A SOCIO- CULTURAL STUDY OF ANNIE ZAIDI'S FICTION 'GULAB'

ABSTRACT

A SOCIO-CULTURAL STUDY OF ANNIE ZAIDI'S FICTION 'GULAB'

Annie Zaidi’s Gulab is a ‘weird love story Annie Zaidi stretches the love to encompass different cultures and religions.Arguably the inter-faith love relationship appears to be difficult to maintain but not impossible to imagine. Gulab showcases the trials and tribulations and also bliss of inter-religion relationship. Zaidi perceiveslovecrossingtheboundaryofevenlife.WritteninEnglish,Zaididoesn’tholdbackmixinginHindiandUrduwordsandphraseslike‘Saira’sBahraich-wali khala’,‘suchatamasha’,and‘allsortsofdhaandli.’ThesewordsprovidelinguisticandculturalrichnesstoGulab.Thispaperaimstorecordtheculturallandscapeof Gulabalongwiththedynamicsofinter-faithrelationship.ThelandscapeofGulabisonethatisrecognizableeasilytoawideaudience.

Inshort,wemaysaythatthenovelisbrilliantnotonlybecauseitis'aboutculturalismandInter-faithrelationship,aboutloveandpossession’butalsobecauseofits greatlucidityoriginatinginthesimpleandcasualmixoflanguagetoexploreliveaffairspanningtwoworlds.Thepaperalsoattemptstoexaminetherationalforagreat bondbetweentheauthorandthereader

KEYWORDS:Socio-cultural,Inter-faith,Love-relationship,Culturalism,ContemporaryIndianWomen.

Thispapertriestodiscovertheextentofculture,love,possessionandInter-faith inAnnieZaidi'sGulab(2014).Anniezaidiisaverykeenobserverofhersociety andherwritingsaredominatedbyastrongsenseofsocialissuesandjustice.She isverymuchawareofIndiansocietyandaboutvariousproblemswhichisassociatedwithIndia'sdemocraticprocess,it'sbureaucracyandinfrastructure,it'sculturalandInter-faithissues.Sheisverymuchinterestedinthevariousproblems facedbywomenateachandeverystepsoftheirlifeandcareer Inheressay'EmbodyingVenus'sheraisedvariousquestionsaboutmeaningofwomenempowermentandunashamedoftheirbodies.

AnniezaidicaughtattentionwhenshewonNineDotsAwardinMay2019,aprestigiousbookprizecreatedtoawardinnovativethinkingforaddressingcontemporary issue of the world. The winner of Nine Dots Prize is encouraged to developtheirresponseintoafull-lengthbookwhichistobepublishedbyCambridge University Press. With this award she earned US $ 100,000 financial awardforherentry'Bread,Cement,Cactus',combinesmemoirsandreportageto exploreconceptsofhomeandbelongingrootedinherexperiencesofcontemporarylifeinIndia.Sheherselfadmits-

“My work has often crossed over genres, traversing between memoir and journalism, and this timely but wide-open question encouraged us to approachitwithmethodsthatwereequallyfar-ranging.Ihadbeenworking towards a similarly themed project for a while but didn't have the financial, or even mental, bandwidth to do it justice. I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity and am looking forward to the challenges and excitement of the yearahead.”

AnnieZaidiisoneofthoserarecontemporarywriterswhohastriedherhandat different formats and various styles.When someone has experimented with so manyformsofwriting,doesitrequirecompartmentalisingthebraintofocusdifferently on each? This is the question asked to her in an interview She said “Therearenomentalcompartments.NowthatIwriteforaliving,Ihavetoonly decidetheformbasedonwhoI'mwritingforandhowmuchspaceIcantakeup. Atacreativelevel,IjusthavetodecidewhatthethingI'mthinkingwantstobe. Sometimes, a line comes to me and I know instinctively it belongs to a poem. Sometimes an image crops up and I have to choose between drama, film, and short fiction. Sometimes I begin writing a script and then decide to turn it into shortfictioninstead.”

