Of Caves and Forests: Darkness, Silence and Refuge

In class, we discussed how Basti is a temporal concept which the exilic figure attaches himself to. In the absence of a nation and a permanent Basti, then, the question arises as to what could possibly be the replacement of the home for the exilic figure? It is my contention that within Intezar Hussain’s work, this subaltern ‘home’ can be found within the cave and forest.

“A man should go into a cave, apart from everyone, and sleep. And go on sleeping for seven hundred years. When he wakes up and comes out of the cave, then he'll see that the times have changed. And he has not changed.”

In this instance, we see Zakir viewing his own room as a cave – a place where he should retreat in order to escape everything around him. Basti begins on a note of darkness – in a town which has not yet been permeated by electricity. It is my contention that Zakir is in search of that pure darkness which was lost with the British Raj and the subsequent Partition; and which he now finds within the cave. From Islamic mythology, we know that the cave of Hira was the place where the Prophet used to retreat to meditate and reflect on life, and also the place where he received his revelation. In a similar vein, Zakir also wishes to escape his present by retreating to his cave and emerging in a different time. “I should go into my cave and sleep. And keep sleeping until the times have changed,” claims Zakir. Thus, it appears, that within the cave is a refuge for the exilic figure – a place where he can feel liberated (a feeling which is usually associated with the home). It is important to note, however, that making such a claim entails a presupposition that the only place of refuge possible for the exiled is an individualistic space where he is isolated from the rest of the world.   

“When I heard this tale of disaster, I left the town. Traveling far, I came to a forest. An uninhabited forest. Unfathomable silence.”

The other space where the exilic finds refuge is within his memory, depicted in Basti as a forest. The forest, akin to the cave, is an isolated place, cut off from the towns and cities, where the exilic figure retreats in a resounding silence. It is to this silent and uninhabited place that Zakir continually returns within the space of his memory.

It appears, thus, that while the nation and a stable Basti are not within the reach of the exilic figure, he finds an alternative place of refuge within the cave and the forest. However, neither the caves nor the forests are communities, but both represent particularized places to which the exilic figure, alone, retreats.