Summary In this chapter our author returns home and takes a brief aside from the story. He goes to meet one of his dear friends. In this aside, he explains to his readers the idea behind his story and give us some background on the three women’s child. Rushdie provides a reasoning to the boys name, Omar Khayyam. After his break with his own life story he continues on with the three sisters. He discusses the young boys ambition and drive to escape. The boy is curious in his home and stumbles upon his grandfathers library, only to find that it is a facade. He does discover one true collection of hypnosis books and begins to practice on the servants. In his exploration of hypnosis he becomes jealous of all the love and affection that everyone seems to be feeling but him. He admires a young girl through his telescope and begin puberty early. With a wish to leave the house for his birthday his mothers’ demise begins to unravel. The boy is allowed to go to school which will then lead to the division of his mothers.
References
Karachi- largest city, main seaport, and financial centre in Pakistan.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto- Pakistani politician and statesman. Served as the 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Baluchistan- arid desert and mountainous region on the Iranian plateau.
Rubaiyat- selection of poems from a book by Omar Khayyam. Done in the style of quatrains.
Patang- Indian Fighter Kite. Much heavier than traditional paper ones.
Bilquis (page 55): is the Islamic reference to the Queen of Sheba in the Quran. In the Quran, Sulaiman or Solomon converted Bilquis from a sun worshiper to Islam. Bilquis realized how unjust she was to herself by worshiping the sun, which was created by Allah, and that Solomon was not a mighty king who wished to increase his dominion in the name of religion, but a genuine Prophet of Allah (p) who strove to guide people and show them the right path.
for more info: http://alilmiyah.tumblr.com/post/4888552240/bilqis-queen-of-sheba-stories-of-the-quran http://english.bayynat.org.lb/articles/article_Sheba.htm
• Raza Hyder (page 55) is Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq: Sixth President of Pakistan. Denationalized and deregulated and the state's Islamization. Revived Pakistan’s founding political party, the Pakistan Muslim League. Third Enforcer of Martial Law. At the time of Independence, like most of the Muslim officers in the British Army, Zia-ul-Haq opted to join the Pakistan Army. During his rule, Zia-ul-Haq tried his utmost to maintain close ties with the Muslim World. Sources: http://www.pakistanherald.com/Profile/General-Muhammad-Zia-ul-Haq-1183 http://storyofpakistan.com/general-muhammad-zia-ul-haq/
Red Fortress (page 61): The Red Fort is considered to represent the zenith of Mughal (Muslim) creativity in Delhi, India. Perhaps this was the one of the last bastions of Islamic India in Pakistan Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/231
The bed chamber is invaded by the “Forty Thieves (page 70) : A poor woodcutter in the Arabian Nights who gains entrance to the treasure cave of the 40 thieves by saying the magic words "Open, Sesame!" Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Ali+Baba+and+the+Forty+Thieves
Sind Club (71): an exclusive club for elite members of Pakistani society in Karachi. Built by the British in the 1860’s, local Pakistanis were not allowed to become members until after Pakistan’s independence Source: http://www.imagesofasia.com/html/pakistan/pakistan-sindh-club.html
• Karachi (pg. 71) Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 21 million people as of April 2012. Wikipedia Population: 21,200,000 (2012) Area: 1,362 sq miles (3,527 km²) Weather: 75°F (24°C), Wind N at 5 mph (8 km/h), 25% Humidity
• Raza Hyder (pg. 71) • Iskander Harappa (pg. 77)
According to www.postcolonialweb.org these two characters are based on actual political figures in Pakistan during the 1940’s. Here is the link:
http://www.postcolonialweb.org/pakistan/literature/rushdie/srpolitics2.html • Zenana (pg. 72) “‘[T]he place for women,’ from Persian word ‘zen,’ a woman and ‘ana,’ place; but this is not all it means and implies...”
(http://books.google.com/books?id=iuMCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA93#v=onepage&q&f=false). • Kashmir (pg. 75) “According to folk etymology, the name "Kashmir" means "desiccated land" (from the Sanskrit : Ka = water and shimeera = desiccate). In the Rajatarangini, a history of Kashmir written by Kalhana in the mid-12th century, it is stated that the valley of Kashmir was formerly a lake.
According to Hindu mythology, the lake was drained by the great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, son of Marichi, son of Brahma, by cutting the gap in the hills at Baramulla ( Varaha-mula ). When Kashmir had been drained, Kashyapa asked Brahmans to settle there. This is still the local tradition, and in the existing physical condition of the country, we may see some ground for the story which has taken this form. The name of Kashyapa is by history and tradition connected with the draining of the lake, and the chief town or collection of dwellings in the valley was called Kashyapa-pura, which has been identified with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus (apud Stephanus of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44).
Kashmir is also believed to be the country meant by Ptolemy's Kaspeiria.
Cashmere is an archaic spelling of Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way.”
• “The hostilities on the Kashimiri frontier,” that Rushdie speaks of on page 75, refer to the following
“[E]ven more important was the liberation of the country from the British Yoke in 1947, that ended all the traces of foreign domination, absolutism and autocracy in our country. It was on 26th Jan. 1957 that the Kashmir Constiuent Assembly ended the hereditary rule of the Hindu monarchy in the state exacly after one hundred and ten years of its establishment. The liberation of India, facilitated the establishment of responsible government in Jammu and Kashmir State, but the liberisation also brought the division of our country on religious and communal consideration. This division led to disatrous consequences plunging northern India into a sort of bloody civil war. The Pakistan Government invaded the state, and encouraged the Tribal people and other titanic hordes of medieval barbarism to carry loot, plunder, death and destruction into the hearths and homes of innocent Kashmiris in general and among Hindus in particular. Pakistan wanted to grab Kashmir, even though its ruler in the terms of Independance Act, had acceded toIndia, and signed the instrument of Accession as required under the said Act. The main burden of Pakistan invasion had to be borneby the Hindus of the districts of Muzzafarbad, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajuari, Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli, Skardu, Gilgit and Ladhak. Thousands of people became the victims and lost their lives for no fault of theirs, and property worthcrores accumulated for decades was lost just within a weeks time. This was the result of the mighty Congress Party with its host of gallant leaders bowing disgracefully before fanaticism, ' Two Nation Theory ', and its author Mr. Jinah. The Congress leaders accepted the partition of India, but totally ignored or could not perhaps realise its disastrous consequences. In short, the Hindus here have paid the penaltyrather heavily. Kashmir was attacked in 1965 and 1971 by Pakistan. In spite of these historical vicissitudes the popular government has been trying its level best to mitigate the sufferingof the people, thanks to the generous financial assistance of the Central Government.”
http://kasheer.tk/site_111.xhtml • Jawan (pg. 75) Web definitions (jawan) (India) a private soldier or male constable. wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• • Houris (pg. 75)
Heavenly Maidens In Islam
Muslim men who die as martyrs (fighting in battle or other deaths) are promised 72 (or sometimes 73) beautiful, black-eyed perpetual virgins as wives in heaven. - And they have their regular wives on earth still tagging along too. This short page is simply a brief description of what the hadiths say about these heavenly virgins, called "houris."
A djinn is a spirit from Arabic mythology that can be either good or evil. The djinn are less powerful than angels, but can assume the shapes of humans, animals or whirlwinds.
The school to which Omar Khayyam is sent is a “Cantonment School” (Rushdie 41). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a cantonment is “The place of lodging assigned to a section of a force when cantoned out; also (often inpl.) the place or places of encampment formed by troops for a more permanent stay in the course of a campaign, or while in winter quarters; ‘in India the permanent military stations are so termed’” (Stocqueler Mil. Encycl.) (OED). This school is, according to Rushdie, where children of British descent are sent, until at age eight when they are typically returned to Britain so as not to be corrupted by an “Oriental upbringing” (Rushdie 42). The native children who attend school remain longer, until age eighteen. The omnipresence and permanence of the British imperialists, and the military undertones of their presence, are evidenced here; Rushdie gives no evidence that there is another option for Omar’s schooling.
Rushdie refers to the “Angrez sahibs” who feel the need to change the environment (41). Sahib is “a respectful title used by an Indian in addressing an Englishman or other European (= ‘Sir’); an Englishman, a European. Also affixed as a title (equivalent to ‘Mr.’) to the name or office of a European and to Indian and Bangladeshi titles and names” (OED).
Rushdie compares Omar Khayyam to “that bold fellow in Agra who, they say, looked over a high wall to spy on the building of the Taj Mahal” (43). There are many myths and legends surrounding this great building, one of which is that Shah Jahan ordered that the hands of the builders and architects be dismembered after the completion of the Taj Mahal (“Mutilations”). I am unable to locate anything on someone who had his eyes gouged for spying on the construction, though the myth of hands being cut-off conveys the same meaning. The fact that Rushdie cites a rumor that one can not confirm elsewhere is demonstrative of the meretricious nature of such apocryphal sayings. It also is resonant of the extreme privatism that other characters (the three mothers and Bilquìs especially) cling to to hide their shame.
A “kukri knife” (Rushdie 43) is “a curved knife, broader at the point than at the handle, and usually having the keen edge on the concave side, used by the Gurkas of India” (OED).
“Maharaja” (Rushdie 43) is a title for a high prince or person of rank, who would be one of the few who would have the means to such an escapade as a tiger hunt (OED).
In regards to Eduardo Rodriguez, his secret past is denoted only by “cheap pictures... of a balmy coastal land in which palm trees swayed” which we can assume to be Portugal because of his “Portuguese name.” However, he is a Catholic in a land of Muslims, and is scorned for his alleged “Christian perversions” in regards to Farah (Rushdie 44-45).
The term “wallah” can be used as a suffix attached to English nouns to imitate “native derivatives” or to mean a “routine administrative job” (OED). Rushdie uses this term throughout Shame, as in “mule-wallahs” and “customs-wallah’s” (45).
Farah and her father are both of the Zoroastrian religion (their last name is in fact Zoroaster). Farah says her father dreams of that “damn land of Ahuramazda” and the “ancestral land of Zarathustra” (Rushdie 45, 49). Ahura Mazda is the supreme god and creator and Zarathustra is the prophet in the Zoroastrian religion. In the Persian Empire, until the invasion of Mohammedanism, Zoroastrianism was the national religion (Zaehner 200-202). There is still a small group of people practicing Zoroastrianism in Q., the Parsees, when Shame takes place. Rushdie demonstrates by their presence the intermingling of cultures in Q. or Pakistan that does not prohibit, and perhaps cause, the biases that cause Farah’s father to yearn for a homeland to which he’s never been.
The customs office where Farah’s father works is on the “Irani frontier” (Rushdie 46). Q., then, is in the south-west of Pakistan. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/pakistan (“Map”)
The tonga that Eduardo and Farah leave for the train station in is simply a small cart or carriage with two wheels (OED). Omar Kahayyam leaves Q. to attend medical school in Karachi, which is the capital of Sindh and the largest city in Pakistan (Wikipedia).
The garland of flowers that Omar’s mothers place around his neck as he leaves for Karachi could just have religious significance, as garlands of flowers do in Hindu culture (“garland”) (Rushdie 52). However, it is Muslim practice, as well as the practice of many other religions, to put garlands on the grave of a loved one, signifying that for his mothers, his quitting them for a faraway city is the same as his dying to them.
In Zoroastrianism, there is a period after which the world as we know it will end. Individual judgement has already occurred, but at the end of the 12,000 year cosmic period, all souls, both good and evil, will be “plunged into a sea of molten metal which purges them from all remaining stain of sin” (Zaehner 208). This is the end of the world that Farah’s father convinces the tribals he will bring about with the vehemence of his ranting (Rushdie 53).
The Loo that first is mentioned as Omar Khayyam boards the train and that later plagues Bilquìs (Rushdie 53) is the “the name given in Bihar and the Punjab to a hot dust-laden wind” (OED). Khichri (Rushdie 60) is an “Indian dish of rice boiled with split pulse, onions, eggs, butter, and condiments” (OED).
When we meet Bilquis, she is in Delhi, India, although Rushdie also mentions “Indraprasth and Puranqila” (60), which are historical names and places in Delhi (OED). Rushdie is demonstrating the convoluted history of a place that has been controlled both by Muslim and Hindu peoples in the past, and the prejudices that still exist.
Works Cited "garland". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 08 March 2013 .
“Map of Pakistan.” Lonely Planet. BBC, 2013. Web. 8 March 2013 .
“Mutilations in Taj Mahal Myth.” Taj Mahal. 2008. Web. 8 March 2013 .
OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. 8 March 2013 .
Rushdie, Salman. Shame. New York: Vintage International, 1983. Print.
Wikipedia contributors. "Karachi." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 March 2013. Web. 9 March 2013
Zaehner, R.C., ed. Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions. New York: Barnes and Nobel, 1988. Print.