Shehaswrittenessays,poetry,fictionofdifferentlength,memoirsandalsowrittenseveralplayscriptsthathavebeenperformedonthestage,andahandfulof shortfilmsthatcanbewatchonYouTube.ShehasauthoredKnownTurf:BanteringwithBanditsandotherTrueTalesin2010,acollectionofessaysshortlisted fortheprestigiousVodafoneCrosswordBookAward(2011).Sheistheco-author ofTheBadBoys' GuidetotheGoodIndianGirl(2014),aseriesofpoem,Crush (2007) which was jointly published with Gynell Alves. A collection of shorts

story,LoveStories#1to14andSleep Tightwerepublishedin2012and2013 respectively ShepublishedtwonovelswhichareGulabin2014andAPreludeto aRiotin2019.Shealsopublishedamemoir,Bread,Cement,Cactusin2020.Her work has appeared in various anthologies, including Mumbai Noir; Women ChangingIndia,IndiaShining,IndiaChanging,andLiteraryjournalslikeThelittleMagazine,Pratilipi,OutofPrint,andTheMissingSlate.

Thereisasortofirreverent,campandhonestlookatsociety,love,possessionand Inter-faithinZaidi'sGulab.Zaididiscardstheideaofthestandardromantichero entirely, each one of the men she has created in Gulab are emotionally stunted and too caught up with the idea of love to truly understand the object of their affection, the mysterious Saira, whether they know her as Gulab or Mumtaz. Zaidiexplains,'Iwasthinkingofhowmuchwereallyknowaboutsomeone,even ifwethinkwelovethem,andhowinvestedanyonecanbeinthedesiresofthe beloved. Especially if those are desires not fulfilled by oneself.' As much as Gulabworksasaghoststory,Zaidisaidshehadn'tapproachedthenarrativewith thatinmind,rather,sheapproacheditasa'weirdlovestory,maybewithabitof atmosphere, a thriller element tossed in but that she does have 'some questions aboutthenotionofthesupernaturalnarrative.'

The strong-willed Zaidi derives much pleasure in writing, a relationship that seemstobeonlyblossoming.She says “It'sallabouthavinganideaandbeing abletoteaseitout,layitdownintotheshapeofsomethingnew.”Accordingto her'Civilisationisbuiltonthebackoflanguageandthearts.Buteverythingthat reallymatterstohumans,theirsenseofself,theircomplexsystemsofeducation, oflaw,ofpower-mongering–allofitisbasedonthewritingdownofideas.We arewhowethinkweare,dependingonwhatstoryhasbeentoldtous.’

Gulabstartswithaveryunlikelyromantichero,theleadprotagonistNikunjisa sweaty,whinymanpackedtightinaformalsuitwhileattemptingtosaygoodbye tothetrueloveofhislife,Saira,aMuslimwoman.Havingassumedshehaddied in an earthquake many years ago when the building she lived in collapsed, Nikunjisshockedwhenhereceivesatelegraminforminghimofherdeathand burial.

Eventhoughheisnowmarriedandsettled,hehasfantasisedaboutfindingher alivemanytimesandtwoyounglovershadbeenwaitingforthe'right'timetotell theirparentsoftheirdecisiontogetmarriedforyears,until'theearthitselftook awayalltheoptions'andSairavanished.

Decades later, a much older Nikunj finds himself in a graveyard, telegram clutchedinstickypaw,tryingtolocateSaira'sgrave,ashesweatsandstumbles aroundtheplace.Hemeetstwomenthere,UsmanandParmod,whobothinsist that Saira's grave is actually that of their deceased wives, Gulab and Mumtaz respectively Neitheroftheothermencanunderstandwhysomeonewouldplace anincorrectgravestoneovertheirwives'graves,neithercanunderstandwhythe

LakshmiKumari

ResearchScholar,PAT-2018,L.N.M.University,Darbhanga,India.

AnnieZaidicaughtattentiontowardsherselfwhenshewonNineDotsAwardinMay2019foraddressingcontemporaryissueoftheworld.Sheherselfadmits-

“WhatreallyappealedtomeabouttheNineDotsPrizewasthewayitencouragesentrantstothinkwithoutbordersorrestraints. The

Prize

willallowmetodedicate timetotheexaminationofthisquestion,whichisofcriticalimportanceinthemodernworld.”

grave is marked with a much earlier date than their wives' deaths. Nikunj is equallyconfusedbecauseSaira'sgraveisnotfreshitseemslikeshediedandwas buriedyearsago,whywashesentatelegramnow?Whosentit?Hehasnothing tosaytoeitheroftheothermenandallthreegrieveintheirownways,lamenting thelossofthewomanwhomtheylovedmorethanlifeitselforsotheysay And Nikunjtriestofindtheanswer,andintheprocessoffindinganswer,hefindshimself.

