Discuss How The Partition In Cracking India Reshapes The Boundaries Between Childhood Imagination And Political Reality
Sidhwa’s masterpiece ‘Cracking India’ was initially published as ‘Ice Candy Man’ in 1988, named after one of the central characters of the novel. The novel is contextualized in the historical event of the partition of British India that resulted in the creation of two independent states of India and Pakistan based on the religious density. Partition literature makes one of the most significant defining feature of Pakistani writings in English and ‘Cracking India’ is the most representative instance of the kind. Grounded in the communal violence caused by partition, the novel presents the catastrophic outcome of the historical event from the perspective of a small Parsi girl, Lenny Sethi, who is a resident of Lahore, Punjab, a cosmopolitan city that eventually becomes a Pakistani city as per Cabinet Mission Plan. The title of the novel is a symbolic reference to the Partition of British India that caused the most violent migration from both sides of the border causing death and destruction on a huge scale. The title also highlights negative impact of Partition on Indian territorial and social order leading to chaos and disintegration. The novel, also, presents a stark resemblance between the author, Bapsi Sidhwa, and her narrator, Lenny Sethi, as both were raised in Lahore and survived partition. Another autobiographical element is Lenny’s suffering from polio that also affected Sidhwa. Lenny, a four year old child, is fully aware of dire consequences of her physical suffering which often leads her to contemplate:
My world is compressed. Warris Road, lined with rain gutters, lies between Queens Road and Jail Road: both wide, clean, orderly streets at the affluent fringes of Lahore… My child’s mind is blocked by the gloom emanating from the wire mesh screening the oblong ventilation slits. I feel such sadness for the dumb creature I imagine lurking behind the wall. (Sidhwa, 1991, p. 12)
Lenny describes the limitations imposed by her handicapped body on her free movement, leading not only to physical suffering but also psychological and emotional against the backdrop of turbulent times of partition. As stated earlier, Partitionfiction is an important element of South Asian fiction, such as Khushwant Singh’s ‘Train to Pakistan’ also depicts the traumatic events of Partitionbut Sidhwa’s narrative is compelling in the sense that its narrator is a young child and we often fail to take account of negative consequences of traumatic environment on child psychology. The novel is also unique in the sense that it specifically focuses on how Partitionaffected women’s lives. Sidhwa, skillfully, portrays how female body endures pain and suffering, serving as the site for humiliating and disgracing opponents while venting out emotions of anguish and hatred. As stated earlier, ‘Cracking India’ received critical scholarly acclaim and also earned Germany’s prestigious literary award, the LiBeraturepreis and established Sidhwa’s reputation as a powerful storyteller. Indo- Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta directed a film based on the novel titled ‘Earth’ in 1998. The film, also, offers a deeply moving and intimate account of the traumatic events that unfolded during the period of communal violence, as well as the resilience and spirit of individuals striving to survive during the chaos. The novel remains a timeless and important contribution to literature and its gripping narrative continues to serve as evidence of the enduring human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Plot Development
The novel is set between 1943 and 1948 in Lahore, a city in British-ruled India that later became part of the new country of Pakistan. The novel presents catastrophic events caused by the partitioning of British India in all of their intricacies. The narrator is a child, Lenny Sethi, who tells this gripping tale from her own perspective. She has been presented as a keen observer who casts an unforgiving gaze at the political events that led to violent partition. She belongs to a wealthy family and is a resident of posh area in the city of Lahore. She describes her family and her everyday life in great details. The city of Lahore is largely populated by Muslims but there are also religious minorities like Hindus and Sikhs. The narrator, however, belongs to the Parsi community a small religious minority in India that fled religious persecution in Persia. She describes her family members as well as her domestic workers including a family of untouchables, referring to the lowest caste in Hinduism.
Lenny enjoys a closely intimate relationship with her Ayah who is not only beautiful but also notorious for attracting suitors from the entire city without the discrimination of colour, caste and creed. Among them is Ice Candy Man, a popsicle seller, who openly confesses her love for Lenny’s Ayah. Lenny is fortunate to be surrounded by her Ayah and all her suitors who provide her profound insights into the social, cultural and religious fabric of Indian society. Ayah’s romantic relationships with her different suitors introduce Lenny to the ideals of femininity and sexuality, rendering Ayah both powerful and powerless in multiple ways. Female sexuality is often perceived as a disruptive force which needs to be controlled and confined to ensure familial and societal honour and grace. Lenny witnesses how sexuality renders females powerless in the wake of calamities, such as Ayah’s rape scene evokes horrific feelings in her, ‘They strip her. They defile her. They say it is in the name of religion (Sidhwa, 1991, p. 234)’. She blames herself for being a silent spectator who cannot rescue Ayah, ‘ I broke Ayah’s heart. I watched them take her away. I said nothing (Sidhwa, 1991, p. 224)’. This intense statement of guilt reveals Lenny’s psychological suffering and her painful loss of innocence. Lenny often undergoes corrective surgeries of her polio affected leg and craves for more parental love and attention. Political events constantly unfold and shape her private and public life as adults keep discussing political philosophies and ideologies at home and at Parsi temple.
