UNIT 1 THE AUTHOR: BACKGROUND, WORKS,

AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE

Structure

Objectives
Introduction
1.1.1 Bapsi Sidhwa's background
1.1.2 Use of Urdu poetry
1.1.3 Why she wrote in English
1.1.4 How and why she became a novelist
The works of Bapsi Sidhwa
The Parsis
1.3.1 Group identity
The Zoroastrian religion
1.4.1 The Zoroastrian ethic
Migration to India
1.5.1 Problems of alienation
1.5.2 Declining numbers
Title of the text
1.6.1 Political connotations of the title
Let US Sum Up
Glossary
Questions
Suggested Readings

The objectives of this unit are threefold. Initially it is to introduce the students to
Bapsi Sidhwa, the Pakistani woman novelist who is an important voice in the genre
of Indo-Anglian Commonwealth fiction. Bapsi Sidhwa is a Parsi Zoroastrian and as
the background of the author plays an important role in her novel, Ice-Candy-Man, it
is essential to have a historical perspective on this minority community. So, for a
better understanding of Bapsi Sidhwa's novel it is vital to understand the Parsi ethos.
Flnally this unit examines the significance of the title and the possible political
connotations that occur with this unusual title.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

1.1.1 Bapsi Sidhwa's background

Celebrated Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz described the novels of Bapsi Sidhwa as:

Ruthlessly truthful, deeply perceptive, she tells her stoq with rare courage,
frankness, and good humour. (Paranjape 82)

This is an apt assessment of the Pakistan1 woman novelist Bapsi Sidhwa, an

important voice in the genre of commonwealth fiction. Her four novels-TheCrow
Eaters (1978): The Bride (1983), Ice-Candy-&Ian (1988) and An American Brat
(1994)-reveal remarkable diversity, vision, and perception of themes which are both
universal and particularly relevant to the subcontinent. However, the most strlking
feature of her novels, especiallv The Crow eater,^, is her remarkable sense of humour.
which is both bawdy and iron~cal.
4

Born in Karachi in 1938, in a prominent Pami business family, the Bhandaras, the
now sixty years old Bapsi is a literary figure as well as an active social worker. She
divides her time between Pakistan and O.S.A. In 1991 she was awarded the
Iiberaturepreis from Gennany for Ice-Candy-Man and the Sitara -I-Imtlaz,the
highest honour given in arts by the government of Pakistan. In 1992 she won the
prestigious Lila Wallace Readers Digest award. Her novels have been translated in
four languages, French, German, Russian and Urdu. In India her novels were initially
published by Sangam books and are now published by Penguin. In England her
novels were published by Jonathan Cape and Heinemann, and in U.S.A by Milkweed
editions.

Born in Karachi in undivided India, Bapsi Sidhwa was brought up and educated in
Lahore. Her mamage to Noshirwan is her second mamage. When she was nineteen
years old, she fell in love and married a sophisticated Bombay businessman The
mamage did not last long. She then'mnied Noshinvan, a respected Lahore
businessman who is the son of Mr. P K. Sidhwa, former mayor of Karachi and a
renowed freedom fighter. Bapsi had earlier graduated from Lahore's Kinnaird
College for women Mother of two girls and a boy, Bapsi was initially a housewife.
A sense of social guilt and concern for the poor made Bapsi participate in social
work. She soon became an activiert and took special interest in women's rights. She
was involved in setting up the destitute %omen's and children's home in Lahore.

Despite her interest in social work, Bapsi was restless. She took to writing out of
boredom and loneliness. She admitted later that as a typical socialite in Lahore, her
life was one of unrelieved tedium. She abhorred the aimless gossip and conversation
at coffee parties. So as a kitld of therapy she took to writing. Reading had been a
hobby since childhood. In an interv~ewgiven to The Fnday Tlmes of 20-26 July,
1989, Bapsi adrnited to Jugnu Mohsin "I had polio as a child. I had to have extensive
treatment, my parents w e n advised not to send me to school. I was tutored at home
by an Anglo-Indian lady who taught me to read and write." From this interview it
can be seen that the depiction of Lenny, the girl-child narrator, who also has polio in
Ice-CandyMan, is vety autobiographical.

