Women’s stories: Finding voices

Women’s stories: Finding voices

Short Stories are always enchanting, captivating you within its ebbs and flow and ten leaving you with an aftertaste. Its too personal a premise often, not overplay of characters, but then peaks the emotions higher and reverberates with you.

And what if these are stories by women, of women, or different parts of the world, or different countries of South Asia and even Iran. Can we discover a common thread amidst the myriad emotions?

The four books, and reading and re-reading them, made me stir in serendipity, joy of discovery and familiarity of emotions.

The books are:

1.       Neither Night nor Day- 13 stories by Women Writers from Pakistan

2.       Galpa- Short stories by Women from Bangladesh

3.       Afsaneh-Short Stories by Iranian women

4.       Katha- Short Stories by India Women

The title story of Neither Night not Day is remarkable. In fact it speaks of identity and the struggle with it. Often we embrace one and feel proud about it in one context and the next moment are too embarrassed to carry it. Sabyn Javeri-Jillani’s short story speaks about this Pakistani women, now married to a British, settled in London and yearns for mangoes and Biriyani. Her access though to get them from the well-guarded ghettos, are not easy, a constant reminder clashing with her identity. The ending of the story is beautiful, she looks at the grey London sky, and sees the Sun and the Moon together at 7 p.m. and thinks, well in London, let them shine together- which quite explains immigration, the yearning for it by many.

Muneeza’Shamshie’s  The Heathen Air speaks of colonization but more of patriarchy in the guise of it. Colonization happens with the urge to captivate. Men any which way are too eager to do so. The royal born princess with all her grandeur is as equally oppressed as the maid in her chambers. She has no say to keep her son with herself and not send him to England for education. The interesting part is the men are often surprised at finding the women even having any opinion about themselves.

The Job Application by Nayyara Rahman, shows the class difference in the Pakistani society. In Bath Island, a young aspiring typist, struggling to get a job is almost dismissed, imagining her inability to cope being a single mother. In fact her life was thought over, dissected in front of her, one who had come with hopes of earning a few thousand more.  And when being dismissed, she wonders “they didn’t even offer a glass of water”.

Galpo, the Short stories by Women in Bangladesh, is my favorite collection. It starts with an excerpt from Sultana’s Dream by Rokeya Shekhaway Hussain. Sultana’s Dream speaks of an imaginary Woman’s Land, where now there exists a Mardana Mahal. There are very interesting sections, where someone ponders that men are too restless for embroidery. We all now know that merely changing status-quo wont make lives any better, since patriarchy will still sustain in the name of oppression, however, the thought of the story, written in the 1920s is incredible.

One of my favorite story from the collection is The name of the story is Troubles by Razia Mahboob.

The story starts with a slice of domestic life of Sarkar Sahib, a high profile social worker, being nagged by his superstitious wife. She sees troubles everywhere in her life since morning, with increased electricity bills, son's marriage, uninvited guests, domestic help quitting the job. The Man of the household leaves her amidst these "petty chores" and comes back in the evening with a problem at hand. The tenants next door, have a scandalous past. In fact the colony people suspects that they are not married as a couple and hence needs to be evicted. They refused to show marriage deed. To this, the wife remarked that, hardly any marriages have a deed. And what is the need for such harassment. And its not easy to evict tenants- they may resort to legal aid. Sarkar Sahib replies, that they have already started packing, since the regular stone-pelting, boycotts, heckles are too much, they can cope up. And when asked, what is he doing as a social worker- of course he is analyzing the situation, two meeting failed, since the person are too adamant and not ready to budge from not showing marriage deed. And since the local mosque is involved and many other landlords, its a difficult situation to solve by not alienating anyone... His wife listened and this is what she did- (excerpt- a few lines from the story)

Next day, everyone heard in amazement the way Sarkar Sahib's wife had gone over to the couple's house and scolded them openly. " I may be your distant aunt, shameless girl. I cannot look after all my relatives, but i was there at the wedding. May be my present was not to nice. Is that any reason not to look up your aunt?"...

and when later asked by her husband, for carrying out this "irreligious act of lie", she simple retorted... " I can hardly bear all my troubles... how can i bear the trouble of seeing something wrong.."

