 Bingo by Tariq Rahman

Presenter Hassan Hayat

Important points

 Author’s biography
 Characters
 Summary
 Themes
 Point of view
 Setting
 Symbolism
Author biography

 Author:. Tariq Rahman

 Pakistani Writer
 Dob 4th February 1949 in India
 Moved pak 1951
 Writer, academic scholars, newspaper columnist , short story writer
 Famous work are Bingo, Moustache, The dance of beards,mai baap
 Write books mostly in linguistic Field
 Rewarded several natiol and international awards
 He wrote moatly on the themw of Human nature, social class ,pride , culture and tradition.
Characters

 Safeer :
 Protagonist
 Represent west Pakistan
 Narrator
 Posted as junior officer
 Tajassur:
 Antagonist
 Represent East Pakistan (Bangalis)
 Nickname Bingo:-Traitor ‫دار‬5‫غ‬
 Posted as junior Officer
 Amana:
 Tajassur’s Sister
 Captain Maqsood
 Army officer
Summary:-

 They stand us in half pant in cold weather which is very painful. Tajassur was one idiot
whom the seniors were trying hard to make a better soldier. He walked carelessly and was
not particular of the military discipline and it was really hard to bear that while I was in my
pants up.he was always sleep like top.They joked about him and even bothered us much as
he was popular: Although I was good at drill and Tajassur was a real louse at that. Most of
us did his job for him; but what he was particularly interested in were jokes. These things
made him popular but his performance and training sessions were always marked down.
This could have been dangerous if any body had noticed that we shirked our cadet
responsibilities.He got the twentieth position and it was all due to his oral expression in
English. However, before we passed out, things were against him as he was a Bingo and the
East Pakistan was in conflict with the West Pakistan striving to separate. We called him a
traitor and Sheik Mujeebur Rahman’s ally.
 The day came when we passed out . Later, they had to report to the stations for duty. They
boarded a plane and found themselves lucky as they were among the soldiers.
 When they reached the station, There was captain Maqsood who ordered them to look sharp in their army
uniform, which meant ready for battle. Captain Maqsood rebuked Tajassur as he got there late.
 They were talking about the bravery of various soldiers and military officers while Tajassur was silent. He
suddenly spoke that people had to fight when they were oppressed . This astonished every body. Tajassur’s
view was that bravery was only good if is used for a just cause and if it is used to exploit people, it is evil.
The C.O. became angry , didn’t express his anger and left. The adjutant spoke angrily to Tajassur, ‘How dare
you speak so insolently before the C.O.?’ Tajassur replied, ‘I just expressed my opinion.’ Safeer had always
advised him not to speak so casually before the elders because a respect for the senior is necessary in the army.
 Then the C.O. called a conference and briefed about the border conditions. Then they started discussing what
would happen and that they would have to kill the Bingo and they felt sorry for that. Safeer said, ‘my
conscience says that kill the enemies of Pakistan’ and Tajassur spoke, ‘that is propaganda’. Before
independence, we were beaten by the British and now by our own government. He detailed the exploitation of
the Bingo people .Days passed and the condition of the Bingos went worse. Safeer began to think that it was a
race of slaves. They started killing the Bingos where they found and where they heard the news that some
military guys were killed.
 One day, they were given the orders to clear the village the Muktees. Safeer was in charge. They
attacked the village but counterattacked and had to retreat. Safeer was given a blow and fell into
unconsciousness and found himself to be prisoner with the Bingos.the next day Safeer was to be
killed. He recalled Tajassur and the happy moments he had spent with the girl and his friends.
 When the day for execution approached, there was a familiar voice. It was Tajassur who had
come to rescue Safeer. The Civil War beginning to end. The Pakistani soldiers had surrendered
and the East Pakistan had come up as Bangladesh. Safeer had to stay with Tajassur and his family
for some days to reach back to Pakistan. But just before he was leaving, a group of soldiers
entered the house and shot down Tajassur and his Family. Safeer shouted to stop them, but to no
avail.
 Tajassur’s sister was rapped firstly and than shooted. Safeer could not look into the mother’s eye
and shot her down as well. Nothing mattered now. Tajassur, his sister and mother were death.
Bangladesh was free at the expense of so many innocent lives.
Themes

 Politics
 Miss use of power
 Racism
 Oppression
Point of view

 The story has been narrated in 1st person narration.