As a lonely child, Bapsi read copiously. Her favourite authors were Charles Dickens,
P.G Wodchouse and V.S. Naipa~l She has revealed in interviews that her favourite
books were Plckwick Papers by Charles Dickens which she read six bmes and
Nrupaul's A House for Mr Biwas. As she grew up she came to admlre the works of
Leo Tolstoy. The influence of her favourite novelists is evident in the writings of
Bapsi Sidhwa Her novels. especially The Crow Eaters and Ice-Candv-Man greatly
resemblc Na~paul'scomrc rnasterplecc A House for Mr. Rlswas ( 1 96!) Like
lualpaul's earl1 noveic. the works of Sidhna are also a complex blend of'
autobiograph?. fiction and soclal commentary The focus on a chlld's growing
awareness of the world. evtdcnt in OIlver T'vlst and Pip's career in Great
~~xpectahnns IS also used bv Baps~in her presentation of Lenny in Ice-(7andv-Man
and the wal she chronicles the adventures of a young Pakistani Parsi girl Feroza
Glnwalla ill America. The verbal abandon, caricature and witty remarks, a feature of
the wr~tingsof Charles Dickens is also evrdent in the works of Bapsi Sidhwa She
adheres to the Dickensian method of a gripping story but is unlike Dickens In her
lim~tedauthorial intervention The sense of histor?, 1vhich is so domiiiant in the
ilovels of Dickens and Tolsto\ also pla) s a prom~nentpart m Baps~Srdhwa's novels
After all, Ice-Candy-Mail can be ~nterpretedas thc Pakrstan~perception of Partition.
Her raucous humour. irreverance to established tradit~onsand extrovert ribaldry
reflect the ~nfluenceof P.G Wodehouse.
1.1.2 Use-of Urdu Poetry Background,
Works, and
In Ice-Candy-Man, Bapsi Sidhwa uses a lot of Urdu poetry. The Urdu wnters that Significance of
have influenced Bapsi Sidhwa are Mirza Ghalib, Alama Iqbal (Pakistan's National the Title
Poet and a mystic), Faiz Ahmed Faiz ( a Lenin prize winner) and women poets Zehra
Nigar and Kishwar Naheed. She explains her usc of Urdu poetry to Feroza
Jussawalla in an interview. Sidhwa admits.

Yes, my love of Urdu poetry overflows in this book (Ice-Candy-Man). I've

made it a part of this book and woven it into the structure because T feel it
gives a resonance to the book, a cultural resonance, something which is very
eastern. Urdu has permeated the book in the form of poetry. (Intewieuts with
Writers ofthe Post-Colonial World p.2 15)

As part of her strategy to highlight the cultural differences as a post-colonial writer,

Bapsi Sidhwa makes use of Urdu poetry and untranslated words like the political
slogans "Jai Hind Jai Hind" and "Pakistan Zindabad!"(p.127) "lungi" or dress (p. 127)
"tamasha" or spectacle (p. 136) and moulds the English language to suit her purpose.

The author also feels that the use of Urdu poetry and Urdu language gives an Indian
ambience to her novel, Ice-Candy-Man. Such poetry also adds to the romantic
flavour, especially in the scenes which depict the masseur wooing Leimy's attractwe
maid servant, known as ayah. Towards the end of the novel, when the ice-candy-man
is besotted by ayah, he Is unable to sce her as she is in the recovered women's camp at
Warns road. At such moments when love rather than communal hatred is the
overwhelming passion, the author cleverly uses verses from Urdu poet~yto depict the
mood. The love-stricken ice-candy-man recites passages from Zauq, Faiz, Iqbal and
Mirza Ghalib. For instance, standing at the gates of the compound in Warris road, he
recites Zauq:

Why did you make a home in my heart? Inhabit it. Both the house and I are
desolate. Am I a thief that your watchmen stop me? Tell him, I know this
man. He is my fate. (Ice-Candy-Man p.276)

He is also heard humming Zauq's poems:

Don't berate me: beloved. I'm god-intoxicated! I'll wrap myself about you:
I'm mystically mad. (Ice-Candy-Man p.277)

Urdu poetry adds to the pathos of the love affair and conveys the local ambience very
effectively. I feel that by her selective use of Urdu poetry, Bapsi Sidhwa gives a lot
of local colour, atmosphere and added meaning to her story. Creditably the use of the
poetic verses do not appear jamng or just scholastic but the chosen verses enhance
the appeal of the story. The English translation of these verses, used 11.1 the novel, are
of very high quality.

