Zaeef, 2010, p.171). The prologue is the most interdiscursive part of the novel built
round this question, “How it came to this, he wonders?”(Shamsie,2009,p.1), this end of the
prologue is the beginning of the tale that starts from the dropping of the second atomic bomb on
Nagasaki in World War II to make Japan surrender. It is the beginning of the neocolonialism
with the notion to assume absolute power in the world crushing any and every trace of resistance.

We can trace a variety of displacements, the first is physical. The handcuffed prisoner is
arrested from a restaurant in Canada, where he has reached after crossing long distance from
Afghanistan through a ‘journey of the destitute’ (Shamsie, 2009, p.330), the journey began by
destroying all the legal documents and experiencing the trauma of ‘unbecoming’ (Shamsie, 2009,
p.308). The long struggle for escape, from the punishment of the crime he had never committed,
brought him to Canada, where the realization of the inevitable made him disguise again, not as
Raza Hazara, but Abdullah Afghan. This time the disguise is not for an escape but to condone
the mistake of twenty year ago when he had left Abdullah at the Mujahedeen training camp .This
final act was quite in keeping with his earlier resolve “I will never be the same again.” (Shamsie,
2009, p.338)This displacement is not only physical but it also leads to social, political and
psychological displacements. If we evaluate the description of the prisoner in the contextual
background of Abdul Salam Zaeef’s arrest and treatment we can see that he was a diplomat, an
ambassador of a country in accordance with the international law, his diplomatic status also
demanded certain protocol but he was arrested keeping all the national and international laws and
human norms aside and was stripped with knifes in front of so many people. Nothing could be
proved on him and years later he was released but the torture he had been through had physical,
social and psychological implications and the psychic wounds were the most damaging of all.
The suspected terrorist when once taken to the prison socially becomes an outcast who is
deprived of the rights to seek the help of law. He is not even allowed to have any connection
with the outside world like his family, friends etc. he cannot have communication with other
prisoners either. This solitary confinement also has devastating effects and the psychological
trauma to which the prisoner has been subjected to. The experience leaves lasting scars on his
 82

whole being creating a deep sense of alienation. In Fairclough’s (2003) terms the very mode of
being (style) changes with the changing circumstances.

The narrative style Shamsie adopts moves forward and backward to show the continuity in
the power games and the power structures. Actually, what is there in the prologue is the end of
the beginning that starts with the main and the most powerful character in the novel i.e. Hiroko
Tanaka. The after effects of her victimization after 1945 created an identity crisis even later than
this event for her only child and in a way conditioned his life.

The two major events that constitute the background of the prologue are fall of the twin
tower and the War on Terror. Shamsie depicts the powerful image of the incarnation for the
‘Others’ as a result of these power politics of the world (O’Reilly, 2009).

Text (2): Azalea Manor.In’38 when he stepped for the first time through its
sliding doors into the grand room of marble floor and Venetian fireplace it was
the photographs along the wall that had captured his attention rather than the
mad mixture of Japanese and European architectural styles: all taken on the
grounds of Azalea Manor while some party was in progress, European and
Japanese mixing uncomplicatedly. He had believed in the promise of the
photograph. But ...Seven years later...war fractured every view... (Shamsie, 2009,
p.6).

Description: “War fractured every view” constitutes the theme. Shamsie relates it to a peaceful
place where Konrad came to live in Japan. It was a huge mention in Nagasaki that belonged to
Konrad’s brother-in-law James Burton’s uncle. James Burton asked Konrad to go and live there.
Konrad came to Nagasaki, Japan—‘a world of enchantment’ (Shamsie, 2009, p.6) in 1938 i.e.
before World War II .When Konrad entered the huge mention through its sliding door, what
attracted him was not the mixture of Japanese and European architectural styles but the
photographs displayed on the wall .They were taken on the grounds of Azalea Manor when some
 83

party was in progress during which the Europeans and the Japanese seemed to be mixing
uncomplicatedly. Uncomplicated mixing-or the peaceful co-existence was what Konrad liked
and which was missing in the country he belonged to. He had believed in the promise of the
photograph. He came to Nagasaki in 1938 and World War II began in 1939. It continued for
seven long years and that made all the difference. ‘The world of enchantment’ (Shamsie, 2009,
p.6) and ‘uncomplicated mixing’ (Shamsie, 2009, p.6) both were badly affected.

Interpretation: Konrad, a German, is a displaced person because of the political turmoil in his
native country Germany. His only living blood relation is Elizabeth Burton, his half-sister who
married an English colonial officer, James Burton. Konrad went to see them in New Delhi and
indirectly they told him that he was not a welcome visitor. James suggested him to go to
Nagasaki, Japan and live in Azalea Manor, one of his uncle’s property who had died there a few
months ago. So he comes there and is impressed by the promise of the photograph of mixing of
the European and the Japanese ‘uncomplicatedly’. He is interested in doing research in the
modes of different peoples’ living together in a metropolitan city of imperial Japan. So the
promise of the picture is a great attraction for him despite the fact that it is “the world from
which he felt so separate that nothing in it could ever implicate him (Shamsie, 2009, p. 9)”.The
reference is to cultural difference.

Explanation: Shamsie relates the theme of cultural displacement and resultant sense of being
out of place of a German, Konrad, who has to leave the country of his origin. There is no
reference in the text on which account he has to leave his country but, the impossibility of his
return suggests some political reason related to Hitler’s regime that expelled all those who did
not match with his scheme of things. The general dislike for the Germans has been mentioned in
the text at various points. Konrad tells Hiroko that for Elizabeth, his half-sister, he and his father
are ‘mere German connections’ (Shamsie, 2009, p. 20) and after Germany’s surrender she might
not even recognize them. Elizabeth changed her name from German Ilse to English Elizabeth.
Her only son Henry was sent back to England from India by his parents. He suffered from
identity crisis on account of his Indian expression. He had to suffer from further alienation when
the only other boy from India whom he regarded as an ally told his class-fellows that his mother
 84

was German. This hatred for the German among the European was because of Hitler’s
expansionism and racial discrimination (Heiden, 1999).

As mentioned earlier, this novel is written in the background of major historical events
starting from World War II. In World War II Germany, Italy and Japan made the Axis of Power
against the Allied Forces. There were general feelings of enmity against the Germans. When
Konrad came to Japan in 1938 before the war he was received by a Japanese Yoshi Watanabe
very cordially and soon they became friends. But the war changed everything. Before Germany
surrendered, he was considered an ally. But when Germany’s surrender became evident he was
warned by Yoshi that he wrote: “about Nagasaki filled with foreigners, it would be one step
away from cheering the American”. (Shamsie, 2009, p.9) So he should be careful. But after
Germany surrendered, his status from an ally changed into that of a suspicious foreigner who
was constantly watched by the military and avoided by the people even friends like Yoshi. The
world had changed for him many times in his life on various national and international accounts
not of his own making.

Here we can see the impact of the historical events like World War II on micro level life.
National and international power structures keep their influence on the lives of the individuals
who do not have direct involvement in any such power games. Konrad’s identity kept changing
because of the circumstances which were quite beyond his control. Here we find an echo of
W.H. Auden’s poem ‘Say the City has Ten Million Souls’ about the displacement of the German
Jews after their expulsion from their native land.

Konrad, in this text, is presented as a representative of German diaspora, whose forced

dispersal from their homeland was because of the political upheaval. There seems to be no
possibility of his return to his homeland and his status in his adopted land also changes because
of the surrender of the country of his origin. Shamsie refers to the whole historical perspective of
the Germans who had to suffer from multiple displacements because of Hitler’s policies and later
on because of Germany’s surrender in the World War II.
 85

Text (3): But ever since Germany’s surrender shifted his status in Nagasaki from
that of ally into some more ambiguous state which requires the military police to
watch him closely the lifeless words have become potent enough to send him to
prison. It says all there is to say about the paranoia of Imperial Japan: notebooks
of research and observation about the cosmopolitan world that had briefly existed
within a square mile of where he now lives are evidence of treason. Yoshi
Watanabe made that clear to him when Germany’s surrender started to seem
imminent. You write about a Nagasaki filled with foreigners .You write about it
longingly .That’s one step away cheering on an American occupation. (Shamsie,
2009, p.9)

Description: The theme of this excerpt is the further displacement of Konrad, a German. He
had come to live in Azalea Manor; the property of an Englishman in Nagasaki in 1938.He had
been doing research about the cosmopolitan world of Japan. Germany had been an ally of Japan
in the World War II but then it surrendered on 7th May 1945 ("The surrender of," 2014). As
Japan continued fighting naturally the surrender was not in keeping with Japanese government’s
policy. Germany was no more an ally. It affected Konrad’s status and added to his sense of
alienation. Already a displaced person, was no more an ally but had an unclear and undefined
status which made the military police to constantly keep a check on him. His lifeless words of
research about cosmopolitan Japan became potent enough to send him to prison because they
dealt with the fear of the Imperial Japan of foreign occupation. His research observations were
about the cosmopolitan world that had briefly existed in the one square mile of the place where
Konrad lived. Since the Emperor was against the entry of the outside world in Japan so his
writing about the cosmopolitan Japanese city of the yester years could be taken as an evidence of
treason. Yoshi Watanbe had fore-warned him when the surrender of Germany became evident
that he wrote longingly about Nagasaki filled with foreigners, it was just a step away from
cheering Americans’ occupation of Japan.
 86

Interpretation: Immediate situational context is the change in Konrad status and the historical
context goes with Germany’s surrender in World War II. Migration across the borders of
different countries has been as old phenomenon as the human history. But the natives’ reception
or treatment of the outsider has always been dependent on the status of the country of their
origin. Konrad’s brother-in-law, James Burton asked him to go and live in Nagasaki on one of
his uncle’s property, Azalea Manor, which was a part of the former Foreign Settlement
(Shamsie, 2009, p.10). He came there before World War II and was welcomed there because till
then Germany was a part of the Axis of Power and was on friendly terms with Japan. He started
doing research on the cosmopolitan world of Japan that briefly existed in Nagasaki in the past. In
1859, Japan entered into an alliance with the European world by joining the Great Power Club
(Satow, 2003) which led to the opening up of the country to the outside world for a short period
during which Nagasaki was a port thriving with regular cargo lines from different parts of the
world. ("History of Nagasaki,” n.d)

When Konrad came to Japan that metropolitan era had already been past though he was
impressed by the promise of uncomplicated mixing of the Japanese and the European which he
saw in the pictures displayed on the walls of Azalea Manor .Yoshi ,Konrad’s Japanese friend
warned him when Germany’s surrender became evident that his research might land him into hot
waters since it was about the presence of foreigners in Nagasaki which was against the
Emperor’s policy and which might be regarded as an act of treason against Japan .It might be
taken as welcoming Americans’ occupation of Japan .So under the suspicious atmosphere of
war, anything that doesn’t match with the policy of the sitting government might be taken as an
act of treason.

Explanation: This extract deals with displaced immigrants’ preference for metropolitans where
they can be easily accommodated. Konrad likes Nagasaki, a ‘world of enchantment’ because of
its metropolitan background .The ‘uncomplicated’ mixing of different nationals was the promise
of the pictures that attracted his attention when he entered Azalea Manor for the first time. For
him it was a great promise because he could not go back to his own country Germany and he was
not a welcome visitor to his half-sister’s colonial home in India. So he opted for researching
 87

what made the uncomplicated co-existence in a metropolitan possible. But his uncomplicated
existence became complicated after Germany’s surrender though he didn’t have any part in it.

The theme of metropolitanism associated with the immigrants and the settlers is repeated
in the novel when Harry, on the basis of his personal experience, tells Raza that he likes America
because he feels everyone can be American. Harry had greater problems in making his place in
England, his native country, than in America -his adopted land. But then it is his English origin
and Whiteman’ looks that make him a welcome settler there. Raza also says Harry looks like
Clint Eastwood, an American actor, filmmaker, musician and politician and John Fitzgerald
Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. But Harry says everyone can be American
(Shamsie, 2009).

Similarly when Hiroko goes to New York, she finds it a metropolitan city, ‘Nothing
foreign about foreignness in this city’ (Shamsie, 2009, p.289) where she ‘could hear Urdu,
English, Japanese, German all in the space of a few minutes.’(Shamsie, 2009, p.288) But after
9/11 ‘...things shifted. The island seemed tiny, people’s views shrunken’ ((Shamsie, 2009,
p.289),the wave of patriotism swept across the same New York and in Abdullah’s (representative
of Afghan labour diaspora) words it becomes ‘nets cast to the wind, seeking for any Muslim to
ensnare’ (Shamsie, 2009, p.353). It refers to the further displacement for those who had come
there to seek refuge from war zones or low income countries and earn their living. Abdullah and
Kemal are two such examples of labour diasporsas (Cohan, 1976) from the novel.

The same theme is found in Broken Verses by Shamsie (2005) and The Reluctant
Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (2009) where the intellectual diaspora (Brown, 2006) subjects
who have been living there quite comfortably have to leave their adopted land after 9/11 because
their religion becomes their only identity, like Said (1978) says, and all other things they have
accomplished are ignored making their lives so difficult that ultimately they opt for return.
 88

Life of the displaced people whether immigrants or exiled in different metropolitan cities
of the world also depend on national and international politics, power structures and power
practices (Fairclough, 2003). Shamsie reflects all these impacts on the lives of her fictional
characters.

Text (4): Watanabe is the Jap’ whose telegrams James Burton had referred to
when packing Konrad off to Nagasaki. His grandfather, Peter Fuller of
Shropshire, had been George Burton’s closest friend and neighbour. When
Konrad arrived in Nagasaki it was Yoshi who was waiting for him on the harbour
to welcome him, Yoshi who showed him around Azalea Manor, Yoshi who found
him a Japanese tutor, Yoshi who produced Kagawas as though they were a
bouquet of flowers hiding within his sleeves within hours of hearing Konrad say
he’d be far more comfortable living in the cosines of the caretaker ‘s house, Yoshi
who regaled him with stories of Nagasaki turn-of –the –century cosmopolitan
world ,unique in Japan-its English-language newspapers ,its International Club
,its liaisons and intermarriages between European men and Japanese women
.And when Konrad said he needed someone to translate Japanese letter for the
book he was planning to write about the cosmopolitan world ,it was Yoshi who
had introduced him to his nephew’s German teacher ,Hiroko Tanaka.

It was one of those friendships which quickly came to seem inevitable, and
unbreakable. Sand then in a conversation of less than a minute, it ended.

They come increasingly to check on me, Konrad. My mother’s family name was
Fuller .You know what that means .I can’t give them any other reason to think I
have divided loyalties. Until the war ends, I’m staying away from all the
Westerners in Nagasaki .But only until the war ends .After, after, Konrad, things
will be as before.

If you had been in Germany, Joshua, you’d say to your Jewish friends I’m sorry I
can’t hide you in my attic, but come over for dinner when the Nazi government
falls.
 89

‘Why are you here?’

Yoshi looks up from the fan of cards in his hand.

‘I was at home when the sirens started. This is the nearest shelter.’ At Konrad’s
raised eyebrows he adds,’ I know. I’ve been going to the school house’s shelter
these last few weeks. But with the New Bomb...I didn’t want to risk the extra
minutes out in the open.’

‘So there are risks in the world greater than being associated with a German?
That’s comforting. What New Bomb?’

Yoshi put down his cards.

‘You haven’t heard? About Hiroshima? Three days ago?’’ Three days? No one’s
spoken n to me in three days. (Shamsie, 2009, p.12-13)

Description: The theme is complete isolation of the German Konrad “No one’s spoken to me in
three days.” Yoshi Watanabe, the Japanese care taker of Azalea Manor in Nagasaki, sent a
telegram to James Burton about the possession of the mansion. James asked Konrad to go and
live there in response to this. Yoshi’s grandfather, Peter Fuller of Shropshire, had been George
Burton’s closest friend and neighbour. Yoshi received Konrad at the harbour in Nagasaki and
showed him around Azalea Manor. It was Yoshi who found him a Japanese tutor and brought
Kagawas within hours of hearing Konrad would be far more comfortable living in the coziness
of the caretaker ‘s house and would like to have tenants. Yoshi also entertained him with the
stories of Nagasaki turn-of–the–century cosmopolitan world, unique in Japan-its English-
language newspapers, its International Club, its relationships and intermarriages between
European men and Japanese women. And when Konrad said he needed someone to translate
Japanese letter for the book he was planning to write about the cosmopolitan world Yoshi
introduced him to his nephew’s German teacher, Hiroko Tanaka. They became fast friends
within no time and their friendship seemed unbreakable. But the political situation in the country
created by World War II after the defeat of Germany ended it in a conversation of less than a
minute.
 90

The conversation is given in italics to be highlighted. Yoshi tells Konrad that ‘they’
increasingly come to check on him .The pronoun ‘they’ refers to the military police. He adds that
his mother’s last name is ‘Fuller’ that is European which proves his relationship with the
European and Japan is at war with the Europeans. This connection has already made him a
suspicious person. Yoshi is a born Japanese, Shamsie shows how even his identity and allegiance
become problematic because of the origin of his mother during Japan’s war against the European
countries. Yoshi tells Konrad that he does not want to give ‘them’, the military intelligence,
another reason to suspect that he has divided loyalties. It is because of the fear of the national
intelligence agencies and the power that they have which makes Yoshi careful. He tells Konrad,
trying to make it sounds general rather than particular that until the war ends, he is staying away
from all Westerners in Nagasaki and then tries to assure Konrad ‘But only until the war ends’.
He tries to convey that this breach between their friendship, is a transitory phase and it will end
with the end of war. He tries to assure Konrad by repeating the word ‘after’ to stress that after the
war things will be as they have been before it. It is hard to decide whether this justification is to
console Konrad or to satisfy himself but the fact remains that the change of Germany’s status
during the war makes him aware of the change in the status of his German friend who becomes
a suspicious foreigner and he decides to keep away from him so that his loyalties may not be
suspected .He further justifies himself by telling Konrad that had he been in Germany under
such circumstances he might have told his Jewish friends that sorry he could not hide them in his
attic but they could come to him for a dinner after the fall of the Nazi government. It is a
discourse of fear of the power of the fascist and totalitarian governments where even private,
personal friendships get destroyed by the change in governmental policies.

In reply to this long discourse of fear and alienation Konrad just asks Yoshi, why has he
been there .Yoshi, who is looking at the fan of cards in his hand to avoid looking at Konrad and
keep himself busy, though not playing with anyone, tells him that he has been home when the
sirens for the air attack warning starts and he comes there since it is the nearest air raid shelter.
Konrad just raises his eyebrows without saying a word and Yoshi says that he has been going to
the school house’s shelter for the last few weeks, but for the fear of the New Bomb he doesn’t
want to take the risk of being out in the open for any extra minutes. Konrad says that it is
comforting for him to know that there are risks in the world greater than being associated with a
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German then asks about the New Bomb. Konrad’s tone reflects irony. At which Yoshi put his
cards down and questions him that had he not heard about Hiroshima three days ago. Konrad
tells him simply that no one has spoken to him in those three days. Through this discourse, on the
one hand, the gravity associated with the New Bomb and the severity of the fear associated with
it has been referred to and on the other hand complete isolation of a harmless German has been
highlighted.

Interpretation: The situational context goes with further alienation of Konrad on account of the
national and international power politics the historical context goes with World War II, changing
international relations with the dynamics of war and their impacts of macro and micro level life.

Explanation: This excerpt is written in the background of colonial past of Japan. Yoshi’s
maternal grandfather was a friend of James Burton’s uncle. Who settled in Japan and owned
Azalea Manor in Nagasaki. After his death Yoshi informed his heir, James Burton. He sent his
brother-in-law, Konrad to live there who was warmly received by Yoshi .Soon they became very
intimate friends and Yoshi helped Konrad all the way. Germany was an ally of Japan in World
War II but then Germany surrendered which changed Konrad’s status from an ally to that of a
suspicious foreigner, the one who was closely watched by the military police .Even the most
intimate friends like Yoshi started avoiding him for fear of being suspected having divided
loyalties and he was living in complete isolation not having a word with any one for days
altogether.

Wars do not only destroy armies, countries, crops, buildings, and civilizations but they also
affect intimate human relations, love and friendship. The storms on macro level trickle down to
micro level life as well. Konrad was a German; his half-sister was half German and half English.
She married an English man and since Germany was in the Axis of Power fighting against the
European Allied forces so her brother and father were reduced to mere ‘German connections’.
Konrad came to Japan and befriended Yoshi Watanabe, a Japanese whose mother was English
but after Germany’s surrender he also left Konrad for fear of being suspected of divided loyalties
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so the war and the consequences of war influenced such intimate relationship which seemed
unbreakable for years .Similarly, Konrad was careful while having his interaction with Hiroko
because she had already been regarded a traitor’s daughter. We find here an echo of the desertion
found in a poem O, What is This Sound by W.H. Auden:

O where are you going? Stay with me here!

Were the vows you swore me deceiving, deceiving?

No, I promised to love you, dear,

But I must be leaving (Auden, n.d.)

Auden conveys how war consumes peoples’ private life breaking the most intimate of the
relations; this is what Shamsie also shows through the above-mentioned discourse in the novel.
The sense of displacement, alienation and being constantly out of place (Said, 1999) is there on
account of the power practices and the major historical event i.e. WW II.

Text (5): She looks out towards the mountains, and everything is more beautiful
to her than ever before. She turns her head and sees the spires of Urakami
Cathedral, which Konrad is looking up at when he notices a gap open between
the clouds. Sunlight streams through, pushing the clouds apart even further.

Hiroko.

And then the world goes white. (Shamsie, 2009, p.23) (This is followed by two
blank pages)

Description: The theme is “the world goes white” which refers to the blankness that
overpowered the world after the dropping of the New Bomb on Nagasaki in WWII. Hiroko the
protagonist, a Japanese woman of twenty one has been presented as looking out towards the
mountains. At that moment, everything to her, looks more beautiful than ever before because
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she is in love and her love is equally responded by the person whom she loves. She has been
formally proposed just a few moments ago. She turns her head to see the spires of Urakami
Cathedral, which Konrad-her fiancé is also looking up at. It is a cloudy day but he notices a gap
between the clouds through which the sunlight streams in pushing the clouds further apart.
Hiroko also notices the gap and then the world goes white. It is followed by two blank pages.
Shamsie has used the literary device of irony showing human ignorance of the very next moment
of life .Just before the blast, ‘everything looks more beautiful than ever before’ to Hiroko
without knowing the transience of the moment and the ugliness that will overpower everything.
Konrad looks at ‘the streaming sunlight’, the symbol of life and then the ‘world turns white’
here ‘white’ does not symbolize peace but blankness, discontinuity ,disruption and complete
destruction, wiping away everything, draining all the colours of life. This is what happens on 9th
August 1945 in Nagasaki.

Interpretation: The situational context is Konrad knowledge about the dropping of the atomic
bomb on Hiroshima and the possibility and the fear of another one through Yoshi and he decides
to go and see Hiroko and propose her without further delay. The historical context is war and
unprecedented destruction caused during the war.

Explanation: On 9th, August 1945 he goes to her place in the morning, proposes her and leaves
with the promise to return for dinner but then ‘the world goes white’. Shamsie says in one of her
interviews about Burnt Shadows that she has deliberately left the two blank pages to show, how
the world gets totally blank for a considerable period of time (Shamsie, 2009). There is utter
loneliness of Konrad’s life in Japan where nobody talks to him for days on one hand and the
dullness and drabness of Hiroko’s life who has been banished from the school where she teaches
on the other. She has been charged with the duty to measure steel in a munitions factory, she has
been outcast for being branded as a traitor’s daughter. But she finds colour and promise of future
happiness in Konrad’s proposal and she starts dreaming about her life after war. Love makes the
world colourful and everything starts looking more beautiful than ever. She puts on her mother’s
silk kimono and goes out to catch a glimpse of, Konrad, who is going to the Urakami Cathedral
to see Father Alsano .It’s cloudy but then there comes a gap between the clouds and the sunlight
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starts streaming in, widening the gap. They both are looking at the gap when the world goes
white. The expression of ‘going white’ has been used for the mushroom clouds that followed the
dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

It is interdiscursive discourse re-writing history of 9th August 1945 Nagasaki. The American
set two different targets for dropping the second atomic bomb, the first target was Kokura ,it
was cloudy there so they moved on to the next target that was Nagasaki .It was cloudy there too
,they were about to give up but then there was a gap and they dropped the bomb. Shamsie hints
at the gap Hiroko and Konrad are looking at when their world ‘turns white’ never to retain the
lost colours again. Shamsie refers to this targeting of Nagasaki later in the text:

Do you know they were going to bomb Kokura that day instead? But it was cloudy so
they had to turn around to their second target-Nagasaki. And it was cloudy there, too, I
remember the clouds that day so well. They almost gave up. So close to giving up, and
then they saw a break in the cloud .And boom.(Shamsie, 2009, p.99)

Nature plays the part that we can find in Hardy’s novels and Frost’s poetry; it is hostile
and seems to be conspiring against the humans.

Shamsie refers to the hegemonic designs of the world power stake-holders. The first atom
bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and they had seen the destruction it had caused but they did not
stop and did it again. Shamsie conveys that there is no limit to which the powerful cannot go
again and again to have their purpose served. In one of her interviews she says:

One of the pre-requisites to war (and to the rise of Empires) is the successful proliferation
of the idea that the lives of people from other countries matter less. This allows citizens
of different nations to support their governments' decisions to bomb, colonize, exploit,
manipulate the citizens of other nations, all in the name of 'national interest' or 'protecting
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the lives of its own citizens'. Of course, this way of thinking applies to the bombing of
Nagasaki as well as the War on Terror - it also applies to the British Empire, the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan's acts of self-interest during over 20 years of war in
Afghanistan, the relationship between the governments of India and Pakistan etc.
(“Shamsie”, n.d.)

So Shamsie indirectly refers to the emergence of the neo-colonial power (Said, 1979) and
its obsession with saving the Americans lives at the cost of gigantic displacement and trauma
caused by the atomic explosion. World War I paved the way for the end of the European
colonialism and the beginning of the American neocolonialism and during World War II the
Americans confirmed their hegemony by dropping the atomic bombs and sending the world a
message of its future plans to deal with the world widening the divide between the ‘Americans’
and the ‘rest’ (Said, 1979).

Text (7): Hiroko leans out of the window, forgetting she is almost entirely naked.
Something is wrong with her eyes. They see perfectly until the bottom of the slope
and then they cannot see. Instead, they are inventing sights. Fire and smoke and,
through the smoke nothing. Through the smoke, land that looks the way her back
feels where it has no feeling. She touches the something else on her back .Her
fingers can feel her back but her back cannot feel her fingers. Charred silk,
seared flesh. How is this possible? Urakami Valley has become her flesh. Her
flesh has become Urakami Valley .She runs her thumb over what was once skin. It
is bumped and raw, lifeless.

So much to learn. The touch of dead flesh. The smell-she has just located where
the acrid smell comes from-of dead flesh. The sound of fire-who knew fire roared
so angrily, ran so quickly? It is running up the slopes now; soon it will catch us.
Not just her back, all of her will be Urakami Valley. Diamond from carbon- she
briefly imagines herself a diamond, all of Nagasaki a diamond cutting open the
earth, falling through to hell. She is leaning further out, looking through the
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smoke for the spires of Urakami Cathedral, when she hears her neighbour’s
scream.

Hiroko looks down. Sees a reptile crawling up the path towards her house. She
understands now. The earth has already opened up, disgorged hell. Her
neighbour’s daughter is running towards the reptile with a bamboo spear in
hand-her grip incorrect. The reptile raises its head and the girl drops the spear,
calls out Hiroko’s father’s name. Why does she expect him to help? Hiroko
wonders, as the girl keep chanting, ‘Tanaka-san,’ Tanaka-san,’ hands griping the
sides of her face as she stares at the reptile.

The only light is from the fire .Her neighbour is calling her name, somewhere
close. The neighbour is inside the house, her footsteps on the stairs. Where is
Urakami Cathedral? Hiroko bats at the air with her hands, trying to clear away
whatever separates the spires from her sight. Where is the Cathedral? Where is
Konrad?

Where is she falling? (Shamsie, 2009, p.7-8)

Description: The theme of this excerpt is “… all of Nagasaki a diamond cutting open the earth,
falling through to hell” .This discourse of destruction and displacement starts with the
description of Hiroko after regaining her senses; she leans out of window forgetting that she is
almost entirely naked. She feels there is something wrong with her eyes. They see ‘perfectly’
until the bottom of the slope but they cannot see anything further. She thinks they are ‘inventing’
sights of fire and smoke and through smoke ‘nothing’ this nothingness is then matched with the
feelinglessness of a patch on her back .Through the smoke, the land looks like the way her back
feels where it has become feelingless. She can feel that part of her back with her fingers, but her
back cannot feel her fingers. It is burnt silk and scorched bone-dry feelingless flesh. She wonders
how this is possible that Urakami Valley and her flesh become similarly feelingless. She runs her
thumb over what was her skin once but it just bumps raw and lifeless.
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The experiences after the blast are quite different from her previous existence; she feels
she has much to learn e.g. the touch of the dead flesh. She has just been able to locate that the
pungent smell is the smell of her own dead flesh. She looks at the unprecedented sound and the
speed of the fire and thinks ‘who knew fire roared so angrily’ roaring sound, an animal attribute
,is given to the fire which is roaring angrily and ‘running’ quickly . The fire is personified as a
big, hostile monster, running at tremendous speed to catch ‘us’ the humans. Urakami Valley has
just been turned into smoke with dancing fire all around. She feels that not just her back, but the
whole of her being and the whole valley have turned into a burning fire. As a thoroughly burnt
carbon gets converted into diamond, she and Nagasaki have been burned enough to become a
diamond which is cutting the earth open as if falling through the burning hell. She is leaning
forward to look at the spires of the Urakami Cathedral through smoke, what she was looking at
before the ‘world goes white’ when she hears her neighbour’s scream.

Hiroko looks down and sees a reptile crawling up towards her home. She takes it as
something coming from the disgorged hell as the earth has already opened up with gigantic fire.
Her neighbour’s daughter is running towards the reptile with a bamboo spear in her hand with
‘incorrect’ grip- the grip that is not normal. The reptile raises ‘its’ head, and the girl recognizes
‘it’ as Tanaka-san and drops the spear. The human has been reduced to a reptile. She keeps
calling his name. Hiroko wonders why she is chanting his name while trying to keep the sides of
her face ‘intact’ as she stares at the reptile.

There is no other light than the light of the burning fire, adding to the horror of the scene.
The neighbour is calling Hiroko from a closer point. She must be inside her house. Hiroko can
listen to her footsteps on the stairs but cannot see her. She also cannot find the Urakami
Cathedral, which she is so desperate to locate while she has been trying to clear the way by
‘batting’ the air with her hands to see the spires, the Cathedral and Konrad.
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She cannot hold herself together any longer and is falling down. She is losing her
consciousness again. “Wondering where is she falling.” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 7).Shamsie depicts
strange feelings of alienation, in a moment the whole familiar world has changed its shape.

Interpretation: The situational context is the impending fear of the dropping of the second
atomic bomb and the historical context is the actual event of dropping of the bomb and the
destruction it caused.

The war had already made life a drudgery, a discomfort, a horror and a trauma but the havoc the
dropping of the ‘New Bomb’ played to make Japan ultimately surrender .was beyond all
imagination. Konrad had been deserted by his only friend in Japan for the fear of the military
police and Hiroko had an apparently off day from the factory where actually no more steel had
been left to measure, they came together to plan a future but to be separated by the atomic
explosion forever, the bomb destroyed every trace of their future plans.

Explanation: This discourse of the destruction caused by the atomic explosion is a mode of
résistance (Fairclough, 2001) recreated by Shamsie, who is against such act of violence
.Shamsie’s fictional discourse at this point is interdiscursive in its very nature, echoing the actual
details of the historical event :

... a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000
people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in
World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and
most cruel bomb. ("Bombing of Hiroshima," n.d)

Fairclough(2003 ) mentions interdiscursivity in the people’s mode of being .Here we see

the upright iconic, Tanaka, who could not be intimidated by the Emperor’s military , reduced to a
mere ‘reptile’ covered with scales, without skin, without hair ,without clothes, but this mode was
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not self-adopted rather a cruel consequence of the dropping of the atomic bomb. The bomb has
created an unthinkable identity crisis, which has turned a man so unrecognizable that even his
daughter and the neighbour’s girl took him as a strange reptile and he is only one example
among the innumerable lot. Ichimaru (1992), an actual survivor of the bomb writes in Nagasaki,
August 9, 1945:

There were many medical students, doctors ,nurses ,and some patients who escaped from
the school and hospitals .They were very week and wanted water badly ,crying out ,
‘Give me water ,please.’ Their clothes in rags, bloody and dirty .Their condition was very
bad...All of them died in the next few days.(Ichimaru, 1992, p. 33-34)

Later in the text Hiroko becomes the spokesperson for the writer when she tells
Elizabeth:

And the thing is, I still don’t understand,' Why did they have to do it? Why has a second
bomb? Even the first is beyond anything I can…but a second. You do that, and see what
you’ve done, and then you do it again. How is that…?' Do you know they were going to
bomb Kokura that day instead? But it was cloudy so they had to turn around to their
second target-Nagasaki. And it was cloudy there too...and then they saw a break in the
cloud. And boom. She said the ‘boom’ so softly it was little more than an exhalation.
(Shamsie, 2009, p.28)

Ichimaru (1992), a direct victim of the atomic bomb, and a survivor like Hiroko says, “It is
impossible to describe the horror I saw. I heard many voices in pain, crying out and there was a
terrible stench .I remembering it as an inferno.” (Ichimaru, 1992, p.34)

From here, Shamsie moves on, to the second part of the novel that is Veiled Birds: Delhi,
1947.It was a period before Partition .Hiroko, the protagonist, moves there from Japan and finds
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a temporary refuge in the house of Konrad’s half-sister, Elizabeth and her colonial husband,
James Burton .So the tale of displacement continues in the colonial and postcolonial world.

Text (8): The new Viceroy’s arriving soon. To preside over the departure of the
Raj from these shores.’...Even the best the innings must come to an end .I
suppose.’ Sajjad wondered how James Burton would have felt about the end of
the Empire if he didn’t have the cricketing phrase handy. ’People who know about
such things seem to think the creation of this Pakistan seems quite likely now.
Ridiculous really.’

Sajjad twirled his fingers in the air in what James had learnt to recognise as an
Indian gesture of indifference.

‘Either way, it won’t matter to me. I’ll die in Dilli. Before that, I’ll live in Dilli.
Whether it’s in British India, Hindustan, Pakistan-that makes no difference to
me.’

‘So you keep saying. I think you are talking nonsense.’

‘Why nonsense? The British have made little difference to the life in my
moholla...It goes on as it has gone on. Yes’ there are interruptions-1857 was one,
perhaps the departure of the British will be another-but believe me over the next
century Dilli will continue to do what it’s been doing for the last two centuries-
fade at a very slow ,and melancholically poetic, pace.

James made the noise of disbelief at the assertion that the departure of the British
would be nothing more than an interruption. (Shamsie, 2009, p.40)

Description: The departure of the British from India is the theme. James Burton tells Sajjad that
the new, last Viceroy is arriving soon to preside over the departure of the British Raj from the
Indian shores. He adds that even the best of the innings must come to an end. Here the British
Raj in India is compared to the game of cricket and their rule to ‘the best innings’ which has to
come to an end eventually. And Sajjad wonders how Burton would have felt about the end of the
Empire if he did not know the cricket jargon. James comments that people who know that the
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British Raj is coming to an end think that the creation of ‘this Pakistan’—a separate homeland
for the Muslim in India is quite likely .He terms these expectations as ‘ridiculous really’.

Sajjad shows his indifference by twirling his fingers saying that either way it will not
make any difference to him ‘Whether it’s in British India, Hindustan, Pakistan-that makes no
difference to me.’ He says he will die in Dilli but before that he lives there .James does not like
the comment and regards it as nonsense .Sajjad wants to know why does he think so and adds to
elaborate his point of view by telling James that the British has made little difference to the life
in his moholla. It has been going on as it has always gone on. He admits there are certain
interruptions like 1857 and he thinks that perhaps the departure of the British will be another
such interruption .He tries to assure James that over the next century Dilli will continue to do
what it has been doing for the last two centuries-fade at a very slow, and melancholically poetic
pace. The very assertion that the departure of the British will be mere interruption is unbelievable
for James- the white man who has colonized the world for the civilizing mission.

Interpretation: Situational context is James Burton’s concern about the end of the British Raj.
The historical context is the act of decolonization and link between colonialism, decolonization
and neocolonial world.

Explanation: Shamsie highlights the historical move of decolonization. The end of the British
Raj is eminent. The last Viceroy is expected to reach India soon to preside over the ceremony of
the departure of the British Colonialism from the Indian shores. As a part of the colonizing team,
James considers that they have played the best innings and even the best of the innings will have
to come to an end. Despite having an idea of the British departure, he doesn’t have the real
knowledge of the creation of Pakistan, he considers the very thought of the people about the
creation of Pakistan as ‘very ridiculous’. Sajjad, a native Indian Muslim from Delhi, is least
interested in Pakistan and the decolonization of India which is ironic in itself and leads to future
irony of his fate.
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It is a re-writing of what George Orwell (1936) tells in Shooting of an Elephant about the
ignorance of the administrative machinery of the British Empire. James Burton knew that the last
Viceroy of India would be coming soon to preside over their departure ceremony, but didn’t
know exactly when and he was also ignorant of the plan of the division of India even in that last
year when it eventually took place. Considering the creation of Pakistan as ridiculous also shows
the height of ignorance. It also highlights the sense of the White man’s superiority, theirs is ‘the
best innings’.

There were many factors that lead to the decolonization of India. The British Empire won
the war with the help of the American bombing over Japan, but could not crush the rising
nationalist movements in different colonies and ultimately it became difficult for it to hold on. Its
crumbled economy could not bear the burden of running the colonies, so it just wanted an
honourable exist from India. No proper planning was made before Partition which led to
unprecedented displacement and loss of lives and property.

Anthony Mustacich (2013) writes in Imperialism, The Cold War, and the Contradictions
of Decolonization “The Second World War had devastated the colonial empires of Western
Europe, leaving the United States as the capitalist world’s undisputed superpower. At the same
time, the war demolished the colonial system that had defined the imperialist era up until that
point, giving rise to a new stage of imperialism called neo-colonialism.” The British had to make
haste to find an honourable exit for themselves which led to the displacement of a large number
of people. All the three novels selected for this study refers to the displacement caused by
Decolonization. Shamsie also refers to the creation of Muhajir diaspora in Pakistan.

Text (9): From Tokyo to here she had found momentum in momentum. She had
not thought of destination so much as a departure, wheeling through the world
with the awful freedom of someone with no one to answer to. She had become in
fact, a figure out of myth. The character who loses everything and is born a new
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in blood. In the stories, these characters were always reduced to a single element:
vengeance or justice. All other components of personality and past shrugged off.

Hiroko had once spent an entire evening looking at a picture of Harry Truman.
She did not know how to want to hurt the bespectacled man though she suspected
she would feel certain satisfaction if someone dropped a bomb on him; as for
justice, it seemed an insult to the dead to think there could be any such thing. It
was a fear of reduction rather than any kind of quest that had forced her away
from Japan. Already she had started to feel that word ‘hibakusha’ start to
consume her life. To the Japanese she was nothing beyond an explosion-affected
person; that was her defining feature. And to the Americans...well, she was not
interested in being anything to the Americans any more. (Shamsie, 2009.p .48-49)

Description: The theme of this excerpt is, “She had not thought of destination so much as a
departure…” i.e. the emotional compulsion for the dispersal. Hiroko left Tokyo after listening to
the justification of the American that the dropping of the atom bomb had been necessary to save
the Americans’ lives. Her experience of war and after effects of war created a thrust in her that
kept her moving. She had not thought of destination, but the departure moving through the world
with the freedom of someone who didn’t have to be answerable to anyone for she had lost
everyone. Her ‘destination’ and ‘freedom’ both create irony. Her connectionless existence has
somewhat made her a mythical character who loses everything to be born anew. In mythical
stories, such characters are reduced to a single element revenge or justice, losing all the other
components of their personalities.

Hiroko had once spent the whole day looking at the picture of Harry Truman, she did
not know how to hurt him, but had a feeling she would be happy if someone would drop a bomb
on him for the sake of justice. But then the dropping of the atom bomb again on some human
seemed to be an insult to the dead ones who had been through the agony. There was not any
quest, but the fear of rejection to a bomb survivor identity that compelled her to leave Japan. She
had a feeling that the word ‘hibakusha’ had already started consuming her life. To the Japanese,
she was nothing beyond an explosion-affected person. This had become her defining feature.
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“And to the Americans... well, she was not interested in being anything to the Americans
anymore.” This refers to her complete disillusionment with the Americans and she did not even
bother to think about them, she was ‘done’ with them.

Interpretation: Here the situational context is the justification of the American for dropping the
New Bomb which goes with the age long policy of the neocolonial powers to work for saving the
Americans’ lives only.

Explanation: Hiroko, Shamsie’s protagonist, was sick and was taken to a hospital in Tokyo. She
recovered and started working as a translator for the Americans there. She accepted the offer for
the job; the one who offered her job had such a kind face that she could not associate what the
dreadful atomic blast did with her or any other human. She was content living there. But then
one day she heard the same gentle faced American saying that the bomb was a terrible thing but
it had been necessary to drop it to save the Americans’ lives. This heartless justification made
her leave Japan forever.

The philosophy behind neocolonialism is based on the binary between ‘us’ and ‘them’
(Said, 1978) and the rights of the ‘might’. The objective behind dropping the atomic bomb was
to ensure future hegemony of the Americans in the world. “Proponents of the A-bomb–such as
James Byrnes, Truman’s secretary of state–believed that its devastating power would not only
end the war but also put the U.S. in a dominant position to determine the course of the postwar
world. Hegemony had been the ultimate aim of this devastating decision.” (“Hiroshima and
Nagasaki”n.d). It was not only a way of bringing the war against Japan to a swift conclusion but
in addition a way of demonstrating American military superiority over the Soviet Union (“World
War 2”). All the moral and the ethical grounds were defied causing unprecedented destruction,
devastation, misery, sufferings and displacement.

Hiroko wished someone to throw a bomb on Truman to seek her revenge but it seemed to
her an insult to the dead to throw such a bomb again. In Ichimaru‘s words “Never again should
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these terrible nuclear weapons be used, no matter what happens. Only when mankind renounces
the use of these terrible nuclear weapons will the souls of my friends rest in peace.”(Ichimaru,
1992, p. 34) As a victim to the bomb and losing the whole familiar world and all loved ones,
Hiroko’s existence seems to be directionless with no destination but a feeling of unsettled
restlessness.

Text (10): Modern India will start the day the English leave. Or perhaps it started
the day we used their language to tell them to go home...No, modernism doesn’t
belong to the English. The opposite, in fact. They’ve reached the end of their
history. They’ll go back to their cold island and spend the next ten generations
dreaming of everything they’ve lost.’

‘They sound like the Muslims of India. (Shamsie, 2009, p.52-53)

Description: The theme is “They’ll go back to their cold island and spend the next ten
generations dreaming of everything they’ve lost.” The native Indian, Sajjad, tells his mother that
modern India will start the day the English will leave, but then he adds that perhaps it started the
day the Indians started using their language to tell them to go back. He asserts that modernism
does not belong to the English rather it is the other way round. They have reached the end of their
history –the colonial history around the world. From climax starts the downward journey. They
will go back to their cold island and the next ten generations will keep dreaming of everything
they have lost. They sound like the Muslims of India who ruled India before the English and
recollection of their past rule and glory has been a source of consolation for them.

Interpretation: Situational context is a controversy between a traditional Indian mother and a

progressive Indian youth about the concept of modernity. While the historical context is related
to the long experience of colonization and its impact on the social fabrics of the natives lives.

Explanation: Shamsie presents Sajjad as a self-confident, proud and upright Indian Muslim,
who is civilized in manners, contented with his lot and optimistic about his future .Despite
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working with the English, he retains his identity and has his own personal opinion. When his
mother rebukes him for being influenced by the English modernism, which will separate him
from his roots, he replies to her that the future belongs to the Indians .He adds that they will be
modern the day the English will go back to their cold island .He equates the beginning of modern
India with the day when the Indians learnt English and told ‘them to quit India in their language’.
Appropriation of the language of the colonizers, and using it to convey the colonized subaltern's
message to the Empire as mentioned by Ashcroft et al. (1989), have been referred to, which are
the two most common features of the post-colonial discourse. Sajjad thinks that the English have
already reached their climax and now their journey will be the downward journey.They will have
to go back to their cold island where they will remember what they have lost by losing India for
the next ten generations. Here the passing reference is to the rise and fall of the Muslim empire
as well.

Unlike E.M. Forster’s (1924) presentation of an Indian Muslim Aziz, in A Passage to

India, who shows the superficiality of his vision, here in this postcolonial discourse Shamsie
presents, a self-assured, confident Indian Muslim who speaks out how he feels about themselves
and the colonizers. Sajjad’s voice stands for the voice of all those who believe in their glorious
past and bright future .Despite working for the English James Burton, Sajjad never envies them
rather he has a feeling that their civilization has reached its climax from where will start their
downward journey. For him decolonization is something written on the wall and whatever the
English have enjoyed in India their future generations will miss them all. Modernism for Sajjad’s
mother is adopting the ways of living like the English, like choosing one’s own life partner,
dressing in the English way, learning English language. She thinks that all this in the name of
modernism is taking the Indians away from their own culture and traditions. She stands for the
voice of the conservative Muslims who regard everything related to the English as against
cultural norms. Sajjad, on the other hand, stands for the liberal Muslims who believe in their own
values but have the ability to appropriate and abrogate the English language. His world view is
similar to the Muslim thinkers like Sir Sayyad Ahmad Khan and Alama Iqbal who believe that
the Muslims should gain modern knowledge and learn English to voice their opinion and make it
heard by the colonizers. Sajjad thinks that they, the Indian, have acquired modernity the day they
learnt the language of the colonizers and told them in their diction to quit their country.
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Modernism, according to Josh Rahn (2011), in broad terms was the period which was
marked by sudden and unexpected breaks with traditional ways of viewing and interacting with
the world. He holds that modernism was set in motion through a series of cultural shocks and the
first of these great shocks was World War I, which ravaged Europe from 1914 through 1918. The
war that was started to end all wars led to more wars instead of bringing an end to them. Two
World Wars in the span of a generation effectively shell-shocked all of the Western civilization
and lead to the historic decolonization across the world. Sajjad refers to this historical
phenomenon of decolonization in his discourse which will change the placement of the English
or, in other words, displace them from the colonies they ruled for a long period of time. Shamsie
refers to this act of decolonization as contributing factor in creating Indian postcolonial diaspora.

Text (11): And this world too was ending. A year or two, no more, James had told
her, and then the British would go. It seemed the most extraordinary privilege-to
have forewarning of a swerve in history, to prepare for how your life would curve
around that bend. She had no idea what she planned to do beyond Delhi. Beyond
next week. And why plan anyway? She had left such hubris behind. For a moment
it was enough to be here...knowing there was nothing here she couldn’t leave
without regret. (Shamsie, 2009, p.58)

Description: “And this world too was ending” is the theme which refers to decolonization of
India. Hiroko found a temporary refuge in the colonized world in India. But the independence
movement in India was in full swing and she was told by James that the British would leave
India in a year or two, not more than that. For Hiroko whose world had turned into ashes within
no time without a warning, it seemed the most extraordinary privilege to have a forewarning of
the future turn of history, she thought it could help humans prepare for the change accordingly
.But Hiroko did not have any idea what to do beyond Delhi, even beyond next week. Having
been through such ‘hubris’ which according to Encyclopedia Britannica in Classical Athenian
usage, is the intentional use of violence to humiliate or degrade (“hubris”). She had been through
the intentional humiliation and degradation through the dropping of the atomic bomb which
 108

made her think why should she plan .She had left the whole familiar world behind so for the
moment it was enough for her to be there at Burtons’ place in Delhi knowing that there was
nothing she couldn’t leave behind without regret.

Interpretation: Situational context in the feeling of arbitrariness of the world where Hiroko took
refuge. The historical context is impending decolonization of India.

Explanation: Hiroko had planned a future after war, despite growing up in the war times,
experiencing hunger, deprivation, loss of job, alienation as a traitor’s daughter she remained
hopeful. But then the unexpected, intentional dropping of atomic bomb despite knowing what
kind of humiliation and degradation it would cause to the victims, changed everything for her.
The loss was so enormous that she stopped planning for anything including her future. So despite
knowing that the departure of the English would bring an end to the world she was living in she
was rather detached. She had to leave what she had grown up with and in India there was nothing
she could not leave without regret. The loss had changed its meaning for her.

The permanent conditioning of the psyche of the humans on account of their experiences in
their lives has been referred to. First, it was the war that created displacement, and then it was the
imperial mindset that made Hiroko leave Tokyo. The display of the Americans’ military might
was a cause of destruction, trauma, physical, mental, and emotional sufferings. Then the
justification of the heinous crime against humanity by a man with a gentle face ‘it was a terrible
thing but was necessary to save the Americans’ lives, without any feeling of repentance or
remorse shows the cruel, nation-centred response based on the discrimination between ‘us’ and
‘them’ (Said, 1978) was all the more devastating which compelled her to leave Japan. Hiroko
here doesn’t stand for an individual but a type, representing all those who fall victim to the
power games of the unconcerned power stake-holders. She envies the Indians and the British
who had prior knowledge of the future turn of the history which indirectly refers to the ignorance
of the majority of people in Nagasaki of the destruction caused by the first bomb dropped on
Hiroshima three days ago. When Yoshi asked Konrad didn’t he know about the New Bomb
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dropped on Hiroshima three days ago, he said no one had spoken to him for the last three days
and when he went to see Hiroko he realised that she didn’t know about it either. Shamsie poses a
question in one of her interviews about it: “imagine if, on August 6, 1945, the world had seen
wall-to-wall coverage of the bombing of Hiroshima...would it still have been possible for the US
to bomb Nagasaki, just three days later?” (“Shamsie” n.d.) Her research revealed to her that most
people even in Nagasaki didn’t know about what had happened in Hiroshima just three days
earlier.

But we find the answer in Afghanistan in the name of War on Terror, destruction of the
already destroyed world with daisy cutters and carpet bombing .The world media reported the
destruction but the war continued. Shamsie narrates all this in her fictional discourse to share
insight about the creation of Afghan diaspora.

Coming back to Hiroko, the victim of the ‘New Bomb’, who had a long series of
displacement which lead to her identity crisis. She was permanently branded as ‘hibakusha’ i.e.
the atomic bomb survivor. The identity created a psychic wound which lead to apparent
indifference which can be taken as a state of denial but the fact remains this hateful identity
haunted even her child’s life who was born twenty years after the dropping of the bomb defying
her optimism that the ‘The art of losing isn’t hard to master.’(Bishop, n.d)

Text (12): After the bomb, I was sick,’ she said. Radiation poisoning, though we
didn’t have a name for it at that time...Nagasaki hospitals were overrun .So
Yoshi-san accompanied me to Tokyo. He felt responsible, you see because he felt
he’d betrayed Konrad. Taking care of me was one way of making it up. He had
me admitted to the hospital where his cousin worked, and then he went back to
Nagasaki. Some American Army doctors came to see me when we were there; I
was such an object of curiosity. I spoke to them in English, and one of them asked
me if I was interested in working as a translator. Working for the Americans!
After the bomb, you might wonder how I could agree to such a thing. But the man
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who asked me had such a gentle face. It was impossible, really, to hold him
responsible for what had been done. It was impossible, really, to hold anyone
responsible—the bomb was so...it seemed beyond anything human. Anyway, I
agreed.

‘I worked as a translator for over a year...I’d grown up in the war; these peace
time luxuries were all new to me. I didn’t ever want to go back to Nagasaki, but I
was content to be in Tokyo with the Americans. And then one day-near the end of’
46 –the American with a gentle face said the bomb was a terrible thing, but it had
to be done to save American lives. I knew straight away I couldn’t keep working
for them. (Shamsie, 2009, p.61-62)

Description: The theme is Hiroko’s ultimate decision to leave Japan for ever. She tells Elizabeth
that after the explosion she was sick. She was suffering from radiation poisoning, the disease was
yet to be named then. The hospitals in Nagasaki were ‘overrun’ owing to the innumerable
number of victims .Yoshi Watanabe had a cousin working in a hospital in Tokyo ,so he took her
there, admitted her to the hospital and went back to Nagasaki. Some American Army doctors
came to see her; she was an ‘object’ of curiosity for them. Not a human being but an ‘object’ like
any other object in a laboratory. Since she was well-versed in English, she talked to them in
English and they offered her a job of a translator. ‘Working for the Americans!’ written with an
exclamation mark to show the element of surprise. After falling a victim to the bomb dropped by
the Americans working for the same, might sound strange to Elizabeth but Hiroko kept telling
that the man who had made the offer had such a gentle face that it was impossible for her really,
to hold him responsible for what had happened. To emphasize the fact she repeats that it was
really impossible to hold anyone responsible—‘the bomb was so...’ Hiroko is at a loss of words
to describe what the bomb was like; to her, it seemed beyond anything human. So she worked as
a translator for the Americans for over a year. Since she had grown up during war times, the
peace time luxuries of the style of lives the Americans lived in, were new for her. She did not
want to go back to Nagasaki but was content to be in Tokyo with the Americans. But then by the
end of 1946, she heard the American with the gentle face saying ‘the bomb was a terrible thing,
but it had to be done to save American lives.’ After listening to this justification she realized the
 111

impossibility of working for them. Shamsie’s focus is on the justification of the crime against
humanity.

Interpretation: The first part of this discourse deals with Hiroko’s physical ailment caused by
the bomb radiation, it was a new disease yet to be named and then she was not the only one
suffering on account of the blast and the radiation. There were innumerable people, the hospitals
in Nagasaki were ‘overrun’ .So the trauma of the devastation had a lasting effect on the whole
existence of the victims .The second and the most crucial part deals with the justification for the
crime against humanity which compelled Hiroko to leave her familiar world forever.

Explanation: Ichimaru (1992) talks about the physical sufferings caused by the blast:

I cannot get rid of the sounds of crying women in the fields .As I got nearer to school,
there were black charred bodies with the which edges of the bones showing in the arms
and legs. A dead horse with a bloated belly lay by the side of the road. Only the skeleton
of the medical hospital remained standing .Because the school building was wood it was
completely destroyed. My class fellows were in the building attending their physiology
lecturer. When I arrived some of them were still alive. They were unable to move their
bodies .The strongest were so weak that they were slumped over on the ground .I talked
to them and they thought they would be O.K .but all of them eventually died within
week. (Ichimaru, 1992, p. 34)

Shamsie’s description is re-writing that terrible history as her spokesperson, Hiroko later
tells Harry “...she cannot escape from the anatomy text, its illustrations following her
everywhere—bodies without skin, bodies without organs on display, bodies that reveal what
happens to bodies when nothing in them works anymore.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.177) It’s a violation
of the sanctity of innumerable human bodies who have been deprived of the right of peaceful
natural death even.
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Shamsie depicts gigantic displacement caused by the bomb which finds an echo in the
text time and again. After 9/11 when Hiroko was moving with Kim and Harry near China Town
in New York she saw a poster pasted on a wall for a missing person.

It consisted of a picture of a young man and the words: “MISSING SINCE 9/11.IF YOU
HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT LUIS RIVERS PLEASE CALL...Hiroko thought of the
train station at Nagasaki on the day Yoshi had taken her to Tokyo. The walls were plastered with
sighs of asking for news of missing people.”(Shamsie, 2009, p. 274).The ‘unfettered optimism’
reflected through the smile of Luis Rivera touched her and she felt that “it seemed entirely wrong
to feel oneself living in a different history to the people of this city.” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 274)
Hiroko stands for good human values, she feels the agony of those who have lost their loved
ones like her irrespective of their nationality. She thinks in terms of humans not nationals and
feels their pains and sufferings as a human being that stands in sharp contrast to the American
indifference which enables the Americans to justify the dropping of the first and the second
atomic bomb on Japan and the cluster bombing of Afghanistan.

Mustacich (2013) regards the empire of today is the most destructive and dangerous
empire that has ever confronted the human race. In the name of freedom, democracy, and
economic prosperity, it is pillaging the third world at an unprecedented rate, leading to
devastating wars of terror and occupation. What is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan bears
witness to his stance.

Text (13): Hiroko looked from Elizabeth to the men and women lounging on
picnic blankets while moths and Indian waiters flitted darkly between
them...Everything here was awful and –she glanced at Elizabeth-sad. And yet here
she was with nowhere else to be...Did that make her awful, or merely sad? Either
way she would have to do something-something! To step out of the sense of
temporariness that accompanied each moment... (Shamsie, 2009, p.69)
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Description: Acute feeling of ‘temporariness’ and utter desire ‘to step out of it’ is the stated
theme linked with acute sense of alienation and being out of place .Hiroko was at a party with
Elizabeth in which there were the English ruling class and the Indian elites, Hiroko looked from
Elizabeth to the men and women on picnic blankets in the open. She noticed the moths and the
Indian waiters moving darkly between them in greater number-symbolic of the mute subalterns
(Spivak, 1988) .Everything seemed to her awful and she looked at Elizabeth who was sad. She
did not seem to be fit in the scene despite feeling that there was nowhere else for her to go. She
wondered whether that made her awful or merely sad. But either way, she would have ‘to do
something’, the expression is repeated in italic with an exclamation mark for emphasis that she
desperately wanted to come out of the sense of temporariness that accompanied her throughout,
each moment of her life over there.

Interpretation: Situational context is a gathering of the elites in colonial Delhi while the
historical context is the shifting scenes of the global life linked with the protagonist’s life. When
Hiroko reached India in 1947, she was in the artificially created world of the colonizer when the
departure of the British was in the air casting a sense of transience amidst all the festivity of the
ruling and native elites .Hiroko had the realization that she did not have any other place to go to
but somehow could not come out of the feelings of being out of place (Said, 1999). The fear of
further displacement and the transience of this placement haunted her every moment and she
thought she must do something to come out of it. She had lost her future by losing Konrad and
she thought she lost the future prospect of any such relationship because of the way her body got
scarred by the bomb.

Explanation: Even while living amongst all luxuries, care and concern Hiroko is haunted by a
sense of ‘temporariness’ an acute sense of displacement and she desperately wants to do
something to come out of it. This sense of non-belonging also creates an identity crisis (Said,
1999) which cannot be overcome by the provision of things. Hiroko also regards herself a misfit
in this world of luxury “and wished she had entered India in a manner that would have allowed
her into the houses of those who lived in Delhi’s equivalent of Urakami” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 63).
 114

She cannot identify herself either with the ruling English or with the Indian elite ‘Oxbridge’
class.

War and displacement have created a vacuum in her life and she does not know how to
come out of it ,though she thinks she must .Despite all the oblivious festivity of the ruling class
there is unrest in the air of India and a sense of transience where everybody is planning a
future, English will go back, most of the Muslims from Kamran Ali ,the elite to Lala Bakhsh,
the working class, are planning to go to Pakistan .It is only Hiroko who finds no clue to her
future .She does not want to accompany the Burtons to England ,cannot stay in India without
them and doesn’t want to go back to Japan. Going back is the dreadful option, war has changed
all. She has to be permanently out of place wherever she is.

Text (14): Those nearest to the epicentre of the blast were eradicated completely,
only the fat from their bodies sticking to the walls and rocks around them like
shadows. I dreamt one night, soon after the blast, that I was with a parade of
mourners walking through Urakami Valley, each of us trying to identify the
shadows of our loved ones. The next morning I went to the Valley, it was what the
priest at Urakami had spoken of when he taught me from the Bible-the Valley of
Death. But there was no sign of God there, no scent of mangoes, Sajjad, just of
burning. Days-no ,weeks –after the bomb and everything still smelt burning, I
walked through it-those strangely angled trees above the melted stones, somehow
that’s what struck me the most-and I looked for Konrad shadow. I found it. Or I
found something I that believed was it. On a rock. Such a lanky shadow. I sent a
message to Yoshi Watanabe and together we rolled that rock to the International
Cemetery...And buried it.(Shamsie, 2009, p.77)

Description: Once again the theme is the destruction caused by the bomb. Hiroko tells Sajjad
that those who were nearest to the epicentre of the blast were completely eradicated, only the fat
of their bodies stuck around the walls and the rocks like shadows .She tells him that one night
 115

she dreamt that soon after the blast she was walking with the parade of the mourners through the
Urakami Valley, each one of them was trying to identify the shadows of their loved ones. The
next morning she went to the Valley. It looked like the Valley of death as the priest had taught
her from the Bible but she could not find any sign of God there. She tells him that in that Valley
there was no scent of mangoes, as there had been when Sajjad met Konrad but just endless
burning. It still smelt burning when she walked through the strangely angled trees above the
melted stones and that was what struck her the most while she was looking for Konrad’s shadow.
She says that she found it or she found something she believed to be Konrad’s, a lanky shadow
on a rock. She sent a message to Yoshi Watanbe and together they rolled it to the International
Cemetery and buried it.

Interpretation: Situational context is Konrad’s birthday after his death. Historical context is the
unprecedented destruction caused by the dropping of the New Bomb. Hiroko missed Konrad on
his birthday and the realization that the Burtons even didn’t know about it made her feel all the
more depressed .She shared her grief with Sajjad.

Explanation: Konrad vanished with the blast and his disappearance haunted Hiroko day and
night for a long time. The lust for power and superiority of some people snatched away not only
the right to live from others but the right of dignified death and normal burial. The mourners
didn’t bury the dead but their supposed shadows into the graves. Those who dropped the bomb
knew the destruction they were going to cause again but they did it to prove their superiority.

Viljoen (2009) writes in his article International Human Rights Law: A Short History:

After the First World War, tentative attempts were made to establish a human rights
system under the League of Nations. For example, a Minority Committee was established
to hear complaints from minorities, and a Mandates Commission was put in place to deal
with individual petitions of persons living in mandate territories. However, these attempts
had not been very successful and came to an abrupt end when the Second World War
 116

erupted. It took the trauma of that war, and in particular Hitler's crude racially-motivated
atrocities in the name of National Socialism, to cement international consensus in the
form of the United Nations as a bulwark against war and for the preservation of peace.
(Viljoen, 2009)

League of Nations failed to protect human rights even in the Second World War because
when it comes to the application of the same for all across the globe we find in Orwell’s words
“...some are more equal than others”(Orwell, 1945).Even the right to honourable death and
honourable burial to all humans could not be ensured .Those who perpetuate war and cause
collateral damage deprive others’ of this right which is a clear violation of human dignity. As
described by Ichimaru (1992):

So many people died that disposing of the bodies was difficult .We buried the bodies on
friends in a pile of wood which we gathered, in a small open place. I clearly remember
the movement of the bowels in the fire. (Ichimaru, 1992, p. 34)

The gross human rights violations during World War I lead to the following draft of the
Preamble of Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948:

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the
equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and
better standards of life in larger freedom… Now, therefore, the General Assembly
proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of
achievement for all peoples and all nations…(“Human rights”)

Shamsie depicts such a stark picture of destruction where humans start losing their faith.
While moving around the ‘Valley of Death’ Hiroko could not find any trace of God. The
 117

unprecedendent destruction seems to defy the presence of God. Radiation caused fire which kept
her world burning for so many days that all the traces of familiarity were burnt into ashes. This
external destruction created spiritual displacement to the extent that she could not feel any God
to fall back upon. All this reflects the impacts of war on the lives of innocent citizens causing
displacement even while living at their own place. For Hiroko the world became a ‘disgorged
hell’ and for Ichimaru (1992) it was an ‘inferno’.

Text (15): Each day ,sitting in this tree, eyes drifting over Mussoorie trees and
flowers ,some as familiar as the texture of tatami beneath her feet, she strung
together different memories of Nagasaki as though they were rosary beads: the
faint sound of her father preparing paint on his ink stone, the deepening purple of
a sky studded by clusters and constellation of light in an evening filled with the
familiar tones of her neighbour’s voices ,the schoolchildren rising to their feet as
she entered the classroom, the walks along the Qura with Konrad, dreaming of all
that would be possible after the war...(Shamsue,2009,p.96)

Description: Craving for familiarity is the theme Shamsie depicts in this excerpt. Hiroko was
taken to Mussoorie by Burtons to divert her attention from her present and past issues but she
became all the more nostalgic there. She was told by a retired general whom she met during a
walk that Mussoorie was ‘just south of the Sino-Japanese phytogeographyical region’. She used
to sit in a tree house each day while her eyes ‘drifted over the familiar trees and flowers’ and she
used to ‘feel the texture of the grass under her feet as tatami’. She ‘strung’ together different
‘memories of Nagasaki’ as if they were ‘rosary beads’, which refers to the reverence she
attached to the memories of the simple routine life activities in Japan like the ‘dim sound of her
father preparing paint on his ink stone’, the purple hue of the sky studded by clusters of
constellation of light in an evening ‘filled with the familiar tones of voices’ of the people living
in the neighbourhood, ‘the rising of the school children in her respect’ when she enters the
classroom, ‘her walks along Qura with Konrad’, ‘her dreaming of all that would have been
possible after the war’, had it not ended with the dropping of the atomic bomb. It vanished all
that was familiar to her forever. The continuation mark at the end of the sentence refers to the
 118

unfinished tale of their love that wasn’t spared to relish the relationship between them even for a
day.

Interpretation: Mussoorie, the summer capital for the English, was a beautiful romantic hill
station for Elizabeth where they used to have a lot of fun. She took Hiroko along after their
misadventure with Sajjad thinking that the place would help to divert her attention but it made
Hiroko all the more nostalgic. Historical context is World War II and resultant diaspora.

Explanation: World War II led to Hiroko’s displacement from her homeland. She could not go
back to Nagasaki and Japan because she did not want to be identified with the bomb as
‘hibakusha’ this was the physical aspect of her displacement. It caused emotional damage as
well, she lost her father and her fiancé. It also led to social displacement she could not live in the
setup she had been familiar with throughout her life. She could not listen to the people talking in
Japanese in their routine life. The psychological impact of the trauma led to the feeling that she
would never marry because of permanent scars on her back. She was not a part of the world
where she was and she didn’t seem to fit in any variety of plans the people around her were
making for their future .Social alienation ,sense of nonbelonging ,sense of temporariness ,future
uncertainty all combined together intensified her sense of displacement and identity crisis.
“Hiroko could not find a place for herself in any talk of tomorrow-so instead she found herself,
for the first time in life, looking back and further back.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.96) She didn’t want to
go back but dreaded she might have to in the end. And Elizabeth’s assurance that of course she
would go with them ‘sounded more like a threat than a promise’ (Shamsie, 2009, p.96). Such
was her sense of being out of place. Something inside her kept warning her “... Japan. In the end,
you will go back.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.97)And this was what she dreaded the most. She is a
diaspora subject who opted to leave her homeland, but under compelling circumstances. She
craves for the familiarity of her lost world but does not want to go back to the homeland for there
is no one from her family alive and above all there she will only be identified with the bomb and
that will be her last option.
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Text (16): I don’t belong in your world either.’ .She tilted her head thoughtfully,
and stopped being a girl.’ You gave me something valuable. The belief that there
are worthwhile things still to be found. All I’ve been doing all this while is
thinking of losses. So much lost. I keep thinking of Nagasaki. You said to me once
that Delhi must seem so strange and unfamiliar, but nothing in the world could
ever be more unfamiliar than my home that day. That unspeakable day. Literally
unspeakable. I don’t know words in any language ... My father, Ilse, I saw him in
the last seconds of his life, and I thought he was something unhuman. He was
covered in scales. No skin, no hair, no clothes, just scales. No one, no one in the
world should ever have to see their father covered in scales.(Shamsie, 2009, p.99)

Description: The theme lies in “…but nothing in the world could ever be more unfamiliar than
my home that day.” Elizabeth tried to convince Hiroko that she had sent Sajjad away because she
did not belong to his world to which Hiroko replied that she did not belong to her world either.
She tilted her head thoughtfully coming out of her nostalgia and told Elizabeth she gave her
something valuable to think about-- that still there were worthwhile things to be found. She told
her that previously she had been thinking of her losses only. She had lost much, she kept
thinking of Nagasaki. She told Elizabeth once she had said that Delhi must seem strange and
unfamiliar to her but she added nothing in the world could ever be more unfamiliar than her
home that day. She recalled that day as an ‘unspeakable day, literally unspeakable’. Repetition of
‘unspeakable ‘with the addition of the adjective ‘literally’ is to highlight the unprecedented
destruction and most horrible experiences she had. Hiroko, who knew many languages, further
tells Elizabeth that she did not know words in any language to describe that day and such
immensely devastating destruction she had witnessed. She told Elizabeth that she had seen her
father in the last seconds of his life, and she took him as something ‘unhuman’ all covered with
scales, ‘no skin, no hair, no clothes, just scales’. She wished and emphasized that no one in the
world should see their father covered in scales that was something too terrible to see.

Interpretation: When we look at the context of this discourse with reference to Elizabeth, we
find the colonial wife’s reservation about Sajjad, the native Indian. All the three important people
 120

in her life, James Burton, Henry and Hiroko drifted towards him. He had always been polite to
Elizabeth but she had her prejudice against him which could be taken as racial discrimination or
the postcolonial binary. When she saw Hiroko partially undressed in front of him and her yelling
at him she misinterpreted the situation leading to Sajjad’ expulsion from their home and
dismissal from his job .Later on, Hiroko clarified his position but she felt sorry for providing
Elizabeth a chance to exercise her prejudice to which Elizabeth said she wanted to make her
realize that she did not belong to his world. Despite all her regard for the Burtons, Hiroko knew
that what she had been enjoying was a privilege by their courtesy and not hers by ‘right’

Explanation: Ashcroft et al.(1989) connect alienation with a sense of dislocation or

displacement ,this sense of dislocation and displacement is there in Hiroko’s tone when she talks
about that ‘unspeakable day’ and her father all covered in scales without skin ,clothes and hair
.She was further displaced when opted for going to India. Despite finding temporary refuge in
Burton’s house she knew, she did not belong to their world. Sense of non-belonging, destruction
caused by the bomb, justification of the kind faced American that the bomb was necessary to
save the Americans’ lives and turning of humans in Japan into shadows and reptiles and the
world into inferno (Ichimaru, 1992) all combined together make life a directionless trail for her
for quite some time. Here Hiroko’s alienation can be matched with Said’s (1999) feeling of being
out of place everywhere.

Text (17): I always planned on leaving Nagasaki, you know .I was never
sentimental about it .But until you see a place you’ve known your whole life
reduced to ashes you don’t realise how much we crave familiarity .Do you see
those flowers on that hillside, Ilse? I want to know their names in Japanese. I
want to hear Japanese. I want tea that tastes the way tea should taste in my
understanding of tea. I want to look like people around me. I want people to
disapprove when I break the rules and not simply to think that I don’t know better.
I want doors the slide open instead of swinging open. I want all those things that
never meant anything, that still wouldn’t mean anything if I hadn’t lost them. You
see, I know that. I know that but it doesn’t stop my wanting them. I want to see
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Urakami Cathedral. I used to think it ruined the view, never liked it. But now I
want to smell cherry blossom burning. I want to feel my body move with the
motion of being on a street-car. I want to live between hills and sea. I want to eat
kasutera.(Shamsie, 2009, p.100)

Description: The topic sentence is “But until you see a place you’ve known your whole life
reduced to ashes you don’t realise how much we crave familiarity.”Hiroko shared with Elizabeth
that she had always planned to leave Nagasaki; she had never been sentimental about it. But she
added that until one sees a place one has known for the whole of one’s life ‘turn into ashes’ , one
does not realize how much, we the humans ‘crave familiarity’. She pointed to the flowers to the
hillside and told Ilse that she wanted to know their Japanese name, she wanted to hear Japanese
.She wanted the tea to taste like the way it should taste in her understanding of tea .She wanted to
look like people around her. She even wanted people to disapprove when she violated the rules
and not simply ignore her violation thinking she didn’t know .She wanted the doors to slide open
like they used to be in Japan instead of swinging open. She said that she wanted all those things
that wouldn’t mean anything to her if she had not lost them. She knew that she had lost them
forever but she could not help wanting them all the same .She said that she wanted to see the
Urakami Cathedral though while she had been living there she had not liked it thinking it ruined
her view. She liked to see the cherry blossom burning. She wanted to feel her body moving with
the motion of being on a street-car. She wanted to live between hills and sea as she used to in
Nagasaki-the coastal city. She wanted to eat kasutera, a popular, traditional Japanese sponge
cake made of sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup. It is a specialty of Nagasaki (“kasutera”).

Interpretation: After the misunderstanding about Sajjad and Hiroko ,Elizabeth planned their
annual trip to Mussoorie in urgency thinking the beauty of the place would have a positive effect
on Hiroko as it always had on her .But the resemblance of the landscape with Hiroko’s lost land
made her all the more nostalgic and she shared her feelings with Elizabeth.
 122

Explanation: Here Hiroko can be seen as a typical diaspora missing each and every small detail
of her life in her homeland with the awareness that she can never go back there, her familiar
world is no more there .It can be recreated as a mental and verbal construct but cannot be the
same again for those humans that made it familiar and worthwhile were lost forever .She falls
into the category of those diasporas whose homeland for them is mere past (Brown, 2006) that
has passed forever. The unease of displacement, the loss of the familiar world, not likely to be
fulfilled longings for it and a constant feeling of the temporariness are haunting her like anything
.Here Shamsie, as a diaspora writer tackles ‘place and displacement’ and the identity crisis which
pertains to the resumption of a successful relationship between ‘self’ and ‘place’ (Amireh&
Majaj,2000 )but in Hiroko’s case the chapter of resumption has been closed forever for the fear
of being identified as ‘hibakusha’ only.

Shamsie depicts how World War II, an international historical event impacted Hiroko,
displaced her forever, and made her permanent Japanese diaspora. Chomsky (2005) refers to the
‘Imperial Grand Strategy’ of the neo-colonial power, Hiroko along with so many other innocent
citizens fell a victim to it.

Text (18): This place, this moholla, was past already. Soon the ghosts would
outnumber the corporeal presences among his intimates. (Shamsie, 2009, p.107)

Description: Sajjad who had always thought of living and dying in Dilli with the feeling that life
in his moholla would remain unchanged by the Partition or anything else. But the same Sajjad,
after the death of his mother had a realization that ‘this place’, the reference is to his moholla, his
Dilli, and his familiar world seemed to have past already. He had a feeling that soon the ghosts
would ‘outnumber’ the humans’ presence among his familiar intimates. People were either killed
or had migrated to Pakistan.

Interpretation: The situational context is Sajjad’s mother’s death and the historical context is
the Partition and resultant large scale violence and migration.
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Explanation: There used to be a lot of discussion about the Partition at public places and in
private conversation in the months before the Partition, Sajjad had always been least interested in
it. He used to think it would not affect the life in his moholla. But after his mother’s death, there
was a sudden realisation that the approaching Partition had already changed his moholla
altogether. The ill-planned change in the power structures had already deteriorated the law and
order situation. Innumerable people fell victim to ethnic violence and were permanently
displaced.

Sajjad’s ancestors had been living in Dilli for centuries and their social practices
(Fairclough, 2003) had remained the same .The majority of them loved to join their family
profession, a few like Sajjad, who did not want to join that business worked with the English in
the day time, but used to go back in the evening and put on their traditional dress to become the
people of the same moholla again. When James told Sajjad about the approaching departure of
the English, he twirled his finger as a gesture of indifference, telling James that it would not
make any difference to life in his moholla. Shamsie uses the literary device of irony to show
human ignorance. Sajjad, himself later had a realization “as if his ancestral moholla has already
past, many people have left for Pakistan, many are leaving and much more have fallen victims to
riots and he has a feeling as if there are just a few familiar people left behind.” The actual event
of the Partition had yet to come but his Dilli was already a deserted place, looked haunted by the
absence of the departed ones and the ghosts of those who had been swallowed up by violence.
The death of his mother was the symbolic end of his motherland. It might be there on the atlas of
the world (Auden, 1939) but not the same place he had been familiar with like Hiroko’s
Nagasaki. Here the historical event is not the dropping of the bomb but the Partition- the
decolonization of India. Keay (2014) writes about Partition:

Some observers liken Partition to a nuclear explosion whose lethal fallout will go on being
felt for a generation to come...nearly all see it as unfinished business .Every war, near war,
and insurgency in the subcontinent since the end of the British rule owes something to the
legacy of Partition. (Keay, 2014 p xxiv-xxv)
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Keay (2014) further writes in the introduction of Midnight’s Descendants that dividing
the subcontinent had itself been a compromise and proved a heavy price to pay for independence
.Flying in the face of fifty years struggle for a single India and of a shared cultural and historical
awareness that stretched back to centuries, it would come around to the idea of a Muslim
homeland of their own. Most Indian nationalists were insisting on a successor state that was
strong enough to resist such demands, and the British were desperate for a fast track
exit.(Keay,2014) What he suggests is the ill-planned exit, making the ex-colony an ocean of
blood for the people from both sides to cross to experience the trauma of displacement(Ashcroft
et.al. 1989).The announcement for the Partition came a year earlier than what had been decided
,this hasty departure, disregard for proper planning for the division, insensitivity of the
colonizers to the outcome of all this led to gigantic displacement ,loss of lives, property ,honour.
It has been a constant cause of conflict between the newly created states.

Text (19): ...I’ve never seen you in your true world?’

No you haven’t....And I’ve never seen you in yours.’

‘Mine doesn’t exist anymore.’

‘Neither does mine. I don’t only mean because of my mother. The Pakistan, it’s
taking my friends, my sister, it’s taking the familiarity from the streets of Dilli.
Thousands are leaving, thousands more will leave. What am I holding on to? Just
kite-strings attached to air at either ends. (Shamsie, 2009, p.113)

Description: The theme is the destruction of Hiroko and Sajjad’s familiar worlds. Hiroko tells
Sajjad that she has never seen him in his true world. He agrees with her but then adds that he also
hasn’t seen her in hers .She states with a sense of regret that hers does not exist anymore. He
replies that his world is also no more there and adds that he does not say so because of his
mother’s death but he thinks that ‘the Pakistan thing’ is taking his friends, his sister and also the
familiarity from the streets of Dilli. Places are important with reference to people, deserted
places are the barren lands that look like haunted places, and the same is true of Sajjad’s world.
 125

Thousands of people are leaving and thousands more will leave. The last part of this discourse
seems like a monologue “What am I holding on to?” He himself replies in the form of question
again ‘Just kite-strings attached to air at either ends?’ The reply reflects his contemplation on the
fragility of the links ‘attached to the air’.

Interpretation: Situational context is Hiroko and Sajjad’s reunion after his expulsion from
Burtons’ place. The historical context goes with the changing map of the world with
decolonization and neocolonialism.

Explanation: Sajjad who had been a staunch believer of the undisturbed continuation of life in
his moholla just a few months ago had the realisation of the vulnerability of it for the change.
The seasoned Burton could foresee the change but the idealist Sajjad could not until it became
too obvious .Here Shamsie shows the impact of the historical events on micro level life of her
fictional characters. Hiroko’s world vanished because of the dropping of the second atomic bomb
in WW II, Sajjad’s world was destroyed by the Partition. Both the historical events caused
countless deaths and displacement and badly impacted the lives of innumerable people.

Foucault (1969) talks about the relationship between history ,politics ,literary discourses
and their impact on human life .Shamsie traces these impacts on the lives of those who fall in
the ebbs and flows of history and suffer from the consequences of these events in which they
have no contribution .In Burnt Shadows social and historical developments are very textual(
Loomba,1998) ,Hiroko was least interested in war and she also thought that Nagasaki might be
spared from bombardment since the majority of its population was Christians. Gary G. Kohls
(2014) writes in The Very Un-Christian Nagasaki Bomb “A bitter irony of the Nagasaki atomic
bomb was that an all-Christian American crew used the steeple of Japan’s most prominent
Christian church as the target for an act of unspeakable barbarism, making a mockery
of Christian teachings on non-violence.”
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Hiroko had always thought of leaving Nagasaki after the war but had never anticipated
the destruction caused by the bomb .On the other hand, Sajjad had been least concerned with the
Partition or decolonization and lived under the delusion that life would go on as it had always
been. These were the facts which Shamsie presents in her novel and which can be taken out of
their literary representation (Loomba, 1998). Hiroko and Sajjad both stand for the types of
victims of both the historical events .Their worlds vanished and they were displaced and became
diaspora subjects living with the memory of their lost homelands (Brubaker, 2005).

Text (20): He entered the room and the look of him made her breath stop. Without
saying a word, he walked across to her-he steps so slow, so dragging, everything
about him defeated.

What’s wrong? What happened? She said as he sat beside her, carefully, as
though his bones were brittle.

‘They said I chose to leave.’ He said the words slowly, carefully, as though they
were a foreign language whose meaning he was trying to grasp.’ They said I’m
one of the Muslims who chose to leave India. It can’t be unchosen. They said,
Hiroko, they said I can’t go back to Dilli .I can’t go back home. (Shamsie,2009,p.
125)

Description: Permanent forced exile is the theme. Sajjad entered the room after visiting the
Indian Consulate but the look of him made Hiroko stop her breath. The defeat was writ bold on
him, apparent from the way he slowly stepped across her, dragging himself. He sat beside her
carefully as though his bones were very brittle. She asked him what had happened. He said, ‘they
said I chose to leave’, he uttered the words so slowly and so carefully as if they were the words
of some foreign language whose meanings he was trying to grasp with caution. He continued
telling ‘they said’ that he was one of the Muslims who had chosen to leave India, it could not be
unchosen. His discourse conveys a deep sense of loss. He repeated ‘they said’ thrice which
conveys the authority at their command. He added with a sense of loss while calling her by her
name, ‘I can’t go back to Dilli. I can’t go back home.’ Their authority and finality of ‘their’
 127

decision and his helplessness to rewind the time and ‘undo’ the choice stand in sharp contrast
with each other. This realisation made him a defeated man. The impossibility of the return to his
‘Dilli’ made him a lost soul.

Interpretation: The situational context was Sajjad and Hiroko’s honeymoon trip to Turkey
planned by the Burtons to save Hiroko to witness further violence. The historical context is
Partition of India.

Explanation: Sajjad always had a plan to return to India after the riots would subside and settle
in Delhi. He had been listening to the news about the violence and how Partition had changed
peoples’ attitudes and how his place had been changed altogether. But even then he thought
“nothing could change the essential Dilliness of the place (Shamsie, 2009, p.125)”. But by
October when violence subsided he decided to go back without knowing that he would be denied
his Indian identity by the Indian Consulate.

Like typically forced diaspora the lament for the lost land is killing for Sajjad and the
realisation of the impossibility of the return tells upon his physical being though while getting
the news of violence everyday he himself has told Hiroko:

It’s not that I want to be there...What would I do? Join the men with machine guns
guarding every entrance to my old neighbourhood? Refuse to join them, and cower inside
my family home instead? That’s where we’d be, your know-Muslim homes in New Delhi
are being destroyed. Women pulled out of their beds at night...’He turned his face, and
the moonlight showed Hiroko the unusual introspection of his expression. ’Everything
James Burton said about violence is true .It is the most contagious of all madnesses. I
don’t want to know which of my childhood friends have become murderers in the time
we’ve been away...No, I don’t want to be there. But it feels like a betrayal, all the same.
(Shamsie.2009, p.125)
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But he had never ever dreamt the possibility that he would be denied entry to his native
land-his Indian identity would be robbed in his ignorance. The refusal to allow him to go back as
an Indian citizen made him a lost and a defeated man. Hiroko who herself went through the
agony of the lost home could feel his state of shock and utter loss. Sajjad was a postcolonial
forced diaspora created by decolonization, a historical development after the Second World War.
He loved Hiroko but the intensity of grief was such that no word of endearment could bring him
out of the mourning for the lost land:

Hiroko could only watch as her husband drew up his legs and curled on them at the
mattress. She said his name, repeated endearments in English, Urdu, Japanese -but he
couldn’t hear her above the fluttering of pigeons and the call of the muezzin of Jamia
Masjid and the cacophony of his brother’s arguments and the hubbub of merchants and
buyers in Chandni Chowk and the rustling of palm leaves in the monsoons and the
laughter of his nephews and nieces and the shouts of the kite-flyers and the burble of
fountains in the courtyards and the husky voice of the never-seen neighbour singing
ghazals before sunrise and his heartbeat, his frantic heartbeat...(Shamsie,2009,p.126).

Forced exiles always have devastating effects on human beings (Said, 1978). After
Partition, many millions of Indian Muslims migrated to Pakistan, some out of will but majority
out of compulsion. Sajjad falls into the second category .It was all the more tragic because he
had always thought ‘I’ll die in Dilli but before that, I’ll live in Dilli.’ He told James to his dismay
that the departure of the English from India would not make much difference to life in his
moholla, it might be an interruption like 1857 mutiny .So the sudden impossibility of the return
made his recall everything he had left behind with the killing grief that made his heartbeat frantic
.His grief for the lost land and the impossibility of return is the universal grief of all forcibility
displaced diasporas of the world. (Armstrong, 1978)

Text (21): If he had known then that he and Dilli would be lost to each other by
the autumn-because of the woman he had chosen against his family’s wishes—he
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could have wept, recited Ghalib’s verses lamenting the great poet’s departure
from Delhi, cursed the injustice and foolishness of passion, and made lists of all
the sights and sounds of daily texture of Dilli life that he was certain would haunt
him forever, making every other place in the world a wilderness of loss. (Shamsie,
2009, p.134)

Description: “…making every other place in the world a wilderness of loss” is the theme. Sajjad
loved Delhi and used to think he would live and die there even just a few months before the
Partition .But left it temporarily on Burtons’ suggestion to save Hiroko seeing further violence.
On Harry’ s reminder to Dilli he thought if he had known then that he and Dilli would be lost to
each other by the autumn ,just two months after Partition because of the woman he had chosen
against his family’s wishes—he could have wept, the blank refers to his thinking of his possible
reaction, he could have recited Ghalib’s verses lamenting the great poet’s departure from Delhi,
he might have cursed the injustice and foolishness of passion, and made lists of all the sights and
sounds of daily texture of Dilli life that he was certain would haunt him forever, making every
other place in the world a wilderness of loss for his beloved homeland. If he ‘had known’ is the
third conditional, referring to the impossibility of the fulfilment of the desire, despite knowing
that he could not help thinking.

Interpretation: While talking to Harry about his past he told him ‘Dilli is Dilli’ and he would
not have left it if the ‘bustards’ had not forced him to leave it. When he decided to marry
Hiroko, Burtons arranged for their honeymoon trip to Turkey to save Hiroko seeing violence of
the Partition. He agreed, thinking it a temporary parting with his homeland .He had never known
that he could not return to India and Dilli afterwards. The historical context is partition of India.

Explanation: This extract is a typical discourse of diasporas’ love and longing for lost
homeland. Sajjad is an Indian diaspora, to be more exact a ‘Dilli’ diaspora who had never left it
willingly but was compelled by circumstances to do so .And once left could not return to it.
Expression of love for Dilli which later became Delhi is found in many classical Urdu poets
 130

like Meer Taqi Meer and Ghalib. Here Shamsie’s spokesperson Sajjad thought of the great
classical poet Ghalib’s lament for Dilli and its expression in his poetry Dr. Sarfraz K .Naizi
(2010) writes in A Brief History of Urdu Poetry that the British left many indelible marks on the
social and cultural scene of India, and all are reflected melancholically by many Urdu poets
including Ghalib. Ghalib’s lament is the lament of the dwindling light of the dying empire which
was ready to be extinguished as the weak symbolic Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, himself an
elite poet. Mourning over the lost glory became an oft-repeated topic for Urdu poetry. Such
poetry of lament for Dilli is quoted by Ahmad Ali (1939) in Twilight in Delhi which itself is a
lament for the dying Muslim culture in Delhi. And which is directly referred to in the novel
through a conversation between James and Sajjad. Sajjad, the native Indian likes the book while
James, the native English and a colonizer-- regards it as nonsense.

Text (22): Flying into Karachi at night, the American, Harry-formerly Henry-
Burton, looked down to the brightly lit sprawl of one of the fastest growing cities
of the world and felt the surge of homecoming that accompanies the world’s
urban tribes as they enter unfamiliar landscapes of chaos and possibility .

They told him about Islamabad that it was dull and pretty but he thought ‘But
pretty wasn’t enough for a man who’d spent his childhood summer in Mussoorie.
Harry wanted the chaos of his cities and nothing less than the beauty of his hill
towns.