Amysteriouswomaninaburqaentersthismelee,plantingflowersonthesame grave.Shewon'tletanyofthemenstopherandseemstoknowmorethanthey do: 'Nothing in that moment seemed real.Therewas something caricature-like aboutit.Asifthisentirescenewasacrayondrawinginachild'ssketchbook.'She tellsthementhatnoneofthemtrulyunderstandwhathashappenedandwhilewe agreewithher,wedon'treallyunderstandeither Theactualghostinthisstory, thatofSaira,appearsverylittleandjusttowardstheveryend,eventhoughthe centralfigureinthenovellaisthedeadwoman.Thereareveryfewothercharactersinthebook.

Whatistrulyhorrificabouttheghostisherabjectdesperationtohavewhatshe cannothaveinaway.Inotherwords,what'shorrificaboutmostghostsistheir refusaltoleave,andrefusaltoacceptthatthislifeisover Exceptthisone'sdesperationisstrongenoughforhertotakeaphysicalmantleforasortofsecondand third attempt at life. When Nikunj expresses further confusion, a gravedigger, bare chested in his checked lungi who appears to be the only one in the ghost logic tells him, 'but the dead are people, Saab.What did you think? Do people stopbeingpeopleafterwards?'ItisthenthatNikunjunderstands:'Deadpeople slurpingchai,orsniffingtheairwhentheywalkpastacakeshop,thisshouldbea naturalideathen.Andtheideathattheymightdesireabeautifulbody,thattheir desireshouldbesointensethattheywantedtopossessabody,ownit,swallowit whole,becomeit,whydidthisseemlikesuchanunnaturalidea?’

ZaidihasfunwithNikunj,shecreatedhimaserious aswellasafunnyguy 'Iam anemotionaltypeofman.Iwillbethefirsttoadmitit.'Hetellsusattheverystart, immediately contradicting himself with 'But I do not cry easily Only in movie halls.There,Icryfreely Butthatafternoon,Iwasreadytocryoutofsheernervousness.' When unable to physically get about without losing his breath, he admits, 'I was sure to die of clotted arteries or something else that sounds lazy, makingitseemasifIdeservedtodie.'He'seveninsecureaboutUsmanhavinga full head of hair, telling us 'This loss of hair is a terrible loss. It takes away so many things. Your confidence goes down. Young girls who are only five-six yearsyourjuniorstartcallingyou'uncle'.Yourworthinthemarriagemarketalso goesdown.'It'snotjustamusing,it'srefreshing.

Nikunjreallyisabitofadisaster,farfromthesortofmachismo-filled,testosteronedrivenromanticheroyou'dusuallyfindinathrillerorevenaghoststory,he's basicallyafumbling,bumblingspoiltman-child,followingsociety'sruleswith no thought to other possibilities. Zaidi points out that this was all very much intendedinanattempttobreakawayfromcliches:'Idon'tliketheideaofallprotagonists being young and/or attractive, for one', she says, 'besides, a middleagedbusinessmanoughttolook,feel,behave,talklikehimself.Youseemenlike that, don't you? Deeply romantic, yet also somehow pragmatic, still carrying aroundsomelostlove'smemory,butoftenbowingtosocialmores.Iwantedsuch amanasmycentralprotagonist.’

