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About women's portrayal in the indian society.
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I hereby declare that my Term Paper entitled “A feminist reading of Ismat Chughtai’s Lihaaf ” completed under the supervision of Ms. Amrita Bhattacharya, Amity University, Kolkata, is an authentic record of genuine work and has not been submitted in part or full for any other degree or diploma of any university or institution. Date: 02.12. Place: Kolkata Name: Aasya Sabah Khan Enrollment Number: A
In preparation of my paper, I had taken the help and guidance of some respected people, who deserve my deepest gratitude. I would like to thank our authorities for their help and support. I’m extremely grateful to my classmates who helped me in choosing a good topic for my project. I would also like to thank all our faculty members and our guide Ms. Amrita Bhattacharya for their immense help. Date: 02.12. Place: Kolkata Name: Aasya Sabah Khan Enrollment Number: A
- Declaration - Certificate “I have always thought of myself first as a human being and then as a woman.” –Ismat Chughtai Ismat Chughtai, a remarkable Urdu writer, film maker, and novelist, has written at length on female sexuality, femininity, and social stratification. She, in her works has discussed about marginalized communities including women from minority groups, widows, prostitutes, beggars, as well as all women victimised by Indian patriarchal system. As a feminist writer, Chughtai discusses women’s self-reliance, freedom, and the multifaceted discriminations perpetuated by patriarchal society on women all across her stories. Her short story ‘Lihaaf’ portrays a heteronormative homoerotic relationship, but it evolves into a ground-breaking story which demonstrates Chughtai to be the most audacious, subversive, and contentious writer of Urdu literature. All across the work, Chughtai exposes the veiled truth of a woman’s body in a male- dominated society. By effectively describing female passion in the story, Chughtai creates a tempest in a socially constructed civilised world of gendered orientation. The story is an exceptional piece of queer writing from the pre-independence era that uncovers people’s traditional attitudes toward queer people in colonial India. Indian society does not prioritise an individual’s sexual preference or gender designations. Also in a conservative Indian society, homosexuality is deemed a forbidden act, because it was regarded a taboo at the time, the story is presumed to be the most contentious of its age. In the winter, we use a lihaaf, or quilt, to keep warm. It provides us with warmth, relaxation, and comfort. When we wrap ourselves in a quilt, we also cover ourselves and become detached from our surroundings. The intended meaning of the story ‘ Lihaaf’ is justified. The purpose and spirit of the story genuinely and assertively represent the true definition of quilt or lihaaf. The story is seen through the eyes of a child narrator who was left by her mother in the company of “Begum Jan” as she had to go to Agra and there was no female left in the house with whom she could leave her. While recounting the details of the arranged marriage between the Nawab and Begum Jaan, the narrator reveals that Begum Jaan’s poor parents married her off to the rich Nawab “who was of ‘ripe years’ as he was very righteous,” who installed her inside the mansion along with the
other furniture after their marriage. Chughtai emphasises how the marriage institution was viewed as a business agreement in which women were reduced to commodities to be purchased and afterwards assembled within the private sphere of the home. The Nawab’s virtuosity is recognised by the fact that “no one had ever seen a nautch girl or prostitute in his house.” The Nawab’s virtuosity is bolstered by the absolute lack of a heterosexual relationship. Although, nobody seems to have acknowledged the Nawab’s “strange hobby” of providing “an open house for students—young, fair, and slender-waisted boys whose expenses he borne.” This homosocial entity’s sexual implications are unobserved. While the Nawab proceeded his homosexual conquests under the guise of pedagogy, Begum Jaan “wasted away in anguished loneliness.” (Chughtai, 36) Begum Jan has dared to live her life, shape her fantasies, enjoy the delights of living, and communicate her feminism despite her subjugation and absence of authority under the lihaaf, which she was unable not display. Lihaaf transformed into a labyrinth for her fantasies. She could pretend to be a frog or an elephant with Rabbu, or vice versa. Begum did gratify her repressed desires in the darkness beneath the lihaaf. Only the lihaaf, and nothing else, could fulfil her instincts and sexual desires.
expressed in this setting. 'Zenana' transforms into a queer space in which the dominant urges of women are disclosed. As these urges are forbidden for women but not for men, they are hidden beneath the quilt. The ‘quilt’ becomes a symbol for concealing forbidden desires. Patriarchal system does not allow women the liberty to express their sexuality. Even when it comes to queer people, the administration attempts to censor them by removing the existence of lesbian identity. The term “quilt” refers to female homosexuality. Chughtai doesn’t say anything regarding what takes place between the two women is underneath the quilt. The elephant’s shadow cast on the wall serves as a metaphor. She used the image of an elephant to confuse the young narrator. Furthermore, it is a metaphorical portrayal of the people’s confusion about homosexual behaviour at the time. All across the story, it becomes evident that Begum Jan’s homosexual relationship with Rabbu is a source of concern whereas Nawab Saheb’s homoerotic association with the young boys is overlooked. As a result, his homosexual relationships are strategically covered from the standpoint of heterosexist society. Chughtai exposes the hypocrisy and pretensions of bourgeoisie male-dominated spiritual practises that demonstrate piousness.
'Lihaaf' is a tale about a woman's femininity being shielded; her wants and needs possibly having their way; her repressed desires being achieved; her expectations being survived; womanhood being discovered; a woman sustaining. But on the other side, another woman is falling a victim to society's conservative, mean, and irrational mind-set (that is the narrator). The author has successfully exposed the conservative approach prevalent in Muslim families while conveying the anguish of the story's minor narrator through simple sarcasm. This is the juncture at which a little girl begins to endure the abuse of a matured woman who tries to fulfil her sexual desire in the absence of her profound partner. Chughtai’s story discusses female sexuality, acknowledges a woman’s sexual needs, and discovers a deliberate choice of an alternative sexual identity over mainstream heteronormative conduct. It talks of possibilities for sexually oppressed women in a patriarchal system. Chughtai’s story addresses same-sex relationships among females, albeit through abhorrence, in a society where even female sexuality in a stereotyped structure is not acknowledged. The story’s incoherence suggests a portrayal of female sexuality in a Lesbian sense, which is debatable. The extent to which the story can be classified as radical, progressive, or lesbian is entirely up to the reader ‘s imagination. I would like to conclude by jotting down a paragraph from an English translation of Chughtai’s short stories, Lifting the Veil (2009) where she says – “In my stories, I’ve put down everything with objectivity. Now, if some people find them obscene, let them go to hell. It’s my belief that experiences can never be obscene if they are based on authentic realities of life. These people think that there is nothing wrong if they can do things behind the curtains … I wrote about a woman’s loneliness who had all the worldly comforts but who was deprived of her husband's company. I want to portray her tension and desperation.”