‘What is Nazimabad like?’ he asked from a businessman in Islamabad. ‘Muhajir

depot,’ he replied.’ Never been there. Very middle class.(Shamsie,2009,p.148-
149)

Description: The main theme of the passage lies in “… the surge of homecoming that
accompanies the world’s urban tribes as they enter unfamiliar landscapes of chaos and
possibility.” Here the ‘the world’s urban tribes’ refers to multinational business diaspora. As the
American, Harry-former Henry-Burton, was flying into Karachi at night he looked down to the
brightly lit spread out of one of the fastest growing cities of the world and felt the surge of
 131

homecoming that accompanies the world’s urban tribes (the global elites) as they enter
unfamiliar landscapes of anarchy which offer good possibility for business of war—of arms and
ammunition.

During Russian Invasion in Afghanistan, America orchestrated the holy war. Harry was
working for CIA on one such mission. Shamsie highlights two things about Harry, who on the
one hand can be taken as a member of world transnational business diaspora who like chaos of
the cities as they provide opportunity for business. He has been working for CIA. Before coming
to Islamabad he was told that it was beautiful but dull city. It reminded him of India, especially
Mussoorie. But he thought it wasn’t pretty enough for a man like him who had spent his
childhood summer in Mussoorie .In this regard the point of reference for home for Harry is India.

Before coming to Karachi he asked a businessman in Islamabad about Nazimabad who

called it a ‘Muhajir depot’ and ‘very middle class’ where he himself had never been and he
regarded Karachi nothing but a city of failed aspiration. ‘Muhajir depot’ and ‘very middle class’
both are expressions of contempt for the inhabitants of the place.

Interpretation: Here the situational context is Harry’s urge to see his most loved childhood
connection while the historical context is related to CIA’s mission of Afghan Jihad and Political
divide in Pakistan in general and Karachi in particular.

Explanation: Harry joined CIA in the 60s to be a part of the organization to fight Communism
to ensure the supremacy of America to uphold the values of democracy and justice .But with the
passage of time his job became less idealistic and more thrilling. During Russian Invasion of
Afghanistan, American fought the proxy war, CIA collaborated with ISI to provide arm and
ammunition and train Mujahedeen from all over the world. Harry was one such officials sent to
Pakistan. He decided to visit Sajjad’s family during his stay in Islamabad. In America, he was
briefed about Afghanistan and its different areas but he did not have much knowledge about
 132

Pakistan. So before coming he tried to gather information about, Islamabad, Karachi and
Nazimabad—a place where Sajjad, his childhood friend lived.

In the globalized free market economy, the culmination of capitalism are: power of
wealth and control. These are the driving forces behind all national and international politics.
Governments are established and overthrown and wars are waged, backed and facilitated
accordingly keeping in view the maximum gain in terms of ultimate power. The apparent
idealism may take the cover of the enchanting slogan of ‘peace’, ‘equality’,’ emancipation’,
‘democracy’, and ‘humanity’ but the ultimate goal is the absolute power even at the cost of the
destruction of ‘Others’. For people like Harry (the first side of the binary divide) the urban
global elite every place can be a home like with all the perks and privileges.

Feeling of ‘homecoming’ is associated with the employees of the corporate world

creating global elites whose business interests take them to the ‘unfamiliar landscapes’ and the
‘chaos’ in such landscapes offer them the possibility for more and flourishing business. The CIA
and the private military companies (PMCs) like Blackwater and Arkwright and Glenns in the
novel, engaged by the CIA in the international warfare, constitutes such ‘urban tribes’.

The word ‘Muhajir’ in Islam has a sacred religious connotation associated with the
historical migration to Madina , but in Pakistan’s political scenario especially with reference to
Sindh it has a negative connotation for the elites of Pakistan as a representation of the literate
middle class that migrated from India and had its due share in the government machinery of
Pakistan initially .But later on, the ethnic divide between the natives and the non-natives created
issues and that created serious law and order situation in the industrial hub of Pakistan ,the
businessman Harry talked to regarded it ‘as a city of failed aspiration’. But Harry had a surge of
homecoming on two accounts: firstly to see Sajjad to whom he loved since his childhood, and
secondly as a place of chaos and possibilities for good business for CIA and his adopted land
America.
 133

Harry is a postcolonial diaspora, in terms of his association with the ex-colony and
neocolonial transnational diaspora is terms of his American nationality and involvement in
multinational business.

Text (23): ...no dividing boundary walls, no gardens and drive ways buffering the
space between one house and another...it wasn’t grand, but there was no whiff of
failure or disappointment about the street.(Shamsie, 2009, p.151)

Description: Nostalgia for Harry’s colonial home in India is the theme. Harry came to see Sajjad
in Karachi, the area where he lived was a long way from the airport. He found that place
different from his colonial home in New Delhi. There were no dividing boundary walls, no
gardens and no drive ways to mark the division between the houses .It was not a grand street but
there was no trace of failure or disappointment about it either.

Interpretation: Situational context is Harry’s visit to Sajjad’s place in Karachi and historical
context goes with his life in the colonial era in Delhi with marked divisions in the landscape.

Explanation: Harry was posted in Islamabad, Pakistan and he traced Sajjad’s home in Karachi
and decided to visit him .Before coming to Pakistan he was briefed about Afghanistan and its
different areas but he did not know much about Pakistan .Associated with the fond memories of
his childhood in India, there was a strong bond of love for Sajjad. Now that he was in Pakistan
he decided to avail the chance of seeing him once again. He tried to gather some information
about Karachi and Nazimabad from a businessman in Islamabad whose response was steeped in
his deep class-consciousness and ethnic divide expressions like ‘Muhajir Depot’ and ‘Very
middle class’ highlight this class divide. But Harry actually comes to the place he finds it
different from the colonial English abodes, the street does not have that grandeur but it has ‘no
trace of failure or disappointment about it either’.
 134

Shamsie reflects the universality of human association in this discourse .Friendship,

love and human association though get influenced by time and space and the happenings in the
world around, still somehow they are above the barriers of space and time .Harry’s early
displacement from India to England away from his parents and Sajjad-- the first person he was
conscious of loving, created difficulties in his adjustment there .His further displacement to
American made him essentially a lonely person despite having relations like mother, father
,wife(later divorced)and a daughter .Early displacement and parents’ separation, broken marriage
all added to his loneliness .On his departure from India, he told Sajjad that he would miss him
the most. The Partition made Harry’s return to India impossible so now when he got a chance to
see Sajjad, he was eager to avail the opportunity.

Text (24): The story of Harry’s childhood was one Kim knew well-it was also one
of the few stories Harry could be trusted to tell without any evasion, belonging, as
it did, to that time in his life before secrecy and lies became necessary.

The only thing worse than leaving India was arriving in England .Harry would
always start that story with that line. The war was still everywhere, the sun was
nowhere, and all the boys at school laughed at his ‘Indian expressions’(both
verbal and physical) and wanted to know what his father had done in the war.
And then the final horror: the only other boy who had just arrived from India, and
who Henry considered an ally, said,’ His mother’s German.’ So, much of the first
year was abject misery. Things only improved near Easter when one of the boys
threw a cricket ball his way with the words,’ Hey, Maharaja Fritz .Know how to
bowl?’ Then the skills taught to him by Sajjad-he always looked somewhat wistful
when he mentioned that name-turned him into something of a school hero.

But two years later he had to leave that place also to join his mother in America
after his parents’ separation. Learning from the previous experience he decided
to prepare himself beforehand .He learnt the language, learnt the names of the
baseball players but even so on the first day of school his foreignness
overwhelmed him to the point of muteness. He mumbled his way through the first
hours, keeping his head down and paying attention to no one but the teachers. It
 135

was only during recess ,as he sat alone on a stone step listening to the boys
around him, that he realised he was surrounded by a group of immigrants
,German, Polish, Russian .They were all ,like him, bound by class in this exclusive
public(Private ,Henry ,Private’) school, and bound also by the fact that their
parents, for one reason or another, wanted no more to do with Europe after the
war.

Harry looked at the group and then looked towards the boys lounging beneath a
tree, no whiff of the Old World about them.

Standing up, he paused, realising he was about to take the first real risk of his
life, then walked up to the second group of boys and said, ‘Hi, I’m Harry.
(Shamsie, 2009, p. 171)

Description: Harry’s love for his first home, India and the alienation caused by his first
displacement is the main theme. Harry told the story of his childhood to Kim, his daughter many
times-it was also one of the few stories Harry could be trusted to tell truthfully and without any
evasion. It was related to that part of his life when ‘secrecy and lies’ had not became necessary
.Later on he was professionally trained not to reveal everything from strategic point of view
and on the personal level it was a fear of exposure that made him tell a lie or evade answering
certain questions straight forwardly.

Harry would always start the tale of his first displacement with the line, “The only thing
worse than leaving India was arriving in England.”(Shamsie.2009, p.171) He kept telling when
he arrived in England World War II was still going on and its impacts were everywhere .In sharp
contrast to the Indian weather, the sun was nowhere in England. Because of his different brought
up all the boys at school used to laugh at his verbal and physical ‘Indian expressions’. They also
wanted to know what his colonial father had done in the war. And then the final horror: the only
other boy who had just arrived from India, and whom Henry considered an ally, told others that
his mother was German. Being German in those days was a kind of abuse so it further
complicated his identity crisis. Things only improved near Easter when one of the boys threw a
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cricket ball his way with the words,’ Hey, Maharaja Fritz .Know how to bowl?’ And the skill he
had learnt from Sajjad came to his rescue and made him a school hero and gradually he adjusted.

But two years later he had to leave that place also to join his mother in America after his
parents’ separation. Learning from the previous experience he decided to prepare himself
beforehand .He learnt the language, the names of their baseball players but even then on the first
day of school his ‘foreignness overwhelmed him to the point of muteness’. He lost his
confidence and mumbled his way through the first hours, keeping his head down and paying
attention to the teachers only. During recess as he was sitting alone on a stone step, he realised
that he was surrounded by a group of immigrants, German, Polish, Russian .They were all, like
him, bound by class in this exclusive public school, and bound also by the fact that their parents,
for one reason or another, wanted no more to do with Europe after the war.

Harry looked at the group and then looked towards the boys lounging beneath a tree, no
whiff of the Old World about them .Standing up, he took a pause realising that he was about to
take the first real risk of his life, then walked up to the second group of boys and introduced
himself as, American Harry.

Interpretation: Kim, like Harry, was a child of a broken family. She loved her father and visited
him during his different postings across the world .She came to visit her father in Islamabad and
they were talking to each other when Harry talked about India and started telling the story of his
childhood. This story belonged to that period of his life when before he joined the CIA. This was
the only story he could tell without evasion and with all the truthful at his command. It was a tale
of his displacement and identity crisis which made him what he ultimately became.

Explanation: Colonialism, decolonization and neocolonialism all these phenomena involve

people from both sides of the divide and influence peoples’ lives, their psyche, their attitude
towards life, their identity in short their whole beings(Mishra,2007).Harry’s parents had a
divided opinion about sending him to England .Elizabeth was not in favour of sending him away
 137

from her but one day he was playing cricket with Sajjad and she went into the garden and called
him a fine Englishman but he told her that he was an Indian and she at once decided to send him
to England. She was a typical colonial wife who didn’t like Sajjad, the Indian .She did not like
her son’s identification with him or with India.

But this displacement had its toll and his first year in England was a period of abject
misery and the memory of India haunted him throughout like the memory of a beloved lost land
(Said, 1991).He made his place in England through cricketing skill .Again he had to leave
England. He went through another trauma of displacement though he changed himself altogether
hiding his previous identity and adopting a new one taking the real risk. This deceit learnt at the
early stage influenced his personality .Later on, he joined CIA to prove his loyalty to his adopted
land and work for its supremacy.

Shamsie wants to convey that in the act of colonization it’s not only the colonized who
suffer but the displacement caused by such phenomena have their impacts on the colonizers as
well.

Text (25): It’s not about age. It’s your mother. Everyone knows about your
mother.’

‘What about her?’

‘Nagasaki. The bomb .No one will give their daughter to you in marriage unless
they’re desperate, Raza. You could be deformed .How do you know you’re not?

Raza sat forward, gripping the phone tightly.

‘Deformed? I’m not. Salma, your father is my doctor .I’m not deformed.’

‘Maybe not in any way we can see .But there‘s no guarantee. You might have
something you can pass on to your children .I’ve seen the pictures. Of babies born
in Nagasaki after the bomb.’
 138

‘I’ve never been to Nagasaki. I was born twenty years after the bomb .Please. You
don’t want to talk to me anymore .OK, say that .But don’t say this. Don’t say you
think I’m deformed.’

‘You need to know. This is how people think about you. Go to America, darling.’
The endearment-in English-came out clumsily. ‘And don’t tell anyone there the
truth. Goodbye, Raza .Please don’t call again.

‘….he realized he had been waiting a long time for confirmation that he was…
not an outsider, not quite that. Not when he'd lived in this moholla his whole life,
had scraped and scabbed his knees on every street within one- mile radius. Not an
outsider, just a tangent. In contact with the world of his moholla, but not
intersecting it. After all, intersections were created from shared stories and
common histories, from marriages and possibility of marriages between
neighbouring families—from the intersecting world, Raza Konrad Ashraf was
cast out.(Shamsie,2009,p.189)

Description: The theme is the identity issue. Salma refused Raza’s proposal telling him it’ was
not because of the age difference but because of his mother, adding everyone knew about his
mother. Failing to understand he asked her to explain. She said ‘Nagasaki’ and ‘the bomb’ and
further elaborated that no one would give their daughter to him in marriage unless they were
desperate. She told Raza that he could be deformed added ‘How do you know you’re not? As if
she knew about him more than he knew about himself. Raza sat forward as if listening more
intently and held the phone more tightly repeating the word ‘deformed’ questioningly, telling her
that her father had been his doctor and he was not deformed. But she stuck to her point saying
‘might be not in any way they could see’ but then there was no guarantee. She continued that he
might have something he could pass on to his children. She told that she had seen the pictures of
the babies born in Nagasaki after the bomb. He desperately tried to protest by saying that he had
never been to Nagasaki and he was born twenty years after the bomb .He was hurt beyond
measures, he requested her not to talk to him if she did not want to but didn’t say that she
considered him deformed. To which she heartlessly replied that he should know that was how
people thought about him. Then she asked him to go to America and not to tell anybody about
 139

him there. She uttered this with a clumsily pronounced endearment ‘darling’ followed by a
goodbye with a request never to call her again.

Raza realized that he had been waiting for this confirmation for a long time that he was
not an outside but a ‘branded outcast’. He reasoned with himself , he had lived in this moholla
his whole life, had scraped and scabbed his knees on every street within one- mile radius .He was
not an outsider but a digression. In contact with the world of his moholla, but not intersecting it
like a tangent .He thought, after all, intersections were created from shared stories and common
histories, from marriages and possibility of marriages between neighbouring families—from the
intersecting world, Raza Konrad Ashraf was cast out because of his mother’s origin and because
she had fallen a victim to the atomic bomb. The past that he could never erase or undo.

Interpretation: The situational context is Salma’s refusal to Raza’s proposal on the plea that he
must be abnormal because of his mother’s tragedy of being a direct victim of the atomic bomb.
The historical context deals with the long lasting impacts of the power games on micro level life
creating identity crisis.

Explanation: Raza’s school friend, Bilal’s sister and their neighbour were Raza’s girlfriend .She
was two years older than Raza .After Harry told Raza about getting admission in an American
university he called her to share the information and asked her to marry him and they could go to
America together. But he did not know that he would get the worst shock of his life. She
considered him deformed on the basis of what she saw of Nagasaki in pictures and would not
believe in whatever he said.

At many places in the text Shamsie used the word ‘hibakusha’ which means an atomic
bomb survivor in Japan. Hiroko’s worst fear was to be identified with it .She left her city and
homeland never to return to it to avoid this identity. Though after having the normal childlike
Raza she never felt its physical impacts on her except for the marks of birds on her back .But
there seemed to be no escape from the lingering impacts of the war .She did not want to go back
 140

to Japan to be identified with the bomb only. She did not tell the Japanese women at Jimmy’s
that she had been in Nagasaki during the blast but did not know how it was rumoured about and
how her child suffered from an identity crisis because of it which would lead to unending series
of displacement.

Text (26): As he spent an increasing amount of time with the Afghans in Soharab
Goth, Raza found, surprisingly, that he missed his own life .He missed a world
free of guns and war and occupied homelands. He missed being able to answer
any question about his life without thinking twice about how best to construct a
lie. He missed a world less fraught about honour and family than this world of
men who recited poetry about mountains .He missed women though he’d hardly
ever thought them as being a significant presence in his life.

But he knew there was no living in two worlds, not for any length of time. And the
day he walked out of the examination hall, knowing he'd performed to excellence,
it was entirely obvious which world he was going to give up. Who chooses
borrowed dreams over the dreams they've grown up with? ‘The dream Raza had
thought he'd lost-of excelling academically, of feeling knowledge propel him
forward through the world- had become possible once more. The intermediate
exam had demanded a bit of exercise in memorization -but beyond was another
world, of following clues and making the connection, of analysis and argument.
He didn't need America! He would be a lawyer as his father had always wanted.
(Shamsie, 2009, p.207-208)

Description: Raza’s split personality is the theme. Raza went to Soharab Goth to seek escape;
he befriended Abdullah and started teaching English to Afghan boys as Raza Hazara. But
surprisingly as he spent more time with the Afghans in Soharab Goth, he missed his own life.
There is a repetition of the expression ‘he missed’ five times to mark the difference between his
actual life as Raza Ashraf Konrad and his life as Raza Hazara. He missed a world free of guns
and war and occupied homelands. He missed being able to answer any question about his life
without thinking twice about how best to construct a lie because there he had to be on guard all
 141

the time for the fear of being exposed. He missed the world less burdened about honour and
family than this world of men who recited poetry about mountains .He missed women though he
had hardly ever thought of them as being a significant presence in his life.

Raza knew that there was no living in two worlds, not for any length of time. And the day
he walked out of the examination hall, knowing he had performed to excellence, it was entirely
obvious which world he was going to give up. “Who chooses borrowed dreams over the dreams
they've grown up with?”(Shamsie, 2009, p.208)The dream Raza had thought he had lost of
excelling academically, of feeling knowledge propel him forward through the world- had
become possible once more. The intermediate exam had demanded a bit of exercise in
memorization -but beyond that, there was another world, of following clues and making the
connection, of analysis and argument. He didn't need America. He would be a lawyer as his
father had always wanted.

Interpretation: The situational context is Raza’s escape from his failure in the examination,
failure in love and identity crisis in Soharab Goth. The historical context deals with the influx of
Afghan’s refugees in Pakistan on account of the Russian Invasion of Afghanistan.

Explanation: The roots of identity crisis presented by Shamsie are directly or indirectly
associated with the international and national politics, colonialism and neocolonialism. Had
Konrad not turned into a ‘shadow’ and vanished in the Valley of Death they would have got
married ,had Hiroko not been permanently branded as ‘hibakusha’ in Japan she would have
stayed in Japan and her son would not have been differentiated because of his different physical
appearance .He would not have to hide his face behind his hair, he would not have been
suspected to be ‘deformed’ because of his mother falling victim to the atomic bomb ,life would
have been a different experience for him .All the above-mentioned issues are the consequence of
the dropping of the atomic bomb at a place where Hiroko used to live.
 142

Then Shamsie moves on to show the consequences of another historical event, the Cold
War. Russia invaded Afghanistan and later the war turned into a proxy war for America, the
Afghans from different tribes fled to Pakistan. Since Raza’s physical features resemble the
features of the Mongols, so ‘it had become something less than unusual for Raza to be identified
as Afghan from one of the Mongol tribes.’(Shamsie, 2003, p.164) Harry took him as Hazara
when he came to see them for the first time. Afridi, an Afghan truck driver also took him as
Afghan Hazara and introduced him to Abdullah, a young Afghan boy.

Raza’s failure in the examination, failure in love because of the tragedy his mother had
to suffer in the past and Harry’s strange behaviour in front of his parents after making a promise
to help him get admission in some American university lead him to seek an escape to Soharab
Goth and take refuge in a false identity of Raza Hazara. As a consequence he lost his father, his
friend Abdullah, lost his home and permanently got displaced along with his already displaced
mother .But ironically when he thought of leaving the other world of ‘borrowed dreams’ to
return to the dreams he had lived with, the world had changed. The borrowed dream refers to his
fake resolve to fight the last Soviet out of Afghanistan while the dreams he lived with were the
dream of his father to make him a lawyer that he himself could not become and after performing
well in the examination the realisation of that dream seemed to be just round the corner .He was
oblivious of the onward rush of life, where there is no going back, for when you turn the world
behind has also changed .He failed to give a befitting end to his friendship with Abdullah and
his father whose dream he wanted to fulfil died while searching for him.

It was his identity crisis created by the feeling of being an outcast because of his mother’s
origin and victimization and his different physical appearance which lead him to take refuge in a
false identity. Both the major historical events which lead to this crisis, the World War II and the
Cold War have their roots in neo-colonial powers’ hegemonic designs.

Text (27): ‘I want to see it’, Raza said, nodding in the direction of the refugee
camp. At this distance, all he could tell was that it was vast.
 143

‘What do you want to see?’ Abdullah said sharply.’ People living like animals?
These places are the enemies of human dignity. It’s good. It’s good that we should
live there, like that.’

‘How is that good?’

‘Abdullah looked over his shoulder towards the camp.

‘I was forgetting, Raza.’ He said it as though confessing the worst of crimes.’ I

went to Karachi, I saw its lights and its promise, even all (215) the way at the
edges of Soharab Goth-and I was forgetting this. I haven’t been to the refugee
camps in a year. Afridi always offered me to stop when we travel up to Peshawar
but I tell him no, I don’t want to see it .I was forgetting why there is no option for
me except to join mujahedeen. The boys growing here never forget. They’ll look
around and know, if this is the better option that must mean our homeland now is
the doorway to hell. And we must restore it to Paradise.(Shamsie, 2009 ,p. 216)

Description: The theme is the misadventure of Raza. He was accompanying Abdullah to the
training camp when they reached near the Mujahedeen’s camp, he expressed his desire to see it.
From a distance, he could only see that it was a huge one. Abdullah sharply asked him what did
he want to see, then added people living like animals .He told Raza that those places were the
enemies of human dignity. And twice repeated it was good that they should live like that .Raza
asked how that was good while looking over to his shoulder towards the camp.

He told Raza that he was forgetting the unsaid part that was the necessity to always
remember that they would have to get their country free from enemies. He said as if confessing
the worst of crimes that he went to Karachi and saw its lights and its promise, even while living
at the edge of Soharab Goth- he was forgetting the camp. He added that he hadn’t been to the
refugee camps in a year though Afridi had always offered him to stop by when they travelled up
to Peshawar, but he refused. He said that he had been forgetting why there was no option for him
except to join Mujahedeen. He added that the boys growing in the camps never forgot. They
would look around and know that it was the better option that must mean since their homeland,
 144

then was the doorway to hell by a foreign invasion, the only option available to them was to join
the Mujahedeen and fight for its the freedom to ‘ restore it to Paradise’. The implied irony lies
in the fact that they fought the Russians but peace could never be restored in their homeland .It
could not be restored to normalcy what to talk about restoring it to Paradise.

Interpretation: The situational context is Raza’s visit to Mujahedeen’s camp to give a suitable
end to his friendship with Abdullah. The historical context is the Cold War and its impact on
Afghan and Pakistani people.

Explanation: The Russian Invasion created destruction, displacement and further ethic divide in
a tribal society of Afghanistan. So many Afghans were rendered homeless; they had to live in the
refugee camps, a whole generation of Afghan youth became mujahedeen leaving their childhood
far behind .Abdullah represents, that young generation. He left his homeland at the age of twelve
and became a gunrunner and at the age of fourteen joined the training camp. Blum (2004) says:

Afghanistan was a cold-warrior’s dream: The CIA and the Pentagon, finally, had one of
their proxy armies in direct confrontation with the forces of the Evil Empire. There was
no price too high to pay for this Super Nintendo game, neither the hundreds of thousands
of Afghan lives, nor the destruction of Afghan society, nor three billion dollars of
American taxpayer money poured into a bottomless hole, much of it going only to make a
few Afghans and Pakistanis rich. And after the victory, the battle ground and the fighting
horses all sank into oblivion. But from those ashes sprang the philosophy of war on
terror.

He further elaborates that the United States wanted to prove their superiority over the
Soviet Union. President Carter declared that the Persian Gulf area was “now threatened by
Soviet troops in Afghanistan”, that this area was synonymous with US interests, and that the
United States would “defend” it against any threat by all means necessary. He adds the president
called the Soviet action “the greatest threat to peace since the Second World War”. But what
 145

happened after the war was won was yet another manifestation of the fact that all human ‘lives’
are not important, but those of ‘the Americans.’ So the whole game was to save the Americans’
lives and interests what the ‘others’ had to pay for it was not of any importance for them.

In the novel Shamsie writes how America involved the whole world in defeating the
enemy:

When he arrived in Islamabad, it had been a three-way affair: Egypt provided the Soviet-
made arms, America providing financing, training and technological assistance, and
Pakistan provided the base for training camps. But now the war was truly international
.Arms from Egypt, China and –soon-Israel. Recruits from all over the Muslim world.
Training camps in Scotland! There was even rumour that India might be willing, to sell
on some of the arms they had bought from their Russian friends… (Shamsie, 2009, p.
203)

Harry regarded it ‘internationalism, powered by capitalism.’(Shamsie, 2009, p. 204) But

what happened to the Afghans and their homeland after the task was accomplished was a sad story.
Earlier in the novel, Shamsie refers to Kamikaze which according to New Online Dictionary was a
group of Japanese pilots who performed suicidal missions by crashing their aircraft, loaded with
explosives, into an enemy target, especially a warship during World War II. (“Kamikaze” n.d)
.Hiroko referred to them associating them with the functionality created by war “boys were
considered more functional as weapons than as humans…” (Shamsie, 2009, p.7) .From there started
the history of suicidal attacks for the defence of one’s country, one’s faith and one’s cause. So the
Afghans’ desire to get training in the mujahedeen training camps to fight for the freedom of their
motherland was no exception.

Text (28): She had never imagined the birds could fly outwards and enter the
mind of this girl, and from her mind enter Raza's heart .She had never truly
understood her son's need for belonging, the anger with which he twisted away
from comments about his foreign looks, in fact she had thought that anger little
 146

more than an affectation in a boy so hungry to possess the languages of different

tribes, different nations—but she knew intimately the stigma of being defined by
the bomb. Hibakusha .It remained the most hated word in her vocabulary. And the
most powerful. To escape the word she had boarded a ship to India! To enter the
home of a couple she’d never met, the world of which she knew nothing.
(Shamsie, 2009, p.222)

Description: Hiroko’s failure to understand her son’s identity crisis is the theme.Hiroko had the
marks of three burnt birds on her back. She had always felt their presence .After listening to what
Salma told her about her last discourse with Raza she thought that she had never imagined the
birds could fly outwards and enter the mind of that girl, and from her mind they would enter
Raza's heart .She realized that she had never truly understood her son's need for belonging. She
could now recall the anger with which he twisted away from comments about his foreign looks,
but then she considered that anger just a little more than an affectation in a boy so hungry to
possess the languages of different tribes, different nations—but now she realized what she had
intimately known, the stigma of being defined by the bomb. Hibakusha—the atomic bomb
survivor had remained the most hated word in her vocabulary and yet the most powerful. She
had boarded a ship to India and had entered the home of an unfamiliar couple to escape this word
but it kept haunting her and even her son fell a prey to it

Interpretation: The situational context is Raza’s disappearance from his home and the historical
context deals with the negative impacts of Afghan Jihad on Pakistani society .It also
encompasses the lingering impacts of the World War II.

Explanation: Hiroko’s whole life is a struggle to run away from a nuclear world, having the
firsthand experience of the sufferings caused by the blast by losing her familiar world and ‘she
knew intimately the stigma of being defined by the bomb only’. Hibakusha’ the atomic bomb
survivor, strangely enough, this survival is not counted as a sign of good luck rather it has a
negative connotation being identified with the bomb only .It created such a great identity crises
 147

that she left Nagasaki and Japan and when met Japanese in Pakistan, she did not tell them that
she was from Nagasaki but she had never realised that her son would suffer from the identity
crises for the same. When Salma told her what had gone between her and Raza she could realise
the agony of being identified with the bomb and futility of her whole life struggle to run away
from it.

Shamsie refers to the long lasting effects of such devastating ventures of the powerful
which destroyed the lives of the generations. Raza’s escape would lead him nowhere , on his
return, “He pushed open the front door to feel the word, ‘home' embrace him(father) for the first
time and then saw the gathering and knew, instantly, that there was no home anymore.”(Shamsie,
2009, p. 242) He lost his friend, his father, his home and in a way, his mother as well for both of
them were displaced never to be together again. The road once taken for escape made all the
difference.

Text (29): I don't know how I managed to never worry about Dad all those years
he was with CIA. But now—she stopped as Ilse pinched her and gestured her
head towards the kitchen where their voices might easily travel. They had never
spoken of it, but silently both had agreed on a pact to allow Hiroko to continue
believing Raza and Harry's euphemism about administrative work in security’.
Lowering her voice she said, ‘Everything in the world is so scary, nothing more
than the thought of where he might be, what he's doing. I'm frightened all the
time, all the time. And I hate it. It must make me so amazingly tedious to be
around.(Shamsie, 2009, p.266)

Description: The theme is Kim’s anxiety for her father’s safety. She shared with her
grandmother that she had always been worried about her father’s safety when he was working
for CIA. She was pinched to stop by Ilse who gestured her head towards the kitchen where their
voices might easily travel and be heard by Hiroko. There was a silent pact between them never to
let Hiroko know about Harry and Raza’s movement and let her continue believing that they were
 148

busy with the administrative work in security at Miami office. Kim lowered her voice and shared
with Ilse that everything in the world was so scary but nothing more than the thought of where
her father might have been and what he would be doing. She continued telling her that she was
frightened all the time, she repeated to emphasize the point .She added that she hated being
frightened .She said that it was so astoundingly mind-numbing to live with this fear.

Interpretation: Kim’s listening to the news of the presence of a suicide bomber in a flight to
Miami is the situational context and post 9/11 world is the historical context against which
Shamsie portrays the fears of the Americans.

Explanation: Kim shared her anxiety of not having a contact with Harry with her
grandmother.9/11 left the Americans to feel insecure even in their own country all the time.
Through Kim Shamsie reflects the Americans’ fear and sense of insecurity in their own
homeland which refers to their psychological displacement.

On Kim’s’ remarks “I can’t really imagine what it was like...All those years of fighting
the Soviets” (Shamsie, 2009, p.344), Abdullah’s reaction was that no one could compare war to a
disease, “War is like a disease. Until you had it, you don’t know it.”(Shamsie, 2009, p. 344) But
then he regarded it a bad comparison for at least every one fears that he can have a disease
including the Americans. “But war…countries like yours, they always fight wars, but always
somewhere else. The disease always happens somewhere else .It’s why you fight more wars than
anyone else; because you understand war least of all. You need to understand it better.”(Shamsie,
2009, p.344) He himself had fought against Russians and his country had been in a state of war
for more than two decades so his bitterness was quite understandable. Kim said, “So what you’re
saying is...the way to end wars is to have everyone fight them?”(Shamsie, 2009, p.344).They
both belonged to different worlds, having different world views and from different sides of the
divide .Abdullah’s life and the lives of his country fellows have been spent in wars one after the
other .Afghanistan is a place where ‘peace never happens’ and the wars that have been fought in
Abdullah’s life time have the Americans’ hands in them so his bitterness at Kim’s curiosity
 149

‘what is it like’ is but natural. And the Americans remain unaffected for their wars have always
been fought somewhere else. But 9/11 changed the whole scene now the fear is amongst them.
Through Kim, the born American, Shamsie presents that fear, she is always fearful about her
father’s security and her reaction to the news of a bomb in a flight to Miami is an example of that
fear .His job with CIA and his presence in the war zone also keeps her ill at ease most of the
time. By portraying these fears Shamsie depicts the impacts of war on the lives of those citizens
whose governments wage wars to save their lives only. The War on Terror is in a way the war of
Americans’ fears to the reaction of the wars which destroyed countless homes and causes
innumerable displacements and which has led to personal tragedies like the loss of father for
Kim in the text. Shamsie presents the history of war from non-Western point of view.

Text (30): Unsurprising, yes.’ Harry said. It’s true he was entirely unsurprised by
9/11-had,in fact, assumed a jihadi connection to the Oklahoma City bombing
in1995-but he was also stunned by his reaction to it, the depth of his fury ,the
wish for all the world to stop and weep with him for the city which had adopted
him when he was eleven. He was in the democratic Republic of Congo at that
time, overseeing the setting of Arkwright and Glenn’s operation to provide
security for the Belgian diamond-export company, and was well-aware of how
disapropriate his attitude must seem in a country which had lost more than two
and a half million people in a war which seemed to have pauses rather than an
end. He sat down with a calculator on 12 September, and worked it out to more
than two thousand deaths a day, for over three years-but he couldn’t find any way
to connect those numbers to his emotions.’ And good for business, very
definitely.(Shamsie, 2009, p.271)

Description: The theme is Harry’s love for the city from where he started his life in America
and Kim’s suspicion of his heartless attitude towards 9/11. Kim blamed Harry that 9/11 must be
quite unsurprising for him because of the kind of business he had been involved in .He admitted
that it was unsurprising for him. Harry said he was more touched by one such attack on the
Oklahoma City bombing in 1995-but he had been also surprised by his reaction to it, the depth of
 150

his anger, and the wish for the entire world to stop and weep with him for the city which had
adopted him when he was eleven. His reaction shows that after New Delhi, the only place he
owned was Oklahoma. He was in the democratic Republic of Congo in 1995, supervising the
setting of Arkwright and Glenn’s operation to provide security for the Belgian diamond-export
company. He had a realization that his attitude was quite inappropriate in a country which had
lost more than two and a half million people in a war which seemed to have pauses rather than an
end. The very next day after 9/11 he sat down with a calculator and worked it out to more than
two thousand deaths a day, for over three years-but he couldn’t find any way to connect those
numbers to his emotions. And very definitely, from A and G business point of view 9/11
provided an opportunity for good business in the name of the War on Terror.

Interpretation: The situational context is Kim’s understanding of her father’s attitude towards
wars. The historical context goes with the role CIA has been playing across the globe.

Explanation: CIA has been involved in waging, sponsoring, organizing, and backing wars. And
national and international crises create opportunities for the selling of arms and ammunition. So
crisis, for power stake holders, are opportunities for flourishing their business. Kim, the
American, knows well about it and tells her father the same in a kind of retaliation.

Said (1993) says that after the fall of the Berlin wall and disintegration of the second
super power of the world ,the only super power had to create some grand narratives for the
justification and running the business of arms and ammunition and divert the attention of its
citizens. So enemy had to be created .Islam was selected for this purpose and growing
civilization consciousness was created to increase a rift between Islamic and European or to be
the more exact Western world .Now the world is run by capitalism in which money is the only
god. The driving force behind all activities of private military companies has been having a great
business in all the civil wars all around the world. Harry admits “And good for business, very
definitely”(Shamsie, 2009, p.271). This theme is repeated when Harry goes to Karachi for the
first time to see Sajjad during American proxy war against the Russians and Shamsie links the
 151

chaos of the cities with the possibilities and opportunities for war business .But ironically
Harry does not know this business will cost his life as well and Kim’s worst fears will be
materialized.

Text (30): bothered him, the nod. She shouldn't understand fear sufficiently to
know what he was thinking. He recalled how she had stiffened, earlier on their
walk, at the sight of a dark-haired man doing something with his shoes. He had
laughed then, and said, 'He is trying his laces, Kim, not detonating a bomb,' but
now he couldn't see it as amusing. In the valley of Afghanistan, fear was
necessary; he hadn't been trained how to use it .But what did Kim know of moving
through the world with fear at your back? Weapons in the hands of the
uninitiated, he thought, understanding now, what it was about this new New York
that made him so uneasy. (Shamsie, 2009, p.276)

Description: After his mother’s death Harry was in America with Hiroko and Kim. They were
around the China Town. He suggested to Kim that if she was thinking of shifting to New York,
she should opt for China Town, thinking that it was unlikely that someone would try to target
this place. She nodded in understanding and the understanding nod bothered him. He felt that
she; his daughter shouldn't understand fear sufficiently to know what he was thinking .He had
been through this fear while working in Afghanistan. He recalled how Kim had stiffened with
fear earlier during their walk when she saw a dark-haired man doing something with his shoes.
At that time, he had laughed and told her that he was only trying his laces and not detonating a
bomb, but now after looking at her understanding nod he couldn't see it as amusing. He had been
in Afghanistan for years and in the valley of Afghanistan, fear was necessary; he had been
trained how to use it. But the very thought ‘what did Kim know of moving through the world
with fear at her back?’ made him uneasy and then he realised that in this post 9/11 new, New
York it was the fear of weapons in the hands of the uninitiated that made him so uneasy.
 152

Interpretation: Context is post 9/11 New York with all the Americans care and concern to save
the Americans’ lives. What happened in the heart of the New York City created a fear in the
hearts of the Americans and they started suspecting every Muslim, every Arab, every Afghan,
every dark-haired man in short everyone who bear the slightest resemblances with the media
circulated images and description of the terrorists.

Explanation: Newton’s third law of motion states that action and reaction are equal and opposite
in direction, psychology deals with cause and effect and life is a series of chain reactions. In the
whole history of world power politics what can be observed in general is that when some nation
usurps the freedom of some other nation, the freedom of its own citizens is at stake. In Shooting
an Elephant, Orwell presents the same theme. Harry joined CIA to defeat Communism and to
ensure justice and peace in the world but the Super power was more concerned with gaining
absolute power by defeating the Soviet Union than ensuring justice and peace in the world. So
when the purpose was served those who were trained to fight and used as tools were left behind
which resulted in disillusionment manifested in the desperate act like suicide bombing which
made the world in general and American in particular insecure .Harry’s experience of fear, his
understanding of Kim’s understanding of it made him uneasy .American’s policies lead to the
displacement of its own citizens while living at their own place.

Text (31): We make a desolation and call it peace and sitting down heavily next
to it, the mountain sharp against his back. There sat his team-all younger and
fitter than him-were already scrambling down ,singing some song they’d made up
which rhyme’ Arkwright and Glenn’ with ‘dark fighting men’ while the Afghan
who had come with them followed more quietly.(Shamsie, 2009, p.279)

Description: The theme is “We make a desolation and call it peace”. Harry was on one of his
search missions for Osama Bin Laden in the caves, he looked at the destruction around and
thought, ‘We make a desolation and call it peace’, here ‘we’ is used for the Americans and the
CIA for whom he had been working for more than two decades. He conveys that they create
 153

destruction, wretchedness, misery, unhappiness and despair and call that artificially created hush
up as peace. He sat down ‘heavily’ feeling the guilt for the destruction spread around, putting his
M4 rifle on the ground with his team which consisted of the members all younger and fitter than
him but who had already sat down singing some song they had made up which rhymed
Arkwright and Glenn with dark fighting men while the two Afghans who had come with them
followed more quietly. The quietness of the Afghans speaks volumes of their misery, plight,
despair, hunger and an acute awareness of the unending wars they have been subjected to.

Interpretation: The context is the War on Terror and the search for Osama Bin Laden. This
time CIA has engaged private military companies (PMCs) like Arkwright and Glenn to do the
operations in Afghanistan. Harry is a contractor and the senior member working with a team of
different third country nationals (TNCs) including two Afghans .Most of them are compelled by
hunger and joblessness to opt for such a risky task.

Explanation: Harry joined CIA not with the notion of power “...but the idea of it concentrated in
a nation of migrants...a single democratic country in power, whose citizens were connected to
every nation in the world.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.172) At that time, he was an idealist who thought
“How could anything but justice be the most abiding characteristic of that country’s dealing with
the world?”(Shamsie, 2009, p.172) But this idealism gave way to thrill and excitement only “it
had been a long time since he had thought about it in relation to justice...” (Shamsie, 2009,
p.172). And there he was again in Afghanistan thinking “We make a desolation and call it peace”
(Shamsie, 2009, p.279).

CIA had engaged PMCs to fight their battle with the help of TCNs because of whom they
could run successful war business making huge profits by spending less money. They did not
provide body armours to TCNs because it was not cost effective for Arkwright and Glenn but it
was compulsory for all the Americans to wear them all the time. Their business was in Harry’s
words to make ‘desolation’ and call it ‘peace’. The destruction of Afghanistan and Iraq was in
the name of democracy, destruction of weapons of mass destruction, emancipation and peace but
 154

ironically peace for the powerful is the destruction of the ‘Others’. Shamsie’s war discourse
shows the binary of ‘us/them’ as mentioned by Said (1978).Its applications can be seen in
Afghanistan in its most stark form.

Shamsie re-write Russell’s wish for an international government proposed in The Impacts
of Science on Society where he says:

Power can establish a single authority over the whole world, and thus make future wars
impossible. At first, this Authority will ,in certain regions ,be based on force ,but if the
Western nations are in control, the force will as soon as possible give way to consent
.When that has been achieved ,the most difficult world problems will have been solved
,and science can become wholly beneficent.(Russell, 1953, p. 142)

America emerged as the only super power of the world after the disintegration of the
Soviet Union. The whole world was engaged to defeat the Russians but peace remains an illusion
and the wars are still going on. Shamsie writes Burnt Shadows to show the negative impacts of
the imperial mindset, which constitutes the basis of colonialism and neocolonialism and the use
of force to resolve the issues, which have made the world a wilderness of ‘desolation.’

Text (32): Harry knew Raza’s silences well enough to know he was thinking of
Hiroko. The adored and neglected mother. ’He rested his hand on Raza’s wrist.
Impossible to believe Ilse was dead. Even in her very old age, she had seemed
more alive to him than anyone else in the world. He wanted to tell Raza that one
day he'd regret spending so little time with his mother simply because he didn't
want her to fully understand how devalued a being he had become, but he knew
Raza would only hear Harry’s own regret in the words rather than understanding
any wisdom in the advice .And perhaps there wasn't any wisdom. (Shamsie, 2009,
p.284)
 155

Description: Emotional displacement is the theme of this text. While Raza and Harry were
living together in a compound in Afghanistan which had been previously occupied by an Afghan
family who believed to have disappeared and whose child was found dead. The traces of the
child’s oiled hands were there on the wall. At night Raza was often found silently tracing those
finger prints .Harry could understand those silences as Raza’s remembrance of his adored and
neglected mother, Hiroko. He could understand Raza’s feelings, so on one such occasion he
rested his hand on Raza’s wrist thinking it was hard for him to believe Ilse, his mother was dead.
Even in her very old age, she had seemed “more alive” to him than anyone else in the world. He
wanted to tell Raza that one day he would regret spending so little time with his mother simply
because he didn't want her to fully understand how devalued a being he had become, but he
knew Raza would only hear Harry’s own regrets in the words rather than understanding any
wisdom in the advice .And with the sense of loss Harry thought ‘perhaps there wasn't any
wisdom’ which reflects Harry’s regrets, had there been any wisdom, he should have acted on it
himself.

Interpretation: Written in the background of the adoption of the career that deals with power
politics it shows how when once one becomes a peg in that machinery, the sanctity of human life
and human values like fair play, justice, consideration for one’s kith and kin, in short everything
assumes different meanings and is dealt with differently. But at what cost—this is what Shamsie
wants to show.

Explanation: How the roads not taken (Frost, 1916) create barriers between humans even
among the most intimate and close relations like the child-mother relationship. Harry knew his
mother had not liked his working with CIA and he could not spend as much time with her as he
should because of the fear that she might know how devalued a human being he had become.
Raza was doing the same, Harry could understand Raza’s guilt but knew he would not act upon
his advice if he tried to do so rather he would take it as Harry’s own regrets .In the heart of
hearts, he regarded himself as a displaced person playing with fire in the name of power. He had
the realisation he had made wrong choices and his own regrets used to haunt him that’s why he
wanted Raza not to repeat the same mistakes. But by being a part of the War on Terror they both
 156

created wilderness in themselves permanently displacing them never to return to their loved ones
again. Here Shamsie displays the negative impact of power practices like war on people from
both sides of the divide.

Text (33): When Hiroko Ashraf had arrived in New York three summers ago, the
immigration official-a man with a peace sign tattooed on his forearm-looked
quizzically from her face to her Pakistani passport and saw her place of birth
scrawled beneath her husband’s name.

‘It’s OK,’ he said, stamping her passport without asking a single question.’ You’ll
be safe here.’

‘What surprised her even more than his hand reaching out to squeeze hers was
his obliviousness to irony. She did not share it. A week after India’s nuclear tests
with Pakistasn’s response in kind looming, she didn’t see the ache in her back as
a result of the long plane ride but rather the sign of her birds’ displeasure that
she should have chosen this ,of all the countries, as her place of refuge from a
nuclear world.(Shamsie,2009,p. 287)

Description: Irony of seeking refuge in America is the theme.Hiroko came to New York in
1998; the immigration official looked curiously from her Japanese face to her Pakistani passport
and saw her place of birth scrawled beneath her husband’s name. After seeing which he said it
was OK and stamped her passport without asking a single question. He told her that she would
be safe there. She was not surprised by his cordial behaviour but his ‘obliviousness to irony’. She
came to take refuge from the nuclear war in the country which had thrown an atomic bomb on
her own country and displaced her forever, but she did not share it. A week after India’s nuclear
tests with Pakistan’s determination to respond, she did not see the ache in her back as a result of
the long air journey but rather a sign of her birds’ displeasure that she should not have chosen
this ,of all the countries, as her place of refuge from a nuclear war.
 157

Interpretation: Situational context is the immediate nuclear war between India and Pakistan
and the historical context is dropping of atomic bomb on Nagasaki in World War II of which she
is a direct victim and witness.

Explanation: Irony as a literary device has been used on multiple levels, the first is of Hiroko’s
choice of taking refuge from atomic war in America. Secondly, in American immigration
officer’s assurance that she has made the right choice, she will be safer there and thirdly she has
come there to live with her only son in Miami and on the way just to stop in New York to see
Ilse. “Somehow that stop had extended into three years, through a combination of Ilse’s
insistence and Raza’s lack thereof.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.255)The series of displacement that started
from Raza’s misadventure to the Mujahedeen camp in the 1980s never ended and never again
Ashrafs could live together. Hiroko’s displacement that started from World War II continues.

Work on the American atomic bomb started soon after the start of World War II. Two
scientists Einstein and Szilard who fled from Europe to escape Nazism wrote a letter to the then
American President, Roosevelt telling him that Hitler(Germany) might prepare an atomic bomb
to use it against his enemies to rule the world. Roosevelt agreed and the Manhattan Project was
started in 1939 and finally the bomb was tested on 16,July 1945 in Alamogordo desert in New
Mexico .Robert Oppenheimer ,the scientist who directed the scientific work on the bomb
remembered a line from Bhagavad-Gita on its testing, ‘I am become death, the shatterer of
worlds.’ Germany had already surrendered before its testing. And Japan’s surrender seemed
imminent. Despite moral reservations of Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, General Dwight
Eisenhower and a number of the Manhattan Project scientists–to use the atomic bomb in the
hope of bringing the war to a quick end, Truman decided to use it. The proponents of the A-
bomb like James Byrnes, the then secretary of state–believed that its devastating power would
not only ensure the end of the war but also prove the U.S. dominance to control the course of the
post war world. So hegemony was the ultimate aim of this devastation decision. (“Hiroshima and
Nagasaki “n.d)
 158

The irony is that Hiroko’s series of traumatic displacement began with the America’s
dropping of atomic bomb on her native city and then the justification of an American that the
dropping of the bomb was necessary to save the American lives in front of the one who herself
was a direct victim, here she finds yet another American assuring her safety but that assurance
too will be misleading as ultimately she will lose her last relation, her only son because of the
fears of ‘the kindest’ American woman.

Text (34): Indoors Raza sat on Harry’s camp bed, and picked up the book Harry
had been reading. Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes. He’d said it was the only
thing that could keep a man sane .Raza closed his eyes and leaned back into the
scent of Harry Burton. He wanted to be home. Not in Miami –but in Karachi of
twenty years ago, which had long since disappeared as civic violence turned
Nazimabad into a battleground and all Raza's closest friends moved to other parts
of the city or away to the Gulf or America or Canada. The house which Sajjad
and Hiroko had bought with Ilse Weiss' necklace had been torn down to make
room for a more 'modern’ construction.(Shamsie,2009,p.302)

Description: The theme is longing for ‘home’. Harry’s death was a great shock for Raza; he kept
sitting in the open for a long time, his clothes were drenched in Harry’s blood. Then he came
indoors and sat on Harry’s camp bed, he picked up Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes, the book
Harry had been reading previously and about which he had said that it was the only thing that
could keep a man sane. Somehow it was linked to his past and his mother. Leaning back with
closed eyes Raza could smell the scent of Harry Burton—a sad reminder that he was no more.
Harry’s absence made him feel out of place (Said, 1999) and shelterless and he wished to be
‘home’ not in Miami –but the native home in Karachi where he used to live with his parents
twenty years ago, and which had long since disappeared as civic violence turned Nazimabad into
a battleground and all Raza's closest friends had moved to other parts of the city or away to the
Gulf, America or Canada. The house which Sajjad and Hiroko had bought with Ilse Weiss's
necklace money and that Hiroko ultimately sold out sold after Sajjad’s death and Raza’s
 159

departure to Dubai. It had been torn down to make room for a more 'modern’ construction. So it
was no more there in reality.

Interpretation: The situational context is Raza was planning a short visit back to American in
Harry’s company and protection to help Abdullah cross the American border. The historical
context deals with the repercussions of the War on Terror.

Explanation: Harry, along with some TCNs got killed while playing a cricket match in the
compound, they were not wearing body armours .The sky fell upon Raza, changing the whole
course of his life again. He owned Harry like a father and experienced the trauma of father’s
death for the second time in his life. He desperately wished to be at his native home in Karachi, a
natural desire in all diasporas but in Raza’s case that home was no more there.

Some of the immigrants who leave their home and their homelands out of choice do not
feel greatly attached to it or wish to return to it like typical diasporas. They acquire the
citizenship of other countries and feel comfortable there .Raza was one such character. While
doing his job in Dubai he acquired as many languages and got as many nationalities as possible.
He also got a green card while living in America and was in the process of acquiring American
citizenship but Shamsie depicts some moments in his life in which he wished to return to his own
native home and native country. The first glimpse of it, we can see when he goes to the training
camp with Abdullah taking it as an adventure but collapses before reaching the camp “He
wanted his parents. He wanted his bed, and the familiarity of the streets in which he had grown
up” (Shamsie, 2009, p.227) and then here again in the crisis which changed his life, his status,
his identity, in short everything. The desire that sprang in him was to go back home not in the
adopted land of Miami in America but in the native land in Karachi in his parental home of
twenty years ago which was no more there. This craving for the familiarity is a typical feature of
diasporic nostalgia that we find in Hiroko’s innocent desire on seeing familiar flora and fauna in
Mussoorie “I want to know their names in Japanese. I want to hear Japanese...I want all those
things that never meant anything, that still wouldn’t mean anything to me if I hadn’t lost them...”
 160

(Shamsie, 2009, p.99-100) and Abdullah’s longing to live in Afghanistan. Here is Raza wanting
to be in the comfort zone of that childhood home which is no more there.

Text (35): ‘What is the quickest way for me to get to New York?’ Raza asked,
‘What’s the quickest way for me to go to New York?’ He added that Kim said
they'd delay the funeral until his arrival.’ Kim hadn’t said it-he had phoned his
mother instead and told her what happened.

‘But why are you in Afghanistan?’ – Ma, I'm sorry. I'll tell you everything when I
get there.- Raza ,are you involved with this war?- I'm sorry, I'm sorry.- Shh, stop
crying .No, cry. Cry all you need to. And come quickly. We'll wait for you, of
course .It's what Harry would want. Oh Raza, how can he be dead? How will I
tell Kim?

Don’t be ridiculous .You’re not going anywhere .We’re going to interrogate every
Afghan who entered this compound in the last twenty four hours to find out who
helped Harry Burton’s killer-and you are going to sit there and translate every
word that comes out of their diseased mouths.’

I’m an employ of A and G’, Raza said...You can’t tell me what to do. Come to
think of it .I may be in charge of operations here now. I’m the senior most
employee.’

‘You may want to reconsider your attitude.’ Steve sat down on Raza’s bed. ‘I
employ your employers .I’ve just been on the phone with them, in fact. They’ve
given me operational control until they fly in a replacement .It’s really a day run
for them and me-if things work out well I’ll be taking over Harry Burton’s office
soon .Next door to yours ,I understand?’

‘I’ll draft my letter of resignation right away.’

‘That’s nice But don’t forget the ninety-day waiting period before it comes into
effect .If Kim Burton is putting Harry on ice until you get to New York, check she
has enough ice to make it through to April.’
 161

Raza closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall.

‘Please .You have other people here who can translate. Just let me go for the
funeral. Harry was ...’ His voice refused to continue.

Steve stretched himself out on Raza’s bed, adjusting the flame on the lantern in
the space between them so that shadows flung themselves across the walls and on
the ceiling.

‘Harry was the man I admired above all men,’ he said.’ He never knew that. A
visionary .And now what is he? A piece of rotting meat.’

‘Please let me go for Harry’s funeral.’

‘But the one thing he was not visionary about was the TCNs .I tried telling him
.Sure, they’re cheap .And no one in their own (303) countries care what’s being
done with them. But what do you do about the question of allegiance? He played
with flame control, shadows alternating between lurking and leaping. Raza could
feel sweat spread under his arm pits, wetting the blood on his shirt into pungency.
Steve turned to look at Raza. ‘That’s not a rhetorical question. I’m asking your
opinion.’

‘They’re desperate for money...Their allegiance comes from their need to keep
getting their pay-cheques .And their sense of brotherhood to each other.’ Raza
said .He closed his eyes .He could see himself behind the till of one of Hussain
and Altamash’s super-markets—scanning the barcode on a packet of milk,
opening the cash register, answering customers’ queries about where to find the
flour It was an image of peace .He knew then he wasn’t just going to quit A and
G, he was going to walk away from this whole life .It was nothing without Harry.

‘But you don’t need the pay-cheques, Raza Ashraf of Karachi and Hazara. You’re
not one of those grunts who know their positions can be filled by millions of other
desperate rats if they mis-step slightly. You are the aging boy wonder-the
translation genius. You can name your salary in corporations around the world.
And you certainly have no sense of brotherhood with anyone.’
 162

‘My allegiance was to Harry. His family and mine—‘Again his voice cut out…
(Shamsie, 2009, p. 303-304)

Description: Raza’s shelterless position is the theme .Harry’s death was a great shock for Raza
and he was at a loss of his wits. He called his mother to inform her and to convey the news to
Kim. Hiroko was shocked to know that he was in Afghanistan and asked why he was there. He
said that he was sorry and he would tell her everything when he would come there .She was still
in a state of shock when questioned was he involved in the war. He repeated ‘I’m sorry’ and
started crying .She asked him not to cry first but then let him cry for his relief .She asked him to
come quickly and said they would wait for him for Harry’s funeral. She said that was what
Harry would also want him to do. Then she gave went to her lament ‘Oh Raza, how can he be
dead?’ And ‘How will I tell Kim?’

Raza was still sitting in his and Harry’s shared room on Harry’s bed when Steve came
inside and he asked him about the quickest way to reach New York. He added that Kim said
they’d delay the funeral until he got there .Actually, he had not talked to Kim but to his mother
but didn’t want to tell Steve the truth. In reply, Steve asked him not to be ridiculous telling him
that he was not going anywhere. He further informed him that they were going to interrogate
every Afghan who had entered that compound in the last twenty four hours to find out who had
helped Harry Burton’s killer-and Raza would be going to sit there and translate every word ‘that
comes out of their diseased mouths’. His discourse is the discourse of authority and command.
He was the CIA, an authority, that would not allow anyone to leave until it would so desire, then
it is also a discourse of hatred and discrimination. The expression ‘their diseased mouths’ reflects
his hatred for the Afghans and covert command to Raza reflects his authority and least concern
with Raza’s planning even to go to Harry’s funeral .

Raza who had always been under Harry’s fatherly and friendly protection, could not quite
comprehend the situation first and told Steve that he was an employ of A and G and Steve could
not tell him what to do. In his oblivion to the power structures, he asked him to think about what
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he said telling him that being the senior most employee of the company he might be in charge of
the operations there .Steve the agent of ‘the powerful’ asked him to reconsider his attitude while
sitting on Raza’s bed, the very act was indicative of the fact that nothing his own. He told Raza
that he is from the CIA which ‘employs Raza’s employers’ i.e. Arkwright and Glenn and
informed him that in fact he had just been on the phone with them and they had given him
operational control until the arrival of replacement .It was really a busy day for the company and
Steve and if things worked out well he would be taking over Harry Burton’s office soon. To
make him realise his importance and superiority he told him that what had gone on up till then
made him understand that in that case he would be next door to his office. Raza still quite failed
to understand the situation and told him that he would draft his letter of resignation right away.
Steve regarded it nice ironically and then added but he didn’t have to forget the ninety day
waiting period before the resignation would come into effect. Satirically he added, “If Kim
Burton is putting Harry on ice until you get to New York, check she has enough ice to make it
through to April.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.303)

In desperation, Raza closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall as if taking its
support and requested Steve to let him go for the funeral only as he had other people who could
translate. He wanted to tell Steve what Harry was to him but he was choked with emotions and
his voice failed him. Steve stretched himself out further on Raza’s bed as if enjoying his plight
and started playing with the flame of the lantern in the space between them so that shadows flung
themselves across the walls and on the ceiling just to show his position of command and control.
The symbolic gesture suggests this is how he could command and control Raza.

Steve told Raza that Harry was the man he admired above all men and added Harry
never knew that he regarded him a visionary but what had he become ‘ A piece of rotting
meat’—a dead man. Steve’s unsaid discourse suggested it was because of his careless attitude
towards ‘Others’ like Raza. There did not seem to be an apparent coherence in Steve and Raza’s
discourse. Raza pleaded with Steve again to let him go for Harry’s funeral. Steve didn’t reply to
the request rather continued speaking his own mind that one thing Harry was not visionary
about was the TCNs .Steve said that he had tried telling him that no doubt they were cheap
 164

and no one in their own countries cared what was being done with them. But he had his
reservations about their loyalty. While talking to Raza he kept playing with the flame control,
alternating the shadows between lurking and leaping to create fear and he succeeded in doing so
as Raza could feel sweat spread under his arm pits, wetting the blood on his shirt into pungency.
Steve turned to look at Raza and told him that whatever he said was not mere oratory rather he
was asking Raza’s opinion about the loyalty of the TCNs.

Raza said that they were desperate for money and their allegiance came from their need
to keep getting their pay cheques. And their sense of brotherhood was to each other. He closed
his eyes and his flight of imagination took him to Dubai where he could visualize himself behind
the till of one of Hussain and Altamash’s super-markets—scanning the barcode on a packet of
milk, opening the cash register, answering customers’ queries about where to find the flour .It
was an image of peace as compared to the situation he was in but he knew that he wasn’t just
going to quit A and G rather he was going to walk away from this whole life. He had joined it for
Harry’s sake and it was nothing without Harry.

Steve brought him back to the world of stark reality by calling him Raza Ashraf of
Karachi and Hazara and telling him that he (Raza) did not need the pay-cheques adding he was
not one of those grumbling creatures who knew their positions could be filled by millions of
other desperate rats if they would ‘mis-step’ slightly. Steve called the TCNs as ‘grumbling
creatures’ and ‘desperate rats’ who knew their worth, so they avoided taking wrong steps for the
fear of losing their job and being immediately replaced by others. He called Raza ‘the aging boy
wonder-the translation genius’ who could name his salary in corporations around the world. So
he concluded that he certainly had no sense of brotherhood with anyone. He used derogatory
terms as ‘grunts’ and ‘rats’ for the TCNs in general but considered Raza even worse than those
for, they according to him, had a sense of brotherhood for each other but he was of the view that
Raza didn’t have any feeling of brotherhood with anyone. Raza broke at this allegation and cried
his allegiance was to Harry, tried to tell Steve about Harry’s and his family’s long ties but again
his voiced failed him .He was choked with emotions.
 165

Interpretation: The situational context is Harry’s killing by some Afghan while he was playing
cricket in his compound while the historical context is CIA’s reservation about Pakistanis’
loyalty and allegiance.

Explanation: Despite working for the CIA Raza’s allegiance was doubtful for Steve. America
Pakistan relationship has an element of mistrust from both the sides .Shamsie refers to it in the
text at various places .Harry tells Kim that he loves Pakistani people “Not the one in
officialdom- the real people”(Shamsie,2009,p.169). She further writes “...Harry felt a rage that
went beyond the usual mistrust and annoyances and anger that accompanied every step of the
ISI-CIA alliance...” (Shamsie, 2009, p.178) Harry and Steve called named to ISI like ‘I-Shall-
Interfere’ and ‘It’s- Shorta-Islamic’. Steve asked him, “What do you think...Does the ISI do a
better job of spying on us than we do on them?” (Shamsie,2009,p.203) .Similarly, when Raza
went to the training camp for Mujahedeen and was interrogated by a man from the ISI who
asked him to convey his message to Harry Burton, “ Go back to your Mr. Burton and tell him we
can’t afford to be spying on each other.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.232)

Raza was a mere Pakistani for Steve, who had never trusted him and had always asked
Harry not to trust him .He could never convince Harry but now it was his turn to teach Raza a
lesson and he was determined to do so .Even working for the super power would not protect
Raza, he was just a hated ‘Other’ for the Occident Steve which added to his identity crisis.

Text (36): One phone call from Steve- perhaps that call had already been made-
and he would enter data banks the world over as a suspected terrorist. His bank
accounts frozen. His mother's phone tapped. His emails and phone logs, his
internet traffic, his credit- cards' receipts: no longer the markers of his daily life...
That nothing in the world could possibly show him to be Harry Burton's murderer
seemed barely the matter in the face of all that could be done to his life before
that conclusion. If anyone even bothered with a conclusion. He had never felt so
sharply the powerlessness of being merely Pakistani.( Shamsie,2009,p.307-308)
 166

Description: The theme is Raza’s helpless of being a Pakistani. Raza managed to escape from
the compound and thought of going to Pakistan first but after giving it a second thought he
realised that one phone call from Steve ,the CIA representatives from Afghanistan (the call
which perhaps already had been made) and he would enter into data banks of the suspected
terrorists all over the world .His bank accounts would be frozen, his mother’s phones would be
tapped .His emails and phone logs ,his internet traffic , the receipts of his credit cards would no
longer be markers of his daily life but clues for his trap. He thought that nothing in the world
could possibly show him to be Harry Burton's murderer for he had not done that, but that seemed
barely the matter in the face of all that could be done to his life before that conclusion. ‘If anyone
even bothered with a conclusion’ reflects the state of hopelessness. He had been working with
the CIA and knew what happened to the suspected terrorists .He had never felt so sharply the
powerlessness of being merely a Pakistani. He suffered from acute identity crisis.

Interpretation: Situational context is Steve’s, the CIA representative, suspicion about Raza’s
involvement in Harry’s murder. The historical context is the postcolonial binary between ‘us’
and ‘them’ and neocolonial definition of suspected terrorists.

Explanation: Our first encounter with Raza in the prologue of the novel is as a prisoner ready to
be transported to Guantanamo Bay wondering at his plight “How did it come to this?”(Shamsie,
2009, p.1) Here in this part of the novel we get the answer. Raza is an employee of Arkwright
and Glenn, an American PMC working for the CIA, Harry, his foster father who brought him to
work with this company got killed by some Afghan while playing a cricket match and he was
shocked beyond measures .But the greatest blow was Steve’s allegation for planning Harry’s
murder. The first instinctive impulse was to seek an escape ,he managed that but when once out
in the open he realised the futility of the escape as he could not run away from the visible and
invisible chains of the only super power in the world.
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Raza had joined A & G on Harry’s recommendation He had been working for it for a
long time and Harry had always rejected Steve’s reservations against him. Steve was aware of
Harry’s and Raza’s close association even then he suspected Raza of his murder .He had his
reasons to, he knew that Raza had blamed Harry for his father’s death ,he had spied on him
while he was searching for his friend, Abdullah He also knew that in the past he had disguised
himself as Raza Hazara but his prejudice can be linked with his hatred for the Pakistanis ,the ISI
and the TCNs .He also gave vent to his prejudice against his ‘translating genius’ because of
which he had great market value in the world corporate sector .But what Shamsie wants to point
out is that even if a third country national succeeds in getting American citizenship and becomes
a green card holder and works for the CIA, he is the ‘Other’ who is never given the equal excess
to justice .Raza knows that he could not and had not any part in Harry’s murder but also knows
that Steve’s call to name him as a suspected terrorist will be given more weightage even by
Pakistani ISI for he is of no ‘strategic significance’ . The interdiscursivity of the discourse can
be traced to its linkage with the release of Ryman Davies from Blackwater who was rescued
even after killing the Pakistanis in broad day light because he was of ‘strategic significance’ to
the superpower. Shamsie also links it with the arrest of the Muslims in New York ‘New York is
nets cast to the winds, seeking for any Muslims to ensnare.’(Shamsie,2009,p.353).It can be
linked to Kim’s prejudice against Afghans and Abdullah and the whole War on Terror is to save
Americans’ lives ,it is rather a continuation of the same game plan that was behind dropping the
atomic bombs on Japanese civilians in World War II to save the ‘Americans’ lives’.

“Guantanamo Voices” (2009) presents a detailed report about the prisoners brought and
detained in Guantanamo Bay prison camp. Some of the details are given below as they provide
an insight into how interdiscursive Shamsie’s discourse is:

It is stated in Guantanamo Basics that the U.S. government selected this place to set up
the camp for it is very close to US territory yet in a foreign territory, beyond the
jurisdiction of any United States Court. Detainees, therefore, do not have to get the same
legal rights and process as would apply in the American justice system, so they can be
held indefinitely without being charged with a crime. The Bush administration argued
 168

that this sort of detention is necessary because it considers the detainees extraordinarily
dangerous and potentially full of information about future terrorist attacks. (“Guantanamo
Voices” 2009)

Since 2001, total 800 detainees have been brought there. They are all male, their ages are
ranging from 13-15 to 80.Besides prisoners about eleven hundred army guards live at
Guantanamo Bay. All the detainees were imprisoned because the U.S. suspected they were
involved with Al Qaeda or the Taliban, but after seven years, only some have actually been
charged with specific crimes.

Legal scholar Benjamin Wittes, who analyzed all the testimony from the tribunals, writes
that about seven percent of the detainees (that’s 42 people) were accused of being top-level Al
Qaeda or Taliban leaders. On the other end of the spectrum, the first military tribunals found that
11 percent of the prisoners were “no longer enemy combatants” meaning, essentially, innocent
and could be let go. Since then, dozens of detainees have been released without ever being
charged with a crime. Many of these men were never involved with terrorist activities but were
instead chicken farmers, businessmen and doctors caught up in post-9/11 roundups. Many of
these men suspect someone fabricated charges against them to collect one of large cash bounties
the U.S. distributed for capturing Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders. It further states that it’s
important to recognize that the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are not granted all the rights of
prisoners of war as required by the Geneva Convention. In 2002, the Bush Administration
established that people captured by the U.S. as part of the War on Terror would not be
considered “prisoners of war” but instead “enemy combatants.” Since enemy combatants are
considered extremely dangerous, much of the information about them is classified indefinitely
and it’s difficult to find out how they’re treated (“Guantanamo Voices” 2009).

Some of the most well-known images of Guantanamo detainees are of the first prisoners
who arrived at the camp in 2002. They were blindfolded, handcuffed and their ears covered in
large muffs to keep them in a disorienting silent blindness. Amnesty International investigated
 169

conditions at Guantanamo in 2005 and found that life for prisoners was “cruel and inhumane.”
During interrogations and to decrease morale overall, detainees were routinely subjected to
activities which several international humans rights groups say are torture but Dick Cheney and
George W. Bush define as “enhanced interrogation techniques” (“Guantanamo voices”2009):

sleep deprivation, the prolonged use of stress positions, forced nudity, hooding, exposure
to extreme temperatures, subjecting prisoners to loud music and flashing lights, “treating
them like animals,” intimidation with unmuzzled dogs.(“Guantanamo voices”2009)

Raza who has been working for the Americans, knows his fate, despite knowing that no charge
on him can be proved. Through him Shamsie highlights identity crisis faced by the suspects.

Text (36):No, there could be no going back-not to the compound, not to his life
'.He unzipped the knapsack ,tossed out his passport and green card and watched
the wind sift fine particles of sand on to the documents that made him legal. For
an instant longer he breathed in deeply the desert air, everything around him vast
and indifferent, and felt the terror of unbecoming. (Shamsie, 2009, p.308)

Description: The ‘terror of unbecoming’ is the theme. Once after the escape Raza thought of
going back to the compound and explaining the whole thing to Steve again but then he reached a
resolve that there could be no going back-not to the compound, not to his life .To destroy all
signs of previous existence he unzipped the knapsack, tossed out his passport and green card and
watched the wind sift fine particles of sand on to the documents that made him legal. For a
moment he breathed in deeply the desert air, everything around seemed to him vast and
indifferent and he experienced an acute identity crisis ‘the terror of unbecoming.'

Interpretation: The fear of being caught as a suspected terrorist is the situational context and
the historical context deals with identity issues of the ‘Others’ in War on Terror.
 170

Explanation: Raza, the son of a Japanese atomic bomb survivor woman, and an Indian father
who had to migrate to Pakistan after Partition, was a born Pakistani and spent a major part of his
life in Pakistan but always had identity issues. He inherited his mother’s features and taste for
languages. His different physical features were the first thing he started hiding by putting his hair
on his face. This consciousness was created by the attitude of his peer .In his childhood one of
his cousins Altamash came to see them, he and Raza went out with Bilal, his friend, who asked a
rickshaw driver, who among the two was not Pakistani and he pointed towards Raza and
Altamash told Bilal “In India when they want to insult Muslims they call them Pakistani. Bilal
had laughed out loud .In Pakistan when they want to insult Muhajirs they call us Indians, he
replied.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.190) Raza failed to understand why such injustice should be taken as
humour.

Then we come to know about this consciousness and dislike for the difference when the
other boys tried to speak in Japanese to his mother, he never did it publically thinking “Why
allow the world to know his mind contained words from a country he’d never visited? Weren’t
his eyes and his bone structure and his bare-legged mother distancing factors enough?”(Shamsie,
2009, p.139). His mother failed to realise that, because after the trauma of the atomic bomb she
herself was “at home in the idea of foreignness” (Shamsie, 2009, p.141) but he was not .His
parents’ failure to realise his need for belonging aggravated his identity crisis.

This crisis reached its peak when Salma, the girl he loved, refused to marry him and
continue her friendship with him by telling him that it was because of his mother, everybody
knew that she had been an atomic bomb victim and Raza, being her son, might be deformed .He
was shocked beyond measures and pleaded, “I’ve never been to Nagasaki .I was born twenty
years after the bomb. Please. You don’t want to talk to me anymore, OK, say that. But don’t say
you think I’m deformed.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.189). He realised it then:
 171

...he had been waiting a long time for confirmation that he was...not an outsider, no, not
quite that .Not when he had’ lived in this moholla his whole life, had scraped and scabbed
his knees on every street within a one-mile radius .Not an outsider, just a tangent .In
contact with the world of this moholla, but not intersecting it. After all, intersections were
created from shared stories and common histories, from marriages and the possibility of
marriages between neighbouring families-from intersecting world Raza Konrad Ashraf
was cast out. (Shamsie, 2009, p.189)

Raza regarded himself “A failure, a soap-factory worker, a bomb-marked

mongrel.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.191) He even started hating his name and “wanted to reach into his
own name and rip out the man whose death was a foreign body wedged beneath the two
Pakistani wings of his name.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.191) He tried to seek refuge in the promise of
America, but that too, ended in smoke when Harry said “I never told you to rely on getting to
America.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.193)

Raza was depressed and dejected, he decided to go to Soharab Goth to buy a cassette
player for his father, there he was welcomed as Raza Hazara and took refuge in this false
identity and became English teacher for the Afghan children .It gave him the confidence to pass
the examination but he lost his father while accompanying Abdullah to the training camp for the
Mujahedeen. He returned to find there was ‘no home’.

His identity crisis made him learn as many languages and acquired as many nationalities
as possible when he was working in Dubai. Later he was taken to America by Harry and they
worked together for Arkwright and Glenn from where they went to Afghanistan where Harry got
killed and Raza was left behind unsheltered .For Steve, who always had his reservation against
him, he was a mere suspicious Pakistani ,whom he would not let go.
 172

Raza left the compound, destroyed everything that made him legal and experienced the
‘terror of unbecoming’, which was the culmination point of his identity crisis, the realisation of
the helplessness of being a ‘mere Pakistani’ was dawned upon him in its most stark for.

Raza is a round character who evolved through experiences, though what Shamsie
portrays is that at times even the best of human intentions cannot help redeem for the
circumstances in the outer circles of life are not favourable. Raza embarked on ‘the journey of
the destitute’ because he desperately wanted to see his mother. The unimaginable misery, trauma
and sufferings make him reach a resolve “I will never be the same again.” At the end of the
journey, he got a chance to atone what he had done twenty years ago to fulfil his mother’s wish
to help Abdullah out. He disguised again as Abdullah, the Afghan to provide Abdullah a chance
to go back home to live with his family. But this act of sacrifice led to another identity crisis
when we find him as an anonymous prisoner in the cell, all naked, waiting to be transported to
Guantanamo Bay wondering “How did it come to it?” (Shamsie, 2009, p.1) The whole narrative
moves around finding an answer to this question.

Kundnani (2014) writes about the radicalization of the Western states that they have
become more willing to use violence in a wider range of context. He further elaborates “With no
evidence of terrorism strong enough to hold up in court, some other charges had to be
concocted.”(Kundnani, 2014, p.5) As Raza is blamed for planning his foster-father Harry’s
murder.

Kundnani (2014) quotes Andrew Arena, the special agent in charge of FBI’s Detroit field
office to prove his point of view who says, ‘There’re a lot of cases where we don’t charge a
person with terrorism. We charge them with whatever we can, to get them off the streets.’
Kundnani further elaborates ‘With no evidence of terrorism strong enough to hold up in court,
some other charges had to be concocted.’(Kundnani, 2014, p.5). He regards ‘fighting them over
there’ to prevent ‘attacks over here’ is a failed policy.( (Kundnani, 2014, p.8) He talks about
social and political circumstances in shaping how people make sense of the world and then act
 173

upon it.(Kundnani, 2014, p.10).He opines that the Americans are practicing an imperial political
culture—Islamophobia is shared across the Western political spectrum. He writes that the War
on Terror –with its vast death tolls in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and
elsewhere could not be sustained without racialized dehumanization of its Muslim victims.
(Kundnani, 2014)

Kundnani (2014) quotes John Miller, an FBI Assistant Director who says ‘The threat isn’t
really from al-Qaeda central, as much as it’s from al-Qaeda-ism.’ He regards that al-Qaeda-ism
is an ideological construct devised by the FBI—is a threat means that radicals who do not
espouse violence but whose ideas can be superficially associated with al-Qaeda’.’ Many
Muslims who were caught across the globe and sent to Guantanamo Bay fall into this category.
(Kundnani, 2014, p.12) Chossudovsky (2014) also voiced the same view in an interview with the
Global Research that the e War on Terror is an ideological construct propagated to justify US
government‘s action.

Text (37): But Raza’s in Afghanistan.

‘Yes’.

‘Why’

She shook her head, made a gesture which didn’t only imply a lack of
understanding but also failure. It had never occurred to her that her son would
enter wars.

When Abdullah continued to look at her with a suspicion that obviously wanted it
overturned she pointed at the double-paged photograph he had been looking at.

‘Beautiful’, she said.

'Kandahar. Before the wars. He ran his palm across the photograph, as though
he could feel the texture of the ripening pomegranates pushing up against his
skin. 'First, they cut down the trees. Then they put landmines everywhere. Now—
'He bunched his fingers together and then sprang them apart. 'Cluster bombs.'
 174

He turned the page to a picture of a very old couple, the woman vibrant in
multicoloured clothes the man resting his hand on her shoulder as they walked
across sand dunes as if he knew his drabness would become part of the desert
floor if he didn’t stay moored to the woman’s column of brightness .The sky was
impossibly blue.

‘‘Light, 'Abdullah said. 'The light', he repeated, ' The light in Afghanistan. Like
nowhere else.’

'Hiroko nodded, touching the page as reverently as Abdullah had. It was difficult
to find photographs of Nagasaki that preceded the bomb, but Kim had s presented
the Burton family of George Burton’s old pictures- Azalea Manor, the bund
,Megane-Bashi when the river was high—and when she looked at them she was
surprised by how strong a grip childhood had on her aging mind.

... When they came to the end of the book, ‘Abdullah closed it and said,’ That’s
where I want to live.’

‘Afghanistan?’

‘Afghanistan then. (Shamsie, 2009, p.311)

Description: Hiroko and Abdullah’s meeting is the theme. Abdullah asked Hiroko why was
Raza there in Afghanistan. In reply, she shook her head and made a gesture which didn’t only
imply a lack of understanding but also a failure. She had never thought that her son would enter
wars. Abdullah continued looking at her with a suspicion as if failed to understand what did she
mean .In order to divert his attention she pointed at the double-paged photograph he had been
looking at and said it was beautiful .He told her that it was the picture of Kandahar before the
wars. He ran his palm across the photograph, as though he could feel the texture of the ripening
pomegranates pushing up against his skin, showing his diasporic nostalgia and love for his
motherland .He told her with a deep sense of loss that first they cut down the trees ,then they put
landmines everywhere and now after a small pause which was indicative of his concern and grief
,he bunched his fingers together and then sprang them apart saying 'Cluster bombs’ telling the
continuous tale of his homeland’s destruction by repeated bombing. Then he turned the page to a
 175

picture of a very old couple, in which the woman was wearing vibrant multicoloured clothes and
the man was resting his hand on her shoulder as they walked across sand dunes as if he knew his
dullness would become part of the desert floor if he didn’t stay fastened to the ‘woman’s column
of brightness’ .It was the depiction of peaceful family life people used to live before wars .But
what attracted Abdullah the most was the brightness of the sky. In the picture, the sky looked
impossibly blue .Abdullah repeated the word ‘light’ telling that the light in Afghanistan was like
nowhere else. To him it was matchless.

Hiroko nodded in understanding touching the page as reverently as Abdullah had for both
were diaspora subjects and both had to leave their homelands. She recalled it was difficult to
find photographs of Nagasaki that preceded the bomb, but Kim had presented the Burton family
of George Burton’s old pictures- Azalea Manor, the bund ,Megane-Bashi when the river was
high—and when she looked at them she was surprised by how strong a grip childhood had on her
aging mind. After seeing all the pictures Abdullah closed the book and told Hiroko that was
where he wanted to live. ‘Afghanistan?’ she asked and ‘Afghanistan’, he confirmed.

Interpretation: Hiroko arranged a meeting with Abdullah in the New York Public Library with
the help of Omar from Gujranwala to see the most curious part of her son’s life .But on meeting
him she realised that he was not the sort of person who could push someone towards war .Rather
he was the one who had been through the agony of the lost home and was still experiencing the
trauma of displacement.

Explanation: Here many types of discourses are combined together to make it most
interdiscursive .They are: the discourse of failure and regret, the discourse of displacement and
discourse of love and longing for the lost home.

To begin with it is a discourse of regret and failure .Abdullah asked Hiroko why Raza was
in Afghanistan and her reaction reflects her failure to understand why had her son opted for
entering war—that was what she had least expected him to do and what she had been trying to
 176

avoid based on her own practical and painful experiences of life. She had regrets, perhaps she
could not bring him up properly. It is a discourse of displacement. Abdullah and Hiroko both the
displaced people met and Hiroko looked at the pictures he was looking at and shared with Hiroko
that was the picture of Kandahar, his homeland before wars. Abdullah left his home when he was
only twelve because of the Russian invasion and peace never happened in his country to make
his return possible and the war still continued .His discourse of displacement turned into the
discourse of war when he told how first they cut the trees, then put landmines there and now it
was being destroyed through cluster bombing. Despite all that he expressed his longing to return
to his native land, Afghanistan like a true diaspora (Brown, 2006). Shamsie tells us about
Hiroko’s decision to meet him:

She had come here not knowing what kind of man she would find, certain only that she
had to see this mysterious piece of her son's life. But now she couldn't see the boy who
drew Raza to violence but only a man who understood lost homelands and the
impossibility of return. He had looked at the photographs of Kandahar's orchards as
Sajjad used to look at picture of his old moholla in Dilli. (Shamsie, 2009, p.313)

Abdullah was first displaced by the Russian Invasion of Afghanistan but after the defeat
of the Russians , the only remaining super power, along with its Allies has started another war
,the War on Terror ,in the already war torn country which has been in the constant grip of civil
war as well. Abdullah had come to New York to earn a better living for his family but the War
on Terror made him, a suspected terrorist who was haunted by the FBI .He wanted to return to
his country for which his brother sought Raza’s help.

Text (38): I was with the mujahedeen until the Soviets left. But then, peace never
happened. And Afghan fighting Afghan, Pushtun against Hazara…no peace’. So I
went back to Karachi. Yes, for four years. ‘He switched to Urdu. ‘I was a truck
driver .Every time I went to fish harbour I’d one eye watching for Raza Hazara.’
But my brother said one of us had to go to America where you can earn a real
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living. I was the youngest, the most fit-I had the best chance of making the journey
across. And I was just married, so there was only a wife to leave behind and no
children.(Shamsie, 2009, p.313)

Description: Abdullah told Hiroko that he was with the mujahedeen until the Soviets left but
even after their departure there was no peace in Afghanistan. Rather the Afghans started fighting
among themselves; it was a state of civil war. So he went back to Karachi and stayed there for
four years .He started talking to her in Urdu so that the people around would not know what they
were talking about. He told that he worked there as a truck driver and every time he went to
fishing harbour he kept looking for Raza Hazara. But then his brother said one of them had to go
to America to earn a real living .Since he was the youngest and the fittest so he had the best
chance of making the journey across the Atlantic. And he was just married, so there was ‘only’ a
wife to leave behind and no children.

Interpretation: The situational context is Abdullah’s explanation why had his brother called
Raza to help him cross the American border to Canada. The historical context goes with the
legacy of wars and their impact on individual human life.

Explanation: Abdullah’s story is not the story of one Afghan but many whose whole lives were
conditioned by the unending wars. He joined Mujahedeen at the age of fourteen with the
ambition to send the last Soviet back from his motherland. The Soviets were defeated but the war
continues .In his review of Ghost Wars by Steve Coll, Mansfield (2013) writes that people who
cause and benefit from war do not fight a war. It is often young men who have nothing to do
with the problems that caused the war who are sent to their death. It is a sad long history.
Abdullah’s dream to send the last Soviet back from Afghanistan came true but the civil war
made it impossible for Abdullah and many more Afghan diaspora to return .He went back to
Pakistan but could not earn enough to support his family so came to America illegally that was
why he could not go back to see his family, even his only son who was born in his absence. After
9/11 New York became ‘nets cast to the winds, seeking for any Muslim to ensnare.’(Shamsie,
 178

2009, p.353) so he desperately wanted to return and his brother had sold everything to pay for his
backward journey which would start from Canada but he needed to cross the border first.

Text (39): I told you .I’m a farmer I want to plant crops and harvest them .Do you
understand? I need peace for this I need security .In exchange for that, there’s
much that I’ll give up.’ He rested his hand against the wall of the shrine. ’This is
what I fought for The right to come back here with my family to farm in the
shadow of Baba Wali ,and visit his shrine every Friday as my family has done for
generations. To watch my son measure hand-span against a pomegranate, not a
grenade .But the Taliban- they don’t know Sufis or orchards. They grew up in
refugee camps, with no memory of this land no attachment to anything except the
idea of fighting infidels and heretics’ .So when they came they brought laws
different to the laws I grew up with. So what? Football is banned! I can live
without football. Music is banned! This is painful, yes, but when I watch the crops
growing or my sons walking down the street without fear, at least, there’s music
in my heart.(Shamsie, 2009, p.320)

Description: The theme is Ismail, Abdullah’s brother’s desire to live in his country in peace. He
told Raza that he was a farmer and he wanted to plant crops and harvest them. He told him they
needed peace and security. And for the sake of peace and security, he could give up a lot. While
resting his hand against the wall of the shrine he told Raza that they fought for the right to come
back to their native land with their families and to farm in the shadow of Baba Wali, and visit his
shrine every Friday as his family had done for generations. He returned to watch his son measure
hand-span against a pomegranate and not to pick a grenade .But the Taliban- they did not know
Sufis or orchards because they had grown up in refugee camps, with no memory of this land no
attachment to anything except the idea of fighting infidels and heretics .So when they came they
brought laws different to the laws he had grown up with. He says that even if they banned
football and music, which may be regarded painful but to him it is more important to have peace
and see his crops growing and his sons walking in the streets without fear, this fear free existence
 179

will bring music to his heart .Here music refers to the satisfaction which comes with peace and
security .So ban on a football match and music is not too heavy a price he has to pay for peace.

Interpretation: The situational context is Raza’s decision to see Ismail, Abdullah’s brother to
warn him about CIA’s search for him. The historical context is American War on Terror and its
negative impacts on Afghans’ life.

Explanation: Peace is the basic requirement of life .All the international and national laws are
made to ensure peace at the national and international level. War is just the opposite of peace; it
is an interruption in the normal modes of living. The objective of establishing international peace
keeping institution is to ensure peace but if we look at the history of the world, Foucault (1972)
theory of power and knowledge and Said’s(1978) theory of power, hegemony ,imperialism,
colonialism and neocolonialism, peace seems to be a far cry for most parts of the world even
today.

Afghanistan was instrumental in the disintegration and defeat of the Soviet Union, though
that war caused a lot of destruction and displacement for the Afghans. It created fierceness in the
already ethnically divided tribal society and made the conflict all the more fatal and dangerous
because of the availability of the abundance of arms and ammunition and the training in the
modern warfare. The whole generation of Afghans was displaced from their homeland and was
brought up in a totally different set up with the conditioning of their minds to fight the ‘infidels’
and to act upon and implement strict Islamic laws.

The war was won and the Americans left Afghanistan in the lurch in a state of civil war
There was no peace, corruption was rampant and the land was infested with landmines which
made the return of the displaced generations impossible for that land could not be cultivated even
.Taliban filled the vacuum created in the power structures after the departure of the Americans.
They ensured peace, imposed strict laws and banned many things which they considered
unIslamic .On the other hand, the capitalistic world needed something to replace communism—
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the enemy of the past--so Islam was selected for the purpose (Said, 1981) .Taliban fitted in the
definition of the typical image of ‘Islamophobia’ and the only super power of the world decided
to topple their government.

In the above-mentioned discourse, Shamsie tries to figure out the reason for the
preference of the average working class Afghan for supporting Taliban. Ismail is her
spokesperson. He tells Raza that Taliban are different because they gained their consciousness in
madrassahs, away from their homeland where they were trained to be mujahedeen to fight the
infidels and heretics. They banned many things like playing football or music, they imposed
strict Islamic laws but they controlled corruption and restored peace to some extent which made
the return of people like Ismail possible but then the super power decided to topple their
government and the ‘bustards’ returned. The theme she emphasizes upon is, peace is the first
requirement of normal life which cannot be imported or imposed but can be searched and
brought from within. And the history bears witness to the fact that long years of foreign forces in
Afghanistan cannot restore peace and ultimately they had to fall back on the local people to work
for it.

Text (40): Raza peered down. There was no space between one body and the next,
the men laid out like something familiar, but what? What did they remind him of?
Something familiar, but what? What did they remind him of? Something that
made him back up into the ship caption ,who cursed and pushed him forward ,into
the hold, on to the bodies which groaned in pain, pushed him this way and that
way until somehow, he didn’t know how ,he was squeezed into the tiny space
between one man and the next and his voice was part of the sigh-of hopelessness
,of resignation-that rippled through the hold .It was only when the captain
slammed down the hatch, extinguishing all light ,that he knew what the line of
bodies made him think of-the mass grave in Kosovo.

In the darkness, the man in to his left clutched Raza’s hand.

‘How much longer?’ the man said, and his voice revealed him to be a child.
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Raza didn’t answer .He was afraid if he opened his mouth he would gag from the
stench-of the oil-slicked harbour ,of damp wood ,of men for whom bathing was a
luxury they long ago left behind. The boards he was resting on were slick, and he
didn’t want to know if anything other than seawater might have caused that.

When the boat set off, things got worse. The motion of the sea knocking beneath
the men’s heads was a minor irritant are first- but, when they left the harbour and
headed into the open sea, the waves bounced their heads so violently the men all
sat up on their elbows. It wasn’t long before they started to suffer seasickness.
Soon the stench of vomit overpowered everything else. The Afghan boy next to
Raza was suffering the most, weeping and crying for his mother.