Zaidi recreates the eerie atmosphere of the spirit world convincingly “If they hearyourvoiceandtheynoticethereisnohumanrecipientforourwords,they believethatyouneedsomeonetotalkto.Sotheyrespond,”saysoneofthecharacters, Usman, warning Nikunj against talking to himself. The general air of spookinessishelpedalongbyYasminZaidi'sdisturbingpenandinkillustrations, whicheffortlesslyconjureuppouringrain,lonelyroads,andhauntedtrees.The blackandwhitecover,inparticular,isstunning;youcouldalmosthangitonthe wall. There's also some wry, unobtrusive humour All three men worship their wivesorgirlfriends,andgoonatlengthabouthow“beautiful”and“simple”they were.SaysboastfulmarbledealerParmodofhiseffortstopleasehiswife:“Everythinginthehousewaspure,qualitymarble.Allthelittlethings,coasters,her dressingtable,combs,thebedwithitscarvedback.”ThinksNikunj:“Shemust havefeltsmotheredbymarble,asifshewasburiedwhilestillbreathing.Iwouldn'tbesurprisedifshecamebacktohauntParmod.“Onecan'thelpbutfeelthat ZaidiisslylyskeweringthewayIndianmencreateasanitisedimageofwhatthey wouldliketheirwivestobe:beautiful,'homely',withnoeyesforanyonebuttheir husbands. In one passage, Nikunj says as much. “I never asked her what she wanted from life. I assumed she wanted me.” In the end, the truth comes as a macabresurprise.Theendingofthenoveldoesnotdisappointandencapsulates thecomplexityofaloveaffairbetweenthepeople'sofdifferentInter-faithand thatspanstwoworlds.

Gulabalsofeaturesafun,casualmixoflanguages.WritteninEnglish,Zaididoesn'tholdbackwithmixinginHindiandUrduwordsandphraseswhenshefeels likeit.It'saconfidentorganicmixthatservesherwell:theunconcerneduseof phraseslike'Saira'sBahraich-walikhala','suchatamasha','allsortsofdhaandli' addtowhatisaverycontemporaryattitudeinmanyyoungurbanwritersfromthe subcontinentwhochoosetowriteinthemixinwhichtheyspeak.'SouthAsiais sodiverse,',saysZaidi,'bothlinguisticallyandculturallythatIfIbegantothink about dialects etc, I would confound readers even between Lucknow and

Mumbai.Besides,everybookhasitsownculturallandscape'.Thelandscapeof GulabisonethatisrecognisableeasilytoawideaudienceandthatZaidihasnot feltthepressuretoalterhernarrativestyleinthehopeofreachingalargeraudiencesaysagreatdealforher Sheseemstobesayingthatleteveryoneelsecatch uptothesubcontinent'sstyle,becausethesubcontinenthasplentyofit.

Toconclude,wemaysaythatthenovelisbrilliantnotonlybecauseitis'about culturalism and Inter-faith, about love and possession' but also because of its greatluciditytriggeredbyAnnieZaidi'suseofsimpleandcasualmixoflanguage tobringhercharacteristicallyclear-eyedexplorationofliveaffairthatspanstwo worlds and to portray hair-raising ghost story Besides, every book has its own culturallandscape'.ThelandscapeofGulabisonethatisrecognisableeasilytoa wideaudienceanddevelopsagreatbondbetweentheauthorandthereader.In addition,AnnieZaidi'ssincereefforttomakethenovelrealisticalsomakesthe texthighlylucidandreadable.Besides,Zaidi's interestsinsocial, andpsychologicalissues also makethiswork(Gulab)greatandworthreading.

REFERENCES:

I. Bahuguna, Urvashi. Book Review: Gulab, Helter Skelter Magazine, retrieved from, https://helterskelter.in/2014/10/book-review-gulab/updated06October,2014.

II. Chakrabarti,Paromita.AnnieZaidi:Alotofviolencecomesfromthefearoflosingcontrol, The Indian Express, retrieved from, https://indianexpress.com/article/expresssunday-eye/annie-zaidi-interview-6051723/updated06October,2019.

III. Mackay, Anna Georgia. Interview with Annie Zaidi, Griffin Review, https://www griffithreview.com/articles/interview-annie-zaidi/retrieved12March,2021.

IV Murad, Mahvesh. Under the Radar: Gulab byAnnie Zaidi, Tor.com, retrieved from, https://www.tor.com/2014/11/05/under-the-radar-gulab-by-annie-zaidi/ updated 05 November,2014.

V Rao, Kavitha. Annie Zaidi's Gulab offers a macabre surprise, Hindustan Times, retrieved from, https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/annie-zaidi-s-gulab-offers-amacabre-surprise/story-e6fkCV0uPsf4xmzRyzzoGK.html , updated 29 November, 2014.