1.1.3 Why she wrote in English

Like many people who are educated and brought up in the sub-continent, Bapsi
Sidhwa is fluent in several languages- English, Urdu, Gujarati and Punjabi. Bapsi
has however only written in English. Unlike some Indo-English novelists and critics
she has no feelings of guilt or nagging doubts about writing in English. She uses
English without inhibitions. Bapsi feels that she is an end product of the British Raj
and so socio-historical circumstances make it inevitable that she should write in
English. In an interview with David Montenergro, in March 1989, published in
''Points of Depclrture: International Writers on Writing and Politics," Bapsi Sidhwa
makes her position about writing in English very clear, she says:
 i find myself comfortable wrlting in this language (English). My written
Urdu is not very good, though 1 speak it fluently. As for Gujarati, hardly
anyone in Paktklstan knows the language. In Britain of all places, people say,
"Why don't you write in your own language?" And they brlng heavy political
overtones to bear on this. But I think well, the English don't have a
monopoly on the language. It is a language of the world now. And it is a
means of communication between various nationalities and the most
immediate tool at hand. So I use it without any inhibitions or problems as far
as I an1 concerned. (p.38)

She also has strong political reasons for writing in English. Sidhwa feels that writing
in English increases the scope of her works of fiction. She feels that English is the
language of the privileged, the elite and the powerful. Above all she feels it is
important to write in English because it has emerged as the major world language,

Overall her writing style is influenced by Salman Rushdie and the technique of
lnd~anisationof written English. Many of her sentences are punctuated with Gujarat~
and Urdu words, Parsi proverbs and Parsi-Gujarati cadences. She also feels that her
writing style is influenced by her manner of speaking which she calls a "salad of
languages."

Her reasons for writing in English are brutally candid and border on the political: She
says:

"Although the Raj has been banished, and the empire repossessed, the status
of English remains more or less the same: it is still the language of the elite
or the privileged and powerful.. . and the most important factor contributing
to the phenomenon is the emergence of English as a world language." (Ibid)

1.1.4 How and why she became a novelist

Bapsi Sidhwa became a writer more by accident than design. She began to write at
the suggestion of an Afghan woman she met on an aeroplane. Prior to that she was
overawed by the term author and imagined him or her to be a superior human being.
In an interview to David Montenergro she explained:

I'm so fond of reading, and I used to think that a writer was some sort of a
being who lives in another sphere. I never thought of the writer in human
terms but almost as some disembodied power that automatically produced
books. And suddenly by telling me that she (the Afghan woman) was a
writer, she made me realise that writers are very flesh-and-blood persons.
And that did make me want to write. (Ibid p.5)

This incident gave Bapsi Sidhtva the confidence to become a writer. She thought up
her first novel after she heard the story of a young Punjabi girl who had run away
from her tribal husband. The tribes live by a code of honour that reflects the harsh
conditions of their environment . The girl, after surviving for almost two weeks in
thi: lofty mountains was killed by her husband. This story haunted Bapsi Sidhwa as
she felt it reflected the helpless condition of women in the subcontinent. It became
ar, obsession with her and she decided to write it as a short story but it soon became a
novel, The Bride or The Pahsiani Bride, as it is titled in India. As Bapsi Sidhwa has
herself often said, that it was not a tentative foray into writing, but a giddy and
intoxicating nose-dive into a fabrication guided more by an intuition to w~itethan by
an exercise of the intellect. It was while she started writing that Bapsi Sidhwa
discovered her ability to compose humorous passages. In an article, "Why do I
write", Bapsi Sidhwa explained how she made time for her writing. She says:

So I wrote whcn 1 was dummy at bridge. when my children were at school

and my husband at work. Everything in my life took precedence over my
 writing. My husband was my sounding board. I read out what I'd written Background,
and his reaction, the surprised expression that often crossed his face, the way Works, and
he raised an eyebrow and sometimes looked at me, fortified me. I could trust SignXiance of
his judgement.. .he responded to the humo' rous passages with gratieing the Title
glee. (p.28)

Her first novel was written in long hand in a variety of notebooks and she typed the
results, editing and retyping as the novel progressed. Nowadays of course she works
on a wmputer. In an interview with Asif Rahim Khan published in Weekend Post of
fiiday, 23 October 1991, she stressed that she was not a methodical writer or a
disciplined writer like Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson or Nayantara Sehgal,
who followed a fixed routine and wrote for so many hours per day. Her approach to
writing is very similar to that of V.S.Naipau1, her favourite author, namely the need
for inspiration and deep concentration when excited about a theme. In the interview
with Asif Rahim Khan she explained how her approach is very individualistic:

