Pages 161-180

Rushdie (pages 161-180) Summary and References

By: Matheus Salles

(Edited by Noelia Valero)

As Haroun Harappa continues to look over some pictures of his soon-to-be fiancée, Naveed Hyder, it seems 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”, Naveed, herself, wants to marry Haroun because he is rich and famous (Rushdie 161). 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 it contains not only the finest gardens in the continent, but also the oldest, dating 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).

Goethe 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

"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.