The Hyders’ return from Q. to Karachi, which had grown exponentially. The Gichki mystery is still prevalent in conversation and the narrator presents the possibility of two distinct stories of how Raza Hyder’s meeting with the President, Field-Marshal Mohammad A., went. Three years after Raza Hyder’s return to Q., he was returned to military duty to perform a futureless job. The narrator then shifts focus to earlier times, specifically on Raza and Bilquis’ daughter, Sufiya. Sufiya brings shame to her family because of her apparent hot body temperature disorder, which is a result of her constant blushing at whatever or whomever. The narrator then discusses the abstract of shame with the example of a vending machine drink and cup. Isky Harappa leaves Pinkie and plans on breaking his old habits and changing his life. The narrator establishes Omar is now in his mid-forties like Pinkie but he remains brilliant and mostly sleepless at night as always. Then story shifts to Omar being in Nishapur to mourn the death of his murdered brother, Babar, whom he has never met.
Terms and References:
• Maulana → According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term “maulana” refers to “a Muslim man revered for his religious learning or piety.” In these specific pages of Shame, the term is used as "the Maulana" and "Maulana Dawood", indicating the higher status that comes with holding that position (122).
• Brigadier → According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term “brigadier” refers to “a rank of officer in the British army, above colonel and below major general.” In Shame, the narrator tells of Old Razor Guts’ promotion as brigadier in page 121.
• Nishapur → This is the location Omar arrives at to mourn the death of his brother, Babar. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has excavations found in the area of Nishapur. Marika Sardar explains the existence and demise of Nishapur, “a city in northeastern Iran that was founded around the third century A.D…and was ruined by invasions and earthquakes in the thirteenth century” (Sardar). Interestingly, Nishapur was the home of many religious scholars and it was also an economic center, especially since it was located on the Silk Road trade route. The first is especially interesting since Omar is not only a brilliant mind but very much gifted in his learning ability.
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Works Cited:
OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. Web. 15 March 2013.
Rushdie, Salman. Shame. New York: Vintage International, 1983. Print.
Sardar, Marika. "The Metropolitan Museum's Excavations at Nishapur". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nish/hd_nish.htm
The chapter begins with the author returning home to visit family. After learning information of his old friend’s whereabouts Rushdie visits him. Rushdie explains his ideas for a book he is planning too write. He also let the audience in with some simple information on the main character in his novel Omar. The story returns back to the sisters. Omar is imprisoned for 12 years in his mother’s mansion. One day while playing in the gates of his home he notices a crack on the wall. Through the crack he sees the outside world. After this day he develops a need to leave his mansion and enter the outside world. Omar grows to despised his mothers for their tight relationship and constant overprotection. He discovers a library with in his house and with the mass amount of textbooks he educates himself. He also teaches himself how to perform hypnosis. On his 12th birthday he asks his mother for two gifts: to know his fathers name and for his mothers to let him outside the house. This request causes his mothers to argue, which brought out their differences for the first time. They agree to let him to go to school outside the house. As soon as he takes his first journey outside his house a group of people armed with satchels confront him, they explained that they were seeking revenge for his mothers action. Before anything dangerous escalated his schoolmaster Rodrigues saves him.
References
Nishapur- a Northeast city in Iran
Rubaiyat- 4-line poems in a book by Omar Khayyam
Karachi- Financial centre in Pakistan and its largest city
Matheus Salles Professor Moeckel Engl 2301W 16 March 2013
Rushdie (pages 161-180) Summary and References
As Haroun Harappa continues to look over some pictures of his soon-to-be fiancée, Naveed Hyder, it seems that he comes to fall under a trance that strongly influences him in deciding that he wishes to marry Naveed. While this is ongoing, Haroun’s cousin, Arjumand cannot help but feel disgust towards Naveed. While Haroun wishes to have Naveed because, in his eyes, she is the “loveliest bride in the world” (Rushdie 161), Naveed, herself, wants to marry Haroun because he is rich and famous. Although Naveed’s mother attempts to dissuade her from marrying Haroun because of his reputation, it is not enough because Naveed’s mind is already made up. As a result of accepting the marriage proposal, Naveed will now have to get to know Haroun better.
Although Arjumand Harappa, also known as The Virgin Ironpants, is still very relatively young, many men chase after her in order to declare their love for her. To their disappointment, she rejects them all. Dissatisfied with her gender, she does everything she can to look like a man. However, while she does this, she only grasps the attention of more men, resulting in her request to be sent to a Catholic boarding college in Lahore (Rushdie 162).
Lahore is the capital of Punjab, a province in Pakistan. It is the second largest city in the country and contains the largest population of Punjabis in the world. This capital is well known for its economy, politics, transportation, entertainment, and education. As a result of its high affiliation with poets and artists, Lahore has the highest number of educational institutions in Pakistan. Lahore is also known for being a very cultural location, hosting most of the arts, festivals, and music in the country, thus often being referred to as the cultural heart of Pakistan. Lahore also bears another name, “City of Gardens.” This is because not only does it contain the finest gardens in the continent, but the gardens themselves date back to the Mughal period (Wikipedia).
However, a new problem arises, for women too are also starting to fall for Arjumand. There is one girl in particular who is very much in love with Arjumand that she ends up going to Heeramandi because she is not able to have Arjumand’s love (Rushdie 163).
Heeramandi is located in Taxali Gate, Lahore, Pakistan. The name Heeramandi translates to “Diamond Market,” and is also known as Shahi Mohalla, which translates to “The Royal Neighborhood.” Heeramandi is considered to be a red-light district, an area containing a high concentration of prostitution and other sexual establishments. Originally, Heeramandi was the center of the Tawaifan culture, influential female elite that contributed to music, dance, theater, film, and Urdu literary tradition, during the Mughal period. However, Heeramandi is now known for being the center of prostitution in Lahore. Other than being known as the red-light district, Heeramandi is also known for being a bazaar that contains good food, shops for musical instruments, and traditional Mughal footwear (Wikipedia).
Realizing that women are being affected the same as men towards her, Arjumand writes to her father to take her out of the boarding school. Once Haroun comes back from London, Arjumand notices a very great resemblance between Haroun and her father. As a result, she believes that she can help Haroun find his better-self just as she did with her own father. While she tries to close the distance between her and Haroun, her body language towards Haroun drive him away, towards Naveed.
In an instance where Arjumand is looking at herself in the mirror, Rushdie decides to include that she is reflecting her mother’s habit, who as of now is in Mohenjo (Rushdie 164).
Mohenjo, also called Mohenjo-daro is an archeological site in Sindh, Pakistan. The word Mohenjo-daro translates to “Mound of the Dead.” Built around 2600 BCE, it was the largest settlement of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, earliest urban civilization that developed new techniques for handicraft and metallurgy. Mohenjo-daro was abandoned in the 19th century BCE and later discovered in 1922 (Wikipedia).
Rushdie later comes to talk about himself as a child and his conversation with The Greatest Living Poet. The conversation entails the Beauty and Beast. Through this, The Greatest Living Poet identifies the possibility of one having two identities such as the Beast who later turns into a Prince. Rushdie eventually comes to think that the Beauty can also be the Beast, that it is not always the Beast that is the Beauty. He also introduces this idea when he includes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rushdie 165).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson. The novella goes by Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (actual title), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or Jekyll & Hyde (both common titles today). The novella is about a London lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, investigating peculiar occurrences between Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. The novella is usually associated with split-personality, also known as D.I.D., dissociative identity disorder (Wikipedia).
This implies Sufiya Zinobia, who beautiful to Omar Khayyam Shakil, is a Beast in the inside. She has two personalities.
As time passes, Omar misses the opportunity to propose to Sufiya, resulting in the younger daughter, Naveed, marrying first. However, when he does ask permission, Sufiya’s parents are taken aback, especially her father, Raza Hyder, who has taken a liking towards Sufiya. Raza attempts to dissuade his wife from allowing the marriage, but eventually becomes persuaded by his wife. As a result, Raza comes to notice that his wife wants to rid herself of Sufiya just as quick as Raza wants to rid himself of Naveed (Rushdie 167). Once the marriage is approved, the Hyders decide that Naveed’s wedding will precede Sufiya’s and Sufiya’s wedding will be in “secrecy.”
Naveed and Haroun agree to meet at the polo field. Once both of them meet and they begin conversing with one another, she realizes that there is nothing in for her by marrying Haroun. Originally, she told her mother that she would be able to “fix” Haroun, but notices that that is not
possible. As she disengages from the conversation, between her and Haroun, she makes eye contact with one of the polo players from the police team, Talvar Ulhaq. Neither of them could take their eyes off of each other. From then on, Naveed knows that she wants Talvar and begins to spend time with him. During one of their encounters, a fisherman observes the situation and threatens to blackmail the inappropriate behavior unless Talvar pays him. As a result, Talvar pays the fisherman and gives Naveed an ultimatum; it is either him or Haroun. At the last possible minute, Naveed makes the decision that she will only marry Talvar. Infuriated with Naveed, Raza goes to her room with a pistol in order to kill her, however, he does not have the strength to do so. Raza then informs Iskander Harappa about his daughter rejecting Haroun.
Although the marriage between Haroun and Naveed is cancelled, the marriage between Naveed and Talvar is still on. Raza, still infuriated wishes that once the wedding is done that both Naveed and Talvar disappear.
In the morning of Naveed’s wedding day, a riot seems to break lose and wreak havoc upon authority vehicles, the British Council, and the United States Information Service (Rushdie 175).
The British Council aims to develop cultural relations by sharing the United Kingdom’s culture, English, arts, and education. They work with governments so as to help transform education in hope that there will be an increase in opportunities and employability through learning English. They also help develop events that link thousands of organizations, artists, and audiences worldwide. Not only that, but they also help develop leadership, professional networking, and cultural educational programs through the efforts of joint arts programs (British Council).
The United States Information Service known as United States Information Agency also goes by the name of Propaganda Agency of the United States. It was created by President Dwight. D. Eisenhower in 1953 until 1999. Their mission was to “streamline the U.S. government’s overseas information programs and make them more effective.” Their goals were: 1. Credibly and meaningfully advocate/explain U.S. policies in foreign cultures. 2. Provide information about policies of the U.S., about the people, values and institutions that influence policies. 3. Bring benefits of international engagement to U.S. citizens and institutions by building stronger long-term relationship overseas. 4. Advise the president and U.S. government policy makers on the methods of foreign attitudes that will have a direct bearing on the effectiveness of U.S. policies (United States Information Agency).
The riot is a result of the lack of democracy. Through General Shaggy, the riots cease and the nation will be led towards democracy. As a result, the people ended the riot and instead began celebrating.
Alliance Française (Rushdie 175)
Created in Paris on July 21st, 1883, the Alliance Française is an international organization whose goal is to spread both the French language and the French culture throughout the world (Wikipedia).
The Geothe Institute is Germany’s worldwide operational cultural institute. Their main focus is to promote the study of German. Not only that, but they also encourage for there to be a cultural exchange in the process. By providing cultural, societal, and political education and training, the international learning community has been able to reach out farther than before, giving more opportunities to those who seek it (Geothe Institut).
While Iskander is still in shock of what has happened in regards to the wedding, Arjumand, seeks to comfort him. It is during this time that Arjumand declares her love for her cousin, Iskander. However, heartbroken, Iskander rejects her.
When it is time for Naveed’s wedding to take place, all of the guests appear looking un-presentable. Naveed’s entire family is there including her sister’s fiancée, Omar. While the ceremony is underway, Omar notices something strange, but by then it is too late. Sufiya decides to attack Talvar, twisting his neck almost to the breaking point. Naveed grabs her sister and tries to rip her from Talvar, but it is of no use. The rest of the family and Omar takes part in helping free Talvar from Sufiya, in which they succeed. But, just as they rip Sufiya from Talvar, she is able to bite Talvar in the neck. After the wedding scandal occurred, Raza became nicer towards Talvar because of the incident. Nonetheless, Talvar’s polo career was over.
During election time, Iskander’s Popular Front would do very well. Not forgetting about Naveed cancelling the wedding date, Iskander seeks revenge on Raza. When Iskander becomes Prime Minister, he appoints Talvar as police chief and promotes Raza to General, placing him in command of the army. This forces the Hyders to move up north along with the Harappas. This results in Iskander being able to have control over Raza.
Works Cited "About the British Council." British Council. British Council, 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. . "About Us."  - Goethe-Institut . Geothe Institut, 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. . "Alliance Française." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. . "Heera Mandi." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. . "Lahore." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. . "Mohenjo-daro." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. . "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. . "USIA, The United States Information Agency Homepage." USIA, The United States Information Agency Homepage. United States Information Agency, 1999. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. .