That's it... and there was nothing else.

and this is hope. We know, we must know, when and how to act... and to keep on listening to that authentic voice, which makes you one with the other, or them with you... is the only hope... its non-paternalistic, liberating and above all.... embraces love...

Radha will not Cook Today is another gem.. Radha, a mother of a 4 year old, with her husband, mother in law, sister in law, mundane domesticity, chores, duties, bickering was fine... All in a rhythm, till one fine morning she decided she will not cook... For no apparent reason.., and how that created an ugly stir in the household... a short story titled in Bangla as Arandhan by Purabi Basu speaks about agency, coercion... And the false facade called peace and love in a family... All in humour...

In Afsaneh, the story which wins me over is Goli Taraqqi's The Shemiran Bus- reminded me of Kabuliwala by Tagore... Every child finds a friend in the most unlikeliest of spaces... Transcending class, caste, geography...bonding from the heart... Mini the 5 year old daughter of a middle class Bengali Family in Kolkata found her friend in Rahmat from Kabul, the big, fat Kabuliwalkah... Goli Taraqqi's little girl in Tehran finds the same in Aziz Aqa the bus driver... Her genie of the magic lamp... Feelings transcend all...

The stories in Afsaneh, do speak about the repression on women in Iran, but sounds universal, across. It’s the longing of the women in words, description of their lives, its mundanities, failed dreams and often surprises and yearnings, which make them seem so known, so true and so vivid.

And in Katha, the collection of Indian Stories, The one on Kava and Kavi is indeed interesting- the tribal context of bride price explained as the way of captivating the free-spirited mind of Kavi through gilted gold and jewellery.

My favorite is the story by Ambai. Too many emotions. Story of three women, feminists, with now broken dreams, how they believed the world will be, and now facing communal violence. Excerpts of the strory:

"Those were times when they faced everything with an energy that said, ‘You can’t define us. We will break your definitions, your commentaries, your grammars, your rules.’ They felt an urgency to defy everything. She and Sakina had gone to a Chinese beauty parlour and had their hair cropped close to their heads. When she went home, Ramu only asked, making no fuss, ‘Well, Selvi, was it a pilgrimage to Palani or to Tirupati?’ ‘Neither; it was to China,’ she told him. Lively times, those were." ........

"‘This is going to be a huge battle, Charu,’ she said. ‘It begins with someone else giving me an identity.’"....,.........
"Roshni, Light, I have strung together for you fifty years of doubts, rebellions, battles, struggles. This is only a song. When I write an epic for you – and I will write it one day – I will speak of all this in detail. But don’t think the song is complete. It is true communal violence, caste-wars and human degradation have all dispirited us greatly. But our battle continues. We still raise our voices to safeguard rivers, trees and animals. To safeguard human beings, above all. You will hear in this song, resonances of our joy, despair, disappointments and exhilaration. Sleep well, Roshni. And when you wake up, let it be to the sound of our song. You and I and many others must complete it. For we believe that a song, once begun, ought to be completed".....Excerpts from A Movement, A Folder, Some Tears.. Why do you make me cry every time I read you....???...every single time...

Arupa patangia Kalita’s story viz. Numoli’s story is based out of Assam during the Ulfa insurgency. Numoli the doe-eyed simple Assemse girl seems to be the earth, surprised and scared and violated by violence and oppression, all claiming their parts and bleeding the earth. Its lyrical and beautifully written.

Bulbul Sharma;s Mayadevi’s London Yatra is interesting. And Meenal Dave’s Nightmare, is another little star. Speaking about the divisiveness we suffer within and how that transcends with one peck at the back, is something Nightmare deftly puts.

This theme of women leading estranged and desperate lives in a patriarchal and oppressive society is the thread that connects almost all the other stories in this collection.