The novel opens within the backdrop of World War II which has shortly ended and people begin wondering what the fate of British India will be after Allies forces have defeated Germany and Japan. She also comes to know through her interaction with Ayah’s suitors about the political states of affairs of India and about the Indian leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, representing Congress and All India Muslim League respectively, who strive for Indian independence from the British colonial rule as well as division of India into two sovereign states of India and Pakistan. Lenny is bewildered to see that religious differences become more pronounced leading to conflicts and tension among different religious groups:
It is sudden. One day everybody is themselves—and the next day they are Hindu, Moslem, Sikh, and Christian. People shrink, dwindling into symbols. Ayah is no longer just my all-encompassing Ayah. She is also a token. (Sidhwa, 1991, p. 168)
Lenny realizes how religious affiliation has overpowered individual identities and relationships within no time leading to cracking Indian society into different segments. Lenny develops further understanding about this transformation in people’s behaviour while she visits countryside with her Muslim cook and is surprised to find out that Muslims and Sikhs, who previously enjoyed a cordial relationship, are now at daggers drawn. This chaos and turmoil is not confined to the countryside only but urban life is also not free of this contamination. Lenny’s workers are now segregated into different religious groups and their differences in dress codes, religious practices and rituals have now become more than apparent. When a Sikh political and religious leader visits the city and threatens the Muslims there, violence breaks out leading to killing and looting on a huge scale. The British finally divide India into two independent states but in a haphazard manner as Lenny observes:
The British gods under the ceiling fans of the Faletti’s Hotel… deal out Indian cities like a pack of cards. Lahore is dealt to Pakistan.
Amritsar to India. Sialkot to Pakistan. Pathankot to India. I am a Pakistani. In a snap. Just like that. (Sidhwa, 1991, p. 105) This observation of Lenny reveals arbitrariness of colonial power’s decisions and its impersonal treatment of the subject, leading to migration of millions of the people on both sides of the border. Lenny’s mind is unable to register this unfolding tragedy that worsens political situation. In less than three months, seven million Muslims and five million Hindus and Sikhs become part of this exchange of populations. Ice-candy-man finds that a train coming from India and full of Muslim refugees have all murdered and mutilated dead bodies. In revenge, he joins the mobs attacking Hindus and Sikhs or robbing their abandoned properties. In short, huge massacre takes place and women are raped and one day Lenny’s house is also attached in the search of Hindu Ayah. She tries to escape the scene as she is threatened that she might be raped but Lenny reveals her hideout to the Ice Candy Man considering him to be trustworthy for being Ayah’s lover and suiter but he deceives her and hands her over to the angry mob. Lenny remains guilty conscious and in a state of acute sadness for the crime she committed unknowingly. Ayah is replaced by a Muslim woman who has been raped and her family refused to accept her. After some time, Lenny finds Ayah with the help of the godmother and she is rescued from the red light area. Ice Candy Man first forced her work as a prostitute and then converted her to Islam and married her. Eventually, Godmother convinces the police to free Ayah and she is taken to the Recovered Women’s Camp near the Sethi house. Ice-candy-man, transformed into the wronged lover, waits outside the camp for her. One day Ayah is finally transferred to India and Ice-candy-man escapes across the border after her.
Major Themes
Bapsi Sidhwa is a skillful artist who explores various key issues which have social and cultural relevance to modern contemporary societies and ‘Cracking India’ is no exception in this regard as it discusses various themes which are universal in nature and are not marred by temporal and spatial segregations. The novel, primarily, examines Partitionof India and resultant communal violence it caused leaving an everlasting impression on the collective societal consciousness of billions of people living in the sovereign states of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The novel talks about the communal hatred, violent displacements, forced conversions and brutal massacres of millions of innocent lives.
Sidhwa presents the anguish caused by forced displacement in the following words:
Do you expect us to leave everything we’ve valued and loved since childhood? The seasons, the angle and color of the sun rising and setting over our fields are beautiful to us, the shape of our barns and rooms are familiar and dear. You can’t expect us to leave just like that! (Sidhwa, 1991, p. 195)
The villagers express the trauma of being uprooted from their homes, conveying the emotional toll of forced migration during partition. Sidhwa shows that its highly unlikely that people will leave their homes willfully in the wake of turbulence as it is not only physical displacement but also emotional and psychological resulting in painful past memories.
Gendered oppression is another important issue which Sidhwa explores in greater details. She, skillfully, shows how female body serves as contestation site for conflicting political and religious ideologies. Ayah is raped and forced to work in a brothel as a prostitute as a direct consequence of supremacist masculine ego. She becomes the victim of mob psychology as she belongs to a different religious group. Similarly, Hamida is not accepted by her own family to protect their honour as in societal discourse she is depicted as a disgraced women. Through her captivating narrative, Sidhwa reveals that women neither participate in politics they have any political agenda yet they suffer the most as a result of conflicting political ideologies. Women are the most vulnerable of all segments of the society and they, often, endure psychological trauma and emotional suffering through manipulation rather than physical violence. Lenny, who is physically challenged, often strives to find her place in a society which is torn apart by religious divisions.
Religion and its intertwined relationship with power is another significant theme addressed in the novel. Sidhwa reveals that when people are segregated on the basis of their religious beliefs, it entails disastrous consequences for the established social order and adversely impacts peaceful coexistence of followers of different religious groups. Political leaders often exploit religious sentiments of the people to achieve their own vested agenda. They, often, manipulate religious teachings to cause a favourable psychological impact on people. Sidhwa reveals how conflicting religious ideologies lead to acts of violence, forced conversions and the destruction of holy religious sites become rampant during the partition. Through her portrayal of thesee vents, Sidhwa encourages the reader to question the role of religion in defining individuals and societies and also raises concerns about the abuse of religious power.