Iskander Harappa raise and fall from power is discussed, “Six years in power, two in jail, an eternity underground…” (194). Raza Hyder’s nomination for the Army leader is mentioned and foreshadows the path that Harappa’s career will take. As well as Iskander’s career his relations with his daughter Arjumand are discussed, and the role other woman played in his life. Pinkie Aurengzeb became a shadow of her former beautiful self, and Rani was “not so much as a person as an aspect of the estate” (198). Arjumand on the other hand had a strong character and fallowed her father political career. She was known as “the virgin Ironpants”, at first it was a mocking and disrespectful nickname but later as her influence grew, her actions as a prosecutor gave “her nickname a new and less ribald meaning” (199).
Terms and References: Hegiran calendar – is the Muslim system of dividing a year of 354 days into 12 months and starting to count the years from the Hegira. Pierre Cardin – French fashion designer and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. “Alexander the Great” – reference to an epic movie from 1956 about the life of Alexander the Great. Macedonian king that conquered Persian Empire, he is remembered as a great military leader and legendary hero. Virgin Ironpants - reference to Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s first female prime minister. Bhutto was the eldest daughter of former prime minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The chapter begins with the author returning home to visit family. After learning information of his old friend’s whereabouts Rushdie visits him. Rushdie explains his ideas for a book he is planning too write. He also let the audience in with some simple information on the main character in his novel Omar. The story returns back to the sisters. Omar is imprisoned for 12 years in his mother’s mansion. One day while playing in the gates of his home he notices a crack on the wall. Through the crack he sees the outside world. After this day he develops a need to leave his mansion and enter the outside world. Omar grows to despised his mothers for their tight relationship and constant overprotection. He discovers a library with in his house and with the mass amount of textbooks he educates himself. He also teaches himself how to perform hypnosis. On his 12th birthday he asks his mother for two gifts: to know his fathers name and for his mothers to let him outside the house. This request causes his mothers to argue, which brought out their differences for the first time. They agree to let him to go to school outside the house. As soon as he takes his first journey outside his house a group of people armed with satchels confront him, they explained that they were seeking revenge for his mothers action. Before anything dangerous escalated his schoolmaster Rodrigues saves him.
References
Nishapur- a Northeast city in Iran
Rubaiyat- 4-line poems in a book Omar Khayyam
Karachi- Financial centre in Pakistan and its largest city
Shame (81-90) Summary: Bariamma telling her grandson about Raza and Bilquis losing their son and all the dreams they had for their son, but they had hope a second pregnancy would give them a son who can carry out unfilled dreams, a reincarnation. Harappa taunted Raza on his reincarnation obsession, and outside the courtroom people were gossiping about Raza being raised in enemy territory, and evidence that he had Hindu blood because of a great-grandmother, which explained his “ungodly philosophies.” Iskander and Rani tried to explain to the Hyders, but they wouldn’t listen. At the time Rani was pregnant and Bilquis thought that maybe a reason for it being difficult for her to conceive was because she did not listen to Rani’s advice. Rani and Bilquis had dreamed of getting their firstborns married, so when Rani gave birth to a daughter, she kept her promise, and Bilquis feels more pressure to conceive a boy. Bilquis cousin insults her because she can’t conceive and repay her husband’s for taking her in when she was helpless. It caused a physical fight between Bilquis and Begum (cousin). Raza breaks up the fight and Bilquis tells her husband she was raised in a better environment and the reason she can’t give kids is because of the zoo she lives in now. Bariamma tells her she thinks she’s too good for them, and tells Raza to take her with him. Bilquis moved into a simple residence in the compound of the army base, where she had once again conceived. She believed their baby boy would come back. She gave birth to a daughter, Sufiya Zinobi, which made Hydar unhappy. He created ruckus at the hospital and demanded there was a mistake.
Hungman’s noose (pg.81): well-known knot most often associated with its use in hanging a person. A variation of this knot is used in fishing and is called the Uni-knot.
Hindu (pg.82): refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. The word is attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism or Sikhism).
Zenana chamber (pg. 83): literal meaning of the word is "of the women" or "pertaining to women". It refers to the part of a house reserved for the women of the household. The Zenana are the inner apartments of a house in which the women of the family live. The outer apartments for guests and men are called the Mardana.
Sepia (pg.85): A dark brown ink or pigment originally prepared from the secretion of the cuttlefish. Photographs in a brown tint (dark grayish yellow brown to dark or moderate olive brown).
Bangladesh (pg.85): a country in South Asia and part of the historic ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language. It faces the Bay of Bengal to its south, and is bordered by India on the north, west and east, as well as Burma (Myanmar) on the southeast. It is separated from the Himalayan nations of Nepal and Bhutan by India’s narrow Siliguri corridor, and is in geographical proximity to China. Bangladesh is often associated with floods, and cyclones. http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/bangladesh-facts/
Punjabi (pg.85): a native or inhabitant of the Punjab region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent (an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab). Punjab is known as the land of five rivers. The state capital is located in Chandigarh, which is a Union Territory and also the capital of the neighboring state of Haryana. The state is the largest provider of wheat in India, with agriculture being its largest industrial sector. http://www.oxfordsikhs.com/MeraPunjab/Punjab+Facts/default.aspx
Afghans (pg.85): relating to Afghanistan or its people, language, or culture (known as an Afghani). Afghanistan is a land-locked country. The population of Afghanistan is estimated at about 32.7 million. Afghanistan is home to a number of ethnic groups, the largest is the Pashtun. Afghanistan is among the poorest countries, more than 53% of the population lives under the poverty line. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/afghanista1/p/ProfAfghanistan.htm
Kashmiris (pg.85): a Dardic linguistic (sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages) group living in or originating from the former Indian state of Kashmir. It is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. In the first half of the first millennium, the Kashmir region became an important center of Hinduism and later of Buddhism. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Kashmir.aspx
Sind/Sindh (pg.85): one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran" and has been given the title of Bab-ul-Islam. The name of Sind is derived from the Indus River that separates it from Balochistan and the greater Iranian Plateau. http://www.academia.edu/1934949/Dates_in_Sindh_Facts_and_Figures
Baluchistan/Balochistan “tan” (pg.85): is an arid, desert and mountainous region on the Iranian plateau in south-western Asia. It is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. It is the largest province by area, constituting approximately 44% of Pakistan's total land mass, and the smallest in terms of population Balochistan is named after the native Baloch tribes who make up the majority of the inhabitants in the region. They speak Balochi as their native language, and also Brahui, and Persian as additional languages. http://www.gwank.org/fact_about_balochistan_by_oslo_norwar_ssearching_group20110621.html http://blogs.thenews.com.pk/blogs/2012/11/the-importance-of-being-baluchistan/
Urdu (pg.86): Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language with about 104 million speakers, including those who speak it as a second language. Urdu is written in an alphabet based on the Islamic Nasta'liq script. It is the national language of Pakistan and is one of the official languages of India, but a lot of Urdu vocabulary comes from Persian and Arabic. Urdu is also spoken in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, India, Malawi, Mauritius, Nepal, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and Zambia. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/urdu.htm
Saris/saree (pg. 86): a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by women, ranging from four to nine yards in length that is draped over the body in various styles, which is native to the Indian Subcontinent. The word sari is derived from Sanskrit “sati,” which means strip of cloth. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder, baring the midriff. It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sari
Salwar kurtas/ Shalwar kameez (pg.86): is a traditional dress worn by both women and men in South Asia and Afghanistan/Central Asia . Shalwar or salwar are loose pajama-like trousers. The legs are wide at the top, and narrow at the ankle. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The side seams (known as the chaak), left open below the waist-line, give the wearer greater freedom of movement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalwar_kameez
Yggdrasil (pg. 86): In the middle of Asgard, where the gods lived, was Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil was the tree of life. It was an eternal green Ash tree. Its branches stretched out over all of the nine worlds, and extended up and above the heavens. Yggdrasil was carried by three enormous roots. The first root from Yggdrasil went to Asgard, the home of the gods. By this root was a well named Urd’s well. This was where the gods held daily meetings.The second root from Yggdrasil went down to Jotunheim, the land of the giants, by this root was Mimir's well. The third root from Yggdrasil went down to Niflheim, close to the well Hvergelmir. It was here the dragon Nidhug gnawed on one of Yggdrasils roots. Nidhug was also known to suck the blood out of the dead bodies. http://www.viking-mythology.com/yggdrasil.html
Valhalla (pg.86): In Norse mythology, Valhalla (“hall of the slain”) is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Valhalla is where heroes went when they died in battle, but half of those heroes are chosen by Odin, and led by valkyries to Valhalla. In Valhalla, the dead join the masses of those who have died in combat known as Einherjar, as well as various legendary Germanic heroes and kings, as they prepare to aid Odin during the events of Ragnarök, where you would fight and perish alongside the gods. Various creatures live around Valhalla. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=valhalla
Muspellheim/Muspelhiem (pg. 86): In Norse mythology, Muspelheim, also called Muspell, is a realm of fire. This realm is one of the Nine Worlds and it is home to the fire jötunn (giant) or the "sons of Muspell", and Surtr (elder jotunn), their ruler. It is fire; and the land to the North, Niflheim, is ice. The two mixed and created water from the melting ice in Ginnungagap(mighty gap). http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399446/Muspelheim http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muspelheim
Milan Kundera (pg. 87): a Czech and French writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. Due to censorship by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia, his books were banned from his native country. http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6343.Milan_Kundera
Charles James Napier (pg. 87): general of the British Empire and the British Army's Commander-in-Chief in India, notable for conquering the Sindh Province in what is now Pakistan. In 1842, at the age of 60, Napier was appointed Major General to the command of the Indian army within the Bombay Presidency. His orders had been to put down the rebels, and conquer the whole Sindh Province, and with his victory, he was to report to his superiors the short, notable message, “Peccavi”, the Latin for "I have sinned" (joke on I have Sindh). http://www.thornber.net/england/htmlfiles/napier.html
Needle Valley/ Ioa Valley (pg. 90): lush, stream-cut valley in West Maui, Hawaii, located 5 kilometres west of Wailuku. The 2,250-foot stone pillar, covered in green foliage, was once used as a natural altar. The valley is a peaceful area with easy hikes, exotic tropical plants, and clear, natural pools. It is the site of one of the most famous and bloody battles that changed Hawaii history forever. In 1790, King Kamehameha I, destroyed the Maui army in his effort to unite the Hawaiian Islands. Its natural beauty and historical significance, has made it a popular tourist location. http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/iao-valley-needle.html
Gichki (pg. 90): a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan. They mostly live in the Makkuran area of Balochistan, and ruled the region from 1740 till 1974. The land was distributed among Gichki clans from Kech to Panjgur. The tribe is supposedly the Royal family of Makkuran. "Gichk" is a place in Panjgur this place called Gichk because the Gichki's were living there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gichki http://balochrace.blogspot.com/2012/03/gichki-baloch.html http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2008/10/baluchistan-baluch-and-myth-of-martial.html
I have been assigned pages 91-100 The summary mostly surrounds the life of Raza Hyder and his wife Bilquis. First we will start off with an explanation of the great gas fields found in Needle Valley that Hyder was sent to protect from the tribesmen on pg. 90. The same insurgency talked about in the book may also be linked to ones that happened in Balochistan during the 1970's. In the 70's there were attacks made on Pakistan by the nationalist of Balochistan. They were very unhappy with how Pakistan and other surrounding countries were dictating and taking control of the welfare of Balochistan. The nationalists attacked on several different occasions only to be crushed by Pakistan's larger army. Even though Rushdie does not fully state that the real war is between Balochistan and Pakistan, through research you learn a little more truth. This gives a little insight as to how unfair Pakistan may have been even though it puts up a front of shamelessness. Then later as we read we learn that a certain Maulana Dawood visits Hyder to tell him that the very person who sent him to crush the nationalists was also responsible for foreign devilments occuring on the land he was trying to protect. Here Hyder learns that he is not only fighting for oil and security of foreigners but for the corruption they, the foreigners, are imposing on his country. This is some valuable information from a website for further reading: http://www.idsa.in/system/files/strategicanalysis_abansal_0605.pdf *In the first two pages there is reference to a war over oil by tribesman and local authorities. The Baloch people of Balochistan have always wanted separation from its neighbours including Pakistan. They have fought over issues as suggested in the book such as gas royalties, cantonments and independence. "Complaints relate to gas royalties, setting up of cantonments and development projects, which deprive locals of the benefits while allowing carpetbaggers to make a killing.2 Baloch rebels have been hard at work – planting mines, firing rockets, exploding bombs and even ambushing military convoys. Their attacks have led to deaths of close to a hundred security personnel. The Sui airport building has been blown up, gas pipelines and electricity grids have been repeatedly hit and bomb explosions have taken place close to the official residences of the chief minister as well as the governor.3 A hitherto unknown organisation called the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for most of these acts of violence. Four times since Pakistan’s creation, the Baloch, who – like many Sindhis and Pathans (Pakhtoons) – never wanted to be part of Pakistan, have rebelled, demanding greater autonomy or even an independent state, which would reunite the five million Baloch in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan under one flag.4" "Since then, the Baloch have risen in revolt three times – in 1958, 1963-69 and again in 1973-1977. Baloch history has been an unending saga of treachery by the ruling elite in Islamabad. Though insurgencies have been crushed with a heavy hand, they have left scars which are yet to heal. Each insurgency has been more intense than its predecessor, with organisational capabilities and popular support for the insurgents increasing with each successive insurgency. At the height of the insurgency in 1973, 55,000 insurgents faced 80,000 Pakistani troops, supported by the PAF as well as a team from the Iranian Air Force. More than 5,000 insurgents and over 3,300 soldiers were killed in the insurgency that lasted till 1977.15 The Pakistani armed forces used brute force to crush this insurgency as they had to redeem their honor after their rout in Bangladesh. The insurgents were hoping for Soviet intervention, which did not materialize."