Raza closed his eyes. In all the years he had sat around campfires with the TCNs
listening to their tales of escape from one place to another ,in the holds of ships
,beneath the floorboards of trucks, it had never occurred to him how much
wretchedness they each had known .And Abdullah. Abdullah had made this
voyage once, would make it again. Across the Atlantic like this-it wasn’t possible
.No one could endure this. What kind of world made men have to endure this?

He placed his knapsack beneath his head and, lying down, lifted up the boy who
was weeping and retching next to him and placed him on top of his body
,buffering the body from rocking of waves.

The boy sighed and rested his head on Raza’s chest.

The hours inched past .No one spoke-conversation belonged to another world .By
mid-afternoon, the hold felt like a furnace. Several of the men had fainted,
including the boy, who was now a dead weight on Raza’s chest. But Raza didn’t
attempt to move him .He thought Harry would have done for me without question
what I’m doing for the boy. Then he thought, Harry would have kept me from a
place like this.

At a certain point, it started to seem inevitable that he would die in the hold. All
he could think of, was his mother .She’d never know he had died. No one would
put a name to the dead piece of human cargo .So she’d keep waiting for news of
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him. For how long? How long before she understood that she’d lost one more
person she loved? He whimpered softly, uncaring of what the other men might
think of him.

When the boards lifted up and moonlight streamed in he didn’t understand what it
meant until the captain’s head appeared.

‘Quiet,’ the captain warned in response to the ragged cheer that ran through the
hold.’ Raza Hazara. Where are you? Come out. The rest of you stay here. We
haven’t reached yet.(Shamsie, 2009, p.337)

Description: The journey of the destitute is the theme. Raza embarked on illegal journey to
reach Canada. Ultimately he reached a point from where he would have to go by the sea route.
The captain asked him to go down, he peered down and found a large number of people lying
very close to each other with ‘no space between one body and the next’. They reminded him of
something ,he took some time to recall , what was that familiarity of the scene about .It disturbed
him so much that he turned to the captain to tell him that there was no space but the caption
cursed him and pushed him forward into the hold on to the bodies which groaned in pain,
pushed him this way and that way until somehow ,he was squeezed into the tiny space between
one man and the next and his voice was part of the sigh-of hopelessness ,of resignation-that,
waved through the hold .It was only after the captain slammed down the hatch putting off the
light ,that he realized that the line of bodies made him think of the mass grave in Kosovo.

People in the hold, on the journey of the destitute, were lying like the dead bodies in a
mass grave .The man lying next to Raza grasped his hand in the darkness as if out of fear and
asked him ‘How much longer?’ implying how long the journey would take .It was through the
voice that Raza judged that it was a child. Raza didn’t dare to answer for the fear that if he
opened his mouth he would choke from the stench-of the oil-slicked harbour, of damp wood, of
men for whom bathing was a luxury they had long ago left behind. The boards he was resting on
were slick, and he didn’t want to know if anything other than sea water might have caused that.
The conditions were utterly unhygienic, the air was stinking and the place they were lying on
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was all slick, he deliberately avoided thinking what might have caused it .All the people were
lying together like the dead in a mass grave. They were also stinking for not having a bath for a
long time, not because they did not want to but ‘for whom bathing was a luxury they long ago
left behind.’ This is the discourse of the destitute to show the gulf and the divide between the’
haves’ and the ‘have-nots’.

Things got worse when the boat started moving. The movement of the sea waves
knocking beneath was a minor irritant in the beginning but when they left the harbour and
moved towards the open sea, the waves bounced their heads so fiercely that all the men sat up
on their elbows. And then after a short while, they started suffering from seasickness. The
already stinky atmosphere was overpowered by the stench of vomiting. The Afghan boy next to
Raza was suffering the most. He started weeping and crying for his mother. Both ‘weeping’ and
‘crying’ were used to emphasize the intensity of his suffering and the absence of some near one
to provide comfort .Displacement was multiplied with loneliness and trauma making things
literally unbearable.

Raza closed his eyes to avoid the miserable scene. He recalled that in all the years he had
sat around campfires with the TCNs and listened to their stories of escape from one place to
another in the similar situation ,in the holds of ships ,beneath the floorboards of trucks, he had
never realized how much wretchedness and misery every one of them had gone through. Then
he started thinking of Abdullah. He had made this voyage once and would make it again to return
to Afghanistan. Soon he dispelled the idea by thinking ‘it wasn’t possible’ .That was not
displacement but a trauma that he thought no one should endure this, it seemed beyond human
capacity. He started wondering “What kind of world made men have to endure this?” This is a
lament of destruction ,devastation ,injustice ,inequality, cruelty and treachery caused by men to
make ‘Others’ seek an escape in hiding and suffer more like this journey of the destitute.
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He put his knapsack beneath his head and, lying down, picked up the boy who was
weeping and retching next to him and placed him on top of his body ,shielding his body from
rocking by the waves. The boy sighed with a bit of relief and rested his head on Raza’s chest.

In hard times, time seems to move very slowly, “The hours inched past.” There was
silence speaking volumes of misery. “No one spoke-conversation belonged to another world”,
their sufferings made them aliens to the ways of the normal world where people talk to each
other when together. The conditions got worse by mid-afternoon, the hold got extremely hot, and
“it felt like a furnace”. Many people had fainted because of the intensity of heat including the
boy, who was lying on Raza’s chest like a dead weight. But Raza didn’t try to move him like a
loving father. He thought Harry would have done the same for him. Then he thought that Harry
would have kept him away from a place like that. He was a great shelter for him when they used
to be together.

During this terrible journey, there was a time when he started thinking that inevitably he
would die in the hold. His only concern was his mother. The very thought that she would never
know that he had died and no one would put a name to the dead piece of human cargo made
him feel uneasy .He thought that his mother would keep waiting for any news of him but he
wondered, “For how long?” He kept on thinking, “How long before she understood that she’d
lost one more person she loved?” The very thought made him sob softly, without caring of what
the other men might think of him.

He was so much absorbed in his thought that when the boards lifted up and moonlight
streamed in he didn’t understand what it meant until the captain’s head appeared. He warned
them in response to the worn out cheer that ran through the hold to be quiet and asked for Raza
Hazara to come out asking others to stay there for they had not reached yet .From there would
start the next phase of his journey.
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Interpretation: The situational background is Raza’s decision to escape and go to Canada

through illegal way. The historical context goes with all the forced agonizing dispersal of the
humans in different eras of human history.

Explanation: Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows, on the whole, is a discourse of traumatic displacement

but this part of the novel is the discourse of utter human suffering and trauma of the bitterest
dehumanizing conditions making the reader cry ‘What man has made of man?’

Before embarking on this part of his journey Raza had to lose his human identity to
‘become a vegetable’ because only vegetables can cross borders without documents. When he
came out of the pickup, he thought that the worst part of his journey was over. The writer uses
irony to show his ignorance that the worst of the worst had yet to come. We find interdiscursivity
in the comparison of the bodies in the hold with the dead bodies in a mass grave in Kosovo. Both
reflect the utter human misery on the one hand and the height of cruelty and injustice on the
other .By presenting the comparison Shamsie makes her discourse, a discourse of resistance
against all such cruel practices and all such circumstances that lead to them. When we look at the
Charter of Human Rights its Preamble goes like this:

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all
members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the
world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which
have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human
beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been
proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to

rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the
rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

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Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the
equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and
better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas the Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the
United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights
and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest

importance for the full realization of this pledge .(“Universal declaration of human rights,
1948”)

In theory, all the above-mentioned things are agreed upon by the ‘United Nations’ but in
practice, there are divisions, discrimination, barriers and binaries making life more miserable for
some than the actual experience of death .And we can see the clear violation of human rights in
many parts of the world from Afghanistan to America, from the third world to the first world. So
what Shamsie wants to present is not the Clash of the Civilization but the violation of the human
rights .And Raza who had been with the destitute for quite some time was guilty of having the
privilege to leave them, “Nothing in Raza’s life had felt as shameful, as much of a betrayal as the
moment when he identified himself as the man who was leaving.”(Shamsie, 2009 .p. 338)

Text (41): A small rowing boat was alongside the ship, and a voice emerged from
it saying.’ Raza Hazara? Hurry .The plane’s been delayed already for you.’

Raza climbed into the boat, but before he could sit down the man rowing sung an
oar and knocked him into water .He had barely enough presence of mind to throw
knapsack into the boat as he fell.

He emerged spluttering and bone-cold. The man with the oar held up a bag.

‘Clothes in here .Take those one off .And use this—‘He threw a bar of soap at
Raza.
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Despite the man’s urgency to get going he allowed Raza few moments to float,
naked ,in the cold water ,looking up at the expanse of sky.

I will never be the same again, Raza though .He watched his vomiting slimed
clothes float away ,holding on only to Harry’s jacket, and changed that too ,I
want never to be the same again.(Shamsie,2009,p.356)

Description: The resolve “I will never be the same again” is the theme .On the next stage of
Raza journey, a small rowing boat was alongside the ship, waiting for him to be taken to a plane
which he was told had already been delayed for him. Before he could sit down in the boat, he
was thrown into the ice cold water with a bar of soap to have a bath .He emerged ‘spluttering’
and ‘bone-cold’. The man with the oar held up a bag and told him to take off his clothes and take
the ones in the bag .Despite the urgency to get going the man allowed Raza few moments to
float, naked ,in the very cold water .Looking up at the expanse of sky Raza resolved , ‘I will
never be the same again’ .He watched his vomiting slimed clothes float away ,holding on only
to Harry’s jacket, and changed that also ,he repeated the resolve in his mind , ‘I want never to
be the same again’ .Both the times the resolve is given in italic to be highlighted, ‘I will never be
the same again’ the first thought might be taken as a consequence of the circumstances but the
second ‘ I want never to be the same again’ suggests the informed decision made to be evolved
to be a better human being in future.

Interpretation: The situational context is Raza’s guilt of leaving the destitute in the hold of the
ship behind and the historical context goes with a kind of kinship of the sufferings and the
trauma created by the power practices of the ‘powerful’.

Explanation: “There was something Hiroko had learnt to recognize after Nagasaki, after
Partition: those who could step out from loss, and those who would remain mired in
it.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.146) Raza, she thought was a miring sort .But here we see Raza after the
long series of traumatic displacement, with no light on the other side of the tunnel, turning a new
leaf resolving never to be the same self-centred person absorbed only in his own problems but a
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better human being. Shamsie’s use of interdiscursivity can be seen when she tells through Raza’s
thoughts:

In all the years he had sat around campfires with the TCNs listening to their tales of
escape from one place to another ,in the hold of the ships ,beneath the floorboards of the
trucks, it had never occurred to him how much of wretchedness they each had
known.(Shamsie, 2009, p.337)

The same Raza could identify himself with the people in the hold and felt shame on
leaving them and resolved ‘never to be the same again’ and in the future course of events we see
how he would keep his words. Once he left Abdullah at the training camp to go back to the
comforts of his home without knowing that the home had been lost in his ignorance but in the
last part of the novel in a restaurant in Canada after sensing the danger he begged Abdullah to
leave for his son’s sake and disguised himself as him to be arrested by the police.

After being caught by them when he was in the open and Kim was in a conflict to
confirm or to deny that he was the man she wanted to be caught ‘For a moment, he wavered’ but
then he resolved:

...he would not do that to Abdullah .Not this Raza Konrad Ashraf-not the one who had
lain in the hold of a ship bearing the weight of an Afghan boy, not the one who had
floated in the dagger-cold sea looking up at Orient, promising himself he would not be as
he was before .Every chance, every second, he could give Abdullah he would. (Shamsie,
2009, p.356)

There is interdiscursivity in the mode of Raza’s being. And there is universality in human
sufferings.
 189

Text (42): Welcome to the zoo’, he said .The sounds issuing from the plane were
extraordinary.

Raza stepped in cautiously.

A blue heron unfurled its wings, a white peacock snap- closed its fantail ,macows
squawked ,a bay anteater fell off its mother ‘s back and protested shrilly ,African
wild dogs bared their teeth, winged things flew about under a black sheet,
meerkats sat up on their hind legs and watched. And to one side baby gorilla
slept.

‘The guard pointed to the cage with the gorilla in it.

You will be travelling inside the monkey’, he said.

And that’s when Raza realised Ruby Eye had been right .His mind had definitely
broken apart.(Shamsie, 2009, p.339)

Description: After travelling in the boat for some time Raza reached a track from where he was
taken to a private areophane. A man took him up the stairs and at the door welcomed him to the
zoo .He realized that the sounds coming from the plane were extraordinary. Raza cautiously
stepped in where he came across different birds and animals. A baby gorilla was sleeping on one
side. The guard pointed towards that cage of gorilla and told him that he would be travelling
inside the monkey. At that point, Raza realised that Ruby Eye had been right .His mind was
definitely ‘broken apart’.

Interpretation: The end of the first phase of journey is the situational context now Raza had to
go by plane but in the guise of a monkey with the realisation that though it was the easiest part as
compared to what he had experience during his long traumatic displacement all the way through
Afghanistan, still as Ruby Eye had told it was enough to break any one apart.

Explanation: Universality of the sufferings on the journey of the destitute has been highlighted
in the last part of the journey, not with the humans but the animals, degradation of the humans
 190

from the pedestal of humanity under the fear of the power of the powerful hunting the powerless
around the world. This once again highlight the identity issues faced by the destitute.

Text (43): ...Not everyone forgot. What we had done, for Afghanistan, for the
world. Not everyone forgot.’

‘No, no one can. War is like a disease. Until you've had it, you don't know. But
no. That's a bad comparison. At least, with disease everyone thinks it might
happen to them one day. You have a pain here, swelling there, a cold which stays
and stays. You start to think maybe this is something really bad. But war—
countries like yours, they always fight wars, but always somewhere else. The
disease always happens somewhere else. It's why you fight more wars than
anyone else; because you understand war least of all. You need to understand it
better. (Shamsie, 2009, p.344)

Description: Kim and Abdullah’s discourse of disagreement is the theme .Abdullah tells Kim
what they had done for Afghanistan and the world by defeating Russia, is not forgotten by
everyone. Repetition of ‘Not everyone forgot’ in the beginning and end of the sentence is to
imply that the Americans have forgotten it.

The remaining part of the discourse is in response to Kim’s statement ‘I can’t really
imagine what it like was...All those years of fighting the Soviets”. And Abdullah’s instantaneous
reaction is ‘No, no one can.’ Once again the implied meaning is the Americans cannot because
they did not fight the actual battle. Abdullah compared war to a disease adding no one can
understand it what it is like until one suffers from it. But then he rejected this comparison as a
bad one because when we see someone else is suffering from a disease we think it might happen
to us as well like we can have pain, swelling cold etc., and personal experience makes us regard
it as a bad thing. But as far as war is concerned countries like hers always fight wars, but they
always fight it somewhere else, away from their own borders. He says since they always fight
somewhere else and are not directly influenced by it that is why they fight a greater number of
 191

wars than any other country in the world. The menace of war always happens somewhere else.
They fight more wars because they know least about them. They have never suffered from them
as those who are actually involved at the fighting end and he feels they need to understand it
better .What he wants to say is that they should have the first-hand experience of the sufferings,
atrocities, menace and destruction of war so that they do not impose wars upon others. The
obvious reference is to his own country that has yet to recover the consequence of the Cold War
when another war in the name of War on Terror is imposed upon them.

Interpretation: The situational context is Kim’s discourse of ignorance about the war against
the Russians .The historical context is related to the American proxy wars fought by “Others’.

Explanation: Another strand that contributes in interdiscursivity is recontextualization with the

ever evolving phenomenon of life and its varied claims. With the changing circumstances
,things and people and even history changes for example in the 1980s Pakistan Shamsie refers to
Afghan refugees who were trained to be Mujahedeen and were recognized as such throughout
the world and who were instrumental in Cold War and had the key role in the victory of the
Americans and the defeat and disintegration of Soviet Union, the purpose was served, and they
were left in the lurch in a state of civil war, one faction of the mujahedeen reunited in the name
of Taliban and tried to ensure peace in the country, since they do not match with the Western
interest now, so the same mujahedeen are being regarded as terrorist and America, the only super
power of the world ,forcibly makes the whole world its Ally and start killing them with daisy
cutters in their own, already worn torn country and hunting them in the rest of the world.

Anthony Mustacich (2013) writes in Imperialism, The Cold War, and the Contradictions
of Decolonization:

The Second World War had devastated the colonial empires of Western Europe, leaving
the United States as the capitalist world’s undisputed superpower. At the same time, the
 192

war demolished the colonial system that had defined the imperialist era up until that
point, giving rise to a new stage of imperialism called neo-colonialism.

Mustacich (2013) regards the empire of today the most destructive and dangerous empire
that has ever confronted the human race. In the name of freedom, democracy, and economic
prosperity, it is pillaging the third world at an unprecedented rate, leading to devastating wars of
terror and occupation. What happened in Iraq and Afghanistan bear witness to his stance.

Critics of neocolonialism, argue that this is both exploitive and racist; they contend this is
merely a justification for continued political hegemony and economic exploitation of past
colonies, and that such justifications are the modern reformulation of the Civilizing mission
concepts of the 19th century (“neocolonialism”).

Basically, Shamsie wants to portray the ideology behind historical phenomenon like
neo/colonialism and historical events like WWII and War on Terror and the ideology behind
these power games. Abdullah’s discourse is the discourse of resistance hence interdiscursive.

Text (44): How slowly, unwillingly, her fist had opened to drop the first clod of
earth on to Harry's coffin. It was the moment when her heart truly understood
that all the imagined tomorrows of their relationship-Delhi, conversations without
recrimination. Days of hearing the other's stories in full- would never come.
Because just one with a gun. She had always thought it would take so much more
than that to bring Harry down. But it was just one Afghan with a gun who never
stopped to think of Harry Burton as anything but an infidel invader whose death
opened up a path to Paradise.

'He is a murderer. And your heaven is an abomination.'

‘We should not speak any more.’

‘No, we should not.(Shamsie, 2009, p. 346-347).

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Description: Kim recalled her father’s burial how slowly and unwillingly her fist had opened for
dropping the first clod of earth on to Harry's coffin. It was at that moment when her heart truly
understood that he was no more and that all the imagined tomorrows of their relationship-Delhi,
conversations without recrimination would never be again. And the promise of the days of
hearing the other's stories in full would never come .And all that had happened because of one
man with a gun. She had always thought it would take so much more than that to bring Harry
down. But it was just one Afghan with a gun who never stopped to think of Harry Burton as
anything but an infidel invader whose death opened up a path to Paradise. The very thought of
her loss made her blame the one who had killed Harry as a ‘murderer’ and his heaven as an
‘abomination’. To which Abdullah said they should better not speak any more and she also said
that they should not since both had different point of views.

Interpretation: Kim’s acute sense of loss at her father’s death is the situational context. The
historical context goes with the repercussions of the ruthless use of power during war and their
long lasting impacts on humans from both sides of the divide.

Explanation: When some nation usurps the freedom of another nation it puts the freedom of its
own citizens at risk. Afghans had been used to defeat and disintegrate the Soviets ,Muslims from
all over the world were brought to fight with the Afghans by playing with their religious feeling
and giving the name of Jihad to the war against the Russian. But what happened after the purpose
was served, Afghanistan was left in a state of civil war with rampant corruption .Taliban, a
faction of the Pushtun who were brought up and trained in the mudrassahs for the special
purposes of fighting the infidels took control of Afghanistan and restored peace to some extent
.In the text, Shamsie refers to it through Ismail’s discourse with Raza. He tells him ‘the bastards
are back in power’. He says:

Our new governor and his men. These are the ones who were in power before Taliban
came and saved us .Neither women nor young boys were safe in those days- then the
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Taliban came ,they rescued the kidnapped women ,drove away the warlords who were
fighting in the bazaar over a young boy.(Shamsie, 2009,p. 320)

On Raza’s question did he support Taliban, he says:

I told you I’m a farmer. I want to plant crops and harvest them...I want peace for this .I
need security .In exchange for that, there’s much that I’ll give up...This is what I fought
for. The right to come back here with my family, to farm in the shadow of Baba Wali
,and visit his shrine every Friday as my family has done for generations .To watch my
son measure hand-span against pomegranate, not a grenade. But the Taliban-they don’t
know Sufis or orchards. They grew up in the refugee camps, with no memory of this
land, no attachment to anything except the idea of fighting infidels and heretics.
(Shamsie, 2009, p. 337)

Ismail represents those Afghans who desperately long for peace in their own homeland so
that they can live there .He shares that Taliban are different in their outlook towards life because
they have been brought up in the refugees’ camps and trained to fight the infidels, they banned
many traditional things in Afghanistan but they restored peace. Again War on Terror, toppled
their government and war lords came back whose rule could not ensure security. Their rule and
American War on Terror both created unrest for the common Afghan and they hated the
American for the destruction of their country, their lives, the whole fabric of their civilization
and for pushing them into endless war .Harry’s death was an indication of that hatred. Though on
personal human level Shamsie portrays it as a tragedy and presents Kim’s grief evoking all
human sympathy for the great personal loss.

But the contrast she evokes is between the personal loss of one American for which every
Afghan seems to her a criminal and the collective loss of the Afghan people whose generations
after generations have been lost in endless wars.
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Text (44): I spoke to her. As I have never spoken to an American woman before. I
wanted her to understand something. I don't know what, about being an Afghan
here. About war. Again And again war, Raza. And then I don’t know. She started
attacking Islam. They're all everywhere you go now-television, radio, passengers
in your cab, everywhere-everyone just wants to tell you what they know about
Islam, how they know so much more than you do, what do they know, you've just
been a Muslim your whole life, how does that make you know anything?(Shamsie,
2009, p.532)

Description: The theme is Abdullah and Kim’s uneasy discourse .Abdullah told Raza that he
spoke to Kim as he had never spoken to an American woman before. He said that he had done so
because he wanted her to understand something. He started telling him with “I don't know
what?” But then added, about being an Afghan there in America, about repeated wars. He said
that she started attacking Islam. He added that wherever they were-- on television, radio,
passengers in your cab, everywhere-everyone just wanted to tell you what they knew about Islam
and that they knew much more than you being Muslims did. He questioned Raza how could they
know better than the Muslims. Shamsie refers to the Muslims’ stereotyping on the Western
media and in public discourse.

Interpretation: Kim favoured Abdullah to help him cross the border for Hiroko’s sake. He was
obliged but they had a conflicting discourse about wars and Muslims because they belonged to
two different worlds.

Explanation: Stephen Van Evera (2006) writes in The War on Terror: Forgotten Lessons from
World War II that President Bush has recently linked the War on Terror to the Americans’
struggle in World War II, labelling their enemies as the ‘successors of Fascists, to Nazis...and
other totalitarians of the 20th century’. This analogy is very useful and illuminating. Shamsie uses
it to show the other side of the picture.
 196

In his canonical text, Orientalism, Said (1978) talks about the stereotyping of the
Muslims and their representation in the Western media. Here Shamsie recontextualises the same
theme .An Afghan Muslim, Abdullah tells Raza that on all electronic and social media and in
public all those who themselves are not Muslims are ready to tell the Muslims who and what
they are .This is what Kim, a representative of the American does, which infuriated Abdullah and
he talked to her as he has never talked to any other American woman before. His retaliation
shows resistance against stereotyping.

Harvard University Pluralism Project refers to Muslims’ stereotyping in the media in an

article, ‘Struggling against Stereotypes’ as one of the most widely discussed issues in the U.S.
Muslim community is the negative image of Islam in the American media. This issue was a
cause of concern even before 9/11. It further elaborates that while the Muslims’ appeals to the
media for accuracy and fairness continue, newspapers headlines regularly print the words
“Islam” and “Muslim” next to words like “fanatic,” “fundamentalist,” “militant,” “terrorist” and
“violence.” It adds that even the use of the term “jihad” in television programs and films is also
illustrative. ("Struggling against stereotypes,").

The article further states that such events like the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the
subsequent hostage crisis, the Gulf War, and, most significantly, 9/11 and the “Global War on
Terror” that followed, have received enormous press coverage as evidence of “Islamic
fundamentalism.” It voices the concern of the American Muslims who ask why a small group of
extremists, whose terrorist actions violate central principles of Islam, should determine the public
image of the entire Muslim community ("Struggling against stereotypes,"). As Edward Said
(1981), author of Covering Islam, noted, prejudice against Muslims is “the last sanctioned
racism.”

The American Muslim community has been mobilized to fight against these dangerous
stereotypes and their damaging effects. A growing number of Muslim organizations are offering
resources to educate the media and the general public about Islam, and to encourage Muslims in
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their local communities to speak out against discrimination. Many Muslim fiction writers like
Shamsie and Hamid have also highlighted the other side of the picture by presenting the
difficulties the harmless Muslim diaspora have been facing in America as a result of this hate
campaign .Abdullah, Kemal and many other labour Muslim diaspora (Cohan, 1976) have to
suffer because of this hate campaign.

The negative activities of the few should not be associated with all, is the message
Shamsie wants to convey through her fictional narrative .In reply to Kim’s justification for this
discrimination: “If I look at him and see the man who killed my father, isn’t that
understandable?”(Shamsie, 2009, p.361) She makes Hiroko counters this logic: “Should I look at
you and see Harry Truman?” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 362). For Kim, this comparison is ridiculous
and insulting and she still insists, “Your Afghan is a liar.”(Shamsie, 2009, p. 362. In response
Hiroko tells calmly:

You just have to put them in a little corner of the big picture .In the big picture of the
Second World War, what was seventy-five thousand more Japanese dead? Acceptable,
that’s what it was .In the big picture of threats to America, what is one Afghan?
Expandable .Maybe he’s guilty, maybe not. Why risk it? Kim, you are the kindest, most
generous woman I know .But right now, because of you, I understand for the first time
how nations can applaud when their governments drop a second nuclear bomb.(Shamsie,
2009, p.362)

Shamsie’s spokesperson ,Hiroko refers to the double standard of judgment, the binary
between the Americans and the ‘rest’ and the mindset that goes with the psyche of the powerful
causing constant discrimination, wars, unrest and injustice in the world.

Text (45): You are living in another world .My friend Kemal- he was picked up
ten days ago. No one has heard from him since. New York now is nets cast to the
winds, seeking for any Muslim to ensnare.’
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His words made Raza turn reflexively to look out of the window .No nets, but
there was a police car in the parking lot which hadn’t been there a few seconds
ago, and the two policemen talking to a redhead whose hair reached her jaw line.
The woman turned towards the window, her finger pointing—Raza grabbed
Abdullah’s shirt and yanked hard, ducking at the same time so neither of them
could be seen from outside .He pressed his keys into Abdullah’s palm.

‘Go from the back door. The silver Mazda. Take it. Run. Trust me.’ He pushed
Abdullah from the chair.

‘Raza, what--?’

‘For your son’s sake. Go quickly .Please.’ He picked up the baseball cap on
Abdullah’s head, handing him his jacket—Harry’s jacket-at the same time, and
reached across to take the coat Abdullah had slung over his chair.

‘Allah protect you,’ Abdullah said, squeezing his hand, before walking very
rapidly to the back door.

But not rapidly enough. The policeman had entered; one pointed towards
Abdullah, the other shrugged and called out, ‘Sir?’ in his direction.

Raza stood up, wearing Abdullah’s grey coat, said ‘Allah-o-Akbar’ loudly enough
to be heard. The diners seated next to him shrank into their seats; a man standing
by the utensils picked up his child and held her protectively in his arms, someone
called out to policemen. (Shamsie,2009,p.353)

Description: On Raza’s suggestion to seek the help of law to continue staying in New York
Abdullah told him that he had been living in another world. He added that his friend Kemal had
been picked up ten days ago and no one had heard from him since then. He told him that New
York had been converted into nets that were cast to the winds to trap any Muslim. Indirectly
suggesting the law of the powerful did not recognize the rights of the powerless, hence, could not
provide justice or relief to them.
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His words put Raza on guard and he turned reflexively to look out of the window where
he could see a police car in the parking lot which hadn’t been there a few seconds ago. He could
see the two policemen talking to a redhead whose hair reached her jaw line it matched with the
description of Kim given by Abdullah .She turned towards the window, her finger pointing
.’Pointing at’ has been left black but instinctively Raza could match it with the ‘nets’ Abdullah
referred to. So he grabbed Abdullah’s shirt and pulled him down to bend at the same time so that
neither of them could be seen from outside .He pressed his keys into Abdullah’s palm and asked
him to go from the back door .He consciously conveyed his message in minimum possible words
to trust him and take silver Mazda outside and run away .Realising the urgency of the matter he
pushed Abdullah from the chair. Abdullah was perplexed and asked Raza ‘what--?’Raza
implored him to leave for his child’s sake. He took the baseball cap from Abdullah’s head and
also exchanged his jacket which was actually Harry’s jacket with Abdullah’s coat .Abdullah
bid farewell to him by squeezing his hand and saying ‘Allah protect you’ and then walked
rapidly to the back door. But the policemen entered in the meantime and one of them pointed
towards Abdullah the other shrugged in affirmation.

In order to divert their attention, Raza stood up, wearing Abdullah’s grey coat and said
‘Allah-o-Akbar’ loudly enough to be heard. People around him were alarmed and those taking
meals on the next table shrank into their seats; a man standing by the utensils picked up his child
and held her protectively in his arms and someone called out to a policeman.

Interpretation: By the end of his journey to Canada, Raza asked John, the pickup driver who
had arranged for Abdullah’s journey back home to Afghanistan to ‘fly him back in the gorilla
instead’ and he would pay him. He agreed and asked Raza to see Abdullah at the already
appointed place and tell him about the change himself. Raza went to the restaurant and found
Abdullah already there. They both met after twenty years. Abdullah told him about Kim who
escorted him but he did not know that the same Kim then called the police to arrest him.
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Explanation: Shamsie is forging the link between a victim of World War II with the victim of
War on Terror .The invisible nets cast into the air are not limited to New York since they are the
nets of the power structures that can encompass the whole world. There is no escape from them
from the ragged war-torn deserts of Afghanistan to the civilized, enlightened world of Canada.
Raza Ashraf Konrad, the son of Hiroko Tanaka, a Japanese atomic bomb survivor ,and an Indian
Muslim Sajjad Ali Ashraf ,who migrated to Pakistan ,has worked for an American PMC for such
a long time , now realizes that there is no more running away ,he will be caught sooner or later
so he reaches a resolve ,to change his identity not for seeking an escape but to save his friend.

Raza’s mother had forgiven him and absolved him of his being the cause of his father’s
death but asked him to do something to save Abdullah if he could and after twenty years, this
new Raza Konrad Ashraf is there to fulfil the command, perhaps as a last tribute to his humane
and pragmatic mother.

Text (46): But he would not do that to Abdullah, Not this Raza Konrad Ashraf-
not the one who had lain in the hold of a ship bearing the weight of an Afghan
boy, not the one who had floated In the dagger-cold sea looking up at Orion,
promising himself he would not be as he was before. Every chance, every second,
he could give Abdullah he would.(Shamsie, 2009, p.354)

Description: A momentary thought crossed Raza’s mind that if he let Kim convince the police
that he was not the man she wanted to get arrested he might be free but then he reverted to his
previous resolve that this new Raza Konrad Ashraf-the one who had lain in the hold of a ship
bearing the weight of an Afghan boy, the one who had floated in the dagger-cold sea looking up
at Orion, the one who had promised himself that he would not be as he used to be before
would not let Abdullah arrested. He would give him every chance, every second, he could as a
penance to what he had done to him twenty years ago.
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Interpretation: The social practices highlighted here are of love, friendship and sacrifice.
Raza’s experiences in Afghanistan and during the journey of the destitute transformed him so
this time he is ready to help Abdullah to go back to his normal life.

Explanation: Raza evolved through his experiences, he learnt his lessons through his exposure
to harsh realities of life. ‘The Raza’ who had accompanied Abdullah to the training camp twenty
years ago with the notion to desert him at his convenience was different from this Raza who
had been through the journey of the destitute and turned a new leaf. He was a new man who did
not want anyone to suffer, least of all his friend Abdullah .He had been working for the most
powerful country of the world and what went on between him and Steve was enough to make
him realise that sooner or later he would be arrested so he silently requested Kim to confirm that
he was the same man whom she had suspected despite knowing that he would be taken to
Guantanamo Bay .But she hoped that they would let him free. She was concerned about his
security because he was a family friend .Raza did not cherish any such hope even then he wanted
to give Abdullah every chance to live.

Text (47): He looked once more at the snow-covered car, the desolation of it, and
wryly considered this new heroic persona he was trying to take on .The truth was
he didn't have the temperament for this kind of running anyway, they'd catch him
soon enough. Perhaps arrest Bilal, or his mother, or anyone else who might be
termed, an accomplice. Kim Burton, too, if she walked with him out of this
parking lot. What a gift, then, what a surprising gift, to be able to say the moment
when freedom ended had counted for something. Finally, he counted for
something.(Shamsie, 2009, p.356)

Description: Raza came out of the restaurant hand-cuffed and he looked once more at the snow-
covered car standing outside it. The desolation of it struck him, and ironically he thought about
this new heroic persona he was trying to take on .He had a realisation that he didn't have the
temperament for this kind of running anyway and soon they would catch him .They might
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arrest Bilal, or his mother, or anyone else who might be suspected of assisting him. Even Kim
Burton might also be suspected if she would walk with him out of this parking lot. So this
opportunity to act heroically to be arrested to save someone else’s life and freedom was ‘What a
gift... what a surprising gift’, to be able to say that his freedom ended with an objective. The very
thought that he finally ‘counted for something’ was a sort of atonement for him.

Interpretation: Raza arranged for the air journey for Abdullah, met him in the restaurant,
realised the lurking danger and requested Abdullah to leave at once taking his jacket and the keys
of the car waiting outside. The police arrested him in Abdullah’s place. He knew the dangers
involved in it but also knew that the agents of the super power were chasing him and sooner or
later he would be arrested. His mother’s request to help Abdullah made the decision easy for
him.

Explanation: Raza himself had worked for the CIA in Arkwright and Glenn, a private military
organization which was employed by the CIA during the War on Terror, so he knew how the
slightest suspicion against anyone especially any Muslim could land him in hot waters .And
during the whole traumatic displacement, he had a realisation that whatever he had been doing
up till now in his life had not been worth doing. He also had a realisation that he could not run
away from the trap of the powerful for a long time and all the people associated with him might
also have to pay the penalty that was why he destroyed all traces of his past legal identity to save
his connections from the torture. At the back of his mind, there were his mother’s words when
she told him that she did not consider him responsible for his father’s death but he should do
whatever he could to save Abdullah and this was a golden chance to give a heroic end to
worthless running for escape.

Here Shamsie also highlights the beauty of human values and human association, a
kinship with a friend whose whole life had been a struggle for survival amidst the unending wars
in his homeland .He had seen a refugee camp, he had seen a Mujahedeen training came; he had
been to Afghanistan and seen the impacts of continuous wars there ,he had experienced the
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trauma of the journey of the destitute and realised what Abdullah had been through, so he wanted
to give him a chance to live ,to go back to his country ,to meet his family and in a way it would
become his atonement.

Text (48): When Konrad first heard of the concentration camps he said you have
to deny people their humanity in order to decimate them. You don't.'...You just
have to put them in a little corner of the big picture of the Second World War,
what was seventy-five thousand more Japanese dead? Acceptable, that’s what it
was. In the big picture of threats to America, what is one Afghan? Expandable
.Maybe, he’s guilty, maybe not. Why risk it? Kim, you are the kindest, most
generous women I know .But right now because of you, I understand for the first
time how nations. (Shamsie, 2009, p.362)

Description: Hiroko was talking to Kim she told her when Konrad first heard of the
concentration camps he told her that the Germans had to deny people of their humanity in order
to annihilate them. But she told Kim that the Americans did not even bother to do that. She
questioned her in comparison to the big picture of the total loss in the Second World, what if
seventy-five thousand more Japanese died in it, how she would regard it just as a small corner of
a big picture. She told her that was how it had been acceptable for the Americans .Linking it with
the present situation she said in the big picture of threats to America, what Kim did, was just a
continuation of the same philosophy, one Afghan was nothing ,he might or might not be guilty
but why should Kim take a risk. She told Kim she was the kindest and most generous woman she
had ever known but right then because of her, she understood for the first time how nations
applaud the destruction of other people.

Interpretation: After dropping Abdullah at the restaurant in Canada, Kim decided to call the
police to arrest him. She did not know that Raza would be arrested in his place. She had been ill
at ease while travelling with Abdullah, her discourse with him was unpleasant for both of them
belonged to totally different worlds. And ultimately she called the police that arrested Raza
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taking him as a suspected terrorist and Raza begged her silently not to tell the truth. She had been
thinking how to share it all with Hiroko but was sure that Raza would be released after a bit of
interrogation. To her surprise Hiroko was awake on her return and informed by Abdullah about
Raza’s arrest, she felt betrayed and the discourse between them was unpleasant and revealing as
well.

Explanation: According to online Holocaust Encyclopedia:

The term concentration camp refers to a camp in which people are detained or confined,
usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and
imprisonment that are acceptable in a constitutional democracy. In Nazi Germany
between 1933 and 1945, concentration camps were an integral feature of the regime .The
“legal” instrument of incarceration was either the “protective detention” order (which the
Gestapo could issue for persons considered a political danger after 1933) or the
“preventative detention”. The concentration camps increasingly became sites where the
authorities could kill targeted groups of real or perceived enemies of Nazi Germany.
They also came to serve as holding centres for a rapidly expanding pool of forced
labourers deployed for the production of armaments, weapons, and related goods for the
German war effort.

Despite the chronic need for forced labour, the SS authorities continued to deliberately
under nourish and mistreat prisoners incarcerated in the concentration camps, deploying
them so ruthlessly and without regard to safety at forced labour, with such rates of
mortality that many prisoners believed that they were in effect being "annihilated
through work. ("Holocaust encyclopedia: concentration camps”)

Stephen Van Evera (2006) writes in The War on Terror: Forgotten Lessons from World
War II, that President Bush recently linked the War on Terror to the struggles of Americans
faced in World War II, explaining that their enemies are the successors of Fascists, Nazis and
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other totalitarians of the 20th century. Shamsie shows through her fictional discourse that this
analogy is very useful and illuminating but the other way round.

Kundnani (2014) quotes Andrew Arena, the special agent in charge of FBI’s Detroit field
office to prove his point of view who says, ‘There’re a lot of cases where we don’t charge a
person with terrorism. We charge them with whatever we can, to get them off the streets.’ He
further elaborates ‘With no evidence of terrorism strong enough to hold up in court, some other
charges had to be concocted.’(Kundnani, 2014, p.5). He regards ‘fighting them over there’ to
prevent ‘attacks over here’ is a failed policy.” (Kundnani, 2014, p.8) He talks about ‘social and
political circumstances in shaping how people make sense of the world and then act upon it’.
((Kundnani, 2014, p.10).He holds that the Americans are practicing an imperial political
culture—Islamophobia is shared across the Western political spectrum. He writes that the War
on Terror –with its enormous death tolls in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and in
different places of the world could not be continued without racialized dehumanization of its
Muslim victims (Kundnani, 2014).

Shamsie forges a link between the concentration camps of the fascist Germany to
American prison camps at Guantanamo Bay, and tells through Hiroko that the German Konrad
did not approve of them for they had to deprive people of their humanity before putting them,
there but the Americans justify their government action to drop even a second bomb on Japan to
save the Americans’ lives.

Shamsie also forges a link between fascist Germany policy of establishing the
concentration camps and the world oldest democracy and the torch bearer of human rights,
America’s decision to establish Guantanamo prison camp to show the similarity of the ideology
behind the power practices and power structures established to perpetuate hegemony. The theme
presented in this discourse reconceptualises the philosophy behind the War on Terror and links it
with the theme of the preservation of the sanctity of only Americans’ lives by dropping the
atomic bomb in the Second World War II. This recontextualization makes this text
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interdiscursive .And interdiscursive analysis according to Fairclough (2003) has a mediating role
in understanding the social practices. Stephen Van Evera (2006) writes that President Bush
linked the War on Terror to the Americans’ struggle in World War II, explaining that their
enemies are the successors of Fascists, Nazis and other totalitarians of the 20th century. Ironically
the Americans’ war hysteria is even more fatal for the world.

In the novel Shamsie establishes a link between the American with a gentle face in
Tokyo to the American Kim, ‘the kindest woman’ ever known by Hiroko and the two great
historical events that represent world power structures by presenting a series of displacement,
sufferings and losses of Japanese woman, a direct victim of the atomic bomb that was dropped
on Nagasaki, whose whole life was running away from war and war scenes and who ultimately
came to America to live with her only son Raza who had been working with a private military
corporation(PMC) Arkwright and Glenn, having its due share in War on Terror. She never knew
that her son got involved in the war until he called her from Afghanistan to inform her about
Harry’s death. She was in a state of shock but consoled Raza and asked him to come for Harry’s
funeral. He promised but he didn’t know that after Harry’s death, he would be nothing but a
mere TCN who had outlived his utility and when he tried to go against the directions of the CIA
agent Steve he was haunted till Canada and fell a prey to that American War on Terror that only
ensure the security of the Americans’ life. So from World War II to War on Terror the world
moved on to save the ‘Americans’ lives’ only. The atomic bombs were dropped to avoid the
Americans’ causalities, the Soviet Union was defeated and disintegrated to ensure Americans’
ultimate supremacy, Iraq was invaded and destroyed to capture world largest oil reservoirs and
the already war torn Afghanistan was further destroyed in the name of War on Terror to ensure
American hegemony in Central Asia. So from World War II to War on Terror there is a
continuation of the power practices. Shamsie links Hiroko with Raza and through the tale of a
generation reaches the same conclusion—only might has the rights and might has the
justification to be right, the names of the wars may differ but the inside games remain the same.

All the discourses analyzed above reflect a series of displacement Shamsie’s fictional
characters have to experience throughout their lives. From here I will move on to the next part of
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my analysis that deals with the context of the novel ,in many of her interviews about this novel
Shamsie herself tells what goes into its production.

4.3. Context

Kamila Shamsie was interviewed by several people across the world after the publication
of her much acclaimed and most celebrated novel Burnt Shadows(2009) about its background
and her objective behind writing this epic novel covering almost sixty years and encompassing
major historical events. She talked about the initial plan and the course of the event the story had
taken, the theme and the message associated with it, her reason for writing in English and
choosing Nagasaki as a starting point and presenting different versions of reality from different
perspectives.

In an interview with Abby Blachly in reply to a question “Burnt Shadows begins—and

seems deeply rooted in--America's dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki in 1945. Ending in
Guantanamo Bay in 2002, it's almost a tale of how we got here. Do you find similarities between
the current "war on terror" and the bombing of Nagasaki?” Shamsie says, “I can understand why
some readers would focus on the American aspects of the novel - to me, though, it's a book about
empires (American and British - and to fewer extents, Japanese and Soviet) and the relationships
of individuals from different nations in times of war. One of the pre-requisites to war (and to the
rise of Empires) is the successful proliferation of the idea that the lives of people from other
countries matter less. This allows citizens of different nations to support their governments'
decisions to bomb, colonize, exploit, manipulate the citizens of other nations, all in the name of
'national interest' or 'protecting the lives of its own citizens”. She further elaborates, “Of course,
this way of thinking applies to the bombing of Nagasaki as well as the War on Terror - it also
applies to the British Empire, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan's acts of self-interest
during the last 20 years of war in Afghanistan, the relationship between the governments of India
and Pakistan etc.” (“Shamsie” n.d.)
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Shamsie says that she is interested in seeing how the personal relationships of characters
from different nations would play out in fraught historical moments when the rhetoric of
government is divisive and exclusionary, but the pull of friendship and love moves in the
opposite directions. (“Shamsie” n.d)

Talking about the source of inspiration that went into writing this novel Shamsie tells
Filgate that John Hersey’s Hiroshima followed by the comic book Barefoot Gen and an animated
film ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ were the starting point. They helped her start visualizing details of
clothing, interiors and wartime living. She further explains that in John Hersey’s Hiroshima there
is this detail: “On some undressed bodies, the burns had made patterns---...on the skin of some
women (since white repelled the heat from the bomb and dark clothes absorbed it and conducted
it to their skin) the shapes of flowers they had had on their kimonos”. She read that, and
immediately had an image of a woman with bird-shapes burnt into her back. She tells Filgate
that she imagined a Pakistani character whose mother had been in Nagasaki when the bomb fell
.But when she started writing it became the tale of a Japanese woman from Nagasaki with her
link with a Pakistani young man. She shared with Filgate that initially she had been thinking of a
storyline to do with nuclear weapons and the nuclear race between India and Pakistan and she
realized the best place to start with was Nagasaki. (“Shamsie” n.d.)

In reply to a question what was about Nagasaki, that intrigued her, she said “Hiroshima
was bombed on August 6,1945,Nagasaki on August 9.It seemed to be particularly horrible about
the ability of a government to drop an atomic bomb on a nation, see the devastation caused and
then, three days later do it again.” She added, “It makes you realise there is no act of destruction
that makes nations and armies stop and say ‘Never again’.” She further adds that the fact that
there is evidence to suggest that the Americans knew the Japanese were very close to
surrendering before they dropped the first bomb makes it particularly chilling. (“Shamsie” n.d.)

Politics has always been a core part of Shamsie’s creative identity. In another interview,
she tells:
 209

The war on terror had sunk very deep for me so I knew the book would be an allegory in
some way,...But it was never going to be about a clash between civilizations because I
don’t believe in that phrase. Instead, I was interested in what happens when people from
different nations come together when those nations are at war. I’m fascinated by the
morally ambiguous world of private security companies – Blackwater, for example –
which go to war for a nation but which are not a nation’s army. And I’ve always been
interested in national identity as something porous – half my family crossed over from
India during Partition yet I grew up with India and Pakistan at war. ("Kamila Shamsie
gets”, 2009).

Shamsie told when she shared the idea of writing a novel about Nagasaki with a writer
friend, he said, “Oh, so that’ll be your 9/11 novel.” She refuted and told him that it would not
because there are other stories in the world as well. She added that it was a narrative that moved
War on Terror, she said that she deliberately used the phrase ‘War on Terror’ rather than post
9/11 about the final section of the novel because to talk about a ‘War on Terror’ novel is really to
talk about the consequences of the decisions made by various governments including those of the
US and Pakistan rather than to place the terrorist of 9/11 at the centre of the narrative.
(“Shamsie”, n.d.)

When questioned about the similarities of both events, dropping of bomb on Nagasaki
and 9/11 she replied that there were various echoes--- in Nagasaki after the bomb, the train and
bus stations were covered in pleas for information about the people’s family members who
hadn’t been heard of since the bomb; when she read about that it made her think immediately of
all those heartbreaking signs that went up around NYC after 9/11when so many were missing
and unaccounted for. Similarly the description of how the smell of burning went on for a long
time. She added that she said she was also struck by the disconnection, “...imagine if, on August
6,1945,the world had seen wall-to-wall coverage of the bombing of Hiroshima...would it still
have been possible for the US to bomb Nagasaki, just three days later?" (“Shamsie” n.d). Her
 210

research revealed to her that most people in even in Nagasaki didn’t know what had happened in
Hiroshima just three days earlier. (“Shamsie” n.d)

Replying to a question about the difference in the both events she said, ‘...of course, the
great and overwhelming difference between Nagasaki and 9/11 is that the first was carried out by
a government, in the name of self-defense, and a great many people will still say it was the right
thing to do; 9/11 comes out of a completely different context.” She said that 9 /11 itself is not
part of the novel’s direct gaze; the final section of the novel starts in December 2001. She added
that there are plenty of books about the effects of 9/11, and what that day itself meant for the
people of New York. But she was “interested in looking at the human cost of actions which are
carried out by ‘legitimate’ governments often with popular support(the bombing of Nagasaki,
Britain’s games of Empire in India, Pakistan and Russian and America’s action in Afghanistan in
the 80’s ,the War on Terror...”(“Shamsie” n.d.).

Talking about the larger themes presented in the novel she that said she adamantly
rejected the phrase’ Clash of Civilizations’ which to her, “implies something inevitable or
essential about enmity between people from different places, different religions” but she said,
she was interested in, “through Burnt Shadows, in looking at what happens to the relationships of
people from contrasting backgrounds when they start to feel themselves on different sides of
history/politics. In what situations can such relations endure, and in what situations do they
crumble?” (“Shamsie” n.d.).

In another interview in reply to a question, “Did it feel like a brave step to you, to render
American and Pakistani involvement in Afghanistan so explicitly?” ‘Shamsie said that she did
not actually say much in the book about America’s political relationship with Pakistan beyond
the fact that America and Pakistan worked closely together during the Afghan war of the
1980s.She did not regard it to be a disputed historical fact. She added that both Pakistan and
America were following their own agendas and the fact that they had been quite suspicious of
each other did not seem particularly controversial either .She said that for specifics on the US-
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Pak relationship she had relied on two books: Afghanistan-The Bear Trap by Mohammad Yousaf
and Mark Adkin and Ghost Warriors by Steve Coll. She did not particularly consider herself
courageous and she did not think that she was committing to one version of a political truth. In
Burnt Shadows, she added that different characters have different ways of viewing history and
politics. (“Shamsie” n.d.)

Talking about how does she see the present geopolitical situation in the light of the events
of Burnt Shadows and the fall out of 9/11 that bring us to the present day she said, “Well, the
novel starts with someone about to be shipped off to Guantanamo Bay. I’m glad that’s no longer
something that’s likely to happen! So that’s one good thing. But the whole War on Terror world,
with its accompanying rhetoric and fear, is still very much among us-and likely to remain so for
a while. And the longer it goes on, it seems the more people both from within ‘Islam’ and within
‘the West ‘ believe that the other is intent on destroying them. We are still in that situation. I
wish we weren’t.”(“Shamsie” n.d)

Shamsie continues that she was aware that conversation about 9/11 tended to treat it as
though that date was the Ground Zero of history, as if it occurred in a vacuum, she adds that as
someone who grew up in Pakistan in the 1980s, during the U.S.-Pakistan involvement in
Afghanistan and the political support given to jihad as an anti-Soviet tool, she couldn’t possibly
see things that way. She further elaborates that there were earlier stories feeding into the story of
9/11, so there’s no possibility that she would write a novel that looks at that one date as if history
proceeds from it but doesn't precede it. (Shamsie, 2010)

So to conclude we can say that Shamsie was well acquainted with the whole history of
Wars, from World War II to War on Terror when she decided to write her epic novel ranging
sixty years of human history from colonialism to neo-colonialism. And the nuclear race between
India and Pakistan moved her flight of imagination to Nagasaki, a cosmopolitan Japanese city
where the second atom bomb was dropped by the Americans in WWII to make Japan surrender.
She wanted to link a Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor and witness of that great destruction to a
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Pakistani character and the deadliest image of the present day world she found as a consequence
of War on Terror in Guantanamo Bay. So she linked them together--Raza a Pakistani prisoner
ready to be transported to Guantanamo Bay and Hiroko, his Japanese mother who finally reached
New York to be safe from nuclear war but the War on Terror snatched away her only living
connection. Life has moved full circle but the fight to save only the ‘American lives’ continues.

From here I will move on to the third step of my analysis that deals with interdiscursivity.

4.4. Interdiscursivity

The dialectical relationship between language and other elements of social life constitute
the bases of Fairclough’s (2003) model of Critical Discourse Analysis, he combines the textual
analysis with the contextual analysis, taking discourse as a form of social practice—linked to
other discourses and social practices in more than one way.

Burnt Shadow is a fine example of interdiscursivity, starting from the prologue, the
condition of the nameless prisoner is an echo of one of the real accounts of the arrest of Abdul
Salam Zaeef ,Taliban’s’ Ambassador to Pakistan who was arrested in early 2002 by Pakistani
official who told him: “Your Excellency, you are no longer an Excellency! America is a
superpower. Did you not know that? No one can defeat it, nor can they negotiate with it.
America wants to question you and we are here to hand you over to the USA.”(Zaeef, 2010, p.
171).As soon as he was handed over his clothes ripped with knives. He writes, “Pakistani and
American soldiers stood around me...The Pakistani soldiers were all staring as the Americans hit
me and tore the remaining clothes off my body. Eventually, I was completely naked...” (Zaeef,
2010, p. 171).

All the historical events mentioned, their account in different versions, their impacts on
the living stream of human life, with a long chain of history, cultural diversity and different
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world views go in the making of the novel. As Hall (1993) puts it, ‘discourse is always ‘placed’
and what we say is always 'in context', positioned so Shamsie, in Burnt Shadows takes a position
that 9/11 is not the only tragedy of human history, in her national context Russian Invasion, Cold
War and War on Terror are greater events and in broader human context dropping of atomic
bombs on Japan during WWII is the greatest. Fairclough (1989) reinforces the same idea of
context and positioning in discourse by saying that the production and interpretation of the texts
and discourses are also socially construed to a certain extent.

One can look for interdiscursivity in Burnt Shadows, the reflection of actual historical
events, previous and current national trends ,national and international practices their impacts on
a micro level stream of life, their connectedness with power and hegemony and their reflection
on Shamsie’s writing as a postcolonial diaspora writer.

Society and discourse, both closely related entities are dynamic and ever evolving so the
order of the discourse changes due to the changes in the structures of the society, so do the
genres and their relations, giving the analyst an opportunity to gain insights into the nature of
these changes by looking at the manifestations of intertextuality in the texts (Fairclough,
2003).There is intertextuality in Burnt Shadows in more than one ways.

To begin with we can look for the re-writing of A Passage to India by E.M Forster.
Forster’s novel depicts India under British rule in 1920 while Shamsie’s timeline is 1947, the
time immediately before the Partition. Both present the national and racial barriers characterizing
the complex interaction between the Indians and the English. Peter Burra (1934) in an essay The
Novel of E.M. Forster writes about A Passage to India that it is a novel which no student of the
Indian question could disregard. The second part of Burnt Shadows is the re-elaboration of
Forster’s novel in many ways. A Passage to India begins with the description of Chandrapura, a
typical Indian town, the second part of Burnt Shadows begins with the description of Delhi, the
point of difference is that this description comes from a native while Chandrapura is described
by an omniscient narrator who says that there is nothing extraordinary in the city except for the
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Malabar Caves where the tragic incident takes place. The colonizer’s narrator adds that the only
beauty found in the town is due to a few houses from the Imperial part of upper India. While
Shamsie’s spokesperson is a native Indian, for whom Delhi is not an imaginary city but a living
reality, he describes it as ‘the rhythmically beating heart of cultural India’ (Shamsie, 2009,
p.33).It is his city full of ‘by lanes and alleys, insidious as a game of chess.’(Shamsie, 2009, p.33
Ali, 1994, p.4) A direct quote- an intertext from Ahmed Ali is used here to highlight and
acknowledge the importance of the native’s description of the place. There is a sense of
belonging in Sajjad’s thinking about Delhi, the place where his ancestor had come from Turkey
over seven centuries earlier to join the armies of the Mamluk King Qutb-ud-din Aibak.

So unlike Forster’s description of an imaginary and dull town of India with a few
Imperial buildings as its defining feature, Shamsie refers to the centuries old culture of Dilli and
also refers to Delhi as the city of the Raj. There is a marked division presented by Foster between
the Indian section and the English Civil section of the town while Sajjad Ali Ashraf ponders ‘to
locate the exact celestial point at which Dilli became Delhi.’(Shamsie, 2009, p. 33).In A Passage
to India there is an overarching common sky- symbolizing the British rule while in Burnt
Shadows the echo is “...where the sky is emptied –no kites dripping towards each other strings
lined in glass and only occasional pigeons from amidst the flocks released to whirl in the air
above the roof tops of the old city where Sajjad’s family had lived for generations.” (Shamsie,
2009, p. 33-34)

So there is cultural Indian setting and there are new Imperialist settings brought by the act
of colonialism. Description of the British controlled Delhi is marked with the themes of
separation and demarcation. Sajjad observes that every English man’s bungalow has lush
gardens lined with red flower pots to segregate the British, the barriers are fond in A Passage to
India as well. Shamsie attributes the divisions to the British while Forster presents India as “a
very place of division, the unhappy continent where separations are felt more profoundly than in
other places.”(Forster, 1934, p. 135)
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Foster’s most reflective and well-educated official at Chandrapura, the District

Superintendent of Police, firmly believes that “All unfortunate natives are criminals at heart, for
the simple reason that they live at South of latitude 30.They are not to be blamed... we should be
like them if we settle here”. (Forster, 1934, p.194)Shamsie, on the other hand, believes that all
the barriers are created by the British Raj. It’s they who have created a class among the Indians
as well but Forster considers the Indian environment and climate responsible for those
separations that influence all the good-willed English.

While discussing with a group of educated Indians whether friendship with an Englishman
possible or not, Forster’s Indian character Aziz, reaches a conclusion that friendship with the
invader is not possible .This discussion once again highlights the theme of barriers and
separation of one race from the other—it finds an echo in Harry’s murder who is killed by an
Afghan regarding him as an invader-Abdullah also says the same thing while talking to Kim.

Despite camaraderie and apparent cordial relations between Sajjad and James Burton
there are invisible social, national and racial barriers between them and it is in James Burton’s
control to enact or to defy them for he has the power –being a colonizer so the invisible binary
can be felt even if not stated. The conclusion, Aziz and his friends reach in A Passage to India, is
subtly enacted by Shamsie’s character. Shamsie reveals that though James enjoys Sajjad’s
company but maintains a distance that the superior and the inferior are supposed to maintain.

When Sajjad told Hiroko he wanted to be a lawyer, she asked him why he was wasting his
time with Burton. Sajjad told her he had promised him that he would get some place for him
after the British would leave and he would also let him have his books. In this way, Sajjad
thought that he was learning but Hiroko knew that he was wasting his time .The same Sajjad was
regarded by the British women as James ‘dogsbody’ reflecting the racial discrimination.

Forster’s Indian character Aziz always tries to make friends with the English. He
generously makes a plan to visit Malabar Caves with the two recently arrived English women,
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though he does not like one of them but fails to realise the consequences of this good will
gesture. Shamsie portrays Sajjad as wise enough who enables the newcomer Hiroko to see the
invisible barrier by signally her not to talk to him in Burtons’ presence on her arrival at their
place.

Forster’s English character, Adela Quested wants to see ‘the real India’ (Forster, 1934,
p.38).A bridge party is arranged by Mr. Turton to bridge the gap but it proves to be just the
opposite. Similarly, Shamsie’s Japanese character wishes to learn the native language and see
Sajjad’s India. James Burton doesn’t like her learning native language thinking it is not required
and says “the natives she will meet are ‘either Oxbridge set’ or their wives or domestic staff like
Lala Buksh, can understand simple English if you just know a clutch of Urdu words to throw into
the mix.”(Shamsie, 2009, p. 57)

The desire of the newly arrived English people to see real India finds an echo in Hiroko’s
desire to see Sajjad’s world. In Marabar Caves, the desire to see India leads to a tragic incident
that makes the native Aziz accountable for the crime he has never committed and in a way
widens the gap between the English and the natives .On the other hand, Shamsie’s description of
the visit to Qutb Minar is a re-writing of the canonical text but from a different point of view
,here for the first time in the novel we can see the relatively cordial behaviour of a typical Anglo-
Indian character Elizabeth when she offers Sajjad to stand with her under the shade “She
gestured him to come and stand in the covered corridor with her, out of the sun...This sudden
cordiality was unexpected but welcomed”.(Shamsie,2009, p. 81)

Aziz has never visited the Malabar Caves but Shamsie’s native character is well-versed
with Indian history of the Qutb Minar and tells the English about it with confidence and has a
feeling “...this is how things should be-he an Indian ,introducing the English to the history of
India, which was his history and not theirs.”(Shamsie,2009,p.80).In reply to Elizabeth’s
comment that she has been there, at least, a dozen time but never knows who built it Sajjad says,
“My history is your picnic point.”(Shamsie,2009,p.81).The English visitors to the Marabar Caves
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get distracted to death and madness after seeing the real India but Shamsie’s most typical Anglo-
Indian character , Elizabeth wonders “How will all of us fit back into that little island now that
you’re casting us out? So small, England, so very small. In so many ways.” Shamsie, 2009,p.
80) And Sajjad, the native wonders “Why have the English remained so English ?”(Shamsie,
2009, p.82)Throughout Indian history all the conquerors who came to India became Indians but
the English remained so English and while leaving India ‘they’ll be going home.’(Shamsie,
2009, p.82). He recalls when the young Henry declared himself an Indian, Elizabeth decided to
send him back to England. So the barriers between them remained. What Shamsie likes to
convey is not the environment but the Imperial mindset that is responsible for creating barriers
and that led to the dilemma for Mrs .Moor and Adela.

Just like Forster’s English characters, Elizabeth in Burnt Shadows doesn’t like the
disruption of hierarchies; she does like Hiroko’s drifting away to Sajjad like Henry and James
and over-reacted to Sajjad and Hiroko’s intimacy without knowing the reality. Even after
knowing the reality she makes his severance pay sent through Lala Bakhsh and leaves for
Mussoorie along with Hiroko apparently banishing all the possibilities of seeing him again. In A
Passage to India, Adela refuses to go back with the Indian driver, she does not want to see any
Indian.

We also find the echo of The Future of Mankind by Bertrand Russell (1951) in Burnt
Shadows. Harry intended to join the CIA because “he believed fervently that Communism had to
be crushed so that the US could be the world’s only super power.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.172) this is
an echo of Russell’s argument in favour of a single super power in the world for its survival and
survival of mankind. Harry, like Russell was in favour of the use of force for the ascertainment
of this supremacy “And he would not be one of those men who stay away from war while
claiming to care passionately about its outcome” (Shamsie, 2009, p.172). But what Shamsie
counters is the use of power without a sense of justice. It has failed to stabilize the world despite
defeating Russia and becoming the only superpower of the world, even its own citizens like Kim,
a representative of the American nation, lives under constant fear and sense of insecurity .All this
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just reflects the opposite of what Russell believes that the people of the victorious side will
achieve a very high degree of material comfort and will be free from the tyranny of fear.

Shamsie describes the impacts of the Russian Invasion and War on Terror on
Afghanistan. The destruction of Afghanistan and Kandahar is similar to the account of the
destruction of Kabul in The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini (2003).

Fairclough draws the idea of intertextuality mainly from Bakhtin (1986) for whom all the
diverse spheres of human activity involve language. Bakhtin holds that all utterances are actually
responses to other utterances, and all that has been heard or/ and understood reflects itself in the
hearer's use of language at some point, in some way. This is applicable to both primary and
second genres: words and ideas in casual conversation spread and re-emerge, as do ideas and
complex thoughts in scientific writing. All these utterances whether spoken or written, simple
or complicated ,transient or recorded, are seen as links in a chain that respond to previous
utterances and predict future ones (Bakhtin, 1986).

Language as a social practice is associated with and even determined by certain spheres
of human activity, then it must be concluded that human existence i.e. society ,is in fact at least
partly discursive or to be more specific linguistic. Secondly, the concept of intertexuality lends
credibility to the idea that discourse is socially constitutive. Because all language is built on past
utterance and gives life to new ones, then those orders of discourse or genres that manifest
themselves at a society level of discourse practice must contain within them a certain real past
and also a possible future. Thus, for Fairclough language is both; a social practice and socially
constructive hence interdiscursive. (Naski, 2010)

Another dimension enters at the third and highest level of Fairclough's model of CDA i.e.
of social theory. This stage does not deal with language or linguistic structures or even genres
related to certain social situations instead it deals with concepts that go with power and politics
and other structures of human society. This is what Fairclough's CDA entails and this is what
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constitutes the major themes of Burnt Shadows and enables an analyst to look at the text, context
and social practice integrated into the novel as a postcolonial diaspora novel and as a mode of
resistance.

When we regard a text as a mode of resistance it becomes interdiscursive in the sense that
it encompasses directly and indirectly what has been presented in the grand narratives, it is trying
to counter. We can find the echo of different discourses in it like political, postcolonial,
journalistic, war, religious, economic, social etc. We can find many of the afore-mentioned
discourses in Burnt Shadows.

Another strand that contributes to interdiscursivity is recontextualization with the ever

evolving phenomenon of life and its varied claims. With the changing circumstances, things and
people and even history changes for example in the 1980s Pakistan Shamsie refers to Afghan
refugees who are trained to be Mujahedeen and are recognized as such throughout the world and
who are instrumental in Cold War. They have played a key role in Americans’ victory. But when
the target is achieved they are left in the lurch in a state of civil war, one faction of the
Mujahedeen reunited in the name of Taliban and try to ensure peace in the country, since they
do not match with and do not match with the Western interest now, so the same Mujahedeen are
being regarded as terrorist and America, the only super power of the world ,forcibly makes the
whole world its Ally and start killing them with daisy cutters in their already worn torn country
and hunting them in the rest of the world.

Similarly, the Germans in Japan before Germany’s surrender in World War II were allies
but after surrender they became suspicious foreigners, at individual level Konrad and their father
were reduced to ‘mere German connections’ for Ilse who preferred to be called Elizabeth after
marrying the British colonial husband. For their only child India has been a home, but for fear of
the turmoil of the Partition he is sent to England where he has a problem in adjustment because
of his Indian expression and German mother. His parents’ separation lead to another
displacement and he has to go to America, but he has learnt his lesson and becomes American
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Harry there, leaving his name and nationality behind .The same Harry joins CIA to defeat the
Russians in a proxy war in Afghanistan playing with the Muslims’ sentiment of Jihad throughout
the world. The Mujahedeen help America disintegrate the Soviet Union; the same Harry is there
again in Afghanistan with a PMC this time to destroy the already ruined country and to teach
Mujahedeen cum terrorists a lesson.

Raza, a born Pakistani, is regarded as a son of an atomic bomb survivor, and regarded as
deformed because of the country’s history he has never visited and his mother has left decades
ago. He opts for a false identity of Raza Hazara for the Afghans. A failure in Pakistan becomes a
translating genius in America but after Harry’s death a mere TCN with doubtful allegiance. He
undertakes the ‘journey of the destitute ‘ and resolves never to be the same man again, ultimately
put on the disguise of Abdullah the Afghan Muslim and gets arrested as a branded terrorist ready
to be transported to Guantanamo Bay .

Sajjad is an Indian Muslim who feels his world and life in Dilli will remain the same, but
Partition makes it a different place, and he is forced to migrate to Pakistan ,where in end he gets
killed by a Pakistani CIA agent whom he calls at the harbour to get some information about his
missing son, Raza. He takes Sajjad as a CIA agent because the American Harry has told him that
he was his first teacher .This is how the Pakistani nation lives under the constant shadows of war,
having doubts and suspicions against each other, against Indians and against Americans.
Shamsie also refers to the wave of fundamentalism that struck Pakistani society after Afghan
Jihad. One day when Raza tells her that he would eventually learn Russian to read War and
Peace, a man standing beside her in the shop with the air of ordinariness about him—said, “You
mustn’t read their books. They are the enemies of Islam.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.142).Afterwards, the
bookseller apologized saying, “Strange times we’re in...The other day a group of young men
with fresh beards came in and started to pull at all books off their shelves, looking for the covers
which were unIslamic.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.142) .The same fanaticism later culminated into
Pakistani Taliban and the unending suicide attacks inside the country.
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Shamsie shows the recontextualization of the definition of the Pakistani citizens with each
political turn. The Indian Muslims who left their home and everything for Pakistan are looked
down upon by the Pakistani elites when Harry asks someone in Islamabad about Nazimabad in
Karachi, where Sajjad lives, he scornfully calls the place as ‘Muhajir Depot’ and ‘Very middle
class.’(Shamsie, 2009, p.149).

When Harry joined CIA in 1964 he told the man who interviewed him “that he wanted to
join them because he believed fervently that Communism had to be crushed so that the US could
be the world’s only superpower.” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 172) But with the passage of time the
idealism turned into excitement only .The idealism of the past went with a sense of justice for the
whole world “but it had been long since he’d thought about it in relation to justice”. (Shamsie,
2009, p.172) .Later on, he kept a lot of money for buying Afghan loyalties, in his way of
investigation he could go to any extent even to shoot a man instead of bringing him before the
law for justice. This is how he treated Sajjad’s killer, he tells Raza “I found him, and then I killed
him” (Shamsie, 2009, p.283).

Similarly, the writer talks about the ‘trust-mistrust’ relationship between ISI and CIA.
During Cold War it’s the Pakistan intelligence agency that coordinated among different factions
of Afghan and foreign worriers .It organized and trained them .It is the one that reciprocated the
Russian attack—‘dealt with first blow’ for the Americans but later on the relationship with same
agency gets strained and they both start spying on each other. We find many references to this in
the text e.g. Steve asked Harry. “What do you think...Does the ISI do a better job of spying on us
than we do them?” (Shamsie, 2009, p.203) Raza refers to “Americans and ISI recemented
relationship during War on Terror” (Shamsie, 2009, p.321) because of which ISI his country’s
intelligence agency may find him and hand him over to the Americans for he is “of no strategic
value to the ISI.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.321)

Question about Raza’s Pakistani identity had never been heard of until the Soviets
invaded Afghanistan .But with the increasing number of Afghan refugees “it had become
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something less than unusual for Raza to be identified as an Afghan from one of the Mongol
tribes”. (Shamsie, 2009, p. 164) In his first meeting with Abdullah he poses as Afghan Hazara
for fun sake, but later becomes Raza Hazara an English teacher at Soharab Goth and goes with
Abdullah to one of the training camp as such. There he realizes the reality of being an Afghan
and Mujahedeen and comes back disclosing his real identity but, in the end, he makes an
informed decision to personify as Afghan Abdullah to save his friend knowing he will be
ultimately caught by the ‘only superpower’ and in keeping with the resolve during the “journey
of the destitute” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 331) “I will never be the same again” (Shamsie, 2009,
p.338).

Shamsie has not only discussed the styles or modes of being of the people from the
colonized world rather she has shown the impacts of colonization/neocolonization on the ways of
being of the colonizers world as well .The British Henry who later becomes American Harry is
one such example. There is no reference to where he is born but his absence from his colonial
parents’ home in New Delhi of British India makes his presence felt in the second part of the
novel which deals with 1947.The first reference to him is through a family picture Hiroko is
looking at when she enters the Burtons’ home in Delhi. Then we see Elizabeth writing a letter to
him assuring him “Of course you’re coming home this summer.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.72) That
seems to a reply to Henry’s demand to come to India-that for him is his first ‘home’ .Elizabeth
did not want him to go to a boarding school in England but it was ‘the done thing’ for James .She
recalled how on his departure “her boy had thrown his arms round Sajjad and wept, declaring,
I’ll miss you the most.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.72) This and many other instances in the novel suggest
that children are innocent, quite unaware of the political divides of ruler/subject.
colonizer/colonized, White/brown etc. When one day Henry was playing cricket with Sajjad,
Elizabeth came down and said to him that he was such a young Englishman. Henry had scowled
and backed up to Sajjad. “I’m Indian,’ he said.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.83) and Elizabeth decided to
send him to England not to be more Indian. The Partition happened much earlier than the
Burtons had expected so Henry could not come back to India again. Later in the novel, there is
an account of his difficulties in adjustment in England.
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Later we see him as an American Harry flying to Karachi, he called himself a migrant
who went to see the lost part of his childhood. Shamsie writes:

It was loneliness, he knew, that had brought him here, in search of the past that was
irretrievable as his parents’ marriage or his own childhood. For months now he had
ignored his desire to fly to Karachi and knock on the door of a particular house in
Nazimabad and now it was the desire to put that desire to rest than any kind of hope that
had finally persuaded him to seek out the first person he’d ever been conscious of loving.
(Shamsie, 2009, p.150)

He told Sajjad he was just Harry now working in Islamabad at the American Embassy as a
consular officer though he felt sorry for lying to this family. While talking about his father he
said, “He’s...unyielding—even to death.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.155).

Harry’s only daughter called him ‘Daddy Warbucks’ when both were shopping in
Islamabad together. He knew he was a failed parent but the ‘moments of insight in which she
showed him glimpses of woman she could grow into once adolescence passed made him
uneasy’.(Shamsie, 2009, p.168-169).Similarly her ability to see things in him which no one else
could guess ,like her grandmother, made him uncomfortable. As her comment that he said he
hated Islamabad but he was “obviously so much happier here than even in New York, never
mind, DC or Berlin.” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 168). To which he responded that he hated the place but
love the people. ’Kim regarded it funny and said:

I used to think the rule which said you can’t be President of America if you are born
somewhere else was really stupid because of course people who migrate in are going to
be more loyal citizens than the ones who take it for granted. I thought that because of
you-and how England means nothing to you .But I guess England’s not really the country
you left behind, is it? (Shamsie, 2009, p.169)
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He told Kim that England was a way station for him .Kim knew the story of Harry’s
childhood very well ,it was “one of the few stories Harry could be trusted to tell without any
evasion, belonging, as it did, to that time in his life before secrecy and lies became necessary.”
(Shamsie, 2009, p.169).Here Shamsie refers to the changes in the mode of his being (Fairclough,
2003). He loved India and he loved Sajjad and he expressed this love very honestly. Leaving
India, for him was a trauma and it was with great difficulty that he settled in England where all
the boys at school laughed at his ‘Indian expressions’ and wanted to know what his father had
done in the war. And then the final horror of his mother’s German origin was materialized when
the only other boy who had just arrived from India .and whom Harry had considered an ally
disclosed the secret. Finally, it was his cricket skills learnt from Sajjad that ‘turned him into
something of a school hero.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.170).

Two years later he was told by his father that he had to go New York to join his mother
who would stay there permanently. The “eleven-year-old was torn .He wanted to be near his
mother, but he knew his cricketing skills would get him nowhere in New York City. And what
else did he have after all?”(170).But he had learnt his lesson through his past experience, he
decided to go there earlier to learn how the language and also learnt the rules of the Basketball.
“Even so, on the first day his foreignness at school overwhelmed him to the point of
muteness.’(Shamsie, 2009, p.170)And finally he decided not to join the group of the immigrants
but the Americans and said, ‘Hi, I’m Harry.”(Shamsie, 2009, p. 171) and became an American.

Harry joined CIA in 1964 because ‘he believed fervently that Communism had to be
crushed so that the US could be the world’s only super power. It was not the notion of the power
itself that interested Harry, but the idea of it concentrated in a nation of migrants “... a single
democratic country in power, whose citizens are connected to every nation of the world. How
could anything but justice be the most abiding characteristic of that country’s dealings with the
world” (Shamsie, 2009, p.172) But then this ‘idealism’ gave way to ‘excitement’ and “he knew he
was doing with his life what most excited him...and it had been long since he’d thought about it
in relation to justice.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.172)
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Looking at Kim’s interest in the construction of the; Faisal Mosque Harry thought:

The tale of the generation...James Burton watched with dismay the collapse of Empire;
Harry Burton was working for the Collapse of Communism and Kim Burton only wanted
to know how to build, one edifice at a time, the construction process all that mattered .not
whether the outcome was a mosque or art gallery or prison. Of all of them, Harry thought
with one of his sudden rushes of sentimentality, she alone could be counted on to engage
with the world without doing any harm. (Shamsie, 2009, p.174)

Harry’s comment about Hiroko and Sajjad that “Partition and the bomb...The two of you
are proof that humans can overcome everything” seemed very American to Hiroko showing
ignorance of the gigantic loss the world had suffered on account of these two historical events.

We can see the same Harry at the funeral of Sajjad who got killed by Harry’s rickshaw
driver, Sher Mohammad, himself a Pakistani CIA agent. Raza came back from his misadventure
to find there was no home anymore, he saw Harry and shouted, “You killed my
father...Ma...He’s CIA. He’s been lying to us all along. Aba’s dead because of him.”(Shamsie,
2009, p.243)Harry retaliated “He’s dead, you idiot because he went to the harbour looking for
you.” And then he left ‘looking at Sajjad for a moment-one long moment in which he saw the
best part of his childhood and himself lying dead.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.243).

We can see the return of Harry in Ashraf’s life after joining Arkwright and Glenn
assuring Hiroko that he had left CIA and he would like Raza to work with him in his Miami’s
office and promised to ‘keep him out of the bullets’ and told Raza he had sought his father’s
death revenge by killing the killer. ‘I found him, and then I killed him.’ He kept his promise for
a long time but then in the War on Terror, A and G was contracted by the CIA, to work in
Afghanistan where Raza would be an ‘asset’ so Harry took him along.
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War on Terror might be an ‘excitement’ for Harry in Afghanistan but seeing the shadows
of fear in New York hovering over Kim’s life “made him so uneasy.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.276) On
the other hand seeing Hiroko and Kim together gave him satisfaction “Whatever might be
happening in the wider world, at least, the Weiss-Burtons and the Tanaka-Ashrafs had finally
found spaces to cohabit in, complicated shared history giving nothing but the depth to the
reservoir of their friendship.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.277).We can see the same Harry as a strong
defence for Raza against Steve and everyone else. His fatherly love for Raza finds an expression
in the thought, “Hiroko, Sajjad, Konrad, Ilse ,Harry; history had blown all of them off course, no
one ending –or even meddling – where they had begun, but it was only Raza that Harry saw
reshaping as are reflexive act rather than an adaptive response.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.282)

Then we can see his concern for the nuclear war, he asked Steve, “Could you tell Uncle
Sam to step up his efforts to cool temperatures in the neighbourhood. I had an uncle in
Nagasaki—that’s one piece of family history I don’t want to relive.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.282).Ilse
sees his motive behind joining CIA as an effort to banish the nuclear war between Russia and
America. The same Harry wrote a blistering article under the pseudonym of Harry’s Pathan, in
the nineties, in an influential defense journal about the CIA’s decision to turn its back to
Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal because of which he had to quit CIA.

And finally, we can see Harry playing a cricket match in the light of Humvees in a
makeshift ground with TCNs, without wearing his body armour, shouting in Urdu, enjoying
himself and amusing others when he was killed by an Afghan. American Steve paid tribute to
him by saying “Harry was the man I admired above all men...A visionary .And now what is he?
A piece of rotting meat.”( Shamsie, 2009, p.303).In line with the typical American approach,
Steve didn’t consider the real causes of Harry’s death instead accounted it for his friendship with
a mere Pakistani TNC against whom he had warned Harry time and again. We can see it is not as
a question of allegiance but a prejudice between ‘us’ and ‘them’.
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Shamsie also refers to the societal structures at different levels and their transformation
for example Nagasaki before war was “turn-of-century cosmopolitan world, unique in Japan-
it’s English- language newspapers, its International Club its liaisons and intermarriages between
European men and Japanese women” (Shamsie, 2009, p.12) In 1938 when Konrad enters Azalea
Manor for the first time ‘ photographs along the wall ... captured his attention’ where ‘
Europeans and Japanese’ were ‘mixing uncomplicatedly’ but seven years later ‘war fractures
every view.( Shamsie, 2009, p.6) Konrad was ‘planning to write a book about the cosmopolitan
world’ the same Nagasaki gets recontextualized in World War II ‘they come increasingly to
check’ Shamsie, 2009, p. (12) on whosoever has contacts with the foreigners, the pronoun ‘they’
refers to the military intelligence of the country. Germany was an ally of Japan in the Axis of
Power but “Ever since Germany’s surrender” (Shamsie, 2009, p.17) ‘’the Germans’ status in
Japan changes from allies to suspicious foreigners.

New York is presented as a metropolitan where people from all parts of the world come
to earn their living, where Abdullah goes to earn better living ‘But my brothers said one of us
had to go to America where you can earn a better living”(313) , where Hiroko goes to take
refuge from impending nuclear war between India and Pakistan ,where she is greeted by the
immigration officer with a welcome note “Here you will be safer”( Shamsie, 2009, p. 287) where
she meets Omar from Gujranwala who greets her “Welcome to my country, aunty...” (Shamsie,
2009, p.288) “A city in which she could here Urdu ,English, Japanese, German all in a space of a
few minutes...Nothing foreign about the foreignness of this city” (Shamsie, 2009, p.288-289)
‘But then, things shifted. The island seemed smaller, people’s views shrunken. (Shamsie, 2009,
p.289) the same New York after 9/11 comes under a great wave of patriotism by hanging
American flags from all edifices .Hiroko wonders, “How could a place so full of immigrants take
the idea of ‘patriotism’ so serious”(Shamsie, 2009, p.289) and on the other hand in Abdullah’s
words “New York now is nets cast to the wind, seeking for any Muslim to ensnare.” (Shamsie,
2009, p.353)

When Abdullah told Raza about Kandahar twenty years ago he said “his city- the emerald
in the desert whose fruit trees bore poems, whose language was the sweetness of ripe figs...But
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Raza’s brief glimpse of Kandahar had shown him only dust, fierceness” (Shamsie, 2009,
p.316).Hiroko went to see Abdullah in the New York Public Library, where he was sitting with a
large picture book. When Hiroko appreciated the picture he told her it was ‘Kandahar. Before the
wars...First, they cut down the trees. Then they put landmines everywhere. Now—“He bunched
his fingers together and then sprang them apart. “Cluster bombs.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.311).It’s a
discourse of war and destruction writ bold everywhere in the city of Kandahar. The destruction
reflects the impacts of power and hegemony and ideology that go with grabbing the ultimate
power. In sharp contrast to this destruction of the city caused by long years of variety of wars
there was another picture “of a very old couple, the woman vibrant in multicoloured clothes, the
man resting his hand on her shoulder as they walked across the sand dunes as if he knew his
drabness would become part of the desert floor if he didn’t stay moored to the woman’s column
of brightness. The sky was impossibly blue.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.311)

This is a counter narrative of all the Western propaganda about bringing peace and
emancipation in Afghanistan through wars. Shamsie also refers to Taliban as described by
Ismail, Abdullah’s brother. He told Raza in the days before Taliban “Neither women nor young
boys were safe in that days-then the Taliban came, they rescued the kidnapped women, drove
away the warlords who were fighting in the bazaar over a young boy…But the Taliban –they
don’t know Sufis or orchards. They grew up in refugees camps, with no memory of this land, no
attachment to anything except the idea of fighting infidels and heretics” (Shamsie, 2009,
p.320).Ismail shared with Raza “when they came they brought laws different to the laws I grew
up with’ they banned football and music it was painful for him ‘but when I watch the crops
growing or my sons walking down the street without fear, at least, there’s music in my
heart.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.320).Here Shamsie leaves it to the future discourses to distinguish
between the Taliban and after Taliban’s days “the bastards are back in power’ and Abdullah’s
son is “forbidden to leave the house without being accompanied. He is a very beautiful
boy...though in these days perhaps that’s a curse.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.319) This is a discourse of
disadvantage (Fairclough, 1993) representing the ground realities of Afghans’ lives.
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Shamsie also refers to the styles or the ways of being of different characters, they two are
interdiscursive in the sense that they evolve with the ever evolving panorama of life. In our first
encounter with Abdullah, he is an early teen ager with a pride of being a Pushtun, a gunrunner
with a picture of a dead Soviet soldier on his truck and a resolve to fight the last soldier back
from his land. We see the same Abdullah as a passionate friend of Raza Hazara, respectful and
caring for the family he lives with at Soharab Goth, eager learner of English, expert in handling
,dismantling and assembling AK-47 at a young age, then we see him at a training camp to join
the Mujahedeen to restore his homeland to peace and make it a ‘Paradise’ again we see the same
Abdullah as a representative labour Afghan diaspora in New York after 9/11, hunted by the FBI
and with a strong desire to go back to his homeland Afghanistan which he was forced to leave at
the age of twelve.

We see Raza Konrad Ashraf as a brilliant, promising child of Sajjad Ali Ashraf and
Hiroko Tanaka, a born Pakistani with his mother’s features and bone structure and love for
languages. We sense some identity issue when at the thirteen in reply to his mother‘s question
“why none of his friends had come to visit in the last few weeks, he yelled at his mother “I can’t
ask any of my friends home...With you showing around your legs. Why can’t you be more
Pakistani?”( Shamsie, 2009, p.130) ,then we see him as a “sixteen years old boy tracing his
fingers pictures from glossy magazines advertising the various electronic gadgets his cousin in
the gulf claimed to own” (Shamsie, 2009, p.129) and the glitter of those gadgets and the stories
of earning even without doing metric fascinated him a lot. He was called junior by his friends
because of his double promotion in one class. Raza never spoke a word of Japanese to his mother
in public unlike the other boys thinking “Why allow the world to know his mind contained words
from a country he had never visited? Weren’t his eyes, his bone structure and his bare-legged
Japanese mother distancing factors enough?”(Shamsie, 2009, p.139) .From a very young age, he
had learnt “how to downplay his manifest difference.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.139)

After he finished his exams “everything in Raza had been a bit strange”( Shamsie, 2009,
p.142) He “threw himself in enjoying the time before college, talking loudly and excitedly
about law, boasting that when the exam results came to his name would be at the top of the list-
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he who had always been so circumspect about his successes.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.143) Hiroko
could sense some kind of ‘falseness’ and wished she had not opted for his double promotion,
“she wondered if he was yet ready for the next stage of life.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.143) Raza got
blank in his last compulsory Islamic Studies paper. He did not write anything except “There are
no intermediaries in Islam. Allah knows what is in my heart.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.144) and handed
the paper over to the examiner. But he didn’t tell anybody what had happened thinking “For a
few more weeks he could still be Raza the Brilliant, Raza the aspiring, and Raza the Son Who
Would fulfil His Father’s Dreams.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.145).Here Shamsie has capitalized all the
main content words like a title, Raza adopted this deceit of not sharing what had gone wrong to
seek an escape in the state of denial.

Later he disguised himself as Raza Hazara, became an English teacher for the Afghan
refugees at Soharab Goth, gained confidence, passed the examination and decided to leave
Abdullah’s friendship at a befitting turn by going with him to a training camp for adventure sake.
But it was at the camp that he realised how difficult it was to be an Afghan and Mujahedeen. He
came back to Karachi only to know that there was no home anymore for his father died in his
search. He could not stand his and mother’s sense of loss so he left for Dubai to earn his living.

From there Harry took him along to Miami in Arkwright and Glenn, a private military
company, where he worked in the main office as a translator. During the War on Terror, A & G
was employed by the CIA and he went to Afghanistan with Harry. Where Harry got killed while
playing a cricket match and in utter shock he was blamed by Steve, the CIA agent, for planning
Harry’s murder. He sought an escape, had the experience of ‘unbecoming’ by burning every
legal document, undertook the ‘journey of the destitute’ resolved ‘never to be the same again,
reached Canada, met Abdullah his friend after twenty years, disguised as Abdullah the Afghan to
let the real Abdullah escape and landed in a prison as a nameless, naked prisoner at the end of his
wits, from where he would be taken to Guantanamo Bay. In this whole description, we find the
discourse of displacement, the discourse of social exclusion, the discourse of disadvantage-- they
all combine together make the novel as an interdiscursive text.
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As Fairclough(2003) says interdiscursive analysis has a crucial mediating role in

application of CDA to a social research and research on social change so we have seen in the
above mentioned analysis that Shamsie’s epic novel Burnt Shadows has all the elements; like the
mixing of different kind of discourses, presentation of different styles and structures,
recontextualization of many objects and redefinition of many people through the lens of
neo/colonialism representing reality of war, suffering, destruction, loss, fear and trauma from
another angle different from the grand narratives in the various felids of social analysis.

From here I will move on to the main focus of my research that is Shamsie as a
diaspora writer and Burnt Shadows as a diaspora novel with special reference to the postcolonial
diaspora theory of Edward Said (1999), the presentation of place and displacement and identity
crisis in the lives of the displaced people because of the power tactics of the hegemonic forces
that have been operating the world from WW II to War on Terror.

4.5. Shamsie as Postcolonial Pakistani Diaspora Writer

According to Esman (2009), "Diasporas are the consequence of transnational migration."

Kamila Shamsie, a Pakistani English fiction writer is also a diaspora writer because of her
transnational migrations. Shamsie’s global interconnections and the use of modern technologies
promote a more dynamic theme in diaspora (Brown, 2006). Her diasporic consciousness displays
how the old place and abode can be so much more present in the lives of migrants (Chambers,
2012). Migration, in Shamsie’s fictional and non-fictional discourse, is stressed by the absence of
permanence (Said, 1999) and the borders between Pakistan and some host countries such as UK
and USA, in Shamsie’s case, render too much fluidity in her works. Shamsie is distinct with her
diaspora stories since she mostly lives and writes in Pakistan unlike most of the other diaspora
authors who reign permanently in the Western world. Diasporic writing, generally, falls under
classifications such as ethnicity, hybridity and nationality (Chambers, 2012).In one way or the
other Shamsie reflects all.
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Shamsie’s postcolonial background and neo-colonial experiences make her diasporic

fiction a unique kind of postcolonial diasporic discourse which in Fairclough (2003) terms is
a form of social practice (Nash, 2012). The use of language in her writing is a mode of action
that is socially pregnant (Said, 1976). Shamsie’s discourse is socially constitutive of social
identities, social relations and the knowledge and belief systems of the characters she portrays.
Fairclough (2003) model of CDA deals with a theory of language which emphasizes the varied
functions of language and which oversees every text as continuously having the “ideational,”
“interpersonal” and “textual” functions of language (Nash, 2012).

