In the case of Zakir, we observe how nature plays a role in
reducing the feelings of homelessness in a ‘foreign’ country. When he moves
into Lahore he laments the absence of the Neem Tree, yet over time he develops
an appreciation of the Bargad tree. It is interesting to note how symbols of
home can morph, but cannot change in essential qualities. We can make a case
for arguing that the figure in exile faces a unique problem in a case similar
to the partition of India. Is it possible to completely change the entire
symbol of home? Indeed we can apply this on a more general sphere and actually
say that it is perhaps not possible. But at the same time the very tree that
reduces the feeling of homelessness at the same time becomes the symbol of exile.
This means that a Neem tree in Lahore would greatly reduce the feeling of
exile, but it would not constitute an elimination of it. So the referents of
home do seem to play an important psychological role, which Intezar Hussain is
able to elucidate through this example of Nature.
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