Now going further with the summary, we have learned that Raza and Bilquis have moved to a Cantt station where they are surrounded by the foreigner lifestyle. Bilquis is falling in love with this because she is again surrounded by film and is feeling at home in some way. She spends many nights at the cinema where she falls in love with a fat lipped boy and later becomes pregnant by him. We also learn that her daughter becomes very ill and in the process is paralyzed for life. She is somewhat braindead. The mentionings of Isky and Rani are very negative. Isky is cheating openly on his wife and she has become very introverted taking on to embroidering beautiful shawls in the process. I know that Bilquis is frequently caught giving Rani advice on her misfortunes, but later in the chapters we will find that she may need her own very advice. We must not forget that chapter 6 starts off with the saying, "the frog who croaks in the shaft of a well will be frightened by the booming of the voice of the giant frog who answers him". It may mean that the ones who preach and act the purest are the most corrupt. Here are a few definitions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalwar_kameez Shalwar is a traditional dress worn by both women and men in South Asia and Afghanistan/Central Asia . Shalwar or salwar are loose pajama-like trousers. The legs are wide at the top, and narrow at the ankle. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The side seams (known as the chaak), left open below the waist-line, give the wearer greater freedom of movement. 94
kur·ta Noun A loose collarless shirt worn by people from the Indian subcontinent. 94
Chapatis- (Indian flatbread)p 94
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamindar A zamindar or zemindar on the Indian subcontinent was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and held control over his peasants, from whom the zamindars reserved the right to collect tax (often for military purposes). Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja (Great King), Raja (King), Nawab (Lord), Mirza (Prince),Reddy (Ruler), Chowdhury (Lord) etc. Although zamindars were considered to be equivalent to lords and barons[1] in some cases they were also seen as independent, sovereign Princes.[2]
Summary: -We learn of Sufiya Zinobia’s purity and innocence. She was never loved, appreciated, or shown affection like Naveed. She was labled as her mother’s shame. -Sufiya Zinobia’s blushing: she was born blushing and continued to frequently blush throughout the years. Basically we learn she has developmental issues (that seemed to get intensified by the time she spent in Q) that cause her to blush frequently. -Bilquis employed a Parsee ayah named Miss Shahbanou who complained about being scauled by water which was almost boiling because of Sufiya’s embaressment (blushing). VOCAB: Ayah- A native nurse for children; also, a lady's maid. http://www.wordnik.com/words/ayah -Sufiya’s blushing was not all internal; it was in large part because she absorbed her surroundings and blushed because of the world she was living in. Basically, Sufiya experiences shame for all the things people do shamelessly around her. Her mother explains it as an outcry for attention. -Blushing: psychosomatic event –“a sudden shut-down of the arterio-venous anastomoss of the face floods the capillaries with the blood that produces the characteristically heightened colour.” (p132) (Mind has the ability to influence the body by direct nervous pathways) -The year in which Isky Harappa and Raza Hyder were 40 years old Iskander found out that his cousin, Little Mir, cozied up to President A. and was about to get a promotion. Iskander is furious (jealous). He is sleeping with Pinkie Aurangzeb who is a widow but leaves her after finding out this news. He decided to put an end to everything that was a distraction or limit on his spirit. He cleaned up his act (stopped gambling and sleeping around) and his political vocabulary. He also decided to cut communication with Omar. -Isky’s daughter Arjumand is thrilled about her father’s transformation and is later on in life labeled the “virgin Ironpants”. She hates her own mother and Omar. Her father tells her to overcome her gender because they live in a “man’s world”. She takes this advice to heart and binds her breasts when they begin to develop. -Meanwhile, Omar has aged (silvered) and stayed at the top of the medical and academic field. He wears all grey’s in an attempt to subdue his physiognomy (appearance) because he is still fat and ugly. His hypnotic eyes and voice have not changed (he used them to sleep with white women at academic conferences). For a while he stopped visiting Isky because he has returned to Q to visit his mothers because his brother, Babar, is dead (murdered). All that is left of his brother (whom he had never seen) is a bunch of notebooks. -Babar was raised very much in the shadow of his older brother (the mothers idolized him, keeping medals, news paper clippings, school books, etc. to honor their first son). Babar burned all these things and entered the streets of Q at age 20. As soon as he left the house, Q experienced an earthquake. *Possible reference to the 1974 Hunza earthquake that was ranked a 6.2 earthquake. The earthquake killed 5,300 people with approximately 17,000 injured. A total of 97,000 were reported affected by the tremor. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Hunza_earthquake) -Babar proceeded to celebrate his birthday by getting drunk in a cheap bar. Good source for help with references: http://postcolonialstudies.emory.edu/salman-rushdie/
Isky appears everywhere on heroic posters announcing "A New Man for a New Century." Then, suddenly, Isky falls, is condemned to death and thousands beg his life be spared. Then, Isky is dead and buried, but still casting his shadow, relentlessly murmuring in his enemies' ears. Arjumand, shut away in Mohenjo with her mother, fills herself with her father's legend in order to serve as his epitaph. Aged Rani cannot accept her dead husband being thus divinized.
Pakistan is divided into two Wings when Isky is elected prime minister under disputed conditions in the West Wing, but soundly repudiated in the East. President Shaggy Dog dispatches an enormous army to the East. Arjumand does not dwell on the fearful war, in which the idolatrous Indians backed the East to divide-and-conquer. The East Wing is reconstituted, laughingly, as a basket-case autonomous nation, Bangladesh. Hourly radio bulletins describe glorious victories by the Western regiments, right up to the admission of unconditional surrender. Isky places the shameful blame on Shaggy, but spares him a war crimes trial on the condition that he accepts house arrest. The people are cynical about the pardon, knowing Isky is the principal beneficiary of the civil war. He copies a scene from the film Alexander the Great, in which Richard Burton bares his chest to a cheering crowd to show the battle scars he bears. Isky packs away the old army leadership and installs Raza Hyder - which proves to be his worst error.
At Mohenjo, Arjumand remembers how fervently the people loved her father during the election and he reciprocated, diverting love from Pinkie. Arjumand hires photographers to snap pictures showing how old and pitiful Pinkie has become for her father to find. Isky knows without being reminded that he accelerates the aging process in the women in his life. Rani suffers less than Pinkie because she spends most of her time in Mohenjo. Precocious Arjumand, too mature for her age, realizes her father feeds on his women. At 23, Arjumand is also far too beautiful for her own good. She moves into the prime minister's residence and rejects her mother's letters proposing suitors. She and Haroun never communicate. She becomes a lawyer, joins the green revolution and prosecutes enemies of the state so ferociously that "Virgin Ironpants" takes on a new meaning. Isky comforts his daughter that there is no shame in being hated by enemies of the people. He is building a nation with strength and caring.
Isky is adept at handling mealy foreign interviewers, Arjumand sees, reviewing videotapes. Isky dislikes arguments and sets up the Federal Security Force (FSF) headed the clairvoyant Ulhaq, who can head off traitors. "Nobody can topple me," Isky's ghost says on tape, because he is the incarnation of the people's love. "Masses versus classes" is an old saw. The five who love Isky - Pinkie, Rani, Arjumand, Ulhaq and Haroun -- are so divided, Arjumand thinks, they may have caused his fall. Fat cats, smugglers, priests, socialites and factory bosses contribute, but the chief culprits are the ambassadors, U.S., British and Russian. The prime minister makes their lives miserable in every way possible. Having given the ninth U.S. ambassador a heart attack, Isky is prevented from working over a tenth when he is unseated in a coup.
Isky wastes away grimly in prison. The self-proclaimed "New Man for a New Century" used the glib slogan too early and Time takes revenge. Isky is hanged in the middle of the night, cut down and delivered to Ulhaq to be flown home to Mohenjo for burial. Rani demands to see Isky's face. Ulhaq is under orders not to show her. Allowed to kiss him through the shroud, Rani claws a hole with her nails to reveal the grey face with eyes open. A hanged man should have a blue face, bulging eyes and a tongue sticking out, Rani declares. Morticians might have fixed these things, but Isky's neck is clearly free of rope burns. Arjumand is disgusted by her mother and only understands when Rami declares, "They hanged a corpse." Rani knows about hangings because she saw Little Mir.
1. “What is being born?- A legend. Isky Harappa rising, falling; Isky condemned to death, the world horrified, his executioner drowned in telegrams, but rising above them, shrugging them off, a compassionless hangman, desperate, afraid. Then Isky dead and buried; blind men regain their sight beside his martyr’s grave And in the desert a thousand flowers bloom” (Pg. 185).
This passage is important because it shows the cruel intentions of the time and the worldly matters ensuing. At the time, Pakistan is divided into two Wings when Isky is elected prime minister under disputed conditions in the West Wing, but soundly repudiated in the East. President Shaggy Dog dispatches an enormous army to the East. Arjumand does not dwell on the fearful war, in which the idolatrous Indians backed the East to divide-and-conquer. The East Wing is reconstituted, laughingly, as a basket-case autonomous nation, Bangladesh. Hourly radio bulletins describe glorious victories by the Western regiments, right up to the admission of unconditional surrender. Isky places the shameful blame on Shaggy, but spares him a war crimes trial on the condition that he accepts house arrest. The people are cynical about the pardon, knowing Isky is the principal beneficiary of the civil war. He copies a scene from the film Alexander the Great, in which Richard Burton bares his chest to a cheering crowd to show the battle scars he bears. Isky packs away the old army leadership and installs Raza Hyder - which proves to be his worst error.
2. “By the end of the period of house arrest, when Arjumand had Captain Ijazz imprisoned and tortured slowly to death, he was twenty- four years old; but his hair, like that of the late Iskander Harappa, had gone permanently white as snow. When they took him to the torture chambers he said just three words before he started screaming: ‘So, what’s new?’” (Pg. 200).
This passage shows the gruesome situation ensuing as well as the humor. While Isky wastes away grimly in prison, the self-proclaimed "New Man for a New Century" used the glib slogan too early and Time takes revenge. Isky is hanged in the middle of the night, cut down and delivered to Ulhaq to be flown home to Mohenjo for burial. Rani demands to see Isky's face. Ulhaq is under orders not to show her. Allowed to kiss him through the shroud, Rani claws a hole with her nails to reveal the grey face with eyes open. A hanged man should have a blue face, bulging eyes and a tongue sticking out, Rani declares. Morticians might have fixed these things, but Isky's neck is clearly free of rope burns. Arjumand is disgusted by her mother and only understands when Rami declares, "They hanged a corpse." Rani knows about hangings because she saw Little Mir.
Rushdie References (pg. 21-40/Chapter 2)
ReplyDeleteSummary
In this chapter our author returns home and takes a brief aside from the story. He goes to meet one of his dear friends. In this aside, he explains to his readers the idea behind his story and give us some background on the three women’s child. Rushdie provides a reasoning to the boys name, Omar Khayyam. After his break with his own life story he continues on with the three sisters. He discusses the young boys ambition and drive to escape. The boy is curious in his home and stumbles upon his grandfathers library, only to find that it is a facade. He does discover one true collection of hypnosis books and begins to practice on the servants. In his exploration of hypnosis he becomes jealous of all the love and affection that everyone seems to be feeling but him. He admires a young girl through his telescope and begin puberty early. With a wish to leave the house for his birthday his mothers’ demise begins to unravel. The boy is allowed to go to school which will then lead to the division of his mothers.
References
Karachi- largest city, main seaport, and financial centre in Pakistan.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto- Pakistani politician and statesman. Served as the 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Baluchistan- arid desert and mountainous region on the Iranian plateau.
Rubaiyat- selection of poems from a book by Omar Khayyam. Done in the style of quatrains.
Patang- Indian Fighter Kite. Much heavier than traditional paper ones.