Burnt Shadows, on the other hand, as a postcolonial diaspora fiction evidently provides
an “important historical counterpoint to long standing Orientalist tropes (Ahmed, et. al., 2012).
The novel is also a fine example of English fiction by a Pakistani diaspora, and how it is based
on a search for identity and the sentiments of the immigrants and how they constantly long for
home.

Shamsie’s novels, in general also highlight the notion that people do experience Pakistan
in complex ways for example in Burnt Shadows, Hiroko, Sajjad and their son Raza have
different experiences regarding their identity, similarly, Harry, Kim, Steve and Abdullah also
perceive Pakistan and their experiences there in quite different ways .Shamsie has very skillfully
integrated them all in her writing adding her experience, observation and research to make them
more lifelike. Cilano (2013) while talking about the representation of ‘Pakistaniness’ in English
fiction by Pakistani writers says that her analysis of more than two dozen novels does not
provide her a single definition of “Pakistaniness” rather it creates a spectrum that runs from a
reinforcement of dominant modes of belonging to reinvent the terms of collective attachment
like idea of a homeland. So despite having an accusation of patronizing Western audiences
Pakistani English fiction has brought interesting facets and new dimensions about Pakistan to
greater heights and wider scale.
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Shamsie, as a postcolonial diaspora writer provides the historical conscience through the
colonial and post-colonial disjuncture of the story about the modern and global world (Loomba,
2005). In her novels, it is shown that Pakistan came from a turbulent past and its literature is not
without the traces of its socio-political developments which shaped the country’s temporal and
spatial landscape (Farahani, 2007).In Shamsie's works, history is neither rhetorical nor literary
but instead a group of material and political circumstances under which the individual struggles
for meaning (Ahmed & Mukherjee, 2011). For instance, Burnt Shadows strongly depicts the
commitment to cross-border interaction ethically in order to widen, complicate and inquire on
the shared languages and common frames of reference to the heritage of a colonial history,
among others, which make globalization work (Boehmer, 2010). Similarly, Burnt Shadows
incorporates the power of Muhajirs' mythology to illustrate how its characters establish a sense
of belonging to Pakistan (Cilano, 2013).

Robin Cohen (1997) sets forth some common features of diasporas which by and large
deal with the permanent loss of home and an inherent longing for it. But Brown (2006) draws the
conclusion that modern expanded concept of diaspora is rather a departure from the classical
concept. It refers to a “migrant community that maintains material or sentimental linkages with
its home country while adapting to the environment and institutions of its host country” (Esman,
2009).Talking about modern diaspora Brown (2006) writes, "Becoming a diaspora is a long –
time business of managing change and continuity, and of negotiating old and new senses of
'identity as people come to term with their new environment. There is always a reflection of the
awareness of “multiple challenges of a changing external world” (Brown, 2006) .Shamsie deals
with these challenges as a transnational diaspora subject and postcolonial diaspora writer very
skillfully.

Recent years have seen a multidisciplinary literature in English by Pakistani writers;

both in country and in exile which reveals the greater involvement of a younger generation in the
act of presentation, representation and mode of resistance and the recent outstanding examples in
the UK Pakistani diaspora writers are of Kamila Shamsie and Nadeem Aslam, who write with
the sensitivity, depth, and grace of acute yet humane observers of their own torn society, while
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making a valuable contribution to English world literature. They are not alone, 9/11 and the post
9/11 policies of the world power stake-holders, have not been able to crush people’s will to seek
ways of living in amity across religious and ethnic divisions but the fact remains that diasporas
are made and remade historically: they must continuously negotiate their citizenship rights and
full membership in their adopted nations (Werbner, 2011).

Shamsie belongs to a new generation of Anglophone Pakistani diaspora writers like

Mohsin Hamid, Sara Sulehri, and Nadeem Aslam who are trying to bring the predicament of
their country to an international audience that is fixed by its turbulent political situation.
Contemporary geopolitical changes have changed the world’s awareness of the nuclear-armed
Pakistani nation of 180 million seen as under grave threat from Islamic extremists, Pakistan is
often headlined as ‘the most dangerous place in the world’. Shamsie’s focus is on the minutia of
lived experience in Pakistan amongst a predominantly elite and cosmopolitan class, countering
simple demonization of Islam. Shamsie’s early fictional texts- In the City by the Sea (1998), Salt
and Saffron (2000), Kartography (2002) and Broken Verses (2005) delineate instead, the
political manipulation of religion by all parties and governments throughout Pakistan’s history.
As a Pakistani female writer from elite, westernized, avowedly secular background, Shamsie
distinguishes between Islam as a religion and a culture.

As a diaspora writer Shamsie’s engagements with questions of gender, religion and

secularism needs to be examined in relation to the burden of representation in the production,
reception, circulation and interpretation of the fictional and non-fictional works of a new
generation of women writers from Muslim background writing in the context of discourses that
fix Islam as inherently patriarchal, alongside hegemonic representations of Muslim women as
victims within Islamic societies. Shamsie’s writing according to Mitra Rasteger (as quoted by
Panasinha, 2012) is liberation narratives “that reconstitute Orientalist attitude towards Islamic
societies.”(Panasinha, 2012, p. 206)
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City by the Sea (1998) her first novel, which she wrote during her graduation from the
USA, represents Karachi through the gaze of a child. There is an exploration of Karachi and
Pakistani cultural identity in the background of the Partition in Salt and Saffron (2000) and after
effects of 1971 civil war and Fall of Dhaka in Kartoghraphy (2002).Shamsie has a constant
engagement in the politics of representation and counter- representation of Islam and Muslim
identities with a particular focus on the over lapping parameters of gender, religion, secularism
and female emancipation. Burnt Shadows (2009) her epic novel traverses Japan, Pakistan, the US
and Afghanistan, her latest novel A God in Every Stone (2014) is a powerful story of friendship,
injustice, love and betrayal, it carries the reader across the globe, into the heart of empires fallen
and conquered, reminding the humans that they all have their place in the chaos of history and
that so much of what is lost will not be forgotten (Shamsie, 2014).

Both Burnt Shadows and Broken Verses explore the Western world’s Islamophobia and
the politics of representation of Muslim identity in a post 9/11 world. Shamsie conveys the
power to identify one’s self as a secular Pakistani against the global media’s projection to
associate one’s identity with Islam. In Broken Verses, Shamsie presents Shahnaz’s son Ed who
returned to Karachi from New York, where in the post 9/11 scenario he “stopped being
individual and started being an entire religion.”(Shamsie, 2005, p. 45) Through Ed’s example
she makes a point in Broken Verses that for him and others like him the choice to reject Muslim
identification does not exist in the post 9/11 world. Shamsie reinforces this idea through
Abdullah’s observations in Burnt Shadows “...everyone just wants to tell you what they know
about Islam, how they know so much more than you do, what do you know, you’ve just been a
Muslim your whole life...” (Shamsie, 2009, p .352).

The evils of stereotyping, as Said (1978) puts it, have tragic consequences. Harry’s
daughter, Kim assumes every Afghan’s including Abdullah’s involvement in her father’s
assassination and calls the police to arrest him, leading to Raza’s internment. (Panasinha, 2012,
p.211) Shamsie continues hard hitting critiques of Euro-American politics in the context of the
War on Terror writing journalistic essays in different newspapers of the world .In Offence: The
Muslim Case (2009) she argues that Islam must be located in the ‘nation’. This strand of
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identification is in marked contrast to the reconfiguration of religion under ‘cross national

articulation and global concerns of Burnt Shadows. In Offence: The Muslim Case, Shamsie
seeks to place the recent surge in extremist Islam within the framework of the national state and
exposes the myth of Islam as a static global temporal entity. Shamsie examines the figure of the
offended Muslim, and productively dispels the entrenched notion that offence is encountered in
the Muslim world only where it clashes with the West: “in Pakistan the name of Islam invoked
over a range of perceived offences, most of them entirely without reference to the non-Muslim
world.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.3)Both Burnt Shadows and Broken Verses dramatize the idea that
offence is a more political, intra-religious agenda. (Panasinha, 2012, p, 211) While Shamsie’s
fiction advances a secular worldview, it also shows the limits of this worldview by revealing how
important Islam remains to the individual Muslims. Islam itself is depicted as a gentle, spiritual,
poetic and most importantly individualistic and thus ‘de-Othered’. (Panasinha, 2012)

4.5.1. Representation of Diasporas in Burnt Shadows

When we look at Burnt Shadows as diaspora novel, first of all, the story, directly and
indirectly, revolves round Pakistan and the ebb and flow of its history, there is a depiction of
Karachi, Shamsie’s birthplace as well though in a different connotation. Hence, the presentation
of her birth place and the country of her origin prove Shamsie as a Pakistani diaspora writer. She
says in an interview with Filgate that she wanted to write this novel about 1998 Pakistan when
India and Pakistan both went nuclear and forge a link between a Pakistani and a Japanese
character from Nagasaki, though the story took a different turn later but she very skillfully links
WWII with War on Terror passing through colonial and postcolonial India, Partition, Cold War,
Afghan Jihad, 9/11 and post 9/11 world and War on Terror. (Shamsie, 2014)

In terms of characters, there is a depiction of a variety of Japanese, Indian, Pakistani,

Afghan, German and British diasporas in the novel. But I will focus on analyzing three main
characters, Hiroko Tanaka, Japanese diasporas, Sajjad Ali Ashraf, an Indian diaspora and
Abdullah as Afghan diaspora. James Burton, Harry, Elizabeth, Raza and the other minor
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characters of the novel though experience multiple place and displacement do not make diaspora
as the main characters do.

To begin with there is Hiroko Tanaka, a direct victim of the atomic bomb dropped on
Nagasaki. Her story begins from Nagasaki in August 1945.On a bright sunny morning of 9
August, she was proposed by her German lover, who went to the Urakami Cathedral to see
Father Asano and promised to come back to dinner. She was celebrating her engagement by
putting on her mother’s white kimono with black birds on the back when the bomb was dropped
and “Then the world goes white” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 23) never to be the same again. According
to Zinck (2010), the protagonist, Hiroko, became “the novel's interpreter of personal and
collective losses, of narratives of renewal of ties and estrangement, betrayal and atonement...”(
Zinck, 2010, p. 46)

Hiroko had to leave Nagasaki for there the hospitals were ‘overrun’ she went to Tokyo
for treatment but had to leave that as well when she heard the American with a ‘gentle face’
saying that the dropping of the bomb had been necessary to, 'save the American lives'(Shamsie,
2009).She left for colonial India where Konrad’s half-sister lived.

Despite having all the luxuries and comforts there at Burton’s place in New Delhi she
always had a feeling that she didn’t belong to that world. She didn’t want to go back to Japan
because "To the Japanese she was nothing beyond an explosion-affected person; that was her
defining feature.”(Shamsie, 2009, p. 48) .There she would be reduced to ‘hibakusha’ the atomic
bomb survivor; she had a feeling that this word had started consuming her life already.

Love and longing for the familiar world is the most common feature among all diasporas
(Brubaker, 2005).Hiroko’s love for the lost land manifests itself when a few months before the
Partition Elizabeth took Hiroko to Mussoorie with the notion that this place might affect her
positively. There Hiroko met a retired general on the Mall who told her “Mussoorie was just
south of the Sino-Japanese phytogeoghraphical region. That evening he sent Burtons an
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abundance of flowers from the surrounding hills, and it was not just their familiarity that made
her want to weep but the fact that she did not know their Japanese names, and there was no one
she could turn to for the information”( Shamsie, 2009, p. 96).

The pangs of nostalgia were there when each day sitting in a tree house, her eyes drifting
over Mussoorie:

trees and flowers as familiar as the texture of tatami beneath her feet, she strung together
different memories of Nagasaki as though they were rosary beads; the faint sound of her
father preparing paint on his ink stone, the deepening purple of a sky studded by clusters
and constellations of light in an evening filled with the familiar tones of her neighbours'
voices, the school children rising to their feet as she entered the classroom, the walk along
Qura with Konrad, dreaming of all that would be possible after the war… (Shamsie,
2009, p.96)

All this reflects her longing for the lost home where she could never return. The lost home
and homeland haunted her but quite differently from other diasporas as she told Elizabeth she
“kept thinking of Nagasaki... but nothing in the world could ever be more unfamiliar than my
home that day. That unspeakable day. Literally unspeakable. (Shamsie, 2009, p.99) .She went
on telling:

...until you see a place you’ve known your whole life reduced to ash you don’t realise
how much we crave familiarity. Do you see those flowers on that hillside, Ilse? I want to
know their names in Japanese. I want to hear Japanese. I want tea that tastes the way tea
should taste in my understanding of tea. I want to look like people around me. I want
people to disapprove when I break the rules and not simply to think that I don’t know
better. I want doors to slide open instead of swinging open, I want all those things that
never meant anything, that still wouldn’t mean anything if I hadn’t lost them...I know that
but it doesn’t stop me wanting them .I want to see Urakami Cathedral. I used to think it
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ruined the view, never liked it. But now I want to see Urakami Cathedral, I want to hear
its bells ringing. I want to smell cherry blossoms burning. I want to feel my body move
with the motion of being in a street-car. I want to live between hills and sea. I want to eat
kasutera.(Shamsie, 2009, p.99-100)

Despite her craving for familiarity, she couldn’t go back to Japan because there war and
bomb would be her only defining feature, she would be reduced to ‘hibakusha ’and she didn’t
want to be identified as such. She told Sajjad later her world “doesn’t exist anymore” (Shamsie,
2009, p.113).Nostalgia, loss and the necessity to move on all are reflected in her words .She
married Sajjad; they had to migrate to Pakistan after Partition, settled in Karachi and had a son
Raza. Though for more than five decades “she had never allowed nostalgia to take up more than
the most fleeting of residencies in her life” (Shamsie, 2009, p.129) she still regarded herself as
“A demure Japanese woman...with a touch of satisfaction, at the ridiculousness of the
idea.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.130). She couldn’t go back to her lost land but this couldn’t make her
think of herself anyone else as but a ‘Japanese woman’.

When they migrated to Pakistan she used to go to Jimmy Coffee Shop, and in its family
section ‘for years, she used to meet a group of Japanese women on the first Saturday of each
month at 5 p.m. Those monthly meetings had started in early ’48 when she and Sajjad were still
living in the refugee camps” (Shamsie, 2009, p.140) Sajjad introduced her to a Japanese woman,
whose husband worked at the Embassy. Through her Hiroko met the other Japanese wives in
Karachi, and entered their weekly gatherings at Jimmy’s-it had meant a lot, more than she had
guessed, “to have the promise of an evening every week to sit and laugh in Japanese.” Shamsie,
2009, p.140).But she never told them that she had been in Nagasaki when the bomb fell. But then
the capital shifted to Islamabad in 1960. “Taking Japanese Embassy with it’ and ‘the heart went
out of those meeting.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.141) then the demolition of the cafe brought an end to
the meetings and, “she found herself mourning the loss.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.141)
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Yoshi Watanabe, Konrad’s friend was her only link to Japan, they used to exchange
letters. He even came to Pakistan with a group of atomic bomb survivor to convince the
Pakistani government not to opt for a nuclear explosion. She held a press conference with him
and spent an evening “filled with laughter and tears.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.290) She left Pakistan
and went to New York to seek refuge from atomic war. There she was happy to listen to many
people talking in different languages including Japanese.

When Hiroko came to know that between India and Pakistan there was a' movement away
from, rather than towards nuclear war 'she wanted to share this news with Yoshi Watanabe, so
she called him, but she didn't recognize his voice first. He sounded nothing like the man who had
arrived in Pakistan with a group of hibkushas determined to say what he could to turn Pakistan
away from the idea of nuclear tests” (Shamsie, 2009, p.290). He told that he had cancer that had
spread 'everywhere' and added, “There is nothing anyone can do.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.291) She
had burning tears in her eyes. In Nagasaki, he had only been someone she knew very vaguely,
Konrad's friend who betrayed Konrad .And then she became to him, an atonement. Following
that, through all the years of letters exchanged, “he was her only remaining link to Nagasaki”
(Shamsie, 2009, p.291) - her lost land and he too was dying.

His painful outburst bordered madness where everything became meaningless and
nothing remained a matter of choice. He even lost his conviction that had made him travel to
Pakistan to stop the nuclear race. All this was devastating for Hiroko, she left the place where
she had gone for a meal, half blind with tears, his incoherent talk haunted her like anything and
she was “unable to keep herself imagining the congestion of Karachi manifest in a post-bomb
landscape by shadows overlapping shadows” (Shamsie, 2009, p.291)

While watching the river rushed past Hiroko said to Kim,' Fairy tales.' And then went on
“When Raza was young I didn't want him to know what I had lived through but I wanted him to
understand the awfulness of it... So I invented all these stories, terrible stories. Too terrible to tell
my son, in the end. I keep thinking of them these days. (Shamsie, 2009, p.293)Kim nodded in
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understanding and said her father had told her about them and she hoped Hiroko didn't mind. In
response Hiroko said,

No, I wish I'd told Raza. Told everyone. Written it down and put a copy in every school,
every library, every public meeting place…But you see, then I read the history books
.Truman. Churchill, Stalin, the Emperor. My stories seemed so small, so tiny fragment in
the big picture. Even Nagasaki-seventy-five thousand dead; it's just a fraction of the
seventy-two million who died in the war. A tiny fraction. Just, .001 percent. Why all this
fuss about, .001 percent. (Shamsie, 2009, p.293)

In order to console Hiroko Kim said, “You lived it… our father died in it. Your fiancé
died in it. There's no shame putting all the weight in the world on that. 'It was a wrong answer.
Hiroko turned to her, face bright with anger” (Shamsie, 2009, p.293) and she asked, “Is that
why?” and went on, “That’s why Nagasaki was such a monstrous crime? Because it happened to
me?” (Shamsie, 2009, p.294) The American Kim failed to realize it wasn't a personal tragedy but
a national and a human tragedy. What Kim said was just an echo of what the American doctor
had said years ago. Americans' obliviousness of the others' collateral damage and the enormity of
the whole sale sufferings were as painful as ever. Nostalgia, regrets and trauma all were
combined together to add to the agony of this Japanese diaspora.

When Hiroko met Abdullah she realized how the lost land went on haunting the humans--
like Abdullah, like her, like Sajjad. While moving with Harry after 9/11, Hiroko looked at the
faded poster posted on the heavily graffitied wall of a loft building which displayed a picture of a
young man with the words in bold for emphasis:

MISSING SINCE 9/11.IF ANY INFORMATION ABOUT LUIS RIVERA PLEASE

CALL…'It reminded Hiroko of the train station at Nagasaki, the day Yoshi had taken her
to Tokyo. The walls had been plastered with signs asking for news of missing people.
She stepped closer to take in the smile of Luis Rivera, its unfettered optimism '. In
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moments such as these, it seemed entirely wrong to feel oneself living in a different
history to the people of this city. (Shamsie, 2009, p.274).

The impact of the macro level power politics on the micro level stream of life has been a
long tale fraught with sufferings, pain, losses, damages, destruction, agony, trauma, regret and
what not.

Similarly, Hiroko recalled the thrill of coming to Chinatown for the first time and
discovering so many vegetables she hadn’t seen since Nagasaki. She still remembered some of
the Chinese names for products her mother used to buy in the Chinese quarter .She found “Hong
xao” she hadn’t uttered this name since Nagasaki and Hiroko and Harry (who associate them
with India) were “eating with the relish of nostalgia.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.275).

All the above-mentioned examples from the text present Hiroko as Japanese diaspora,
who was rather compelled by the circumstances to leave Japan but she could not forget it
throughout her life, it went on haunting her till the end. From this, we will move on to the second
main diaspora in the novel.

Sajjad Ali Ashraf is an Indian diaspora. Since our first introduction to him in the novel
we see his love for ‘Dilli’, the part of the city where his family has been living for generations
though he is fascinated by the ‘colonizers’ Delhi’ as well as a part of India. One day when he
went with the Burtons and Hiroko to Qutb Minar to show them his world while explaining its
history to Elizabeth he told her about, its origin, about his ancestors, Rani of Jhansi and Razia
Sultana from the vibrant history of India and had a feeling that this is how the Indian history
should be told not by the outsiders but by the Indians to the outsiders. This is what Said (1978)
says about presentations of the Orientals by them and not from the Occident’s’ perspective. In
Burnt Shadows Shamsie reflects a variety of displacements that provides historic visions, which
are real and vibrant as compared to more encompassing present (Loomba,1998 ).
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During the whole independence movement, Sajjad was sure that he would live and die in
‘Dilli’ and that his world had the capacity to remain unaffected by the historical events like
colonization and decolonization. But then the death of his mother symbolized the loss of his
motherland in the days to come. He married Hiroko and was sent to Turkey by Burtons to save
her from witnessing bloodshed of the Partition. While they were in Turkey, Sajjad told Hiroko
Partition had changed everything even his desire to be there:

It’s not that I want to be there...What would I do? Join the men with machine guns
guarding every entrance to my old neighbourhood? Refuse to join them, and cower inside
my family home instead? That’s where we’d be, you know—Muslim homes in New Delhi
are being destroyed. Women pulled out of beds at night...I don’t want to know which of
my childhood friends have become murderers in the time we’ve been away...No, I don’t
want to be there. But it feels like a betrayal, all the same.(Shamsie, 2009, p.125).

He had a realisation that his ‘Dilli’ had been in the grip of the worst kind of violence and
living there would not be an easy experience .But then it was his birth place where he had spent
his whole life, it’s his mother land to where he must return.

By October, the violence ended, and though Sajjad said he knew it would be a different
Delhi he’d be returning to, he consoled himself by thinking “nothing could change the essential
Dilliness of the place.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.125) He went to the Indian Consulate to get paperwork
processed before they could return to Delhi. But on his return, the way he entered the room made
Hiroko realise there was something wrong. And he told her as if in a terrible trance, “They said I
chose to leave...They said I’m one of the Muslims who chose to leave India. It can’t be
unchosen...they said I can’t go back to Dilli. I can’t go back home.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.125).He
uttered all this slowly and carefully, “as though they were a foreign language whose meanings he
was trying to grasp” (Shamsie, 2009, p.125) such was the intensity of shock. Hiroko tried to
divert his attention:
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...but he couldn’t hear her above the fluttering of pigeons and the call of the
muezzin of Jamia Masjid and the cacophony of his brother’s arguments and the hubbub
of merchants and buyers in Chandni Chowk and the rustling of palm leaves in the
monsoons and the laughter of his nephews and nieces and the shouts of the kite-flyers
and the burble of fountains in the courtyards and the husky voice of the never-seen
neighbour singing ghazals before sunrise and his heartbeat, his frantic heartbeat...
(Shamsie, 2009, p.126).

It’s a whole world lost and left behind like a death of a part of one’s own being. But Life
moved on ,the Ashrafs settled in Karachi still the rituals of his home in Dilli went on haunting
him, for “Sajjad, a steaming-hot cup of tea brought to a man first thing in the morning by a
woman of the family was the basic component of the intricate system of courtesies that made up
the life of a household ” (Shamsie, 2009, p.132).Years back in his home in Dilli while his
mother was talking about his marriage he told her that even after marriage he would like her to
make her first cup of tea. At the start of 1947, years back he believed “the world of his moholla
would be the world of the rest of his life, and his children’s lives and their children’s lives.”
(Shamsie, 2009, p.133) But he lamented:

If he had known then that he and Dilli would be lost to each other by the autumn-because
of the woman he had chosen against his family’s wishes—he could have wept, recited
Ghalib’s verses lamenting the great poet’s departure from Delhi, cursed the injustice and
foolishness of passion, and made lists of all the sights and sounds of daily texture of Dilli
life that he was certain would haunt him forever, making every other place in the world a
wilderness of loss. (Shamsie, 2009, p.134)

When Harry came to see them in Karachi he “stepped through the vestibule into a smaller
version of the Ashrafs’ home as he recalled it from his childhood: low-roofed rooms built around
an open-air courtyard which was dominated by a large tree. But the flowerpots filled with
marigolds, snapdragons and phlox which were clustered near the tree brought to mind another
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Delhi world.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.152).His home in Karachi was a mixture of his home in Dilli
and what used to fascinate him in Delhi. The lost homes might not be regained but replicated in
the memory of the bygone days (Brubaker, 2005).

Sajjad refreshed his old memories of 1944 with Harry, how he made him teach ‘gala-
milo’ when Harry went to condole with his family at his father’s death. He stood at divan and
embraced each of his brothers and they regarded him as “the finest Englishman in India”.
(Shamsie, 2009, p.153) Harry reminded Sajjad “You used to talk about Delhi as if it were the
only city worth belonging to...’at which Sajjad said, Dilli is Dilli...My first love. I would never
have left it willingly. But those Bastards didn’t let me go home.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.161). So the
sense of loss of the lost home where he could not return had been a part of Sajjad being
throughout his life proving him a typical diaspora .As Mishrah( 2007) says that when a homeland
is not available in any 'real' sense, it exists as an absence that acquires surplus meaning by the
fact of diaspora.

From here I will move on to the third diaspora Abdullah, a forced diaspora of the neo-
colonial world.

Abdullah is a part of Afghan diaspora created because of Cold War and then War on
Terror. By and large, Afghans are a daring and a worrier nation with Islamic bent of mind. In our
first meeting with Abdullah on the beach in Karachi, he was just a child. Raza saw a truck fifteen
feet high and started talking to the man sitting on it in Pashto who asked Raza who he was and he
confidently replied that he was an Afghan Hazara. The man called a boy of less than fourteen,
the gaze of whose hazel eyes is rather adult gaze that was weighing his credibility. Shamsie’s
fiction is representative of the juxtaposition of the historical and cultural differences, place,
displacement, and a pervasive concern with the legends of identity and authenticity (Ashcroft,
2002).The man said, “You have a brother here from Afghanistan...A Hazara” (Shamsie, 2009,
p.164). He ignored Raza and asked the man ‘Since when are Hazaras and Pashtuns
brothers?’(Shamsie, 2009, p.164) Burke & Stets (2009) define the concept of 'self ' as the
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consciousness of one’s very own identity’ and young Abdullah had the awareness of his ethnic
identity even at a very young age. Raza answered, “Since the Soviet marched into our house and
we both had to escape through a window, that’s since when Hazaras and Pashtuns are brothers”.
(Shamsie, 2009, p .164) Raza’s response retells the past (Ashcroft, 1989).The boy was sharp
enough to note his Pakistani accent of Pashto so he asked how long had he been away from
Afghanistan. In the meantime, Sajjad and Harry returned and Raza took leave .Abdullah said he
had never seen him at Soharab Goth. Raza told him he might be there soon. Abdullah told him
“there’s a truck yard next to Bara Market. Just tell anyone there you want Abdullah –the one who
drives the truck with the dead Soviet.”(Shamsie, 2009, p .165)This was the defining feature of
that Afghan diaspora at such a young age, war, jihad and a picture of a dead enemy because this
was what he had seen throughout his childhood that compelled him to work as a gunrunner at
such a young age. He told Raza that it was Afridi’s truck but it’s he who had asked for “a
miniature portrait of a man in Soviet Army uniform lying on the ground with blood gushing from
his body as though it were a multi-spouted fountain” (Shamsie, 2009, p .166).

Abdullah’s second meeting with Raza was at Soharab Goth where he was teaching a very
young Afghan girl. Raza asked was she his sister. He said, “Yes, but not by blood. I live with her
family here. We’re from the same village.”(Shamsie, 2009, p .197).He told Raza that Afridi had
gone to Peshawar but he had to stay there to look after the women. This shows how members of
Afghan diaspora are associated with one another. He asked Raza, “Did you go to
school?”(Shamsie, 2009, p .197) The question carries a whole history of the marred
opportunities for the Afghan children who had to carry guns instead of books and he told that he
used to come first in the class. This refers to the routine of the past that had been lost in the war.

When Raza avoided answering any question regarding his background under the pretext
that he had made an oath on his father’s death not to talk about it until the day last Soviet leaves
Afghanistan .Abdullah tightened his grip on his shoulder and said “We may fight over which one
of us gets to drive out that last Soviet .But until that fight, we’re brothers.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.
198)Abdullah handed AK-47 over to Raza and said: “You haven’t held one before.”(Shamsie,
2009, p .198) His questioning statement carries an element of surprise, an Afghan boy carrying it
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for the first time-as if it was a matter of routine for the Afghan boys like him to carry such arms.
This we come to know later in the text when Shamsie tells through Abdullah that almost all the
Afghan boys of fourteen join the training camps.

One day when Raza went to see Abdullah, he was unusually quiet .On asking, he told
Raza he was fourteen and his brother had promised that when he would be fourteen he could go
to one of the training camps. All his surviving brothers were Mujahedeen like the one who had
died in the beginning of the war and the rest of his family was at a refugee camp in Peshawar.
Abdullah joined Afridi at the age of twelve and came to Karachi where he lived with a family
from his village. So they formed an Afghan diaspora community at Soharab Goth. But like a
traditional diaspora subject, he had the desire to let his country free and go back that was why he
wanted to join the training camp.

Raza decided to go with him considering it “The chance to bring the friendship of Raza
Hazara and Abdullah to a close in a manner that it deserved, in a burst of adventure and
camaraderie.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.211) For Raza, it’s an adventure and a display of camaraderie
but for Abdullah, it was a matter of life and death “You and me together. The Soviet won’t stand
a chance.” (Shamsie, 2009, p.211) The Afghan diaspora of 1980 could not think of anything else
but defeat the Soviets, Abdullah is a typical representation of the same.

On their way to the training came there was a tent city of the refugees’ “It doubles in size
every time I come back’ Abdullah said, his voice quieter, graver than Raza had ever heard
before.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.215) This gravity and quietness were quite in keeping with the early
maturity that descended on all who fell victim to war. Abdullah told Raza that those camps were
the places that were enemies of human dignity .But heaven then he expressed the desire to be
there. He told Raza as if “confessing the worst of crimes” that he went to Karachi saw its light
and promise and he was forgetting the camp .He hadn’t been there for a year. He continued “I
was forgetting why there is no option for me except to join Mujahedeen. The boys growing in the
camps won’t forget. They’ll look all around and know if this is a better option that means our
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homeland now is a doorway to hell. And we must restore it to Paradise.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.215)
His tone and voice both reflect maturity, not in keeping with his age; this is how the war had
snatched the Afghan’s childhood. And this is how the young Afghan diaspora consider their past,
present and future. Return to their motherland and getting it free from the enemies is to “restore
it to Paradise” (Shamsie, 2009, p.215).

Abdullah’s brother gave them two pieces of cloths calling them ‘half their ‘essential
supply’ and told the other half, their guns, they would be given at the camp. When Raza asked
Abdullah what that piece of cloth was meant for. He replied:

For everything...Don’t Hazaras have pattusis? It’s your blanket to sleep under, our shawl
to keep you warm, your camouflage in the mountains and deserts, your stretcher when
you’re wounded, your blindfold to tie over the eyes of the untrustworthy, your tourniquet,
your prayer mat. If you’re killed in battle you’ll be buried in your blooded pattusi-the
Mujahedeen don’t need their bodies washed and purified before burial. We are already
guaranteed heaven. (Shamsie, 2009, p.226)

In this long description of the uses of ‘pattusi,’ Abdullah reflected the whole Afghan
culture of the Mujahedeen with their minimum possible needs to live, fight and survive or to get
killed in battle and go to ‘already guaranteed heaven’. Here is an Afghan diaspora subject telling
about his minimum needs and the whole philosophy of their life and death as a nation constantly
in a state of war for decades.

More than twenty years passed Raza never met Abdullah again after he left the camp. But
while working for Arkwright and Glenn in Afghanistan he tried to search Abdullah, got a call
from his brother who told him Abdullah was alive and was in America but in need of help to
cross the border because he was hunted by the FBI. Raza called Kim to help him out she refused
but shared the information with Hiroko who arranged a meeting with him and went to see him in
the library. He was sitting alone “looking at the lush orchards against a backdrop of mountains in
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his oversized book” (Shamsie, 2009, p.310).She introduced herself as Raza’s mother and told she
was Japanese, Raza wasn’t Hazara. She pointed at the double-paged photograph he had been
looking at and said it was beautiful. He responded, “Kandahar. Before the wars.”(Shamsie, 2009,
p.310). He ran his palm across the photograph, as though he could feel the texture of the ripening
pomegranates pushing up against his skin. ‘First, they cut down trees. Then they put landmines
everywhere. Now_’ He bunched his fingers together and then sprang them apart, “Cluster
bombs.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.311). It reflects nostalgia for the Kandahar before wars and regret and
a deep sense of loss what ‘they’ had made of it. During Afghan jihad against the Soviets ‘they’
refers to those who took up, sponsored, aggravated and facilities war but destroyed the city “put
landmines everywhere” and then again ‘they’ waged another war and used ‘Cluster bombs’ for
further destruction. Now Kandahar before wars was only in the pictures. He turned the page to “a
picture of a very old couple, the woman vibrant in multicoloured cloths, the man resting his hand
on her shoulder as they walked across sand dunes...The sky was impossibly blue”.( Shamsie,
2009, p.311).The picture reflects how life used to be in Afghanistan, the lost land, before ‘wars’.

Abdullah missed “The light in Afghanistan”, and added it’s, “Like nowhere else.”
(Shamsie, 2009, p.311) It carries a world of meanings for the person who was compelled by
circumstances to leave his motherland--Afghanistan and was deeply grieved over what ‘they’
made of that beautiful land. Abdullah kept looking at the pictures of the book and showed some
to Hiroko ‘a goat rearing on its hind legs with the poise of a dancer, a kite flying high above a
dome painted an identical green which made the kite appear an escaping roof tile’ when they
came to the end of the book Abdullah closed it and said, “That’s where I want to
live...Afghanistan” (Shamsie, 2009, p.311). Love for the lost land and the desire to go back to it
is something but natural with the majority of diasporas and Abdullah, the Afghan diaspora is no
exception. Hiroko had gone there “to see this mysterious part of her son’s life’ but found a man
“who understood lost homelands and the impossibility of return. He had looked at the
photographs of Kandahar’s orchards as Sajjad used to look at the pictures of his old moholla in
Dilli.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.313)
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Abdullah shared with Hiroko “I was with the Mujahedeen until the Soviets left. But the
peace never happened. And Afghan fighting Afghan, Pushtun against Hazara...no.” (Shamsie,
2009, p.313) Here the sentence abruptly ends at ‘no’, referring to no peace. At the end of the
Cold War , the Soviet were defeated by the Afghans but those for whom they won the war left
them in a state of civil war, with lots of arms and ammunition, trained warriors and no outside
target. So Abdullah went back to Karachi to earn his living. But then his brother said that one of
them had to go to “America where you can earn a real "(Shamsie, 2009, p.313). He was the
youngest and the fittest and he ‘had the best chance of making the journey across’ (Shamsie,
2009, p.313). We come to know about the details of the “journey of the destitute” when Raza
embarked on it. He further shared he was just married then and “only had a wife to leave behind,
no children” (Shamsie, 2009, p.313). He went on telling, “It wasn’t easy to leave her but my
brother were all fighting or trying to farm between the landmines and I couldn’t earn enough in
Karachi for everyone” (Shamsie, 2009, p.313-314).He came to America in 1993 and since then
he hadn’t seen “any one of them” (Shamsie, 2009, p.314). He had a son six months after he left.
The wife didn’t share it with him for “she didn’t want to make it harder” (Shamsie, 2009, p.314)
for him to go. But here sparked a hope that he would be leaving “I’ll see my son, my wife. The
light of Afghanistan.” (Shamsie, 2009, p. 314). His conversation with Hiroko revealed the state
of affairs in his motherland, difficulty to earn one’s living, obligation to provide for the family,
joint family system, care and concern for each other, the risks of the “journey of the destitute”
and working and living without legal documents and all the hosts of problems the Afghan
diasporas have been experiencing in the world especially after 9/11 and during War on Terror. It
also reflects the die-hard optimism of the Afghans “It’s not so bad?” (Shamsie, 2009, p.314) .It’s
not good, and is bad ‘but not so bad’, refers to the fact that they who have been in a constant
state of war for decades are prune to risks.

When Raza went to Kandahar to see Abdullah’s brother he recalled “Abdullah rhapsodies
about the beauties of his city—the emerald in the desert whose fruit bore poems, whose language
was the sweetness of the ripe figs...”(Shamsie, 2009, p.316) He also went to the shrine of Baba
Wali of which “Abdullah had talked when he spoke of coming here each Friday with his family
before the Soviets cleft them from the body of the saint they had venerated for generations.”
(Shamsie, 2009, p.316).Abdullah had also talked about “the surrounding orchards, the fleet river
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and the mountains beyond, which his brothers used to tell him, were the ridges backs of
slumbering monsters.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.317) .All this was shared by a boy who had to leave his
country before the age of twelve but such was the love and memory of the motherland.

When Kim asked Abdullah from where he learnt English, he told in Jersey City he asked
the Imam to tell him where he could learn English. The Imam found him a retired teacher from
Afghanistan, who considered it his ‘farz’ (Shamsie, 2009, p.344)-a religious obligation to teach
mujahedeen. He added, “Not everyone forgot .What we had done, for Afghanistan, for the world.
Not everyone forgot.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.344).Abdullah identified himself as Afghan Mujahedeen
and indirectly mentioned the attitude of the Americans after winning the Cold War. They forgot
the role Afghan Mujahedeen had played in defeating Russian and started talking as if they alone
had won the war.

Abdullah’s diasporic nostalgia finds a bitter expression when he replied to Kim’s

statement that she couldn’t really imagine what war was like. He said:

No one can. War is like a disease. Until you’ve had it, you don’t know it. But no. That’s a
bad comparison. At least, with disease everyone thinks it might happen to them one day.
You have a pain here, swelling there, a cold which stays and stays .You start to think
maybe this is something really bad. But war- countries like yours, they always fight wars,
but always somewhere else. The disease always happens somewhere else. It’s why you
fight more wars than anyone else because you understand war least of all. You need to
understand better. (Shamsie, 2009, p.344)

Abdullah and Kim both belonged to different worlds with different worldviews despite
living in the same city. Both belonged to different sides of the divide. Abdullah had the first-
hand knowledge of war, he, his family, his country and his countrymen had been in the state of
war for decades. He had been displaced time and again, his homeland had been turned into a
wasteland ,landmines and daisy cutters had destroyed the country, he lost his brother, all his
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brother participated in Cold War by becoming Mujahedeen, he became a gunrunner at the age of
twelve and joined a training camp at fourteen. He had to come to America as labour diaspora
(Cohn, 1997) to provide for his family leaving his young wife behind, couldn’t see his only son
for years and was hunted by the FBI. It’s his people who fought the American proxy and
defeated the Soviets but now it’s the Americans who took the credit ‘we won the war’. The very
claim by the Americans added insult to the Afghans’ injury .The Mujahedeen of the yester years
were regarded terrorists only for being Muslims and being Afghans. So Abdullah’s bitterness had
a whole history of personal and national losses behind.

When Abdullah met Raza in a Canadian restaurant he was a different man, he recalled the
past, “That Abdullah was very young and very foolish. He thought corpses spouting blood were
decorations for the side of the trucks.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.351).Age and experience lent him
maturity and he learnt that those who encouraged them to kill the Soviets were not different from
them. The new invaders were even worse than the previous ones.

Abdullah told Raza he felt sorry for being ungracious to Kim, he spoke to her as he had
never spoken to any American woman before. He justified himself by saying:

I wanted her to understand something...about being Afghan here. About war .Again and
again war...Then she started attacking Islam. They’re all ,everyone ,everywhere you go
now-television, radio, passengers in your cab, everywhere-everyone just wants to tell you
what they know about Islam, how, they know so much more than you do, what do they
know, you’ve just been a Muslim your whole life, how does that make you know
anything? (Shamsie, 2009, p.352)

He got irritated by the stereotyping of the Muslim and Afghan diaspora by ‘everyone,
everywhere’ (Shamsie, 2009, p.352). The reference is to the propaganda and media war waged
against them and the grand narratives created to justify the War on Terror.
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Abdullah told Raza “She said heaven is an abomination because my brother is in it...You
hear them now all the time. Talking about how they won the Cold War, now they’ll win this war.
My brother died winning their Cold War. Now they say he makes heaven an
abomination.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.352).The Afghan lost his brother and innumerable other Afghan
brethren. His love for his land and concern for its freedom and his desire return prove him an
Afghan diaspora.

Abdullah told Raza “New York now is a net cast to the winds, seeing for any Muslim to
ensnare.”(Shamsie, 2009, p.353). Abbasi (2010) says that the Muslims generally feel
marginalized in the post 9/11 world. And finally seeing the danger Raza sent him away for his
son’s sake but himself got arrested instead. Shamsie left it to the readers to ponder whether this
Afghan diaspora subject ever reached home or not.

So by and large Edward Said’s postcolonial diaspora theory of alienation and sense of
being out of place is applicable to all the main diaspora subjects she presents in the novel.
Hiroko, Raza and Abdullah could not fine home when once displaced from the place of their
origin. All their efforts to overcome this sense of ‘being out of place’ somehow ended in smoke.

4.5.2. Shamsie’s Use of Language as a Diaspora Writer

A major characteristic of Shamsie’s fiction also deals with the use of the language of the
centre in a discourse suited to the colony. The first process entails the abrogation or denial of the
privilege of English and this needs a rejection of the conqueror’s power over the instruments of
communication (Hawley, 1998).Shamsie as a postcolonial writer displays a through a command
on the language of the ex and present colonizers, she has made it her own. She has been involved
in the second process- an appropriation that is reconstituting the language of the centre to a new
use (Hawley, 1998). Ali (1984) says, “…the language has to bring the weight of my national
experience.” Thus, by using language as a tool, writers like Shamsie, signify their varied cultural
experiences. This argument is supported by Ramadan (2004) who argues that a language conveys
one’s own spirit. Hence, Shamsie has appropriated the language in a number of ways to show
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different cultural experiences of the post or neo colonial world quite in keeping with the mode of
resistance displayed by the writers such as Ahmad Ali(1984), Achebe Chinua(1958), Anita
Desie(1982), Mohsin Hamid(2007) and Khalid Hosseini (2003) just to name a few.

In Burnt Shadows Shamsie also uses many Urdu words , a few Japanese, Arabic and
Pashto expressions as well, though she uses English as a first language but the flavour of the
cultural experience is there in this code mixing .There is a long list of Urdu words she has used
in the novel like: chup ,hanh, Dilli, gul-i-mohr, chaye, gali-milo, farz, Ammi Jaan,Abba, bhai,
muezzn, Imam, Jama Masjid, Ummah, Hauz khas, Raj,moholla, ghum-khaur ,dil, Eid Mubarak,
kurta pyjama, shalwar kameez, Kalma ,ghazals, Saddar, Muhajir , manhoos, chooha, Amreekan,
Karachiwallas, udaas, sarangi, chappli kabab, naan,achaar, parathas, mauvli, neem, niswaar,bair,
Islamiyat, burkha, uljhan ,Shia ,shaheed etc. They come naturally to her in the flow of her
expression proving her a typical diaspora who cannot part with the language of her native land.
A language is a tool in the hand of Shamsie who uses it very skillfully to make it bear the burden
of her experience as a diaspora writer.

From here I will move on to the analysis of the next novel Kartography.
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Part II

“No City Like Home” (Kartoghraphy)

4.1. Synopsis

Kartography, Shamsie third novel revolves around Karachi, a city which is synonymous
with ‘home’ for the writer. Once again she writes about her familiar landscape with its turbulent
history. One of the protagonists, Karim, wants to bring an order to the city by making its
scientific map. In this novel the writer traces the causes of Civil War of 1971, resultant
succession of East Pakistan and continuously poor law and order situation in Karachi and their
impacts on the lives of her fictional characters.

Shamsie narrates the story of two elite class Karachiites children Raheen and Karim who
like four of their parents were very close friends. There are three parallel time lines in the novel:
1970-71, 1986-87 and 1990-94. The novel begins with 1986, when Raheen and Karim were
school going children and the schools were closed because of ethnic riots in Karachi. Their
parents decided to send them to Rahim Yar Khan to a friend’s farm house in winter vacations for
their safety. They did not want to leave the city but the elders’ will prevailed and they had to go.
They kept missing Karachi there

Karim’s mother was a Bengali woman who had decided to stay in Karachi even after
East Pakistan became Bangladesh .There had been ‘fiancés’ swap’ between their parents in the
past. Karim was interested in cartography while Raheen was interested in solving family mystery
of ‘fiancé swap’. There are repeated references to the Civil War of 1971 and deteriorating law
and order situation in Karachi and the impacts of the two on both, the main characters Raheen
and Karim and the supporting characters Raheen’s parents Yasmin and Zafar and Karim’s
parents Maheen and Ali. There are other minor characters included in the parents’ and the
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childrens’ friends’ circles. They all belonged to the elite class of the city that love to have
festivity and preferred to discuss social and national issues in the comfort zones of their
luxurious homes.

Karim’s father was greatly disturbed by the deteriorating law and order situation and
decided to leave Karachi and shift to London with his family. This shifting affected Karim and
Raheen both. Finally Karim’s mother left his father and remarried banishing all the possibilities
of their return to Karachi as a family unit again. Raheen also went to America for her graduation
and she kept in touch with Karim but there was a growing gulf of misunderstanding between
them.

Whipple (2011) writes about Kartoghraphy in ‘Mapping the boundaries of the human
heart’:

The story behind the exchange of fiancées, though revealed as an intimate personal story,
has wider implications, since it is tied, obliquely, to the ethnic unrest of 1971, when civil
war broke out between East and West Pakistan, and Bangladesh came into being.
Unaware of the conflicts which occurred before they were born, the children are also
unaware of the reasons for the fiancée-switch. It is only after they have grown up,
attended college, and gained new perspectives that this mysterious situation begins to
haunt them, influencing both their relationships with their parents and their unique and
special relationship with each other. (Whipple, 2011)

Finally Raheen discovered the cause that had driven Karim away from her. She
discovered that her father broke off with his mother only because she was a Bengali. Raheen’s
first reaction to this discovery was intense, she did not want to be in touch with her father;
however, finally she forgave him and at the end Raheen and Karim were together as expected to
be.
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There is a sub plot dealing with their friends Zia and Sonia. In between the main story the
writer also throws light on the lives of their friends dealing with different kinds of class and
ethnic divides in Karachi thus highlighting the social, economic and political issues as well.

It’s Shamsie use of realism that makes her reveal the weaknesses in some of her most
appealing characters, the personal flaws that reveal how a family or a country can be devoured
by prejudice and factionalism, while she also asserts her sincere belief in the redemptive power
of love.

4.2. Textual Analysis

Text (1): Of course, the garden, is located where all our beginnings, Karim’s and
mine, are located: Karachi. That is a spider-plant city where, if you know what to
look for and some higher power is feeling indulgent, you might find a fossilized
footprint of Alexander, The Great. (Shamsie, 2002, p. 3)

Description: The very start of the discourse by Raheen, the protagonist “Of course, the garden,
is located where all our beginnings, Karim and mine, are located: Karachi.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.
3), indicates that both the main characters Karim and Raheen belong to Karachi .And Raheen is
the narrator through whose voice the main story is told. The emphasis is on a garden located in
Karachi. Garden adjacent to the house also reflects the class of people they belong to. Shamsie
describes Karachi a ‘spider-plant city’ with its ever extending alleys and adds “where, if you
know what you look for and some higher power is feeling indulgent, you might find a fossilized
footprint of Alexander.”(Shamsie, 2002, 3) On the one hand, there is a reference to the ever
expanding web of alleys in the city and on the other the indulgence of the power structures in
creating the web and managing the shows behind the scene. A mere intention to look for
something in Karachi is not enough, the intention must have the approval and indulgence of
‘some higher power’ and then one can even “find a fossilized footprint of Alexander”-the world
famous conqueror who came to this part of the world in 326 BC ("Sindh, Pakistan,”) But his
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arrival to this part of the world is the remote history when ‘the spider plant effect’ had not taken
hold of Karachi.

Interpretation: The opening of the novel is a bit vague, it’s Raheen the protagonist moving a
globe with her fingers in which Pakistan is ‘split into two’ parts, East and West Pakistan but is
still ‘undivided’. The ‘split into two parts’ is a reference to the distance of more than a thousand
miles between them, but they were still called ‘Pakistan’ one of its parts had not turned into
Bangladesh. The world the globe portrays is ‘out of date’ from where her wandering thoughts
take the readers to Karachi of 1986. (Shamsie,2002, p.1) .The placement of the main characters
and the storyline of the novel have been referred to ,Karachi, Pakistan and the world, these are
three tiers of placement but Karachi holds the central place throughout. So the whole series of
place and displacement, revolves around Karachi, or is with reference to Karachi.

Explanation: Shamsie’s love for Karachi and her passion to write about the city of her birth and
the familiar world where she spent her childhood and where she belongs to no matter where she
is in the world finds a reflection here as well. The house and the garden she has depicted are in
the familiar elite locality she belongs to. She refers to the historical significance of her city
Karachi, though in a humourous way. She indirectly refers to the strong hold of the power
politics and the high ups, who run the whole show .Anything can be done, traced or
accomplished in Karachi, but with the indulgence of the ‘powerful’ .She also refers to unplanned
rapid expansion of the city that made the city unmanageable.

Text (2): ...she said that over the winter holidays we should send our kids to her.’

Karim and I curled our lips at each other .A farm! ‘For God’s sake, a farm! For
two smog sniffers. Karachiites, damn it, who had things planned in the city for the
winter holidays. Going crabbing and hanging out at Baleji Beach and driving to
airport for coffee, the world full of possibilities now that one of our crowd-Zia-
drove and the rest of us had chipped in with birthday and Eid money to buy him a
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driver’s license that claimed he was born in 1967, before my mother and Karim’s
swapped fiancés and wondered why they hadn’t earlier”. (Shamsie, 2002, p.7-8)

Description: Raheen and Karim’s parents were discussing Aunty Laila ,one of their family
friend’s offer, to send their kids to her place in Rahim Yar Khan during winter holidays .As a
reaction Raheen and Karim ‘curled’ their lips to each other. The very gesture is indicative of
their dislike for the suggestion .Raheen is the narrator. ‘A farm! For God sake, a farm!
’Repetition of ‘a farm’ with an exclamation mark is to show her utter surprise and utter dislike
for the idea; she wants to convey to the parents not to think of it for God’s sake. She terms Karim
and herself as ‘smog sniffers Karachiites’ who want to damn the very idea of going away from
Karachi to ‘a farm’ which sounds very rural .They had planned things in the city for the winter
holidays, like going crabbing, hanging out at Baleji Beach and driving to the airport for coffee’.
These three of their favourite activities were likely to be materialised easily, ‘the world full of
possibilities’ seemed to be just at hand for now ‘that one of our crowd’ i.e., their fourth friend,
Zia, could drive and the rest of them had gathered their birthday and Eid money to buy him a
fake driving license that claimed he was born in 1967, before Raheen and Karim’s mothers
changed their fiancés. Raheen wondered, why they hadn’t done that earlier. The reference to
1967 is just to show Zia of eligible age for having a driving license, but the reference to another
year ‘1971’ linked to the Civil War is associated with a historical event of the succession of East
Pakistan and its conversion into Bangladesh that haunts the protagonists’ life throughout.

Interpretation: There is unrest in the air, the law and order situation is deteriorating in Karachi.
Raheen and Karim’s parents are worried about their safety and are discussing the option of
sending them away during the December holidays. The timeline is 1986, the year when ethnic
divide flared up with a new dimension, this time it was not only Sindhi and non-Sindhi but
among non-Sindhis Muhajir and Pathan as well.

Explanation: The very idea of temporary displacement from Karachi, her home town, is quite
disturbing for Raheen, the protagonist, and her intimate friend Karim. The very first identity, she
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thinks of, is about being ‘Karachiites’ and this has been repeated many a times in the novel
.Here she is thinking of the collective identity of herself and her friend Karim. They are thirteen
and it is 1986.The educational institutions are closed because of deteriorating law and order
situation and like typical elite children, she is thinking of having fun by going to the beach for
crabbing and going to the airport for coffee .They have arranged for their transportation as well,
they have helped Zia, one of their friends to buy a driving license by showing the year of his
birth as 1967 to make him eligible for the driving license instead of his actual date of birth. The
indirect reference is that money can even help children buy what they are not eligible for. This
reflects lack of adherence to the rules and regulations on the one hand and decline of social
values on the other .At such a young age their concern is not security, but fun in their home
town. Through Raheen’s thinking, Shamsie also refers to the year 1971, though here, it is not for
the historical event but the ‘swapping of fiancés’ by their mothers that will be linked to the
impacts of the historical event of 1971 War between India and Pakistan later.

Text (3): I don’t think it’ll do Karim much good to be here, the way things are
now.’ Uncle Ali sipped his tea and didn’t look at his wife. I looked at Karim
again. He was staring up at the sky, slipping away.

He’s having one of his Doomsday visions,’ Ami cut in quickly .He wants the kids
away from Karachi.’

‘We can’t afford to do that, ’Aba said. ‘If you send them away because it’s too
dangerous, how do you justify bringing them back?’

‘It’s only for the holidays.’ Uncle Ali said. ‘They run wild during the holidays. It
just won’t be much fun for them if we say they can’t go anywhere, do anything
.And it’ll be nice break for them to have all Asif’s vast acreage to frolic in.’

‘But we want to frolic at the beach,’ I objected.

‘Much dangerous driving out all that way,’ Ami said. ‘Ali you have a point.
There’s a lot of fun to be had at Asif’s farm. Well, there was fifteen years ago.’
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‘When Ami said that, it seemed to me Aunty Maheen started to look at my father,
and then looked away and sighed. ’May be things will get better by December.’
She rested her head on my mother’s shoulder. ‘When will this country learn?’

Uncle Ali leaned sideways in his chair and looked at his wife, ‘This is not history
repeating itself ,Maheen .A military government such as ours can never rule a
country that’s united .Nor for any length of time .They can’t afford to allow any
group to get powerful enough to instigate mass movement. That’s what it’s about
this time.’

‘You choose to believe that all the trouble is artificially created. Don’t you Ali?’
Aunty Maheen sat up and glared at her husband. That makes thing much easier
for all of us in our civilized drawing rooms, doesn’t it, because it’s only about
government, or the intelligence agencies, or even the Hidden Plam- (Shamsie,
2002, p.9-10)

Description: In the background of deteriorating law and order situation the security concern is
also discussed in this discourse. Raheen the protagonist is the narrator. She quotes Uncle Ali says
that he did not think it would do Karim much better to be there, the way things were then, while
sipping tea he avoided looking at his wife. This avoidance of the look is indicative of a point of
difference on the issue between them .Raheen looked at Karim again to see his reaction, who
was staring up at the sky and slipping away as if he wanted to avoid witnessing a controversy
between his parents.

Yasmin, Raheen’s mother, interrupted quickly to comment that Ali was having one of
his ‘Doomsday visions’ that was, why he wanted the kids away from Karachi .The ‘Doomsday
visions’ refers to his extreme fear of the unknown. Yasmin’s discourse, is the discourse of
disagreement on the issue of sending the children away from Karachi .Her father, Zafar, was of
the opinion that they could not afford to do that on the plea that if they would send them away
because it was too dangerous to stay over there, how would they justify bringing them back. His
statement refers to the improbability of the improvement in the situation in the near future,
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though it is unstated. But Uncle Ali’s logic was that he wanted to send them away only during
the holidays because ‘they run wild during the holidays’ .He added that it just would not be much
fun for them, if they would say they could not go anywhere, could not do anything .He thought it
would be a nice break for them to have all Asif’s vast acreage to ‘frolic in’ that’s move around
freely. Raheen objected ‘But we want to frolic at the beach.’ She did not like the idea of even
temporary displacement from Karachi .Here Raheen’s mother agreed with Uncle Ali saying that
there he had a point it was much dangerous driving out all that way and added that ‘ there’s a lot
of fun to be had at Asif’s farm. Well, there was fifteen years ago.’ Raheen noted that when her
mother said so it seemed to her as if Aunty Maheen started looking at her father and then looked
away, sighed and expressed the hope things might get better by December then she rested her
head on her mother’s shoulder and expressed her anxiety and concern over the state of affairs
‘When will this country learn?’ Implying it had not and apparently would not likely --this is what
she conveys through her question.

Leaning sideways in his chair Uncle Ali looked at his wife and said that it was not history
repeating itself rather a military government, such as theirs could never rule a country that’s
united, not for any length of time. He added that the military rulers could not afford to allow any
group to get powerful enough to bring about mass movement. He regarded that to be the reason
of the current unrest .In response Maheen questioned her husband that did he choose to believe
that all the trouble was artificially created while sitting up and glaring at him. The way she ‘sat
up’ and ‘glared’ reflect her anger because she said such kind of excuses could make thing much
easier for all of them in their civilized drawing rooms ,she added a question tag ‘doesn’t it?’ to
emphasize her point and then continued because then they could easily put blame on
government ,or the intelligence agencies ,or even the ‘Hidden Palm’. She said ‘hidden palm’,
instead of hidden hand. What she wanted to convey, is that from the comfort zones of ‘civilized
drawing rooms’, it is always easy to find a scapegoat or indulge in guessing game without having
the actual experience of the trouble or looking for the root cause of it. Shirking from one’s own
civic duty is a kind of escape which leads us nowhere and this she thought they had been doing
throughout.
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Interpretation: The issue in the context is of sending away the children during the winter
holidays because of violence in Karachi, but right from the beginning of the novel the swapping
of the fiancés and the year 1971 have been referred to though the writer mentions the actual
historical event and their linking details on the characters’ lives later but the hint is dropped that
there is some link between the two.

Explanation: The discussion among the parents about the law and order situation in Karachi
with reference to different factors that went into its making make this part of the text
interdiscursive. Successive military governments, variety of the influx of migrants in Karachi,
discriminating legislation and passive response of the civil society to the burning issues all led to
the point where things seemed to be getting out of control. Javaid and Saeed Hashmi (2012)
quote Waseem (1998) about the influx of people in Karachi ,he talks about the Partition
migrants, the Muhajirs, the Pukhtoon and the Punjabi migrants during 1960-80 and the Afghan
and the Iranian migrants in 1980-90.All these migrations created various ethnic groups with
conflicting interests that made Karachi ‘an urban mess’(Gayer ,2003). Javaid and Hashmi (2012)
regard the competition between Mohajirs and Pakhtuns, as an important source of conflict. They
further talk about the language Bill and the quota system passed by the Sindh legislative
Assembly under the first PPP government according to which 60% of the state jobs and
admission in the government owned educational institutions were fixed for rural and 40% for
urban population (Ahmar, 2002 as cited by Javaid and Hashmi, 2012).These policies were
apprehended as anti-Muhajir conspiracy. Moreover, the language riots further widened the gulf
between Muhajir and other communities. (Javaid and Hashmi, 2012). Athar (2011) traces the
cause of this ethnic divide in the policy of the military rulers of 1958 as referred to in the text by
Uncle Ali. It’s Uncle Ali, who refers to the injustice done to East Pakistan, which led to the final
break up. Tariq Rehman (2006) has argued that these conflicts led to the rise of militant ethnicity
(Rehman, 2006, p.125) that poses serious threats to the human security.

Text (4): ‘We’re really sick, aren’t we?’ he said. ‘Wanting riots to continue just
so school can remain closed.’
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I scratched my knee and tried to look repentant, but really I was thinking that the
riots had to stop, they absolutely had to, else we’d be sent away over the holidays.
None of what was going on in Karachi made much sense to me-not since last year
when a girl was killed by a speeding bus and you‘d think that was a domestic
tragedy, her poor family also, I wondered, what must go in the head of the driver,
who certainly didn’t intend to kill a girl but now who had to live with the ghastly
consequences of his recklessness, but instead of being a family tragedy it all
initiated a terrible ethnic fight. The girl Muhajir ,the bus driver Pathan, and
somehow ,somehow ,that became the issue, though my mother said ‘a catalyst ,no
more’ and Uncle Ali said ,’all being orchestrated to create divisions and
factions’, and my father responded,’ Don’t the fools know these things can’t be
contained’ ,while Aunty Maheen kept talking about ‘the perils of amnesia.’ Lots of
people looked at her strangely when she said that .But Karim and I were thirteen,
there was nothing we could do about the nation’s problems, so why not stick to
issues that perhaps we did have some control over?(Shamsie,2002,p. 11)

Description: Karim said that they were really ‘sick’, he added a question tag to emphasize,
‘aren’t we?’ He justified his stance by adding, ‘Wanting riots to continue just so school could
remain closed’. Through teen agers kids’ discourse, Shamsie highlights the indifference and
superficiality of the approach towards the grave problems, like the closure of the schools. Wish
for the continuation of the ‘riots’ which pose serious threat to lives ,property ,law and order
situation ,the normal routine of life and the closure of the schools refers to the loss of precious
time and break in academic activity, which may be taken as a hilarity for the children but then
also reflects their obliviousness.

Raheen scratched her knee and tried to look ‘repentant’ in response to, what Karim said,
but actually she was thinking that the riots had to stop, ‘they absolutely had to’ but the emphasis
was not because of the gravity of the situation. The problem was that, if they would continue,
they would be sent away during the holidays .It was through her thinking that Shamsie revealed
the unconcern of the elite class children to the problems of the city. None of what was going on
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in Karachi made much sense to her -not since last year when she heard that a girl was killed by
a speeding bus and she considered it ‘ a domestic tragedy’ for her poor family and she
wondered, ‘what must go in the head of the driver ,who certainly didn’t intend to kill a girl, but
‘now’ i.e. after the incident, had to live with ‘the ghastly consequences of his recklessness’ but
instead of being a family tragedy it started a terrible ethnic fight. The girl was Muhajir and the
bus driver a Pathan, ‘and somehow, somehow, that became the issue’. Her mother regarded the
incident just ‘a catalyst ,no more’ and Uncle Ali regarded it as ,’all being orchestrated to create
divisions and factions’, and her father responded, ‘ Don’t the fools know these things can’t be
contained’ ,while Aunty Maheen kept talking about “the perils of amnesia”—the dangers of
forgetfulness and lots of people looked at her strangely when she said that as if to convey that
they failed to understand what she was talking about .Their very failure to understand what she
implied is a proof of our collective forgetfulness of our national tragedies .After presenting the
views of all the four parents, Raheen thought that Karim and she were only thirteen, and at such
a young age there was nothing they could do about the nation’s problems, “so why not stick to
issues that perhaps we did have some control over?” .The issue was, how to convince their
parents that they did not want to leave Karachi. They didn’t want to be displaced.

Interpretation: The first time line mentioned in the novel, is of 1986, when the ethnic riots
between the Muhajir and the Pathan erupted and spread to the point that ultimately law and order
situation forced the closure of the educational institutions .Even the parents of the elite class
children did not consider it safe for their kids to take the risk of moving around in the city so the
issue of their temporary and perhaps the first ‘displacement’ disturbed the children.

Explanation: Karachi and the problems of Karachi lie at the heart of Shamsie’s diasporic
discourse, the elite children of 1986 she presents are of her age group and they also belong to the
same city, she belongs to and loves and wants to write about .She has first-hand knowledge of
what she writes about her city and the violence and ethnic conflict it has been facing. This part of
Shamsie’s narrative discourse is intertextual and interdiscursive in the sense that it is about a real
life situation and its account in different reports. Akmal Hussain writes in The Violence that
erupted in Karachi during December 1986:
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The violence that erupted in Karachi during December 1986, both in scale and sheer
brutality, was unprecedented since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. What we
saw were bands of men armed with Kalashnikov rifles charging into the homes of people
belonging to other communities, with whom they had lived for a generation, killing men,
women and children without mercy, burning and looting, until entire housing localities
were left in charred ruins. There were counterattacks against the homes of the invaders,
and the battles engulfed the streets of Karachi. (Hussain, 1986)

There is interdiscursivity in the discourse. About the incident Raheen referred to as a

‘domestic tragedy’ Lionel Baixas (2008) writes:

On April 15, a young girl named Bushra Zaidi was walking to college and killed in a road
accident involving a “yellow devil”, Karachi buses’ bloody nickname. What could have
been just another traffic accident among others led actually to one of the bloodiest
“ethnic” riot in the tumultuous and violent history of Karachi. Just after the accident,
female students gathered and took the streets in protestation. As they were charged by
police forces, some young male students intervened and were fired down by the police,
causing at least ten deaths. (Tambiah, 1997, p.186) The same day, buses and other
vehicles were burnt by angry crowds in the streets. Pathans were targeted as they detain a
quasi-monopole on the transport business. The following day, Pathan transporters
retaliated by burning houses and police vehicles. The violence spread from Nazimabad to
Orangi and Liaqatabad and to a lesser extent to the rest of the city. A mob of Pathans
attacked Biharis and burnt shops in Orangi Township, a mixed area where Pathans and
Biharis are majority. The conflict between Pathans and Biharis then became a large-scale
ethnic conflict between Pathans and Muhajirs as the latter took side with their fellow
Urdu-speaking Biharis. The army had to intervene in order to restore law and order.
According to the official estimates, the death toll approximated 50 whereas by unofficial
estimates it was closer to 100 (Tambiah, 1997, p. 185; Gayer, 2006, p. 8).
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Although law and order were subsequently restored in the following days, 242 incidents
of rioting occurred in Karachi. 188 deaths resulted from politically motivated bomb
explosions and 78 from the “transport problem” from the beginning of 1986 till mid-
(Tambiah, 1997, p. 185).

Although all the characters mentioned in the text belong to the same elite class, but they review
the same incident differently. Yasmin, Raheen’s mother took the incident as a mere ‘catalyst’,
Aunty Maheen, the one with the Bengali origin, called it a result of collective forgetfulness of the
past, and she regretted that no lesson had been learnt from the history. Uncle Ali, her husband,
regarded it as an orchestrated violence by the military regime to continue with their divide and
rule policy. Zafar, blamed the driver for his thoughtlessness to give birth to a series of violence,
while for the kids it lead to their displacement, ‘...we were forced to face our status as children
and accede to the tyranny of adults.’(Shamsie, 2005, p.13) And they were sent to Rahim Yar
khan against their will ‘with the decadent feudal’s brother’ as an in charge.’(Shamsie, 2005, p
13)

Text (5): Sugar cane thataway, kinoo thisaway, cotton every whichaway.’ The
decadent feudal, Uncle Asif, pointed his walking stick in the direction of his crops,
all of which were hidden from us by the wall of trees and bushes and separated
the creeper-covered house and its garden from the rest of the farm. ’I suggest a
walk .If you get lost ,we’ll launch a dramatic rescue operation complete with
local police ,hunting dogs and a few snake charmers for added rural
colour.(Shamsie,2002,p.16)

Description: This is a discourse between the feudal, Uncle Asif’s and the children, Raheen and
Karim who reached his farm along with his brother. Uncle Asif pointed towards different parts of
his farm making English bear the style of the decadent feudal’s of expression: ‘Sugar cane that
away, kino this away, cotton every which away.’(Shamsie, 2002, p. 16)He told that his sugar
 268

cane orchards were in one direction whiles his Kino—the citrus fruit orchards were in the other
direction while the cotton fields could be seen all around. Raheen told that the decadent feudal,
Uncle Asif, pointed his walking stick in the direction of his crops which were all hidden from
them by the wall of trees and bushes that separated the creeper-covered house and its garden
from the rest of the farm. He suggested a walk and told them that if they were lost, they would
launch a dramatic rescue operation complete with local police, hunting dogs and a few snake
charmers for added rural colour. This highlights the ‘decadent feudal’s attitude to rescue
operation and the use of the police agency in a dramatic mock rescue practice with dogs and
snakes to show that the police whose main function is the maintenance of law and order situation
is at the beck and call of the feudals, such are the powers of the landed gentry in rural Punjab.
Engaging police in such games was fun for the feudal and the police could not challenge his
authority for the multiple obvious and hidden power structures and power practices.

Interpretation: The children reached Rahim Yar Khan during their winter holidays and were
received by Uncle Asif, the decadent feudal, Aunty Laila’s husband and their parents’ family
friend .He was a foreign graduate and used to be known as Asif Marx in his university days, but
when he returned to his country he became a typical feudal who had the least intention to bring
about any kind of social or economic reforms. But, here in this discourse, he is presented as a
jolly good fellow and a loving host.

Explanation: Uncle Asif’s farm in Rahim Yar Khan is a significant place in the novel mentioned
in a variety of ways .Shamsie mentions it in all three time lines she mentions in the novel that
are:1970-71,1986-87 and 1995-96. In the above-mentioned discourse, signaling to sugar cane
this way ,kino that way and cotton field, whichever way from a huge house with lofty walls and
big garden conveys the huge area and the ownership of the ‘decadent feudal’ and the richness
and the power that come through that possession. This possession determines his placement in
the national power politics and the power structures .It is a safe place in the turbulent times to
host the elites for safety, fun, festivity, luxury and abundance of everything, because it’s the
feudal’s kingdom, where he is the controlling authority. The reference to the police and the
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complete dramatic rescue operation, they might launch, in case the children got lost on the farm,
reflects the extent of feudals’ powers and their control on the power structures.

Text (6): In the middle of the path he came to stop and closed his eyes. There was
a faint roar of farm equipment in the distance. That’s the sound of waves
breaking’, Karim said with an extra ordinary leap of imagination. He raised his
arms and started jabbing in the air. ‘There’s Zia’s beach hut, and there is Runty’s
hut. There’s the cave where Zia goes to smoke, and there’s the place where we
saw the baby turtle, there’s the steep cliff we thought we’d never be able to climb,
there’s Portal Karim and Portal Raheen, and Sonia Rock is almost lost in gloom,
and there’s where my parents built a sand castle together two years ago.
(Shamsie, 2002,p.18)

Description: Raheen and Karim were moving around Uncle Asif’s farm. In the middle of the
way Karim stopped and closed his eyes. There was a faint roar of farm equipment at a distance.
With an extra ordinary leap of Karim’s imagination, he started describing that sound as the sound
of the sea waves breaking against the shore- a reminder to their city-Karachi. He raised his arms
and started jabbing in the air. He told Raheen with closed eyes that “There’s Zia’s beach hut, and
there is Runty’s hut. There’s the cave, where Zia goes to smoke, and there’s the place where we
saw the baby turtle, there’s the steep cliff we thought we’d would never be able to climb
.There’s Portal Karim and Portal Raheen, and Sonia Rock is almost lost in gloom, and there’s
where my parents built a sand castle together two years ago.” What he could see, with the help of
his imagination was, all nostalgia for the city, where he wanted to be and from, where he had
been temporarily displaced. Shamsie portrays Karim’s sense of being out of place and strong
desire to be at his native city.

Interpretation: Raheen and Karim were at Uncle Asif’s farm and moving around in the field.
On their way they listened to some sound that stirred Karim’s imagination and transported him to
 270

the seaside in Karachi where they used to go together with their families and their friends and
where some of them had their huts on the beach. He started describing them to Raheen.

Explanation: What Shamsie used to miss in the English fiction, she used to read throughout her
childhood and adulthood was the familiar landscape. This is what she has created in most of her
novels and Kartoghraphy is one of them. The point of reference throughout the novel is Karachi.
Through childrens’ first temporary displacement from Karachi, though they were in the safety of
Uncle Asif’s farm, yet nostalgic about what was there in Karachi. Karim recreates the image of
Karachi --his ‘place’ in the world of his imagination and shared it with Raheen, who while
walking in the cotton field, thought of Karachi and wondered “how strange it was that we never
walked in Karachi” (Shamsie, 2002, p.18) and then tried to satisfy herself during this temporary
displacement by thinking, “this is a holiday: it’s cool. We wander around and explore and stuff.
Besides, no one’s going to get permission to go to the beach these days, not with all the violence
and stuff.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 18) Even then she could not stop missing Karachi, though tried to
console Karim, who was angry with his father for sending him away and in reply to his question

“What does he think he is protecting me from?” Raheen told him from “Bullets, and bombs” and
then added “Come on Cream, it’s not so bad here.” But, he was ill at ease, looking at the atlas he
called the world a “giant jigsaw” (Shamsie, 2002, p. 26) where all places are connected from
Pakistan to France, but England, where his father intended to take him “doesn’t quite” (Shamsie,
2002, p. 26), which made him gloomy. The very thought of leaving Karachi and shifting
elsewhere, was quite disturbing. Raheen’s reminder, that it is surrounded by the sea and ‘we like
seas’(Shamsie,2002,p 26) was an effort to divert his attention ,she further said that they would
go on walking on the sea until they would reach the sea of England But he wouldn’t be drawn
into that vision of things. “Even seas have boundaries,” he said. “You’d be arrested by the coast
guards.”(Shamsie, 2002, p 27) He added everything could not be turned into a game or a joke.

Even while enjoying perfect freedom to wonder around Uncle Asif‘s farm the point of
reference for Raheen was still Karachi:
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In Karachi we never had that freedom, this space to wander in. ‘Too dangerous to walk
around, and too humid to want to walk most of the time. Besides, walk to where? Life
compressed into houses and cars and private clubs and school; sand gardens too small; to
properly hide in. (Shamsie, 2002, p 18)

The narrative techniques Shamsie adopts in her novels, moves back and forth to mark the
interdiscursivity in the ebbs and flows of life, this visit of the kids, is a reminder of a previous
visit on new year eve of 1971 before the fiancés were swapped. There was a tree in Uncle Asif’s
garden, on the bark of which, the initials of Zafar and Maheen’s names were carved and there
was a photograph of Uncle Ali and Aunty Maheen’s wedding that made Raheen interested in
solving the family mystery.

Text (7): Uncle Asif grunted. ‘Of course you must all come. And tell Zafar that
this time I won’t take him for a walk and get him lost in the Kino orchards if he
starts his ranting about the need for land reforms.’

‘God, I had forgotten about that .Asif, really, how could you have?’

Uncle Asif laughed. ‘Laila, it was sixteen years ago, and before your civilizing
influence .Besides, Zaf wasn’t acting the polite guest himself. Still, I understand
why he said those things .I mean, Muhajirs will never understand the way we feel
about land. They all left their homes at Partition. No understanding of the ties to
a place.’

I put my hand and gripped Karim’s shoulder, stopping him as he was starting to
walk, whether towards the drawing room or away from it I couldn’t tell. When my
father spoke of the need for land reforms to break the power of the feudals ,he
lost his customary languid posture and his soft voice took on an edge of urgency
.Even at thirteen I could link his fervour to a myriad reasons .The socialist
professor who set his mind ablaze when he was at the university ,the capitalist
profession he had entered when he started his own advertising agency ;the novels
he had read(my mother always cringed when he referred to Hugo as ‘Old
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Vic’);the stories he had heard, firsthand, from employees and perspective

employees who left their villages to come to the city ,and were willing to do
anything at all to earn a living in Karachi ,anything but to go back to ‘that life’;
his analysis of economic reports; his mistrust of humanity’s capacity to be
uncorrupted by power. Some reasons were contradictory and some were
contradicted by other parts of his life, but all of them, all, were part of the mesh
that made up his character. Yet Uncle Asif had summarily dismissed all that with
one word: Muhajir. Immigrant.

I heard a plate-or was it a saucer?-placed firmly on a table, and Uncle Ali said, ‘I
share Zafar’s views on land reforms .And I’m not a Muhajir.’

‘Yes, but you lived all those years in Karachi,’ Uncle Asif said, never losing his
jolly tone. (Shamsie, 2002, p. 39-40)

Description: Uncle Asif extended his invitation to all of them and then asked Uncle Ali in a
humourous way to tell Zafar that this time he would not take him for a walk and get him lost in
the Kino orchards if he starts his ‘ranting’ about the need for land reforms. The word ‘ranting’
refers to angry, furious and aggrieved account of Raheen’s father’s discourse about the land
reforms. Laila expressed her surprise and displeasure at the reminder, saying “God, I had
forgotten about that .Asif, really, how you could have?” Uncle Asif laughed in response and told
her that it had been sixteen years ago, and before her ‘civilizing influence’, before she married
him. He added that the other reason was that Zafar also had not been acting the polite guest
himself. He further elaborated that still he could justify his stance. He added that he actually
meant that the Muhajir would never understand the way ‘we’ the feudals, ‘feel about land’. We
can see the very concept of ‘othering’ in this discourse. He mentioned, ‘They all left their homes
at Partition so they had, “No understanding of the ties to a place.” Migration at Partition was
equated with ‘lack of understanding’ of the ties to a place, which shows the obliviousness of the
spirit under which the migration had been made. Majority of the migrants were the forcibly
displaced people.
 273

Raheen and Karim, both were listening to the elders’ discourse outside the drawing room.
Raheen put her hand on Karim’s shoulder to stop him as he was starting to walk. She could not
guess whether he was going towards the drawing room or away from it. Through Raheen’s
thought, it was revealed that ,when her father spoke of the need for land reforms to break the
power of the feudals ,he lost his customary relaxed posture and his soft voice took on an ‘edge
of urgency’ .Even at thirteen she could link his zeal for the issue to numerous reasons .The very
first reason for this zeal was the influence of ‘The socialist professor who set his mind ablaze
when he was at the university’ and inspired him with his socialist philosophy. The second
reason was the capitalist profession he had entered when he started his own advertising agency
.The third was the novels he had read and fourthly from the stories he had heard, first-hand, from
employees and perspective employees, who left their villages to come to the city ,and were
willing to ‘do anything’ to earn a living in Karachi , who were ready to do ‘anything’ but to go
back to ‘that life’-- life under the yoke of the feudals’ slavery; his analysis of economic reports;
his mistrust of humanity’s capacity to be uncorrupted by power.’ Even at such a young age she
could judge that some reasons were contradictory and some were contradicted by other parts of
his life. But the fact remained that all of them, ‘all’ is repeated in italic for emphasis, were part of
the ‘mesh’ the totality that made up his character. She felt sorry to realise that Uncle Asif had
summarily dismissed all those reasons with one word ‘Muhajir Immigrant’ as if that was her
father’s only identity.

While standing outside the drawing room she heard a plate-or a saucer placed firmly on a
table, and Uncle Ali saying that he shared Zafar’s views on land reforms though he was not a
Muhajir .Uncle Asif maintained his jolly tone and said that he agreed but added that he lived all
those years in Karachi as if he was almost native. There was an acceptance of Ali as native,
whose family migrated to Karachi from somewhere in Pakistan, not clearly mentioned in the
text, but not for Muhajir, who came from India at Partition leaving everything behind.

Interpretation: Uncle Ali went to Uncle Asif’s farm to fetch the children back to Karachi after
the holidays .He was cordially greeted and both Uncle Asif and Aunty Laila, who were their
parents’ family friends. They extended their invitation to all to revisit their farm .The discussion
 274

turned to immigrants and land reforms which reflected the difference among the elites. The kids
listened to this discourse of discrimination for the first time.

Explanation: The issues highlighted in the above-mentioned discourse are about discrimination,
the ethnic divide between the natives and the non-natives, the feudals and Muhajir and of the
socialist views of land reforms versus feudal’s views on land ownership. There is a reference to
the previous difference of opinion on the land reforms between Asif, the feudal and Zafar, the
Partition immigrant. Despite friendship the ethnic prejudice was there even among the elite class
friends, Aunty Laila who, herself had invited Raheen and Karim, expressed her hatred for the
Muhajirs by saying:

Karachi is my home, you know. Why did those bloody Muhajirs have to go and form a
political group? Once they’ reunited they’ll do God knows what. Demanding this,
demanding that. Thinking just because they’re a majority in Karachi they can trample
over everyone else .Like they did in’47.Coming across the border thinking we should be
grateful for their presence... Do you hear the way people like Zafar and Yasmin talk
about ‘their Karachi?’ My family lived there for generations. Who the hell are these
Muhajir pretend it’s their city!(Shamsie, 2002, p .40-41)

Kumar (2011) called the Partition Muhajirs as ‘besieged diaspora’ in the extended sense
of the word, having uncanny experience of homecoming that forced them to opt for a separate
ethnic identity. Farahani (2007) says that individual and collective identity undergoes a
transfiguration since an individual consciousness of individuality and identity cannot be put in a
vacuum separate from the socio-political developments within one’s environment. Raheen
wondered:

What kind of immigrants is born in a city and spends his whole life there, and gets
married there, and raises his daughter there? And I, an immigrant’s daughter, was An
immigrant too...If I went back to the house and told them I agreed with my father about
 275

land reforms .If I told them Karachi was my home just as much as it was anyone else’s,
would they look at me and think another Muhajir.( Shamsie,2002,p.41)

The grown up’s discourse of discrimination questioned the very first identity of the
protagonist, Raheen, who loved to be identified as ‘Karachiites’- as her first and foremost
identity.

Text (8): But worse than what Uncle Asif and Aunty Liala had said, for worse
than that, was Uncle Ali’s remark: ‘I’m not a Muhajir.’ I had never stopped to
think what Uncle Ali was or wasn’t .Aunty Maheen was Bengali .Because
everyone so often aunts or cousins would arrive from Bangladesh to visit ,bearing
gifts-wrapped saris and a reminder that Aunty Maheen grew up in another
language.( Shamsie,2002,p.41)

Description: Raheen felt bad about what Uncle Asif and Aunty Laila had said but Uncle Ali’s
remark that he was not a Muhajir was worse than that .She owned Uncle Ali and ‘ had never
stopped to think’ whether he was or was not a Muhajir. Though she knew that Aunty Maheen
was Bengali. This she came to know through the gifts Aunty Maheen used to receive from
people coming from Bangladesh, which served as a reminder that she ‘grew up in another
language.’ (Shamsie, 2002, p.41)The very expression of growing up in another language, refers
to the cultural difference.

Interpretation: The situational context is Raheen’s overhearing Uncle Asif, Aunty Laila and
Uncle Ali talking about different ethnicities and about her parents being Muhajirs which was
quite thought- provoking for her, since she had never judged her parents’ friends in these terms
earlier. In the historical context Shamsie uses this revelation to highlight ethnic issues in
Pakistan.
 276

Explanation: Raheen thought of her parents and Karim’s parents as ‘foursome’, the only
difference she was aware of, was of Aunty Maheen’s Bengali origin through the gifts of saris she
used to get from people coming from Bangladesh. She ‘grew up in another language’ highlights
her different brought up and knowledge of another language. Raheen could also recall her
unconscious use of ‘stray Bengali words’ after the visits of her relatives from Bangladesh. The
only other reason to know from where Aunty Maheen’s family was a childhood recollection
when Zia, Karim and Raheen were in class II ,Zia started talking about war between India and
Pakistan “There’ll be war with India, ’Zia said.’ There always is. There was one only two years
before we were born.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 42) Karim responded, “That was because of
Bangladesh...That’s where my mother’s from. She’s Bengali. That means I am half
Bengali.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 42) Zia got furious at that and pushed Karim. Raheen had to rescue
him. Zia kept yelling, “Tell him not to lie...He’s not a Bengali, he’s not. He’s my
friend.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 42).Even at such a young age Zia had his dislike for the Bengalis and
he did not like this identity for his friend .But years later at Uncle Asif’s place she was “forced to
consider that Karim and she were separate in some way that seemed to matter so terribly to
people old enough to know where the significance lay.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 43) Such awareness
creates identity issues for the humans.

What she overheard about her parents, made her ill at ease; she sought an escape in the
garden and started swinging. While sitting on the swing she started wondering:

I was Muhajir with a trace of Pathan, and he was a Bengali and...Punjabi? Sindhi? What?
I consider. Probably Punjabi, I decided .He had his relatives in Lahore. These days, with
the Civil War treated as a long-distant memory that had nothing to do with our present
lives, his Punjabiness would probably be more of an issue on the nation’s ethnic battle-
ground than his Bengaliness. (Shamsie, 2002, p. 43-44)
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When once the seeds of discrimination are sown, they in filter in the social fabric in one
way or the other. It was a beginning of the realization of the ethnic “Othering” that lead to
political unrest, Civil Wars and full-fledged wars that divide people and nations.

Text (9): Ali knew that Asif was going to tell her that, yes, it was all right for her
tribe to stay on the dune which belonged to him by law and belong to her tribe by
the laws of tradition .For, longer than anyone knew, Asif had told him the night
before, the nomad tribe had made this dune part of their migratory patterns. And
some of them wanted to build mud huts and settle ,but the villagers and the farm
hands considered them untouchables .To tell them that Islam had no concept of
untouchables would have been futile ,Asif insisted. So instead he had chosen
compromise: the nomads could stay as long as they drank water from their own
wells, and did not mix with the villagers.

How many walls can one nation erect and sustain, Ali wondered. (Shamsie, 2002,
p. 51)

Description: Ali and Asif were walking on the farm when Asif was stopped by a nomad woman
.Ali knew that Asif was going to tell her that he did not have any objection if her tribe would
stay on the dune which belonged to him by law and belonged to her tribe by the laws of tradition
.Legally it was his property but that tribe had been living there for a longer period of time than
anyone knew , so it belonged to them ‘by tradition’ without having the legal ownership .Asif had
told Ali the night before that the nomad tribe had made this dune a part of their migratory
patterns ,they came back to the same place at regular intervals. Some of them wanted to build
mud huts and settle there permanently ,but the villagers and those people working on the farm
considered them ‘untouchables’—again a kind of “ethnic othering” regarding them some
inferior creature whose very touch could pollute them . Asif insisted that though all those people
were apparently Muslims and Islam had no concept of untouchables, but it would have been
useless to tell them this. So instead he had opted for a middle way. He told the woman that the
nomads could stay as long as they drank water from their own wells, and did not mix with the
villagers. The barriers, he maintained, were necessary for their peaceful co-existence. Ali
 278

wondered, ‘How many walls can one nation erect and sustain’. The reference is to political,
social, religious and ethnic divides among the nation which create social displacement.

Interpretation: There was unrest in Karachi in 1986 on account of the ethnic riots between
Muhajirs and Pashtuns, in Asif’s drawing room what Raheen and Karim overheard was the
divide between the natives and non-natives i.e. Muhajirs and Sindhis and here is yet another
divide between the nomads and the natives. The historical context goes with manmade divisions
that create barriers among human beings.

Explanation: Cilano (2013) says that on official level an effort has been made to create a'
conception of a harmonious Pakistani national unity' with an emphasis to construct a 'homeland'
which creates a sense of belonging and also helps providing an identity. But the ground realities
have been different. The barriers of various kinds are there among the people .Asif, who had
been known as Asif Marx at Oxford because of his inspiration from Marxist social theory turned
into quite contented landowner three years after returning home. He was a typical feudal who did
not even like to listen to anything about the land reforms that might hit the present power
structure and the power practices in vogue in the country. The very styles of his being
(Fairclough,2003) changed with the change in location .He was a socialist in Oxford but a feudal
in Pakistan assuming two different personas with the change of place.

Text (10): Last week, at the Sind Club, Rukhsana heard your boss singing your
praises .Born to be an ad man. Pity about his fiancée .Number of our clients
won’t like working with someone who has a Bengali wife. Still, months to go
before the wedding .Maybe he’ll see the light by then.’...’.So I’ll change jobs.’

‘You’ll find that attitude everywhere, Zaf.’

‘OK, so I’ll change fiancée.’ He laughed... (Shamsie, 2002, p. 52)

 279

Description: Discrimination for having a Bengali wife is the theme .The focus moves from 1986
to 1971, when Maheen and Zafar were engaged to each other .Maheen told him that the previous
week at the Sind Club, Rukhsana had heard Zafar’s boss singing his praises .He had appreciated
his talent and called him a born ‘ad man’. But he pitied about his fiancée adding that a number of
their clients would not like to work with someone who had a Bengali wife. He continued that still
there were months to go before the wedding and wished Zafar might ‘see the light by then’ better
sense might prevail and he might change his decision .Zafar replied to Maheen in response that
he would change his job .Maheen responded that he would find such attitude everywhere .Zafar
laughed in response and jokingly said he would change his fiancé then. This joke under the
mounting social pressure would become a reality influencing many lives including their children.

Interpretation: The situational context is Maheen’s constant ‘Othering’ because of her Bengali
origin while historical context goes social discrimination that finally led to Civil War of 1971.

Explanation: The Civil War of 1970-71 was going on followed by a full-fledged war with India.
The situation was getting grave every day and amidst such grave circumstances the elite class
was having all their social festivity .During such gatherings, whatever came out as gossip had
some basis and fall out as well .As life itself is an interdiscursive phenomenon.

