Intizar Hussein’s “Basti” on partition and the
post-partition state draws us closely into this historical time through use of
narrative and memory. He depicts the impact of change not only with the use of
people but also the non-human creatures that inhabit these cities. These
creatures react against the change and, with their reactions and the
repercussions, show how the impact of change comes full circle as it affects
all regardless of species or personal choice.
This is seen, for one, with the monkeys of Roopnagar. The
emergence of electricity brings with it the emergence of a plague and death
that strikes with the same suddenness as the poles looming over the homes of
Roopnagar families. This change, meant for progress and improvement, is nothing
short of the opposite as the plague spreads its poison into the land and hearts
of people. It is as though the creatures (plague-spreading insects) of the land
reject such a change from a foreign (British) infiltrator and refuse to let this
slide without repercussions; thus blooms the plague; thus depart the people who
are taken down with the land as it refuses to let change win.
This is not only applicable to the people of Roopnagar but
also applies to the monkeys. The animals share a greater tie to the land than
its people who infiltrate it with electric poles; thus the other inhabitants in
the form of the monkeys revolt to this change.
“The monkeys raised a
commotion for days, for weeks. Night ambushes, looting and plundering, finally
civil war among themselves.”
“Everything that had
been left in the courtyard was either broken to pieces or missing entirely. One
monkey had carried off Ammi's dupattah and was sitting on the rooftop parapet,
holding the dupattah in his teeth and tearing it to shreds. ”
Once again, when the poles, at one point adapted to, “now again became a center of
attention” do we see death strike, this time upon the monkeys. One by one,
and then en-masse they die from the electric poles with the same suddenness and
excess as was the case by the people dying from plague. The poles bring death
not just indirectly as the land reacts but also by themselves, as though in a
shocking vengeance to compete with the land in how many protesters it can take
down. For the monkeys indeed protest to the sudden deaths; they attack
the poles, some with faces “red with
anger,” “shrieking and screaming.”
Yet change remains the stronger force here. From a point of
shock at the sudden deaths, we are now given a community, both people and animals,
forced to accept a change beyond themselves.
“Now death was an
inescapable reality. The dying died in silence. Those who arranged the funeral
processions looked exhausted.”
There is a need to keep going, a need to adapt; and so, life
goes on. The deaths reduce as the plague passes on. “Days passed, months passed, then time just went on passing. The poles,
laden with dust, again became part of the landscape. They didn't look as if
they'd been put up, but as if they'd grown from the ground.”
This is no different for the monkeys: “Then suddenly they fell silent, as though some terror had gripped them. Then the walls began
emptying” and silence befalls the community once more.
This power of change is seen here as a steady force, greater
than those it impacts. It emerges triumphant against the resistance by the
monkeys and the insects spreading plague; both forces take ugly steps of death
en-masse in order to gain the stronger position, and at the end, it is change
that wins.
It seems that for Intizar Hussein, whether it is as small as introduction of electricity to a community, or as large as the partition of a nation, the infiltration of space and place by time and change encompass all and leave none behind.
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