Bilquis (page 55): is the Islamic reference to the Queen of Sheba in the Quran. In the Quran, Sulaiman or Solomon converted Bilquis from a sun worshiper to Islam. Bilquis realized how unjust she was to herself by worshiping the sun, which was created by Allah, and that Solomon was not a mighty king who wished to increase his dominion in the name of religion, but a genuine Prophet of Allah (p) who strove to guide people and show them the right path.
ReplyDeletefor more info: http://alilmiyah.tumblr.com/post/4888552240/bilqis-queen-of-sheba-stories-of-the-quran
Deletehttp://english.bayynat.org.lb/articles/article_Sheba.htm
• Raza Hyder (page 55) is Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq: Sixth President of Pakistan. Denationalized and deregulated and the state's Islamization. Revived Pakistan’s founding political party, the Pakistan Muslim League. Third Enforcer of Martial Law. At the time of Independence, like most of the Muslim officers in the British Army, Zia-ul-Haq opted to join the Pakistan Army. During his rule, Zia-ul-Haq tried his utmost to maintain close ties with the Muslim World.
ReplyDeleteSources:
http://www.pakistanherald.com/Profile/General-Muhammad-Zia-ul-Haq-1183
http://storyofpakistan.com/general-muhammad-zia-ul-haq/
Red Fortress (page 61): The Red Fort is considered to represent the zenith of Mughal (Muslim) creativity in Delhi, India. Perhaps this was the one of the last bastions of Islamic India in Pakistan
ReplyDeleteSource: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/231
Loo (page 65): called the Evil Wind, power over man, makes Bilquios crazy
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.victorianweb.org/neovictorian/gswift/wl/wlshame5.html
The bed chamber is invaded by the “Forty Thieves (page 70) : A poor woodcutter in the Arabian Nights who gains entrance to the treasure cave of the 40 thieves by saying the magic words "Open, Sesame!"
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Ali+Baba+and+the+Forty+Thieves
Sind Club (71): an exclusive club for elite members of Pakistani society in Karachi. Built by the British in the 1860’s, local Pakistanis were not allowed to become members until after Pakistan’s independence
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://www.imagesofasia.com/html/pakistan/pakistan-sindh-club.html
Rushdie References (pg 21-40/Chapter 2)
ReplyDeleteMatheus Salles
ReplyDeleteRushdie Pages 161-180
Amit Hassan
ReplyDeletePages (121-140)
181-200
ReplyDeletePages to read
Delete• Karachi (pg. 71)
ReplyDeleteKarachi is the largest city, main seaport and financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 21 million people as of April 2012. Wikipedia
Population: 21,200,000 (2012)
Area: 1,362 sq miles (3,527 km²)
Weather: 75°F (24°C), Wind N at 5 mph (8 km/h), 25% Humidity
• Raza Hyder (pg. 71)
• Iskander Harappa (pg. 77)
According to www.postcolonialweb.org these two characters are based on actual political figures in Pakistan during the 1940’s. Here is the link:
http://www.postcolonialweb.org/pakistan/literature/rushdie/srpolitics2.html
• Zenana (pg. 72)
“‘[T]he place for women,’ from Persian word ‘zen,’ a woman and ‘ana,’ place; but this is not all it means and implies...”
(http://books.google.com/books?id=iuMCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA93#v=onepage&q&f=false).
• Kashmir (pg. 75)
“According to folk etymology, the name "Kashmir" means "desiccated land" (from the Sanskrit : Ka = water and shimeera = desiccate). In the Rajatarangini, a history of Kashmir written by Kalhana in the mid-12th century, it is stated that the valley of Kashmir was formerly a lake.
According to Hindu mythology, the lake was drained by the great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, son of Marichi, son of Brahma, by cutting the gap in the hills at Baramulla ( Varaha-mula ). When Kashmir had been drained, Kashyapa asked Brahmans to settle there. This is still the local tradition, and in the existing physical condition of the country, we may see some ground for the story which has taken this form. The name of Kashyapa is by history and tradition connected with the draining of the lake, and the chief town or collection of dwellings in the valley was called Kashyapa-pura, which has been identified with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus (apud Stephanus of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44).
Kashmir is also believed to be the country meant by Ptolemy's Kaspeiria.
Cashmere is an archaic spelling of Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way.”
http://kasheer.tk/site_111.xhtml
• “The hostilities on the Kashimiri frontier,” that Rushdie speaks of on page 75, refer to the following
ReplyDelete“[E]ven more important was the liberation of the country from the British Yoke in 1947, that ended all the traces of foreign domination, absolutism and autocracy in our country. It was on 26th Jan. 1957 that the Kashmir Constiuent Assembly ended the hereditary rule of the Hindu monarchy in the state exacly after one hundred and ten years of its establishment. The liberation of India, facilitated the establishment of responsible government in Jammu and Kashmir State, but the liberisation also brought the division of our country on religious and communal consideration. This division led to disatrous consequences plunging northern India into a sort of bloody civil war. The Pakistan Government invaded the state, and encouraged the Tribal people and other titanic hordes of medieval barbarism to carry loot, plunder, death and destruction into the hearths and homes of innocent Kashmiris in general and among Hindus in particular. Pakistan wanted to grab Kashmir, even though its ruler in the terms of Independance Act, had acceded toIndia, and signed the instrument of Accession as required under the said Act. The main burden of Pakistan invasion had to be borneby the Hindus of the districts of Muzzafarbad, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajuari, Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli, Skardu, Gilgit and Ladhak. Thousands of people became the victims and lost their lives for no fault of theirs, and property worthcrores accumulated for decades was lost just within a weeks time. This was the result of the mighty Congress Party with its host of gallant leaders bowing disgracefully before fanaticism, ' Two Nation Theory ', and its author Mr. Jinah. The Congress leaders accepted the partition of India, but totally ignored or could not perhaps realise its disastrous consequences. In short, the Hindus here have paid the penaltyrather heavily. Kashmir was attacked in 1965 and 1971 by Pakistan. In spite of these historical vicissitudes the popular government has been trying its level best to mitigate the sufferingof the people, thanks to the generous financial assistance of the Central Government.”
http://kasheer.tk/site_111.xhtml
• Jawan (pg. 75)
Web definitions
(jawan) (India) a private soldier or male constable.
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
•
• Houris (pg. 75)
Heavenly Maidens In Islam
Muslim men who die as martyrs (fighting in battle or other deaths) are promised 72 (or sometimes 73) beautiful, black-eyed perpetual virgins as wives in heaven. - And they have their regular wives on earth still tagging along too. This short page is simply a brief description of what the hadiths say about these heavenly virgins, called "houris."
http://www.muslimhope.com/HourisHeavenlyMaidensInIslam.htm
• Djinn (pg. 75)
A djinn is a spirit from Arabic mythology that can be either good or evil. The djinn are less powerful than angels, but can assume the shapes of humans, animals or whirlwinds.
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/glossaryae/g/djinnglos.html
Shame pages 41-60
ReplyDeleteThe school to which Omar Khayyam is sent is a “Cantonment School” (Rushdie 41). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a cantonment is “The place of lodging assigned to a section of a force when cantoned out; also (often inpl.) the place or places of encampment formed by troops for a more permanent stay in the course of a campaign, or while in winter quarters; ‘in India the permanent military stations are so termed’” (Stocqueler Mil. Encycl.) (OED). This school is, according to Rushdie, where children of British descent are sent, until at age eight when they are typically returned to Britain so as not to be corrupted by an “Oriental upbringing” (Rushdie 42). The native children who attend school remain longer, until age eighteen. The omnipresence and permanence of the British imperialists, and the military undertones of their presence, are evidenced here; Rushdie gives no evidence that there is another option for Omar’s schooling.
Rushdie refers to the “Angrez sahibs” who feel the need to change the environment (41). Sahib is “a respectful title used by an Indian in addressing an Englishman or other European (= ‘Sir’); an Englishman, a European. Also affixed as a title (equivalent to ‘Mr.’) to the name or office of a European and to Indian and Bangladeshi titles and names” (OED).
Rushdie compares Omar Khayyam to “that bold fellow in Agra who, they say, looked over a high wall to spy on the building of the Taj Mahal” (43). There are many myths and legends surrounding this great building, one of which is that Shah Jahan ordered that the hands of the builders and architects be dismembered after the completion of the Taj Mahal (“Mutilations”). I am unable to locate anything on someone who had his eyes gouged for spying on the construction, though the myth of hands being cut-off conveys the same meaning. The fact that Rushdie cites a rumor that one can not confirm elsewhere is demonstrative of the meretricious nature of such apocryphal sayings. It also is resonant of the extreme privatism that other characters (the three mothers and Bilquìs especially) cling to to hide their shame.
A “kukri knife” (Rushdie 43) is “a curved knife, broader at the point than at the handle, and usually having the keen edge on the concave side, used by the Gurkas of India” (OED).
“Maharaja” (Rushdie 43) is a title for a high prince or person of rank, who would be one of the few who would have the means to such an escapade as a tiger hunt (OED).
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Eduardo Rodriguez, his secret past is denoted only by “cheap pictures... of a balmy coastal land in which palm trees swayed” which we can assume to be Portugal because of his “Portuguese name.” However, he is a Catholic in a land of Muslims, and is scorned for his alleged “Christian perversions” in regards to Farah (Rushdie 44-45).
The term “wallah” can be used as a suffix attached to English nouns to imitate “native derivatives” or to mean a “routine administrative job” (OED). Rushdie uses this term throughout Shame, as in “mule-wallahs” and “customs-wallah’s” (45).
Farah and her father are both of the Zoroastrian religion (their last name is in fact Zoroaster). Farah says her father dreams of that “damn land of Ahuramazda” and the “ancestral land of Zarathustra” (Rushdie 45, 49). Ahura Mazda is the supreme god and creator and Zarathustra is the prophet in the Zoroastrian religion. In the Persian Empire, until the invasion of Mohammedanism, Zoroastrianism was the national religion (Zaehner 200-202). There is still a small group of people practicing Zoroastrianism in Q., the Parsees, when Shame takes place. Rushdie demonstrates by their presence the intermingling of cultures in Q. or Pakistan that does not prohibit, and perhaps cause, the biases that cause Farah’s father to yearn for a homeland to which he’s never been.
The customs office where Farah’s father works is on the “Irani frontier” (Rushdie 46). Q., then, is in the south-west of Pakistan.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/pakistan
(“Map”)
The tonga that Eduardo and Farah leave for the train station in is simply a small cart or carriage with two wheels (OED).
Omar Kahayyam leaves Q. to attend medical school in Karachi, which is the capital of Sindh and the largest city in Pakistan (Wikipedia).
The garland of flowers that Omar’s mothers place around his neck as he leaves for Karachi could just have religious significance, as garlands of flowers do in Hindu culture (“garland”) (Rushdie 52). However, it is Muslim practice, as well as the practice of many other religions, to put garlands on the grave of a loved one, signifying that for his mothers, his quitting them for a faraway city is the same as his dying to them.
In Zoroastrianism, there is a period after which the world as we know it will end. Individual judgement has already occurred, but at the end of the 12,000 year cosmic period, all souls, both good and evil, will be “plunged into a sea of molten metal which purges them from all remaining stain of sin” (Zaehner 208). This is the end of the world that Farah’s father convinces the tribals he will bring about with the vehemence of his ranting (Rushdie 53).
ReplyDeleteThe Loo that first is mentioned as Omar Khayyam boards the train and that later plagues Bilquìs (Rushdie 53) is the “the name given in Bihar and the Punjab to a hot dust-laden wind” (OED).
Khichri (Rushdie 60) is an “Indian dish of rice boiled with split pulse, onions, eggs, butter, and condiments” (OED).
When we meet Bilquis, she is in Delhi, India, although Rushdie also mentions “Indraprasth and Puranqila” (60), which are historical names and places in Delhi (OED). Rushdie is demonstrating the convoluted history of a place that has been controlled both by Muslim and Hindu peoples in the past, and the prejudices that still exist.
Works Cited
"garland". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 08
March 2013 .
“Map of Pakistan.” Lonely Planet. BBC, 2013. Web. 8 March 2013
.
“Mutilations in Taj Mahal Myth.” Taj Mahal. 2008. Web. 8 March 2013
.
OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. 8 March 2013
.
Rushdie, Salman. Shame. New York: Vintage International, 1983. Print.
Wikipedia contributors. "Karachi." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 March 2013.