Maheen, who had been in Karachi during the Civil War had to encounter discrimination
on account of her Bengali origin. She was engaged to Zafar, who lived under the delusion that
the things would turn for the better while Maheen had her fears .She shared with Zafar what she
had been told by Rukhsana quoting Zafar’s boss that he had a great talent to be a successful
advertising man but most of their clients might not like to work with a man with a Bengali wife
and he should better review his decision. Though he tried to dispel her fear by joking that he
would change his job or his fiancé but by closing his eyes, he could not banish the reality of
discrimination, she was subjected to .His fool’s paradise would prove to be a house of cards that
would fall apart at a few blows.
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All the friends were together to celebrate the New Year Eve of 1971 at Asif’s farm
despite of all the conflicts and unrest at the national front where Zafar formally welcomed 1971
to their homeland Pakistan telling the gathering that ,it would be the year that signaled the end
of bachelorhood for him and the end of divorcehood for Laila. He considered himself ‘a lucky
bastard’ for being engaged to Maheen and hoped that Maheen would not let him forget that and
then he recommended his friend Ali to the beautiful women at the gathering for marriage and
ended with “...So, 1971, these are the favours we ask of you: may the miniskirts get more
mini...May we not have Civil War,” someone shouted .Maheen and Yasmin repeated the wish
while the party moves on to the open. (Shamsie, 2002, p. 53)

Zafar’s concerns were different from that of Maheen, who wished they might not have a
Civil War. But we would see in the course of events neither Zafar nor Maheen’s wish would be
granted. There would be a Civil War that would make all the difference creating a severe identity
crisis for Maheen, who would no more be considered a Pakistani but a Bengali, and Zafar would
be reduced to ‘Bingo’s-lover’ only. Through, the historical events of the Civil War, Fall of
Dhaka and succession of East Pakistan, Shamsie displays the impacts of these historical events
on humans.

Text (11): Zia rolled his eyes at Karim. ‘This is Karachi. We have a good time
while we can, ’cause tomorrow we might not be so lucky.’

But he couldn’t have said that back in January’87, could he? Did we already
know something had begun that perhaps none of us would live to see the end of?
Perhaps. Although the ethnic fighting had broken out for the first time in my life
in 1985, I cannot remember Karachi being a safe city even before that. When
Alexander’s Admiral; the Cretan Nearchus ,reached Krokola he had to quell a
mutiny among Alexander’s Krokolan subjects, who had killed the satrap
appointed by Alexander together supplies for his forces.. If Karachi and Korkola
are on e and the same, recorded instances of violence on its soil go back over
twenty-three hundred years. And yet, it is the only place where I have ever felt
utterly safe. Who among us has never been moved to tears, or to tears’ invisible
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counterparts, by mention of the word home? Is there any other word that can feel
so heavy as you hold it in your mouth. (Shamsie, 2002, p.63)

Description: Indifference of the typical city elite is the theme. Zia, one of the four friends, rolled
his eyes and told Karim that it was Karachi and they should have a good time while they could,
because tomorrow they might not be so lucky to have a chance to. His statement reflects his
indifference to, whatever was happening in the city. Shamsie’s narrative moves back and forth to
forge a link between different time scales she depicted in the novel. What is described before
was Zia’s jolly good resolve to have fun. But years ahead when Raheen recalled she thought,
‘But he couldn’t have said that back in January’87, could he?’ She wondered, ‘Did we already
know something had begun that perhaps none of us would live to see the end of?’ Here
‘something’ refers to the unending series of the ethnic riots .She further elaborated that although
the ethnic fighting had broken out for the first time in her life in 1985, but she could not
remember Karachi being a safe city even before that. She could see it in the historical
perspective when Alexander’s Admiral; the Cretan Nearchus, reached Krokola he had to crush a
revolt among Alexander’s Krokolan(native) subjects, who had killed the ‘satrap’ an official,
appointed by Alexander together supplies for his forces. She continued thinking if ‘Karachi and
Korkola are one and the same, recorded instances of violence on its soil go back to over twenty-
three hundred years’ means it has a long history of violence and unrest .Despite having an
awareness of the turbulent history, she knew, ‘And yet, it is the only place where I have ever felt
utterly safe’. Such was the intensity and depth of her love for her native city, her homeland. She
kept thinking, ‘Who among us has never been moved to tears, or to tears’ invisible counterparts,
by mention of the word home? Is there any other word that can feel so heavy as you hold it in
your mouth?’ What Shamsie conveys through her spokesperson in the novel is that love for one’s
home, one’s city and one’s homeland is a natural feeling shared by all humans. The memory of
one’s home can make one nostalgic—can move one to tears or the counterpart of tears i.e. means
sadness—all these are typical feelings of diasporas and the displaced persons (Brown, 2006).

Interpretation: Karim and Raheen came back to Karachi and she could recall later how keenly
he had been looking at the thickly populated city- observing all the details like colourful mini
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buses, deformed beggars, clothes flapping, wooden fruit stalls, at that time she didn’t have an
inkling that he might be observing them keeping in mind that he would have to leave them all
behind.

Explanation: Shamsie raises some serious points in this discourse. The first is the attitude of
‘the elite class’ about the problems of the city .Zia, the protagonists’ friend, here stands for this
type of unconcerned elites who want to enjoy their lives irrespective of what is going on ,on the
larger canvas of life. ‘This is Karachi. We have a good time while we can, ’cause tomorrow we
might not be so lucky’ refers to that Epicurean style of life. He did not like Sonia’s father’s
attitude showing least concern for the others’ concerns. He considered Sonia’s father mad for not
letting her out of the house because someone he knew had died recently in ‘Korangi or Orangi
or some such area’(Shamsie,2002,p.61) which made him completely paranoid about her safety.’
He referred to ‘Korangi or Orangi; as if they were places on some other world. Shamsie also
counters this attitude by making her second main character, Karim pose a serious question,
‘Don’t you think maybe there’s something wrong with us having such fun all the time when
people are being killed every day in poorer parts of the town?’(Shamsie, 2002, p.63) Telling Zia,
‘It’s not absurd...I mean, our parents made us leave the city, and they don’t even know anyone
directly affected by what happened.’(Shamsie, 2002, p.62)

Through Raheen’s stream of consciousness Shamsie traces the history of violence in her
own life ‘the ethnic fighting had broken out for the first time in my life in 1985’ linking it with
greater historical perspective ‘I cannot remember Karachi being a safe city before’
(Shamsie,2002,p.62).She links it with the arrival of Alexander, the Great, whose admiral, the
Cretan Nearchus ‘had to quell mutiny’ (Shamsie,2002,p.62) that goes with the recorded history
of violence in Karachi dates back to twenty three hundred years.

The last and the most important point she raises goes with my research question (Chap. 1,
p. 8) about diaspora—their love for their homeland. Raheen, Shamsie’s voice in the novel
reflects this love, despite knowing Karachi is a turbulent history, she says ‘And yet, it is the only
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place where I have ever felt utterly safe.’ She refers to word ‘home’ that touches one’s heart and
moves one to tears. Shamsie (2010) writes in ‘Kamila Shamsie on Leaving and Returning to
Karachi’: "There are two kinds of writers .But for me, one of the most important is "those who
write about places with which they are intimately acquainted, and those who don't". She further
writes in the same essay, “But wherever I lived, Karachi was the place I knew best and the place
about which I wrote.” She proves herself a typical Karachi diaspora.

Text (12): My litany of Karachi winter characteristics runs something like this;
peanut roasted in their shells and bought by the pao in bags made of newspapers,
peaches that you twist just sow to separated them into halves ,flesh falling cleanly
off seeds; the silence of no fan and no air conditioner; hibiscus flowers, shawls
,days at the beach, then she talks about the litany of the beach which has litany of
their own :salted fish air; turtle tracks; shouts of warning from the fishermen just
before toes tangle their near-invisible lines ,fishermen’s baskets full of dead fish,
fishermen’s net drawn in to shores ,warm sand; wet sand; feet slippery on rock
moss; jeans rolled up ,as we wade ,and rolled down again heavy with salt and
sea ,shells; sparks from barbecues ;the concentrated colours of sunset; stars; the
rings of sand on the bath tub ,the fog of mirrors in the bathroom; the smell of the
salt on skin as we fall asleep .despite the earlier soap scrubbing; the forgetting of
everything that bothered us at the start of the day; the sheer childhood of it
all).But, really, for Karachi high society ,winter is about envelops.(
Shamsie,2002,p. 68)

Description: Raheen’s ‘litany of Karachi winter’ – is, a long drawn-out list of what, Karachi
winter consists of , peanut roasted in their shells and bought by the ‘pao’- quarter of a kilogram
in bags made of newspapers, peaches that they twist just to separate them into two halves ,flesh
falling cleanly off seeds; the silence of no fan and no air conditioner; hibiscus flowers, shawls
,days at the beach--which involve the litany of their own :salted fish air; turtle tracks; shouts of
warning from the fishermen just before toes tangle their near-invisible lines ,fishermen’s baskets
full of dead fish, fishermen’s net drawn in to shores ,warm sand; wet sand; feet slippery on rock
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moss; jeans rolled up ,as they push their way ,and rolled down again heavy with salt and sea
,shells; sparks from barbecues ;the concentrated colours of sunset; stars; the rings of sand on the
bath tub ,the fog of mirrors in the bathroom; the smell of the salt on skin as they fall asleep
despite the earlier soap scrubbing; the forgetting of everything that bothered them at the start of
the day; the sheer childhood of it all. These were the personal recollections of her litany of
Karachi winter. At the community level, for the Karachi elites, winter is all about envelopes
containing invitations for a variety of functions in general and New Year parties in particular.

Interpretation: The very title Kartography is evocative (Kumar, 2011), with ‘K’ instead of ‘C’,
in itself, is a litany of Karachi, but here, in the above-mentioned discourse Shamsie in particular
refers to Raheen’s, the protagonist’s nostalgia for her city—Karachi, associated with the minute
personal recollections of Karachi winter which in turn is linked with the Karachi elite—‘Ghutna
parties’ invitations- the drinking parties arranged by the elites as a symbol of social status.

Explanation: Kumar (2011) says that evoking and creating a sense of place has long been a
concern of literature: Kartography belongs to this genre of place-making narratives. Shamsie
presents the litany of her city through her protagonist Raheen, who recalled the minute details of
all the activities associated with the winter season of Karachi, her personal recollections and life
in the elite social circle marked with envelopes containing invitations of the New Year parties.
Raheen further throws light on the envelops carrying invitation for the New Year celebration
which start arriving in November. From invitations, she turns to all other varieties of functions
and their invitations to show the extravagance of the elite class but then comes back to ‘the
Ghutnas, the Karachi Knees’(Shamsie,2002,p.69) Aunty Runty coined the term by telling
Raheen’s mother one day:

Can’t take the social scene .Every night, people drinking, they fall on the street, ghtnay
chhil gaye, yaar, yes, skin peels off knees and yet they drink on. Can’t. And yet, what to
do? Have to show up ,be seen ,let people know you’re alive so they’ll invite you to
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tomorrow’s party .Yaar ,can’t take the scene ,but have to peel knees ,have to chilhi
ghutnay have to be seen to be invited.(Shamsie, 2002, p.69)

Such were the superficial concerns of Karachi elites. Raheen further elaborates that this
was a hit description and ‘the term Ghutna became a euphemism used both as an adjective to
describe a particularly social ‘do’ and a noun to refer to the people who threw themselves into
the socializing.’(Shamsie, 2002, p.69) These Ghutna parties are used for ‘scrambling up the
social ladder.’(Shamsie, 2002, p.69)They are used as a means for the upward mobility and
seeking favours .These parties and their invitations are regarded as status symbol as well .Raheen
recalled, that one such party was thrown by her parents on their return from Rahim Yar Khan, “It
wasn’t a particularly large party, as Karachi parties go .Fifty people, or there about, all of whom
had known my parents longer than I had.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.72).Shamsie refers to common
social practice of partying of the Karachi elites by quoting this example.

Text (13): When I was at university, a friend showed me a videotape of thousands

and thousands of lights string beneath a velvet black starry sky; I murmured,’
‘Beautiful, that is so beautiful,’ only to hear her say, “Those are the lighted of
refugee camps, ’and as I recoiled from the TV image I thought of Aunty Runty.

But back in 1987 refugees were still to me, little more than a hassle that streamed
across the Afghan border with guns and drugs, and Aunty Runty was a figure of
fun as she sashayed her way across my parents’ living room and clutched my arm
.Raheenie, sweetie, why haven’t you wished me a happy, happy 87 yet?(Shamsie,
2002, p.72-73)

Description: Raheen recalled that when she was at a university, when a friend showed her a
videotape of thousands and thousands of lights string beneath a velvet black starry sky; and she
murmured in her ignorance, ‘Beautiful, that is so beautiful,’ in response she was told, ‘Those are
the lights of refugee camps’, the refuge of the displaced lot .The unspoken reality about them,
was a tale of misery not beauty. She remembered that as she recoiled from the TV image, she
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thought of Aunty Runty .She thought of 1987 when ‘refugees were still to her, little more than a
hassle that streamed across the Afghan border with guns and drugs’, and Aunty Runty was a
figure of fun as she flounced her way across Raheen’s parents’ living room and clutched her arm
to have some gossip saying, “Raheenie, sweetie, why haven’t you wished me a happy, happy 87
yet?”(Shamsie, 2002, p.73). By linking apparently two different things together Shamsie portrays
the superficiality of concerns for the elites and the stark reality of the displaced existence.

Interpretation: Afghan refugees started pouring in, in Pakistan as a result of the Russian
invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, most of them were kept in the refugees’ camps in the slums or
poor areas which they were a remote thing for Raheen. Her immediate response to the video
showed by an American friend, displayed her ignorance.

Explanation: Shamsie highlights two things through the above-mentioned discourse. The first
is the ignorance of the elite class children of what has been going on in the world beyond their
limited circle .When Raheen’s friend showed her a videotape of a refugee camp, her first
reaction, after seeing thousands of lights against the black starry sky, was, ‘Beautiful, that is so
beautiful’ which reflects her limited vision and insularity (Kumar, 2011).The friend added to her
knowledge that those were the lights of the refugee camps. Raheen’s discourse, is the discourse
of ignorance and her friends’ discourse is the discourse of awareness of the refugees’
phenomenon and the displacement of thousands and thousands of people living in those camps
away from their homes due to some cause of disturbance like war which forced them to leave
their familiar world behind. The influx of Afghan refugees started in 1979, while for Raheen,
even in 1987 refugees were still a remote thing, ‘little more than a hassle that streamed across
the Afghan border with guns and drugs’ and her university years were 1990 to 1994 during
which she saw that videotape which somehow reminded her of Aunty Runty in the year 1987 and
the New Year party at her place .Aunty Runty was a figure of fun for them. She recalled, how
she had made her wish her Happy New Year 1987, ‘Raheenie, sweetie, why haven’t you wished
me a happy, New Year 87 yet?’ The unstated other point, Shamsie wants to highlight is ,the
festivity of the elites no matter, whatever is going on the national level, the 1971 New Year eve
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at Asif’s farm and the 1987 New Year eve at Zafar’s house make the text interdiscursive
showing the repeated social practices in the upper circle.

The ethnic conflicts were ravaging the city and the refugee influx made the availability of
arms and ammunition easy which turned the riots all the more damaging but the ‘Ghutna parties’
have been a social practice. At that New Year party the display of Aunty Runty’s love for
Raheen was to elicit some gossip about Uncle Asif’s brother’s elopement. At that young age, it
was difficult for her to doubt Uncle Asif’s happiness on girl’s being Shi’a and his brother’s being
Sunni even if he didn’t seem religious. The following discourse of Aunty Runty was a discourse
of discrimination:

Aunty Runty laughed.’ What’s that got to do with it? Everyone wants everyone in their
family to marry same to same...The background. Class, sect, ethnic group: that’s what a
family looks at when considering who they are willing to be related to through marriage.
(Shamsie, 2002, p.73)

She instigated her further by adding, “Though, of course, that worked out for your
parent...And Maheen no longer seems to mind that your father didn’t want to marry her because
she’s Bengali.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.73-74)

She suggested to Raheen even at such young age that she should reconsider her
relationship with Karim as future husband .Apparently both the discourses are different but the
theme of discrimination lies at their back that create personal, ethnic, national and international
divisions.

Text (14): I have already started thinking of Karachi as a place that I have to say
goodbye to; every day I say goodbye to some part of it and then two days later I
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see that part again and find I feel so relieved but also not, because then I have to
say goodbye to it again. This must be what dying is like.(Shamsie, 2002, p.75)

Description: Karim has the awareness that soon he will have to leave Karachi forever .In this
discourse of anticipated displacement he tells Raheen that he has already started thinking of
Karachi as a place that he has to say goodbye to. With this awareness every day he says goodbye
to some part of it and then two days later when he sees that part again, he feels so relieved at
seeing it again and grieved by thinking that he has to say goodbye to it again. He considers, ‘This
must be what dying is like.’ Leaving some part of the city he belongs to every day is to him like
dying in parts and it is a very agonizing experience for him.

Interpretation: Constantly deteriorating law and order situation was a great concern for Ali,
Karim’s father who did not consider Karachi a safe place to live in especially for his only child
and was determined to leave it forever. He did not see any improvement in the state of affairs
and did not see any possibility of it in future .Karim knew of his father’s resolve so while
moving around the city he loved he always had his impending displacement in near future.

Explanation: Foucault (1969) regards history as analects of dispersed events which have to be
re arranged, reduced and effaced in order to reveal their continuity. This is what, Shamsie
displays in her fiction, including Kartoghraphy. Ali and Karim have been presented as sensible
and sensitive people and there is an extra sensitivity in them, that is, because of their relationship
with Maheen whose identity crisis as a result of 1971 Civil War and the succession of East
Pakistan led to the swapping of fiancés between the friends. It resulted in a constant inherent
dissatisfaction between Maheen and Ali. Maheen did not leave Karachi during the turbulent
times of 1970-71, she does not want to leave it in 1987 but Ali’s decision forces her to do so
never to return to it again. This displacement resulted in the breakup of their family unit making
them permanent Karachi diaspora. Transnational migration (Esman, 2009) has been a common
phenomenon throughout the recorded human history which has become more frequent in recent
times. Karim’s father’s decision is apparently not unusual but has far reaching effects on their
 289

family unit .Karim loves Karachi and wants to be a cartographer to make a scientific map of the
city but knows that he has to leave this city soon, which makes him feel sad.

When Raheen tries to console Karim that his father will “never leave Karachi” (Shamsie,
2002, p.75) and whatever he says is “just a talk” (Shamsie, 2002, p.75), his response that he has
have already started thinking of Karachi as a place that he has to say goodbye to, is a mood
spoiler for her .Even at that young age Karim has the deep sensitivity. Raheen takes the remark
as mood spoiler, but then to divert the attention she mentions Aunty Runty’s dialogue that her
father didn’t marry his mother because she was Bengali. And the further discourse with reference
to 1971 between them goes like this:

Well, it was 1971.

‘So?’

‘The year of the Civil War .East Pakistan became Bangladesh.’

‘Thanks for the history lesson. What are you trying to say about my father?’

Karim shrugged. ’Nothing. But of course people must have assumed that the
ethnic thing was a factor.’

He’s a Muhajir.

He’s not Bengali, he’s not.(Shamsie, 2002, p.75-76)

She tries to remind him that he cannot forget his roots and say goodbye to them. The fear
of his leaving Karachi disturbs her and keeps haunting her so she tries to get assurance time and
again with the hope that he would refute the possibility. But Karim knows that his father who
saw the consequences of the 1971 Civil War will not change his mind. But the anticipation of the
future displacement has been killing for him.
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Text (15): I had wandered off for a few minutes to find out from my house captain
how soon netball practice would start-typical it the netball season was in
December, but because of the trouble in the city at the end of the previous year
our entire sports calendar had been thrown into disarray. (‘And they say the elite
aren’t affected by what’s happening in the city... (Shamsie, 2002, p.77)

Description: Their school re-opened and Raheen had wandered off for a few minutes to find out
from her house captain how soon netball practice would start. Typically their netball season was
in December, but because of the trouble in the city at the end of the year 1986 their entire sports
calendar had been disturbed .Shamsie reflects Raheen’s class conscious through ‘And they say
the elite aren’t affected by what’s happening in the city...’ .Shamsie uses the literary device of
irony by equating the disturbance of the school sports calendar with the law and order situation
created in the different parts of the city.

Interpretation: The ethnic riots in the city created serious law and order situation in Karachi and
educational institutions were closed for a long time .Even the posh areas were under serious
threats and it was considered unsafe to send children outside. The kids schools re-opened and
they were at school again.

Explanation: Army action in the city apparently restored peace in the city and the educational
institutions re-opened. Shamsie says, ‘It was not peace, but an interruption in chaos’ (Shamsie,
2002, p.78). Raheen who was an athlete went to see the group captain to inquire about the
practice schedule and equated this delay with the disturbance in the city. On her return from the
round she found them talking about Karim’s possible departure. Zia and Raheen were the typical
elite children so in reply to Karim’s remark ‘Let’s not even think about it...Things are better
now than they were a few weeks ago ,right ?Maybe it’ll keep getting better’(Shamsie, 2002,
p.78) they nodded, but Sonia shook her head saying, ‘We don’t know half the things that go
on.’(Shamsie, 2002, p.80) She told them that her father didn’t let her mother go and visit all their
relatives in the other part of the city. They regarded Sonia to be ‘from a conservative family’
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(Shamsie, 2002, p.80) but Zia used to put it differently ‘they are not just like us.’(Shamsie, 2002,
p.80).People of their class had no previous connections with them:

So naturally everyone concluded that it was shady, very shady, dealings that had enabled
her father to move his family to the poshest part of town, enroll his daughter in the most
elite school in the nation, and install those gold taps in his bathrooms.(Shamsie, 2002,
p.80)

Through this discourse, Shamsie highlights the class consciousness through Raheen’s
thinking among the elites (‘And they say the elite aren’t affected by what’s happening in the
city...”) (Shamsie, 2002, p.77) which later echoed through Zia’s consideration of Sonia’s family
‘they are not just like us.’(Shamsie, 2002, p.80) .This consciousness on the part of the children is
a replica of the discrimination they heard at Uncle Asif’s farm about the Muhajirs. This
discrimination leads to ethnic riots that have become a social practice and have given birth to the
events like Fall of Dhaka. Shamsie traces the causes behind the power practices that lead to the
war.

Text (16): He looked at the ravaged vehicle and this time he allowed stark terror
to write itself across his face…I saw blood rush to his face and drain away as he
slumped against the bonnet of the Mercedes .I put my hand on his shoulder,
thinking that if he fell apart now, he wouldn’t be able to drive us home.(Shamsie,
2002, p.87-88)

Description: Raheen is the narrator here, she said that Zia looked at the damaged vehicle and
for the first time he could not hide the fear and terror he felt by looking at his damaged car ‘this
time he allowed stark terror to write itself across his face’(Shamsie, 2002, p.87). She further
added that she saw his face, first turning red with fear and then turning white as he bent against
the bonnet of the Mercedes. She put her hand on his shoulder to console him, thinking that if he
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fell apart at that moment, he wouldn’t be able to drive them home. Shamsie shows how fear
touched the elite children as well.

Interpretation: The situational context is Zia’s plan to visit Sonia’s place with Raheen. The
historical context is deteriorating law and order situation of the city.

Explanation: This discourse is interdiscursive in the sense that Zia who had never been
intimidated by his father’s concern for his safety and who used to make fun of Sonia’s father’s
carefulness about her safety seemed frightened for the first time. He showed the typical
Epicurean approach when he said “This is Karachi. We have a good time while we
can...”(Shamsie, 2002, p.63) and told how he turned his parents crazy during winter holidays
‘with driving off for hours and not telling them where he was going’. Shamsie conveys that we
don’t realise the severity of the problem until it touches us personally and often our deliberate
carelessness adds to the gravity of the situation. The terror touched Zia directly draining colour
of life from his face .Raheen had to console him so that he could drive back home .Raheen’s
discourse of fear displays further interdiscursivity when she describes the reaction of this
incident on their parents’ faces, “The look we placed on our parents’ faces when we show them
the jagged evidence that we are living in violent times, no escape from it.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.69)
So this is a discourse of fear, touching the lives of the elites as well.

Text (17): Uncle Ali switched the table lamp on and off and on again. ‘So if you
want to be a good friend, you bribe a policeman .If you stand on ethics, you’re a
lousy human being. ’He looked at my parents. This was clearly a continuation of
some other conversation. ’This is not about accepting grey areas anymore; it‘s
about a value system that’s totally bankrupt.’

‘And your solution?’ Ami said...’His solution is to leave, ’Aba said .Isn’t that the
most bankrupt choice, Ali? To turn your back to something you love because it’s
grown unmanageable?’
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‘It’s not as though you were never on the verge of doing the same, ’Aunty Maheen
said softly, still stroking Karim’s hair.

What were they all talking about? For heaven’s sake, I’d just been shot at... ‘That
was completely different:’71 was madness.’

‘But perhaps it would have been best if you had left,’ Uncle Ali said. The reaction
to that statement was baffling .Uncle Ali put his hands in a defensive gesture. I
didn’t mean it that way. God, Zaf, you know I wouldn’t .Oh for heaven’s sake
.You are all being ridiculous.... ‘I mean, there is madness here now and it’s
getting worse, that’s what I meant .I meant the country, the government, the
people .I don’t mean...it wasn’t personal. (Shamsie, 2002, p.99)

Description: Raheen narrates that Uncle Ali went on switching the table lamp on and off when
he talked to Karim, “So if you want to be a good friend, you bribe a policeman .If you stand on
ethics, you’re a lousy human being.” (Shamsie, 2002, p. 99) This discourse was apparently in
response to Karim‘s justification for bribing the police to get Zia out of the police station, but the
second sentence , ‘If you stand on ethics, you’re a lousy human being.’, is in response to some
previous discourse. That was clearly a continuation of some previous conversation with her
parents because when he uttered it he was looking at them .His visibly disturbed state is
highlighted through his fidgeting with the table lamp switch .He added that it was not about
accepting grey areas anymore; but about a value system that had totally gone bankrupt .His
discourse indicates his disillusioned regarding the deteriorating values system of the society he
was living in. Raheen’s mother asked him about his solution to the problem, but before she could
finish the sentence, her father interrupted by saying that his solution was to leave the place and
then questioned Uncle Ali, that wasn’t that the most bankrupt choice to leave something he loved
only because it had grown unmanageable. Aunty Maheen, who was stroking Karim’s hair,
continued doing that and said softly reminding Zafar that he had done the same. She referred to
his decision to leave her because it had become unmanageable for him to be engaged to her.
Raheen did not like all this and tried to cut them short by reminding them “What are you all
talking about? For heaven’s sake, I’d just been shot at...” But his father’s response, is rather an
interruption and self-defense when he said that it was completely different from the 1971 which
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he termed as ‘madness’. The grownups discourse revolves around past which is apparent in
Uncle Ali’s response, ‘But perhaps it would have been best if you had left.’ The reaction to that
statement was baffling, which put Uncle Ali on the defensive. “I didn’t mean it that way. God,
Zaf, you know I wouldn’t .Oh for heaven’s sake .You are all being ridiculous....” He explained
that he was referring to the current madness which was getting worse. He emphasized, “…that’s
what I meant .I meant the country, the government, the people .I don’t mean...it wasn’t
personal.” Despite repeated references to the fact that 1971 was sheer madness and the
references to it weren’t personal, the impacts of the same could be seen on their lives. And
mixing of different discourses of reminder and denial, bears a witness to this fact.

Interpretation: Ali was disturbed by the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi that
was why he sent the children away during holidays .The incident of firing on the car Raheen and
Zia were riding further strengthened his view about the bankruptcy of the societal values system
and failure of the government to control law and order situation. The reference to the legacy of
bad governance always turned to 1971 with which some deep-rooted personal bitter experiences
were related.

Explanation: Uncle Ali was visibly disturbed, which was apparent from the way he kept
switching off and on the table lamp. The dissatisfaction with the past was multiplied by the
conscious and unconscious repeated references to 1971, the historical event of the Civil War and
its impacts on their personal lives. To pacify himself, Ali wanted a drink, but was told that Zafar
had given the whole supply to Runty whose ‘bootlegger’s gone on Hajj.’ The very use of the
term ‘bootleggers’ further irritated Uncle Ali who felt that no one in a civilized country should
use the term. Instead of wine he was served tea. He had a feeling that “Things really are going to
hell here,” and questioned Zafar “How long we just go on taking it? Don’t you ever think of
getting out, Zafar?”(Shamsie, 2002, p.103) In response Zafar waved his hand dismissively saying
“I can’t imagine growing old anywhere else but here.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.103) Aunty Maheen
agreed with Zafar as always:
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Exactly...I mean London is fine but I’ll never get used to umbrellas, not to mention the
way they talk.’...But my point is, if we leave here I’ll spend my whole time missing
people in Karachi because there are, so, many to miss that you can’t just squeeze in all
that missing during your morning cup of tea. (Shamsie, 2002, p.103)

But Uncle Ali’s thoughts were still fixed on the same point, “If one of those bullets had
been aimed just a few inches higher...” (Shamsie, 2002, p.103)This little incident made up his
mind and he expressed his resolve that they were migrating. At Aunty Maheen’s noise of
disbelief, he added, “At least I am .And I’m taking Karim with me.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.103)
Raheen thought that Karim and Uncle Ali both of them sought desperately for the imposition of
order in their lives failing to realise ‘the arbitrariness of order.’(Shamsie, 2002, p.105) Karim
considered the world was slightly different after Raheen was being shot at, “That cannot protect
you from this .And what else?” (Shamsie, 2002, p.105) With this realisation she started crying.
Kumar (2011) writes that the novel‘s Karachi becomes a part of a politics of resistance to the
ethnic, factional, and state violence that has deluged the city and estranged its inhabitants. He
further explains “Shamsie‘s novel highlights this sense of estrangement and suggests that unless
the Pakistani state and society address it, Pakistan will be condemned to repeat the mistakes of
1971.” Shamsie depicts displacement in time and space, she also depicts the consequences of
being rooted out from one’s own place and becoming a permanent diaspora:

...Uncle Ali in London ,moving from one short term affair to another ,returning
periodically to Karachi to tell my parents he didn’t know why he left ,he couldn’t
imagine returning ,he was so afraid of old age .His life such a sadness.( Shamsie,
2002, p.121)

One war resulted in ‘swapping of fiancés’, anticipation of another such war, led to the
displacement because of which their family unit breaks and they are still under the constant
shadows of fears.
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Text (18): I wouldn’t ask any more questions, I swore silently .Not even to myself
.Not even if it killed me. No truth was worth such upheaval. (Shamsie, 2002,
p.109)

Description: Raheen silently swore that she would not ask any more questions about her parents
and Karim’s parents’ past, after listening to her parents’ conversation and realising some source
of disturbance in it. She resolved not to ask questions to herself even if it would kill her .No truth
for her, was worth this turmoil in their lives.

Interpretation: The context is the impact of past national events on their parents’ personal
lives. Raheen who was curious and tried to solve the mystery of the past while they had been in
Rahim Yar Khan, now realised some grey area related to it. So she resolved never to question
about it again.

Explanation: Kumar (2011) writes that the story behind the fiancé swap is at the heart of the
novel and allows Shamsie to pose many important questions about the complex and still
unfolding legacies of 1971 for Raheen and Karim—as members of subsequent generations and
for the Pakistani nation as a whole. But in the above-mentioned discourse we see that Raheen,
the fun-loving protagonist, for the first time realized that there was something in the past related
to the legacy of 1971 Civil War that had some grey areas about their parents’ lives that should
better not be touched. The haunting fear of the legacy of war has a threatening impact on her life.

Text (19): It was the closest thing to the monsoons I had encountered in the three
years I’d been at university in America, rain ricocheting off the ground with the
speed and wings of bullets from a Kalashnikov. (Shamsie, 2002, p. 135)

Description: Raheen was in her tiny dorm room at the university in America when she heard the
sudden increase in the intensity of the rainfall. For her it was the closest thing to the ‘monsoons’
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the rainy season in Pakistan. She had been at the university for the last three years, but it was for
the first time that she could listen to the downpour with the ‘speed and wings’ of the bullets from
a Kalashnikov. Comparison of the intensity of the rainfall with the bullets of a Kalashnikov is a
typical Pakistani and Karachiites use of the language, representation of a typical culture
introduced in Pakistan with the influx of the Afghans and spread of arms with the beginning of
the Afghan Jihad. Raheen, a Karachi diaspora missed monsoon and the similarity of the
downpour made her rush outside.

Interpretation: Raheen was at her university in the tiny dorm room along with seven, eight
people reading for them ‘Myths of Courtship’ but the sudden ferocity of the rain made her put
her cup of herbal tea aside and rush outside .Like the typical Pakistani elite children, she came to
America to do her graduation but like typical diaspora missed her homeland and the seasons
there.

Explanation: Diasporas miss their homeland, its seasons, its hills and dales, its rivers and
oceans, its customs, its people in short everything. Shamsie’s spokesperson, Raheen talked about
the litany of Karachi’s winter previously, here she talked about ‘monsoon’ ,the rain similar to
Karachi monsoon made her rush outside leaving the gathering in her room and her tea behind.
She recalled the intensity of downpour in Karachi with the ‘speed and wings of the bullets of the
Kalashnikov’, the linguistic construct in Pakistani diction, is yet another characteristic of
diaspora.

Raheen’s social circle, at the university, negates the propaganda about the clash of
civilization, people from different countries, including the Americans, were gathered in her room
and enjoying hot drink while she was reading to them .But the sudden rush of nostalgia for her
homeland made her almost ‘close to telling everyone in the room to be quiet, just be quiet,’ so
that she could hear the sound of leaves being blown about. “Russet rustle. Almost the sound of
waves breaking on the pebbled sand.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.135)
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She thought in Karachi she had never been able to hold a court for as long as she had just
done .Her friends in Pakistan would have behaved quite differently. The flight of imagination
took her back to Karachi:

Not true, not true, that in Karachi I felt my world was perfect, although sometimes I
deluded myself into thinking that when I was far from home. But even in Karachi I’d feel
this need to turn away from people whose company, just seconds earlier, I had delighted
in.(Shamsie, 2002, p.115)

She recalled on one such occasion in Pakistan the way Sonia behaved in quite an
understanding way and asked her with concern whether she felt “Absent or lost.”(Shamsie, 2002,
p.115).All these memories of the homeland reflect her strong ties with the place of her origin.

Text (20): More than Aunty Maheen’s remarriage, or the worsening political
situation in Pakistan, it was my belief in the impossibility of that quartet
rearranging itself in any way that made my thoughts exile Ali and Maheen-and
,by extension Karim—from Karachi forever.( Shamsie, 2002, p.122)

Description: For Raheen the greatest source of the disturbance was not Aunty Maheen’s
remarriage, or the worsening political situation in Pakistan, but her belief in the impossibility of
that quartet of her parents. This impossibility of the wholesomeness made her realize that the
exile of Uncle Ali and Aunty Maheen, and by extension of Karim—from Karachi was forever.
The breaking of their family unit banished all the possibilities of their return to Karachi together.

Interpretation: Friendship between both the protagonists’ parents was a long term friendship
and they had always seen their parents together. Uncle Ali’s decision to leave Karachi was a
shock for them but he was determined to without knowing that he himself would have to suffer
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the worst consequences of this displacement .He would never find a ‘home’ in his life time
again.

Explanation: Raheen recalled her orientation session at the university to create an ‘artificial
bond’ between the students. They were asked to share their most private pains and most personal
stories. She invented fabricated tales, but kept a chart of the real answers that came to her mind
about those questions: “What’s the hardest thing you’ve to deal with? What’s your happiest
memory? What’s your biggest regret? Has there been one experience that changed your life? If
you could pick up the phone and call one person now, who would it be?” The list of the
questions was long, but every one of her answer had to do with Karim leaving and Uncle Ali and
Aunty Maheen divorcing. “Their divorce was the worst because of its ‘finality’. It banished the
possibility of their parents being ‘foursome again.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.122) Her definition of
home was associated with the togetherness of their two families and that was “the road not
taken” (Frost, 1906) by Uncle Ali who repented his decision but it was a bit too late.

Text: (21) The four of us’ had never really ceased being ‘the four of us ‘to me,
despite all the intervening years... (Shamsie, 2002, p.129)

Description: Raheen, the die-hard Karachiites ,thought about four of them, Karim, Zia, Sonia
and herself, as a whole, despite being away from each other in their university days and despite
all the intervening years, the bond of friendship remained intact.

Interpretation: Raheen wrote two essays for Karim and posted them to Uncle Ali to be
forwarded to Karim .He called her after receiving them. While receiving the call she took out the
photograph of the four of them that her father had taken the day before Karim left for London
and which stayed with her throughout even in her college years in Upstate New York.
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Explanation: While talking to Karim and seeing her friends lying in the snow, her flight of
imagination took her to Karachi, she could feel ‘the water currents tugging against my fingertips
as I floated in Karachi’s sea.’(Shamsie, 2002, p.130) Whenever she talked to Karim on the phone
‘it was as though their time apart had merely been ‘Karachi sunset: swift and startling.’(Shamsie,
2002, p.129) So her city was peopled by her friends and she, like Wordsworth’s little girl in ‘We
are Seven’ never felt them away from her .For her the four of them had never really ceased being
the four of them despite all the intervening years and the distances among them.

Text: (22) I pulled out four pieces of writing paper ,neatly tapped together
,which constituted Karim’s last communication with me ,back in 1990.On one
side of was a map of Karachi. A useless, partial ,map of Karachi, which I had
brought with me to America to see if they would bring me any kind of comfort
,any kind of pain ,on the day when I was most homesick.( Shamsie, 2002, p.130)

Description: Raheen pulled out Karim’s last letter to her which he had written in 1990 and
which consisted of four pieces of writing papers ,neatly taped together on the back of which
was a map of Karachi. She regarded it as ‘A useless, partial ,map of Karachi’ but had brought it
with her to America to see if the letter and the map would bring her any kind of comfort ,any
kind of pain ,on the day when she was most homesick.

Interpretation: Right from the beginning when Karim showed his interest in maps and, map
making Raheen did not like it .He presented her a map when he was leaving Karachi to be settled
in London and another he sent her in reply to her letter which she took with her when she left for
America. The maps and the desire for map making have symbolic significance, indicating
Karim’s love for Karachi.

Explanation: Shamsie portrays the difference in the approaches of the protagonists in their
expression of love for Karachi .Raheen loved Karachi and wanted to be there, despite all the
disorder, conflicts and riots while Karim loved the city and wanted to make a scientific map of it
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to create order in the disorder. But, the map he sent to Raheen from London was ‘Karachi’s
opposite’ according to her as the maps generally irritated her. What hurt her a lot was that he had
tapped all her original letters together and she thought ‘He was certainly never so cruel that he
unveiled my own cruelty to me...he pasted all the fragments together to leave anything but a
partial truth of who I was, of who I had become in those defining years when he was in so many
ways absent to me.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.130) Kumar (2011) writes:

Of the three maps that are either included or alluded to within the novel, one is a map of
Karachi South that Karim sends Raheen from London. On it, he marks a boundary and
tells Raheen that ―this box is where she spends ninety percent of her life: ―So tiny a
percentage of Karachi South and wonders ―don’t you want to know your city more
Karim uses maps to critique Raheen for her insularity and tells her that she needs to find
a way to live beyond the ―tiny circle or the ―cocoon she chooses to live in, much like
her father did in 1971 in his attitude towards his relationship with Maheen until things
inside him that he had repressed came out. (Shamsie 2002, p.219& 268 as quoted in
Kumar, 2011, p.174-175)

Raheen’s lament in this discourse is the lament of love and hopes associated with it, but
Karim’s unstated discourse, through maps was the discourse of painful awareness of the past and
fear of the similar to happen in future. Both, who used to understand each other’s incomplete
sentences and read each other’s mind, were on different trajectories at this point, because of
different familial experiences though both loved their city.

Text (23): God, it’s good to laugh, ’he said, ‘Especially after I’ve been sitting
here getting newsprints on my nose, reading about what’s going on in Karachi.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The violence flaring up. One hundred and thirty people killed in the first seven
days of December. Have you see the new issue of Newsline? It says more people
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have been killed in Karachi this month than in Bosnia .Bosnia! (Kartoghraphy,
2002, p.140)

Description: Karim and Raheen laughed together while talking on the phone and he uttered
these words, “God, it’s good to laugh...Especially after I’ve been sitting here getting newsprints
on my nose, reading about what’s going on in Karachi.” He referred to the news he was reading
and the reports about Karachi, which told that the violence in the city was flaring up again and
one hundred and thirty people had been killed in the first seven days of December .He asked her,
if she had read the new issue of the Newlines and added it reported that more people had been
killed in Karachi that month than in Bosnia which was considered a war-torn area.

Raheen flared up and said, ‘What do you mean?’ The question once again highlights their
point of difference on the Karachi issue, apparently he had left Karachi for goods, but had always
kept himself well informed about what had been going there. Whenever he tried to communicate
it, Raheen had a feeling as if he was trying to make her realise the limited circle she preferred to
live in .She took it as a satire on her attitude towards the problems of her city .Such references
had always flared her up. Her way of loving the city was different from Karim’s way of love and
that creates the conflict.

Interpretation: Both the protagonists have inherited their fathers’ attitude .It had been the
pigeon like approach of Raheen’s father which led to the break up between him and Maheen. Ali,
Karim’s father had tried to make him realise the deteriorating conditions and the fact that when
the things are falling apart in the outer circle of life, one cannot escape its bad impacts on one’s
life but he did not pay heed to it until the violence knocked at his own door .Karim knew that but
Raheen did not and that made a difference in their approaches towards Karachi’s issue.

Explanation: The above-mentioned discourse between Raheen and Karim once again ended at
the same note on which most of their previous discourses had ended. She missed him and wanted
to convey this to him .She wanted him to be in Karachi-the place where they used to enjoy
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together .But his focus was on the issues of turmoil and violence in the city .After the above-
mentioned discourse she kept thinking, “Why did he have to try so hard to let me know he still
kept up with the news from Karachi?”(Shamsie, 2002, p.140) She wanted to show her
resentment so knowingly she made a cruel remark, “Still searching for the comprehensive map
of Karachi?”(Shamsie, 2002, p.140) In response he told her that after reading her essays he was
more than glad to think that she had started thinking about Karachi .She got seriously offended
telling him:

You’ve been trying to come to grips with Karachi’s nature and you’re glad I’ve also
started? I go home, Karim. Every bloody year. Twice a year. The day classes end .I get
on to the plane and go back to Karachi .I’m going there in two weeks .And you, you’d
rather go to Lapland!(Shamsie, 2002, p.141-142)

She was furious beyond measures and asked him to burn the essays but when she went
to Sonia’s place she found that November issue of Newsline he had referred to, with the words
KARACHI DEATH CITY running across the cover and as she flipped it open and read an
excerpted block:

Roaming the dark, death-haunted streets of Saddar where even the street lights were off,
one would be confronted with the surreal glow of a flower shop not more than a thousand
metres away from the troubled area of Jacob Lines .Asked why his shop was open late
into the night when all others were closed, a flower-seller explained: ’This is the season
not of marriage but of death .People come to buy floral wreaths for those who die in the
riots.(Shamsie, 2002, p.147)

She realized this was what Karim had been trying to tell her which showed his diasporic
concern .Despite living abroad he kept himself well informed about his city.
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Text: (24) America brought Zia and me together again-literally .At university ,in
the middle of New York state ,nostalgic for things we’d never paid attention to
,like Urdu music and basmati rice ,Zia and I scoured the neighbouring towns and
found each other at a moment when familiarity was ready to save as synonym for
friendship.(Shamsie, 2002, p.150)

Description: Raheen is the narrator; she says that America literally brought Zia and her together
again .At university in the middle of the New York state, she realised how nostalgic they were
for the things they had never paid any attention to like Urdu music and basmati rice .Zia and she
had searched for these things in the neighbouring towns and ‘found each other at a moment when
familiarity was ready to save as synonym for friendship’. Actually this craving for the common
grounds, familiarity, nostalgia and friendship are typical features of all diasporas. Since both
Raheen and Zia were from the same place (Karachi) so the craving for ‘familiarity’ strengthened
their friendship.

Interpretation: It’s common practice among the elites to send their children abroad for higher
education. Shamsie belongs to that class and presents the same in Kartography .Raheen and Zia
were also sent abroad for their graduation .Both were in New York so there was a revival of their
friendship and they both formed Karachi diaspora .

Explanation: Raheen belonged to Westernized Karachi elites for whom there was neither a
language barrier nor drastically different cultural shock in the West or in America .Even then she
missed her homeland and longed for the return. Search for Urdu music and basmati rice were
indication of her nostalgia. Zia and she, combined together, formed Karachi diaspora, but with a
difference ,Zia did not have the desire to return and he accused her for her desire to go back
‘home’ soon after graduation and throwing away a flyer from the Career Centre as “missing the
luxuries of upper-middle class”(Shamsie,2002,p.165).She thought that only Karim could
understand “that ‘belonging’ is a spider-plant-shaped ,sea-bordering”.( Shamsie,2002,p.165) She
considered her desire to go back and live in the conflict torn city in matching with , “ The traits
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of Karachiites who were choosing to survive the calamity rather than weeping about it? From a
distance, I could see how that looked like callousness.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.170) But the fact
remains she was a Karachi diaspora subject for whom return to her ‘home’ (Brown, 2006) was
the only desire.

Text (25): How dangerous a section of town was Mahmoodabad? I couldn’t be

sure. Was it one of those areas where people were regularly shot by gunmen who
were never apprehended ,who never left clues behind, causing people all over the
city to speculate it was such-and-such group ,of course ,avenging yesterday’s
shooting of X, while someone else argued no ,no, it was done by people who want
us to leap to that conclusion in order to make such-and-such look like a terrorist
organisation ,nothing else. At which point, well ,they are a terrorist organization
and come on, every group has its militant wing, why single out?:leading to it
could be anyone ,it could be a personal vendetta, or rogue elements ,or ethnic
fighting or sectarian, or in-fighting or drug wars or shadow-government or(my
personal favourite) the Foreign Hand.( Shamsie,2002,p.172-173)

Description: Raheen, the protagonist, was from the elite class who had never visited
Mahmoodabad before so she could not be sure, ‘How dangerous a section of town was
Mahmoodabad?’ She wondered, whether it was one of those areas where people were regularly
shot by the gunmen, who were never caught ,who never left any traces of evidence behind,
leaving people all over the city to guess, it was such-and-such group ,that was taking revenge of
the previous day shooting of ‘X’ means-‘someone’ with no a prominent identity, while someone
else argued that it might have been done to divert peoples’ attention from the actual facts and
lead to suspect some other terrorist organisation. And then all came to the generalization that
‘they are a terrorist organization’. It was further diluted by saying ‘come on, every group has its
militant wing, why single out?’ Or it could also be regarded as ‘a personal vendetta, or rogue
elements, or ethnic fighting, or drug wars or shadow-government’ or described her personal
favourite- the “Foreign Hand.” (Shamsie,2002,p.173).All this is reported in print and electronic
media, discussed and rumoured about ,but no serious effort has been made to probe into the root
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cause, so that the conflict can be resolved. Gayer (2003) called it a ‘controlled violence’ because
of the repeated patterns of it which in turn can be taken as a power practice.

Interpretation: Zia and Raheen went to receive Karim at the airport and on their way back Zia
told them that he had to stop at Mahmoodabad for a while. This place was considered as a centre
of Muhajir Qaumi Movement, which was later called, Mutahida Qaumi Movement
(MQM).Raheen had never been there but had heard and read a lot about it.

Explanation: Through this discourse, Shamsie conveys the stereotype image of the place-
Mahmoodabad. Raheen had never visited it, though she heard a lot about the place that it was a
place where killing was the order of the day ,and where the killers did not leave any clue, they
had never been captured but left people guessing who the killer was and what was the reason
behind the killing. The blame game started after every such incident naming one group or the
other and finally drawing the conclusion, why to blame one; every party had its militant wing
.Raheen’s personal favourite in such cases, was putting the blame on the foreign hand. All such
practices led to nowhere. There was no end to killing, conflict and riots, but all that, seemed
quite remote to her as she had never seen that place before.

Robotka writes in Political Turmoil in a Megacity: The Role of Karachi for the Stability
of Pakistan and South Asia, “Ethnic prejudice has a long history in the subcontinent. It was
promoted if not created, by the British who spread certain ideas about ‘warrior races’ inhabiting
Pakistan and contrasting them against the rest of the population.” (Robotka, n.d.) Unfortunately
the successor governments have never seriously tried to overcome these instead they continued
with the policy of divide and rule, which ultimately resulted in perpetual unrest. The Indian
migrants who settled in other parts of Pakistan were largely assimilated, but in Sindh and
particularly in Karachi the power politics and social practices led to the alienation of the
Muhajirs to the point that they ‘picked up arms.’ Raheen refers to the turbulent history of
Karachi earlier in the novel in a light vein:
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Although the ethnic fighting had broken out for the first time in my life in 1985, I cannot
remember Karachi being a safe city even before that. When Alexander’s Admiral; the
Cretan Nearchus ,reached Krokola he had to quell a mutiny among Alexander’s
Krokolan subjects, who had killed the satrap appointed by Alexander together supplies
for his forces.. If Karachi and Korkola are on e and the same, recorded instances of
violence on its soil go back over twenty-three hundred years. (Shamsie, 2002, p.63)

So when Raheen heard about going to Mahmoodabad, she started speculating about
violence and the killing associated with the place and all she had heard people saying about it.

Text (26): Are you a mechanic?’ Zia asked.

The man shook his head. ‘Car thief.’

I contemplated calling my father .But what on earth would I say to him?

‘You are going to steel my car?’ Zia tried to sound casual.

The man look offended. ’After I’ve taken a cigarette from you?’ He shook his
head again. ’I don’t work without my tools .My gun, my tools and, my partner
.Besides, I wouldn’t take your car and leave you stranded when you are in the
company of a girl. These are unsafe times .And it’s obvious you don’t live around
here.’

‘That’s very decent of you.’ Zia regarded me triumphantly, as thought he’d won a
point. The man still hadn’t acknowledged me, which allowed me to feel
comfortable enough to continue standing there.

‘Where do you think we live?’ Karim said.

‘Defence.’

Karim laughed.’ Right .That obvious huh?’

 308

The man nodded.’ Burgers,’ he said. Karim look confused. When he’d left
Karachi we were still unaware of this term that most Karachi used to refer to the
English-speaking elite.

‘Have been doing this long? I asked.

I thought he’d address his answer to Zia, but instead he looked straight at me.’ I
wanted to join the civil service .I’m an educated, literate person, you know .I sat
for the exam, and I did all right. I mean, not top marks, but decent, good marks.
But I sat the exams from Karachi .It’s not enough to be just good.’ He looked
from Zia to Karim to me. ‘You know?’

That was probably a rhetorical question, but I compelled to respond.’ We’re

Karachiwallas, too,’ I said, the words stumbling on my tongue .It just seemed a
bad idea to use the more Anglicized ’Karachiites.’ And then, because I was
annoyed with Karim, I added: ’At least, two of us are. He—‘jerking my head at
Karim,’—hasn’t been here in eight years .He lives in England and America
.Both.’

The man whistled.’ What a hero! Do you understand why I’m a car thief instead
of a civil servant, hero?’

‘Yes’, Karim said softly. ‘The quota system.’

The man spat on the side of the road. ’May those who set it up burn in every kind
of fire that then hell has to offer.’

I caught Zia’s sleeve, my eyes begging, let’s get out of here.

The man caught my look.’ Why are you afraid of me? I have sisters .I’m not one
of the uncivilized men .But I get frustrated .Don’t you? You live in this city, how
can you not suffer with it? (Shamsie, 2002, p.174-175)

Description: Zia’s car was stuck up and all of them were standing outside it, when a man came
there and asked about their problem. He told Zia that it might be because of the safety lock and
Zia realised that he forgot to push its button. Zia asked the man was he a mechanic, he shook his
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head and told that he was a car thief .Raheen thought of calling her father but the second thought
made her realise that she would not be able to tell him. Trying to sound casual Zia asked him,
“you are going to steel my car?” This apparent casual tone was, to put up a bold show .The man
looked offended and questioned, “After I’ve taken a cigarette from you?” He wanted to convey,
how he could, after he had accepted a friendly offer of a cigarette from Zia and then he shook his
head again .He further told that he did not work without his tools, his gun, and, his partner
.Besides, he added, he wouldn’t take his car and leave them stranded when they were in the
company of a girl. He said that those were unsafe times and elaborated that ‘it’s obvious you
don’t live around here.’ He did not behave the way they expected him to or the way they thought
of the people of that locality to behave. Zia appreciated that it was very decent of him and looked
at Raheen triumphantly, as though he had won a point. The man still had not acknowledged
Raheen, which made her feel comfortable enough to continue standing outside there .He was
unlike her perception of the people of that locality.

Karim asked him where he thought they lived and he promptly replied ‘Defence.’ Karim
said it was right and laughed at how obvious it seemed .The man nodded in affirmation and
uttered ‘Burgers’ .Karim looked confused at the use of the word ‘Burgers’ a kind of Western fast
food and Raheen explained that when he left Karachi they had still been unaware of this term
‘that most of the Karachi used to refer to the English-speaking elite’. Their appearance and
mannerism were the markers of their identity. He recognized that they were from ‘Defence’ the
most posh area of the city and obviously belonged to the English-speaking elites that was why,
he called them ‘Burgers’.

Raheen questioned him directly ‘Have been doing this for long?’ And thought that he
would address his answer to Zia, but instead he looked straight at her and told that he wanted to
join the civil service and that he was an educated, literate person. He appeared in the competitive
examination and did well .He added that he did not top, but had good, decent score. But he sat
for the exams from Karachi where it was not enough to be just good. He looked at all the three of
them and asked ‘You know?’ Raheen regarded it a rhetorical question, but felt compelled to
respond.’ We’re Karachiwallas, too,’ the words were stumbling on her tongue when she said so
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.She did not use the more Anglicized ’Karachiites’ but Karachiwallas .And then, because she
was annoyed with Karim, she added, ‘At least, two of us are’ and jerking her head at Karim she
said that, ‘He—hasn’t been here in eight years .He lives in England and America .Both.’
(Shamsie, 2002, p.175)

The man whistled in response as if amused and then exclaimed “What a hero!” He asked
Karim addressing him as a hero, did he understand why he was a car thief instead of a civil
servant and Karim said softly “Yes...The quota system.” The man spat on the side of the road to
show his disgust and cursed, “May those who set it up burn in every kind of fire that then hell
has to offer.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.176)

Raheen caught Zia’s sleeve with begging eyes to get out of the place. The man caught her
look and asked her, why was she afraid of him ,then added he had sisters and he was not an
uncivilized man .He repeated to emphasize ‘I’m not one of the uncivilized men’ but, added that
he got frustrated and directly questioned her “Don’t you? You live in this city, how can you not
suffer with it?”(Shamsie, 2002, p.176)

What Shamsie wants to highlight through this discourse is the stereotyping of the people of
Mahmoodabad and the difference between perception and reality.

Interpretation: There was an acute awareness of the class divide in Raheen and she did not
pretend she was not happy to belong to the other side of the bridge-the privileged side. She was
not much concerned with the other peoples’ problems and did not have the desire to know about
them. She had to accompany Zia and Karim to Mahmoodabad and had an encounter with a
literate person who was compelled by the circumstances to become a car thief.

Explanation: Shamsie depicts an encounter between the people of the privileged and
unprivileged class of Karachi to highlight the circumstances that lead the people to turn to do
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those things which are regarded as ‘crimes’ .She also shows the difference in the stereotyped
perception about the people of poor locality and the actual conditions of the ‘unprivileged’, their
deprivation created by injustice, inequality and alienation which creates class divide and results
in conflicts. Kumar (2011) is of the opinion that by means of this episode, Shamsie tries to
highlight the increasing sense of alienation and marginalization among many middle- and
working-class Muhajir (Shamsie,2002,p.170).The novel thus highlights how discriminatory state
policies have forced Muhajirs to construct their identity as an oppressed minority and a besieged
diaspora.(Kumar,2011)

For the man who posed a question to Raheen, the city with its discriminating politics was
an agony, a suffering but for Raheen, the privileged elite, it was something different .She
thought: “In my dreams there is a brash, glittering, laughing Karachi that makes me want to
sleep forever.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.175) But she had a feeling “There was nothing I could say to
this man without it being condensation or a lie. Privileges erased the day-to-day struggles of
ethnic politics.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.175) Karim tried to make her realise it many times but she
could not even pretend to say she felt sorry for being born on ‘this side of Clifton Bridge’ where
class bound everyone together in an enveloping, suffocating embrace, with ethnicity only a
secondary or even tertiary concern . She wondered:

So what if I walked around with heaviness in my heart after reading about the
accelerating cycle of violence, unemployment, divisiveness in Karachi? So what if I
agreed with this man that the quota system in the province discriminated against
Karachiites ,particularly Muhajirs who had no family domicile outside the city that they
could claim as their own when government jobs and government-run university places
were being allocated according to an absurd urban-rural divides? So what if I thought
the entire city was being pillaged by the central government ,which was happy to take
the large percentage of its revenue from Karachi but unwilling to put very much back? I
didn’t find myself picking up a gun for it, or losing people I loved because of it, or
feeling my sanity slips away because of it. So how could I look this man in the eyes and
tell him, yes, I suffer with the city? (Shamsie, 2002, p.176)
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Raheen herself had a realisation that she could not say that she suffered with the city because she
had never.

Text (27): You want to hear the heartbeat of a place? Do you know how hard
your heart beats when you’re lost? Do you know what it is to wander out of the
comfort of your own streets and your own stories?’ He drew a deep breath.
’Which stories do you want me to pay attention to? Or, more to the point, which
stories have you deliberately turned away from, Ra, and why?(Shamsie, 2002,
p.181)

Description: Karim questioned Raheen whether she wanted to hear the heartbeat of a place, did
she really know how hard one’s heart beats when one is lost. What he tried to convey , is, that it
was he, who had to leave Karachi ,his home and his place and he, who had been lost .It was he,
who had the first-hand experience of displacement .He asked her ‘ Do you know what it is to
wander out of the comfort of your own streets and your own stories?’ Implying she did not while
he had. He drew a deep breath as if trying to pacify himself and then asked, “Which stories do
you want me to pay attention to? Or, more to the point, which stories have you deliberately
turned away from, Ra, and why?” Here the obvious reference is to his unhappy broken family
life as a consequence of 1971 Civil War and existing deteriorating law and order situation, which
led to his family’s opted for displacement and ultimate break up .He also referred to her
deliberate avoidance of the real family history and the real problems of the city.

Interpretation: The context is constant unrest in Karachi and Karim’s awareness of, what led to
breakup between his mother and Raheen’s father .And somehow, it was the reflection of
Raheen’s father’s attitude in her, that made him afraid and that he wanted her to come out of, by
coming out of her protected shell.
 313

Explanation: Karim’s discourse is the real lament of a displaced person, who had to leave his
place ,the place whose heart beat he had been familiar with and felt being lost in an unfamiliar
world .He referred to the agony of stepping ‘out of comfort’ of one’s own streets and one’s
owns stories .He also pointed to the stories she had deliberately turned away from that dealt with
the impacts of 1971 Civil War in their personal lives .His discourse reflects the agony of that
legacy his family had to live through which ultimately led to his parents’ break up .In a way, the
root cause of their dissatisfied family life ,was linked with the impacts of that historical event,
and her father’s impractical approach about its consequences because he did not want to step out
of his comfort zone.

From here Shamsie moves back to 1971 to trace the causes of the present state of affairs
in protagonists’ lives and Karachi’s unrest.

Text (28): 1971

‘Of course there won’t be war’, said Asif, running his fingers through the
luxurious mass of hair.’ Everyone’s playing brink man ship, that’s all .Here’s
what’ll happen: Mujib will back down on his Six Points, give up the whole idea of
decentralized federal system of government in exchange for some political and
economic concessions towards East Pakistan. Once he does that ,Yahya will
invite him to form the government ,and at that point ,Bhutto will also take his
place as leader of the opposition .It’s the only sane, rational ,not to mention
cheerful choice .Mujib’s no zealous revolutionary ,and ,besides ,whatever the
Bengali masses might want, they’re just rubble ,and our army will decimate them
if they try to make some kind of one-legged stand .No one wants to be
slaughtered.( Shamsie,2002,p.182)

Description: All the elite friends were together at a public place and discussing national affairs
in 1971. Asif, the feudal lord who was well-connected with the official circle said with much
confidence, ‘Of course there won’t be war’ running his fingers through the luxurious mass of
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hair. He added that everyone was playing brinkmanship i.e. pushing the circumstances to the
point where one can have the desired results. The use of ‘that’s all’ in the end of the sentence
suggests- as simple as that, while actually it was not .He depicted with full confidence that Mujib
would back down on his Six Points and give up the whole idea of decentralized federal system of
government in exchange for some political and economic concessions towards East Pakistan.
Once he did that, Yahya would invite him to form the government, and at that point, Bhutto
would also take his place as a leader of the opposition. He regarded it as the only sane, rational
and a cheerful solution. He considered “Mujib’s no zealous revolutionary” and added “besides,
whatever the Bengali masses might want, they’re just rubble ,and our army will decimate them if
they try to make some kind of one-legged stand .No one wants to be slaughtered”.(
Shamsie,2002,p.182) His observation about Mujib was naive and his attitude towards the
Bengali masses was prejudiced “they’re just rubble” clearly displayed the discrimination and
the warning that if they stuck to their stand one-legged point “our army” not the Pakistan Army
but the West Pakistan Army only “will decimate them”. The threat of annihilation is repeated
“No one wants to be slaughtered” indicating that the people of Pakistan had not been treated as
equals. What Shamsie indirectly conveys is that this marginalization was the root cause of unrest.

Interpretation: Even amidst the worsening state of affairs the privileged class in West Pakistan
just tried to put everything under the carpet instead of locating and addressing the cause of
disturbance. Shamsie presented them together at Ampi sitting round a table eating and drinking
as if the burning issues were a remote thing.

Explanation: It is a sad commentary on the kind of attitude that creates dissatisfaction and leads
to unrest ultimately taking the situation to the point of no return .It is the depiction of the state
of denial the privileged class prefers to live in. This goes with the colonial mindset where
‘Othering’ is a common phenomenon creating fissures, identity crisis, conflicts and wars.

Asif’s oversimplified account of the grave situation and threatening consequences of

going against the designs of the powerful displayed the binary of ‘us’ the West Pakistani power
 315

stakeholders and ‘them’ the East Pakistani Bengalis-‘the rubble’ that can be ‘decimated and
slaughtered’ by ‘our army’. Even the judgement about their leader ‘Mujib’s no zealous
revolutionary’ is a miscalculation that he “will back down on his Six Points, give up the whole
idea of a decentralized federal system of government in exchange for some political and
economic concessions towards East Pakistan.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.182) The writer exposes the
ignorance of the elite class about the intentions of the Army Chief and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto also.
Yahya would ask Mujib to form a government and Bhutto would act as leader of the opposition
was a mere speculation.

Maheen, the Bengali woman in their circle responded to voice the representation of the
Bengalis “No one wants to be enslaved”.( Shamsie,2002,p.182)Asif asked Maheen to come on
and regarded “enslaved” a too dramatic word .Ali pointed out the statistics about the disparity,
saying that it wasn’t dramatic and in reply Asif laughed at him and his statistics. Ali continued:

Well but just think about it. East Pakistan is the majority wing of the country in terms of
population ,and yet...’He started to counting fingers, ’It gets less than 30 percent of
foreign aid allocation ,less than 20 percent of civil service jobs ,less than 10 per cent of
military positions ,fewer schools ,fewer universities ,it makes up near 70 per cent of the
country’s export earnings but receives the benefits of less than 30 per cent of our import
expenditure.(Shamsie, 2002, p.182-183)

Ali’s voice was the only voice of sanity, but it was not paid any heed to. Zafar offered a
very frivolous suggestion “Why don’t Mujib and Bhutto just have a dual to the death, pistols at
dawn, and leave the rest of us out of it?” (Shamsie, 2002, p.183) The gravity of the situation and
the absurdity of the suggestion both are telling and a sad commentary on the elite class of the
West Pakistan .Ali told him that it was not as simple as that and Maheen agreed to Ali .She told
Asif that she wished and prayed for the things to be easily resolved and added:
 316

...but you’re deluding yourself if you think that the Bengali people’s demands are going
to go away ,because I don’t know if they’ll even accept a federation at this point when the
word independence has gone around and it’s such a more soul-stirring word than
federation.?(Shamsie, 2002, p.183)

But Asif, the feudal, thought that she or the others did not know what he knew and told
that on that very day Yahya told the newsmen that his talks with Mujib were satisfactory and
Mujib would be the next Prime Minister of Pakistan and they had reached a compromise. He
mocked at Maheen saying ‘your soul will have to do with being a little less stirred.’(Shamsie,
2002, p.183)

Yasmin intervened to make Asif realise that Maheen had lived her whole life in Karachi
and ‘she was not a...’ but Maheen did not let her complete the sentence and questioned not ‘One
of them?’ In the meantime a Bengali waiter spilt a drink on Laila’s dress and Asif, her husband,
stood up and slapped the waiter’s cheek by saying “Halfwit Bingo! Go back to your
jungle.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.183) The friends made him realise the presence of Maheen but he said
there should not be any hard feeling since he was angry and the waiter had spoilt his wife’s new
sari, they resumed eating but Maheen refused to meet Laila’s eye. The waiter walked past her
and caught her eye, “and for a moment the barrier of class and gender became porous and
something passed between them” (Shamsie, 2002, p.184) and the festivity continued, they were
all together to watch the race and gamble on it.

Text (29): Leave Karachi! Zafar shook his head at the thought.

‘Leave home.

‘Karachi’s home to both of you,’ Yasmin said.

Zafar felt nauseous .Of course it was .And yet ,when he mentioned
moving he’d thought that mean leaving home for him ,and leaving what
was rapidly becoming enemy territory for Maheen .But this was her
home ,too .How could he have forgotten that? But they had. Not for a
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second, or an hour, but for days, for weeks .He hadn’t realized even his
own mistake until now. He covered his eyes with his hands .How
insidiously this madness spread .God, when did things get so
complicated? (Shamsie, 2002,p. 187)

Description: Yasmin suggested to Zafar that he should better leave Karachi to save Maheen
from the public wrath, but Zafar shook his head in response saying leaving Karachi for him was
like leaving home and rejected the idea. Yasmin reminded him that Karachi was ‘home’ to both
Zafar and Maheen.

Zafar felt ‘nauseous’ because he repelled the very idea of leaving Karachi .Apparently
he agreed with Yasmin that Karachi was a home for Maheen as well but even then when he
mentioned moving, he had thought that meant leaving home for him only, and leaving what was
rapidly becoming enemy territory for Maheen with all the public enmity for the Bengalis .He
wondered ‘How could he have forgotten that?’ But the fact remains he along with ‘they’ the
people around her, had forgotten that she had been living at the same place with them for a long
time. They had done so ‘Not for a second, or an hour, but for days, for weeks’ Even Zafar, who
claimed to love her hadn’t realized his own mistake till things were out of hands. It was a
deliberate negligence on his part and the very act of covering his eyes with his hands was a
symbolic gesture of closing his eyes to the reality. Though he kept wondering ‘How insidiously,
this madness spread .God, when did things get so complicated?’ This ‘madness’ was the hatred
for the Bengalis, and it had not spread stealthy, but had been fanned with discrediting actions,
polices and discourses. Things got complicated over the years and did not appear out of the blue.

Interpretation: Awami League won 1970 general elections, but was not handed over the rule.
This bred discontent which led to the Civil War. Instead of addressing the grievances, the army
action started, which led to further alienation. The Bengalis were looked down upon by the
people of West Pakistan. This hatred paved the way for the creation of a separate homeland. The
Bengalis, who considered themselves Pakistanis and preferred to live in Pakistan had to
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experience the public wrath in one way or the others .Maheen was one such Bengal characters
who had spent her whole life in Karachi and wanted to live there, but it was becoming difficult
for her with each passing day.

Explanation: Ali and Yasmin were Zafar and Maheen’s very close friends. They suggested that
since it was becoming increasingly difficult for Maheen to live among the people at a place
which was turning into ‘enemy’s territory’, Zafar should take her abroad. Zafar wanted to enjoy
both his comfort zone and love .Despite having a claim to love he did not really feel what
Maheen had been experiencing. From Asif, the feudal who slapped the Bengali waiter to the old
beggar woman who spat at Maheen all were full of hatred for the Bengalis. Ali went to tell Zafar
about this incident and urged him, “You know, you’ve really got to get her out of here”.
(Shamsie, 2002, p.188) He took her to the beach where she told ‘Laila heard from some foreign
journalist that the army’s slaughtering my people by the thousand in Dhaka.’ (Shamsie, 2002, p.
189) And Zafar shivered at the expression ‘My people.’(Shamsie, 2002, p.189) but did not seem
to be bothered about the slaughtering of the people. Knowing Zafar’s preference to live in
Karachi she told him that they were not leaving the country:

I don’t want to be stranger among strangers. War does crazy things to people ,but wars
end .I’ll lie low ,I promise that .And when it it’s over-please, God ,soon!—we’ll get
married and have children and one day ,every day, we’ll tell them how we survived the
inferno.(Shamsie, 2002, p.189)

Despite, suffering from an acute identity crisis she wanted to marry Zafar and live with him in
Karachi as a Pakistani for the rest of her life. But war, after effects of war and hatred for the
Bengalis made life difficult for her with each passing day.

Text (32): his country’s turning rabid-the soldiers are raping the women, Zaf,
raping them ,all over East Pakistan, and in drawing rooms around Karachi people
applaud this attempt to improve the genes of the Bengalis.( Shamsie,2002,p.189)
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Description: Maheen shared with Zafar a deep sense of regret that ‘This country’s turning rabid
’ ,here this country refers to Pakistan, which she owned as her country, but it got infected with
hatred, violent and manic .She added that all over East Pakistan, the soldiers of the Pakistan
Army were raping the Bengali women and people of Karachi ,while sitting in their comfortable
drawing rooms were applauding the very heinous crime as an ‘attempt to improve the genes of
the Bengalis’ as if they were from some inferior race. It is a sad commentary on the mocking
attitude of the Karachi elites.

Interpretation: East Pakistan was burning with hatred, discontent and Civil War and instead of
addressing the root cause of dissatisfaction army action was started to quell the revolt. There
were rumours of the army soldiers raping the Bengali women, and the Bengalis were considered
mere ‘rubble’ by the West Pakistan ruling elites, who would be decimated if they did not agree to
their plans.

Explanation: It is a discourse of humiliation and discrimination that reflects the colonial mind-
set with which one race starts considering the other as inferior and starts colonizing others in the
guise of civilizing mission. This power drunk practice of the colonizers, deprives them of their
morality, ethics and humanity. Rape, even as a war tactic, is taken as a bad thing and using it
against one’s own people is even worse .Maheen, a Bengali woman, who had spent her whole
life in Karachi regarded herself a Pakistani. She regretted the maltreatment of the Bengali people
and the elites’ applaud over the atrocities of Pakistani soldiers’ raping the Bengali woman, as an
effort to improve their Bengali genes.

Ali suggested that in such a deteriorating situation, if Zafar and Maheen would not like to
leave the country, they should avoid coming in public to which Zafar said. “That shouldn’t be
hard. You and Yasmin are about the only people who seek out our company these
days.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.189).Yasmin was with Maheen for the last seven hours, who kept
telling her what Zafar wanted. She asked her to tell, what she wanted and she told her that she
 320

was the only person in the whole city, who asked this question and said “Yasmin, I think the end
of the world will begin like this.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.190) To her it was like the end of the world.
This is how, war affects the lives of those who do not have any part in its making.

Text (30): So it ends like this,’ Yasmin put down the newspaper and reached
across the table for Ali’s hand ‘Surrender to the Indian forces...’I wonder how
Maheen is taking the news, ’Ali said. ‘I wonder how Zafar is taking it. Perhaps
there’s a part of him that’s even somewhat happy it might all be over now’.

‘Happy? Why should I be happy?’ Zafar stood in the squash courts, his racquet
limp in his hand. ‘Three days ago surrendered to the Indian army .Of course I’m
not happy. We’ve lost half of our country and most of our soul. What the hell is
there to be happy about? The whole year has been nothing but a nightmare.
(Shamsie, 2002, p.190)

Description: Yasmin was reading the newspaper, she put it down and held Ali’s hand for
consolation and uttered, ‘So it ends like this,’ ‘it’ here refers to the war and ‘ends like this is’
Pakistan’s Army surrender to the Indian forces .She left the sentence incomplete, which indicates
the enormity of the sense of loss and national humiliation. Then she thought of Maheen, a
Bengali friend, living in Karachi and said she wondered, how Maheen would be taking the news.
Ali said he wondered, how Zafar would be taking it then added that there was a part of him that
would be even somewhat happy to think that it might all be over now. Here ‘it’; refers to the
madness associated with war because of which Bengalis living in Karachi were subjected to
hatred and which created unease for Zafar because he was engaged to Maheen .But when Zafar
came to know of it standing in the squash courts three days after the surrender he categorically
refuted it saying ‘Why should I be happy?’ and ‘Of course I’m not happy’ .He justified his stance
by adding that they had lost half of their country and most of their ‘soul’ .Here soul stands for
the majority population and also demoralization because of the act of surrender .He repeated ,
‘What the hell is there to be happy about?’ and regarded the whole year as a nightmare. It was a
 321

‘nightmare’ for him, the bad dream from which he might wake up, but for Maheen it was a
living reality of mental trauma, psychological alienation and social discrimination, which caused
displacement for her even when she was living at a place where she had been living throughout
her life.

Interpretation: The Civil War in East Pakistan because of the discriminating decisions of the
Pakistani rulers led to a full-fledged war with India, which resulted in Pakistan Army’s surrender
to the Indian forces and the succession of East Pakistan. Karachi elites, portrayed in the novel,
came to know of the news through the newspaper and commented on it in different ways and
from different perspectives.

Explanation: It is a discourse of defeat and surrender, in directly referring to the impact of war-a
historical event on the life of Shamsie’s fictional characters. It is interdiscursive, in terms of the
previous discourses, about war among the Karachi elites, ranging from informed anxiety to
indifferent, ignorant attitude of different characters. Asif, the well-connected feudal, when asked
about war, replied with full confidence that there would not be war .According to him all the
players were just trying to get the maximum benefit. He expressed the hope that Mujib would
back down from his six points, General Yahya would ask him to form a government and Bhutto
would become the leader of opposition. He further added that in case the Bengalis refused to go
by the plan they would be ‘slaughtered’ and ‘disseminated’.

When Ali tried to talk about the statistics that showed discrimination which led to the
discontent among the people of East Pakistan, he was mocked at ‘You and your
statistics’(Shamsie,2002,p.182) and Maheen’s plea that ‘no one wants to be enslaved’ was taken
as a bit too ‘dramatic’ .Army soldiers’ act of raping the Bengali women was taken as an attempt
to improve ‘the Bengali genes’ .All this oblivion and discrimination in the Western Wing paved
the way for the fall of Dhaka.
 322

Shamsie presents the gathering of Karachi elites at the club again while discussing the
surrender and Zafar’s discourse of unhappiness at the surrender led the people like Bunty to
remind him that he had cheered a little when the Indian forces entered the war on the side of
those ‘Bengali bastards’. He retaliated and told Bunty not to poke nose and added he came there
to play. But no one came to play with him. He was an outcast because of Maheen .Bunty turned
to the other men and asked “Who wants to play with Bingo lover?” (Shamsie, 2002, p.191)And
together they started beating him .For the first time, he had a realization “I wasn’t cut out for this
role. I’ve stepped up into someone else’s story.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.191)

Text (31): If we had more reliable systems of law and governance, perhaps our
friendship would be shallower .But with no one to rely on except one another,
Karachiites come together in times of crisis with attitudes which suggest that no
matter what else we are in our loves- bankers, teachers, hypochondriacs, cynics,
Marxists, feudals, vegetarians, divorcees, bigamists, anorexics, dyslexists,
sexists—our real vocation is friendship. (Shamsie, 2002, p.209)

Description: Raheen thought, when she saw a large gathering at Sonia’s place on her father’s
arrest ,that if they had more reliable systems of law and governance ,perhaps their friendship
would be shallower .But with no proper institutional support they had to rely on one another,
‘Karachiites come together in times of crisis’ and this attitude suggests that ‘ no matter what else
we are in our lives- bankers, teachers, hypochondriacs, cynics, Marxists, feudals, vegetarians,
divorcees, bigamists ,anorexics ,dyslexists, sexists—our real vocation is friendship’ .Crisis
brought them together irrespective of all their individual differences.

Interpretation: Sonia’s father got arrested by some agency and people filled their home and
everyone tried to contact some influential person for help so that he might be released.

Explanation: Raheen was a representative of Karachi elites, who thought of Karachi elites as
friends in adversity not because they loved each other unconditionally or devoted enough not to
 323

leave other’s in the lurch, but because of the least administrative support of the governmental
institutions they would have to rely on each other’s connections .So they put their individual
differences aside and became friends in their fight for the survival.

Shamsie links this discourse with the discourse of reservations for any new entry in their
social circles. Sonia’s parents were different in their ways of living than the other three friends’
parents and despite all their liking for Sonia that discrimination came to surface in her discourse
with Sonia about the reasons for her father’s arrest, who retaliated:

No reason?’ Sonia’s hand gripped into a fist. ‘He’s richer and more successful than any
of your lot with your old money and your generations- old friendships with the high and
mighty. When a man gets too big for his boots, set them on fire, isn’t that the way?’

She had apologized, so had I, within seconds of that comment, but we both knew that
there was no taking back or forgetting her use of ‘your lot.(Shamsie, 2002, p.221)

Later in the text we are told that it is his monetary status that ensured his entry in the elite
class, despite all the back ground rumours about the kind of business he has been involved in to
be so rich.

When Raheen came back home she heard of another kind of discrimination, Aunty Laila
was telling Runty about ‘illiterate Pathan ‘guards and she questioned the discourse. “Why was it
that illiteracy had always been linked with Pathans, one constant in every variant of the story?”
(Shamsie, 2002, p .222) She told Aunty Laila that it was she whom she had heard talking about
ethnicity, when she was only thirteen and it was Uncle Asif “who first taught me how we can
look at our friends and reduce them from individuals to members of some group at odds
with.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 222)
 324

Raheen’s father applauded her and Uncle Asif told him that he understood what he meant
‘If he were a Muhajir there’s a far greater chance he would have been literate.” (Shamsie, 2002,
p 223) Zafar called it simple statistics. “The literacy rate of Muhajir is higher than that of other
ethnic groups.”(Shamsie, 2002, p 223) He added not for any generic reasons though .Uncle Asif
laughed and said:

Poor Karachiites. Living in this spacious, clean, city in’47when—whap! Partition

happens and all these immigrants come streaming across the new border, convinced of
the superiority of their culture, and whisk away all the best jobs from Sindhis who’d be
living here for generations .I’m speaking a disinterested third party, of course.(Shamsie,
2002, p. 223)

Raheen’s father laughed even louder than Uncle Asif had, and told him:

But what I won’t sit back and pretend to be unaware of is your obliviousness to the fact
that the Muhajir came here leaving everything behind .Our homes, our families, our ways
of life .We can’t be blamed if some-mind you, some—of us came from the areas with
education systems that made us qualified for office jobs instead of latrine-cleaning, which
is the kind of job you seem to think immigrants should be grateful for. (Shamsie, 2002, p
.223)

This apparently friendly discourse, between two old friends, is the discourse of ethnic
discrimination that widened the divide between the Sindhis and the Muhajir and it became “Too
difficult to untangle the mess of a situation in which there weren’t clear-cut rights or
wrongs.”(Shamsie, 2002, p .223) Both stick to their respective logic, Uncle Asif said he did not
deny the sacred, religious connotation of the word Muhajir and it was not that the Muhajir were
not welcomed but just wanted to convey a reminder to them, that if they had not been
welcomed they would have been killed. In response her father nodded and told him:
 325

I must have heard my parents say a thousand times “we came here to be Pakistani, not to
be Sindhi.”I won’t deny there was an attitude of entitlement. I won’t even deny there’s
still an attitude of cultural superiority, and I’m not defending that in any way. But Asif,
even if we put aside the political marginalization-I know you’ll scoff at the term, so let’s
not go into that for the moment-this quota system is wreaking such havoc on the Muhajirs
who have the education and the ambition...‘...and coupled with the police brutality, Asif,
and you’re driving people to the point when they’ll pick up guns and detonates bombs.
(Shamsie, 2002, p .223-224)

This reminded Raheen of the car thief and her father did not deny that the rural Sindh did
not have its grievances .But all of them were suffering, at the hands of the power structures and
the power practices of the powerful, who would like to continue ruling, no matter at what cost.

Text (32): Those bastards, those bastards, those Mukti Bahni bastards they’ve
won the war, let them have the country, let them have it .I never cared .Not the
way everyone else did.’...Shafiq said, ‘My brother .My brother and all those other
West Pakistanis stranded on the other side. The day we surrendered. Not even
recognizable, his body .Not even recognizable, you bastard! My baby brother.
What the hell do you have to say about your precious freedom fighters now?’...I
said, ‘Shafiq, I’m so... Not Bilal, oh God, not Bilal.” And his face twisted into
such a rage as he answers, “You say ‘not Bilal’ but I know what you are thinking.
You’re thinking, it’s payback time. You’re thinking our soldiers did as much and
worse. You‘re thinking may be Bilal did too. Isn’t that it? You’re thinking my
brother did all those things people say soldiers did.’ Really I was thinking I would
never again hear him turn every tale of an accident into some grand joke; I was
thinking even Bilal couldn’t make any part of this seem anything less than horrific
.And Shafiq said, ‘Don’t even think of coming to the funeral, do you hear me?
Don’t even think of it. ’And then he rose up on his toes in a fury and said, ‘How
can you do it? How? I asked him, what? Do what? And he replied, ‘You’re going
to marry one of them. You’re going to let her have your children. How?’...I said,’
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How can I marry one of them? How can I let one of them bear my children? Think
of it as a civic duty. I’ll be diluting her Bengali bloodline. (Shamsie, 2002, p. 231-
232)

Description: Once again the timeline shifts and the writer takes us back to 1971 after the
surrender. Shafiq ,a neighbor of Zafar, came to his place and in broken words talked about the ‘
bastards’ of Mukti Bahni-the Bangladesh liberation force, trained by the Indian forces, had won
the war. He repeated “let them have the country, let them have it.” He added that he did not care
for it as everyone else did. But his concern was his brother. He told Zafar, choked with emotion,
that the day they surrendered, his brother and all those other West Pakistanis stranded on the
other side, were brutally killed that even their bodies were not recognizable. He wept for his
brother, calling him ‘My baby brother’ and expressed his extreme anger by questioning him
‘What the hell do you have to say about your precious freedom fighters now?’ In response Zafar
tried to express his shock and grief at Bilal’s death .But Shafiq did not believe him, saying that
he knew, what Zafar might be thinking about. He might be thinking that it was ‘payback time
and that ‘our soldiers did as much and worse’. He might be thinking that Bilal might had done
the same as the other soldiers had. Zafar was thinking that he would never again hear him
turning every tale of an accident into some grand joke ,he was thinking that even Bilal couldn’t
make any part of that tale that seemed anything less than horrific .And Shafiq went on, ‘Don’t
even think of coming to the funeral, do you hear me? Don’t even think of it. ’ Such was the
intensity of his shock and grief over the loss. And then he rose up on his toes in a fury and asked
him ‘How can you do it? How?’ Zafar asked him what he was referring to and he replied,
‘you’re going to marry one of them. You’re going to let her have your children. How?’ The
obvious reference was to his engagement with a Bengali woman and he said, ‘How can I marry
one of them? How can I let one of them bear my children? Think of it as a civic duty. I’ll be
diluting her Bengali bloodline.’ The very justification offered, was to align Maheen with those
Bengalis, who made Mukti Bahni and killed the West Pakistanis though she had been in Karachi
throughout. The claim to marry her, not because she was a woman he loved, but as a civic duty
to dilute her Bengali bloodline was a bit too cruel. Whatever compelled him utter these words,
the fact remains, that it was “the most unkindest cut of all” in Shakespeare’s words.
 327

Interpretation: Pakistan Army had to surrender as a consequence of all the discriminatory

polices made by the ruling elites that resulted in the breaking of Pakistan. Many people like
Maheen and Bilal fell victim to the resultant war. Shamsie refers to the impacts of that war on
the lives of her fictional characters who had not been involved in any such power games that led
to war and had to suffer the impacts of war like displacement, alienation, identity crisis and loss
of life because of it.

Explanation: The above-mentioned discourse, is the narrative of the day and the situation in
which Zafar uttered something that led to the breakup between him and Maheen. The timeline
was 1971, soon after the surrender of the Pakistan Army. Zafar had already experienced public
hatred and exclusion even while moving in his own circle .He had a feeling that he had not been
made for such trail of existence. There came another event in succession, his neighbour ,Shafiq
whose brother was a solider posted in the East Pakistan ,was brutally killed along with the other
soldiers of the Pakistan Army after the Army surrendered and their bodies were not
recognizable .Shafiq knew Zafar was engaged to a Bengali woman ,he knew that he used to talk
about East Pakistan freedom fighter so after receiving the telegram about his brother’s death he
came to Zafar and gave vent to his wrath asking him never dare to come to Bilal’s funeral and
asked him how could he marry a Bengali woman and let her have his children. What Zafar said
in response, was an echo of, what Maheen had shared with him with a deep sense of grief earlier:
“This country’s turning rabid-the soldiers are raping the women, Zaf, raping them, all over East
Pakistan, and in drawing rooms around Karachi people applaud this attempt to improve the genes
of the Bengalis.”(Shamsie, 2002, p .189)

His reply that he would take it as a civic duty to dilute her Bengali bloodline was a great
shock for Maheen. He never apologized for what he said .But years later when his own daughter
wanted explanation he ‘confessed there was an animal inside him’ and begged forgiveness from
Raheen and Karim. The moment Raheen had been trying to avoid was there:
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I looked from one parent to the other. Why did something that happened nearly a quarter
of a century ago have to do with our lives? Why were my parents looking at me ,so
terrified, so grave ,making me feel my lack of reaction was some sort of
failure?(Shamsie, 2002, p .233)

For Raheen, it was the death of an ideal and now she could feel the agony of Aunty
Maheen, who had been in love, but whose heart must have been daily further cleft by emotions
more complicated than anything conjured up by the words ‘politics,’ ‘patriotism,’ and ‘loyalty.’
.She could imagine her hearing the reported and unreported new. She could feel the agony of her
sufferings, when her father would have become the part of the cruel world around her “Zafar
stepping into history, stepping where she could not go, and kicking her away as he stepped there,
kicking her blood-drenched boots.” (Shamsie, 2002, p .238)

Shamsie portrays identity crisis, Maheen suffered from because of the change of her
status on account of war and Raheen’s on account of, what her father had done in the past and
she wondered on the beach after crying until she could not cry any more “how could I ever go
back?” The very awareness, had changed the world for her. She thought, whatever had happened
years before should not matter then. “But it did. It mattered .It matters in ways that crept into the
blood stream, too diffused to locate and examine.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.238) Here through
Raheen’s sufferings and her awareness of Maheen’s sufferings in the past, Shamsie highlights
the impacts of historical events on human life.

Text (33): I didn’t want you to hate him, Raheen .I wanted you to stop being
him...He thought he could pretend the war and everything going on had not going
to do with him, or with her, he pretended and pretended that the outlines in which
they lived didn’t matter, until one day it was at his door and things inside him that
he never acknowledged, never tried to deal with, came out.’

‘We don’t know that ’show it had happened.’

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‘And you are the same. You’re the same, Raheen. The city is falling apart and
you’re the same. That’s why I sent you those maps. Because I wanted you to find
a way to see beyond tiny circles you lived in, I wanted you to acknowledge that
you are a part of something larger .Maps, Raheen are amazing things. They
define a city as a single territorial unit, they give a sense of connectedness, and
you don’t want to admit you’re connected to anything that’s painful or
uncomfortable.

Karim my world is falling to pieces and you’re still talking about maps!

(Shamsie, 2002, p .244)

Description: Karim told Raheen that he did not want her to hate her father .He just wanted her to
stop being like him. Her father had thought that he could pretend that the war and everything was
not going to impact him or Maheen, he went on pretending and living in a delusion 'that the
outlines in which they lived didn’t matter, until one day it was at his door and things inside him
that he never acknowledged, never tried to deal with, came out.’ Raheen said they did not know
what had exactly happened.

Then Karim pointed out the similarity in their outlook with a sense of regret ‘And you are
the same. You’re the same, Raheen.’ He added that the city was falling apart and she seemed to
be unaffected. That’s why; he told her he had sent her those maps. Because he wanted her to find
a way to see beyond tiny circles she lived in, he wanted her to acknowledge that she was a part
of something larger. He told Raheen that ‘the maps are amazing things. They define a city as a
single territorial unit; they give a sense of connectedness’ he tried to make her realize that she
did not want to admit that she was connected to anything that was painful or uncomfortable.