When .I'm writing a novel, if I happen to write ten days a month, that's about
the maximum. But when I do write, I write for almost 12 to 14 to 18 hours a
day. You get into a roll, and sometimes you just don't want to stop, and then
I can leave the novel for three to six months. It happened while I was writing
Ice-Candy-Man. (3)

So we can see that by sheer chance and later, supported by her husband's enthusiasm,
Bapsi Sidhwa discovered her talent and vocation as a novelist. Now that we know
enough about the author, I would like to give a brief sketch about her four published
novels.

1.2 THE WORKS OF BAPSI SIDHWA

Her controversial first novel The Crow Eaters (1978) is described by the author
herself in the Preface as "The hilarious saga of a Parsi family", and also as a "labour
of love about the few eccentricities in the community". Certain sections of the Parsi
community considered it an unfair parody of Parsi life and rituals and there wvas even
a mock bomb threat after its initial publication. The novel derives its humour from a
blend of fantasy, scatology, physical and verbal incongruity and caricature. She
writes in the tradition of Aristophanes, Fielding and the earlier novels of V.S.Naipau1,
a mixture of farce and irony which arouses laughter but also reflects very serious
themes. Her vision is wmic and tolerant as she portrays the variety and vitality of
life. There are also perceptive insights in presenting the rnarginalised Parsi milieu
and Parsi characters as cultural hybrids.

Sidhwa dedicates The Bride (1983) to "the incredibly simple, deprived and
courageous women of this (Pakistan) magnificent country". The core of the book is
the heroine Zaitoon; not only is she a symbol of women fighting oppression in
Pakistan but of the human spirit struggling to survive and maintain its integrity. It is
a book about 'Khudi' or will, a type of strength of nature or force within us.

Her third novel Ice-Candy-Man (1988) belongs to the genre of the Partition novel
popularised by Khushwant Singh, Manohar Malgaonkar, Chaman Nahal and Attia
Hosain. She uses the girl-child narrator Lenny and subtle political allegory to
examine the inexorable logic of Partition as an offshoot of kndamentalism sparked
by hardening communal attitudes. The use of rumour; dislocation of families and
friends and the impact of violence on the human psyche are all humorously
interwoven in a gripping and well-written narrative. Her implied message is similar
to Bisham Sahni's Tamas (1973), that, "those who forget history are condemned to
repeat it".
Ice-Candy-Mun There are several ctller interpretations of the novel. The use of the precociofis, eight
pear old, pcjiio-infected Lenny is autoblographicai. Bapsi Sidhwa was also affected
by polio early in her life. The device of the child narrator enables Bapsi Sidhwa to
treat a historical movement like Partition without morbidity, censure or pedantry. -By
the use of Lenny, the author maintains a masterful balance between laughter and
despair. Through the character of the girl-child narrator the author Bapsi Sidhwa
explores a female universe hemmed in by the restrictive and reductive forces of
patriarchy arid colonisation.

The author uses the "woman-as-victim' paradigm but the victimisation is the result of
collective action due to the communal riots that followed Partition. The riots are
shown as being orchestraded by males. The maid in the Parsi family at Lahore known
as "ayah" suffers the impact of Partition the most. Her body is commodified by her
husband, the ice-candy-man.

Sidhwa's fourth novel An American Brat (1994) moves its locale, for the most part to
the United Statcs of America. This novel reflects the trend of globalisation in the
Indian diaspora. It reveals the experiences of Feroza Ginwalla, the rebellious
daughter of Cyrus and Zareen Ginwalla, who moves from Gulberg, Lahore to
Denver, Colorado, for higher studies. Sidhwa cleverly shows how attitudes change
when a young and impressionable student moves from the third world to a first world
nation like U.S.A. Feroza has to make a lot of cultural readjustments. Her room-
mate Jo, teaches Feroza various Americanisms, so that she does not feel a misfit. For
Feroza, the formation and maintenance of community takes on new dimensions. She
outgrows the confines and limitations of her secluded, sheltered life in Lahore,
develops an independent mind and chalks out her own career instead of being guided
by solicitous advice from parents and elders.