Web. 9 March 2013
Zaehner, R.C., ed. Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions. New York: Barnes and Nobel,
1988. Print.
Shame Annotations + References (Pgs. 121-131)
ReplyDeleteBrief Summary of Events:
The Hyders’ return from Q. to Karachi, which had grown exponentially. The Gichki mystery is still prevalent in conversation and the narrator presents the possibility of two distinct stories of how Raza Hyder’s meeting with the President, Field-Marshal Mohammad A., went. Three years after Raza Hyder’s return to Q., he was returned to military duty to perform a futureless job. The narrator then shifts focus to earlier times, specifically on Raza and Bilquis’ daughter, Sufiya. Sufiya brings shame to her family because of her apparent hot body temperature disorder, which is a result of her constant blushing at whatever or whomever. The narrator then discusses the abstract of shame with the example of a vending machine drink and cup. Isky Harappa leaves Pinkie and plans on breaking his old habits and changing his life. The narrator establishes Omar is now in his mid-forties like Pinkie but he remains brilliant and mostly sleepless at night as always. Then story shifts to Omar being in Nishapur to mourn the death of his murdered brother, Babar, whom he has never met.
Terms and References:
• Maulana → According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term “maulana” refers to “a Muslim man revered for his religious learning or piety.” In these specific pages of Shame, the term is used as "the Maulana" and "Maulana Dawood", indicating the higher status that comes with holding that position (122).
• Brigadier → According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term “brigadier” refers to “a rank of officer in the British army, above colonel and below major general.” In Shame, the narrator tells of Old Razor Guts’ promotion as brigadier in page 121.
• Nishapur → This is the location Omar arrives at to mourn the death of his brother, Babar. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has excavations found in the area of Nishapur. Marika Sardar explains the existence and demise of Nishapur, “a city in northeastern Iran that was founded around the third century A.D…and was ruined by invasions and earthquakes in the thirteenth century” (Sardar). Interestingly, Nishapur was the home of many religious scholars and it was also an economic center, especially since it was located on the Silk Road trade route. The first is especially interesting since Omar is not only a brilliant mind but very much gifted in his learning ability.
------------
Works Cited:
OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. Web. 15 March 2013.
Rushdie, Salman. Shame. New York: Vintage International, 1983. Print.
Sardar, Marika. "The Metropolitan Museum's Excavations at Nishapur". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nish/hd_nish.htm
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ReplyDeleteRushdie References (pg. 21-40/Chapter 2)
ReplyDeleteThe chapter begins with the author returning home to visit family. After learning information of his old friend’s whereabouts Rushdie visits him. Rushdie explains his ideas for a book he is planning too write. He also let the audience in with some simple information on the main character in his novel Omar. The story returns back to the sisters. Omar is imprisoned for 12 years in his mother’s mansion. One day while playing in the gates of his home he notices a crack on the wall. Through the crack he sees the outside world. After this day he develops a need to leave his mansion and enter the outside world. Omar grows to despised his mothers for their tight relationship and constant overprotection. He discovers a library with in his house and with the mass amount of textbooks he educates himself. He also teaches himself how to perform hypnosis. On his 12th birthday he asks his mother for two gifts: to know his fathers name and for his mothers to let him outside the house. This request causes his mothers to argue, which brought out their differences for the first time. They agree to let him to go to school outside the house. As soon as he takes his first journey outside his house a group of people armed with satchels confront him, they explained that they were seeking revenge for his mothers action. Before anything dangerous escalated his schoolmaster Rodrigues saves him.
References
Nishapur- a Northeast city in Iran
Rubaiyat- 4-line poems in a book by Omar Khayyam
Karachi- Financial centre in Pakistan and its largest city
Matheus Salles
ReplyDeleteProfessor Moeckel
Engl 2301W
16 March 2013
Rushdie (pages 161-180) Summary and References
As Haroun Harappa continues to look over some pictures of his soon-to-be fiancée, Naveed Hyder, it seems that he comes to fall under a trance that strongly influences him in deciding that he wishes to marry Naveed. While this is ongoing, Haroun’s cousin, Arjumand cannot help but feel disgust towards Naveed. While Haroun wishes to have Naveed because, in his eyes, she is the “loveliest bride in the world” (Rushdie 161), Naveed, herself, wants to marry Haroun because he is rich and famous. Although Naveed’s mother attempts to dissuade her from marrying Haroun because of his reputation, it is not enough because Naveed’s mind is already made up. As a result of accepting the marriage proposal, Naveed will now have to get to know Haroun better.
Although Arjumand Harappa, also known as The Virgin Ironpants, is still very relatively young, many men chase after her in order to declare their love for her. To their disappointment, she rejects them all. Dissatisfied with her gender, she does everything she can to look like a man. However, while she does this, she only grasps the attention of more men, resulting in her request to be sent to a Catholic boarding college in Lahore (Rushdie 162).
Lahore is the capital of Punjab, a province in Pakistan. It is the second largest city in the country and contains the largest population of Punjabis in the world. This capital is well known for its economy, politics, transportation, entertainment, and education. As a result of its high affiliation with poets and artists, Lahore has the highest number of educational institutions in Pakistan. Lahore is also known for being a very cultural location, hosting most of the arts, festivals, and music in the country, thus often being referred to as the cultural heart of Pakistan. Lahore also bears another name, “City of Gardens.” This is because not only does it contain the finest gardens in the continent, but the gardens themselves date back to the Mughal period (Wikipedia).
However, a new problem arises, for women too are also starting to fall for Arjumand. There is one girl in particular who is very much in love with Arjumand that she ends up going to Heeramandi because she is not able to have Arjumand’s love (Rushdie 163).
Heeramandi is located in Taxali Gate, Lahore, Pakistan. The name Heeramandi translates to “Diamond Market,” and is also known as Shahi Mohalla, which translates to “The Royal Neighborhood.” Heeramandi is considered to be a red-light district, an area containing a high concentration of prostitution and other sexual establishments. Originally, Heeramandi was the center of the Tawaifan culture, influential female elite that contributed to music, dance, theater, film, and Urdu literary tradition, during the Mughal period. However, Heeramandi is now known for being the center of prostitution in Lahore. Other than being known as the red-light district, Heeramandi is also known for being a bazaar that contains good food, shops for musical instruments, and traditional Mughal footwear (Wikipedia).
Matheus (cont'd)
ReplyDeleteRealizing that women are being affected the same as men towards her, Arjumand writes to her father to take her out of the boarding school.
Once Haroun comes back from London, Arjumand notices a very great resemblance between Haroun and her father. As a result, she believes that she can help Haroun find his better-self just as she did with her own father. While she tries to close the distance between her and Haroun, her body language towards Haroun drive him away, towards Naveed.
In an instance where Arjumand is looking at herself in the mirror, Rushdie decides to include that she is reflecting her mother’s habit, who as of now is in Mohenjo (Rushdie 164).
Mohenjo, also called Mohenjo-daro is an archeological site in Sindh, Pakistan. The word Mohenjo-daro translates to “Mound of the Dead.” Built around 2600 BCE, it was the largest settlement of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, earliest urban civilization that developed new techniques for handicraft and metallurgy. Mohenjo-daro was abandoned in the 19th century BCE and later discovered in 1922 (Wikipedia).
Rushdie later comes to talk about himself as a child and his conversation with The Greatest Living Poet. The conversation entails the Beauty and Beast. Through this, The Greatest Living Poet identifies the possibility of one having two identities such as the Beast who later turns into a Prince. Rushdie eventually comes to think that the Beauty can also be the Beast, that it is not always the Beast that is the Beauty. He also introduces this idea when he includes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rushdie 165).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson. The novella goes by Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (actual title), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or Jekyll & Hyde (both common titles today). The novella is about a London lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, investigating peculiar occurrences between Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. The novella is usually associated with split-personality, also known as D.I.D., dissociative identity disorder (Wikipedia).
This implies Sufiya Zinobia, who beautiful to Omar Khayyam Shakil, is a Beast in the inside. She has two personalities.
As time passes, Omar misses the opportunity to propose to Sufiya, resulting in the younger daughter, Naveed, marrying first. However, when he does ask permission, Sufiya’s parents are taken aback, especially her father, Raza Hyder, who has taken a liking towards Sufiya. Raza attempts to dissuade his wife from allowing the marriage, but eventually becomes persuaded by his wife. As a result, Raza comes to notice that his wife wants to rid herself of Sufiya just as quick as Raza wants to rid himself of Naveed (Rushdie 167). Once the marriage is approved, the Hyders decide that Naveed’s wedding will precede Sufiya’s and Sufiya’s wedding will be in “secrecy.”
Naveed and Haroun agree to meet at the polo field. Once both of them meet and they begin conversing with one another, she realizes that there is nothing in for her by marrying Haroun. Originally, she told her mother that she would be able to “fix” Haroun, but notices that that is not
Matheus (cont'd)
ReplyDeletepossible. As she disengages from the conversation, between her and Haroun, she makes eye contact with one of the polo players from the police team, Talvar Ulhaq. Neither of them could take their eyes off of each other. From then on, Naveed knows that she wants Talvar and begins to spend time with him. During one of their encounters, a fisherman observes the situation and threatens to blackmail the inappropriate behavior unless Talvar pays him. As a result, Talvar pays the fisherman and gives Naveed an ultimatum; it is either him or Haroun. At the last possible minute, Naveed makes the decision that she will only marry Talvar. Infuriated with Naveed, Raza goes to her room with a pistol in order to kill her, however, he does not have the strength to do so. Raza then informs Iskander Harappa about his daughter rejecting Haroun.
Although the marriage between Haroun and Naveed is cancelled, the marriage between Naveed and Talvar is still on. Raza, still infuriated wishes that once the wedding is done that both Naveed and Talvar disappear.
In the morning of Naveed’s wedding day, a riot seems to break lose and wreak havoc upon authority vehicles, the British Council, and the United States Information Service (Rushdie 175).
The British Council aims to develop cultural relations by sharing the United Kingdom’s culture, English, arts, and education. They work with governments so as to help transform education in hope that there will be an increase in opportunities and employability through learning English. They also help develop events that link thousands of organizations, artists, and audiences worldwide. Not only that, but they also help develop leadership, professional networking, and cultural educational programs through the efforts of joint arts programs (British Council).
The United States Information Service known as United States Information Agency also goes by the name of Propaganda Agency of the United States. It was created by President Dwight. D. Eisenhower in 1953 until 1999. Their mission was to “streamline the U.S. government’s overseas information programs and make them more effective.” Their goals were:
1. Credibly and meaningfully advocate/explain U.S. policies in foreign cultures.
2. Provide information about policies of the U.S., about the people, values and institutions that influence policies.
3. Bring benefits of international engagement to U.S. citizens and institutions by building stronger long-term relationship overseas.
4. Advise the president and U.S. government policy makers on the methods of foreign attitudes that will have a direct bearing on the effectiveness of U.S. policies (United States Information Agency).
The riot is a result of the lack of democracy. Through General Shaggy, the riots cease and the nation will be led towards democracy. As a result, the people ended the riot and instead began celebrating.
Alliance Française (Rushdie 175)
Created in Paris on July 21st, 1883, the Alliance Française is an international organization whose goal is to spread both the French language and the French culture throughout the world (Wikipedia).
Matheus (cont'd)
ReplyDeleteGoethe Institute (Rushdie 175)
The Geothe Institute is Germany’s worldwide operational cultural institute. Their main focus is to promote the study of German. Not only that, but they also encourage for there to be a cultural exchange in the process. By providing cultural, societal, and political education and training, the international learning community has been able to reach out farther than before, giving more opportunities to those who seek it (Geothe Institut).
While Iskander is still in shock of what has happened in regards to the wedding, Arjumand, seeks to comfort him. It is during this time that Arjumand declares her love for her cousin, Iskander. However, heartbroken, Iskander rejects her.
When it is time for Naveed’s wedding to take place, all of the guests appear looking un-presentable. Naveed’s entire family is there including her sister’s fiancée, Omar. While the ceremony is underway, Omar notices something strange, but by then it is too late. Sufiya decides to attack Talvar, twisting his neck almost to the breaking point. Naveed grabs her sister and tries to rip her from Talvar, but it is of no use. The rest of the family and Omar takes part in helping free Talvar from Sufiya, in which they succeed. But, just as they rip Sufiya from Talvar, she is able to bite Talvar in the neck. After the wedding scandal occurred, Raza became nicer towards Talvar because of the incident. Nonetheless, Talvar’s polo career was over.
During election time, Iskander’s Popular Front would do very well. Not forgetting about Naveed cancelling the wedding date, Iskander seeks revenge on Raza. When Iskander becomes Prime Minister, he appoints Talvar as police chief and promotes Raza to General, placing him in command of the army. This forces the Hyders to move up north along with the Harappas. This results in Iskander being able to have control over Raza.
Works Cited
ReplyDelete"About the British Council." British Council. British Council, 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. .
"About Us."  - Goethe-Institut . Geothe Institut, 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. .
"Alliance Française." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. .
"Heera Mandi." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. .
"Lahore." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. .
"Mohenjo-daro." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. .
"Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. .
"USIA, The United States Information Agency Homepage." USIA, The United States Information Agency Homepage. United States Information Agency, 1999. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. .