Raheen exclaimed with a deep sense of loss ‘Karim my world is falling to pieces and
you’re still talking about maps!’ She had led a peaceful family life, and had never tasted any
grief except for the departure of Karim and his family. She was rather self-centred .This was the
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first time she had a feeling that her secure world was falling apart, so she did not like any
mention of maps. They were still moving on different trajectories of perception.

Interpretation: Karim, who had led a depressed family life because of some gulf between his
parents. Leaving Karachi was also his father’s decision only, which paved the way for the
breakup between his parents further complicating the things for him. He was further poisoned by
Runty about Zafar, Raheen’s father so he came to question him. Zafar confessed, what had
happened on the fateful day, when he and Maheen had parted ways. After listening to her
father’s confessions in front of Karim, Raheen sought an escape on the beach and Karim came
looking for her.

Explanation: Raheen’s father had been her ideal throughout her life, who despite having some
paradoxes in life, had been a humane and a loveable person. She loved her father dearly and this
was the first time that she was forced to see the ugly side of his character .It was a nerves-
shattering experience for her so she wanted to run away from everything and everyone. She tried
to seek an escape on the beach. Karim came looking for her and she blamed him that he wanted
her to hate her father. He refuted and said that he only wanted her ‘to stop being like him.’
Because his mother and father and in turn he had suffered throughout his life because of him and
he did not want history to repeat itself.

He uttered with a deep sense of loss “... Oh, God, why weren’t we born orphans?”
(Shamsie, 2002, p. 244) Being at the beach had always been a soothing experience for Raheen
but now that too was painful. She loved and longed for Karim’s company but she had a feeling
after that painful revelation that they had become “shadows in a shadow world.”(Shamsie, 2002,
p. 244)Raheen was in such a broken state that she told Karim she didn’t want anything more with
him or her father on which he commented that she had made the circle of her life even smaller
and asked her in an emotionless voice to get up so that they could inform Sonia about the
newspaper’s advertisement of the breaking of her engagement, reminding her “She’s the one
whose world is falling to pieces.”(Shamsie, 2002, p .245)
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They left for Sonia’s place and on the way she was absurdly moved to tears thinking that
“the violence in the city got unpredictable and terrifying, causing some to speculate that the
factional violence, ethnic violence, sectarian violence and random violence were not
unconnected but fueled by someone who wanted Karachi terrorized.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 259)

When later on they were moving to Karadar to see Zia, she looked at the hustle and bustle
of life there and felt “It was a terribly self-involved thought, I knew but I couldn’t help feeling
that, in the midst of everything that was happening, Karachi had decided to turn around and wink
at me .And in that wink was serious intent: yes, the city said, I am a breeding ground for
monsters, but don’t think that is the full measure of what I am”( Shamsie,2002,p 259).She was
thinking of the variety of facets, her city-Karachi had ,which shows she had not lost her love for
the city.

Text (34): Raheen wrote ‘Days away from 1995,we are nearly forty-eight years
old as a nation ,young enough that there are people alive who have lived through
our entire history and more, but too old to put our worries down to teething
problems .Because our birth in 1947 and1995,dead bang between our beginning
and our present ,is 1971,ofwhich I know next to nothing except that there was a
war and East Pakistan became Bangladesh ,and what terrible things we must
have done then to remain so silent about it .Is it shame at losing the war, or guilt
about what we did to try to win that mutes us?(Shamsie, 2002, p .270)

Description: Raheen wrote on the toilet roll with Sonia’s eye-liner that days away from
1995,they were nearly forty-eight years old as a nation ,young enough that there were people
alive who have lived through their entire history and more, but too old to put their worries down
to teething problems . She referred to their two births one in 1947 when Pakistan appeared on the
map of the world and second in 1995 after listening to her father’s confession, she considered
1971, as a dead bang between their birth as a nation and their present in 1995.She further
 332

elaborated that they knew nothing about 1971, ‘except that there was a war and East Pakistan
became Bangladesh ,and what terrible things we must have done then to remain so silent about it
.Is it shame at losing the war, or guilt about what we did to try to win that mutes us?’ The
questions she raised, are serious and thought-provoking for us as a nation. Muteness is no
solution to any problem, realisation and remedies, are required to avoid such happenings in
future this is, what Shamsie conveys through this discourse.

Interpretation: After Zia’s confession about what happened to Sonia’s father was because of
him, Sonia and Raheen came to her place leaving Zia and Karim behind. Raheen spent a night at
Sonia’s place and in the morning wrote all the afore-mentioned analysis on a roll with Sonia’s
eye pencil.

Explanation: For the first time in Raheen’s life, she equated the causes of 1971 surrender with
her father’s attitude towards the serious issues, he and Maheen had been facing then. She blamed
her father “Everything I thought was so damn noble of you, it was just a self-serving attempt to
turn into someone who would forgive you when this moment came.”(Shamsie, 2002, p .274).
She started looking at things from quite a different angle:

And when it came to ethnic politics, weren’t you the great man? Never attacking anyone
else, but also standing firm on your position, saying it wasn’t ethnicity that mattered per
se but question of injustice .Zafar the just .And what was all that about? So you could say
to me, look at track record, Raheen, see how I’ve evolved? (Shamsie, 2002,p .274)

Her disillusionment with her father made her think of things beyond her tiny circle in
which she used to feel happy and secure.

Text (36): Back to a city that was feasting on its own blood, the violence so crazy
now that all the earlier violence felt like mere pinprick. Back to a city that bred
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monsters. Back to a city where I’d have to face my father .Why should I want to
go back to any of that?

And yet. When I read the Dawn on-line and then looked around me to the pristine
surroundings of campus life, I knew that every other city in the world showed me
in surface ,but when I looked at Karachi I saw the blood running through blood
and out of its veins; I knew that I understood the unspoken as much as the
articulated among its inhabitants; I knew there were so many reasons to fail to
love it, to cease to love it ,to be unable to love it ,that it made love a fierce and
unfathomable thing; I knew that I couldn’t think of Karachi and find any easy
answers ,and I didn’t know how to decide if that was reason to go back or reason
to stay away. ‘Because, Karim, you’ve shown me that it’s not so simple to leave a
leave a city behind.’

I nodded. I saw that ,for all his obsessing about the city ,or perhaps because of
his obsessing ,Karachi was an abstraction to him ,in the way the past is an
abstraction, and he lacked the heart to make it a reality .And I saw that
everything he heard about 1971 gave him reason to fear that national politics
would again force people he loved to reveal their narrow-mindedness and
cowardice and rage ,and those people might include Zafar’s daughter ,so like her
father in so many ways.(Shamsie, 2002, p. 297)

Description: It was Raheen thinking of returning to her city-Karachi after her graduation. She
thought she was going back to a city that was “feasting on its own blood”, a city “where violence
got so crazy that all the earlier violence felt like mere pinprick”. She kept thinking that she
wanted to go back to a city that bred monsters. “Back to a city where I’d have to face my father”.
She questioned herself “Why should I want to go back to any of that?” Despite of all the afore-
mentioned malaise associated with the city, she wanted to go back to her city. While being in the
unspoiled surroundings of the Upstate New York University and reading the Dawn online, she
knew that every other city in the world showed her the surface ,but when she looked at Karachi
she saw the blood running through and out of its veins; she knew that she understood the
“unspoken” as much as the “articulated” things among its inhabitants; she knew “there were so
 334

many reasons to fail to love it, to cease to love it ,to be unable to love it ,that it made love a fierce
and unfathomable thing”; she knew that she couldn’t think of Karachi and find any easy answers
to some burning questions about it ,and though she didn’t know how to decide if that was the
reason to go back or reason to stay away. Karim had shown her that it’s not so simple to leave a
city behind.

Raheen thought that despite all Karim’s obsession about the city, Karachi was an
abstraction to him now, in the way the past was an abstraction, and he lacked the heart to make it
a reality by returning to the city. She justified him by thinking that all he saw “that everything
he heard about 1971 gave him reason to fear that national politics would again force people he
loved to reveal their narrow-mindedness and cowardice and rage ,and those people might include
Zafar’s daughter, so like her father in so many ways.”

Interpretation: Shamsie mentions many ups and down between Karim and Raheen and all of
them in a way are related to their place and displacement with reference to Karachi. The afore-
mentioned discourse is yet another such discourse, an account of the conflict to go back to
Karachi after graduation or not to go back.

Explanation: Karim came to see Raheen in New York to ask her not to go back to Karachi after
graduation and told her that he was ready to live with her anywhere else in the world but she
could not agree though she regarded Karachi as ‘a city that was feasting on its own blood’ where
the present deadly violence made ‘earlier violence felt like mere pinprick’, as a city ‘that breads
monsters’, a city where she would have to face her father again whom she had been trying to
avoid since the day he revealed what he had said to Aunty Maheen to make her leave him. She
questioned herself, despite knowing all this, despite reading about ever increasing violence and,
despite having the experience of the ‘pristine’ surroundings at the campus in America, why
should she want to go back to ‘any of that’ and then herself provided the answer for she that she
owned the city as she owned no other place in the world. She said that every other city in the
world just showed her the surface but when she looked at Karachi- her very own city, she could
 335

see the blood running through its veins ,there she could understand all the heard and
unheard(Keats,1819) “articulated” and “unspoken” happiness and sorrows. She knew there were
so many reasons not to love the city and that ‘it made love a fierce and unfathomable thing’ an
intense and immeasurable passion, she knew there was no easy solution to Karachi’s problems
and no rational justification for her love but she confessed she ‘didn’t know how to decide if that
was the reason to go back or reason to stay away.’ She told Karim, it was because of him who
had shown her that ‘it’s not so simple to leave a city behind ’Here is one of Karachi diaspora
subject, with an intense desire to return ‘home’ talking to another, who had reasons not to return
to the same.

Raheen could see that despite all his obsessions for Karachi, the city had become an
abstraction to him ‘in the way the past is an abstraction’ and he did not have a heart to make it a
reality. Though she justified him on the ground that she could also see that everything he had
heard about 1971 gave him reason to fear that national politics would again force people he
loved to reveal their narrow-mindedness and cowardice and rage, and those people might include
Zafar’s daughter, so like her father in so many ways. So once again they were at the cross roads
with a feeling that there were countless ghosts between them:

Ghosts of his parents’ failed marriage, of Zafar’s and Maheen’s failed engagement, of the
years apart when we grew into people other than the people we would have been had we
stayed in Karachi, of the Karachi we once thought we were living in and would always
live in, of imagined-other each of us kept up a conversation with long after our letters
stopped.(Shamsie, 2002, p.298)

Karim insisted that he would marry her, but he wanted her not to go back to Karachi. On
her refusal to equate love with geography he tried to make her realise that her “happy family
existed at the cost of his family” (Shamsie, 2002, p.299). He told her that he had been angry with
his mother for years until he came to know the reality that it was her father “who ruined her life,
and my father’s, and mine.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.299).In the height of his anger he told her that it
 336

was quite easy for her father to “transfer his affections simply because it was easier to love
someone who wasn’t Bengali.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.300) He also blamed her that she arranged her
life around everything that was easy, she wrapped herself in the little cocoon deciding what
happened away from her street was not a part of her world. “And then you pretend your street is
the world.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.300)

She retorted that it was he who had started the conversation by saying that he did not want
to go back to Karachi .He said she wanted to go back because it would be easy for her to go back
and when he had to leave she used to write him all the time that they were happy without him,
they were not interested in anything he had to tell “I had to say how hard it was, how goddam
miserable it made me, to be away from Karachi.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.300)He voiced the sorrows
of a lost diaspora subject and a displaced soul. She told him that she used to write all details so
that when he came back you would not have to feel like an outsider for even a second. And the
conflict goes on.

Text (36): I thought I was showing courage by staying in Karachi during all that
madness, and I am still not sure I wasn’t But you see ,I was Bengali .I was born
that way .So though people turned away from me at parties. And conversations
stopped when I entered the room, and all sorts of things went on and on should
have to live through , there was a certain...resignation ,almost in people’s attitude
towards me ,I was a Bingo, nothing to be done about it .But your father...your
father was something much worse .He was a turncoat ,a traitor .A Bingo-lover.
’She said the words slowly, as if examining them, trying to unravel the mystery.’
That evening—when Shafiq got the telegram about his brother-Zafar had just
come back from hospital .Broken rib, fractured thumb, bruises everywhere. He
claimed he’d been mugged and beaten, but no one was fooled. There was violence
in the air those days, and why should your father have been expected not to get
terrified of it? Whatever he said to Shafiq, awful as it was, I don’t believe he
meant it.(Shamsie, 2002, p.308)
 337

Description: Maheen told Raheen that she thought she had been showing courage by staying in
Karachi during all that madness, and she was still not sure that she had not. She further
explained that she was a Bengali because she ‘was born that way’ .She recalled that people used
to turn away from her at parties and conversations stopped when she used to enter the room. But
she knew she could not change her origin so such thing would happen and she had to bear them
and live through them. She told that there had been a certain resignation in people’s attitude
towards her that she was “a Bingo, nothing to be done about”. She had been subjected to
discrimination and hatred because she was a born Bengali .But she told Raheen that her father’s
case was worse than hers, “He was a turncoat, a traitor .A Bingo-lover.” When she uttered all
this she uttered the words slowly, as if she was examining them, “trying to unravel the mystery.”
She told that on that particular evening—when Shafiq had got the telegram about his brother-
Zafar had just come back from the hospital. His rib was broken and thumb was fractured, and
there were bruises everywhere. He tried to conceal the truth by claiming that he had been
attacked and beaten, but no one had been fooled. She said to Raheen that there was violence in
the air those days and questioned, “Why should your father have been expected not to get
terrified of it?” She admitted that whatever he had said to Shafiq was awful but she did not
believe he had meant it.

Interpretation: Raheen went to see Maheen at her place in America and found her a ‘typical
Karachi Aunty’. She wanted to listen to her part of the story related to her father and how she
had been able to forgive him. She found many pictures of hers and Karim’s parents’ on the walls
.Aunty Maheen told her she talked to her father a few days ago. She made her read a letter
Raheen’s father had written her which was a sad commentary on the history of Pakistan and his
attitude and their collective attitude towards the grave issues of the Bengalis’ unrest and
Pakistan’s division.

Explanation: Raheen had always regarded her father as an ideal and humane figure ,she did not
want even the slightest scratch in that image that was why when years back she had overheard
her parents talking about something that made her father ill at ease she had decided never ever
she would question even to herself about their past. She never did but the reality had been
 338

revealed to her by her own father .It had been shocking for her beyond measure, it inculcated a
strange kind of alienation in herself. She left for New York without seeing her father.

Despite her disillusionment, she was a typical diaspora, whose urge to return to her home
was stronger than any other passion that was why she refused Zia ,her one time crush and Karim
her lifelong love. She went to see Aunty Maheen to find some way to forgive her father. In the
afore-mentioned discourse Maheen told her that she had a feeling that she was showing courage
by staying in Karachi even when subjected to hatred and discrimination because of her origin.
Since she had been Bengali by the accident of birth they could not do anything about it. Public
wrath against her father was even worse because he had been regarded to be a ‘turncoat’ a
‘traitor’ and a ‘Bingo lover’ by choice. He ignored it for a considerable period of time, but
Pakistan’s defeat in the war created madness among people and he had almost been killed one
day. Whatever he uttered on that fatal day was the result of that ‘mortal terror’ (Allan Poe,
1843) and she justified Zafar on that ground. She told Raheen she believed that he had not meant
it. She added “You weren’t alive in those days. You don’t know what you’re talking
about.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.308-309) She said that she knew she could never go back to Karachi
because of the kind of whispers that would go around about her. She was afraid of ‘being
shunned’; she didn’t want to go back “To be reminded that, after all, after everything, I’ve ended
up a foreigner in that city.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.309) So she became a permanent Karachi diaspora
s. Raheen went to see her because her mother had told her earlier that she should not forget that
Maheen had forgiven her father. In response she handed over her father’s letter to her. And
Aunty Maheen made her read the letter in which he wrote he wanted to speak out “what
happened to make us unhappen”. (Shamsie, 2002, p.311) He went on that two years after the
creation of Bangladesh people stopped talking about what happened except for the narration of
the personal stories adding that we made it personal not the way we should but the way it should
be to touch us personally. “We make it personal in a way that excludes everything and everyone
who was not part of that four-line story about the war days that we tell over tea and biscuits”.
(Shamsie, 2002, p.311)
 339

It’s a sad commentary on the non-serious attitude towards grave problems that led to
national and personal tragedies. He confessed in his letter that he could not forget his story
because it was associated with Maheen who was very much there in his life despite all that had
happened otherwise he might have been like all others .He told Maheen that he was terrified
because their country had seen what it was capable of and that we should all be spared of that on
personal but not on collective level .Because we have not paused to take an account “to reach
inwards towards that swirling darkness and hold it up to light.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.312) .War had
conditioned his life because he was also a part of the collective crime and his confession should
be passed on to the next generation to learn a lesson.

Text (37):Pakistan died in 1971.Pakistan was a country with two wings-I have
never before thought of the war in terms of that image: a wing tearing away from
the body it once helped keep aloft-it was a country with a majority Bengali
population and all its attendant richness of culture, history, language ,topography
,climate ,clothing...oh, everything .How can Pakistan still be when all of that
,everything that East Pakistan added to a country ,is gone? Pakistan was a nation
with an image –first by ensuring the Bengali were minimized and marginalized
both politically and economically, and then by reacting to their demands for
greater rights and representation with act of savagery? How can Pakistan still be
when the whole is going and we are left with a part? (When we are willing to
treat a part as the whole don’t we fall victims to circumscribed seeing, a thing we
can ill afford?) We should have recognized that the Pakistan of dreams died and
was buried in the battle fields of ’71.(Shamsie, 2002, p.312-313)

Description: Zafar wrote in his confessional letter to Maheen that Pakistan died in
1971.Pakistan was a country with two wings-he elaborated that he had never before thought of
the war in terms of that image, ‘a wing tearing away from the body it once helped keep aloft’
Pakistan was a country with a majority Bengali population with all its richness of culture,
history, language ,topography ,climate ,clothing and everything . He questioned how could
‘Pakistan still be’ when all of that, everything that East Pakistan added to a country, was gone.
 340

He continued that Pakistan had been a nation with an image of bad governance that had first
ensured that the Bengali were minimized and marginalized both politically and economically,
and then had reacted to their demands for more rights and greater representation with an act of
savagery. He queried how Pakistan could still be ‘Pakistan’ when the whole had gone and we
were left with a part only. By seeing part as a whole, he thought we fell a victim to limited,
constrained, confined, impaired and bounded vision, an approach that was misleading and which
we could ill afford. He was of the view that we, as a nation should have recognized that the
Pakistan of our dreams had died and had been buried in the battle fields of 1971.

Interpretation: Zafar wrote a letter to Maheen to confess his personal and collective guilt, to tell
her that they had brought up Raheen, their daughter in such a way that she could distinguish
between right and wrong and in the end expressed his happiness in seeing her settled in life at
last. The letter also bears a sad commentary on the attitude of the Pakistani people who had first
alienated the Bengali population that had been in majority and then denied them their rights
which lead to breaking of Pakistan and then fell a victim to oblivion.

Explanation: This is a discourse of lament, lament of a nation that paved the way for its own
amputation .Zafar wrote in his letter to Maheen that the real Pakistan had died in 1971, in the
battle field with the loss of its Eastern wing. The Pakistan that had come into existence in 1947
had the Bengalis as majority population with their varied culture, rich heritage and diverse
traditions. By losing East Pakistan we had lost the whole and left with a part only. Our
discriminating attitude paved the way for the Bengalis deprivation and alienation which resulted
in succession .We lost the whole and started calling a part as a whole .It had been a state of
denial. He called this a gaze with circumscribed vision which led to further complications.

He further elaborated “We act though history can be erased.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.313) This
erasure means “we believe that it is possible to act without consequences and this way by closing
our eyes to the problems the other’s children face we cannot save our own children.” In the end
of his letter he expressed the resolve to bring up their daughter in such a way that she would look
 341

at him in horror when he would finally tell her the truth of what he said, that would be a sort of
punishment for him, but might serve as a means of salvation of the national issues.

Raheen came back to Karachi in summer of 1995 and was received by her father inside the
terminal because of Uncle Asif’s contacts, again the extent of the influence of the powerful, the
violation of rules and regulation, and the social practices among the elites are hinted at. She had
been reading about showdowns, stalemates, body counts and analysis on the net but when she
stepped out she could feel the fear and vulnerability of falling a victim to violence anytime .In a
city where electricity failure and water shortages were the order of the day, where “the repairmen
needed police escorts to guard them from Karachiites living in dark and heat for days at a
time.”(3 Shamsie, 2002, p.15).And then she thought of the areas where police dared not go. To
her the city became “a ghost town—darkness everywhere” where people could not dare to stop
even at red lights. There were such intense lurking fears. But even then she wanted to live there.

Both Aunty Maheen and Uncle Ali told her that the way things were in Karachi they would
never encourage Karim to return to the city. Rocket launchers and gun fires became the order of
the day. If some big gun fell a victim to violence, it made a big news and if people from the other
side of the divide fell victims, there were small routine reporting about them .But killing were a
matter of routine. Zia suggested to her from New York that she should not read newspapers but
she found she could no longer say to the world “there’s nothing I can do to change this, so why
think too hard about it?”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 317) She still couldn’t do anything about it “ but
now it felt like an abomination to pretend to live outside it”.( Shamsie,2002,p.317)The
accountant in her father’s office decided to move to Sydney .The route he had to follow to the
office was too dangerous and his son traced the latitude and longitude of Sydney in excitement
.Raheen’s father told him that he did not know about the latitude and longitude of Karachi to
which the accountant replied, “Complete latitude in all things if you have the right
connections.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 317) It is a sad commentary and an apt criticism on the ‘ways of
beings’ of the city elites .The time has changed, but the same practices continue. ‘Might’ is still
considered right and it has the rights to have latitude in everything.
 342

Text(38): ...and could this city—my city, this ugly, polluted, overpopulated ,heart
breaking place—retain its spirit after all this battering? And finally, inevitably,
someone would say: It’s like 1971.Except that the army will decimate us before
they allow Karachi to break away. And it always fell to my father to say. ’No one
wants civil war .Don’t say it’s like ’71.Don’t even think it.(Shamsie, 2002, p. 319)

Description: Raheen thinks about the discussions Karachi elites hold every day in their
comfortable drawing rooms about the problem of ethnic riots and constant unrest. She wonders
could that ugly, polluted, overpopulated, heart breaking place-- her city would be able to retain
its spirit after all this battering. And after every such discussion generally the conclusion they
arrive at finally and inevitably is, “It’s like 1971.” Except for adding “that the army will
decimate us before they allow Karachi to break away.” Because this time, it’s not the Bengali
masses they have to annihilate but a mixture of Muhajir, Sindhis and Pathans, who all have their
stakes in power. And in the end of each such discussion, it’s Raheen’s father always, who says,
“No one wants civil war .Don’t say it’s like ’71.Don’t even think it.” It might be because of the
personal guilt he has to live with or the fear of being exposed in front of his daughter that make
him refute any trace of similarity between 1971 Civil War and Karachi’s law and order situation
since 1986.

Interpretation: The situational context is the deteriorating law and order situation of the city and
the continued “Ghutna” parties of the city elites with regular discussion in the comfortable
drawing rooms, “Halat bohot kharab hain”. (Shamsie, 2002, p .318)

Explanation: There are lots of commonalities between the attitude of the Karachi elites in 1971
and the turbulent times from 1986 onward, they are the spectators sitting on the fence and
watching things from a safe distance. The only activity that shows their concern for the city, is
their discussion on deteriorating law and order situation and then they continue with their
Epicurean existence. Some of them mention that the situation is like 1971 and people like Zafar,
refute it by saying ‘not even think of it’, but by closing one’s eyes the reality cannot be changed.
 343

Raheen quotes the Newlines “What we are seeing today in Karachi is a repeat of the East
Pakistan situation.” Raheen asks her mother whether it is true, who in reply asks her to ask
Maheen who will never advise to compare Muhajirs to Bengalis because in this way people try to
forget all they are guilty of. She adds that they left India in 1947, left their homes and everything
“saying we cannot live amid injustice, this political marginalization, this exclusion. And then we
came to our new homeland and became a willing part of a system that perpetuated
marginalization and intolerance of the Bengalis .No, Karachi is not a repeat of the East Pakistan
situation.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 319)

But then she talks about certain parallels saying that “History is never obliging enough to
reply itself in all details” (Shamsie, 2002, p .319) whether personal or political, but we can learn
how to rise above the past mistakes. The message Shamsie wants to convey is unfortunately we,
as a nation, have not learnt anything from our past. Raheen refers to her father’s letter to
Maheen that bears witness to the fact.

Text (39): The Prime Minister told the reporters the country was doing well.
When asked about Karachi, she said Karachi was only ten million people.
(Shamsie, 2002, p .323)

Description: Shamsie highlights a statement by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who told the
reporters that the country was doing well. When she was asked about Karachi, she said that
Karachi was only ten million people. What the statement implies, is that it is a fraction of the
total population “only ten million people”. Their unrest, for the Prime Minister, is nothing as
compared to the rest of the country, which she thinks is “doing well”. Once again the negligence
of the ruler for the unrest of a part of the country is highlighted.

Interpretation: Being a political writer basically, all Shamsie’s novels, refer to the political
attitude of the people. In general it’s a commentary on all the power stake-holders of Karachi
politics and in particular, the then Prime Minister.
 344

Explanation: What Shamsie highlights through this political discourse is the attitude of the
ruling elite. The unrest of Karachi, is the result of, the perpetual negligence of the ruling class.
The Prime Minister downplays the severity of Karachi’s problem by saying that Karachi is only
‘ten million people’. The use of word only with ‘ten million’ is an irony .By presenting Karachi’s
problem, in the larger prospect of the Civil War of 1971, makes this discourse interdiscursive.

In the same Karachi people like Aunty Runty lamented “Why are there no parties...I can’t
bear all, this sitting at home, I can’t bear my own imagination.” (Shamsie, 2002, p 324) On the
other hand Naila ,the elites’ barometer of judging the city situation didn’t turn up for many
months ,indicating deteriorating situation, but a nomad from Uncle Asif’s dune begged him to
get him a job in Karachi, which makes Raheen think “Even now ,even at this time ,it was still a
city that beckoned.”(Shamsie, 2002, p 323) This also indicates that the situations for the nomads
might be even worse. So the issue of Karachi is a complicated issue which needs serious concern
to be resolved.

Text (40): There are two ways to escape suffering [the inferno where we live
every day. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part
of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant
vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the
midst of the inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space.
(Italo Calvino)

Karachi at its worst is a ‘Karachi unconcerned with people who exist outside the
storyteller’s circle’, a ‘Karachi oblivious to people and places who aren’t
familiar enough for nick-names. What I’ve mistaken for intimacy is really just
exclusion. But Karachi is always dual. Houses are alleys; car thieves are the
people to help you when your car won’t start; pollution simultaneously chokes
you and makes you gasp at the beauty of unnatural sunsets; a violent, fractured
 345

place dismissive of everyone outside its boundaries is vibrant, embracing,

accepting of outsiders; and, yes, selfishness is consequence of love.

No simple answers in Karachi. Just when we decide that intimacy is

exclusionary , a man at the airport turns round and gives us his car-keys, a motia
seller calls us ‘sister’ and adorns our wrists with flowers, families fling open their
doors and avert their eyes and help us make our way to places of worship; at its
best, Karim, Karachi is intimate with strangers.

If I am truly to call myself a product of the city, how can I not find it in me to
learn that much easier lesson: how to be intimate with my intimates. (Shamsie,
2002, p.330-332)

Description: Raheen wrote a letter to Karim to urge him to come back. She started the letter by
quoting Italo Calvino, who says that there are two ways to escape suffering of the inferno, where
we live every day. The first is easy for many i.e., to accept the inferno and become such a part of
it that you can no longer see it, but the second is risky and demands constant vigilance and
apprehension i.e. to seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of the inferno, are not
inferno, then make them endure, give them space. By quoting Calvino she wanted to convey to
Karim that she belonged to the first and if he really loved his city and wished to be of use to it he
should come back and be of the second type.

She further writes that Karachi at its worst, is a Karachi unconcerned with people who
exist outside the storyteller’s circle. She regards Karachi as ‘oblivious to people and places who
aren’t familiar enough for nick-names’. She writes that she thinks what she has mistaken for
intimacy is really just exclusion. But, she adds, Karachi is not as simple as that. It always has a
duality where ‘houses are alleys’-open to others to walk through and ‘car thieves are the people
to help you when your car won’t start’. Here she refers to their encounter with a person who has
been forced to be a car thief by circumstances but still retains his morality and humanity by
helping them start their car. She regards Karachi as a place where ‘pollution simultaneously
chokes you and makes you gasp at the beauty of unnatural sunsets.’ It is apparently ‘a violent,
 346

fractured place dismissive of everyone outside its boundaries, is vibrant’ but is open and
hospitable enough to ‘embracing, accepting of outsiders; and, yes, selfishness is consequence of
love.’ Here she identifies herself with the city –her selfishness is also a consequence of her love
for the city and for Karim. She wants to have them both together.

She writes that there are no simple answers in Karachi. Just when their intimacy with
their city becomes ‘exclusionary’ for them because of ethnic violence, ‘a man at the airport turns
round and gives us his car-keys’ that if they, the complete stranger young girls, want to go out of
the airport ,they should better use his car for their safety ,and a motia seller-a poor vender
calls them his sisters and adorns their wrists with flowers, and families fling open their doors
and ‘avert their eyes and help us make our way to places of worship’. She refers to the
movement of the purdah observing women who move through the houses to reach their place of
worship. She further tells him that ‘at its best, Karim, Karachi is intimate with strangers’. She
further adds that she calls herself a true product of Karachi, that is why it easier for her to learn
‘to be intimate with my intimates.’ She refers to her sweet and sour relationship with Karim, she
loves him, but gets cross with him whenever she has a feeling that he fails to understand, what
she tries to convey.

Interpretation: One day Raheen dreamt Karim and herself walking through Karachi streets
when the gunfire started near their old school, they ran inside and bullets turned into diamonds
to which Karim called ‘frozen tears’. The dream touched her, and she missed Karim and wrote a
letter to him.

Explanation: Raheen’s letter to Karim is interdiscursive in the sense that besides quoting
Calvino she refers to many incidents related to their past experiences in Karachi which helps her
define her city, gets to know it better, identifies herself as a true product of the city and urges
him to come back.
 347

Raheen starts her letter with a quote by Calvino symbolically referring to Karachi as an
“inferno” a hell, a burning city, because of the ethnic riots. Her way to seek an escape from the
everyday “inferno” they live in, is to be a part of it .This solution is easy for the majority like her,
they have accepted it as such and have become a part of it. So the reality of its being an ‘inferno’
does not bother her much. The second is ‘risky and demands constant vigilance and
apprehension’ for it needs struggle to seek and learn to recognize ‘who and what, in the midst of
the inferno, are not inferno’ then make them ‘endure’ but give them space to be a part of it.

There is a repetition of the word Karachi many times in the letter; she talks about the
complex nature and the duality of the city. She regards “Karachi at its worst is a Karachi
unconcerned with people who exist outside the storyteller’s circle”, the same Karachi is at its
best, “is intimate with strangers”. Talking about its duality she refers to the fact that despite
being a city torn with hatred and ethnic divide ,it is a city where there is a lunar street where
people open the doors of their houses for the purdah observing women during the month of
Moharram to go to their place of worship without seen by anyone, it is a city where strangers are
so concerned about the girls safety that they are offered the car keys to safely move around ,it is
a place where poor flower bracelets vendor offers free bracelets to them calling them sisters,
where the car thief helps the stranger to start their car so that they can safely go back with the girl
who is along. All these examples show the respect for the female lot that is an indication of
civility and humanity .Despite all the rift, the Karachiites retain their human values.

Raheen admits that Karachi is a complex city and there is no simple solution to its complicated
problems. She refers to the letter her father wrote to Karim’s mother which they have both read
and tells him that she is trying to be brave about the things that ‘terrify’ her. She says that ‘ what
her father said and did though matter of the past , but to pretend it could be easily discussed and
resolved would be to deny how deep in our marrow consequences are lodged.’(Shamsie, 2002,
p 332).She tells Karim, “I love this place, Karim, for all its madness and complication .It’s not
that I didn’t love it before, but I loved it with a child’s kind of love, the kind that either ends
strengthened as understanding grows.”(Shamsie, 2002, p .332)
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And in the end she implores him to understand the underlying message “come home”, the
expression is repeated thrice urging him to be no longer a ‘Karachi diaspora’ but a part of it.

Text (41): He had thought it would end when the war ended, but what if it never
ended? What if time only exacerbated people’s wounds intensified their madness?
What if he and Maheen would be driven out of Karachi by the attitudes of their
friends? (Shamsie, 2002, p. 334)

Description: The narrative once again turns to 1971.Zafar was badly beaten by the people at the
squash court for being a ‘Bingo’s lover’. In acute pain he thought that he had a feeling that this
madness would end with the end of the war. But the war had ended and the consequences of the
war like ‘the madness’ continued .He wondered ‘what if it never ended?’ The thought voiced his
fear ‘What if he and Maheen would be driven out of Karachi by the attitudes of their friends?’
He was beaten by the people of his own circle –his friends, they might drive them away from his
city, his comfort zone, and things were getting dangerous for him there.

Interpretation: Zafar was badly beaten by the people in the club and had to be hospitalized.
Only a few friends came to see him and only Yasmin and Ali had shown real concern on what
had happened. For the first time he realized what they had been signally at for quite some time.

Explanation: Zafar was an ease loving idealist, who ignored all the friendly suggestions to
leave Karachi, even when Maheen had been repeatedly targeted by the public disgust, hatred and
scorn .Earlier when she had shared with him that his boss had appreciated his talent for the
advertising business, but added that some of his clients would not like to have business with
them because of his Bengali wife, he jokingly said that he would change his business .On her
generalization based on her practical experience that he would find such attitude everywhere he
said in the light vein “Then I’ll change my fiancé”( Shamsie, 2002, p .334). But later on, that
was what he exactly did .At the very suggestion of leaving Karachi he felt ‘nauseous’. But after
this incident he realized for the first time, the ever deteriorating situation and, “How much easier
 349

life would be if I wasn’t engaged.”(Shamsie, 2002, p .334) Most of the people around him , even
his mother tried to make him realise in her ‘veiled way’, that she knew his sense of obligation ,“
but at times one must be selfish”( Shamsie, 2002, p 334), telling him that ‘Maheen wasn’t the
same person she’d been when he asked her to marry him.’(Shamsie, 2002, p 334) She tried to
make him realise the fact by saying “How could anyone stay the same under such
circumstances?” (Shamsie, 2002, p. 334). She asked him, could he imagine raising Bengali
children in such an atmosphere of hostility against the Bengalis .And then came Shafiq and he
saw the “sheer craziness” in his eyes more violent than what he had seen in Bunty’s eyes when
he had started beating him in the squash court. And he started fearing what would happen if
Shafiq with a knife in his hand, saw Maheen who was in the kitchen .So he thought of not
arguing with him to “get him out of here.”(Shamsie, 2002, p 335).He decided to say something
“to placate Shafiq and get him to leave’ and ‘to say, so unforgivable, to make Maheen leave
him.”(Shamsie, 2002, p .335) He succeeded in doing that even if it was followed by the lifelong
regrets. After he himself fell a victim to the hatred of his close elite circle, he started
reconsidering his decision to continue being engaged to Maheen without thinking it to be ‘the
most unkindest cut of all’ to her in Shakespeare’s words.

Text (42): “We’ll make an interactive map on the Internet. You start with a basic
street map, OK, but everywhere there are links .Click here, you get sound files of
Karachiites telling stories of what it’s like to live in different parts of town. Click
there, you get a visual of any particular street. Click again, the camera zooms in
and you see a rock or a leaf or a billboard that means something to that street
.Click, you see streets that exist seasonally, like your lunar street. Click, you see
which sections are under curfew. Click, you hear a poem. Click, you see a
painting .Choice of languages in which you can read the thing .Sound files in all
kinds of dialects. Strong on graphics for people who are illiterate...This is a
lifelong project, Raheen, in a city that’s always changing. (Shamsie, 2002, p. 337)

Description: Karim told Raheen that they would make an interactive map of Karachi on the
Internet. He further shared that it would start with the basic street map, but everywhere there
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would be links. He told her that on one click there would be access to sound files of Karachiites
telling stories of what it would be like to live in different parts of the town. On the other click,
one would get a visual of any particular street. One could click again and the camera would
zoom in and one could see a rock or a leaf or a billboard that meant something to that street. On a
click, one could see streets that existed seasonally, like the lunar street, Raheen had mentioned.
On another click one could see which sections of the city were under curfew. One could click
and hear a poem or see a painting. One could choose from a variety of languages, one could read
.Sound files, in all kinds of dialects would be there. Strong graphics would be there for the
illiterate people .He added, “This is a lifelong project, Raheen, in a city that’s always changing.”
So ultimately, Raheen the die-hard Karachiites was able to convince ‘Karachi’s diaspora’ Karim
to come back and indulge in his map-making for the city from the home ground.

Interpretation: Raheen wrote a letter to Karim imploring him to come back:

“Come home, stranger.

Come home, untangler of my thoughts.

Come home and tell me, what do I do with this breaking of my heart of mine?”(Shamsie, 2002, p
.332)

In response to her letter he came back to Karachi when she was in Rahim Yar Khan on
Uncle Asif’s form again and he called her from Karachi to tell her about his plans.

Explanation: Karim was also a die-hard Karachiites, like Raheen. At the age of thirteen he
declared to be a map-maker of Karachi. He wanted to bring order to its disorder (Gayer, 2014)
.Despite being forced to leave the city because of his father’s security concerns, he always kept
in touch with his “home place”, like a typical diaspora because of “transnational migration
economically and occupationally in the adopted land but emotionally, socially and culturally in
his homeland.” (Esman 2009 Chap. 2, p. 33). He wanted to do it as his lifelong project with
Raheen’s help—the other die-hard Karachiites, being Eratosthenes and Strabo, one would be
scientific and the other, poetic like Homer .And he decided to come and join her on the farm. He
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told that he had realized “There’s bound to be a map somewhere .The police ,the Intelligence
Services ,may be even the post office, they have got to have a street map of Karachi.”(Shamsie,
2009, p.339) Karim told her that he picked up the idea of this map from her, who had told him
about the “lunar street” and the stories associated with different parts of the city.

Shamsie mentions the use of technology to make a map of her city to let the world know
that the Karachiites and Karachi diaspora have the vision and the ability to modernize the map of
their city “an interactive map” with various links thus proving herself a modern Karachi
diaspora, who loves to write about her city and wants it to be developed on the modern scientific
lines.

From textual analysis I will move on the next step that goes with the context of the novel.

4.3. Context

Brown (2005) quotes Shamsie saying in an interview with her that she always wanted to
be a writer - it's an inextricable part of her life. Shamsie told Brown, “I read Enid Blyton and
other English writers. Because English is my first language, I had the feeling that books were
written in another country.’’ She further told that the only writer they knew in Pakistan was
Bapsi Sidhwa, who wrote Ice-Candy-Man. She added when she was about 16, Sara Sulehri
published her memoir, Meatless Days, which seemed to proceed through metaphor rather than
linear narrative. It also took in politics in Pakistan and the idea of women in Pakistan. Shamsie
loved it. She further elaborated that Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children was also a really
important book for her which made her think, “Oh, you can do this, you can write about the
world as you know it." Brown explains that even after this revelation, it wasn't until Shamsie
moved to America as a student that she began to write about Karachi. "That came out of
homesickness,” Shamsie told and added, "It was a way of recreating the world on the page”
(Brown, 2005).
 352

Brown (2005) further quotes Shamsie saying, "It was only when I started writing about
Karachi that it really started fizzing." Brown (2005) adds that the Pakistan she describes in all
four books, bubbles with the sensuousness of place - but Shamsie's novels never become tourist
brochures. She writes with deep insight. Brown explains:

Through her characters we travel through the real Karachi: a city of billboards and street
violence, floodlit cricket matches, cheap wine, religious confusion and passionate
conversation. English readers might have trouble, at first, believing in her dialogue - it's
intense, weighted deep with accusation, confrontation, romance and philosophy. Her
characters are all highly articulate, juggling, twisting and subverting language with
breath-taking ease. The characters in Kartography dealt in anagrams. In Broken Verses,
politics take on the potency of poetry. "Pakistan is a nation in which people are much
more likely to give a strong opinion on things," she says. "There's much less diffidence of
expression.(Brown, 2005)

Natalie Hanman (2014) writes in Kamila Shamsie: ‘Where is the American writer writing
about America in Pakistan? There is a deep lack of reckoning’ that Karachi is, Shamsie’s canvas
of life .She quotes Shamsie saying that there are many aspects of their country's history, such
as its creation in 1947 or the 1971 war, which are not part of the national conversation "because
everyone is trying to stake a claim for the narrative of Pakistan and its foundation myths”. Often
there are such opposing viewpoints to match with the personal interests of the narrators
.Shamsie’s personal interest is the expression of her love for Karachi-her home city (Hanman,
2014).

Hanman (2014) further elaborates, “One narrative device she deploys is that of the
twinned storyline, as a way of exploring how people's lives are shaped by history.” She quotes
Shamsie saying "As a novelist, there's a dramatic interest in having the individual lives and then
this much larger canvas…" Shamsie further explains to Hanman, "This notion that we are
 353

individuals who control our destiny is an absurdity if you grew up in a place like Pakistan."
(Shamsie, 2014) Karachi has been a lifelong passion for writing for Shamsie, though she has
finally opted for getting British citizenship and settling there.

Kartography, can be called an autobiographical novel in the sense that the protagonist and
the narrator, Raheen, has many things in common with Shamsie. They are of same age group.
Raheen and Karim were of thirteen in 1986 that exactly corresponds with Shamsie’s age who
was born in 1973.Shamsie’s and Raheen’s birth place is also the same i.e. Karachi. Shamsie had
her schooling at Grammar School Karachi, so do Raheen and her intimate friends. Shamsie did
her graduation from University of Massachusetts Amherst ,Raheen gets her degree from
Upstate New York University .Shamsie keeps visiting her city regularly, so does Raheen ,she
returns to her city every holidays. Shamsie wants to present an objective image of Karachi with
all its turbulent history and rising violence, her spokesperson Raheen tells Karim in her last letter
to him:

Karachi at its worst is a ‘Karachi unconcerned with people who exist outside the
storyteller’s circle’, a ‘Karachi oblivious to people and places who aren’t familiar enough
for nick-names. What I’ve mistaken for intimacy is really just exclusion. But Karachi is
always dual. Houses are alleys; car thieves are the people to help you when your car
won’t start; pollution simultaneously chokes you and makes you gasp at the beauty of
unnatural sunsets; a violent, fractured place dismissive of everyone outside its boundaries
is vibrant, embracing, accepting of outsiders… No simple answers in Karachi. Just when
we decide that intimacy is exclusionary , a man at the airport turns round and gives us his
car-keys, a motia seller calls us ‘sister’ and adorns our wrists with flowers, families fling
open their doors and avert their eyes and help us make our way to places of worship; at
its best, Karim, Karachi is intimate with strangers. (Shamsie, 2002, p. 331-332)

Raheen, Shamsie’s protagonist in the novel quotes Zia, one of her friends telling them on
their return to Karachi after their first displacement to Rahim Yar Khan that they should have
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fun “This is Karachi. We have a good time while we can, ’cause tomorrow we might not be so
lucky.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 63).Through Raheen, Shamsie unfolds the history of her city Karachi,
who says that back in 1987 Zia could not have said that and then questions, “Did we already
know something had begun that perhaps none of us would live to see the end of?”(Shamsie,
2002, p. 63) Shamsie links it with the turbulent history of Karachi:

Although the ethnic fighting had broken out for the first time in my life in 1985, I cannot
remember Karachi being a safe city even before that. When Alexander’s Admiral; the
Cretan Nearchus ,reached Krokola he had to quell a mutiny among Alexander’s
Krokolan subjects, who had killed the satrap appointed by Alexander together supplies
for his forces. If Karachi and Korkola are on e and the same, recorded instances of
violence on its soil go back over twenty-three hundred years. And yet, it is the only place
where I have ever felt utterly safe. Who among us has never been moved to tears, or to
tears’ invisible counterparts, by mention of the word home? Is there any other word that
can feel so heavy as you hold it in your mouth? (Shamsie, 2002, p. 63)

So, Karachi is that ‘home’ for Shamsie that moves, touches and inspires her to write
about and Kartoghraphy is an effort to suggest ways to bring order in this city of “controlled
disorder”(Gayer,2014). In the end of the novel, she highlights this theme by making the second
main character of her novel telling the protagonist:

We’ll make an interactive map on the Internet. You start with a basic street map, OK, but
everywhere there are links .Click here, you get sound files of Karachiites telling stories of
what it’s like to live in different parts of town. Click there, you get a visual of any
particular street. Click again, the camera zooms in and you see a rock or a leaf or a
billboard that means something to that street .Click, you see streets that exist seasonally,
like your lunar street. Click, you see which sections are under curfew. Click, you hear a
poem. Click, you see a painting .Choice of languages in which you can read the thing
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.Sound files in all kinds of dialects. Strong on graphics for people who are illiterate...This
is a lifelong project, Raheen, in a city that’s always changing.(Shamsie, 2002, p. 337)

The desire to bring some order to the city turned into inferno by disorder is the context in
which Shamsie wrote this novel. Shamsie (2010) writes in ‘Kamila Shamsie on Leaving and
Returning to Karachi’, "There are two kinds of writers . . .but for me, one of the most important
is, those who write about places with which they are intimately acquainted, and those who don't".
She further writes in the same article, “But wherever I lived, Karachi was the place I knew best
and the place about which I wrote.” Proving herself a typical Karachi diaspora.

4.4. Interdiscursivity

Kartoghraphy is interdiscursive in the sense that it is a presentation of what Shamsie

herself has seen, observed and experienced in her own life. Moreover, it encompasses the whole
of Karachi history interlinked with the history of Pakistan. The first timeline described in the
novel begins from 1986 when Raheen and Karim, the two main characters of the novel, are of
thirteen and are forced to be displaced from their city for the first time because of the unrest in
the city. Akmal Hussain writes in ‘The Violence that erupted in Karachi during December 1986’:

The violence that erupted in Karachi during December 1986, both in scale and sheer
brutality, was unprecedented since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. What we
saw were bands of men armed with Kalashnikov rifles charging into the homes of people
belonging to other communities, with whom they had lived for a generation, killing men,
women and children without mercy, burning and looting, until entire housing localities
were left in charred ruins. There were counter-attacks against the homes of the invaders,
and the battles engulfed the streets of Karachi. (Hussain n.d.)
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There is interdiscursivity in the incident of a Muhajir girl’s killing by a Pathan bus driver
referred to in the novel by Raheen as a ‘domestic tragedy’. Lionel Baixas (2008) writes about the
same:

On April 15, a young girl named Bushra Zaidi was walking to college and killed in a road
accident involving a “yellow devil”, Karachi buses’ bloody nickname. What could have
been just another traffic accident among others led actually to one of the bloodiest
“ethnic” riot in the tumultuous and violent history of Karachi. Just after the accident,
female students gathered and took the streets in protestation. As they were charged by
police forces, some young male students intervened and were fired down by the police,
causing at least ten deaths (Tambiah, 1997, p.186). The same day, buses and other
vehicles were burnt by angry crowds in the streets. Pathans were targeted as they detain a
quasi-monopole on the transport business. The following day, Pathan transporters
retaliated by burning houses and police vehicles. The violence spread from Nazimabad to
Orangi and Liaqatabad and to a lesser extent to the rest of the city. A mob of Pathans
attacked Biharis and burnt shops in Orangi Township, a mixed area where Pathans and
Biharis are majority. The conflict between Pathans and Biharis then became a large-scale
ethnic conflict between Pathans and Muhajirs as the latter took side with their fellow
Urdu-speaking Biharis. The army had to intervene in order to restore law and order.
According to the official estimates, the death toll approximated 50 whereas by unofficial
estimates it was closer to 100 (Tambiah,1997,p.185;Gayer,2006,p.8).Although law and
order were subsequently restored in the following days, 242 incidents of rioting occurred
in Karachi. 188 deaths resulted from politically motivated bomb explosions and 78 from
the “transport problem” from the beginning of 1986 till mid-1987. (Tambiah, 1997, p.
185 as quoted by Baixas, 2008)

Similarly during Raheen and Karim’s discourse, Karim refers to the actual reporting of
Karachi’s violence in November, 1994 issue of Newslines that is mentioned under the title
KARACHI DEATH CITY:
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Roaming the dark, death-haunted streets of Saddar where even the street lights were off,
one would be confronted with the surreal glow of a flower shop not more than a thousand
metres away from the troubled area of Jacob Lines .Asked why his shop was open late
into the night when all others were closed, a flower-seller explained: ’This is the season
not of marriage but of death .People come to buy floral wreaths for those who die in the
riots.(Shamsie, 2002,p. 147)

The ethnic divide that constitutes the major part of Shamsie’s novel, is also a common
social practice about which Robotka writes in Political Turmoil in a Megacity: The Role of
Karachi for the Stability of Pakistan and South Asia “Ethnic prejudice has a long history in the
subcontinent. It was promoted if not created by the British who spread certain ideas about
‘warrior races’ inhabiting Pakistan and contrasting them against the rest of the population”.
(Robotka, n.d).Shamsie links it with the arrival of Alexander, the Great and his general twenty
three hundred years ago who came to quell the mutiny of the native subjects.

The story of the ‘fiancés swapping’, mentioned in the beginning of the novel, is
interlinked with 1971 Civil War in the then East Pakistan. War between India and Pakistan,
Pakistan Army’s surrender to the Indian forces, Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman ,his Six Points, Mukti
Bahni,1970 elections under Chief Martial Law General Yahya Khan, elections result with
Awami League winning the majority ,Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ,the second majority party leaders, all
the real life historical figures and events, with long lasting effects on the lives of Shamsie’s
fictional characters and innumerable real life characters, are a part of interdiscursive
phenomena called life. They find an expression in the text in the following way:

Of course there won’t be war’, said Asif, running his fingers through the luxurious mass
of hair.’ Everyone’s playing brink man ship, that’s all .Here’s what’ll happen: Mujib will
back down on his Six Points, give up the whole idea of decentralized federal system of
government in exchange for some political and economic concessions towards East
Pakistan. Once he does that ,Yahya will invite him to form the government ,and at that
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point ,Bhutto will also take his place as leader of the opposition .It’s the only sane,
rational ,not to mention cheerful choice .Mujib’s no zealous revolutionary ,and ,besides
,whatever the Bengali masses might want, they’re just rubble ,and our army will decimate
them if they try to make some kind of one-legged stand .No one wants to be
slaughtered.(Shamsie, 2002, p. 182)

Similarly there is reference to actual discriminatory attitude of different successive

governments for example Ali talks about the discriminating record of the budget statistics of
1970-71:

Well but just think about it. East Pakistan is the majority wing of the country in terms of
population ,and yet...’He started to counting fingers, ’It gets less than 30 percent of
foreign aid allocation ,less than 20 percent of civil service jobs ,less than 10 per cent of
military positions ,fewer schools ,fewer universities ,it makes up near 70 per cent of the
country’s export earnings but receives the benefits of less than 30 per cent of our import
expenditure.(Shamsie, 2002, p. 182-183)

We find the echo of the discriminating, hegemonic malpractices of the soldiers against the
Bengali people when Maheen tells Zafar that she was told by Laila that she had heard from some
foreign journalist that “the army’s slaughtering my people by the thousand in Dhaka” and “This
country’s turning rabid-the soldiers are raping the women, Zaf, raping them, all over East
Pakistan, and in drawing rooms around Karachi people applaud this attempt to improve the genes
of the Bengalis.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 189)

The same Zafar, himself expressed similar intentions of marrying Maheen when he told
Shafiq why he would marry Maheen, “How can I marry one of them? How can I let one of them
bear my children? Think of it as a civic duty. I’ll be diluting her Bengali bloodline.”(Shamsie,
2002, p. 232). The echo of the same logic, makes the text interdiscursive.
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The discourse of the car thief in Mahmoodabad is interdiscursive .It refers to

discriminating language policy and quota system introduced by the 1972 Pakistan Peoples ’Party
regime .The humane thief told Raheen, Karim and Zia that he wanted to join the civil service,
qualified the examination, but was deprived the opportunity because of quota system.

The mode of being of the Muhajir community also changes with the changing
circumstances; they were Indians before the Partition, migrated to Pakistan as Raheen’s father
told Asif:

But what I won’t sit back and pretend to be unaware of your obliviousness to the fact that
the Muhajir came here leaving everything behind .Our homes, our families, our ways of
life .We can’t be blamed if some-mind you, some—of us came from the areas with
education systems that made us qualified for office jobs instead of latrine-cleaning, which
is the kind of job you seem to think immigrants should be grateful for. (Shamsie, 2002, p.
223)

The migrants came to Pakistan to be Pakistanis .As Zafar told Asif that he had heard his
parents say a thousand times “we came here to be Pakistani, not to be Sindhi.” (Shamsie, 2002,
p. 223).He referred to ‘political marginalization’ and ‘quota system’ that have been wreaking
“such havoc on the Muhajirs who have the education and the ambition...along with the police
brutality, that it had driven people to the point when they’ll pick up guns and detonate
bombs.”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 224).This discourse of discrimination is a sad commentary to the
marginalization that led the Muhajir to acquire separate political identity in the form of MQM
(initially Muhajir Qaumi Movement which later on changed into Muhtahida Qaumi Movement).

The novel, on the whole, is interdiscursive as there is a constant stated and unstated
comparison of the two different time lines mentioned in the novel ,one of 1970-71 and the other
of 1986-95.The power structures ,social practices ,discriminating law ,colonial mind-set ,ethnic
divide, uneven distribution of wealth ,oblivion of the deteriorating situation, bad governance and
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imperial ways of the elite class, all remain the same. History is repeating itself but no lessons are
learnt from the past so the nightmarish legacy continues.

4.5. Shamsie as Pakistani Diaspora Writer

Kartoghraphy, Shamsie’s fourth novel, has many things in it that bear a witness to the
fact that Shamsie is a representative of Pakistani diaspora in general and Karachi diaspora in
particular. The very title ‘Kartoghraphy’ is indicative, in which ‘K’ is taken from Karachi which
replaces the ‘C’ in the actual spellings of ‘cartography’ that means map-making which in this
particular case is, map-making of Karachi. The whole novel revolves around this theme. It is this
decision of making a map of Karachi, that creates a point of difference between the two main
characters of the novel, and it is the same urge to create a scientific electronic interactive map of
Karachi, which unites them in the end, proving Shamsie a true Karachi diaspora.

Despite having an awareness of the turbulent history of Karachi, Shamsie’s protagonist,

Raheen has the realisation, “And yet, it is the only place where I have ever felt utterly safe.”
(Shamsie, 2002, p. 63). Such is the intensity and depth of her love for her native city, her
homeland. She keeps thinking, “Who among us has never been moved to tears, or to tears’
invisible counterparts, by mention of the word home? Is there any other word that can feel so
heavy as you hold it in your mouth?”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 63). What Shamsie conveys through her
spokesperson in the novel, is that love for one’s home, one’s city and one’s homeland is a natural
feeling shared by all humans. The memory of one’s home and homeland is a typical feature of all
diasporas (Brubakar, 2005).

Through Raheen’s stream of consciousness, Shamsie traces the history of violence in her
own life ‘the ethnic fighting had broken out for the first time in my life in 1985’ then linking it
with greater historical perspective “I cannot remember Karachi being a safe city before”
(Shamsie, 2002, p .62).She further links it with the arrival of Alexander, the Great, whose
admiral, the Cretan Nearchus “had to quell mutiny” (Shamsie, 2002, p .62) that goes with the
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recorded history of violence in Karachi, which dates back to twenty three hundred years. And the
novel ends at the return of Karim, the second main character and the soul-mate of Raheen, the
protagonist, with the plans to make an interactive map of Karachi on the internet with multiple
links to cater to the need of all. This he says “is a lifelong project, Raheen, in a city that’s always
changing.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.337)

Karim, the spokesperson of Shamsie, in the above-mentioned discourse, is also die-hard

Karachiites like Raheen, the protagonist. At the age of thirteen, during their first forced
displacement from Karachi, he declares to be a map-maker of Karachi. He wants to bring order
to its disorder .Despite being forced to leave the city, apparently forever because of his father’s
security concerns he always keeps in touch with his ‘home place’ like a typical diaspora because
of ‘transnational migration’ (Cohn, 1999) economically and occupationally in the adopted land
but emotionally, socially and culturally in his homeland (Esman, 2009). He wants to make the
interactive map making as his lifelong project with Raheen’s help—the other die-hard
Karachiites. He tells her that he has realized “There’s bound to be a map somewhere .The police
,the Intelligence Services ,may be even the post office, they have got to have a street map of
Karachi.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.339). Karim further informs her that he has picked up the idea of
this map from her who told him about the ‘lunar street’ and the stories associated with different
parts of the city.

Shamsie mentions the use of technology to make a map of her city to let the world know
that the Karachiites and Karachi diaspora have the vision and the ability to modernize the map of
their city ‘an interactive map’ with various links thus proving herself a modern Karachi diaspora
subject who loves to write about her city and wants it to be developed on the modern scientific
lines.

Shamsie left Pakistan after her school education and went to America for her graduation.
She started doing job in Britain and has been regularly visiting her home city. She keeps herself
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up date about what has been going on in Karachi. The whole novel from the beginning till the
end is about Karachi .The word Karachi has been used in the novel 197 times.

Raheen, Shamsie’s voice in the novel reflects her love for her home city, despite knowing
Karachi’s turbulent history she says, “And yet, it is the only place where I have ever felt utterly
safe.” And there is a reference to word ‘home’ that touches one’s heart to move one to tears.
Shamsie (2010) writes in Kamila Shamsie on Leaving and Returning to Karachi "There are two
kinds of writers . . . but for me, one of the most important is "those who write about places with
which they are intimately acquainted and those who don't"(Shamsie, 2010). She further writes in
the same essay, “But wherever I lived, Karachi was the place I knew best and the place about
which I wrote.” proving herself a typical Karachi diaspora.

Raheen’s “litany of Karachi winter” ( Shamsie,2002,p.68) – a long drawn-out list of

Karachi winter consists of peanut roasted in their shells and bought by the pao- quarter of a
kilogram in bags made of newspapers, peaches that they twist just to separated them into two
halves ,flesh falling cleanly off seeds; the silence of no fan and no air conditioner; hibiscus
flowers, shawls ,days at the beach--which involve the litany of their own :salted fish air; turtle
tracks; shouts of warning from the fishermen just before toes tangle their near-invisible lines
,fishermen’s baskets full of dead fish, fishermen’s net drawn in to shores ,warm sand; wet sand;
feet slippery on rock moss; jeans rolled up ,as they push their way ,and rolled down again heavy
with salt and sea ,shells; sparks from barbecues ;the concentrated colours of sunset; stars; the
rings of sand on the bath tub ,the fog of mirrors in the bathroom; the smell of the salt on skin as
they fall asleep ,despite the earlier soap scrubbing; the forgetting of everything that bothered
them at the start of the day; the sheer childhood of it all. These were the personal recollections of
her litany of Karachi winter. But, at the community level, for the Karachi elites, winter is all
about envelopes containing invitations for a variety of functions in general and New Year parties
in particular.
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Kumar (2011) says that evoking and creating a sense of place has long been a concern of
literature: Kartography belongs to this genre of place-making narratives. Shamsie presents the
litany of her city through her protagonist Raheen, who recalls the minute details of all the
activities associated with the winter season of Karachi, her personal recollections and life in the
elite social circle is marked with envelopes containing invitations of the New Year parties.
Raheen further elaborates that the envelops carrying invitation for the New Year celebration start
arriving in November. From invitations she turns to all other varieties of different functions and
their invitations to show extravagance of the elites’ ways of livings but then comes back to “the
Ghutnas, the Karachi Knees”. (Shamsie, 2002, p.69)

Shamsie refers to the superficial concerns of Karachi elites. Through her protagonist,
Raheen, she further elaborates that this is a hit description and ‘the term Ghutna became a
euphemism used both as an adjective to describe a particularly social ‘do’ and a noun to refer to
the people who throw themselves into the socializing. These Ghutna parties are used for
“scrambling up the social ladder”.(Shamsie,2002.p.69)They are used as a means for the upward
mobility and seeking favours .These parties and their invitations are regarded a status symbol as
well .In all the two major timelines mentioned in the novel ,these new year parties continue.

Shamsie as a diaspora writer presents three individual diaspora characters in the novel they
are: Raheen, Karim and Maheen who can be called Karachi diaspora. She also refers to Muhajirs
community who came to Pakistan at Partition, leaving everything behind for goods ,to make
Pakistan their ultimate home but later turned into “besieged diaspora”’ in Kumar(2011) terms
because of the discriminating behaviour and policy of the Sindhi elite in particular and Pakistani
ruling elites in general.

We will start with Raheen. Right in the beginning of the novel she tells:

Of course, the garden, is located where all our beginnings, Karim’s and mine, are
located: Karachi. That is a spider-plant city where, if you know what to look for and
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some higher power is feeling indulgent, you might find a fossilized footprint of
Alexander, The Great. (Shamsie, 2002, p.3)

The very start of the discourse by Raheen the protagonist “Of course, the garden, is
located where all our beginnings, Karim and mine, are located: Karachi.”(Shamsie, 2002.p.3)
indicates that both the main characters Karim and Raheen belong to Karachi .And Raheen is the
narrator through whose voice the main story is told. The emphasis is on a garden located in
Karachi .Adjacent garden to the house also reflects the class of people they belong to. Raheen
calls Karachi a “spider-plant city” with its ever extending alleys and adds “where, if you know
what you look for and some higher power is feeling indulgent, you might find a fossilized
footprint of Alexander.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.3)

Shamsie’s love for Karachi and her passion to write about the city of her birth no matter
where she is in the world finds a reflection here as well. The house and the garden she has
depicted are in the familiar elite locality where she belongs to. She refers to the historical
significance of her city Karachi though in a humourous way. She indirectly refers to the strong
hold of the power politics and the high ups who run the whole show .Anything can be done,
traced or accomplished in Karachi but with the indulgence of the ‘powerful’ .She also refers to
unplanned rapid expansion of the city.

Raheen’s monologue at the prospect of their first temporary displacement from Karachi,
“For God’s sake, a farm! For two smog sniffers, Karachiites, damn it…”displays the way she
identifies herself and her intimate friend, Karim. “A farm’ for ‘two smog sniffers, Karachiites”
does not seem to be a good idea. She tells Uncle Ali that they want to “frolic at the beach”
(Shamsie, 2002.p.9) in Karachi and not at Uncle Asif’s farm.

As per tradition of the Karachi elites Raheen also goes to America for her graduation .But
she returns to Karachi every holidays and misses her city with all its various colours of seasons
and life. Once Raheen was in her tiny dorm room at the university in America along with some
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friends to whom she was reading from a book when she heard the sudden increase in the
intensity of the rain fall and she rushed out leaving everyone behind for:“It was the closest thing
to the monsoons I had encountered in the three years I’d been at university in America, rain
ricocheting off the ground with the speed and wings of bullets from a Kalashnikov.” (Shamsie,
2002.p.135)

She had been at the university for the last three years but it was for the first time that she
could listen to the downpour with the ‘speed and wings’ of the bullets from a Kalashnikov.
Comparison of the intensity of the rainfall with the bullets of a Kalashnikov is a typical Pakistani
and Karachiites use of the language, representation of a typical culture introduced in Pakistan
with the influx of the Afghans and spread of arms with the beginning of the Afghan Jihad.
Raheen, a Karachi diaspora, missed monsoon and the similarity of the downpour in America
made her rush outside. And the “Russet rustle” to her was, “Almost the sound of waves breaking
on the pebbled sand.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.135) .Such was the rush of nostalgia for her home city
proving her a Karachi diaspora subject.

Raheen’s Karachi was peopled by four of their parents and Karim and herself. Karim’s
family’s shifting to England was a shock for her but Aunty Maheen’s divorce and remarriage
was even a greater shock:

More than Aunty Maheen’s remarriage, or the worsening political situation in Pakistan, it
was my belief in the impossibility of that quartet rearranging itself in any way that made
my thoughts exile Ali and Maheen-and, by extension Karim—from Karachi forever.
(Shamsie, 2002.p.122)

Raheen recalled her orientation session at the university to create an ‘artificial bond’
between the students. They were asked to share their most private pains and most personal
stories. She fabricated tales, but kept a chart of the real answers that came to her mind about
those questions: “What’s the hardest thing you’ve to deal with? What’s your happiest memory?
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What’s your biggest regret? Has there been one experience that changed your life? If you could
pick up the phone and call one person now, who would it be?” The list of the questions was long
but every one of her answers had to do with Karim leaving and Uncle Ali and Aunty Maheen
divorcing. “Their divorce was the worst because of its ‘finality’ because it banished the
possibility of their parents being ‘foursome again.” (Shamsie, 2002, p.122)

Karim came to see her at the university. While talking to him and seeing her friends
lying in the snow she was thinking as if she could feel “the water currents tugging against my
fingertips as I floated in Karachi’s sea.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.130)Whenever she talked to Karim on
the phone “it was as though their time apart had merely been ‘Karachi sunset: swift and startling”
(Shamsie, 2002, p. 129). So her city was peopled by her friends and she, like Wordsworth’s
(1802) little girl in ‘We are Seven’ never felt them away from her, “The four of us had never
really ceased being the four of us to me, despite all the intervening years...” (Shamsie, 2002,
p.310). Like typical diaspora:

America brought Zia and me together again-literally .At university ,in the middle of New
York state ,nostalgic for things we’d never paid attention to ,like Urdu music and basmati
rice ,Zia and I scoured the neighbouring towns and found each other at a moment when
familiarity was ready to save as synonym for friendship.(Shamsie, 2002, p.150)

Raheen belonged to Westernized Karachi elites for whom there was neither a language
barrier nor drastically different cultural shock in the West or in America, but even then she
missed her homeland and longed for the return (Armstrong, 1976). Search for Urdu music and
basmati rice were indications of her nostalgia. Zia and she combined together formed Karachi
diaspora, but with a difference .Zia did not have the desire to return and he accused her for her
desire to go back ‘home’ soon after graduation and throwing away a flyer from the Career Centre
as “missing the luxuries of upper-middle class”( Shamsie,2002,p.165) and she thought that only
Karim could understand “that ‘belonging’ is a spider-plant-shaped ,sea-bordering”( Shamsie,
2002,p.165).She considered her desire to go back and live in the conflict torn city in matching
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with , “ The traits of Karachiites who was choosing to survive the calamity rather than weeping
about it? From a distance, I could see how that looked like callousness”(Shamsie, 2002, p.170).
But the fact remains that she was a Karachi diaspora for whom return to her ‘home’ was the only
desire and the only option.

Her disillusionment with her father made her think of things beyond her tiny circle in
which she used to feel happy and secure. When she thought of her return, she thought
questioningly, why did she want to go back to the city “ that was feasting on its own blood” ,the
city where the present wave of violence was the craziest, where she had to face her father from
whom she had been thoroughly disillusioned .But then she herself justified that, despite reading
horrifying reports in the newspapers and despite having an experience of ‘the pristine
surroundings of campus life’ she had the realization that every other city in the world just
showed her the surface ,but when she looked at Karachi she saw the blood running through and
out of its veins. She knew that she could understand the unspoken as much as the articulated
among its inhabitants. She knew there were so many reasons not to love it. She had the
realization that she couldn’t think of finding any easy answers to Karachi’s problems. She felt at
a loss of wits to decide whether to take it as a reason to go back or reason to stay away. She
told Karim that she wanted to return to her city because of the fact that he had shown her that it
was not so simple to leave a city behind.

Karim came to see Raheen in New York to ask her not to go back to Karachi after
graduation and told her that he was ready to live with her anywhere else in the world .But she
could not agree though she regarded Karachi as ‘a city that was feasting on its own blood’ where
the present deadly violence made ‘earlier violence felt like mere pinprick’, as a city ‘that breads
monsters’, a city where she would have to face her father again whom she had been trying to
avoid since the day he revealed what he had said to Aunty Maheen to make her leave him. She
questioned herself despite knowing all this, despite reading about ever increasing violence and
despite having the experience of the ‘pristine’ surroundings at the campus in America why she
wanted to go back to “any of that” and then herself provided the answer because she owned the
city as she owned no other place in the world. She said that every other city in the world just
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showed her the surface but when she looked at Karachi- her very own city, she could see the
blood running through its veins ,there she could understand all the heard and
unheard(Keats,1819) “articulated” and “unspoken”. She knew there was no easy solution to
Karachi’s problems and no rational justification for her love but she confessed she ‘didn’t know
how to decide if that was reason to go back or reason to stay away.” She told Karim that it was
he who had shown her that “it’s not so simple to leave a city behind.” Here is one Karachi
diaspora subject with an intense desire to return ‘home’ talking to another diaspora subject who
had reasons not to return to the same. She wrote to Karim later:

Karachi at its worst is a ‘Karachi unconcerned with people who exist outside the
storyteller’s circle’, a ‘Karachi oblivious to people and places who aren’t familiar enough
for nick-names. What I’ve mistaken for intimacy is really just exclusion. But Karachi is
always dual. Houses are alleys; car thieves are the people to help you when your car
won’t start; pollution simultaneously chokes you and makes you gasp at the beauty of
unnatural sunsets; a violent, fractured place dismissive of everyone outside its boundaries
is vibrant, embracing, accepting of outsiders; and, yes, selfishness is consequence of love.

No simple answers in Karachi. Just when we decide that intimacy is exclusionary , a

man at the airport turns round and gives us his car-keys, a motia seller calls us ‘sister’
and adorns our wrists with flowers, families fling open their doors and avert their eyes
and help us make our way to places of worship; at its best, Karim, Karachi is intimate
with strangers.

If I am truly to call myself a product of the city, how can I not find it in me to learn that
much easier lesson: how to be intimate with my intimates. (330-332 Shamsie, 2002.p)

There is repetition of the word Karachi many times in her discourse; she talks about the
complex nature and duality of the city. She regards ‘Karachi at its worst is a Karachi
unconcerned with people who exist outside the storyteller’s circle’; the same Karachi is ‘at its
best… is intimate with strangers’. Talking about its duality she refers to the fact that despite
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being a city torn with hatred and ethnic divide it is a city where there is a lunar street where
people open the doors of their houses for the purdah observing women during the month of
Moharram to go to their place of worship without being seen by anyone, it is a city where
strangers are so concerned about the girls safety that they are offered the car keys to safely move
around ,it is a place where poor flower bracelets vendor offers free bracelets to them calling them
sisters, where the car thief helps the stranger to start their car so that they can safely go back with
the girl who is along. All these examples show the respect for the female lot that is an indication
of civility and humanity .Despite all the rift, the Karachiites retain their human values.

Raheen admits that Karachi is a complex city and there is no simple solution to its
complicated problems. She refers to the letter her father wrote to Karim’s mother which they
have both read and tells him that she is trying to be brave about the things that ‘terrify’ her. She
says that “ what her father said and did though matter of the past but to pretend it could be
easily discussed and resolved would be to deny how deep in our marrow consequences are
lodged.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.332)

She tells Karim, “I love this place, Karim, for all its madness and complication .It’s not
that I didn’t love it before, but I loved it with a child’s kind of love, the kind that either ends
strengthened as understanding grows.” (Shamsie, 2002.p.332)And in the end she implores him to
understand the underlying message ‘come home’, the expression is repeated thrice urging him to
be no longer a ‘Karachi diaspora’ but a part of it.

The second main character in the novel and Karachi diaspora is Karim, the son of
Aunty Maheen and Uncle Ali and Raheen’s intimate friend since infancy. They are forced to go
to Uncle Asif’s farm and there while walking on the farm, Karim hears ‘a faint roar of farm
equipment in the distance’ that reminds him of Karachi and he seems to be transported there in
the world of his imagination like a typical diaspora:
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That’s the sound of waves breaking’, Karim said with an extra ordinary leap of
imagination. He raised his arms and started jabbing in the air. ‘There’s Zia’s beach hut,
and there is Runty’s hut. There’s the cave where Zia goes to smoke, and there’s the place
where we saw the baby turtle, there’s the steep cliff we thought we’d never be able to
climb ,there’s Portal Karim and Portal Raheen, and Sonia Rock is almost lost in gloom,
and there’s where my parents built a sand castle together two years ago.(Shamsie, 2002,
p.18)

The very idea of leaving Karachi forever, is quite disturbing for him and it haunts him
like anything, he tells Raheen:

I have already started thinking of Karachi as a place that I have to say goodbye to; every
day I say goodbye to some part of it and then two days later I see that part again and find
I feel so relieved but also not, because then I have to say goodbye to it again. This must
be what dying is like. (Shamsie, 2002, p.75)

On his departure from Karachi, he observes the whole way from their home to the airport
keenly, draws a map of it and hands it over to Raheen. He keeps himself in touch with his
friends in Karachi and keeps himself informed about the city by reading the newspaper. When
once he talks to Raheen and they are sharing some lighter moment he tells her, “God, it’s good to
laugh …Especially after I’ve been sitting here getting newsprints on my nose, reading about
what’s going on in Karachi”(Shamsie, 2002, p.140). He informs her:“The violence flaring up.
One hundred and thirty people killed in the first seven days of December. Have you see the new
issue of Newslines? It says more people have been killed in Karachi this month than in Bosnia
.Bosnia!”(Shamsie, 2002, p.140)

Raheen flares up and retorts:

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You’ve been trying to come to grips with Karachi’s nature and you’re glad I’ve also
started? I go home, Karim. Every bloody year. Twice a year. The day classes end .I get
on to the plane and go back to Karachi .I’m going there in two weeks .And you, you’d
rather go to Lapland!(Shamsie, 2002, p.141-142)

She fails to realize why is it easy for her to come back to Karachi and why cannot he go
back. His parents’ separation makes his return to the city impossible. And he questions Raheen:

You want to hear the heartbeat of a place? Do you know how hard your heart beats when
you’re lost? Do you know what it is to wander out of the comfort of your own streets and
your own stories?’ He drew a deep breath. ’Which stories do you want me to pay
attention to? (Shamsie, 2002, p.181)

It is Karim who is actually displaced, the home of his childhood is lost and the family unit
broken, he comes to know about the tragedy of his mother’s life and he starts dreading the
repetition of the same in his own life. But he loves Karachi and keep on working on the map of
Karachi .Kumar (2011) writes:

Of the three maps that are either included or alluded to within the novel, one is a map of
Karachi South that Karim sends Raheen from London. On it, he marks a boundary and
tells Raheen that ―this box is where she spends ninety percent of her life: ―So tiny a
percentage of Karachi South and wonders ―don’t you want to know your city more
Karim uses maps to critique Raheen for her insularity and tells her that she needs to find
a way to live beyond the ―tiny circle or the ―cocoon she chooses to live in, much like
her father did in 1971 in his attitude towards his relationship with Maheen until things
inside him that he had repressed came out .( Kumar,2011, p.174,175)
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During his discourse with the car thief at Mahmoudabad, he understands the
marginalization of the Muhajirs through quota system and promises him to find him some job
.He shows his great concern for Sonia and her family during their difficult times. He follows
Raheen to the beach after her father’s confession of what he did to make Maheen leave him and
tells her that he does not want her to hate her father, but only does not want her to become like
him.

In reply to Raheen’s last letter he decides to come back to his native city and make an
interactive map of the city with the help of Raheen making it a lifelong project for them that
indicates his love for his city like a true diaspora.

The third diaspora mentioned in the novel is Maheen, who is subjected to a variety of
displacements, physical, mental, emotional and in the end she is displaced in space making the
physical return to the city impossible .Maheen was of Bengali origin, but stayed in Karachi
throughout, even when she suffered from the worst kind of identity crisis because of 1971 Civil
War and succession of the East Pakistan .She told Zafar, her fiancé then:

I don’t want to be stranger among strangers. War does crazy things to people ,but wars
end .I’ll lie low ,I promise that .And when it it’s over-please, God ,soon!—we’ll get
married and have children and one day ,every day, we’ll tell them how we survived the
inferno.(Shamsie, 2002, p.189)

Despite suffering from an acute identity crisis she wanted to marry Zafar and live with
him in Karachi as a Pakistani for the rest of her life. But war, after effects of war and hatred for
the Bengalis made life difficult for her with each passing day. Even after Zafar’s betrayal she did
not leave the city. She married Ali and settled in Karachi, years later Ali got conscious of his
only son’s security and resolved to leave Karachi. She did not want to, though later she was
forced to leave it, she told Zafar:
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Exactly...I mean London is fine but I’ll never get used to umbrellas, not to
mention the way they talk.’...But my point is ,if we leave here I’ll spend my
whole time missing people in Karachi because there are ,so, many to miss that
you can’t just squeeze in all that missing during your morning cup of
tea.(Shamsie, 2002, p.103)

But Ali was determined to shift to London, they did against Maheen’s desire and the rift
created between them turned into an unbridgeable gulf and their family unit was broken. She
shifted to America and remarried, but kept in touch with her Karachi friends. When Raheen went
to see her in America she found her a “typical Karachi Aunty” (Shamsie, 2002.p.305) and found
many pictures of her Karachi friends on the walls of her home in America .She told Raheen that
she could not go back to Karachi for she feared “of being shunned”( Shamsie,2002.p.309) of
having backs turned to her for the second time. While talking to Raheen she was running her
fingers over a book that had pictures of some Karachi’s landmarks on the cover .She did not
want to be reminded that “after all, after everything, I’ve ended up a foreigner in that
city.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.309)

4.5.1. Use of Language as Diaspora Writer

Shamsie is a postcolonial diaspora writer. She belongs to that part of the world that was
once a British colony. The colonial experience opened the window to adopting English language
almost as a first language for many Anglophone families in Pakistan. English, for Shamsie is like
a first language, but, even then we can find appropriation of the language to bear the burden of
the local experiences .Similarly there is a lot of code-mixing as well.

In the beginning of the novel when Raheen and Kareem went to Uncle Asif’s farm, who
was an Oxford graduate ,his following discourse with them shows how he appropriated the
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accent to his local colouring by combining ‘that way’, ‘this way’ and ‘which way’ as ‘thataway’,
‘thisaway’ and ‘whichaway’ respectively:

Sugar cane thataway, kino thisaway, cotton every whichaway.’ The decadent feudal,
Uncle Asif, pointed his walking stick in the direction of his crops, all of which were
hidden from us by the wall of trees and bushes and separated the creeper-covered house
and its garden from the rest of the farm. ’I suggest a walk .If you get lost ,we’ll launch a
dramatic rescue operation complete with local police ,hunting dogs and a few snake
charmers for added rural colour.(Shamsie, 2002,p.16)

We can see the use of many Urdu words besides the names of the characters and places in
the novel e.g. Aba, Ami ,yaar ,hanh ,ghutnay ,chillo, haina, basmati rice ,he jamalo, ,hajj ,
dupatta, thaanaas, motia ,charpie, hijab, bakwas ,kammez, Dekho ,Karachiwala ,eid ,suno yaar
,Khuda ,Pathan ,pyjama dheela ,top, Gymkhana ,bilkul, Qabacha ,Tanhaiyan ,
Begum,Pulloo,sari,jaanoo,dholkis,mehndis,mayouns,milad,sham-e-rang,shadi reception ,valima,
ghuttnas, ghutnay, chil ,gaye, ,Shi’a ,Sunni ,kala pul ,Amreekan, kurta ,hulva puri ,chai ,Aboo,
malai, shalwar-kameez, ,Lohawala sahib.

Then code-mixing of Urdu is at words ,phrasal ,clausal and sentential level e.g.
‘khiskoing’,’ghutnas’ at words level, ‘shadi reception’, ‘Tony Pan Shop’ ,’Basmati rice’ at
phrasal level,and ‘Ali, yaar, Ali, mate’ ‘Oh, boy friend girlfriend! Early starter haina?’,
‘Everything theek thaak’ ,’mujhsay pheli si mohabat’, ‘ghutnay chil gaye’, ‘mera pya ghur ayya’
at clausal level and use of full Urdu sentences like , ‘Allah ka shukar hay Raheen Bibi ,Karim
Baba ,Allah ka shukar’

So while analyzing Shamsie’s use of language in her fiction we can feel the local
colouring and local touch in the use of vocabulary, presentation of the place ,representation of
different classes of people, she particularly mention the expression ‘ Karachispeak’ like ‘go
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straight ,straight ,straight ,straight’ while referring to the way English is spoken in Karachi. All
this proves her a Pakistani diaspora writer.

4.6. Kartoghraphy and Identity Crisis

Shamsie is basically a political writer and the plots of her novels are interwoven with the
political issues encountered by her fictional characters in their lives because of the historical
movement in and around the world they live in. Cilano( 2013) writes about Pakistan that on
official level an effort has been made to create a ' conception of a harmonious Pakistani national
unity' with an emphasis to construct a 'homeland' which creates a sense of belonging and also
helps providing an identity . But the ground realities are very different. The barriers of various
kinds are there among the people and every historical move creates new kind of identity crisis for
them. One of the major issues raised in my research questions is about the identity crisis
Shamsie’s fictional characters suffer from on account of historical events. Kartoghraphy
encompasses three main historical developments, Partition of India, Civil War of 1971 and
ethnic riot in Karachi starting from 1986 onward .In this section I will discuss identity issues
presented in the novel, I begin with discussing the collective identity crisis of the migrants from
India and then move on to individual cases.

Pakistan was created in the name of Islam; a large number of people from India migrated
to Pakistan during Partition and settled in different parts of Pakistan. They are called Muhajir
with religious connotation. They were mostly assimilated in different parts of Pakistan but their
settlement in Karachi and Sindh had created imbalance in the ratio of Sindhis in two big cities of
Karachi and Hyderabad, which led to the ethnic divide and started a tug of war for supremacy
that still persists .Shamsie refers to the ethnic divide through the ethnic riots that erupted in 1986.
The novel highlights how discriminatory state policies have forced Muhajirs to construct their
identity as an oppressed minority and “besieged diaspora”. (Kumar, 2011)
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The novel begins with a reference to the ethnic riots that led to the closure of the
educational institutions and deteriorating law and order situation and the issue of sending the
kids away to Rahim Yar Khan, where for the first time the protagonist Raheen heard about the
discrimination of Muhajir and Sindhis, natives and nomads .She overheard Uncle Asif ,the
decadent feudal and a cordial host talking about her father in such a way that he was reduced to a
mere ‘Muhajir’ saying “They all left their homes at Partition. No understanding of the ties to a
place.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.239) and Raheen heard Aunty Laila saying:

Karachi is my home, you know. Why did those bloody Muhajirs have to go and form a
political group? Once they’ reunited they’ll do God knows what. Demanding this,
demanding that. Thinking just because they’re a majority in Karachi they can trample
over everyone else .Like they did in’47.Coming across the border thinking we should be
grateful for their presence... Do you hear the way people like Zafar and Yasmin talk
about ‘their Karachi?’ My family lived there for generations. Who the hell are these
Muhajir pretend it’s their city!(Shamsie, 2002,p 40-41)

Kumar (2011) called the Partition Muhajirs as “besieged diaspora” in the extended sense
of the word, having uncanny experience of homecoming that forced them to opt for a separate
ethnic identity. Farahani (2007) says that individual and collective identity underwent a
transfiguration since consciousness of individuality and identity cannot be put in a vacuum
separate from the socio-political developments within one’s environment. Raheen thought of her
identity, standing on the shaking grounds. She wondered:

What kind of immigrants is born in a city and spends his whole life there, and gets
married there, and raises his daughter there? And I, an immigrant’s daughter, was an
immigrant too...If I went back to the house and told them I agreed with my father about
land reforms .If I told them Karachi was my home just as much as it was anyone else’s,
would they look at me and think another Muhajir.(Shamsie, 2002,p. 41)
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The grown ups’ discourse of discrimination questioned the very first identity of the
protagonist, Raheen, who along with her childhood friend Karim loved to be identified as
‘Karachiites’-takes it as her first and foremost identity. The grownups discourse of
discrimination makes her think of her and her intimate childhood friend’s identity:

I was Muhajir with a trace of Pathan, and he was a Bengali and...Punjabi? Sindhi? What?
I consider. Probably Punjabi, I decided .He had his relatives in Lahore. These days, with
the Civil War treated as a long-distant memory that had nothing to do with our present
lives, his Punjabiness would probably be more of an issue on the nation’s ethnic battle-
ground than his Bengaliness. (Shamsie, 2002, p .43-44)

The same identity crisis is portrayed, again through the car thief in Mahmoodabad
.Karim, Zia and Raheen were stuck up there, when Zia’s car could not start .There came a man
who told Zia to look for the safety lock and the problem was solved. Zia offered him a cigarette
and asked him was he a mechanic .He told that he was a car thief. In the course of discussion it
was revealed that he wanted to join civil service but could not despite doing good in the
competitive examination because of discriminatory quota system .He and his brother opted for
illegal careers because of the marginalization of Muhajirs. Moreover, there is a reference to
Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) representative of the Muhajirs separate political identity.

At another point a discourse between Zafar and Asif also throws light on this identity
crisis and its possible outcomes. Asif blamed the migrants who came to Karachi “streaming
across the new border, convinced of the superiority of their culture ,and whisk away all the best
jobs from Sindhis who’d be living here for generations”( Shamsie,2002,p 223).Zafar told Asif
that he had heard his parents saying a thousand times “we came here to be Pakistani, not to be
Sindhi”.( Shamsie,2002,p.223) He further told Asif “even if we put aside the political
marginalization-I know you’ll scoff at the term, so let’s not go into that for the moment-this
quota system is wreaking such havoc on the Muhajirs who have the education and the
ambition...and coupled with the police brutality, Asif, and you’re driving people to the point
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when they’ll pick up guns and detonates bombs.”(Shamsie, 2002, p 224). From the feeling of
“cultural superiority” (Shamsie, 2002, p 223) to “political marginalization” (Shamsie, 2002, p
223) is the sad tale of alienation (Said, 1999) which has created serious identity crisis for the
Muhajirs and there are repeated comparison between the Civil War of 1971 which resulted in the
succession of the East Pakistan and constantly deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi.

The major personal identity crisis highlighted in the novel is of Maheen, who is Bengali
by origin but lives in Karachi till 1987 .She lives in Karachi, not as Bengali but as a Pakistani
.She has her family and links in East Pakistan but has her home in Karachi and even amidst the
worst circumstances never thinks of leaving the city .Our first encounter with her in the novel is
as Karim’s mother, who is an intimate friend of the protagonist, Raheen and this friendship they
inherited from four of their parents.

Then there is a reference to fiancés swap between their parents soon after East Pakistan
becoming Bangladesh. Maheen was a much liked woman among the Karachi elites once. She
was engaged to Zafar and their couple was well known among their friends. On the New Year
eve in 1971 Zafar declared that he was going to marry Maheen the coming year. Maheen ,the
beautiful, Maheen ,Zafar’s fiancé and Maheen a good friend was her initial identity without any
discrimination whether she was West Pakistani or East Pakistani. But there was a change in the
state of affairs during the Civil War and as the gulf between West Pakistani ruling and other
elites and the political figures in East Pakistan widened there was an increase in hatred, contempt
and marginalization for the Bengalis. They were treated as an inferior race devoid of any claim
to equality.

Maheen suffered from identity crisis for being a Bengali when she was told by Rukhsana
that Zafar’s boss had been all praise for his talent as an advertisement man but showed serious
concern that some of his clients might not like to work with a man with a Bengali wife. Then
while they were sitting together at Ampi for a dinner Asif talked about Bengali population as
“rubble” who would be decimated if they tried to stick to their “one-legged stand”. Since
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Maheen was the only Bengali in the gathering she told him that no one would like to ‘be
enslaved’ and freedom was a ‘soul stirring’ slogan .Asif mockingly asked her to be less dramatic.
Then on a miner unintentional mistake Asif slapped the Bengali waiter in front of her shouting
‘‘Halfwit Bingo...Go back to your jungle.”(Shamsie, 2002, p.183).The exchange of glance
between the waiter and Maheen forged a collective identity irrespective of the class and gender
differences. Similarly an old beggar woman spat at Maheen when she was walking towards Ali’s
car .Zafar’s mother along with many others tried to make Zafar realise that he should break the
engagement with Maheen because after all that had happened she was not the same person. She
became the object of all the hatred directed towards the Bengalis.