The Parsi context to this novel is provided by the perennial problem of inter-faith
marriage. This issue emerges when Feroza wants to marry David Press, an American
Jew. The novelist through the guise of humour shows how elders exert pressures of
conformity, tradition and emotional blackmail, to prevent the proposed marrtage.
There is an ironic exposure of fundamentalism characterized as parochialism,
ignorance, conformity and insecurity at what is visibly different. Sidhwa criticizes
fundamentalism amongst all communities in her novel. She criticises the "mullah
mentality" that "girls must not play hockey or sing or dance," and the Parsi
community's attempts to preserve cultural purity by forbidding all inter-faith
marriages. She is equally critical of the narrow mindedness of American society in
certain sttuations.

In the genre of Indo-Anglian fiction, Eharati Mukhejee has explored the theme of
migration and re-adjustment in her short stories and her novel Jasmme (1989).
barlier Anita Desa~had esamiiied thls theme in Bye-Bye Black Bzrd (197 1) and
knniia Markandaya in The Nowhere Man (1972).

1.3 WHO ARE THE PARSIS?

'The Parsis are an ethno-religious minority in India, living mostly on the west coast of
the sub continent, especially in Mumbai. In Pakistan, most Parsis rcside in Karachi
and Lahore. The word Parsi means a native of "Fars" an ancient Persian province,
now in southern Iran. the Grcek word for this province was Persepolis. The Parsis
left their homeland over twelve hundred years ago to save their religion, the teachings
of Zoroaster, from being Islamized by the invading Islamic Arabians in the seventh
century A.D. The Parsis are followers of prophet Zarathushtra. Their religion known
as Zoroastrianism was founded around 2000 B.C. Historians dispute the date about
the origins of Zoroastrianism. Eminent historian and social chronicler, Eckehard Background,
Kulke in his meticulously researched book, The Parsis in India: A Minority as Agent Works, and
of Social Change admits that there is controversy about the time of Zoroaster's actual Significance of
historical appearance. According to Kulke, Western scholars, "date Zoroaster's the Title
activity mainly in the fifth and sixth centuries B.C. (Jackson, Altheim. Zachner,
Wesendonk, Henning, Hinz) or between the nineth and sixth centuries B.C.
(Widengren). "(Kulke p. 14). However Kulke says that Greek historiographers
believe that Zoroaster lived and taught between 4,000 and 6,000 B.C.

Another renowned social historian, Piloo Nanavutty says two theories exist about the
date of Zarathushtra (the Parsis pronounce the prophet as Zarathushtra, but in the
Western world he is known as Zoroaster). In her book, The Parsis she says that the
first tradition, "favoured by Western scholars is a late Sassanian tradition stating that
Zarathushtra lived 238 years before Alexander. This tradition is based on the
assumption that Kava Vishtaspa of the Gathas is the same as the Achcmenian
Vishtaspa, son of Cambyses I and father of Darius the Great. The genealogies of
these two Vishtaspas, however are totally different. On linguistic grounds, also this
theory is not tenable."(Nanavutty p. 12).

Piloo Nanavutty feels that the tradition which asserts that Zarathushtra lived about
2.000 B.C. or earlier is the most probable theory as it is based on a linguistic
comparison and evidence of a split between the Aryan tribes. According to
Nanavutty, the linguistic comparison is between the Gathas and the Rig Veda. The
split between the Aryan tribes which led to one branch migrating to India and the
other remaining in Iran is considered to be due to the reforms initiated by
Zarathushtra. Historians thus differ on the origins of this religion. However amongst
the Parsis in India, the most commonly held view is that Zarathusthra lived about
2,000 B.C. Kulke believes this view is held, "because it helps the Parsis to that
feeling of religious exclusivity necessary for the existence and survival of the
community." (Kulke p. 15).

The origins of this small community of around 100,000 go back to the Indo-European
branch of the Aryans. They are said to be descendants of the Aryan tribes which
migrated from the Pamirs of central Turkistan to west Asia, particularly Iran.

The religious texts of the Parsis are collectively known as thc Avesta. Thc essence of
the relig~oncan be found in the five gathas or divine songs of Zarathushtra (there are
many more gathas, but they are not traceable).The gathas are basically Zarathushtra
the Prophet's dialogues with God, which reveal the ethical nature of h ~ gospel.
s Other
religious texts are the Yasna, a collection of seventy-two psalms which forms the
chief liturgical work in the Avesta and the Vendidad which is a code of conduct, with
laws on purity and behaviour in twenty-two chapters.