Shame pages 188-200
ReplyDeleteIskander Harappa raise and fall from power is discussed, “Six years in power, two in jail, an eternity underground…” (194). Raza Hyder’s nomination for the Army leader is mentioned and foreshadows the path that Harappa’s career will take. As well as Iskander’s career his relations with his daughter Arjumand are discussed, and the role other woman played in his life. Pinkie Aurengzeb became a shadow of her former beautiful self, and Rani was “not so much as a person as an aspect of the estate” (198). Arjumand on the other hand had a strong character and fallowed her father political career. She was known as “the virgin Ironpants”, at first it was a mocking and disrespectful nickname but later as her influence grew, her actions as a prosecutor gave “her nickname a new and less ribald meaning” (199).
Terms and References:
Hegiran calendar – is the Muslim system of dividing a year of 354 days into 12 months and starting to count the years from the Hegira.
Pierre Cardin – French fashion designer and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.
“Alexander the Great” – reference to an epic movie from 1956 about the life of Alexander the Great. Macedonian king that conquered Persian Empire, he is remembered as a great military leader and legendary hero.
Virgin Ironpants - reference to Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s first female prime minister. Bhutto was the eldest daughter of former prime minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Rushdie References (pg. 21-40/Chapter 2)
ReplyDeleteThe chapter begins with the author returning home to visit family. After learning information of his old friend’s whereabouts Rushdie visits him. Rushdie explains his ideas for a book he is planning too write. He also let the audience in with some simple information on the main character in his novel Omar. The story returns back to the sisters. Omar is imprisoned for 12 years in his mother’s mansion. One day while playing in the gates of his home he notices a crack on the wall. Through the crack he sees the outside world. After this day he develops a need to leave his mansion and enter the outside world. Omar grows to despised his mothers for their tight relationship and constant overprotection. He discovers a library with in his house and with the mass amount of textbooks he educates himself. He also teaches himself how to perform hypnosis. On his 12th birthday he asks his mother for two gifts: to know his fathers name and for his mothers to let him outside the house. This request causes his mothers to argue, which brought out their differences for the first time. They agree to let him to go to school outside the house. As soon as he takes his first journey outside his house a group of people armed with satchels confront him, they explained that they were seeking revenge for his mothers action. Before anything dangerous escalated his schoolmaster Rodrigues saves him.
References
Nishapur- a Northeast city in Iran
Rubaiyat- 4-line poems in a book Omar Khayyam
Karachi- Financial centre in Pakistan and its largest city
Shame (81-90)
ReplyDeleteSummary: Bariamma telling her grandson about Raza and Bilquis losing their son and all the dreams they had for their son, but they had hope a second pregnancy would give them a son who can carry out unfilled dreams, a reincarnation. Harappa taunted Raza on his reincarnation obsession, and outside the courtroom people were gossiping about Raza being raised in enemy territory, and evidence that he had Hindu blood because of a great-grandmother, which explained his “ungodly philosophies.” Iskander and Rani tried to explain to the Hyders, but they wouldn’t listen. At the time Rani was pregnant and Bilquis thought that maybe a reason for it being difficult for her to conceive was because she did not listen to Rani’s advice. Rani and Bilquis had dreamed of getting their firstborns married, so when Rani gave birth to a daughter, she kept her promise, and Bilquis feels more pressure to conceive a boy. Bilquis cousin insults her because she can’t conceive and repay her husband’s for taking her in when she was helpless. It caused a physical fight between Bilquis and Begum (cousin). Raza breaks up the fight and Bilquis tells her husband she was raised in a better environment and the reason she can’t give kids is because of the zoo she lives in now. Bariamma tells her she thinks she’s too good for them, and tells Raza to take her with him. Bilquis moved into a simple residence in the compound of the army base, where she had once again conceived. She believed their baby boy would come back. She gave birth to a daughter, Sufiya Zinobi, which made Hydar unhappy. He created ruckus at the hospital and demanded there was a mistake.
Hungman’s noose (pg.81): well-known knot most often associated with its use in hanging a person. A variation of this knot is used in fishing and is called the Uni-knot.
ReplyDeleteRumal (pg.81): a piece of clothing similar to a handkerchief or bandana.
ReplyDeleteHindu (pg.82): refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. The word is attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism or Sikhism).
ReplyDeleteGaotakia (pg.84): A long pillow or cushion, used to support the head of a person lying on a bed.
ReplyDeleteZenana chamber (pg. 83): literal meaning of the word is "of the women" or "pertaining to women". It refers to the part of a house reserved for the women of the household. The Zenana are the inner apartments of a house in which the women of the family live. The outer apartments for guests and men are called the Mardana.
ReplyDeleteSepia (pg.85): A dark brown ink or pigment originally prepared from the secretion of the cuttlefish. Photographs in a brown tint (dark grayish yellow brown to dark or moderate olive brown).
ReplyDeleteBangladesh (pg.85): a country in South Asia and part of the historic ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language. It faces the Bay of Bengal to its south, and is bordered by India on the north, west and east, as well as Burma (Myanmar) on the southeast. It is separated from the Himalayan nations of Nepal and Bhutan by India’s narrow Siliguri corridor, and is in geographical proximity to China. Bangladesh is often associated with floods, and cyclones.
ReplyDeletehttp://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/bangladesh-facts/
Punjabi (pg.85): a native or inhabitant of the Punjab region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent (an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab). Punjab is known as the land of five rivers. The state capital is located in Chandigarh, which is a Union Territory and also the capital of the neighboring state of Haryana. The state is the largest provider of wheat in India, with agriculture being its largest industrial sector.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.oxfordsikhs.com/MeraPunjab/Punjab+Facts/default.aspx
Afghans (pg.85): relating to Afghanistan or its people, language, or culture (known as an Afghani). Afghanistan is a land-locked country. The population of Afghanistan is estimated at about 32.7 million. Afghanistan is home to a number of ethnic groups, the largest is the Pashtun. Afghanistan is among the poorest countries, more than 53% of the population lives under the poverty line.
ReplyDeletehttp://asianhistory.about.com/od/afghanista1/p/ProfAfghanistan.htm
Kashmiris (pg.85): a Dardic linguistic (sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages) group living in or originating from the former Indian state of Kashmir. It is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. In the first half of the first millennium, the Kashmir region became an important center of Hinduism and later of Buddhism.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Kashmir.aspx
Sind/Sindh (pg.85): one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran" and has been given the title of Bab-ul-Islam. The name of Sind is derived from the Indus River that separates it from Balochistan and the greater Iranian Plateau.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.academia.edu/1934949/Dates_in_Sindh_Facts_and_Figures
Baluchistan/Balochistan “tan” (pg.85): is an arid, desert and mountainous region on the Iranian plateau in south-western Asia. It is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. It is the largest province by area, constituting approximately 44% of Pakistan's total land mass, and the smallest in terms of population Balochistan is named after the native Baloch tribes who make up the majority of the inhabitants in the region. They speak Balochi as their native language, and also Brahui, and Persian as additional languages.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gwank.org/fact_about_balochistan_by_oslo_norwar_ssearching_group20110621.html
http://blogs.thenews.com.pk/blogs/2012/11/the-importance-of-being-baluchistan/
Urdu (pg.86): Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language with about 104 million speakers, including those who speak it as a second language. Urdu is written in an alphabet based on the Islamic Nasta'liq script. It is the national language of Pakistan and is one of the official languages of India, but a lot of Urdu vocabulary comes from Persian and Arabic. Urdu is also spoken in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, India, Malawi, Mauritius, Nepal, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and Zambia.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.omniglot.com/writing/urdu.htm
Saris/saree (pg. 86): a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by women, ranging from four to nine yards in length that is draped over the body in various styles, which is native to the Indian Subcontinent. The word sari is derived from Sanskrit “sati,” which means strip of cloth. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder, baring the midriff. It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sari
Salwar kurtas/ Shalwar kameez (pg.86): is a traditional dress worn by both women and men in South Asia and Afghanistan/Central Asia . Shalwar or salwar are loose pajama-like trousers. The legs are wide at the top, and narrow at the ankle. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The side seams (known as the chaak), left open below the waist-line, give the wearer greater freedom of movement.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalwar_kameez
Yggdrasil (pg. 86): In the middle of Asgard, where the gods lived, was Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil was the tree of life. It was an eternal green Ash tree. Its branches stretched out over all of the nine worlds, and extended up and above the heavens. Yggdrasil was carried by three enormous roots. The first root from Yggdrasil went to Asgard, the home of the gods. By this root was a well named Urd’s well. This was where the gods held daily meetings.The second root from Yggdrasil went down to Jotunheim, the land of the giants, by this root was Mimir's well. The third root from Yggdrasil went down to Niflheim, close to the well Hvergelmir. It was here the dragon Nidhug gnawed on one of Yggdrasils roots. Nidhug was also known to suck the blood out of the dead bodies.
http://www.viking-mythology.com/yggdrasil.html
Valhalla (pg.86): In Norse mythology, Valhalla (“hall of the slain”) is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Valhalla is where heroes went when they died in battle, but half of those heroes are chosen by Odin, and led by valkyries to Valhalla. In Valhalla, the dead join the masses of those who have died in combat known as Einherjar, as well as various legendary Germanic heroes and kings, as they prepare to aid Odin during the events of Ragnarök, where you would fight and perish alongside the gods. Various creatures live around Valhalla.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=valhalla
Muspellheim/Muspelhiem (pg. 86): In Norse mythology, Muspelheim, also called Muspell, is a realm of fire. This realm is one of the Nine Worlds and it is home to the fire jötunn (giant) or the "sons of Muspell", and Surtr (elder jotunn), their ruler. It is fire; and the land to the North, Niflheim, is ice. The two mixed and created water from the melting ice in Ginnungagap(mighty gap).
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399446/Muspelheim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muspelheim
Milan Kundera (pg. 87): a Czech and French writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. Due to censorship by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia, his books were banned from his native country.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6343.Milan_Kundera
Charles James Napier (pg. 87): general of the British Empire and the British Army's Commander-in-Chief in India, notable for conquering the Sindh Province in what is now Pakistan. In 1842, at the age of 60, Napier was appointed Major General to the command of the Indian army within the Bombay Presidency. His orders had been to put down the rebels, and conquer the whole Sindh Province, and with his victory, he was to report to his superiors the short, notable message, “Peccavi”, the Latin for "I have sinned" (joke on I have Sindh).
http://www.thornber.net/england/htmlfiles/napier.html
Needle Valley/ Ioa Valley (pg. 90): lush, stream-cut valley in West Maui, Hawaii, located 5 kilometres west of Wailuku. The 2,250-foot stone pillar, covered in green foliage, was once used as a natural altar. The valley is a peaceful area with easy hikes, exotic tropical plants, and clear, natural pools. It is the site of one of the most famous and bloody battles that changed Hawaii history forever. In 1790, King Kamehameha I, destroyed the Maui army in his effort to unite the Hawaiian Islands. Its natural beauty and historical significance, has made it a popular tourist location.
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/iao-valley-needle.html
Gichki (pg. 90): a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan. They mostly live in the Makkuran area of Balochistan, and ruled the region from 1740 till 1974. The land was distributed among Gichki clans from Kech to Panjgur. The tribe is supposedly the Royal family of Makkuran. "Gichk" is a place in Panjgur this place called Gichk because the Gichki's were living there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gichki
http://balochrace.blogspot.com/2012/03/gichki-baloch.html
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2008/10/baluchistan-baluch-and-myth-of-martial.html
I have been assigned pages 91-100
ReplyDeleteThe summary mostly surrounds the life of Raza Hyder and his wife Bilquis. First we will start off with an explanation of the great gas fields found in Needle Valley that Hyder was sent to protect from the tribesmen on pg. 90. The same insurgency talked about in the book may also be linked to ones that happened in Balochistan during the 1970's. In the 70's there were attacks made on Pakistan by the nationalist of Balochistan. They were very unhappy with how Pakistan and other surrounding countries were dictating and taking control of the welfare of Balochistan. The nationalists attacked on several different occasions only to be crushed by Pakistan's larger army. Even though Rushdie does not fully state that the real war is between Balochistan and Pakistan, through research you learn a little more truth. This gives a little insight as to how unfair Pakistan may have been even though it puts up a front of shamelessness. Then later as we read we learn that a certain Maulana Dawood visits Hyder to tell him that the very person who sent him to crush the nationalists was also responsible for foreign devilments occuring on the land he was trying to protect. Here Hyder learns that he is not only fighting for oil and security of foreigners but for the corruption they, the foreigners, are imposing on his country. This is some valuable information from a website for further reading:
http://www.idsa.in/system/files/strategicanalysis_abansal_0605.pdf
*In the first two pages there is reference to a war over oil by tribesman and local authorities. The Baloch people of Balochistan have always wanted separation from its neighbours including Pakistan. They have fought over issues as suggested in the book such as gas royalties, cantonments and independence.