Zafar also had the due share of it because of being ‘a Bingo’s lover’ but kept ignoring the
gravity of the situation until the violence knocked at his own door and within Maheen’s hearing
distance he told Shafiq that he would marry her only as his civic duty to dilute her Bengali genes.
That was “the most unkindest cut of all” (Shakespeare)

There was much hinted ‘fiancés swap’ and she got married to Ali while her closest
friend Yasmin married Zafar. They had children, she forgave Zafar and they became ‘foursome’
again .She retained her identity as Karachiites despite all odds .But the past kept haunting, this
time not particularly her but ‘her city’ in the form of ethnic conflicts which were often compared
to the Civil War of 1971.Despite her strong reservation to leave Karachi and become ‘stranger
among the strangers’ her husband Ali opted for shifting to England because of serious security
concerns. But this displacement from Karachi made her permanent Karachi diaspora who could
yearn for the lost home but could never return (Esman, 2009). Her family unit was broken; she
left Ali, remarried and settled in America. Rukhsana called her ‘adulterous’. When Raheen went
to see her in America, she found her a typical ‘Karachi Aunty’ but the one who could not return
to Karachi for the fear of public opinion against her.

Karim and Raheen both also went through identity crisis because of the ‘fiancés’ swap’
and the tale, the circumstances and the mind-set that led to it. Raheen tried to solve this family
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mystery when in December 1986 Karim and she were in Rahim Yar Khan where she found a
group picture of her parents’ wedding and saw the initials of ‘M’ and ‘Z’ engraved on the bark
of a tree in Uncle Asif’s garden. But Karim refused to talk about it .She who identified herself as
‘Karachiites’ elites had a first blow to her identity when she overheard Uncle Ali, Uncle Asif and
Aunty Laila talking about her parents .Her father, her pride and her ideal was reduced to one
word ‘Muhajir’ only by Uncle Asif ignoring all his other personality traits .And Aunty Laila
talked about her parents as “Do you hear the way people like Zafar and Yasmin talk about ‘their
Karachi?’ My family lived there for generations. Who the hell are these Muhajir pretend it’s their
city!”(Shamsie, 2002, p. 40-41) .They left Raheen wondering:

What kind of immigrants is born in a city and spends his whole life there, and gets
married there, and raises his daughter there? And I, an immigrant’s daughter, was An
immigrant too...If I went back to the house and told them I agreed with my father about
land reforms .I I told them Karachi was my home just as much as it was anyone else’s,
would they look at me and think another Muhajir.(Shamsie, 2002, p .41)

Raheen had her sweet and sour relationship with Karim after his departure, she had an
understanding that there was something bothering him but he didn’t share and she didn’t ask.
Then she left for America for higher education and had the realisation that she was a true product
of Karachi, having the ability to keep up her spirits even amidst the difficult circumstances. But
she always missed Karim.

Raheen went through acute identity crisis after her father’s confession about what he had
done to make Maheen leave her. Raheen’s father had been her ideal throughout her life, who
despite having some paradoxes in life, had been a humane and a loveable person. She loved her
father dearly and this was the first time that she was forced to see the ugly side of his character
.It was a nerves-shattering experience for her so she wanted to run away from everything and
everyone. She tried to seek an escape on the beach and for the first time in her life did not feel
relieved there. Karim came searching for her and she blamed him that he wanted her to hate her
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father. He refuted and said that he only wanted her ‘to stop being like him.’ Because his mother
and father and in turn he had suffered throughout his life because of him and he did not want the
history to repeat itself.

Then there is Karim. When we have our first encounter with him he was thirteen, the
issue being discussed was whether to send Raheen and him to Rahim Yar Khan during winter
holidays or not. We come to know through Raheen that he was Uncle Ali and Aunty Maheen’s
son. There at Rahim Yar Khan Raheen could sense that there was something troubling him but
he did not share it with her. There he declared to be a map-maker, a cartographer of Karachi
.They were escorted back to Karachi by Uncle Ali .Karim was too busy to keenly observe the
way than to pay attention to her or his father .There was some gulf between his parents that
always kept him ill at ease. Twice in the novel we can see him identifying himself with his
mother’s origin, once in early childhood at school and secondly while talking to car thief. The
decision to leave Karachi and shift to London was also of his father’s only and when once
Raheen said they would not be going .He replied:

I have already started thinking of Karachi as a place that I have to say goodbye to; every
day I say goodbye to some part of it and then two days later I see that part again and find
I feel so relieved but also not, because then I have to say goodbye to it again. This must
be what dying is like. (Shamsie, 2002, p. 75)

And finally he had to leave which was a painful experience for him .Raheen found
nothing reassuring in his behaviour when he was leaving. She blamed him for being an outsider
in retaliation to not paying attention to her as she wanted to and he asked her:

You want to hear the heartbeat of a place? Do you know how hard your heart beats
when you’re lost? Do you know what it is to wander out of the comfort of your own
streets and your own stories?’ He drew a deep breath. ’Which stories do you want me to
 382

pay attention to? Or, more to the point, which stories have you deliberately turned away
from, Ra, and why?(Shamsie, 2002, p .181)

He wanted to convey to her that it was he who had been displaced, it was he who
suffered from estrangement of place and people and lost his whole familiar world. The story she
deliberately wanted to turn away from ensured her peaceful existence but caused identity crisis
for his mother and was the source of their uneasy family life that ultimately resulted in the
breakup between his parents .Her father’s ‘circumscribed seeing’ of things in 1971 was the main
source of identity crisis created for his mother and him.

Zafar suffered from identity crisis first for being a ‘Bingo lover’ and then for being a
‘Muhajir’ but the worst identity crisis he had to encounter was after he himself confessed to
Raheen and Karim about his attitude which lead to the breaking of his engagement to Maheen.
He was belittled in the eyes of his own daughter, for whom he had been an ideal throughout.

So to conclude we can say that Shamsie traces the impacts of major historical events on
life at macro and micro level and depicted how they lead to identity crisis.
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Part III

Inescapable “Wounding Memories” (Salt and Saffron)

4.1. Synopsis

Kamila Shamsie’s second novel Salt and Saffron (2000) revolves around Aliya’s life who
is a transnational Pakistani diaspora subject. Her encounter with another Pakistani diaspora
subject on the plane from the other side of the class divide, brings ‘salt and saffron’ together and
sets her thinking about her origin ,her people and stories that have made her what she is. The
roots of Aliya’s family--Dard-e-Dil ,goes back to the Mughal era, passing through the British
colonization, and then decolonization--Partition that broke hearts and divided families. Our final
encounter with them is as Karachiites elite. Aliya’s narrative moves between past and present as
she comes to grip with the mysterious loss of a beloved Aunt Mariam Apa, her ‘not-quite-twin’.
There is a realisation that the class consciousness that she ridicules in her family is found in her
own self as well. The story of Salt and Saffron moves through various family anecdotes both
tragic and funny which are fitted together as a jigsaw puzzle.

Shamsie tackles the challenges faced by a Pakistani, Karachiites or to be more exact

Dard-i-Dill family diaspora of finding reconciliation between the Westernized culture of
progressive values and allegiance to family customs and tradition. Aliya, the protagonist who has
just graduated from an American college, is on her way home to Karachi to spend summer with
her family .During the journey she comes across Khalil and falls in love with him. Shamsie’s
focus is on the dynamics of class and love. She portrays Aliya’s well-off, but intolerant relatives
who are otherwise pleasant characters with a common passion for relaying stories from the
family's colorful past. They annoy her with their disdain for those who do not share their well-
known lineage. The myth of family curse of ‘not-quite-twins’, which implies ‘relatives close in
age who share a cosmic connection and disgrace the family's name’, becomes more of a threat
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than a myth for Aliya when an aunt labels her and her beloved aunt, Mariam Apa, as ‘not-quites’.
Aliya has been resentfully estranged from many of her relatives, including her grandmother--
Dadi, because of their disdainful rejection of Mariam, an almost mute girl who eloped with the
family cook. When Aliya is attracted by a Westernized Pakistani ,Khalil, whose parents belong
to Liaqatabad ,a middle class locality of Karachi, she gets disillusioned with her family's
snobbery and starts identifying herself with the unfortunate ‘not quite twin’ Mariam Apa. But
later on as she learns more about her family's jumbled up history, especially her grandmother's
life and the three men, including her grandfather , the real brothers who were divided by
Partition. She realizes that she, too, makes hasty judgments. Her family turns out to be more
passionate and complex than she has ever imagined it.

The very title Salt and Saffron, is a metaphor used for the class divide that goes with
Aliya and Mariam-two ‘not-quite-twins’ tales, though literally both salt and saffron are two
different food flavours .Most of the troubles in Aliya’s life are caused by the subtle and obvious
class consciousness ingrained in the family psyche. Shamsie links Dard-e-Dil family’s issues
and scandals caused by these minute differences to the history of the Sub-continent and the story
of Partition. Through many anecdotes about Aliya’s aristocratic Indian/Pakistani family life and
the tales of all ‘not-quite-twins’, Shamsie refers to the larger tale of a divided nation. She goes
back to the history of the subcontinent from the Mughal invasion to the Partition. She narrates
history in an interesting way while tracing its impacts on individual and collective human life.

With the brief background to the novel I will move on to the first part of my analysis that is
a textual analysis of the novel followed by the next two steps: context and interdiscursivity.

4.2. Textual Analysis

Text (1): One of my earliest memories is of Dadi cackling down when she heard
the news of Hussain Asif’s marriage to Natasha Shah, ’Shia Muhajir marries
Sunni Sindhi! How will the bigots react? Disown your own kind, or accept the
 385

enemy! Ming-ling, Ring-a-ling!’ Of course one multi-culti appreciation of

marrying across both sect and ethnicity lay at the root of my grandmother’s
words .She merely wanted all other family biases confounded and challenged so
that she could hold up her head and say , ‘We of the royal family of Dard-e-Dil
have always held true to our family fears.’ No marriages ,conversion or
redistribution of wealth can change that .Not-quite-twins are not-quite-twins; no
way around that .Oh ,they may escape undetected for a time ,but ultimately they
are incapable of disguise ,incapable of escaping the category into which they
are born ,incapable of causing our family anything but pain. I know .I’ve read the
histories.(Shamsie, 2000, p.1-2)

Description: Family pride is the theme of this text. Aliya, the protagonist, is the narrator. This
novel deals more with the issue of ‘placement’ than of displacement. Aliya’s paternal
grandmother, Dadi, is the true representative of Dard-e-Dil family .In the above-mentioned
discourse, Aliya tells about one of her earliest recollections about her Dadi’s mocking reaction,
when she heard the news of Hussain Asif’s marriage to Natasha Shah. It was a marriage of a
Shia Muhajir and a Sunni Sindhi .Dadi wondered, how would racists on both sides, react to that
marriage, whether they would disown their own kind, or accept the enemy-the person belonging
to other religious sect and ethnic group. She raised that question to provoke others to question
her appreciation of that marriage .Even at such a young age, Aliya had the realization, that the
basis of her grandmother’s disagreement, was a desire to get all other family biases confounded
and challenged, so that she could hold up her head and say that, they of the royal family of Dard-
e-Dil had always held true to their family fears. She would like to convey that, those fears were
so profound that no marriages, conversion or redistribution of wealth could change them. ‘Not-
quite-twins are not-quite-twins’, in the text this expression is used for those who are not born at
the exactly same time, but are linked together in a relationship forged by destiny to bring
disgrace to their family. This rule of ‘not-quite-twins’ has always been there with the family and
there has been no escape to it even if the people between whom this link is forged have not
realized it for quite some time . Her grandmother told her audience that she had read the histories
such as not –quite-twins had only been a cause of pain to the family, the reference to ‘histories’
was to substantiate her argument. Moreover, Aliya’s grandmother’s pride in the family history
 386

and the expression ‘I’ve read the histories’ refer to her grandmother’s personal and family
conceit.

Interpretation: The situational context is .Aliya’s displeasure with her grandmother’s family
conceit. Shamsie links it to Dard-e-Dil’s larger mythological fear of ‘not-quite-twins’ by relating
it to ‘mortal fear’ that is the fear of death and destruction.

Explanation: Salt and Saffron, deals more with the placement in social hierarchy, than
displacement of Shamsie’s fictional characters. Shamsie makes class, family and racial
discrimination the theme of the novel. Salt and Saffron, the two ingredients of human meals have
been symbolically used for the lower and the high class of the society. This discrimination is
somehow instilled in the members of Dard-e-Dil family and a reflection of this discrimination is
found in Aliya’s earlier account of her Dadi’s reaction to a marriage between a Shia Muhajir and
a Sunni Sindhi. There is an intense rivalry between the two ethnic groups .And their union in
the form of marriage is considered a union between two enemy camps, the acceptance of which
will be equal to accepting the enemies and rejection will be disowning of one’s own kind
.Challenging tone of Aliya’s Dadi is with the notion to have a chance to prove her family’s
superiority regarding its fear of ‘not-quite-twins’ myth. What she wants to convey through her
discourse of discrimination is that those who are marked as “not-quite-twins” in Dard-e-Dil
family may not know about it for quite some time, but ultimately they cannot escape bringing
pain and destruction to the family in one way or the other.

Text (2): Samia lay down and rested her head against my back. More than
anything else, more than mangoes, golgapas, nihari and naans, more than cricket
mania, more than monsoon rains, more than crabbing beneath the star-clustered
sky, what I missed about Karachi was the intimacy of bodies. (Shamsie, 200, p.14)

Description: Through her protagonist, Aliya’s thinking, Shamsie reveals that on the friendly
touch of her intimate cousin Saima, she becomes a true (Karachi) Pakistani diaspora subject,
 387

thinking that this was, what she had missed the most ‘the intimacy of bodies’, she missed it more
than edibles like mangoes, golgapas, nihari and naans, the cricket obsession of the Pakistani
nation, the rainy seasons and the crabbing under the clear sky, full of stars. The very feeling of
the presence of a human being around, who understands you well, is very satisfying. The
remembrance of the homeland from humans to edibles and from seasons to landscape proves
Aliya a typical diaspora.

Interpretation: After her graduation from an American university, Aliya was on her way back
to Karachi .She had a break journey in London and there she went to her family flat in which her
cousin, Saima who was doing her research was living those days. They were intimate friends and
they discussed in detail about their past and present family history.

Explanation: Nostalgia about the life spent in the homeland, with all its minor details, is the hall
mark of diasporic consciousness, this is found in all Shamsie’s novels especially in Kartography
(2002) and Salt and Saffron (2000). The protagonists of both these novels, carry an
autobiographical element, both like, Shamsie belong to Karachi, and both like her went to
American universities for their graduation and missed Karachi. Though Shamsie and both her
fictional characters were Westernized and privileged enough to avoid the hardships generally
associated with displacement. They belonged to the elite class and missed the luxuries of their
affluent life at their native city .In the above mentioned discourse, Aliya-the protagonist, has the
luxury of a home, even when she just has to break journey. She has the comfort of home and the
company of an intimate family member, which makes her realize, how much she has missed this
bodily human friendly and assuring touch, while she has been abroad. She feels that it was
intimate human company, more than any other thing, that she missed the most. The concept of
home and homeland, both are associated with the humans. Actually people are our world and it’s
the same people we miss the most .The wish to return home, to be among one’s own people, is a
natural desire with most of the diasporas and Shamsie’s fictional characters also share the same
love.
 388

Text (3): At college I was famous for my storytelling abilities, but I never told
anyone that my stories were mere repetition, my abilities those of a parrot. Oh
,they are a talking people ,my relatives ,and I have breathed in that chatter
,storing it in those parts of my lungs whose names suggest a mystery beyond
breath and blood .And yes when the need arises I can exhale those words and
perpetuate the myth that is nothing more than myth because it forgets Mariam
Apa; the myth ,that is, of my family’s across-the-board ,no exceptions, one-
hundred percent-all-the-way garrulousness .But when I am only audience ,the wit
and the one liners ,the retorts and the rebukes are just so much noise and I crave
something silent as a wisp of smoke.(Shamsie, 2000, p.18)

Description: Aliya is the narrator, she tells that during her graduation years, she was well-known
for her ability of storytelling .She enjoyed the compliment without telling the people that she
belonged to a family of “talking people”, it was in her heredity, she had grown up listening to
those stories, her stories were “mere repetition” and ability as a narrator, was that of a parrot, this
art was something running in her blood. She said, whenever she felt the need to tell a story, she
could ‘exhale those words’ she had been listening, to create a myth out of them, not a reality
because, she excluded Mariam Apa, her “not-quite-twin” from those tales. The myth of ‘not-
quite-twins’ runs throughout in her family history with so many tales. When she was on the
listening end she wished to listen to these tales except Mariam’s tale without any disturbance and
in complete silence. Mariam was the one, she loved and missed the most, so her story touched
her the most.

Interpretation: Shamsie begins the novel with her protagonist’s Aliya’s story, telling about her
family .It is through her stories that the whole family history and the family myth of not-quite-
twins, are revealed. In this particular novel, though Shamsie quotes many historical references,
but the displacement and destruction portrayed in the novel is mainly related to the family myth
and not caused by the historical events except for the family division through Partition.
 389

Explanation: Aliya calls herself a mere parrot, in the art of storytelling, and her stories mere
repetition of what she has been listening from her family of talking people. She calls her relative
‘talking people’ and herself as a being, whose whole existence befalls in breathing in that
‘chatter’, so it runs in her ‘blood’. Shamsie, herself belongs to a family of story tellers, her
grandmother, mother and many other relatives are writers. Shamsie’s protagonist calls her family
myth ‘garrulousness’ but even then there is something in that myth which makes her avoid
telling Mariam Apa -her not-quite-twin’s story. Actually, that is the only tale that has directly
touched her life and her relationship with her family members .In a way, it leads to self-
discovery, later mentioned in the text, when she saw Masood’s brother and when she came to
know that the boy she fell in love with belonged to Liaqatabad that she herself also inherited the
class consciousness.

Cassirer (1979) is of the opinion that people resort to the myths in their moments of crisis,
Shamsie also relates the down fall and the division of the family with the myth of not-quite-
twins.

Text (4): …would feel more proud of you again one day, but you can only make
me proud if you first understand what pride means .Pride! In English it is a
Deadly Sin .But in Urdu it is Fakhr and Nazish-both names that you can find
more than once on our family tree. You must go back to those names, those
people, in order to understand who I am and who you are. This is why it is good
that you are in America, where there are so many books. Study history ,my
darling Aliya ,but not the history of the Mughals or the British in India ,although
our stories intersects theirs in so many ways .Study the Dard-e-Dil family .I know
you don’t trust the history that comes from my mouth, so go that continent which
denies its own history ,and when you find yourself mocking its arrogance and lies
,go to the libraries and search among cobwebbed books for the story of your own
past. And when you do that, and you see in print the old tales that thrilled you to
sleep at night, I defy you to feel no stirrings of Fakhr and Nazish.(Shamsie, 2000,
p.20)
 390

Description: When Aliya was doing her graduation from an American university, her
grandmother-Dadi, wrote her a letter in which she conveyed that she would feel more proud of
her again one day and added that she could only make her proud, if she would first
understand the meaning of pride . She told her that ‘Pride’ in English, in its classical sense, is
regarded as a “Deadly Sin”. Pope Gregory the Great (604), was the first one to mention it as
such. The tale of the Fall of Adam also deals with the deadly sins .But she added that the Urdu
substitute for pride are “Fakhr and Nazish” with positive connotation and she told Aliya that she
could find both those names more than once on their family tree. She directed her to go back to
those names and get to know about those people in order to know about her grandmother’s and
her own identity. She further wrote that it was good that she was in America, where there were
so many books. She advised her to study history, but not the history of the Mughals or the British
in India, although she told that their family’s stories intersected both these histories in so many
ways. She urged her to read about Dard-e-Dil family, because she knew that Aliya did not
believe in the family history told by her grandmother. She advised her to go to read the history of
that continent where she was, and she would find that America was that continent where people
deny their own history. When she would read about them she would find herself mocking at its
arrogance and lies. She asked her to go to the libraries and search among cobwebbed books for
the story of her own past. Her grandmother expressed her hope that when she would do that and
see in print the old tales, they would thrill her to sleep at night. She was sure that this reading and
comparison would evoke feeling of “Fakhr and Nazish” in her. In other words, the objective
reading of their own family history, would make her proud of her family, her identity and her
existence.

Interpretation: Aliya had always been interested in history and knew a lot about it since her
early age, but she got estranged from her Dadi after Mariam’s elopement, so when she wrote her
to study history ,especially the history of her family ,in reaction she decided not to study it.

Explanation: Aliya’s Dadi’s letter to her, is interdiscursive, in more than one way. They as a
family suffered from low self-esteem when Mariam eloped with their cook Masood. At Dadi’s
 391

reaction to the event, Aliya, who had been greatly attached to Mariam Apa, reacted by slapping
Dadi and never tried to apologize later. Her grandmother suggested her to make a comparative
study of her family history with other histories to regain her lost family pride. She referred to the
history of the Native Americans which was manipulated by the settlers. She also referred to her
own family history, that intersected the Mughal and the British history in India, at many points.
Her Dadi believed in the superiority of her family history and had been telling stories about that,
but she knew that Aliya might not believe her so she asked her to go and read the American
history, look for the loopholes in it and compare it with her own documented family history
found in American archives .She was sure that in this way Aliya would regain her lost pride in
her family.

Then she mentioned the word pride as she took it equating it with Urdu words ‘Nazish’
and ‘Fakhar’ with positive connotation and compared it with Christian concept of Pride which
according to Catholic belief was the devil's great sin, as he wanted to be like God, and
rebelled. Seven deadly sins among the mortals are associated with the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes and the pride of life. Pride falls in the third category and manifests itself in pride,
envy and anger. ("Catholic bible 101-seven,”). Milton (1667) also refers to these deadly sins in
his Paradise Lost.

Aliya’s Dadi is portrayed by Shamsie, as a staunch Dard-e-Dil family member, who

always upheld her family pride and wanted her granddaughter to do the same .In her letter she
directed Aliya to look at the family tree and find how many of Dard-e-Dils were named as
Fakhar and Nazish. What she wanted to convey to her was that those names were given with a
reason to retain family pride .Her grandmother was sure that by following her direction, Aliya
would also become a proud member of Dard-e-Dil clan .This was what she wanted her to be.
Aliya’s first reaction to the letter was of a rebellious child, but later on, she realized the strength
the people of her Dadi’s generation displayed, despite being divided by the Partition .The role of
culture and ideology in the Partition of India, is also portrayed by Shah Nawaz (1948-1990) in
The Heart Divided, which is regarded as the first English novel on the Partition after the actual
historical event.
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Text (5): My brothers ,we were born the year after the Jalianwalla massacre
.Think of this when you are strolling down paths in Oxford ,studying how to be
Englishmen and do well in the world .I lack your gift of erasing, nay! Evading
history .The writing of this letter is the last thing I do before entering into the
employ of an English army officer, as a valet. I have accepted my historical role,
and when you return from Oxford and take your positions in ICS or English-run
companies the only real difference between us will be that I am required to wear
a grander uniform. You will not hear from me again for I am repudiating English
and, alas! Those years of English schooling have robbed me of the ability to write
Urdu .From the time of our births we have been curses waiting to happen, but
now the suspense is over .This is our curse: Akbar, Sulaiman, we are kites that
have had their strings snipped We went to school in a place without sun, and
believed this meant we had no need for our shadows .I am not an Englishman, not
are you. Nor can we ever be, regardless of our foxtrots, our straight bats, our
Jolly Goods and I says.

No more the Anglicized Percy, I.

I am now Taimur Hind.(Shamsie, 2000, p.24)

Description: This excerpt is Taimur’s letter to his brothers, including Aliya’s grandfather .He
wrote it before he had left Dard-e-Dil for goods .He started by reminding them, that they had
been born the year after the Jalianwalla massacre .He asked his brothers to think about the
incident when they would be strolling down the paths in Oxford, studying how to be Englishmen
and to do well in the world. He informed them that he lacked their gift of erasing or rather
evading history .He further told them that his that letter would be the last thing he would write
before entering into the employment of an English army officer, as his personal attendant. He
elaborated that he had accepted his historical role of being a member of the colonized people; he
told them that when they would return from Oxford and take their positions in the Indian Civil
Service or English-run companies the only real difference between them and him would be that
he would be required to wear a grander traditional Indian uniform. Here Shamsie uses the literary
 393

device of irony to highlight that members of the subject nation, whether they opt for being the
personal servants of one colonizer or join the collective service of the colonizers’ administration,
the only difference between them is of the uniform. She conveys through Taimur’s discourse that
actually they all would remain the “Others”, irrespective of their educational achievements .He
told them that they would not hear from him again for he would stop using English and
exclaimed with sorrow that all those years of English schooling had robbed him of the ability to
write Urdu. Here Shamsie forges a link, between colonizing a nation by destroying their
language, which carries a whole cultural heritage, and a whole world view with it. He referred to
Dard-e-Dil’s family myth of ‘not-quite-twins’ by reminding them that ‘from the time of our
births we have been curses waiting to happen’ and he had a feeling that the suspense about the
kind of destruction they would bring to their family would be over, by their coming into the
service of the Englishmen in different modes. He told them that it was their curse that they would
become the kites, whose strings had already been snipped by the act of colonization. He referred
to the change in their psyche brought about by the Western education, ‘We went to school in a
place without sun, and believed this meant we had no need for our shadows.’ He reminded them
that they were not Englishmen and they could never be, no matter what they would do.
Regardless of all their efforts to indulge in the Western ways of living, they would remain
Indians .With this realisation he shunned his Anglicized identity as Percy and declared himself as
Taimur Hind.

Interpretation: Taimur, Akbar and Sulaiman were three triplet brothers from Dard-e-Dil family,
who fell into the category of ‘not-quite- twins’. According to the myth attached to it they were
bound to bring some kind of destruction to the family. Shamsie also refers to a common practice
among the elites and the landed gentry to send their children to the Western countries for
education, so these three brothers would also have to go to Oxford, but Taimur had disappeared,
refusing to be the Anglicized Percy anymore.

Explanation: It is a postcolonial discourse of resistance, through one of the Indian elites,

belonging to Dard-e-Dil family .Taimur reminded his brothers that Jalianwalla massacre
occurred just one year before their birth– this incident was regarded by Winston Churchill as a
 394

monstrous and extraordinary event. ("Amritsar massacre Jillian,").In Churchill’s words it was
“an event which stands in singular and sinister isolation” .He elaborated that the Indians were
all, so packed together in that enclosure that one bullet passed through three or four bodies in
succession. Naturally there was a chaos and the people ran madly in all directions to avoid the
firing, which was first directed on the centre, but later, when people rushed to the sides, the fire
was diverted to the sides. When people threw themselves down on the ground, the fire was
turned in their direction .The firing continued for eight to ten minutes and stopped only when the
stock of bullets exhausted. ("Amritsar massacre Jillian,”)

The fears of revolt of the colonized and the unrest among them apparently became the
cause of 13April, 1919 incident. The Englishman, Dyer ,ordered to open fire on a gathering of
the native Punjabi including Sikhs ,Hindus and Muslim who were assembled at Jallian Wala
Bagh for the celebration of Baisakhi fair, as a years old practice, and then most callously
walked away leaving the dead and the wounded behind in merciless condition .Later Dyer
reported to the Hunter Commission Enquiry “I think it quite possible that I could have dispersed
the crowd without firing but they would have come back again and laughed, and I would have
made, what I consider ,a fool of myself.” ("Amritsar massacre Jillian,”)Taimur wanted to remind
his brothers of this particular incident to expose the relationship between the colonizers and the
colonized and wanted to convey his protest to them, by refusing to be like the Englishmen.

In Wolpert’s (2006) view the division of Bengal by Lord Curzon in 1905 proved to be a
turning point for the politics of the twentieth century India. Ayub Jajja(2012) writes in his thesis
on The Heart Divided: A Post-Colonial Perspective on Partition, that Shah Nawaz (1990)
depicts in her novel how historical circumstances made the Partition inevitable and Jinnah and
Muslim League were ‘reluctant separatists’ but were compelled by the inflexible and insensitive
attitude of the Congress to opt for the Partition. The colonizers also accentuated the differences
for their own vested interests to a point of no return. Jallian Wala Bagh massacre is one such
example.
 395

Taimur also refers to the acceptance of the cultural superiority of the English by the
Indians which in Fanon (2008) terms is a mimicry on the part of “black man”. Shah Nawaz
(1990) also reflects the impact of the imperial culture on the Indians in detail through her
fictional character Jamaluddin, who comes back from England with the resolve to live like an
“English gentleman”, as mentioned by Lord Macaulay in his “Minute on Indian Education”.
Ayub Jajja (2012) regards it as the internalization and assimilation of the colonialist culture that
results in hybridity in postcolonial terms. Taimur defies this rule, though apparently in a self-
mocking tone, telling his brother that he would shun his hybrid identity, use no more English and
would be Taimur Hind, but to play his historical role as a colonized subject he would become a
personal attendant –a valet of an Englishman .This apparently humourous logic speaks volumes
of the scars inflicted on the psyche of the colonized people.

Text (6): Perhaps there is no escape from wounding memories .Time was, I
thought time was all it took to move on .But how could I be a part of my family
and believe that? We are all walking wounded .Take this relative we were about
to meet: Baji. Fifty years on Partition, and according to Samia she still couldn’t
talk about those who left for Pakistan without rancor .That whole generation of
my relatives mystified me. How had they sustained, for so long, the bitterness
brought on by the events of 1947? I could believe it of one person, or two .But
good God! Our family was huge and yet there was never any word of
reconciliation across the borders of India and Pakistan .They grew up together:
Dadi and Baji and the triplets and scores of other cousins.(Shamsie, 2000, p. 33)

Description: Aliya thought that there was no escape from the memories that hurt but the time
moves on. She wondered about her family’s past and thought how could she be a part of her
family and believed in those ‘wounding memories’ .She considered that they were all ‘walking
wounded’ while she was going to meet her relative Baji, a cousin of her Dadi from India .She
was told by her cousin, Samia that even after fifty years of Partition she still retained her
bitterness against those relatives who had migrated to Pakistan. The whole generation of her
family had retained their bitterness created by the division of India. It made her feel confused.
 396

She could cope with such exceptional behavior within one or two persons but the whole of their
huge family had never tried for reconciliation across the border. They had never tried to patch up
though; Baji, Dadi, the triplets and a large number of other cousins had grown up together.

Interpretation: Historical context is the Partition .Many people who had lived together for ages
had to part ways never to meet again because of it. Shamsie refers to the same such divisions
among Dard-e-Dils, the huge family was divided and the breach created could never be bridged
and the scars inflicted by the division remained fresh even decades after Partition.

Explanation: Partition of India has still been regarded a debatable topic even after the lapse of
so many decades. Ayub Jajja (2012) is of the opinion that historical circumstances made the
Partition inevitable though Jinnah and Muslim League were reluctant separatists .He also
believes that the colonizers accentuated the differences to a point of no return for their own
vested interests Jajja (2012) quotes Mumtaz Shah Nawaz (1990) showing that it was the
inflexible and insensitive attitude of the Congress and the upper class Hindus, which totally
disappointed the Muslim leadership and disillusioned the masses, especially during the Congress
ministries of 1937.

Bapsi Sidhwa (1991) in Ice Candy Man portrays the negative aspects of Partition while
Shah Nawaz (1990) in The Heart Divided through Kemal shows that freedom demands price. “I
told you freedom is never attained without sacrifice” (Shah Nawaz, 1990, p.363).So the opinions
are divided. Shamsie portrays the same division of opinion among the members of Dard-e-Dil
family, those who opted for migration and those who preferred to live in India. Aliya talked
about the ‘walking wounded memories’ of Dard-e-Dil people and wondered how did they as a
family retained the bitterness associated with taking side during Partition and how this major
historical event impacted their psyche never to seek reconciliation even afterwards though people
on the both side of the divide kept identifying themselves with Dard-e-Dil. There is a whole
series of new and old placement and displacement associated with colonization and then
decolonization of India (Ashcroft et al.1989).
 397

Text (7): Masood once told me that his grandmother walked over a hundred miles
to reach Pakistan in August 1947,and when she arrived in her new homeland she
fell to her knees and kissed the grounds so repeatedly that the dust of Pakistan
was permanently lodged in her throat and for the rest of her life she could not
breathe deeply without coughing .When years later ,a doctor said he could cure
her of the cough she threatened to break his legs .Who was Baji to imply
Masood’s grandmother story was not worth celebrating? (Shamsie, 2000, p.37-
38)

Description: Aliya was once told by Masood ,their cook, that his grandmother had walked over
a hundred miles to reach Pakistan in August 1947,and when she had arrived in her new
homeland she had fallen to her knees and had kissed the grounds so repeatedly that the dust of
Pakistan was permanently lodged in her throat and for the rest of her life she could not breathe
deeply without coughing .When years later ,a doctor said he could cure her of the cough she
threatened to break his legs . This example indicates people’s love for their new homeland. Aliya
believed in that profundity of love and thought, “Who was Baji to imply Masood’s grandmother
story was not worth celebrating?”(Shamsie, 2000, p.38).Through this discourse Shamsie
highlights the depth of peoples’ love for Pakistan.

Interpretation: Partition of India has still been regarded a controversial affair. Still there are
people on both sides of the borders who take sides on the debate. The same is true of Dard-e-Dil
family that was divided by this historical move .Aliya, Shamsie’s spokesperson, is the
descendant of those who opted for Pakistan, despite belonging to an affluent background she
believes in the stories of love for Pakistan and its very land for those who came to it after
rendering great sacrifices .She believes in one such story about their cook-Masood’s
grandmother and she abhors Baji’s mocking attitude towards it.
 398

Explanation: The theme of Partition, migration, displacement and their impacts on micro level
life are depicted in all the three novels selected for this study .Partition is identified with
unprecedented migration, dislocation, displacement, sufferings, unending sorrows, unresolved
issues and constant regional rift. Dard-e-Dil in Salt and Saffron are like Muhajir in Kartoghraphy
and Ashrafs in Burnt Shadows whose lives are touched and influenced by Partition .In Salt and
Saffron two extreme views of the Indian Muslims among Dard-e-Dil family are depicted .First
reference to it is through a fight between Akbar and Sulaiman in 1946 on the eve of Nawab’s
birthday ,the dialogue between them flared up to the point that the whole gathering was divided
into two camps ;one for the United India and the other for Pakistan. Aliya’s grandparents were
from the later. They flew to Pakistan never to return to their ancestral homeland again while Baji,
their cousin along with many more preferred to stay in India. The second reference is through
Baji whom Aliya met in England and who could not overcome her bitterness against those who
had left for Pakistan even after the lapse of decades. The theme of Partition, migration and
violence related to it is taken up by many other writers like, Bapsi Sidhwa’s (1991) Ice Candy
Man, Khushwant Singh (1988) Train to Pakistan, Mehr Nigar Masroor ‘s (1987) Shadows of
Time, Mumtaz Shah Nawaz’s(1948) Hearts Divided are a few such examples.

Text (8): You may wonder, then what?’ And you may wonder, how did that lead
to a fall in the family’s fortune? I’ll say this: Think of the Mughals .Think of an
image that captures and preserves the glory of the Mughals, and if you have any
sense of anything you’ll say the Taj Mahal .Well, the fact is, Shah Jahan bought-
in secret and in gold-the plans to that Dard-e-Dil mausoleum from the keeper of
the Dard-e-Dil archives, and the only thing he changed when he had the plans
copied for the benefit of the contractor was the name. But we know, though you’ll
laugh. that Taj Mahal is, was ,should have been, Dil Mahal .Other not-quite-twins
denied the family wealth, power, freedom ,unity; Masooma and Inamuddin’s
curse was that they deprived us of posterity .And, oh God ,we deserved it.

(When? You might demand. When did this happen? And now I’m forced to
concede that it happened during the glory days of the Mughals, when Dard-e-Dil
 399

was not a kingdom at all but merely part of the Mughal Empire and Nawab
Hamidduzzaman was not a Nawab, not really, no; that title was only conferred
upon him posthumously by the Nawabs that followed after Dard-e-Dil became
independent of the Mughals. So really old Ham was merely a scion of a once
important family which had the good sense to ingratiate itself with the Mughals
early on and received, in return, the position of subehdar-chief administrator-of
the province comprising those lands which earlier may have been, and later
certainly became, the kingdom of Dard-e-Dil. The position was not hereditary
and the Dard-e-Dils were sometimes sent to cool their heels to in outposts of the
Empire but somehow, in contravention of the standard Mughal policy of keeping
administrators on the move, the Dard-e-Dils always returned to those lands
.Because they were sycophants, competent as administrators, but otherwise so
groveling and seemingly ineffectual that the Mughals saw them as no real
threats? Perhaps .But also perhaps because the Mughals trusted them, admired
them, acknowledged them as cousins of the Taimurid line ,and felt that a few
years away from Dard-e-Dil was all it took to remind those cousins that they
were entirely dependent on the bounty of the Mughal for their own prestige and
power. By and large the plan worked through the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries .Buy and large. But Hamidduzzaman was less than happy to play the
role of needy relation. It was ,I believe ,the desperation to be ruler not vassal
,coupled with the awareness of his own importance against the Emperor ,that
made him so susceptible to an act as mad as infanticide .He saw that the reign of
the Great Mughal, Akbar ,was past and ,sensing the faintly glimmering
possibility of breaking free from the Mughal rule, he was willing to sacrifice
anything that might stand in the way of an auspicious us future for Dard-e-Dil
,even if that thing was a pair of mewling babies.) (Shamsie, 2000, p.44-46)

Description: Aliya, the protagonist, here refers to Taj Mahal, the greatest monument of the
grandeur of the Mughal dynasty and says that it is a fact that Shah Jahan secretly bought the
plans of Dard-e-Dil mausoleum from the keeper of the Dard-e-Dil archives in gold ,and then
had it copied as such with only changing the names. Quite in keeping with her family conceit
 400

she claims “that Taj Mahal is, was, should have been, Dil Mahal.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.44) Then
she relates the loss of this great plan to the story of ‘not-quite-twins’ Masooma and Inamuddin
,whose curse deprived the family of a glorious future. She believes that the other ‘not-quite-
twins’ deprived the family of wealth, power, freedom and unity, but Masooma and Inamuddin’s
curse deprived them of posterity .And she feels sorry for this irreparable loss.

Shamsie makes her protagonist, have a live discourse with the readers, as if they were her
audiences when she says, “When? You might demand. When did this happen?”(Shamsie, 2000,
p.44) She shares that it happened during the glory days of the Mughals, when Dard-e-Dil was
not a kingdom, but merely a part of the Mughal Empire and head of their family Nawab
Hamidduzzaman, was not a Nawab as that title was only conferred upon him posthumously by
the Nawabs that followed after Dard-e-Dil became independent of the Mughals. So he was
really, an off shoot, of a once important family that had the good sense to curry favour itself
with the Mughals earlier and in return received the position of subehdar-chief administrator-of
the province comprising those lands which earlier might have been, but later on, certainly
became, the kingdom of Dard-e-Dil. The position was not inherited and the Dard-e-Dils were in
outposts of the Empire, but somehow ,in violation of the standard Mughal policy of keeping
administrators on the move, the Dard-e-Dils always returned to those lands .Aliya thinks that
since apparently they were minions ,competent as administrators, but otherwise so sycophantic
and seemingly unimpressive that the Mughals saw them as no real threat, that was why the
Mughals gave them concession or she thinks that perhaps, because of the fact that the Mughals
regarded them as trusted cousins of the Taimurid line. They felt that Dard-e-Dil was indebted
to them. They had been entirely dependent on the bounty of the Mughal for their own prestige
and power. She shares that by and large the plan worked through the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, but Hamidduzzaman was not much happy to play the role of a needy relation. Aliya
believes that it was this anxiety to be a ruler and not a vassal along with the awareness of his
own importance against the Emperor that made him so vulnerable to an act as mad as infanticide
.He had the realisation that the reign of the Great Mughal, Akbar ,was at its last legs and there
was a possibility of breaking free from the Mughal rule for which he was willing to sacrifice
anything that might stand in the way of a promising future for Dard-e-Dil ,even if ‘that thing’
was a pair of his own mewling babies.
 401

Interpretation: Aliya went to see, Baji and her daughter Rehana Apa, from Indian side of Dard-
e-Dil family, with Samia. They were shown the large sheets of her family tree with the tale of yet
another pair of ‘not-quite-twins’, Inamuddin and Masooma. Aliya also noticed that her name was
starred with Mariam Apa as two ‘not-quite-twins’.

Explanation: Shamsie mixes the facts and fiction together to make the tale of Dard-e-Dil’s
history and myth of ‘not-quite-twins’ more capturing .In quite a dramatic way ,her protagonist
,Aliya declares ,that the plan of Taj Mahal ,the greatest monument of the Mughal dynasty,
actually belonged to her family-i.e. Dard-e-Dil family. But the plan was secretly bought by the
Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan in gold. She attributes this greatest loss of ‘posterity’ to the curse
of two ‘not-quite-twins’ Masooma and Innamuddin.

Aliya dates back this theft to the “glory days” of the Mughals, when her family- Dard-e-
Dil was just a part of the Mughal Empire and had yet to emerge as a kingdom. The head of Dard-
e-Dil had been appointed as subehdar by the Mughals, who usually used to keep the
administrator moving but Dard-e-Dil always returned to the same lands, because they kept
themselves in the good books of the Mughal and apparently remained low profile to pose any
serious threat to their authority. The Mughals also favoured them for being from the line of
Taimurid and thinking that they must have the realisation that their power and prestige depended
upon the Mughals’ patronage. This formation continued in the sixteenth and the seventeenth
centuries by and large, but then Hamidduzzaman was not happy to play the role of a deserving
relation. His ambition to be a ruler and not a mere vassal made him so desperate that he went to
the extent of becoming ‘infanticide’ to avoid the curse of the ‘not-quite-twins’ .During the reign
of Akbar, he could foresee the downfall of the Mughal dynasty and the brighter possibility to be
an independent ruler. In order to gain the absolute power, he was ready to go to any extent-even
to killing his own innocent babies. Human history is replete with the tales of the lust for power
and Hamidduzzaman story is no exception .This lust for power leads to the destruction of the
individuals, families, nations and the world, proving it the most discussed topic in the political
and power discourse.
 402

Text (9): ‘I’m feeling minimalist.’ He raised his eye brows at me, and I thought he
was going to walk off .So I said, ‘Don’t tell me you don’t know about the great
class divide of Pakistan.’

‘Oh .It’s like that, is it?’ He scuffed the toe of one shoe against the heel of the
other. ’So I’m the boy from the wrong side of the tracks.’ Before I could quite
decide how to respond to that he said, ‘I had a hard enough time growing up in
the States knowing the other kids were laughing behind my back at my parents’
accent, their clothes, their whole foreign baggage. The way I dealt with that was
by telling those kids to either lay off or stop pretending they were my friends
.Most chose the first option .But what I’m saying is, I decided pretty early on that
I’d rather risk unpopularity at school than feel embarrassed at home .So do not
expect me to start getting defensive about my family now just because… (Shamsie,
2000, p.60-61)

Description: The theme of this discourse is class divide. It was Khalil talking to Aliya, the issue
between them was that of the class divide, she asked him not to tell her that he did not know
about the great class divide in Pakistan. He commented that it meant that he was from the wrong
side of the line. Before she could respond to that, he said that he had a hard enough time growing
up in the States, knowing that the other kids used to laugh behind his back at his parents’ accent,
their clothes, and their whole foreign baggage. These are the problems the migrants from a
different culture do experience. He told that he dealt with that problem by telling those kids to
either stop doing that or stop pretending that they were his friends .Most of them went for the
first option .He told her that he had decided pretty early in life that he would take the risk of
being unpopular at school rather than feeling embarrassed at home . So he conveyed to her that
she should not expect him to start getting defensive about his family, just because it lived in
Liaqatabad.
 403

Interpretation: Dard-e-Dil’s family pride is the contextual background of this discourse

between Aliya and Khalil. Identity issues of diaspora subjects is the historical context.

Explanation: Diasporic experience poses certain challenges to individual and collective identity
of the displaced people. The difference in perception it brings about depends upon the brought
up, objectives, outlook and individual capacity, how to cope with change. The novel begins with
Aliya’s Dadi’s mocking reaction to the news of marriage between a Shia Muhajir and a Sunni
Sindhi. Aliya has been quite close to her Dadi and doesn’t feel anything wrong with that family
pride until one day her favourite intimate Mariam Apa, her ‘not-quite-twin’ eloped with their
cook Masood and already disturbed by Mariam’s absence she slaps her Dadi when she talks
against her and then never apologizes to her for her rudeness .Her reaction is caused by both, her
love for Mariam Apa and her diasporic exposure to the West through education. Even when she
blames Dadi for having her family conceit, she cannot help feeling shocked when she comes to
know that the man she falls in love with belongs to Liaqatabad-the area belonging to the other
side of the city class divide .Even when she feels pleasure hugging that man at the airport, she
has the realisation that her Dadi will not approve of it .Her intimate cousin, Samia also advises
her to take her liking for the man, from the other side of the city, as a lost battle .In such a state
of conflict, when she tries to convey the same to Khalil he refuses to be apologetic about his
identity .He conveys to her that this is, what he learnt in his childhood at school, in his adopted
land .So he loves to retain and talk about his identity. But what Shamsie conveys through this
discourse is that diaspora subjects have to face identity issues in their adopted land and the
awareness created by one’s diasporic experiences changes one’s outlook towards life. (Mishra,
2007)

Text (10): My parents are professors of Physics .Both of them .And bitten by the
travel bug. So they get teaching jobs all over the place .And when we were in
France I got citizenship .They didn’t want me to be a US citizen because it was
the seventies, Vietnam and all that, and they had vision of me growing up and
being drafted to fight some war they considered morally repugnant .Which pretty
much covers all wars. (Shamsie, 2000, p. 63)
 404

Description: Khalil tells Aliya that his parents are professors of Physics and they have always
been on the move so they have been doing teaching jobs at different places in the world .He
further informs her that he got French citizenship when they were in France. He adds that his
parents didn’t want him to be a US citizen in seventies because of Vietnam War and the
emerging hegemonic trends. He elaborates that they did not want him to grow up and be
enlisted for some such war which they considered morally inacceptable. Their dislike for wars
has not been limited to Vietnam War but it stands for all wars.

Interpretation: Khalil comes to see Aliya .He asks her to tell him about Karachi, his ancestral
land, he has never visited. She tells him about June, July and August the three months she spends
in Karachi, while doing her graduation from an American university .She goes home by 16th
June, when Dadi leaves for Paris .On Khalil comments that summer in Paris is horrible she says
that her Dadi hates monsoons and leaves Karachi before that. She further tells him that she has
never asked Dadi for the reason, but she thinks that she does so to avoid the ‘memories of her
youth in Dard-e-Dil’ (Shamsie, 2000, p.62) and ‘the luster of her early life’. (Shamsie, 2000,
p.62)

Explanation: Khalil shares with Aliya that he has French nationality. He calls his parents ‘travel
bugs’, who have been moving all around the world and their exposure has added to their
awareness. Back in 1970s, during the Vietnam War they did not want their son to be an
American citizen because they did not want him to be compulsorily enlisted for any war like the
Vietnam War, which they considered ‘morally repugnant’. Khalil also expresses his dislikes for
all the wars. Here he voices Shamsie who is a political writer and loves to write about the
impacts of war on micro and macro level life to show their disastrous consequences and also to
expose the power politics behind those wars.

This part of Shamsie’s narrative discourse is interdiscursive with special reference to the
Vietnam War ,which proved to be a long and costly armed conflict that potholed the
 405

communist government of North Vietnam and its Southern allies against the United States and
South Vietnam. “The contentious war became increasingly unpopular at home and in the end
U.S., had to withdraw its forces in 1973 followed by the merger of Vietnam under Communist
control two years later. The war claimed the lives of more than 3 million people, including
58,000 Americans.” (" Vietnam war,”) Shamsie also refers to a general dislike of humans for war
carrying a host of implication for all kinds of destruction caused by wars.

Text (11): A history lesson,’ he said. ‘After the Mutiny of 1857—’

‘Revolt.’

‘Sorry?’

‘Not Mutiny .A revolt .Mutiny implies it was confined to a section of the armed
forces, and though it’s true that it started with the Bengali Sepoys---‘

‘Whatever. The point is, after it was crushed the Mughal Emperor was stripped of
all his rights, his privileges .He died poor; his children lived poorer. They were
born princes; they died beggars on the streets of Delhi. (Shamsie, 2000, p.66)

Description: During their conversation, Khalil refers to 1857 event as Mutiny, Aliya instantly
corrects him by calling it a ‘Revolt’. He apologizes and she explains that it was not Mutiny, but a
revolt because mutiny implies that it was confined to a section of the armed forces. She explains
that though it is true that it started with the Bengali Sepoys, but it was not limited to them only.
He cuts her short and says that whatever we may call it, the point is that after that rebellion was
crushed, the Mughal Emperor was deprived of all his rights and privileges .He died poor and his
children lived poorer. Those, who had been born princes, died as beggars on the streets of Delhi.
He wants to make her realize the futility of the class divide. The accident of birth bears no
guarantee that if you are born at a certain place, your perks, privileges and pride will remain the
same forever .Even being born princes, could not save the Mughals.
 406

Interpretation: At Khalil’s offer to visit him in Liaqatabad during his visit to Karachi, Aliya is
reminded of a boy in the college, who made her realize in their last conversation, “The
insurmountable problem is that when you think of me there’s logic to your thought.”(Shamsie,
2000, p.64) The obvious reminder is to the logic of the class-divide. Then she starts telling Khalil
of Mariam Apa and Masood .He gets the underlying message and calls it a “history lesson”(
Shamsie,2000,p.65)

Explanation: This part of Shamsie’s narrative discourse, refers to an important historical event
of 1857, which is viewed by different people in different ways. Khalil who had been brought up
in the West, called it ‘Mutiny’ while Aliya regarded it as ‘Revolt’. Hussain (2002) quotes
Benjamin Disraeli, the then member of the Parliament, saying that the rise and fall of empires is
not an affair of greased cartridges. He further writes in The Story of the Storm:

1857 is an important landmark in the history of Indian subcontinent. This landmark

event has been called mutiny, rebellion, war, uprising and war of independence
depending on who described the event. Several different factors were at play long before
the rebellion but the sudden outburst of violence and its rapid spread gave the movement
a transient unity of purpose despite stark differences and diversity of India. Various
individuals and different groups joined the rebellion for different reasons. The presence
of so many different factors makes the task of comprehensive analysis of 1857 in any
single work impossible. In 1857, different regions of India not only differed in
geography and composition of inhabitants but also in terms of local customs, relationship
between different communities and political scene. Eighteenth and nineteenth century
was an era of dramatic change in India. Old guards were coming down crumbling and
new realties sometimes very harsh were being created. Dislocations, social upheaval and
anxiety accompanied with such changes was felt everywhere. Gradual decline of old
central authority and emergence of a new alien power of East India Company had
resulted in resurgence and emergence of religious, caste, ethnic, clan and family feuds to
the forefront in many localities.(Hussain, 2002)
 407

But most of the European historians describe it as a revolt of Indian soldiers who were
offended at the order to use the greased cartridges. They are of the opinion:

… the discontented sepoys were incited by the landlords and the deposed native princes
and the people of India were not directly involved in this rebellion. They further assert
that it was not a national war of independence, in as much as the revolt was confined to a
particular region and not to the whole of India; large areas like the Punjab, Sind and
Rajputana remained unaffected. It was admittedly a great and courageous effort by
patriotic Indians to get rid of the foreign domination. It was a glorious landmark in our
history in as much as Hindus and Muslims fought shoulder to shoulder to win back their
lost independence. One cannot but admire the patriotic spirit of boatmen of Lucknow
who refused to carry British soldiers across the river. The sepoys and the people fought
gallantly up to the very end. Though the revolt was unsuccessful, the spirit of the people
remained unshaken. The revolt left an impression on the minds of the Indian people and
thus paved the way for the rise of a strong national movement. ("Events of the,”n.d)

The reference to 1857 event in the text makes it interdiscursive in more than one ways,
but here the obvious view is of postmodern approach of multiple perspectives with no absolute
truth but different versions of a reality observed from different angles of vision.

Text (12): Hang on just a little tiny minute,’ Samia said. ‘Who’re these two
miscreants?’ Right at the top of the page beside the name Nur-ul-Jahan, the
founder of Dard-e-Dil, victor of the Battle of Surkh Khait, were the names of his
two wives, Kulsoom and Shahrukh .There names were starred.

Kulsoom I knew .Her father, Qadiruddin Shah, fought alongside Nur-ul-Jahan

during the battle of Surkh Khait in 1423. There is nothing original in
Qadiruddin’s story .Scion of an old royal line from Persia, Qadiruddin dreamt of
restoring his father to its former debauchery, but lacked the means and the ability
to do so. In the Central Asian marauder ,Nur-ul-Jahan, Qadiruddin saw ,as his
 408

memoirs report, ’a man so high in ambition that he would tear out his own liver
and eat it to secure achievements.’ Which means ,I suppose ,that Nur-ul-Jahan
had the ability ,while Qadiruddin had only the knack of recognizing ability in
others .Determined to tie his fortunes to those Nur-ul-Jahan, Qadiruddin
presented himself to Nur in the ceremonial grab of the kings of Persia and , by
his own account ,so impressed the hardened military man with his manners and
deportments that ,within minutes of their introduction ,Nur-ul-Jahan offered
Qadiruddin the position of advisor.(Many of my relatives find this account
somewhat suspect, since Nur-ul-Jahan was from the royal and cultured Taimurid
line and was hardly likely to be taken in by some old Persian robes .It is true
,however ,that his grandmother, Tamburlaine’s daughter, was married off to a
man known more for his warmongering than for his finesse ,and it was in this
man’s tribe that Nur-ul-Jahan had many many advisors).(Shamsie, 2000, p.67-
68)

Description: While Samia and Aliya are looking at their family tree at Baji’s place, Samia asks
her to wait for a while and then asks about the two starred names right at the top of the page
beside the name of Nur-ul-Jahan, the founder of Dard-e-Dil and the victor of the Battle of Surkh
Khait, those are the names of his two wives, Kulsoom and Shahrukh.

Aliya says that she knows Kulsoom, the daughter of Qadiruddin Shah, who fought along
with Nur-ul-Jahan during the battle of Surkh Khait in 1423. She does not regard anything
original in Qadiruddin’s story that belonged to an old royal line from Persia, he dreamt of
restoring his father to its former decadence, but did not have the ability and the means to do so.
Qadiruddin reported in his memoirs that in the Central Asian marauder, Nur-ul-Jahan, saw ‘a
man so high in ambition that he would tear out his own liver and eat it to secure achievements.’
Aliya interprets it as a reference to Nur-ul-Jahan, as having the ability ,while he himself had
only the knack of recognizing ability in others .So when Qadiruddin presented himself to Nur-
ul-Jahan in the ceremonial grab of the kings of Persia , he impressed the hardened military man
with his manners and deportments so much that ,within minutes of their introduction ,Nur-ul-
 409

Jahan offered Qadiruddin, the position of advisor, though his relatives doubted this account. It is
true, however ,that his grandmother, Tamburlaine’s daughter, was married off to a man known
more for his hawkishness than for his tactfulness and Nur-ul-Jahan had a large number of
advisors from the tribe that shrewd man belonged to, a linage that knew how to impress the
powerful and convince them of their ability to curry favour.

Interpretation : Aliya and Samia are at Baji’s place in London where they are shown the long
family tree and where they talk about the founder of Dard-e-Dil family, Nur-ul-Jahan, who
impressed Qadiruddin to appoint him an advisor .From his two wives Kulsoom and Shahrukh
started the myth of ‘not-quite-twins’ coming down to Mariam and Aliya herself.

Explanation: Shamsie narrates the history of Dard-e-Dil family from 1423.She tells about the
founder of Dard-i-Dil family, Nur-ul-Jahan , who won the battle Surkh Khait and gave an
impressive performance in the court of Qadiruddin to convince him of his talent ,so he was
appointed as an advisor .Both Qadiruddin and Nur-ul-Jahan complemented each other to rule the
people. To be in the good books of the powerful, has been a common practice throughout the
human history .Shamsie uses the literary device of irony throughout the novel to show the
conceit of Dard-i-Dils on the one hand and on the other hand she also throws light on the history
of their rise and fall, which is not much praise worthy, rather the rise is a tale of opportunism.

Text (13): To set foot once more on the soil of one’s homeland .Modern airports
deny us this symbolic gesture. No soil, not even tarmac .Instead we step into an
elevated corridor which carries us through to passport control, luggage claims
and customs clearance. Denied my Richard II moments(‘so weeping-smiling greet
I thee ,my earth’).I’ve learned to crane forward ,or sideways ,towards the window
,to await the dip of plane’s wing, the descent from the clouds and – almost there
now- the giant expanse of Karachi glittering under the darkened sky .I’ve always
loved the brashness of that city ,the resolve that turns on lights ,night after night
 410

,not really in the hope of outstaring the sky ,but just for the sake of
contesting.(Shamsie, 2000, p.85)

Description: Aliya says that the modern airports have denied modern diaspora of the symbolic
gesture of setting ‘foot once more on the soil of one’s homeland’ .Now there is no soil, not even
runway instead we step into an elevated corridor which carries us through to passport control,
luggage claims and customs clearance. Aliya quotes here what Richard II utters in Act 3, Scene 2
of Shakespeare’s historical play Richard II, he returns to the coast of Wales “so weeping-smiling
greet I thee, my earth” (Shakespeare, 1842).She compares her situation on return to Karachi with
Richard II return to Wales and comments that the modern airports have even denied this luxury
of setting foot on one’s soil. But she has learned to look outside the window to await the dip of
plane’s wing, the descent from the clouds and to be almost there on the giant expanse of Karachi,
glittering under the darkened sky. She says that she has always loved the resilience of her city to
turn on its lights every night to compete with the sky.

Interpretation: Aliya belongs to those elite class, privileged migrants, with all resources and
connections, for whom moving around the world is an easy experience, but even then the love
for their native land and the desire to see and return to it has always been there , which is a
typical diaspora characteristic.

Explanation: Modern diasporas have been deprived of the privilege to set foot on their land on
their return to their homeland because of modern airports, which exit the passengers from the
areophane to a tunnel that leads to the immigration counter and from there to be transported to
their destination in some vehicle .Brubaker (2005) talks about the wide spread use of the term
diaspora in a variety of ways, but while analyzing the term into further components, he talks
about one common desire of all diasporas to return to their homeland .And it is the love of the
homeland that makes this return possible .Aliya returns to her native city she loves, but wonders
that the modern airports have deprived people like her of the symbolic gesture of touching their
land. Shamsie makes the text interdiscursive by quoting Richard II from Shakespeare’s (1842)
 411

historical play, ‘so weeping-smiling greet I thee, my earth’. But Aliya, like Shamsie, loves to
return to Karachi and loves to relish the beauty of its nights, and the resilience of the people to
switch on the lights despite all odds, though later she talks about “Bijli failure”( Shamsie, 2000,
p 85), and appearance of lights in a small zone which someone commented “Well, looks like
Clifton or Defence.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.86) So the class division in different areas of Karachi can
be seen from the heights of the areophane as well.

Later in the text the same theme is repeated through Sameer, Aliya’s cousin’s discourse,
who has been working with a multinational after doing his graduation from a foreign university,
when she asks about his foreign posting, he replies:

There’s a strong chance the bank’s going to post me Hong Kong .It’s an attractive
proposition and God knows there are days I just want to get away from the inefficiency,
the violence, the corruption… Fact is, if it happens I’d be stupid to turn it down
.Professional suicide. Bit no place will ever be home like this. And no company is as
comforting as the company of family. That’s what I learnt at college.(Shamsie, 2000,
p.92)

Sameer is a representative of Dard-e-Dil family, who loves his place and who loves to be
in the company of his family members.

Text (14): So ugly that all the paintings of him show a tall, strikingly handsome
man with lashes so long and luxurious you ache to run your fingers through them
.Of course, the painters were all his subjects, so what do you expect?(Besides, one
of the Starched Aunts noted ,none of the paintings show the back of his head ,and
that omission must mean something.) Regardless of details, the bottom line is he
was ugly, and he knew it .He knew also that his wife’s brother, Askari, was not
ugly and he knew his wife knew it, too. But he didn’t realize the extent to which
 412

she knew it until she gave birth to two twins. One, the spitting image of
Fariduddin. One, the spitting the image of Askari.

Perhaps Fariduddin had read too many Greek myths and too few biology texts .It
was the middle of the eighteenth century-literature was more important than
science in the education of a prince. Yes, yes, I’m referring to Leda and her twin
eggs again .One egg encased the mortal children if her husband, Tyndareus; the
other egg incubated the immortal children of Zeus. No one tells us what
Tyndareus thought when he saw his children hatch and saw ,also ,that other egg
from which the children of Zeus-Helen and Pollus-emerged .Let’s face it,
Tyndareus could do nothing about the fact that his children ,Clytemnestra and
Castor ,were twinned with twins who were no relation to Tyndareus .There was
nothing to do against a god but rage ,and quietly . But Fariduddin having read
his mythology, saw his wife’s children and knew that those twins were not-quite-
twins…Fariduddin said to his wife, ’I’ll kill Askari first then his son. Then you .
‘You’d do well to suspect the veracity of this part of the story. We ‘ve watched
enough movies ,all of us to know that when you say a thing like that all three of
your intended victims will survive ,and you will be with the bullets in your heart.
You see, I’m not even pretending there’s suspense attached to this bit. Did I
mention that by now the Dard-e-Dil were well and truly independent of the
Mughals and had their first real chance of becoming great princes ,free from all
over lands ,enlightened rulers of a stable kingdom? Did I mention that the year
was 1773? Guess which trading company in India was dealing in more than
spices by now.

Yes when Askari heard Fariduddin cry of rage he galloped away to a

neighbouring state, where the East India Company had something between a toe-
and a foot-hold. What exactly Askari said to the Englishman ,Fraser ,I don’t
know, but he might as well have held out a silver-platter with the soil of Dard-e-
Dil sprinkled on it ,and a goat blood added for good measure .The rest is
painfully predictable .Thr troops loyal to Askari, with the aid of the English,
overran Dard-e-Dil .Fariduddin was killed .Askari became regent to the infant
Nawab(the ugly one, who grew up to be beautiful despite all predictions).Did
 413

Askari think the English would tip their hats ,collect their gold ,and go? Did he
think? Clearly not, because in addition to the fifty lakh rupees he paid out, he also
made a treaty of mutual assistance with the English.

Were they involved, the Empire builders, in stirring up trouble for Askari? Every
time the state lurched towards peace another nobleman would carve out an
alliance to Fraser and his men. By the time the Nawab attained maturity and
Askari died in a drunken brawl at the banquet to celebrate the Nawab’s birthday
,Dard-e-Dil was just another de facto vassal ,and Fraser the man of common
birth ,was a lord. The rest of the story? This is how the history books sums it up:
‘Near the turn of the century state’s fiscal debt to the English was so vast the
Company annexed half the lands of Dard-e-Dil in commutation of arears.’ Half
the lands. Those three syllables cannot begin to convey the orchards and rivers
and mosques and temples and shrines and people, yes, there must have been
people on those lands, and too, I only thought of that.(Shamsie, 2000, p.117-119)

Description: Aliya goes on telling the tale of yet another ‘not-quite-twins’ of Dard-e-Dil family,
children of Fariduddin. He was an ugly man, but all the subject painters in his kingdom painted
him as a tall and strikingly handsome man, with long eye lashes .Shamsie hints at the subject-
ruler relationship and poses a question through her spokesperson, ‘what do you expect?’ in
brackets she refers to one of the Starched Aunt’s observation that none of the paintings show the
back of his head, suggesting that the omission also carries meaning, and was on purpose, that
was to hide his baldness. She says that irrespective of all the details the fact remains that he was
ugly and was aware of his ugliness and the handsomeness of his brother-in-law Askari. But
Fariduddin didn’t realize the extent of it until his wife gave birth to two twins, one a striking
image of Fariduddin and the other a striking image of Askari.

Aliya humourously comments that ‘Perhaps Fariduddin had read too many Greek myths
and too few biology texts’ implying that he interpreted this birth of strikingly different twins in
the light of Greek mythology but not in the rational light of genetics. She justifies him by
adding that the incident was of the middle of the eighteenth century when literature was given
 414

more importance than science in the education of a prince. Then she refers to the Greek
mythological tale of Leda and her twin eggs again, one having the mortal children of her
husband, Tyndareus and the other bore the immortal children of Zeus, the leader of the Greek
mythological gods. She says that no one tells us about Tyndareus reaction after seeing Zeus’s
children-Helen and Pollus and his children -Clytemnestra and Castor. Nothing could be done
against a god. Fariduddin was aware of his family myth and realized that his children were ‘not-
quite-twins’. Fearing the bad fortune they might bring to him he told his wife that he would kill
Askari first, then his son resembling Askari and then his wife.

Shamsie makes Aliya holds a direct discourse with the readers by saying that if they
doubt this part of the story it means, they like her, have watched enough movies to know that all
the three intended victims will survive and the one who intended to kill them, would have bullets
in his heart and would be killed. She continues talking to the readers that they can see that she
does not even pretend that there was any suspense attached to this part of her family history. She
questions the readers again, if she had mentioned that by then the Dard-e-Dil were factually
independent of the Mughals and had their first real opportunity of becoming great princes, ‘free
from all over lands, enlightened rulers of a stable kingdom.’ The whole expression is loaded with
irony-here the freedom is related to helping the colonizers, strengthening their hold in India .She
further questions, did she mention that the year was 1773 and asks the readers to guess which
trading company in India was dealing in more than spices by then. The obvious reference is to
the East India Company and ‘dealing in more than spices’ refers to the hold on power structures
and gradual rise towards complete colonization of India.

Aliya keeps telling the story of Askari and Fariduddin. When the former came to now
about the rage of the later, he took refuge in a neighbouring state, where the East India
Company had been strengthening its hold. She says that she does not know, what exactly Askari
said to the Englishman, Fraser, but she believes that he might have tried to win his sympathies by
referring to the cruelties inflicted on him in Dard-e-Dil’s domain. What followed was ‘painfully
predictable’; the troops loyal to Askari overran Dard-e-Dil with the help of the English.
Fariduddin was killed and Askari became advisor to the infant Nawab -the ugly one, who grew
 415

up to be beautiful defying all predictions. She wonders, whether Askari had ever thought that the
English would tip their hats, collect their gold, and go away .She is sure of the fact that he did
not think so, because in addition to the fifty lakh rupees he paid out, he also made a treaty of
mutual assistance with the English, the policy that helped the English with better foresight and
planning to consolidate their power and hold.

Aliya, Shamsie’s narrator, unveils the whole tactics of divide and rule of the English, the
builders of the British Empires in India. Every time the state staggered towards peace, another
nobleman would make an alliance with Fraser and his men to destabilize Askari’s rule and by
the time the Nawab came of age, Askari died in a drunken scuffle at the feast held to celebrate
the Nawab’s birthday , and Dard-e-Dil-people of respectable birth became just another de facto
vassal, while Fraser the man of common birth became their lord. This was how, the English
planned and practiced. The history books sums it up like this: “Near the turn of the century
state’s fiscal debt to the English was so vast the Company annexed half the lands of Dard-e-Dil
in commutation of arears.” She ponders on “ Half the lands” ,they are not mere three words the
expression is insufficient to covey what the English got hold of— ‘the orchards and rivers and
mosques and temples and shrines and people, yes, there must have been people on those lands
,too’. Aliya thinks of the people only, who got enslaved and displaced at their very own place by
the cruel turn of their history.

Interpretation: The situational context is Dard-e-Dil family’s history while the historical
context deals with fall of the Mughal Empire and gradual colonization of India.

Explanation: This part of the text is interdiscursive and intertextual in many ways. Right in the
beginning the portrayal of the attitude of the subjects towards the ruler, by showering praises on
him/her and portraying him/her in the most glorious way is shown. This has been a common
practice though out the human history. Shamsie’s deep insight of human nature is reflected
through her narrator’s light humourous, but revealing tone within brackets: “(Besides, one of the
 416

Starched Aunts noted, none of the paintings show the back of his head, and that omission must
mean something.)”(Shamsie, 2000, p.117).

The element of intertextuality can be seen in the analogy of Fariddudin’s children and
Tyndareus and Zeus children from Lydia. Another common practice hinted at, is a reference to
the role of mythology in the education of the princes instead of science, implying had Fariddudin
known about genetics he could justify the resemblance of his children to him and to their
maternal uncle.

Fariddudin’s resolve to kill the handsome Askari, to whom one of the children resembled
and to kill the child and his wife, is also mocked at in the following interdiscursive way: “We’ve
watched enough movies, all of us, to know that when you say a thing like that all three of your
intended victims will survive, and you’ll be the one with a bullet through your heart.”(Shamsie,
2000, p.118)

Shamsie also refers to the East India Company, that came as traders and returned as
rulers .She hints at the details, how cleverly they consolidated their rule in India by applying
divide and rule policy and then making the divided Indian rulers their “de facto vassal”(
Shamsie,2000,p.119). She further elaborates: “Every time the state lurched towards peace
another nobleman would carve out an alliance to unseat Askari, and every time this happened
Askari turned to Fraser and his men.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.119) this is how “Fraser that man of
common birth” (Shamsie, 2000, p.119) became a lord. Annexing half the lands, to Shamsie it is a
tragedy that befell not only to the rulers but to the people living there. Jean-Paul Sartre refers to
the multiplication of divisions of opposing groups and classes in the colonized societies in
preface to The Wretched of the Earth by Fanon (Sartre, 2001, p. 10) which is a historical fact.

Text (16): There is something you should know, little bug,’ Aba said. ‘Your Dadi
didn’t believe the legend of not-quites when she was young. It’s just with Partition
,the horror of what went on then, and the whole Akbar and Sulaiman thing
 417

,believing the legend was the easiest way of making sense of things .Even your
mother admits it was strange how everything unfolded-the breakup of the family
and my father’s and uncle’s roles in it. It makes it hard to dismiss family lore.’ He
walked out of the room, turning in the doorway to glance briefly at me.

He still couldn’t dismiss family lore entirely. (Shamsie, 2000, p.122)

Description: Aliya’s father calls her a little bug and tells that there is something she should
know that her Dadi didn’t believe in the legend of ‘not-quites’ when she was young. But what
went on with Partition and between Akbar and Sulaiman made her believe in the myth because
he thinks that was the easiest way for her to justify the whole situation and making sense of it.
He adds that even Aliya’s mother ,the most rational person in the family, admits that it was
strange, how everything unfolded-the breakup of the family and his father’s and uncle’s roles in
it. What happened actually made it impossible for them not to believe in the family’s myth.
After telling her all this, her father walks out of the room, but the way he turns around in the
doorway to briefly glance at her, is enough to make her realize that he still can’t dismiss the
family lore entirely.

Interpretation: The decline of Dard-e-Dil family is, somehow interlinked with the myth of ‘not-
quite-twins’ and even the people with scientific bent of mind like the protagonist, Aliya’s Dadi
and her father who could not believe in it for a long time ,came to realize that in some
unbelievable ways it had its impact on the family history.

Explanation: When compared to the women of her age, Aliya’s grandmother, Dadi, emerges as
a modern and revolutionary figure, who allured all her three ‘not-quite-twins’ cousins .As a
young woman with Western education, she did not believe in the family myth, but how Dard-e-
Dil family got divided before the actual Partition ,when Pakistan was a dim possibility and what
went on between Sulaiman and Akbar on the eve of Nawab’s birthday which made Abida and
Akbar leave for Karachi in 1946, somehow made her believe in the myth . In other words she
could not justify the circumstances that lead to the family division in any other way. Because
 418

when Akbar was talking to Sulaiman about going to Pakistan he said, “…it’s hardly as though
I’m planning never to see the rest of my family again.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.168) He believed then
as if it was just ‘going next door.” (Shamsie, 2000, p.168) But he could never return and never
met any one of them again. The circumstances made his displacement and alienation permanent.

Text (17): Ibrahim and Zain. Of course I remembered them. They were one of the
not-quite pairs. Their father Assadullah had two wives .One was high-born; the
other was the Nawab’s favourite .But he could not be entirely discriminatory in
his treatment with his wives because they were both found to be pregnant within
days of each other. For months the court was gripped by the rumours and
speculation, and a lot of heavy gamboling .Which of the wives would bear a son?
If both, which would bear a son first?

Assadullah died in 1525.Zain ascended the throne. The next year was 1526.The
year of the Battle of Paniput and the beginning of Mughal rule in India. Zain, sent
his envoys to Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, shortly after the battle
.The envoys found a man who spoke not of wars or empires, but of melons. Read
Babur’s memoire if you want confirmation. To him ,India was an ‘Unpleasant and
unharmonious ‘place ,a second –best territory he’d settled for when it seemed
clear he would never again rule over his ancestral home and one-time kingdom
,Samarkand .He was in modern parlance ,homesick. This homesickness
manifested itself primarily in his yearning for the honey-sweet melons of Central
Asia…Zain had heard of Babur’s homesickness and so he sent his envoys with
this message: ‘I, too, am from Taimurid family ,and there are many still in
Samarkand and Bokhara who tremble in awe at the name of my ancestors ,Nur-
ul-Jahan ,founder of Dard-e-Dil ,a prince of Transoxiana by birth .We are
brothers, you and I ,and brothers must help brothers. My armies are at your
disposal to recapture Samarkand, land of fabled beauty and honey-sweet melons,
where the power of Uzbek is weaker than t outwardly seems .In return, I ask only
that I may administer your lands in Hindustan, and rely on you to help me defeat
the infidel forces of Rana Sanga.(Shamsie, 2000, p.139-140)
 419

Description: Aliya introduces yet another pair of not-quite-twins--Ibrahim and Zain who were
Assadullah’s sons from two wives, one was high-born and the other was the Nawab’s favourite.
They both got pregnant within days of each other. For months the court was under the grip of
rumours and speculation with a lot of heavy gamboling on which of the wives would bear a son
and if both, which would bear a son first.

Zain ascended the throne in 1525 after the death of his father and the next year 1526 was
the year of the Battle of Paniput and the beginning of the Mughal era in India. Soon after the
battle Zain sent his envoys to Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire. The envoys met Babur
and found that he was a man who did not speak of wars or empires, but of melons. Aliya once
again addresses the readers directly by asking them to read Babur’s memoire if they want a
confirmation. She shares that according to Babur ,India was an unpleasant and unharmonious
“place ,a second –best territory he’d settled for when it became obvious to him that he would
never be able to rule over his ancestral home his one-time kingdom ,Samarkand again.”

In modern jargon he was homesick and his homesickness was revealed through primarily
by his longing for the honey-sweet melons of Central Asia. Zain had come to know about
Babur’s homesickness , so he sent his messengers with the message that he also belonged to
Taimurid family ,and there were still many people in Samarkand and Bokhara, who trembled in
respect at the name of his ancestors ,Nur-ul-Jahan , the founder of Dard-e-Dil ,a prince of
Transoxiana by birth. In this regard, he wrote they were brothers, and brothers must help
brothers. He assured Babur that his armies were at his disposal to recapture Samarkand ,
which he described as a land of renowned beauty and honey-sweet melons, where the power of
Uzbek was weaker than it outwardly seemed .In return, he asked him to allow him to
administer his lands in Hindustan ,and said that he would rely on him to help him defeat the
infidel forces of Rana Sanga.
 420

Interpretation: Shamsie forges a link between the advent and rise of the Mughal and role of
Dard-e-Dil in trying to grasp the opportunity to rule India under the cover of the first Mughal
Emperor, Babur .But as ill luck would have it, the plan failed and instead of giving Dard-e-Dil
the license to rule India, Babur preferred to do it himself.

Explanation: Mughal Emperor Zahir-ud-Babar’s arrival in India from Afghanistan and

establishing the Mughal Empire are historical facts mentioned in many history books e.g. Jaffar
(1936) writes:

The most brilliant period in the annals of Indian history begins with the advent of Babar
who invaded India on the solicitation of Ala-ud-Din, the uncle of the ruling prince
Ibrahim Lodhi, and Dulat Khan Lodhi, the Governor of the Punjab, and laid the
foundation of the Mughal Empire. The first battle of Panipat, in which Babar defeated
Ibrahim Lodhi, marked the beginning of a new era in the history of India. It paved the
way for the Great Mughals to come and settle in this country and make it their permanent
abode. The victory at Panipat meant the establishment of the Mughal Dynasty, which
furnished a line of those illustrious sovereigns under whom India reached the pinnacle of
her greatness and the apex of her fortunes. (Jaffar, 1936)

Shamsie links this historical fact with the history of Dard-e-Dil family. Zain, one of the
‘not-quite-twins’ from Dard-e-Dil sent an envoy to offer Babur his forces to recapture his lost
land and in return let him continue rule in India to which Babur agreed “but the envoys only
returned to find Zain was assassinated” (Shamsie, 2000, p.140) and by the time Ibrahim, the
other ‘not-quite-twin’ of Zain realized the practical wisdom of the deal Babur had changed his
mind. Shamsie humourously appropriates ‘a bird at hand is better than two at the bush’ by
writing “Babur had decided that a mango in the hand was worth two melons in his dreams”
(Shamsie, 2000, p.140), and as a result .Dard-e-Dil was merely reduced to a small administrative
unit of the Mughal Empire. Relating the lost opportunity to the myth of ‘not-quite twins’ Aliya
says, “People from Dard-e-Dil believed that the Mughal Empire had been theirs if not for those
 421

not –‘quite-twins’-Zain and Ibrahim.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.141) Shamsie makes the text further
interdiscursive by referring to the power politics that, “the Mughals were certainly not willing to
allow powerful rulers to remain powerful once the Mughal Empire was established.”(
Shamsie,2000,p.141).Aliya ,a Dard-e-Dil diaspora points out the reason why could not they see
the kingdom of Dard-e-Dil on the maps of pre-Mughal India ,she refers to history books which
state:

…the founder of Dard-e-Dil ,Nur-ul-Jahan ,was indeed from the royal Taimurid line ,but
after his victory in the Battle of Surkh Khait he failed to consolidate his power ,and the
Dard-e-Dil remained minor figures in the power game, so minor seriously that you
wonder if Babur could have taken Zain’s proposal seriously, it’s no surprise the
Mughals allowed the Dard-e-Dils to administer the land which Nur-ul-Jahan ,and his
descendants sometimes held and sometimes didn’t in the years between Surkh Khait and
Paniput .The truth is that Nur-ul-Jahan ‘s so-called kingdom was little more than a patch
of land and it was only after the fall of the Mughals that his descendants gained control of
enough of the surrounding areas to claim real power.(Shamsie, 2000, p.141)

Aliya also refers to her family’s haste in throwing off the Mughal rule. She refers to the
fall of Aurangzeb “the last Great Mughal’’ (Shamsie, 2000, p.142) and regards her family history
not as “insignificant as the historians” (Shamsie, 2000, p.142) made it to be. Aliya quotes
Rehana Apa about the courtesy of not quite-twins “otherwise the sad eyes of the last Mughal
captured in paintings might be the eyes of the last ruler of Dard-e-Dil.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.142)
Once again Shamsie refers to “the Mutiny of 1857” (Shamsie, 2000, p.142), and how Muslims
were killed and how Dard-e-Dil got a chance to seize more land by changing their allegiances.
The indirect reference is to all those who contributed to the fall of the Mughal Empire and
establishment of the British Empire.

Text (18):Murtaza nodded. They’re all idiots there. When they talk about
Pakistan ,which they almost never do ,they say such stupid things .One of them
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said our biggest problem is feudalism .Other than the usual rubbish of paying
taxes, he said we treat the peasants badly .I made him look like such an idiot in
front of the whole class.’

‘What did you say? Aliya, did you hear? He took on his professor.’

I smiled benignly at my aunt and hid behind a samosa.

‘I told him he should come to Pakistan .See how my family looks after the people
on our lands .We’ve built medical facilities, every year we bring someone from
the cities to talk to the women about birth control ,if anyone has a dispute they
come to us and we resolve the situation without bribery and favouritism. And they
are so grateful they want to kiss our feet .But we tell them they don’t have to do
that. Then I said, ‘Professor, sir, has anyone ever tried to kiss your feet?’ That
really shut him up.’

‘Tell them what you said about cities, ’his mother urged.

‘Hanh .I also said the poor people on our lands are much better off than poor
people I the city ,who have to rely on the government for justice and medical care
and things like that.’

This was too much for me.’ But you are the government! The National Assembly
is teeming with land owners .Both on the government and the opposition benches
.And incidentally, in all your talk of the largesse you provide to these benighted
souls, you never mentioned education.(Shamsie, 2000, p. 150)

Description: On his mother’s direction Murtaza, the foreign educated Sindhi feudal agrees to
impress Aliya by narrating his discourse with his American professor. He tells her that he regards
all of them as idiots and further elaborates that whenever they talk about Pakistan, which they
scarcely do, they say such stupid things like one of them said our biggest problem is feudalism,
other than the usual rubbish of paying taxes. He further tells that the professor said that they treat
their peasants badly. He boasts of how he made him look like an idiot in front of the whole class.
She asks him what he said. He replies that he asked him to come to Pakistan and see how his
family look after the people at their lands. He says he added to their knowledge that they have
 423

built medical facilities and every year his family brings someone from the cities to talk to the
women about birth control. He further tells that he added to their knowledge if anyone has any
dispute they come to them and they resolve the situation without bribery and favouritism and
people become so grateful that they want to kiss their feet, but they very graciously tell them not
to do that. Then Murtaza asked his professor had anyone ever tried to kiss his feet and he thinks
that his question really rendered the professor speechless .His mother urges him to tell the
audience what he had told them about cities and he goes on telling them that he told them that
the poor people on their land are much better than the poor of the city who have to rely on the
government for justice, medical care and things like that. The expression of the feudal’s conceit
is too much for Aliya and she tells him that they the feudals are the government for having their
majority in the government and the opposition benches .She tries to remind him by the way that
in all his conversation about their generosity they provided to them, he did not mention education
which she regards as a serious omission.

Interpretation: As mentioned earlier Dard-e-Dil family has always been very keen in building
up relations and connections with the influential people. So when once Aliya was there in
Karachi during her holidays, her ‘starched aunts’ especially invited her to introduce her to an
influential family for her scope of marriage in that family. But she was least impressed.

Explanation: This is a discourse between Aliya, a Dard-e-Dil enlightened foreign graduate and
Murtaza, a feudal, American graduate with the typical feudal mind set and family conceit. He, on
his mother’s directions, tried to impress Aliya by telling how he had rendered his American
professor speechless by explaining the superiority of the feudal system to the inferiority of the
democratic system. Aliya was least impressed and questioned the presence of so many feudals
both on the treasury and the opposition benches and still the failure of democracy .Indirectly
what Shamsie tries to convey is the cause of failure of democracy in Pakistan. The same theme
is highlighted in by Sajid (2011) in an article entitled “Failure of Democracy in Pakistan: Causes
and Solutions”:
 424

Causes of failure of democracy in Pakistan lie in our socio-economic system. “Feudalism,

illiterate and apathetic people, self-imposed leaders and inherited politics are a few
salient features of this system. It’s a feudal state where we are living and most of our
political leaders are just feudal lords and they have assumed and established their identity
as political leaders. Feudalism has been leading towards the traditions of inherited
politics as well in this country .In this feudal culture, millions of people are landless and
illiterate peasants and their social status is not more than a slave.(Sajid, 2011)

Shamsie refers to the same theme again in Kartography (2002).Asif, the feudal, known as
Asif Marx, while doing his graduation from Oxford, comes back to his country and becomes the
same feudal again, deadly against any kind of land reforms. In the comfort zone of his feudal
dynasty everything is a fun for him, the succession of Pakistan and the unrest of Karachi are
mere subject for discussion.

Text (19): The woman in the drawing room had her back to me when I entered.
She was looking at a painting of the Dard-e-Dil palace grounds .Hard to believe
that my grandparents played in these ground as children .The long driveways and
manicured lawns were a little too tidy for my taste, but I loved the scattered
sculptures-particularly the fountain with its statue of a bear, the other believed
the same for Jinnah and its harmonious mix of straight lines and arches, stood in
the background.

‘From the roof we could see forever .In 1947,turn this way and you’d see the
Hindu mobs burning down the Muslims doing the same to the Hindus .But not in
Dard-e-Dil itself. You have to give the Nawab credit for that.(Shamsie, 2000,
p.160)

Description: Aliya says that when she entered the drawing room the woman present there had
her back towards the door and was looking at a painting of the Dard-e-Dil palace grounds
.Aliya thinks that it is hard to believe that her grandparents played in these ground as children.
 425

She thinks that the long driveways and well-trimmed lawns were a little too tidy for her taste, but
she loves the scattered sculptures-particularly the fountain with its statue of a bear and its
harmonious mix of straight lines and arches that stood in the background.

In one of the painting that immortalized the glimpses of 1947 forever ,it is shown that
the Hindu mobs are burning down the Muslims ,and on the other side the Muslims are doing the
same to the Hindus . It was to the Nawab’s credit that nothing of the sort happened inside the
Dard-e-Dil palace itself.

Interpretation: Aliya left the starched aunt’s home when one of Murtaza’s sisters mentioned
Maraim Apa’s elopement .She was disturbed and missed Mariam Apa all the more. Outside she
saw Masood’s brother among the drivers and once again the gulf of the class distinction was
dawned upon her with all its intensity .She wanted to see her Dadi to get some clue of Taimur,
Mariam’s father to get some clue about her but there in Dadi’s absence she met her sister looking
at the pictures of Dard-e-Dil palace.

Explanation: Salt and Saffron is more of a discourse of Dard-e-Dil diaspora .Here Shamsie
portrays yet another strong character from the same family Mehr Dadi, who got widowed at
young age, married her only daughter to her own age fellow rich man and left to settle in Greece
.She became a permanent Dard-e-Dil diaspora who kept her ties with her family but did not opt
for the return. When Aliya entered Dadi’s drawing room, she found her looking at the pictures
of Dard-e-Dil palace. Aliya thought of the palace in terms of a place where her grandparents
spent a considerable part of their lives .For Aliya, they could be mere pictures but for the people
of her grand parents’ generation they carried a host of memories, a reminder of the whole world
left behind. Shamsie’ particularly refers to a picture depicting the scene of Partition, a historical
event that influenced the lives of Dard-e-Dil, creating barriers never to be bridged.

Text (20): Only that of all the twin stories, Akbar and Suliaman’s was the one I
never told to entertain crowds. Not for the same reason that I NEVER told
 426

Mariam Apa’s story; no, Akbar and Suliaman left no great mark on my psyche.
Their story was, well, just boring. Judge for yourself: the two brothers (Taimur
now long gone) disagreed politically. Akbar was a Leaguer, was a Congress man.
One believed that Nehru and the Congress were dangerously power hungry the
other believed the same of Jinnah and the League .The brothers fought; the
fighting turned bitter .The whole family was drawn into the battle and forced to
take sides-all other causes of division and unity among the Dard-e-Dil were
forgotten, and all that remained were the Pakistan’s camp and the United India-
camp. When Partition actually took place, one country coming to life on 14
August ,the other on 15 August ,the Dard-e-Dils sighed ,said,’ Born on opposite
sides of midnight like Akbar and Suliaman,’ and took that as a sign that the family
rift was inevitable .It was the curse of the not-quite raining down on the Dard-e-
Dils yet again, except this time ,instead of losing land ,wealth or architectural
plans ,they were losing each other.

(Later, during the bloodshed of 1971, when East Pakistan became Bangladesh,
there were those in my family who said it was inevitable. Because there had been
three brothers. If Akbar and Sulaiman were Pakistan and India, then of course
there had to be a third country to represent Taimur. The stupidity of the statement
is unparalleled, but it seemed sagacious compared to the other kinds of stupidity
that did the rounds of West Pakistan in those days. Let me take that back
.Stupidity is too tame a word to describe justifications of genocide and rape .Dadi
also claimed that 1971 killed Akbar. (Shamsie, 2000, p.165)

Description: Aliya is the narrator, she says that out of all the tales about ‘not-quite-twins’ it was
Akbar and Suleiman’s story that she never told to entertain people. But not because of the same
reason for which she never told Mariam Apa’s story. Akbar and Sulaiman’s story had never
bothered her; it was rather a bit too boring for her for being too typical. She asks the readers to
judge for themselves .After Taimur’s departure the two brothers who had been left behind were
in political disagreement. Akbar was a Leaguer with faith in Jinnah but with apprehension for the
Congress and Nehru. Sulaiman had his sympathies for the Congress and nurtured same
 427

apprehension for the Muslim League and Jinnah. There was a fight between the brothers that
turned bitter and the whole family was drawn into it putting all the previous differences and
alliances aside, they were divided into the Pakistan’s camp and the United India-camp.

