While studying English Literature at Delhi University, one of my favourite texts was Anita Desai’s In Custody. It is a text that still lives in the back of my mind and becomes more and more relevant every day in an India that has been lost since the Partition.
Desai, born in 1937, was deeply affected by the Partition and watched its horrors unfold in front of her. She watched it uproot not just lives but institutions, cultures and languages, creating a perpetual post-Partition tussle that we reside in even today. She captures this constant fight using Deven, Nur, Murad and Sarla, characters who are all trapped in a different politics of language, gender and monetary gain.
Nur’s Politics of a lost language
‘Urdu is supposed to have died in 1947. What you see in the universities- in some of the universities, a few of them only- is its ghost, wrapped in a shroud. But Hindi- oh Hindi is a field of greens, all flourishing, and this is its flower’, he cried… (pg 55)
In the novel, Nur, a poet, finds himself mourning the loss of a language he has loved. Urdu, his means of expression and communication, becomes lesser known and studied post-Independence.
The increasing influence of the Mughal Empire in Northern India caused Urdu to flourish until the 18th century. Afterwhich, the British Empire took over the reins of the country. By the time, India escaped the clutches of colonialism, there was a growth in the use of Hindi and a spread of Hinduism.
This decay with time and influence is physically embodied in several monuments in Northern India including Safdarjung’s Tomb in New Delhi. The tomb is made from sanstone and white marble that was looted by Safdarjung’s son. This is a contrast to the Taj Mahal which was completely constructed with expensive, white marble. Hence, this fall of an Empire can be witnessed in architecture, language, traditions and is what impacts the Urdu poet.
Deven, in the first chapter, tells Murad that “no special issue on Urdu poetry would be complete if it did not have some verse by Nur” (pg 10). From being one of the most famous poets, Nur’s own status also declines with the language. This is decline is again manifested in the physical as one can see that Nur is struggling to earn a living and the furniture in his house is “heavy and palpable with gloom” (pg 37).
Achieving economic prosperity
Lack of financial freedom burdens all the characters in the text. It burdens Nur, whose language is waning in popularity and Murad who tries to get Nur’s work in his magazine, not out of his passion for Urdu but for the commercial value of Nur’s words. It also causes a tussle in Deven’s character between his desires and what society expects of him.
Mirpore, where his nights are endless and sleepless is where his family lives and he works as a Hindi teacher. His life in Mirpore is fixed in the routine and leaves him feeling disappointed and unfulfilled. He, however, cannot fully escape the monotony of this life because of his duty to his wife, Sarla and his son. He is expected to be the breadwinner of the family and moving to Delhi and pursuing Urdu will cause his paycheck to be unsteady and violate the terms of his commitment to Sarla. Deven, throughout the novel, shifts back and forth between his desires and his duty, wondering if he really has a choice.
Desai’s writing captures Deven’s inner struggle through long, winding sentences that depict the character’s confused chain of thought. His thoughts are caught in their own custody, wondering if it’s a reasonable request to want to pursue one’s passion over immediate monetary gain.
The women’s question
An important theme in the novel is also that of the position of women in society. Sarla captures this beautifully when she states:
Peering through a crack in the kitchen door, Sarla watched thinking: is he dead? is he alive? without concern, only with irritation. It was only men who could play at being dead while still alive; such idleness was a luxury in her opinion. Now if she were to start playing such tricks, where would they all be? Who would take Manu to school and cook lunch for them? (pg 143)
While Deven is allowed the possibility of a dream, Sarla is denied even that. Her life is soaked in the routine with no possibility of escaping. Her duty as a mother and a wife trump desires that she was never given the opportunity to explore. This contrast becomes more evident as the whole narrative questions the couple’s commitment to each other and the sense of duty that they have both been burdened with.
Through Nur’s wives, Desai is also able to question the quality of life women tend to lead. A contrast is drawn between Nur’s first wife and Imtiaz Begum. The general disposition of women in the novel however can be understood in this paragraph:
She was clearly impressed, in an uncomprehending way, for these were not words this lighter of fires, washer of clothes and keeper of goats might understand. (pg 136)
Conclusion
Through novels like In Custody, we are able to witness not just the effects of the Partition and the rise and fall of empires but also the play of human psyche and the workings of a society we have created. This disparity between languages exists even today. The clash between religions has been commemorated with such extreme violence that no culture, language or tradition can truly redeem itself and bring peace. It is a clash we were born with, we will live in and one day, die in.