"Complaints relate to gas royalties, setting up of cantonments and development
projects, which deprive locals of the benefits while allowing carpetbaggers to
make a killing.2
Baloch rebels have been hard at work – planting mines, firing
rockets, exploding bombs and even ambushing military convoys. Their attacks
have led to deaths of close to a hundred security personnel. The Sui airport building
has been blown up, gas pipelines and electricity grids have been repeatedly hit and
bomb explosions have taken place close to the official residences of the chief
minister as well as the governor.3
A hitherto unknown organisation called the
Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for most of these
acts of violence. Four times since Pakistan’s creation, the Baloch, who – like
many Sindhis and Pathans (Pakhtoons) – never wanted to be part of Pakistan,
have rebelled, demanding greater autonomy or even an independent state, which
would reunite the five million Baloch in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan under one
flag.4"
"Since then, the Baloch have risen in revolt three times – in 1958, 1963-69 and
again in 1973-1977. Baloch history has been an unending saga of treachery by the
ruling elite in Islamabad. Though insurgencies have been crushed with a heavy
hand, they have left scars which are yet to heal. Each insurgency has been more
intense than its predecessor, with organisational capabilities and popular support
for the insurgents increasing with each successive insurgency. At the height of the
insurgency in 1973, 55,000 insurgents faced 80,000 Pakistani troops, supported
by the PAF as well as a team from the Iranian Air Force. More than 5,000 insurgents
and over 3,300 soldiers were killed in the insurgency that lasted till 1977.15 The
Pakistani armed forces used brute force to crush this insurgency as they had to
redeem their honor after their rout in Bangladesh. The insurgents were hoping for
Soviet intervention, which did not materialize."
Now going further with the summary, we have learned that Raza and Bilquis have moved to a Cantt station where they are surrounded by the foreigner lifestyle. Bilquis is falling in love with this because she is again surrounded by film and is feeling at home in some way. She spends many nights at the cinema where she falls in love with a fat lipped boy and later becomes pregnant by him. We also learn that her daughter becomes very ill and in the process is paralyzed for life. She is somewhat braindead.
ReplyDeleteThe mentionings of Isky and Rani are very negative. Isky is cheating openly on his wife and she has become very introverted taking on to embroidering beautiful shawls in the process. I know that Bilquis is frequently caught giving Rani advice on her misfortunes, but later in the chapters we will find that she may need her own very advice. We must not forget that chapter 6 starts off with the saying, "the frog who croaks in the shaft of a well will be frightened by the booming of the voice of the giant frog who answers him". It may mean that the ones who preach and act the purest are the most corrupt.
Here are a few definitions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalwar_kameez
Shalwar is a traditional dress worn by both women and men in South Asia and Afghanistan/Central Asia . Shalwar or salwar are loose pajama-like trousers. The legs are wide at the top, and narrow at the ankle. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The side seams (known as the chaak), left open below the waist-line, give the wearer greater freedom of movement. 94
kur·ta
Noun
A loose collarless shirt worn by people from the Indian subcontinent. 94
Chapatis- (Indian flatbread)p 94
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamindar
A zamindar or zemindar on the Indian subcontinent was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and held control over his peasants, from whom the zamindars reserved the right to collect tax (often for military purposes). Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja (Great King), Raja (King), Nawab (Lord), Mirza (Prince),Reddy (Ruler), Chowdhury (Lord) etc.
Although zamindars were considered to be equivalent to lords and barons[1] in some cases they were also seen as independent, sovereign Princes.[2]
salaam aleikum- peace on you p 97
Nataliya Korostensky
ReplyDeletePg. 130-140 Shame Blog
Summary:
-We learn of Sufiya Zinobia’s purity and innocence. She was never loved, appreciated, or shown affection like Naveed. She was labled as her mother’s shame.
-Sufiya Zinobia’s blushing: she was born blushing and continued to frequently blush throughout the years. Basically we learn she has developmental issues (that seemed to get intensified by the time she spent in Q) that cause her to blush frequently.
-Bilquis employed a Parsee ayah named Miss Shahbanou who complained about being scauled by water which was almost boiling because of Sufiya’s embaressment (blushing).
VOCAB: Ayah- A native nurse for children; also, a lady's maid.
http://www.wordnik.com/words/ayah
-Sufiya’s blushing was not all internal; it was in large part because she absorbed her surroundings and blushed because of the world she was living in. Basically, Sufiya experiences shame for all the things people do shamelessly around her. Her mother explains it as an outcry for attention.
-Blushing: psychosomatic event –“a sudden shut-down of the arterio-venous anastomoss of the face floods the capillaries with the blood that produces the characteristically heightened colour.” (p132)
(Mind has the ability to influence the body by direct nervous pathways)
-The year in which Isky Harappa and Raza Hyder were 40 years old Iskander found out that his cousin, Little Mir, cozied up to President A. and was about to get a promotion. Iskander is furious (jealous). He is sleeping with Pinkie Aurangzeb who is a widow but leaves her after finding out this news. He decided to put an end to everything that was a distraction or limit on his spirit. He cleaned up his act (stopped gambling and sleeping around) and his political vocabulary. He also decided to cut communication with Omar.
-Isky’s daughter Arjumand is thrilled about her father’s transformation and is later on in life labeled the “virgin Ironpants”. She hates her own mother and Omar. Her father tells her to overcome her gender because they live in a “man’s world”. She takes this advice to heart and binds her breasts when they begin to develop.
-Meanwhile, Omar has aged (silvered) and stayed at the top of the medical and academic field. He wears all grey’s in an attempt to subdue his physiognomy (appearance) because he is still fat and ugly. His hypnotic eyes and voice have not changed (he used them to sleep with white women at academic conferences). For a while he stopped visiting Isky because he has returned to Q to visit his mothers because his brother, Babar, is dead (murdered). All that is left of his brother (whom he had never seen) is a bunch of notebooks.
-Babar was raised very much in the shadow of his older brother (the mothers idolized him, keeping medals, news paper clippings, school books, etc. to honor their first son). Babar burned all these things and entered the streets of Q at age 20. As soon as he left the house, Q experienced an earthquake.
*Possible reference to the 1974 Hunza earthquake that was ranked a 6.2 earthquake. The earthquake killed 5,300 people with approximately 17,000 injured. A total of 97,000 were reported affected by the tremor. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Hunza_earthquake)
-Babar proceeded to celebrate his birthday by getting drunk in a cheap bar.
Good source for help with references: http://postcolonialstudies.emory.edu/salman-rushdie/
Miller Schweizer
ReplyDeleteWorld Literature
Journal Entry Number Three
Shame
Summary of 181- 200 (Chapter 9):
Isky appears everywhere on heroic posters announcing "A New Man for a New Century." Then, suddenly, Isky falls, is condemned to death and thousands beg his life be spared. Then, Isky is dead and buried, but still casting his shadow, relentlessly murmuring in his enemies' ears. Arjumand, shut away in Mohenjo with her mother, fills herself with her father's legend in order to serve as his epitaph. Aged Rani cannot accept her dead husband being thus divinized.
Pakistan is divided into two Wings when Isky is elected prime minister under disputed conditions in the West Wing, but soundly repudiated in the East. President Shaggy Dog dispatches an enormous army to the East. Arjumand does not dwell on the fearful war, in which the idolatrous Indians backed the East to divide-and-conquer. The East Wing is reconstituted, laughingly, as a basket-case autonomous nation, Bangladesh. Hourly radio bulletins describe glorious victories by the Western regiments, right up to the admission of unconditional surrender. Isky places the shameful blame on Shaggy, but spares him a war crimes trial on the condition that he accepts house arrest. The people are cynical about the pardon, knowing Isky is the principal beneficiary of the civil war. He copies a scene from the film Alexander the Great, in which Richard Burton bares his chest to a cheering crowd to show the battle scars he bears. Isky packs away the old army leadership and installs Raza Hyder - which proves to be his worst error.
ReplyDeleteAt Mohenjo, Arjumand remembers how fervently the people loved her father during the election and he reciprocated, diverting love from Pinkie. Arjumand hires photographers to snap pictures showing how old and pitiful Pinkie has become for her father to find. Isky knows without being reminded that he accelerates the aging process in the women in his life. Rani suffers less than Pinkie because she spends most of her time in Mohenjo. Precocious Arjumand, too mature for her age, realizes her father feeds on his women. At 23, Arjumand is also far too beautiful for her own good. She moves into the prime minister's residence and rejects her mother's letters proposing suitors. She and Haroun never communicate. She becomes a lawyer, joins the green revolution and prosecutes enemies of the state so ferociously that "Virgin Ironpants" takes on a new meaning. Isky comforts his daughter that there is no shame in being hated by enemies of the people. He is building a nation with strength and caring.
ReplyDeleteIsky is adept at handling mealy foreign interviewers, Arjumand sees, reviewing videotapes. Isky dislikes arguments and sets up the Federal Security Force (FSF) headed the clairvoyant Ulhaq, who can head off traitors. "Nobody can topple me," Isky's ghost says on tape, because he is the incarnation of the people's love. "Masses versus classes" is an old saw. The five who love Isky - Pinkie, Rani, Arjumand, Ulhaq and Haroun -- are so divided, Arjumand thinks, they may have caused his fall. Fat cats, smugglers, priests, socialites and factory bosses contribute, but the chief culprits are the ambassadors, U.S., British and Russian. The prime minister makes their lives miserable in every way possible. Having given the ninth U.S. ambassador a heart attack, Isky is prevented from working over a tenth when he is unseated in a coup.
ReplyDeleteIsky wastes away grimly in prison. The self-proclaimed "New Man for a New Century" used the glib slogan too early and Time takes revenge. Isky is hanged in the middle of the night, cut down and delivered to Ulhaq to be flown home to Mohenjo for burial. Rani demands to see Isky's face. Ulhaq is under orders not to show her. Allowed to kiss him through the shroud, Rani claws a hole with her nails to reveal the grey face with eyes open. A hanged man should have a blue face, bulging eyes and a tongue sticking out, Rani declares. Morticians might have fixed these things, but Isky's neck is clearly free of rope burns. Arjumand is disgusted by her mother and only understands when Rami declares, "They hanged a corpse." Rani knows about hangings because she saw Little Mir.
ReplyDeleteImportant Explanations and Quotations:
ReplyDelete1. “What is being born?- A legend. Isky Harappa rising, falling; Isky condemned to death, the world horrified, his executioner drowned in telegrams, but rising above them, shrugging them off, a compassionless hangman, desperate, afraid. Then Isky dead and buried; blind men regain their sight beside his martyr’s grave And in the desert a thousand flowers bloom” (Pg. 185).
This passage is important because it shows the cruel intentions of the time and the worldly matters ensuing. At the time, Pakistan is divided into two Wings when Isky is elected prime minister under disputed conditions in the West Wing, but soundly repudiated in the East. President Shaggy Dog dispatches an enormous army to the East. Arjumand does not dwell on the fearful war, in which the idolatrous Indians backed the East to divide-and-conquer. The East Wing is reconstituted, laughingly, as a basket-case autonomous nation, Bangladesh. Hourly radio bulletins describe glorious victories by the Western regiments, right up to the admission of unconditional surrender. Isky places the shameful blame on Shaggy, but spares him a war crimes trial on the condition that he accepts house arrest. The people are cynical about the pardon, knowing Isky is the principal beneficiary of the civil war. He copies a scene from the film Alexander the Great, in which Richard Burton bares his chest to a cheering crowd to show the battle scars he bears. Isky packs away the old army leadership and installs Raza Hyder - which proves to be his worst error.
2. “By the end of the period of house arrest, when Arjumand had Captain Ijazz imprisoned and tortured slowly to death, he was twenty- four years old; but his hair, like that of the late Iskander Harappa, had gone permanently white as snow. When they took him to the torture chambers he said just three words before he started screaming: ‘So, what’s new?’” (Pg. 200).
This passage shows the gruesome situation ensuing as well as the humor. While Isky wastes away grimly in prison, the self-proclaimed "New Man for a New Century" used the glib slogan too early and Time takes revenge. Isky is hanged in the middle of the night, cut down and delivered to Ulhaq to be flown home to Mohenjo for burial. Rani demands to see Isky's face. Ulhaq is under orders not to show her. Allowed to kiss him through the shroud, Rani claws a hole with her nails to reveal the grey face with eyes open. A hanged man should have a blue face, bulging eyes and a tongue sticking out, Rani declares. Morticians might have fixed these things, but Isky's neck is clearly free of rope burns. Arjumand is disgusted by her mother and only understands when Rami declares, "They hanged a corpse." Rani knows about hangings because she saw Little Mir.