  
 Setting
 The time shown in the story was 1951, focused on 1971’s war ,
 Written in 1971 by Tariq Rahman
  
 Symbolism
 This story show symbols of two groups struggling each one to be free
 But ironically they are destroying themselves.
 PRESENTOR MEHRAN KHAN.

 The Kingdom of Cards

Rabindranath Tagore:

 Rabindranath Tagore, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped

Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual
Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of
Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse,"
he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature in 1913.
SETTING :

 This story belongs to the card people living in a distant

Island.
CHARACTERS :

 Following are the main characters of the story:

 Prince:
 who lives in far off foreign land across sea with his sorrowing mother. She was fallen from fever.
The prince has big desires but could not fulfill it due to her mother's loneliness and illness.
 Prince's two friends:
 Son of merchant and the son of kotwal who accompnies him in his visit through island.
 The cards:
 The inhabitants of the Island whowere ranked As kings, the queens and the knaves. Thrice of
these were superior caste. While the fourth one was lower caste comprising of threes and fours,
Nines and tens etc.
PLOT SUMMARY

 :➤Once upon a time there was a lonely Island in a distant sea.

 ➤Here lived kings and queens, the aces and the knaves, the tens and nines, with twos and three in
this kingdom.
 ➤The Ace, the king and the knaves were threehighest castes. Other all members (like jacks,nines
and tens, twos and threes etc,) were grouped to fourth caste. They were inferior, not allowing to sit
with highest court cards.
 ➤The particular rank of each individual had been settled from ancient times.
 ➤Everyone had his own appointed work and never did anything else, like making decisions,
thinking of happiness, or any debate with any person.
 ➤When they fell, they make no noise. They lay down on their backs, gazing the sky with each
prime feature firmly fixed forever.
CONT….

 In that far off foreign land across sea, there lived a young prince with his sorrowing mother.
 ➤The prince passed his childhood alone,dreaming the big desires. But for somereasons, his
restive thoughts always returned to the far shore.
 ➤His friends had heard a lot about far countries.
 ➤Once they decide to go on voyage.
 During voyage, a terrible storm arose
 .➤But the ship with three companions struck on Island reef, buried them safe ashore and itself
broke into pieces.
 ➤This was the Island of cards where everyone live by rules.
 ➤Until now, nothing from outside ever came to disturb the Island stillness.
CONT….

 ➤But when these friends landed on Island, great dispute among card people started on three
points:1. To what caste should these stranger belong? 2. What was their dynasty?3. What food
should they take and to whom should they live?
 ➤Due to this noisy debate, The Aces called their own meeting, to deal with those three questions.
 ➤Those three friends were feeling hungry, thy did not attend meeting. Rather they went to take
food and drink water without taking permission from any person over there. Twos and threes (the
card people who were looking after the garden) and were shocked by this behavior of those three
friends.
 ➤ After that those friends went out to visit this Island. They saw all people moving in their gloomy
march. Those friends laughed by seeing this and their laughter broke the silence of island.
 ➤Those friends lived there for a time by breaking all the rules and regulations.
 CONT…..

 One day, the great court card came to them and asked why they are notmoving according to rules.They all said
that we have a "wish".
 ➤And what their wish was? just to resolve the mystery of this Island that no one knew before it.
 ➤Those friends came across to see the part of mystery and that was, the queenswere unable to blink their eyes.
They all gaze to one place only, the floor or the space. But one day, the queen of Hearts blinked her eyes and
cast a single glance at prince from her eye's corner.
 ➤That queen began to forgot all the rules after that day. Like, if her place was in the row beside the knave, she
accidently found herself standing beside the prince and was alarmed by knave in cold voice that she has
missed her place.
 CONT…..

 ➤While everyone was trying to correct the improprieties of guilty of queen, they began to
make mistakes by themselves. They all forgot the rules. Like, the Aces found themselves
elbowed out by kings and the king got mixed up with knaves. The other castes also mixed up
with each other. The cards realized that lifewas not bound by regulations and started living by
themselves by having dressing like human, and by making their own wishes.
 ➤The three companions brought a new life to the people of Island!
MAIN THEME :

 ➤ Kingdom of cards has the theme of awareness of a person's wishes. This story tells that
everyone has right to live according to his own will, to make wishes and to fulfill those by
finding out the possible ways.• Rules and Regulations are important but there should be
limits of rules and Regulations to be followed.• Sometimes Sacrifices of desires are
necessary.


THANKS