The actual event of Partition was alarming from Dard-e-Dil point of view, one country
coming to life on 14 August, the other on 15 August ‘Born on opposite sides of midnight like
Akbar and Sulaiman’. India and Pakistan were like ‘not-quite-twins’, a bad omen signifying the
inevitability of the family divide. This time the curse of ‘not-quite-twins’ brought, not the loss of
land, wealth or architectural plans but they lost each other.

Years later, after the Civil War of 1971 when East Pakistan became Bangladesh, there
were some people in Dard-e-Dil family who regarded it inescapable relating it to the three
brothers. They said if Akbar and Sulaiman were Pakistan and India, then there should be a third
country to represent Taimur. Aliya acknowledges the incomparable stupidity of this logic, but
she thinks that it seems wise as compared to the other kinds of stupidity prevailing all around
West Pakistan in those days. “Let me take that back”, she says that ‘stupidity’ is rather a naïve
expression to describe the illogical justifications for genocide and rape. Aliya’s Dadi claimed
that what happened in1971 killed her husband, Akbar.

Interpretation: Aliya has always been interested in knowing about Taimur who left Dard-e-Dil
nine years before the Partition, but somehow she has never been interested in knowing about
Akbar and Suleiman’s story .So when Mehr Dadi wants to tell her the same, she does not refuse
out of courtesy.

Explanation: In this particular discourse ,Shamsie links the historical event of the creation of
India and Pakistan to Dard-e-Dil’s myth of ‘not-quite-twins’ .India and Pakistan were created at
different side of the night like the birth of Akbar, Sulaiman and Taimur .Partition divided the
hearts in Shah Nawaz’s (1990) terms and the conflict between Akbar and Sulaiman divided
Dard-e-Dil family .Most of the family preferred to stay in India, but Akbar and his family
 428

became permanent Dard-e-Dil diaspora. The actual cause of division between the brothers was
though apparently the different political stance, but actually it was love of the triplets for Abida.
The analogy between three brothers and the division of India was further justified by some of the
family members on the creation of Bangladesh that if Suleiman was India and Akbar was
Pakistan, there would have to be something corresponding with Taimur. But the division of
Pakistan in 1971 was such a fatal blow for Akbar, who had already left so much that he could not
survive.

Shamsie tells the reader that Akbar, though believed in secularism, could not equate this
belief with Congress .He was quite justified in his logic that if the Congress was not ready to
compromise under the British rule, how they could compromise when they themselves would be
the ruling majority. He emphasized the facts that the differences between the Hindus and the
Muslims had always been there. But Suleman’s logic was different, he said: “Don’t you see that
history has left us behind...The other ‘not-quites’ shaped history; we are shaped by it. We have
no power except over, our own lives.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.168) Both fail to convince each other,
their parting became inevitable, making Akbar, a permanent Dard-i-Dil diaspora.

Text (21): Akbar sighed. ’When Pakistan happens-and it will Cabinet Mission
Plan might work, but since Nehru has chosen not to accept…Oh, but never mind
that for the moment. Yes, when Pakistan happens we’ll all have to go. But I’ll only
be going next door.’ He laughed. ‘I mean, it’s hardly as though I’m planning
never to see the rest of my family again .Most of the Dard-e-Dil will stay here, I
know that. But I wish you’d think about coming with me. Think of it, Sulaiman: a
new country with all the potential in the world.’ He gestured around him, just as
Sulaiman had done seconds earlier. Let’s admit it, this life is over. And for all its
decadence and claustrophobia we’ll weep for it. But we’ll scold our children if
they do the same .Maybe that’s why Taimur left when he did .He didn’t want to
watch his world die.(Shamsie, 2000, p.168-169)
 429

Description: Akbar sighed at the prospect of their future alienation .He was sure of the
establishment of Pakistan. Had Nehru accepted, Cabinet Mission Plan might have worked, but he
had not. He did not want to discuss the lost opportunity ,but the opportunity at hand .He deemed
the establishment of Pakistan as writing on the wall and was sure of the fact they all would go
there, but at that time he thought of this displacement as if he would ‘only be going next door.’
He laughed in ignorance saying that he was hardly thinking as though he would never see the
rest of his family again. He was sure that most of the Dard-e-Dil would stay there, but even then
he wished his brother to accompany him. He tried to persuade Sulaiman by saying that Pakistan
would be ‘a new country with all the potential in the world.’ He shared with Sulaiman the
realisation that one phase of their life was over and despite of all its decadence and
claustrophobia they would miss it but he was equally sure that they would scold their children if
they did the same .He argued that Taimur might have left with this realisation that he didn’t want
to watch his world die.

Interpretation: Shamsie portrays the impact of politics and political and historical moves on the
lives of people, nations, families, individuals.

Explanation: Suleiman, who had known the pangs of parting with one brother and knew the
reason behind it, did not want to lose the other so he tried to convince Akbar not to go. But
Akbar refused to stay and see “… The crumbling decay of what was once grand” (Shamsie,
2000, p.169).His refusal irritated Suleiman, who then asked him, “Move on from me. Move on
from your home.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.170) He urged Akbar “Please, please, Akbar, do me a favour
and go to Pakistan the day it becomes a reality. Go on, leave Dard-e-Dil .Taimur will be back in
a flash when he hears you’ve gone.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.171). So Akbar went to Karachi the next
day, never to return listening to the “weeping ghosts” (Shamsie,2000,p.173).What Shamsie
wants to portray through this discourse is, no matter how much we are convinced of the
righteousness of our decision, displacement has never been an easy experience both,
psychologically and emotionally.
 430

Text (22): Karachi’s nights remind you that you can love a place ,and for me
that’s always been a reason to rejoice .But that night I thought of Akbar flying
into Karachi for the first time .How alien it must have been for him. How lost he
must have been in that first moment when he disembarked and thought, ‘My
children will call this home. They will know sunsets over the ocean and the taste
of crab so fresh it’s barely dead and they will hear blessings in the breeze from
the sea. But they will not know Sulaiman and they will not know Taimur. And in
not knowing those two, they will not know me’. (Shamsie, 2000, p.172-173)

Description: Aliya, the protagonist has been in love with her city. She says that Karachi’s nights
remind one , that one can love a place ,and for her that has always been a reason to rejoice
.But after listening to the story of Akbar and Sulaiman she thought of the night , when Akbar
was flying into Karachi for the first time , the place must have been alien for him. She felt he
must have been feeling lost in that first moment, when he landed and thought that his children
would call that alien place their home. They would know sunsets over the ocean and the taste of
crab so fresh it was barely dead and they would hear blessings in the breeze from the sea. But
they would not know Sulaiman and they would not know Taimur and in not knowing those two,
his ‘not-quite-twins’ they would not know him. It was not the loss of the hills and dales, but of
closely associated humans that would make the difference.

Interpretation: For the first time, Aliya has the realisation of what her grandparents and the
people of their generation had left behind and how much they might have missed what had been
lost forever.

Explanation: While arguing with Suleiman, Akbar said that it would be just like going next
door but ‘History betrayed Akbar and Sulaiman.’ (Shamsie, 2000, p.173) And before the evening
was over the terms ‘polite disagreement’ and ‘neutral party’ had disappeared from the ‘Dard-e-
Dil lexicon’.( Shamsie,2000,p.173) The whole family was divided into two camps .Akbar left
India like other millions for the ideological stance, as mentioned by Zafar in Kartography(2002)
 431

that he had heard his parents mentioned thousand times that they came to Pakistan to be
Pakistani leaving everything behind .Despite all the sacredness and religious connotation
attached with migration, it had its speakable and unspeakable sorrows that this whole generation
of Indian diaspora had to bear .

Text (23): When Mariam was around it hadn’t mattered, but now I felt so terribly
the need to have her explained. I had thought Taimur could lead me to her, if I
only asked the right questions about him, but he grew more and more elusive. To
leave your home and never go back-to commit yourself completely to making
another place home-that I could understand.(Shamsie, 2000, p.175)

Description: Aliya says that she had never realized that in order to know about Mariam, she had
to know about Taimur. She thought of different possibilities of getting some clue about him, but
he seemed quite mysterious. She failed to understand, why he had left his home never to come
back again ‘-to commit yourself completely to making another place home. ’Definitely there was
some solid reason behind that disappearance, but with the departure of Mariam, the faint
possibility of knowing about him disappeared.

Interpretation: Thinking about her grandparents’ last evening in Dard-e-Dil palace and how her
Dadi even at the wondering of Akbar what his brother might be doing called him ‘spineless’.
Aliya thought, ‘But what of everything she had lost?’(Shamsie,2000,p.175).Then her thought
turned towards Mariam Apa ,if ever she would come back she would not be acceptable with
Masood .She thought, “That could never happen.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.175)She could not even
speculate about it, class distinction was so deeply ingrained in her mind .But even then she could
not help missing her.

Explanation: Mariam’s tale of displacement is somehow a repetition of her father’s permanent

displacement from Dard-e-Dil. Aliya ponders on his disappearance, ‘Leaving home alone never
to return again but once only.’ She further thinks, “It’s all very well to love a place, but in the
 432

end what matters most is the people who live there .Why did Taimur leave Dard-e-
Dil?”(Shamsie, 2000, p.183)Aliya wants to trace the interlink between the two, but Mariam’s
departure banished the possibility of getting any clue .Aliya, Mariam’s ‘not-quite-twin’ is
disturbed and fearful at the same time .And consciously or unconsciously she has always kept
looking for her, “Karachi was full of corners, and I had grown up turning every corner with the
hope in my heart that she would be there .How could I continue to live my life between such
corners? How could I not?”(Shamsie, 2000, p.189) Her dilemma, like Hamlet’s is of “To be, or
not to be—“(Shakespeare)

Text (24): I sat cross-legged on the bed beside her ,directly across from a framed
photograph of Dadi and her female cousins in their childhood, all decked out in
ghararas ,with tikas of precious and semi-precious stones hanging over and
around the girls’ heads held each tear-shaped tika in place .I used to assume the
photograph was taken during some momentous occasion ,like Eid or a wedding
,but Dadi had told me ,no ,that’s just how they used to dress every day .It struck
me for the first time that she had far more photographs of life in Dard-e-Dil than
she did of life in Karachi.(Shamsie, 2000, p.199)

Description: Aliya narrates that she sat cross-legged on her Dadi’s bed beside her and looked
at a framed photograph of Dadi and her female cousins in their childhood, all dressed up
formally in ‘ghararas’ , decorated with ‘tikas of precious and semi-precious stones, hanging over
and around the girls’ heads, held each tear-shaped tika in place .Aliya says that she used to
assume that the photograph was taken during some important event for celebration ,like Eid or a
wedding ,but Dadi had told her that was the way they used to dress up every day and for the
first time she realized that her grandmother had far more photographs of life in Dard-e-Dil than
she had of life in Karachi, which signifies the importance of the memories she cherished of her
life in the lost home and lost land and of the people who had peopled that world.
 433

Interpretation: Aliya goes to see her Dadi, who has cancelled her plan to leave for Paris early,
there she encounters her old servant Mahmood, who asks her to convince her grandmother to
leave otherwise she will fall ill because of the harsh summer. He tries to remind Dadi of an
incident, when she fell ill more than fifty years ago while talking to Nawab in Dard-e-Dil palace
and he had to rush to inform Akbar .Dadi tells him “…the heat of Dard-e-Dil was something
else.”( Shamsie,2000,p.198).He agrees, but insists on his point of view by saying that if she falls
ill he will not run for the doctors and make bland soup.

Explanation: Aliya patches up with Dadi four years after Mariam Apa’s departure. When once
her anger subsides, she starts observing things differently with the realisation what Dadi had to
leave behind. There are pictures and paintings on the walls of Dadi’s life in Dard-e-Dil and for
the first time ,Aliya realizes that the pictures of the past outnumbered the pictures of the present
.One such pictures shows, Dadi along with her many other cousins, formally dressed up in
ghararas and wearing jewelry along with tikas. Aliya thinks that this picture is of some formal
occasion, but is told by Dadi that it was, how they used to live there .She realizes for the first
time the whole world with a lot of people, her grandmother had to leave behind. The pictures on
the wall are the memories of the past that cannot be revisited, the place that can be seen in
pictures, but cannot be returned to, the people, who got divided never to meet again .And there
for the first time Dadi shares with Aliya that she loved Taimur and adds that it’s the first time she
pronounces her love aloud .She goes on, “We were eighteen .So young. What does anyone know
at eighteen? But I loved him all the same.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.199)

Dadi falls ill and is hospitalized and Aliya goes to keep company with her in the hospital.
While talking to Aliya in the hospital Dadi seems to be “in a long ago world”(
Shamsie,2000,p.202).She shares “Taimur left during the first of the monsoon rains.”(Shamsie,
2000, p.202) That has been the reason she has avoided monsoon every year and used to leave for
Paris before its start. She keeps telling “when the rains begin I don’t want to know which of
those brothers, I’ll weep for first.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.203).She does not want to know the
hierarchy of her love. She is lost in the past and for the first time Aliya realizes her bitterness
 434

was not for Mariam Apa, but for her mother “-that mythical woman who had known ,what it was
to be loved by Taimur.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.203)

Text (25): I was quiet through the evening, allowing them to talk as only sisters
can. The talk meandered through nearly eight decades of memories ,their word
associations too far removed from logic to make much sense to me and I thought
,For all the talking we’ve ever done together there’s still so much I’ll never know
.I knew I was capturing a memory as I watched them ,both lying on the bed now
,so oblivious of my presence it was as though I were not yet born. They spoke of
the living with nostalgia, and the dead with mirth, and I wondered at my earlier
inability to see how remarkable were the women of their generation, who spoke so
rarely with regret, though they had seen so much turn to dust.

At one point I thought they were both asleep, until Dadi said, ’Remember what the
old boy said on the eleventh?’ and I knew ‘the old boy’ was Mohammad Ali
Jinnah, the Quaid-i-Azam, the Great Leader, whom even my generation with all
our cynicism could refer to by that title without irony .And the ‘eleventh’ must
have been 11 August 1947, three days before independence.

‘Of course I remember,’ Meher Dadi said, and she quoted, as though the words
were still fresh, ‘You are free. You are free to go to your temples .You are free to
go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You
may belong to any religion or caste or creed-that has nothing to do with the
business of the State. We are starting in the days when there is no discrimination-
no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between
one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle
that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.’(Shamsie, 2000, p .219)

Description: Aliya narrates that she remained quiet most of the time in the evening, providing
her grandmother and her sister an opportunity to talk as only sisters can. Their talk wandered
through nearly eight decades of memories, their diction was quite remote from her understanding
 435

.Despite having a close association and lot of sharing with both, she has a feeling that there had
been so much about their life she did not know and would never know. She says that she knew
that she was capturing a memory as she watched them lying on the bed oblivious of her
presence as if she were not yet born. She tells that they talked about the living with nostalgia,
and the dead with hilarity, and she wondered at her earlier inability to see the remarkable quality
of the women of their generation, who had the ability to talk without regret ‘though they had
seen so much turn to dust’, and they had left so much behind.

Aliya says that at one point she thought that they were both asleep, but then Dadi asked
her sister if she remembered what the old boy said on the eleventh .Referring to the Quaid-i-
Azam’s address, whom the people of her generation, despite all their cynicism, regarded the
greatest leader without irony and the date she referred to must have been 11 August 1947, three
days before Pakistan came into being. Mehr Dadi affirmed that of course she remembered and
started quoting from the address as if the words were still fresh in her memory .It was the
historical address in which he assured the gathering that in the state of Pakistan all would have
equal religious freedom to go to their respective places of worship, where religion would be
considered a personal affair and where there would be no discrimination among the people on
the basis of their caste and creed. The state of Pakistan would start with the fundamental
principle of equality of all its citizens.

Interpretation: Shamsie brings to light the remarkable quality of the people, especially the
women of older generation, who had seen the creation of Pakistan, offered sacrifices for it, left
so much behind, but have lived without regret. Her protagonist, Aliya realizes the depth and
strength of their characters to stand firm despite all odds.

Explanation: Shah Nawaz (1948) also portrays the indulgence of the Indian women in the
struggle for freedom as an opportunity to come out of their secluded life and participate in active
politics .Aliya’s Dadi’s reference to the old boy’s speech and her sister’s ready response
 436

recalling the exact words, reflect their devotion and level of commitment to the cause of
freedom.

Mehr Dadi also shares with Aliya that she misses her family, but for her “coming back to
Karachi is like stepping into the sea again after months on land.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.220).She asks
Mehr Dadi, does she know any Pakistani in Greece. She tells her that she met a man, who was a
mechanic and who lived in Turkey, but married a local, who was half Turkish, half Greek .He
told her a few years ago: “My father moved here at the time of the Khilafat Movement .First
World War that was. So we missed Partition, but somehow it was my destiny to live between
two neighbouring countries who are enemies.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.220)

Mehr Dadi, tells Aliya that his parents belonged to the same place where Dard-e-Dils
were, she adds that she met other couple of Pakistanis as well, but she says “…it was a joy to
meet someone who…Well it is an ego thing, isn’t it? Even though he’d never lived in Dard-e-
Dil, I was his royal family. And not just in some distant way .His father found his first job in
Istanbul via that Dard-e-Dil relative of ours, who went to Turkey and learnt the language .So we
were, in a very real sense, the mechanic’s father’s patrons.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.220-221) This is
how, her diasporic self finds satisfaction. She keeps telling, “He has all sorts of tales about Dard-
e-Dil himself .His parents kept in touch with their relatives there, and every so often he’ll
mention some lovely detail he found in his father’s letters.” (Shamsie, 2000, p.221)

Aliya asks her “Do you cook vats of your murgh mussalum to give him a taste of Dard-e-
Dil?”(Shamsie, 2000, p. 222) .She says that she did. So her attitude reflects how much she
misses her past life and different things associated with it.

The text is interdiscursive in political terms , Aliya’s Dadi’s generation witnessed the
establishment of Pakistan and charismatic leadership of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
.Aliya’s Dadi refers to his historical address of 11th August, 1947 and even after the lapse of so
many years Mehr Dadi recalls , what he said about the equality of all the citizens of Pakistan
 437

irrespective of their religion ,caste or creed .Aliya, Shamsie’s protagonist and narrator, comments
that despite all her generation’s cynicism they still regard Mohammad Ali Jinnah as the greatest
leader .Though this particular part of Quaid’s speech mentioned in the text, also gave birth to an
unending debate whether he wanted to see Pakistan as an Islamic state or as a secular state.

Text (26): Taimur smiled. ’Yes ,I think she might .Maybe I’d stay if we weren’t
not-quites; may be if we hadn’t grown up believing ourselves capable of bringing
about something terrible .Maybe .But ,then again ,maybe not. Because I, and you,
and she, we all love Akbar. Here.’ He pressed a velvet box into Sulaiman hands.
’I have no right to this. One day you might even know what to do with it .I
certainly don’t .Tell Mama I love her. (Shamsie, 2000, p .232)

Description: It is Sulaiman, telling Aida about Taimur’s last meeting with him, when he came to
see their ailing mother. He said he would stay ,had they not been ‘not-quites-twins’ and if they
hadn’t grown up believing themselves capable of bringing about something terrible .Again it
was a speculation, a conditional ,with it unalterable first condition in the past .But he tried to
assure Sulaiman of one thing that they all loved Akbar and then he pressed a velvet box into
Sulaiman hands saying he had no right to that and one day he might not even know, what to do
with it .In the end he asked him to tell their mother that he loved her and then left. Taimur’s,
opted for displacement, carried an element of mystery in it for Abida, but Sulaiman knew it was
because he loved Abida and her marriage with Akbar was the main cause of his permanent
displacement.

Interpretation: There comes Sulaiman, whom Aliya has always assumed to be “like Taimur and
Akbar’ a man from another age, mythical our lives not destined to overlap.”(Shamsie, 2000,
p.225)She first takes him as “an apparition” .He comes to resolve the mystery of Taimur’s
disappearance and restore Abida’s Naz.
 438

Explanation: Like innumerable recorded and unrecorded accounts of love, Taimur and Abida’s
love story is also associated with jealousy and sacrifice .Taimur loved Abida, but thought she
loved Akbar and left Dar-e-Dil never to return to pave the way for their union. Sulaiman knew
all this, he also loved Abida, but knew that he had always been the last choice. His one brother
got displaced, he tried his level best to keep the other with him, but ultimately failed to do so.
Akbar left and he was alienated displaced for he lost two very close associations of his being-
Akbar and Taimur .The family got dispersed, they took it as a curse of “not-quite-twins”. They
never tried to bridge the gap .Since Shamsie opts for a happy turn in the end, Sulaiman comes to
see Abida to restore her Naz of love “I’m so glad I have had my life”, she tells Sulaiman. The
very feeling, that her love for Taimur was not one sided, but equally responded and he
disappeared because they all loved Akbar, he sacrificed for his brother, but did not have a heart
to see Abida with anyone else so left forever ,makes her serene and exalted .Though all of them
become permanent Dard-e-Dil diaspora.

Summing up the tales of ‘not-quite-twins’ Aliya relates them to all those, who are
‘fallible…capable of error…given to passion’ and then relates it to Khaleel’s discourse with her
mother ‘When our hearts live, we are more than ourselves.’(Shamsie, 2000, p.243)

From here I will move on the next part of my analysis i.e. discussion on the context of the
novel.

4.3. Context

Shamsie (2000) writes in the acknowledgements of Salt and Saffron that her
grandmother, Begum Jahanara Habibbullah’s memoire was a wonderful source of information
for her about courtly life while her exposure to Western education and American university life
lent her insight in modernity. Shirazi (2014) writes in “Tradition and Modernity in Kamila
Shamsie’s Salt and Saffron” that Shamsie (2000) has dramatized the competing forces of
tradition and modernity in the novel. She regards “the novel a playful account of past memories
 439

revisited and preserved by family lore” and considers it an effective display of past Muslim
cultural and political glory, yet it revisits the current issues of identity, displacement and
immigration.

Brown (2005) reports about her conversation with Kamila Shamsie, who shared with her
that she had always wanted to be a writer, she regarded it as an inextricable part of her life. But it
took her quite some time to find her voice. She used to read Enid Blyton and other English
writers and used to feel that those books were written in another country. She told Brown that
she had read Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice-Candy-Man and then Sara Suleri‘s memoir, Meatless Days, that
seemed to proceed through metaphor and it also encompassed politics in Pakistan. Shamsie
shared that she loved it. But Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children inspired her to think that she
could also do that, she could write about the world as she knew it. But even after that revelation,
it wasn't until she moved to America as a student that she started writing about Karachi. She
reported "That came out of homesickness …It was a way of recreating the world on the
page."(Shamsie, 2005)

When we view Shamsie’s conversation in the light of Salt and Saffron we see Aliya’s
clan as ‘talking people’ well-versed in the art of narration which is in a way representation of
Shamsie’s own family of writers .Karachi is the home city of Aliya, like Shamsie and both went
to America for their graduation .Nyman (2009) writes that Salt and Saffron is set in the
contemporary globalized world of cosmopolitanism-Pakistani/British/American. Shamsie herself
claims that she has homes in all the three places-- Karachi where she belongs to and where she
spent her childhood, America where she studied and London where she works. She addresses the
questions of home, identity and mobility by following her characters’ movement from Karachi to
Boston, London and Istanbul and by constructing the family saga as the prime means of
narrativizing diaspora. The novel rewrites notions of home, family, and belonging to present a
critique of fixed identities. Shamsie herself loves to be called a Karachiwallah and a Londoner at
the same time that implies that she believes in ever evolving identities, the same is true of her
protagonist, Aliya whose diasporic experience makes her a different person even when retaining
her essential identity (Nymaan, 2009).
 440

So coming back to the context of Salt and Saffron in Nyman (2009) words Shamsie
weaves stories of the once famous house of Dard-e-Dil into the descriptions of their
contemporary descendants haunted by the events of 1947 in particular. It also constructs post-
colonial histories of class, politics and shifting boundaries of identity and shows their impact on
the life of Aliya, who returns to Karachi after studying at a college in the USA.

Nyman (2009) observes that ‘The story of Aliya appears to be a prime example of
contemporary migrants of a particular kind, involving study in a foreign country, dispersed
family members, and diasporic experiences of varying kinds, which at least problematizes if not
challenges the values of home’ (Nyman, 2009, p.109).All this is what goes in the making of Salt
and Saffron.

4.4. Interdiscursivity

Salt and Saffron is interdiscursive and intertextual in many ways .In the very beginning
of the novel Aliya’s Dadi’s conceited review of Hussain Asif ,a Shia Muhajir’s marriage to
Natasha Shah ,a Sunni Sindhi ‘Disown your own kind ,or accept the enemy!’(Shamsie,2000,p.2)
,an expression of ethnic divide is repeated in Kartoghraphy (2002) when Aunty Runty forced
Raheen to wish her a happy new year 1987 to have a gossip about Asif, the decadent feudal’s
Sunni brother’s elopement with a Shia girl. So we find a continuation in the discourse of the
ethnic divide in Karachi upper class society .The same theme in highlighted again in Salt and
Saffron when Aliya falls in love with a man having ancestral links in Liaqatabad ,a locality from
the other side of the class divide.

The family myth of ‘not-quite-twins’ also makes the text interdiscursive as it

encompasses the whole series of those who fell a victim to it, starting from Zain and Ibrahim
down to Aliya and Mariam by the end of the twentieth century.
 441

There is reference to Greek mythology in the beginning of the novel when Aliya is discussing
her Dadi’s attitude “But it really sums up Dadi’s attitude to royalty .The Nawab as Zeus…She
thinks he was a god. And he wasn’t even a Nawab when he raped Taj’s mother.” (Shamsie,
2000, p.17). Then Zeus, Tyndareus and Leda and her children from Zeus, Helen and Pollux from
Zeus and Castor and Clytemnestra from Tyndareus are mentioned again with reference to ‘not -
quite-twins’ .Again we find a reference to the rise and fall of nations when Saima questions the
validity and authenticity of Greek mythology “…Greek texts are kept alive through Arab
translations, which were translated from Arabic back into European languages when Europe was
ready to stop being barbaric and have a cultured moment.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.17)

Later in the text the element of intertextuality can be seen in the analogy of Fariddudin’s
children and Tyndareus and Zeus children. Another common practice hinted at, is a reference to
the role of mythology in the education of the princes instead of science implying, had Fariddudin
known about genetics he could have justified the resemblance of his children to him and to the
child’s maternal uncle. Fariddudin’s resolve to kill the handsome Askari, to whom one of the
child resembles, the child and his wife, is also mocked at in the following interdiscursive way:
“We’ve watched enough movies, all of us, to know that when you say a thing like that all three
of your intended victims will survive, and you’ll be the one with a bullet through your
heart”(Shamsie, 2000, p.118).Shamsie refers to the formula pictures which make the viewers
guess many things before they actually happen.

Shamsie’s protagonist, Aliya also refers to the utter ugliness of Fariddudin and his
presentation as a handsome man by his subjects in his portraits. That part of the text is
interdiscursive and intertextual in many ways. Right in the beginning the portrayal of the attitude
of the subjects towards the ruler, by showering praises on him/her and portraying him/her in the
most glorious way is shown. Shamsie’s deep insight of human nature is reflected through her
narrator’s light humourous but revealing tone within brackets: “Besides, one of the Starched
Aunts noted, none of the paintings show the back of his head, (and that omission must mean
something.)”(Shamsie, 2000, p.117).
 442

Shamsie also refers to the East India Company that came as traders and returned as rulers.
She hints at the details, how cleverly they consolidated their rule in India by applying divide and
rule policy and then making the divided Indian rulers their “de facto vassal”(
Shamsie,2000,p.119). She further elaborates: “Every time the state lurched towards peace
another nobleman would carve out an alliance to unseat Askari, and every time this happened
Askari turned to Fraser and his men.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.119) . This is how “Fraser that man of
common birth” (Shamsie, 2000, p.119) became a lord. Annexing half the lands of Dard-e-Dil, to
Shamsie, is a tragedy that befell not only on the rulers but to the people living there. Jean-Paul
Sartre refers to “the multiplication of divisions of opposing groups and classes in the colonized
societies” in preface to The Wretched of the Earth by Fanon (Sartre, 2001, p. 10)

Shamsie makes the history of Dard-e-Dil family interdiscursive by linking it with

different historical moves in India for example she says that Zain, one of the ‘not-quite-twins’
ascended the throne in 1525 and then linked it with 1526,the year of the Battle of Paniput and the
beginning of Mughal rule in India .She refers to the founder of the Mughal Empire Babur and
his memoire not as Tuzk -i- Baburi but as” Baburnamma”( Shamsie,2000,p.139).She also refers
to his rule over “his ancestral home and one-time kingdom ,Samarkand”( Shamsie,2000,p.140).
She traces a link of Tamarind linage between the Mughals and Dard-e-Dils. In Shamsie’s
discourse, Zain sought the help of the Mughals to save Dard-e-Dil from Rana Sanga, a Rajput
worrier and visionary who united the Rajput forces to regain their lost glory.

Shamsie humourously appropriates ‘a bird in hand is better than two at the bush’ by
writing “Babur had decided that a mango in the hand was worth two melons in his dreams”
(Shamsie, 2000, p.140).Because of the turn of fortune Dard-e-Dil was merely reduced to a small
administrative unit of the Mughal Empire. Relating the lost opportunity to the myth of ‘not-quite
twins’ Shamsie writes, “People from Dard-e-Dil believed that the Mughal Empire had been
theirs if not for those not-quite-twins-Zain and Ibrahim” (Shamsie, 2000, p.141). She makes the
text further interdiscursive by referring to the power politics “the Mughals were certainly not
willing to allow powerful rulers to remain powerful once the Mughal Empire was established”(
 443

Shamsie,2000,p.141).Aliya ,a Dard-e-Dil diaspora, points out the reason, why could not they
see the kingdom of Dard-e-Dil on the maps of pre-Mughal India ,she refers to history books
which state:

…the founder of Dard-e-Dil, Nur-ul-Jahan ,was indeed from the royal Taimurid line ,but
after his victory in the Battle of Surkh Khait he failed to consolidate his power ,and the
Dard-e-Dil remained minor figures in the power game, so minor seriously ,so minor you
wonder if Babur could have taken Zain’s proposal seriously, so minor it’s no surprise
it’s no surprise the Mughals allowed the Dard-e-Dils to administer the land which Nur-
ul-Jahan ,and his descendants sometimes held and sometimes didn’t in the years between
Surkh Khait and Paniput .The sad truth is that Nur-ul-Jahan ‘s so-called kingdom was
little more than a patch of land and it was only after the fall of the Mughals that his
descendants gained control of enough of the surrounding areas to claim real
power.(Shamsie, 2000, p.141)

Aliya also refers to her family’s haste in throwing off the Mughal rule. She refers to the
fall of Aurangzeb “the last Great Mughal” (Shamsie, 2000, p.142) and regards her family history
not as “insignificant as the historians” (Shamsie, 2000, p.142) made it to be. Aliya quotes
Rehana Apa about the courtesy of not quite-twins “otherwise the sad eyes of the last Mughal
captured in paintings might be the eyes of the last ruler of Dard-e-Dil” (Shamsie, 2000, p.142).
Once again Shamsie refers to “the Mutiny of 1857” (Shamsie, 2000, p.142), and how Muslims
were killed and how Dard-e-Dil got a chance to seize more land by changing their allegiances.
The indirect reference is to all those who contributed to the fall of the Mughal Empire and
establishment of the British Empire.

We can find the glimpses of colonized India as well like Jalianwalla Bagh massacre and
1857 revolt which is termed as ‘Mutiny’ by the English:
 444

From the roof of the Dard-e-Dil palace you could see trees in neighbouring states from
which the Rebels were hanged. And not just the Rebels. What was the name of that
Englishman who, i the wake of 1857, said he wanted to see a Muslim hanging from every
tree in India?”(Shamsie, 2000, p.144)

The afore-mentioned discourse is the expression of colonizers’ hatred for the Muslims
and the large scale killing of the Muslims in the wake of 1857 irrespective of the fact whether
they rebelled or not.

Shamsie also throws light on the attitude of the Pakistani feudals, who resist even the
very talk about the land reforms, who want to rule their lands and the country just for their own
vested interests and they take pride in how they can make fool of others .Murtaza in Salt and
Saffron represents the feudals. He tries to impress Aliya by telling her that all his university
professors in the U.S.A are:

They’re all idiots there. When they talk about Pakistan ,which they almost never do ,they
say such stupid things .One of them said our biggest problem is feudalism .Other than the
usual rubbish of paying taxes, he said we treat the peasants badly .I made him look like
such an idiot in front of the whole class…I told him he should come to Pakistan .See
how my family looks after the people on our lands .We’ve built medical facilities, every
year we bring someone from the cities to talk to the women about birth control ,if
anyone has a dispute they come to us and we resolve the situation without bribery and
favouritism. And they are so grateful they want to kiss our feet .But we tell them they
don’t have to do that. Then I said, ‘Professor, sir, has anyone ever tried to kiss your feet?’
That really shut him up…Hanh .I also said the poor people on our lands are much better
off than poor people I the city, who have to rely on the government for justice and
medical care and things like that. (Shamsie, 2000, p.150)
 445

Aliya could not bear it any longer and told him that he himself was in the government and that
the National Assembly was full of land owners on both the government and the opposition sides
and she pointed out “And incidentally, in all your talk of the largesse you provide to these
benighted souls, you never mentioned education.” (Shamsie, 2000, p.150).This counter discourse
speaks volumes of the reasons for our low literacy rate. Sajid(2011) regards our so-called
democracy a feudal state where most of our political leaders are just feudal lords turned
political leaders and politics has become their inheritance/legacy which they can pass on to their
heirs. This feudal culture has kept, millions of our people landless and illiterate, whose social
status is not more than that of slaves. In a way the feudal mind set is a perpetuation of the
colonial mind set.

Shamsie takes up the same theme again in Kartography (2002) where Asif, the feudal
from Rahim Yar Khan, who was known as Asif Marx during his university days at Oxford, came
home to become the same feudal again, deadly against any kind of land reforms. In the comfort
zone of his feudal dynasty, everything is a fun for him and the succession of Pakistan and the
unrest of Karachi are mere subject for discussion.

In the tale of Dard-e-Dil there are repeated references to 1947: “From the roof we could
see forever .In 1947, turn this way and you’d see the Hindu mobs burning down the Muslims
doing the same to the Hindus .But not in Dard-e-Dil itself. You have to give the Nawab credit for
that”(Shamsie, 2000, p.160). Shamsie narrates the eve of the Nawab’s birthday in 1946, when
there was a conflicting discourse between Akbar who was a Leaguer and Sulaiman who was a
Congress man. The political difference between them flared up and ultimately the whole family
was drawn into it and forced to take sides-Pakistan or United India. Akbar along with his family
left for Karachi the very next day-displaced from Dard-e-Dil palace forever. The creation of
Pakistan and India on 14th and 15th August 1947 was taken like the birth of ‘not-quite-twins’
Akbar and Sulaiman on either side of the night so they lost each other .Later the creation of
Bangladesh in 1971 was taken as a third brother like Taimur but the dream of Pakistan that had
gone sour took Akbar’s life. Stupidity, rape and genocide hinted at, with reference to 1971, later
echo in Kartoghraphy.
 446

Nyman (2009) regards the ‘notion of Partition is the central metaphor of the novel’ .1947
is referred to in this novel in different ways presenting two totally different perspective about
Partition .Masood ,their family cook shared with Aliya that his grandmother had walked
thousands of miles to reach Pakistan and on arrival she kissed the earth, that was sacred to her so
repeatedly that it got permanently settled in her throat and from then onward she could not talk
without coughing .She declined the offer to any treatment. On the other hand, there was Baji, her
Dadi’s cousin, from the Indian side, whom Aliya met in England and who retained her bitterness
against those who had moved to Pakistan on Partition, even after so many decades.

Shamsie also refers to other historical moves and events like Cabinet Mission , Khilafat
Movement , Vietnam War ,First World War , Battle of Paniput , Jalianwalla massacre ,and 1857
Revolt etc. to make the text all the more interdiscursive.

Shamsie’s protagonist appropriates history, when she claimed that Taj Mahal, the greatest
monument of the Mughal era, was actually Dard-e-Dil’s plan that was secretly bought in gold
and the Mughals only changed the name of the plan. It could have been “Dil Mahal” (Shamsie,
2000, p.44), had it not been stolen.

Shamsie’s quotes from some literary classics like Shakespeare’s Richards II. Aliya says
that the modern airports have denied modern diaspora of the symbolic gesture of setting “foot
once more on the soil of one’s homeland” (Shamsie,2000,p.85) which is from Richard II in Act
3,Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s historical play when Richard II returns on the coast of Wales “so
weeping-smiling greet I thee ,my earth” (Shakespeare,1842).She compares her situation on
return to Karachi with Richard II return to Wales and comments that the modern airports have
even denied this luxury of setting foot on one’s soil. She also quotes from Eliot’s poem Burnt
Norton .Samia conveys Khalil’s message to Aliya which is:

Footfall echo in the memory

 447

Down the passage which we did not take

Towards the door we never opened

Into the rose garden. My words echo

Thus in your mind (Eliot, n.d. as quoted by Shamsie, 2000, p.191)

Aliya’s father’s comment “that if you put together the servant’s information network with
that of Dadi’s bridge-playing crowd you’d eliminate the need for Intelligence Service in
Pakistan”( Shamsie,2000,p.96) also bears an element of interdiscursivity ,how networks at the
lower level and the upper level can combine together to compete with the world known Pakistan
Intelligence Service. Aliya’s mother use of “VIPS, VVIPS and VVVIPS” (Shamsie, 2000, p.96)
is quite in keeping with the ever increasing self-importance of the political elites of Pakistan.

Aliya also refers to Sadequain’s pictorial rendition of Ghalib’s verses accompanied by a

verse Shamsie quotes in Urdu:

“Dard-e-dil likhon kab tak,jaon un ko dikhlanon

Unglian figar apni,khama khunchakan apna”

And then adds that ’Conventional translations would render it something like this: “How
long shall I write of my aching heart? Come! I will show my Beloved/My wounded fingers, my
pen dripping blood”( Shamsie,2000,p.97).She further states that her family always treat ‘dard-e-
dil’ in the beginning of the verse as an invocation to them instead of going for ‘the aching
heart’- its literal meanings. At the age of three Aliya could imagine Ghalib showing her his
blood-stained hands, implicitly beseeching her to allow him to stop.

Aliya also refers to Woolf, Faiz, Faulkner, Rumi, Hikmat, Agatha Christie, Sherlock,
Beethoven, Fanon, Ashbury, Yeats, Eliot who are real life giant figures, this practice highlights
the relatedness of this fictional discourse to life and literature. Similarly through Dadi’s comment
 448

“But go back far enough and, of course, we were all swinging from trees”(Shamsie, 2000,
p.111). Shamsie takes us back to Darwin’s theory of Evolution. Later in the text Sameer talks
about “Clones’ and ‘Human cloning” (Shamsie, 2000, p.121) to dilute the effects of ‘not-quite-
twins’ in Dard-e-Dil linage.

There is no field of life Shamsie has not touched upon to make her discourse broader and
life like .Younger Starched, took the stance that instead of showing one’s ample weight on one’s
daughter’s wedding “…claim overflowing of religion and cover yourself in a burkha.”(Shamsie,
2000, p.124).

Taimur and Mariam Apa are the two mysterious character in Aliya’s life .She recalls Mariam’s
silence thinking:

She knew, as do we all, that it is useless to say you will keep quiet on one subject,
because everything is interconnected. Start talking about cricket and within five minutes
you might be on the subject of yak’s milk without a single non sequitur. (Shamsie, 2000,
p.179-180)

The interconnectedness of everything in life makes life and discourses in and about life
interdiscursive .Aliya misses Mariam Apa, her ‘not-quite-twin’. They spent a long time together
and Aliya has been greatly attached to her. Mariam’s departure from her place and elopement
with Masood created a void in her life. She used to have nightmares about her when she was at
the university in America and sharing room with Celeste, who described the way she used to get
up “looking like someone in a horror movie who only had seven seconds of screen time and was
determined to make it memorable” (Shamsie,2000,p.158), suggested her to “audition for the next
Stephen King movie”( Shamsie,2000,p.159) .Celeste regarded her sleep as “bourgeois luxury”(
Shamsie,2000,p.158).Aliya narrates:
 449

The first time this happened, when we’d been in college for less than a month, she sang
lullabies to me. She said it had seemed like a good idea, but after I went back to sleep she
worried that it was neo-imperialistic of her to assume that ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’ had
any significance. (I replied, ‘Your neo-imperialism anticipates my post-colonialism’.
(Shamsie, 2000, p.159)

The use of political jargons like bourgeois luxury, neo-imperialism and post-colonialism,
makes the text further interdiscursive. The impact of a personal loss is linked with higher national
and international political discourses .Celeste calls Aliya ‘our elitist Third Worlder’ and tells her
what little news they get from Aliya’s “part of the world is pretty threatening”.(
Shamsie,2000,p.182) Aliya considers herself “entirely peripheral”( Shamsie,2000,p.187)during
the night she spent with Dadi in the hospital. She recalls how Dadi used to look at Mariam to find
some trace of ‘the other woman’ in Taimur’s life but “Mariam looked so much like Taimur you’d
almost believe she was Athenia to his Zeus springing fully formed from his forehead…”
(Shamsie, 2000, p.202)

Similarly we find a reference to Khilafat Movement and Ottoman Empire .Many people
of Dard-e-Dil family were a part of Khilafat movement before the triplet, Akbar, Taimur and
Sulaiman were born and Taimur grew up listening to the stories that they had participated in that
movement “to show the British that Muslims around the world would not accept the breakup of
the Ottoman Empire.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.177).Aliya suspects Taimur displacement to Turkey
after leaving Dard-e-Dil.

Then we find references to the old boy-Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, his August
11, 1947 address and Atta Turk and his declaration to make Turkey a secular state. Shamsie also
quotes from The Odyssey, one of the two great epics of Homer:

In Book VIII of The Odyssey a bard at the court of King Alcinous entertains the assembly
with the tales of the crafty Odysseus, hero of the Trojan war, beloved of the grey-eyed
 450

goddess, wanderer in search of a way home. Before the bard has finished his tale a
stranger weeps and is asked to identify himself .He says, ‘Behold Odysseus!(Shamsie,
2000, p.225)

She links it with Sulaiman’s appearance in the hospital; Aliya first takes him as an
apparition .He comes to return Dadi’s ‘Naz’ that her love for Taimur was not one sided. Aliya
wonders, “How could we ever exert ourselves to the simplest physical action when all our lives
were so dependent on passive act of listening?”(Shamsie, 2000, p.234) From Dadi’s love story to
Aliya’s love story there is a continuation:

All the active-passive listening I’d ever done in my life had brought me to this moment,
to this darkness in which I awaited light ,knowing it was time for me to don my costume
,make my entrance and speak the words .Which words I didn’t yet know ,but they were
,they would become ,part of someone else’s story ,one generation ,or two ,or three down
the line.(Shamsie, 2000, p.238)

Aliya’s thought echoes Shakespeare’s (1623) “All the world’s a stage…” signifying the
interdiscursivity of the drama of life.

4.5. Shamsie as a Diaspora Writer

Shamsie(2014) tells Kumar in an interview that it would be a terrible thing for her to be
an outsider in Karachi; she adds that “she visits her city regularly and will always be a
Karachiwallah…” she does not call herself a ‘Karachiites’ in a popular Anglicized expression
but “a Karachiwallah” to give it a more native ,intimate touch. Though her diasporic experience,
exposure and opportunity have made her ‘a Londoner and a Karachiwallah’ (Shamsie, 2014) at
the same time and she feels comfortable with both. Her broadened mental horizon makes her
 451

realize and negotiate “We put too much emphasis on identities. The fact is that we all have many
identities and we keep negotiating between them.”(Shamsie, 2014)

Nyman (2009) says that Salt and Saffron “is not a mere narrative of contemporary
diaspora communities but it develops such thematic by exploring aspects of (in) voluntary exile
,migration and separation .In so doing ,it shows their traumatizing effects for families and
individuals”(Nyman, 2009, p.112). He further elaborates “Shamsie’s narrative representation of
home reveals a series of traumatic experiences enacted within the home and history of the family
experiences which have generated disruptions and distrust.”(Nyman, 2009, p .115)

Aliya, the protagonist of the novel is the third generation of the Partition migrants but she
 452

characters for educational purposes and their presence ,experience and exposure in foreign
spaces throw light on the various dimensions of diasporic consciousness.

Coming back to Aliya, the protagonist, who is on her way back to Karachi, after doing her
graduation breaks her journey at London .She feels like a true (Karachi) Pakistani diaspora
subject at the very friendly and soothing touch of her cousin Samia:

Samia lay down and rested her head against my back. More than anything else, more than
mangoes, golgapas, nihari and naans, more than cricket mania, more than monsoon rains,
more than crabbing beneath the star-clustered sky, what I missed about Karachi was the
intimacy of bodies. (Shamsie, 2000, p.14)

Before landing at Karachi airport Aliya shares the excitement of all diasporas who love to
return to their homeland:

To set foot once more on the soil of one’s homeland .Modern airports deny us this
symbolic gesture. No soil, not even tarmac .Instead we step into an elevated corridor
which carries us through to passport control, luggage claims and customs clearance.
Denied my Richard II moments(‘so weeping-smiling greet I thee ,my earth’).I’ve learned
to crane forward ,or sideways ,towards the window ,to await the dip of plane’s wing, the
descent from the clouds and – almost there now- the giant expanse of Karachi glittering
under the darkened sky .I’ve always loved the brashness of that city ,the resolve that turns
on lights ,night after night ,not really in the hope of outstaring the sky ,but just for the
sake of contesting.(Shamsie, 2000, p.85)

Aliya, is here Shamsie’s spokesperson who has always loved the resilience of her city.
Similarly when she reaches Karachi and is picked up by her cousin Sameer she looks at his
driving thinking: “ Karachi boys have a distinctive one-handed way of driving ,though I hadn’t
 453

realized that until I went to America”.( Shamsie,2000,p.92) Her comments on the Karachi
morning papers also shows Shamsie’s keen observation as a diaspora writer:

There is no institution in the world which uses the word ‘flay’ as wantonly as the Karachi
morning papers. Government flays opposition. Opposition flays PM .Politicians flays
bureaucracy. Journalists flay censorship .Batsmen flays bowlers .Hygienists flays fleas
.Foreign Minister flays Foreign Hand .Other wantonly used word is ‘miscreant’
.Whenever anything untoward happens-be it the spread of vulgar graffiti or the
detonation of a bomb-miscreants are blamed.NO one seemed to realise that the
seriousness of the crime is undermined by the use of the word ‘miscreant’ ,which
conjures up an image of the little gnomes scampering around with flaming torches in
their hands. When the papers are feeling particularly reckless they’ll print a headline
which announces that someone has flayed a miscreant.(Shamsie, 2000, p. 110)

Shamsie belongs to those elite class privileged migrants, with all resources and
connections, for whom moving around the world is an easy experience but even then the love for
their native land and the desire to see and return to it is there in them which finds an expression
in Sameer’s reply to Aliya’s question about going to Hong Kong:

There’s a strong chance the bank’s going to post me Hong Kong .It’s an attractive
proposition and God knows there are days I just want to get away from the inefficiency,
the violence, the corruption… Fact is, if it happens I’d be stupid to turn it down
.Professional suicide. Bit no place will ever be home like this. And no company is as
comforting as the company of family. That’s what I learnt at college. (Shamsie, 2000, p.
92)

Aliya enjoys the beauty of Karachi’s night, but her own diasporic experiences makes her
think of her grandfather, a Dard-e-Dil diaspora, who came to Pakistan in 1946 leaving everything
behind forever:
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Karachi’s nights remind you that you can love a place, and for me that’s always been a
reason to rejoice .But that night I thought of Akbar flying into Karachi for the first time
.How alien it must have been for him. How lost he must have been in that first moment
when he disembarked and thought, “My children will call this home. They will know
sunsets over the ocean and the taste of crab so fresh it’s barely dead and they will hear
blessings in the breeze from the sea. But they will not know Sulaiman and they will not
know Taimur. And in not knowing those two, they will not know me. (Shamsie, 2000, p
.172-173)

Shamsie wants to convey that despite all the sacredness and religious connotation
attached to migration it had its speakable and unspeakable sorrows that this whole generation of
Indian diaspora had to bear. Aliya realizes this again when she goes to see her Dadi and notices
that there are lot of pictures of Dadi’s life in Dard-e-Dil on the walls than of her life in Karachi:

I sat cross-legged on the bed beside her ,directly across from a framed photograph of
Dadi and her female cousins in their childhood, all decked out in ghararas ,with tikas of
precious and semi-precious stones hanging over and around the girls’ heads held each
tear-shaped tika in place .I used to assume the photograph was taken during some
momentous occasion ,like Eid or a wedding ,but Dai had told me ,no ,that’s just how they
used to dress every day .It struck me for the first time that she had far more photographs
of life in Dard-e-Dil than she did of life in Karachi.(Shamsie, 2000, p .199)

Despite all apparent firmness not to reconcile with the Indian relatives and never to go
back to Dard-e-Dil, Dadi cannot escape the past and the memories of the past and this is the tale
of all those diasporas who cannot or do not want to go back to their lost lands. Shamsie
elaborates the theme further, when Aliya describes how Dadi and her sister are together in the
hospital talking to each other:
 455

The talk meandered through nearly eight decades of memories ,their word
associations too far removed from logic to make much sense to me and I thought
,For all the talking we’ve ever done together there’s still so much I’ll never know
.I knew I was capturing a memory as I watched them ,both lying on the bed now
,so oblivious of my presence it was as though I were not yet born. They spoke of
the living with nostalgia, and the dead with mirth, and I wondered at my earlier
inability to see how remarkable were the women of their generation, who spoke
so rarely with regret, though they had seen so much turn to dust. (Shamsie, 2000,
p .219)

Mehr Dadi is another Dard-e-Dil diaspora subject in Salt and Saffron. She shares with
Aliya: “I miss my family .You all drive me mad, but coming back to Karachi is like stepping into
the sea again after months on land. How easily you float, how peaceful is the sense of being
borne along, and how familiar the sound of the water lapping against your limbs.”(Shamsie,
2000, p. 220)

She never goes back to Dard-e-Dil but regularly visits her relatives in Pakistan. And
shares with Aliya that she keeps in touch with some Pakistani in Greece whose father found his
first job in Istanbul via Dard-e-Dil relative of theirs who went to Turkey and learnt the
language .So she says “they , in a very real sense, the mechanic’s(that Pakistani) father’s
patrons.”(Shamsie, 2000, p .221) This is how her diasporic self finds satisfaction. She keeps
telling, ‘He has all sorts of tales about Dard-e-Dil .His parents kept in touch with their relatives
there, and “every so often he’ll mention some lovely detail he found in his father’s
letters”(Shamsie, 2000, p .221).Aliya asks her “Do you cook vats of your murgh mussalum to
give him a taste of Dard-e-Dil?”(Shamsie, 2000, p. 222) .She says that she did. Shamsie reflects
through her attitude how much she misses her past life and different things associated with it.

Since Shamsie opts for a happy turn in the end, so Sulaiman from the lost world comes to
see Abida, Aliya’s Dadi to restore her ‘Naz’ of love “I’m so glad I have had my life,”
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(Shamsie,2000,p .235) she tells Sulaiman. The very feeling, that her love for Taimur was not
one-sided but was equally responded and he disappeared because they all loved Akbar ,he
sacrificed for his brother but did not have a heart to see Abida with anyone else so left forever,
makes her so serene and exalted .Though all of them become permanent Dard-e-Dil diaspora
.Summing up the tales of ‘not-quite-twins’ Aliya relates them to all those who are
“fallible…capable of error…given to passion” and then relates it to Khaleel’s discourse with her
mother “‘When our hearts live, we are more than ourselves.”(Shamsie, 2000, p .243)

4.5.1. Shamsie’s Use of Language as Pakistani Diaspora Writer

Shamsie mixes the code and uses following Urdu words in her novel:

Dadi, Shia, Sunni ,ghazals ,Uff tobah ,gharara ,Begum, gol guppas ,nihari ,naan, chhipkali
,Suno ,qatra, jo bhi, savaal ,aloo, Fahkar, Nazish ,Imli ,halva, aloo puri ,dhobi ,pultan, phupa,
phupi ,desi, chuker ,ehmuk ,Baji ,zenana, aadab ,jeeti raho ,Qaida, Saleeqa, bhungra, sherwanies,
subehdar ,Surkh Khait, Huzoor, ayah, Sahibzada, bhurta, achaar gosht ,pulao, masoor ki dal,
kachoomar, haa ndi, karahi, pudina, dhuniya, Aaah, mali ,Shaitan, jalabees, samosas, gulab
jaman, ludo ,burfi, shami kabab ,Haath main maza hai, parathas,
Bibi,haj,Jangia,Bijli,paan,tamasha,motia,chappatis,umeed,amrood, sooraj, aftab,musibat ,falsa
,girgits, Chacha ,Bari Begum Sahib,,puloo ,Milao, Mian ,haleem, ghunghroo, table, kathak
,kameez, Ghair Insan ,bhai,burkha, Hanh, dholkis, toupe e,Allah ka shukar, dehati ,jahez,Aba,
Ammi ,Baburnama, Vizir, Fatofat, Arre ,nikahnama, Ludo ,masala, baychari ,naanwallah,
shalwar-kameez ,tikas, monsoon ,Naz ,rishtah ,jora, Bua , Niswaar ,bhuttawallah, chaatwallah
,Shabaash ,chotoo ,koftas, Bhujia ,chalaang, timatar, karri pattas, mooli, loki, bhindi,
shaljam,gajir, matter, phool gobhi ,Bihari kabab, aalo Panjabi.
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4.5.3. Salt and Saffron and Identity Crisis

As a postcolonial, diaspora writer, Shamsie highlights different dimensions of identity

crisis, her fictional characters experience. Right in the beginning she refers to Shia Muhajir,
those who opted for displacement at the Partition leaving everything behind to become
Pakistanis have still been termed as Muhajirs.

Aliya, the protagonist, has been brought up with family pride, but her exposure to the
Western education in an American university, coupled with the disappearance of her not-quite-
twin Mariam Apa make her a different person .So she rebelled against Dadi who believes in
fixed identity and set rules. When once her Dadi opted for her Pakistani identity, she never
looked back to reconcile with those who were left in India. Aliya’s encounter with another
Pakistani diaspora subject, Khalil, during her air journey from America to London further
complicates the matter .She falls in love with him, but the knowledge that his ancestors belong to
Liaqatabad, a middle class locality of Karachi, leads her to mental conflict .Ethnic divide, family
values and exposure to another world have changed her style of being. “I’ve deconstructed it,
analyzed it, and I have refused to take on the attitude of my relatives with their centuries of
inbred snobbery” (Shamsie, 2000, p .32-33). Aliya’s Dadi believes in settled identity “What we
are, we are.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.113) while Aliya challenges this fixity “it does not always have to
be so.”(Shamsie, 2000, p .193) Rather, it is ever evolving.

Khalil, another member of Pakistani diaspora, from the other side of the class divide, also
shares; he prefers to be called Cal instead of using his real name because he says:

…when you are in the Western world, and your last name is Butt and you are born in a
town spelt A-T-H-O-L, pronounced “Athole”, things are bad enough already .You don’t
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want to add to the humiliation by admitting to a name that sound you’re expectorating.
That “kh” you know. (Shamsie, 2000, p. 29)

But he does not know that the very hint to the locality his relative lives in, will create the worst
identity crisis for him .His foreign nationality, Western education, dashing personality, all will be
nullified by the very mention of one word ‘Liaqatabad’. Samia, Aliya’s cousin, tries to make her
realize that people living there are “The poor, the lower classes, the not-us.”(Shamsie, 2000, p.
31)

Khalil himself shares with Aliya “I had a hard enough time growing up in the States
knowing the other kids were laughing behind my back at my parents’ accent, their clothes, and
their whole foreign baggage” (Shamsie, 2000, p. 60). He adds “I decided pretty early on that I’d
rather risk unpopularity at school than feel embarrassed at home” (Shamsie, 2000, p 61).So he
asks her not to expect from him to be defensive or apologetic about his family background.

Then there is Taimur. He is from the colonized Indian elite Dard-e-Dil family. He along
with his other two brothers had English governess in their childhood. She changed their names
and made them Percy, Alfred and Geordie. Taimur defies this rule. Although apparently in a self-
mocking tone he tells his brothers that he would shun his hybrid identity, use no more English
and be Taimur Hind, to play his historical role as a colonized subject he would become a
personal attendant –a valet of an Englishman. This reflects the identity crisis that he experiences.

We can also assert that the identity crises depicted in the novel are because of three
reasons, the first: post-colonial experience and the subjects’ cultural dislocation/relocation, the
second: the ethnic and class divide, and the third: diasporic exposure.

All the three novels analyzed in this chapter depict a process of evolution in Shamsie’s
skills in presentation of diaspora in her fiction Salt and Saffron (2000) can be taken as Dard-e-
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Dil family diaspora novel, Kartography (2002) is Pakistani and to be more exact Karachi
diaspora novel while Burnt Shadows (2009), an epic, is a representation of a variety of diasporas
across the world, proving her fiction a study of diaspora.
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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

In the light of the various postulations of postcolonial diaspora studies with special
emphasis on Edward Said’s theory, the significant questions the study posed have been dealt
with in the previous chapter. Edward Said marks out a sense of alienation that is experienced by
majority of diaspora subjects both in case of opted migration or forced dispersal in his works-
Orientalism (1978), Culture and Imperialism (1991) and the Memoire, Out of Place (1999). His
views on the alienation, that is irrespective of social, personal, educational and professional
achievement, of diaspora subjects is in keeping with Ashcroft et al. postcolonial theory of place
and displacement. The present study has been conceptually influenced by their postcolonial
models of place and displacement. In a way, thus, the application of the ideas in the explanation
of the Kamila Shamsie’s chosen texts makes the study discrete in the realm of Diaspora Studies.

It is significant to note here that both Shamsie and Said are renowned postcolonial
diaspora subjects. Their education in Western institutions, their professional achievements, their
decision not to live in the countries of their origin and their inherent awareness of the
‘difference’ proves them to be diaspora (individuals). They tread on their diasporic
consciousness and lifelong experiences that are easily relatable in their writings.

Shamsie has emerged as an eminent post-colonial Pakistani diaspora writer whose voice
can be heard at the international level. Her fiction deals with the place and displacement of
different characters in different eras of human history on account of major historical events. In
other words, history is interwoven in her fictional discourse. History contributes to the central
action and character accounts in her work. And most importantly, in the light of the research,
Shamsie writes to a greater extent from a non-Western perspective while disclosing the diasporic
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strains an individual goes through in her text. Shamsie engages her readers with serious
intellectual concern of place and displacement that are resultant of major historical events. The
characters in her novels face the identity crisis because they are Diasporas formed out of
historical events that are not of their own making.

The author’s selection of themes/issues, her choice of characters (representative) and

her narrative techniques in the novels create awareness about the world we are living in. She stirs
her readers’ to ponder on the national and international power structures, power practices and the
impact of the misuse of power to perpetuate the hegemony of some people over the others. She
makes her reader see where exactly the grey areas are and how they create trauma and
displacement in the lives of the poor victims and/or Diasporas.

Another aspect, which has been highlighted in the work, is interdiscursivity in Shamsie’s
fiction. She combines different strands of the panorama of human life and the visible and
invisible hands, causing displacement, trauma, identity crisis, death and destruction. For
instance, in Burnt Shadows, she forges a link between the dropping of the atomic bomb on
Nagasaki in World War II and the arrest of a suspected terrorist during the War on Terror. There
is an existence of Guantanamo Bay in the civilized world, where humans are not only deprived
of their identity, but humanity as well. Shamsie starts the novel with the depiction of a nameless,
naked prisoner in cold winter season, ready to be escorted to Guantanamo Bay pondering “How
did it come to this?”(Shamsie, 2009, p.1) From there she takes the readers back to the fatal day
of 9th August, 1945, when the whole familiar world of Hiroko Tanaka, a young Japanese woman,
was turned into ashes. This character recalls how her father turned into a reptile all covered with
scales and the dead turned into illusions of shadows. Amidst such unthinkable devastation caused
by the dropping of the bomb, the justification of an American, with a gentle face, that the
dropping of the bomb was necessary to save the Americans’ lives made Hiroko leave that world
behind, becoming a permanent Japanese diaspora.
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Interdiscursivity is also significant with the presentation of the dropping of the atomic
bombs which refers to the emergence of the neocolonial power that wanted to convey a message
to the world in general and communist Russia in particular that there would be a new world order
in which the Americans’ ‘might’ would be the only ‘right’. On the other hand, the Partition of
India before the original schedule was an indication of the loss of the hold of the old colonizers.
Hiroko, Shamsie’s protagonist, came under the impact of the both events.

Kamila Shamsie forges a link between Hiroko and an Indian Muslim Sajjad, who
believed that he and his children would live and die in ‘Dilli’, but was later forced to migrate to
Pakistan along with Hiroko who married him. They and their only child Raza, indirectly fell a
victim to yet another historical event – a proxy war the world power stakeholders fought in
Afghanistan. Pakistan was a frontline state and Karachi was the coastal city from where all the
transaction of arms and ammunition was made. In the same city, Sajjad was killed and Hiroko
and Raza were permanently displaced.

Shamsie also weaves a tale of friendship between Abdullah and Raza. Abdullah is an
example of forced dispersal/diaspora. He was an Afghan teenager who was forced to leave
Afghanistan because of the Russian invasion. He became a gunrunner. Raza in the guise of Raza
Hazara (a Mangol tribe in Afghanistan) becomes friends with Abdullah. He had been suffering
from an identity crisis because of his resemblance to his Japanese mother and also his mother to
be a victim to the atom bomb. He sought an escape in Abdullah’s friendship from these labels
coming from her mother’s fateful past and that developed in him a sense of alienation. However,
his misadventure to accompany Abdullah to Mujahedeen training camp resulted in his father’s
killing and his permanent displacement from Karachi as well.

Finally, he reached America to work for Arkwright and Glenn (A&G), a private security
corporation, as a translator. A&G was contracted by the CIA during the War on Terror and Raza
moved to Afghanistan along with Harry, his foster father, with whom his family had a
generation’s long association. Harry was killed and Raza was shelter less again. Raza was
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suspected of being involved in Harry’s murder. He sought a useless escape from the only super
power of the world and finally we see him as a naked, nameless prisoner ready to be escorted to
Guantanamo Bay. This is how his life was affected by a series of historical events making him a
permanent Pakistani diaspora subject.

At the same time, Shamsie exposes the power structures and power practices in the
course of history through different discourses. Harry, who was a son of a German mother and a
British father, had spent his early childhood in India. He suffered from his first displacement
because of impeding withdrawal of the colonial powers from India and an acute identity crisis
when sent to an English boarding school. He was ridiculed for his Indian accent and German
mother. He had to experience another displacement because of his parents’ separation. He went
to America and opted for a change of name and nationality. So from English Henry, he became
American Harry. Shamsie highlights shifting identity of Harry and shows how psychological
complications caused by identity issues turns a colonizer into a new colonizer.

Harry joined the CIA during the Cold War to defeat communism, thinking that
supremacy of America would ensure peace and justice in the world .But with the passage of time
this idealism gave way to thrill and excitement of the exercise of power only. Later on, during
the War on Terror, while working for A&G in Afghanistan, he had a realization that ‘they’ the
power stakeholders ‘create wilderness and desolation and call it peace’. Harry was killed by an
Afghan while playing a cricket match and Raza for whom he had made a promise to Hiroko that
he would always keep him away from the path of bullets had to experience the ‘fear of
unbecoming’ by burning everything that made him legal, had to embark on the ‘journey of the
destitute’, but to be arrested with no hope to be free again. Here Shamsie reflects the shifting
identity of a victim of historical events not of his own making.

Through two different discourses between Hiroko and Kim, Harry’s only daughter,
Shamsie throws light on the American mind-set that leads to wage wars in the world. One, when
Hiroko was disturbed by Yoshi’s fatal illness, her last link to the lost world--Japan, Kim tried to
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console her by saying that she had a right to blame others because she had lost her father and
fiancé during the war. Hiroko confronted her by saying that to her it was a gigantic human
tragedy and not only a personal loss. Hiroko emerges as a symbol of profound human values.
The other, by the end of the novel where Shamsie shows the contrast between the two
approaches to personal and collateral damage caused by wars when Kim justified her stance of
calling the police to arrest Abdullah. As per her stance, she saw the face of her father’s killer in
every Afghan. Here Shamsie reflects the repercussions of wars, how they inflict psychic
wounds, resulting in further trauma and making people paranoid. In reply to this discourse of
justification, Hiroko asked her that should she see Truman’s face in hers. Hiroko told her that she
was the kindest woman she had ever seen, but it was through her that she realized the psyche of
the American nation. She understood how a nation could justify the dropping of the second
atomic bomb after seeing the disastrous impacts of the first one on the humans. Here, Shamsie
places Hiroko, on a high moral ground to defy justification of the innumerable human suffering
caused by the wars waged by the world power stakeholders to safeguard the interest of the few.

Shamsie also depicts the identity crisis in Hiroko’s life as a result of political and
historical discourses. A native Japanese school teacher was turned into a ‘traitor’s daughter only
because her father talked against the Japanese King’s war policies. Hiroko was shunned and
banished from the school and finally charged with the duty to measure iron in an ammunition
factory by her own people. Shamsie highlights the psychological complications this identity
crisis lead to and how Hiroko was haunted by the images of school and felt like a ‘caged bird’.
Shamsie further elaborates the multiple complexities of the identity crisis in this character. After
the atomic bombing in Japan, Hiroko was reduced to the status of ‘hibakusha’-an atomic bomb
survivor only. She despised identity with the ‘bomb’ the most as it brought the permanent
displacement and identity crisis for the rest of her life. The trauma brought a craving for
familiarity, like most of the diasporas, she never wished to go back to her homeland for the fear
of the reduction to ‘hibakusha’. She did not even share with the Japanese whom she used to meet
in Karachi so eagerly that she belonged to Nagasaki and had been one of the direct victims. The
writer shows how this identification haunted her and affects her son too. The proposal of her
only son, Raza, was rejected by his girlfriend with the pretext that he must be abnormal because
of being the son of a woman, who was an atomic bomb survivor.
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Shamsie depicts the acute psychological complications of Raza’s identity crisis as well.
The realization of different physical appearance because of his Japanese mother and her different
cultural orientation created a sense of alienation in him despite all his amicability. Despite all
brilliance it led to his failure in Islamic Studies paper. She shows how leaving his father’s dream
to be a lawyer behind, he discontinued his studies and went to work in Dubai. Where to
compensate for his sense of insecurity he never revealed his true identity but tried to acquire as
many nationalities as possible. Harry took him to Miami to work as a translator for Arkwright
and Glenn (A&G), a private military corporation (PMC) from Dubai. After 9/11, this PMC was
employed by the CIA to work in Afghanistan during the War on Terror. Harry who had
promised Raza’s mother to keep him away from the path of bullets took him to Afghanistan. He
thought that Raza was a useful translating genius to be left behind in America. Raza never
disclosed his real identity to the third country nationals (TCNs), he worked with. After Harry’s
killing, he was suspected by Steve, an American CIA agent, because of his Pakistani identity
which compelled him to seek an escape while destroying every mark of legal identity and
experiencing the fear of ‘unbecoming’. He embarked on the ‘journey of the destitute’ which
made him realize the agony of each one of the TCNs he had worked with and also the agony of
those who were lying in the hold of the ship like the dead in a mass grave. He resolved to ‘never
to be the same again’. She tells how he had to put on the guise of an animal and be a part of the
zoo in the next phase of his journey before reaching Canada. There he met his friend Abdullah
after twenty years. In order to provide him a chance to go back to his homeland, he disguised
himself as Abdullah Afghan to be arrested by the police. The sense of alienation and to be out of
place which Said (1999) portrays in his memoir is found in Raza’s character as well.

Shamsie also depicts the identity crisis of Harry who was from the other side of the
divide. He spent his early childhood in the colonized India where he started identifying himself
as an Indian. It made his parents send him to England in a boarding school. There in his
homeland he, also, suffered from an acute identity crisis because of his Indian accent and
German mother. He had to suffer from another displacement and identity crisis when he had to
move to America after his parents’ separation. There he turned a new leaf and changed his name
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and nationality and from British Henry he became American Harry. The author shows how in
order to prove his loyalty to his adopted land, he decided to join CIA during the Cold War to
defeat communism. Harry regarded communism as a threat to the world peace. He wanted to
work for the emergence of America as the only superpower that can ensure international peace
based on equality and justice. Here Shamsie, in a counter discourse to Russell’s (1951) idea of
international government to ensure world peace, shows how with the passage of time this
idealism gives way to the thrill of being the neocolonizer. She presents how this ‘might’ lend
him the unquestioned rights as he told Raza that he had found his father’s murderer and killed
him. He never considered bringing the murderer before the court of law.

Shamsie presents how Harry adopted a pseudo pen name ,Lala Bakhsh (their cook’s
name in India) to point out the shortcomings of the CIA during the Afghan Jihad in a military
journal for which he had to leave the CIA. Shamsie conveys the repercussions of the misuse of
power through Harry’s realization ‘we make desolation and call it peace’ while moving around
in the wilderness of Afghanistan, making a futile search for Osama Bin Laden and Taliban in the
caves. He had an awareness of the moral degradation they stooped to in order to win. He asked
Raza not to tell his daughter after his death what sort of man he had become. Shamsie conveys
the futility of wars and loss of human values and moral grounds they lead to. Despite all
justification for the War on Terror, there are voices of sanity among the Americans. Harry’s
discourse of realization and regret represents the repercussions. These are related in Said’s
Reflections in Exile (2000) as well.

History is yet again interwoven in the plot of the second novel, Kartography, selected for
this study. It is written in the background of the Civil War of 1971 and depicts the wave of ethnic
violence that erupted in Karachi in 1986. This, like Said’s Out of Place (1999), is Shamsie’s
most diasporic discourse in the sense that it carries many autobiographical elements. Raheen, the
protagonist, belongs to the same age group that Shamsie did at that time. Shamsie shows her to
be living in the same locality in Karachi, studying at the her school, going to America for higher
education just like herself and both in love with their city to an extent of being proudly identified
as ‘Karachiwallas’(Shamsie,2014).
 467

The personal tragedy of the swapping of protagonists’ parents’ fiancés, has its root cause
in the power politics which ultimately led to the creation of Bangladesh. Shamsie throws light on
the marginalization, discrimination and deprivation of the Bengalis and simultaneously on the
insensitivity, shortsightedness and lack of political competence and will of the ruling elites in
West Pakistan. This created a lacuna that could not be filled up. All these dynamics of power
politics led to the fall of Dhaka that naturally created an identity crisis and displacement in the
lives of many people. Shamsie aptly links human and national tragedy to the violence in Karachi
that started from 1986 because of the ethnic divide between Muhajir and Pashtuns and Muhajir
and Sindhis. She reflects the attitude and the mindset of the feudal class and their ignorance and
lack of will to solve the national issues. Asif, the decadent, feudal, his brother and Murtaza
represent this class. Through Asif’s discourse about the governmental policies aimed to end the
1971 War, Shamsie highlights the gap between superficial vision and actual stark reality.

Shamsie also refers to the festivity of the Karachi elites that goes on even amidst the
bitterest condition like war, ethnic riots, killing, strikes and social unrest. By throwing light on
different shades of life in Karachi she conveys how Maheen, a die-hard Karachiites of the
Bengali origin, was subjected to hatred and discrimination on a racial basis. She was ultimately
compelled to leave the city and never to come back. Thus, became a permanent Karachi
diaspora.

Shamsie also takes up the Muhajirs’ case who were subjected to discriminating law
resulting in an identity crisis to the extent where they rise up to revolt. Muhajirs adopted a
separate political identity (MQM). She talks about the long history of violence in Karachi.
Despite the turbulent history, her spokesperson, Raheen in the novel regarded Karachi the only
place where she felt safe and to which she wanted to be identified always. The experience of the
pristine surroundings of an American university did not prevent her from such an identity
inclination. Shamsie’s life has the similar instances. Brubaker (2005) regards this inclination as a
common feature of all diasporas.
 468

Karim also is another die-hard Karachiites. He had a disturbed family life because of the
swapping of finances of his parents in their past. This swap was based on the account of ethnic
discrimination against his mother. The lingering after effects of his disturbed family life haunted
his relationship with Raheen. He was a ‘forced diaspora’ (Armstrong, 1976) subject as he was
compelled by his father to leave Karachi but he kept in touch with the city. In the end, he
returned when Raheen had implored. He had to act upon his earlier resolve to be a cartographer
of Karachi which he had declared during their first displacement from Karachi. He decided to
make an interactive, electronic map of Karachi to bring order to the disordered city.

In Salt and Saffron, what runs parallel to the history of colonization, decolonization of
India and the Partition, is the history of Dard-e-Dil family. It is through Aliya’s discourse that we
come to know about it. She is the protagonist who is from the third generation of Dard-e-Dils.
Aliya, like Raheen of Kartoghraphy and Shamsie herself, goes to America for higher education.
Her exposure to the Western culture and values creates a conflict in her mind after meeting
Khalil. He is another member of Pakistani diaspora from the other side of the class divide in
Karachi. Shamsie also refers to Dard-e-Dil family’s myth of ‘not-quite-twins’ moving back and
forth. She links it with Aliya’s grandfather Akbar and his other two brothers Sulaiman and
Taimur, who are symbolically identified with Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

Shamsie evokes the feelings of Akbar’s displacement when he left his homeland India
forever. She refers to Abida, Aliya’s Dadi, a Dard-e-Dil diaspora subject by pointing out the
number of pictures of her life on her drawing room wall at Dard-e-Dil palace .The writer
portrays another Dard-e-Dil diaspora subject that is Mehr Dadi, who settles in Greece but keeps
missing Dard-e-Dil. She regretfully never visits them again. However, she keeps herself in touch
with whatever is going on in her family through a Pakistani character whose parents are from
India in the neighbourhood of Dard-i-Dil palace.
 469

It is Shamsie’s forte to have written fiction against the background of the actual historical
events and traces their impact on life. She forges a link between the human sufferings of the
atomic bomb victims and the 9/11 affected. When Hiroko looks at the poster carrying
information about a missing person after 9/11 in New York, it reminds her of the walls full of
such posters at Nagasaki train station after the dropping of the atomic bomb. She has a feeling
that sufferings of the humans are the same everywhere and in every era of human history but
with the difference of the individuals in their specific location/situatedness. In other words, she
realizes the universality of human sufferings irrespective of time and space. These similarities
show how Shamsie wants to show the disastrous impact of hegemonic designs of the ruthless use
of power against humans in any part of the world. Thus, making life a miserable experience for
them.

She presents a well-researched life like picture of Nagasaki, Japan just before dropping of
the atomic bomb in World War II and the actual details of the devastation caused by it; the
unprecedented fires engulfing everything and turning the whole valley into the ‘Valley of Death’.
Hiroko cannot find any trace of God there. Amid the widespread destruction, the writer’s main
focus is on Hiroko. The character is permanently branded by the bomb in the form of the burnt
shadows of the silken kimono of her mother on her back. She put on that kimono just a moment
before the blast to celebrate her engagement with Konrad Weiss. To add to her misery, no trace
of Konrad could be found except for a supposed shadow on a rock. The bomb and the
justification of the American for the dropping of the bomb led to Hiroko’s permanent
displacement and/or sense of alienation.

Hiroko has the urge to keep going even amidst the bitterest circumstances. Coming to
India, a British colony then, she aims to find refuge in Konrad’s sister’s home there. She starts a
new life with Sajjad Ali Ashraf, an Indian Muslim, but then again displaced by the Partition.
They are forced to migrate to Pakistan. The worst arrives for her when her only son gets involved
with the displaced Afghans during the Russian Invasion of Afghanistan. Consequentially, her
husband is killed while searching for their son (Raza). And simultaneously she along with her
lost son is displaced. The fear of nuclear war between India and Pakistan makes her leave
 470

Pakistan. She leaves for Miami to join Raza but stops in New York with Else. Her stay prolongs
there as she has to witness 9/11 and the post 9/11 wave of patriotism in that metropolitan city.

With the help of flashbacks, Kartography presents the long turbulent history of the
Karachi that dates back to the arrival of Alexander, the Great to the Civil War of 1971 and to the
wave of violence that erupted in 1986 leading to the closure of educational institutions in
Karachi. Many of her fictional characters regard the unrest in Karachi as a repetition of the 1971
Civil War. The turbulence and unrest of the city and the civil war of 1971, both historical
discourses led to the breakup of family units. She shows how historical events leave their lasting
impacts on individual human lives.

Shamsie also highlights the issue of identity crisis. She portrays how, Maheen, the
beautiful was reduced to mere ‘Bingo’. She was subjected to public hatred. Shamsie also refers
to the Bengalis’ marginalization as if they were an inferior race. This is shown through economic
disparity and malpractices of the ruling elites in the text e.g. the news that the Bengali women
were raped by the West Pakistani soldiers. The Karachi elites justified it as an act of improving
the Bengali genes. It’s the ‘Othering’ (Said, 1978) of the Bengalis that resulted in the tragedy of
succession of East Pakistan.

Karim’s family’s displacement was the result of his father’s fear of the repetition of 1971
situation. Karim’s identity crisis was a result of his mother’s sufferings. He holds Zafar,
Raheen’s father, and his own father, Ali, responsible for it. Twice in the novel, he identifies
himself with his mother’s origin. Despite all his disillusionment and fears, he is a true Karachi
diaspora. He always kept in touch with what had been going on there and ultimately returns to
make a scientific, interactive, electronic map of his city; to bring order to the city disorder.

Shamsie throws light, how Fraser, an English man of common birth, became the lord by
applying divide and rule policy and how the natives played in the hands of the English. Shamsie
shows through Taimur’s letter how English education and English ways of living created cultural
 471

displacement among the Indian elites. He referred to the English names given to him and his
other two triplets by their English governess. He also asserted that English education had
deprived them of their proficiency in their native language. As a result they lost their cultural
linguistic identity.

Shamsie’s choice of themes of 1) wars, 2) displacement, 3) diaspora and 4) identity crisis

also makes these novels a study of diaspora. In the light of the previous and this chapter as well,
one may assert that Burnt Shadows revolves around the main theme of war. Strangely, the text
displays that ‘only American lives are important’ and all the wars that are mentioned in the novel
are endeavor to ‘save the Americans lives’. Shamsie indirectly raises the question-at what human
cost? She chooses war as the main issue that encompasses the whole journey from colonialism to
neocolonialism.

Shamsie shows the disastrous impact of war. Jihad against the Russian invasion of
Afghanistan led to Sajjad’s death and Hiroko’s and Raza’s displacement from Karachi. Hiroko
shifted to Abbottabad and Raza went to seek a job in Dubai. The fear of the nuclear war between
India and Pakistan compelled Hiroko to leave Pakistan for America. She intended to live with
Raza, who was then working with A & G at Miami but they could never live together again.
Keeping Hiroko in the dark, Harry and Raza got involved in the War on Terror and went to
Afghanistan, which was the end of life for Harry and end of every hope for life for Raza.

In Burnt Shadows after showing the establishment of American hegemony by dropping

atom bombs and causing unprecedented destruction, this made Japan surrender unconditionally.
Shamsie moves on into the dusk of the British Imperialism in the colonized India. The binary
created between the colonizers and the colonized world can be seen within one city, divided into
two parts—Dilli and New Delhi. Sajjad Ali Ashraf, a young Indian Muslim from the other side
of the divide comes to Delhi to work with James Burton, who despite all his amicability, is
wasting his time by playing chess and making discussions.
 472

Shamsie shows how the colonizer refers to the end of the British Raj by saying that even
the best of the innings has to end. Sajjad’s casual response that it would not make any difference
to the life in his moholla hurts James. He took it as a belittling attempt on the English’s long
‘civilizing mission’. Shamsie refers to the complexity of place and displacement of the
colonizers and the colonized in their respective roles. However, Sajjad who was always
respectful told Elizabeth Burton during their visit to Qutb Minar ‘Our history is your picnic
point.’ Elizabeth, on the other hand, dreaded going back to the small-‘so very small’ island after
their exposure to the plenty in India. Shamsie shows the impact of colonization and the fear of
decolonization on the colonizers as well.

The major theme of Kartography deals with the ethnic riots and unrest in Karachi as a
result of the Civil War of 1971 and the later wave of continued violence that started in 1986 and
the resultant political alienation and social and psychological displacement of a large number of
people. Salt and Saffron revolves round the displacement caused by the Partition and Dard-e-Dil
family myth of ‘not-quite-twins’.

Shamsie’s choice of characters also makes her fiction a study of diaspora. The wide range
of characters are taken from across the globe and often moving as well: Hiroko is Japanese;
Konrad, her first fiancé is German; James Burton is English; Burton’s wife is half English and
half German; Henry, Burtons’ son, is English but considers himself Indian in the childhood and
later becomes American Harry; Hiroko’s husband, Sajjad Ali Ashraf, is an Indian Muslim first
and later a Pakistani; Raza; a born Pakistani, acquires as many nationalities as possible
ultimately opts for the American citizenship; Abdullah is Afghan; and Kim , Harry’s only
daughter, is a typical American.

In Kartoghraphy Shamsie presents a range of Karachiites of different origin. Maheen is

of Bengali origin, Yasmin and Zafar are Muhajir, Ali is half Pathan, half Punjabi, Asif, the
decadent feudal is from Rahim Yar Khan, and Laila is from Karachi. Raheen and Karim, both
the main characters, are born Karachiites, but their parents’ origin keeps haunting them in one
 473

way or the other. Shamsie also refers to the Muhajir and Bengali communities and their
representatives from the highest to the lowest echelon. For example, she refers to Sheikh
Mujeeb-ur-Rehman and also a Bengali waiter. Similarly, she refers to Altaf Hussain, the founder
of MQM and an educated Muhajir as car thief. She also refers to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and typical
Sindhis like Bunty and Runty. She presents Karachi elites and Naila, a visiting maid, from the
other side of the divide as a barometer for the elites to judge the daily law and order situation in
the city. Her discourse highlights the issues of individual and collective identity of the people.

Salt and Saffron can be taken as the starting point of Shamsie’s diasporic consciousness.
It deals with the portrayal of different characters belonging to Dard-e-Dil family with the main
focus on Aliya, the protagonist’s immediate family, her ‘not-quite-twin’ Mariam Apa, their
family cook Masood and Khalil, another subject of Pakistani diaspora, of Karachi origin, but
from the other side of the class divide.

Shamsie reflects the identity crisis of almost all the main characters in all the three
novels. The narrative technique Shamsie adopts in her novels is to resurrect those aspects of
storytelling where one begins to ask ‘what is at stake in remembering and forgetting the past’.
Her stories address such concerns through irony and paradox.

In her novels, Shamsie concisely depicts how the drawn borders make people suffer
through great pains, no matter what the root cause may be. To illustrate, both Salt and
Saffron and Kartography show the nations coming out of a chaos. Shamsie, in these instances,
has presented evidence of her great sense of identity as she is immersed with a special sense of
Pakistani history. Her novels reflect the stories of displacement, disorientation and alienation of
agencies in the new world.

Shamsie also depicts that all historical things undergo a continuous transformation. Far
from being formally fixed in some idealized past, they are subject to the persisting role of
history, culture and power, like the shifting identity of the Mujahedeen of the yester years as the
 474

terrorist of today. She shows that ultimately, identity relates to the names given to the different
ways people are positioned and placed within the narratives of the past and the living, ground
realities of the present.

Fairclough's interpretive framework was used for the analysis of the texts using the lens
of the postcolonial diaspora theory of othering and ailienation by Edward Said(1978,1999,2000)
combined with of Ashcroft et al. (1989) theory of place and displacement. This research design
was applied to Shamsie’s three selected novels to look for the issues raised in the research
questions, which are: 1) How does displacement, created by the great historical events, create
identity crisis in the life of different individuals of diaspora communities? 2) To what extent
Kamila Shamsie’s fiction reflects diaspora, as a result of colonialism /neo colonialism? 3) Why
do place and displacement condition the panorama of life, Shamsie depicts in her fiction?

As stated earlier, Shamsie herself is a modern diaspora of postcolonial globalized world.

Her diasporic consciousness has evolved over the years. Her fiction reflects herself as a member
of transnational diaspora community. She portrays a number of diasporas ranging from
globalized intellectual diasporas to forced victim and war diaspora. In Salt and Saffron, she
presents family diaspora, Kartoghraphy, by and large, represents a city (Karachi) diaspora but
Burnt Shadows comprises the presentation of a variety of international/global diaspora.

Shamsie’s profound, informed knowledge of the historical events that lead to

displacement and creation of diaspora lends an edge to her to get her voice heard. Her novels can
be taken as a mode of representation of the historical events and their impact on human lives,
significantly from a non-Western perspective.

Shamsie’s novels are interdiscursive because they incorporate the actual historical events,
different political, social, and psychological discourses about them, hegemonic designs behind
them and the power structures and the power practices involved in them. In her fiction, she
 475

reflects the impact of these power practices on human life; changing placement and creating
displacement and diaspora.

Being herself a privileged modern diaspora, she represents this type of diaspora in
Kartoghraphy and Salt and Saffron. She also presents a range of other diasporas with equal
perfection, especially war victim diasporas, like Hiroko, Abdullah and Raza. Besides individual
diaspora subjects she also presents collective diaspora like Muhajir diaspora created by the act
of decolonization of India, Bengali diaspora in Pakistan after the creation of Bangladesh and
Afghan diaspora created by a series of wars starting from the Russian invasion of Afghanistan to
the War on Terror.

The author traces the impact of displacement created by the historical events on the
psyche of the individuals leading to identity crisis. She portrays the identity crisis of the
colonizers and the colonized as well. She traces the critical impact of the power practices on the
lives of the people from both sides of the divide. Her novels offer a strong resistance against
wars, regarding them as a futile show of power which only creates barriers among humans and
cause hatred, displacement, death and destruction. Through her fictional narratives, she exposes
the mindset behind colonialism and neocolonialism.

Burnt Shadows presents a powerful critique of the philosophy behind the dropping of the
atomic bombs on Nagasaki to setting up prison camps like Guantanamo Bay. Her novels also
offer resistance against stereotyping of humans on national, racial or religious basis. She
critiques the idea of single, absolute super power of the world. She depicts the negative influence
of the use of the power of one people on the other and its repercussions on the lives of the
powerful as well. Shamsie also presents the hybridity and the loss of pure cultural identity
created as a consequence of colonization and educational hegemony of the West.

In all three novels Shamsie reflects strong human associations with the homeland, the
place where one spends one’s childhood, the place one identifies oneself with or the place which
 476

provides a refuge for him/her. This love for the homeland/native place is the most common
feature of all Diasporas.

Therefore, it is explicit that Shamsie depicts how major historical event create
displacement and how this displacement creates diaspora. She also shows the impact of the
national and international power practices on the lives of her fictional characters. She
incorporates in her writing, how displacement in time and space creates identity crisis .What
makes Shamsie fictional discourse unique, is her non-Western approach .Looking at the
development of her awareness, sensibility and expression to diasporic experiences we find Salt
and Saffron as an expression of Dard-e-Dil family diaspora, Kartography of Karachi diaspora
and Burnt Shadows as a culmination of national and international diaspora, proving Shamsie a
modern diaspora writer incorporating different kinds of diasporas like family, city ,labour
,victim, intellectual , modern, transnational ,colonial and postcolonial diaspora, proving her
fiction a true analytical study of diaspora.

Shamsie’s postcolonial background and neo-colonial experiences in a globalized world

make her diasporic fiction a unique kind of diasporic discourse. Shamsie’s discourse is socially
constitutive of social identities, social relations and the knowledge and belief systems of the
characters she portrays. History and political upheaval provide a background to all her novels
including those selected for this study. The impact of the macro level power politics on the micro
level stream of life has been a long tale fraught with sufferings, pain, loss, damage, destruction,
agony, trauma, regret and upheavals. Shamsie presents some glimpses of all these in her novels.

5.1 Recommendation for Future Research

Research is an ever evolving, ongoing, multi-faceted process. During the course of one’s
research, one comes to realize the vastness of knowledge and the littleness of one’s endeavour.
Since research is a phenomenological and constructive enquiry, many new vistas remain
unexplored. During my research, I found the following starting points for new research:
 477

 As history plays a great role in Shamsie’s fiction and she presents well-
researched account of different historical events her fiction can also be explored
using the lens of historiography.

 Similarly, there can be a comparative study of her journalistic writings and her
novels e.g. Burnt Shadows can be compared with her Offence: The Muslim Case
(non- fiction) to establish her diasporic identity and/or to delineate how the
themes of displacement are significant for her.

 Both her recent novels Burnt Shadows and God in Every Stone can also be
explored for the presentation of non –Euro America centric perspective.

 Her novels can be studied to explore the complexity of inter cultural friendships
as well.
 478

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