Exiled in his own home

Ibn-ul-Vaqt exiles himself from his community through various instruments of exile and it is the markers of his lifestyle which alienates him from not only the people around him but from himself. For example, the food that is prepared in his new household is not to his liking but more specifically it makes him sick to the extent that he dreams about ordinary Indian dishes (pgs 128-129). This emphasis on the more ordinary dishes of Indian cuisine that he yearns for rather than the more extravagant dishes shows the extent of his alienation as such dishes are a remembrance of his upbringing and former life. Even the habits and traditions surrounding the English food is alien to him, such as “the meals were served only by none or ten at night but the stormy preparations for it started early in the morning” (page 129), and the dinner parties which are a trouble to host but also a trouble to attend: “when he was invited as a guest he felt all the more disturbed… but also before his own servants” (page 129). These dinner parties also become an avenue through which his house is transformed into another object of exile where Ibn-ul-Vaqt is made to feel uncomfortable by the invasion of so many guests in his own personal space. The various spaces in his house are compromised as a result of his lifestyle so that when Hujjat-ul-Islam comes to visit there is no room for basic Muslim customs such as prayers due to the presence of pictures and dogs (pgs 159-161). Ironically the only place where prayers can be performed is the verandah of Ibn-ul-Vaqt’s bungalow, the verandah typically representing the only space allotted for Muslims when they came to visit an Englishman’s house and which Ibn-ul-Vaqt crossed over in his attempts to enter into the British lifestyle and become accepted as the Englishman’s equal. However, the irony becomes more poignant as Ibn-ul-Vaqt, the man who crossed over the Muslim space of the verandah to possess such a lavish house, tells Hujjat-ul-Islam “the whole bungalow is at your disposal… I’m sorry it has a few rooms and these two are quite small, but then I may shift to Noble Sahib’s bungalow” (page 161), highlighting the protagonist’s extreme isolation and exile.

NOTE: All page numbers are taken from the English translated version of "Ibn-ul-Vaqt". They mainly refer to chapters 16 and 22.