So the religion of the Parsis is Zoroastrianism. The word Parsi is an ethnic term or
identity for this minority community. They should really be called Parsi-
Zoroastrians. Present day Zoroastrians who have migrated to U.S.A or Canada or
Britain can be distinguished in two groups. Those who have migrated from the
Indian subcontinent are referred to as Parsi-Zoroastrians whereas others who have
come from Iran are known as Iranian Zoroastrians.

The Parsi-Zoroastrians are famed for being a very adaptable minority community.
Since they have settled in the Indian subcontinent they have adapted Gujarati as their
main language. With the advent of the British and the spread of the British empire,
the Parsis were the first Indian community to learn English Nowadays Parsis learn
how to speak, read and write in both Gujarati and English. Parsi families residing in
different regions of India, also learn the regional language or Hindi. So most Parsi
families in the Indian subcontinent speak at least three languages. This linguistic
diversity is reflected in the works of Bapsi Sidhwa. A lot of her sentences in English
are punctuated with Gujarati and Urdu words. For instance, in her novel Ice-Candy-
Man, Sidhwa shows how efforts are being made to stem the hardening communal
attitudes in and around Lahore. She writes that gramophones and speakers mounted
on tongas and lorries pour out the melody of Nur Jahan's popular film song.

Mere bachpan ke sathi mujhe bhool na jana-

Dekho, dekho hanse na zamana, hanse na zamana (Ice-Candy-Man p. 159)

The English translation by Bapsi Sidhwa of the above lines is:

Friends from our childhood, don't forget us-

See that a changed world does not mock us.

So Bapsi Sidhwa writes in a new English, punctuated with words from Urdu and
Gujarati like "Shahbash" (p.245) , "Khut putli" (p.222) ,"Chachi" (p.208), "Paijee"
(p.226) and "Churidar" (p. 105).

The scriptures of religious texts of the Parsis are written in the ancient avestan
languages or the pahlave script. There is a interesting history behind the
development of the language spoken by the ancient Parsi Zoroastrians. This has been
explained by the eminent Parsi scholar Jer D. Randeria in her book The Parsi Mind:
A Zoroastrian Assest to Culture:

From the speech of the ancients developed oral languages which have been
called avestan by philologists, and the ancient gathic dialect of the avestan
has been found to be similar to the sanskrit of the Rig Veda. In 530 B.C. a
script was attempted which produced the cuneiform inscription on clay
tablets in the avestan related ancient or old Persian language during the reign
of the Achaemenian Darius the great. Old Persian became the language of
the great Persian empire around 600 B.C while the Aramic script was used
for writing. From it evolved the middle Persian, also called pahlave language
around 300 B.C. The use of pahlave, mixed with Parthian words, continued
until about 300 A.D. During the early Sassanian rule, it was replaced by
Persian or Farsi as the official language. In the mid-Sassanian period about
530 A.D. an unknown priest invented the new avestan alphabet of 46 letters,
based on pahlave characters,but having greater accuracy. By 1,000 A.D. the
Iranian Zoroastrians began writing in new or modem Persian using Arabic
script due to the Arabian invasion of Iran, but among themselves they
preferred to speak in a local dialect called 'dari' (p.9-10).

However all these languages are now extinct and are only used by priests for prayers.

1.3.1 Feeling of Group identity

In the 1997 census, conducted by the Government of India, the Parsis were only
about 100,000, in number, 0.16 per cent of the total population of India. Yet their
feeling of group identity and active participation in the social, cultural and economic
life of both India and Pakistan is immense. Eminent jurist Nani Palkhiwala observes
in his book We the Nation: The Lost Decades that "history affords no parallel to the
role of Parsis in India. There is no record of any other community so infinitesimally
small as Parsis, playing such a significant role in the life of a country so large".
(p.3 17)

Are Palkhiwala's views just a case of euphoric back-patting? No. Let us examine the
facts. As a community they are well-off and urbanized (about 94%). In industries
such as shipping, aviation, banking, catering, canning and dairy products the Parsis
have been pioneers in India. There have also been numerous legal luminaries.
History names many notable Parsis such as Rustamji , Jivanji, Gorkhodu, a close
.associate of Mahatma Gandhi, K.F. Nariman, an ardent promoter of the Swadeshi
movement, Dadabhai Naoroji, one of the founders of the Indian National Congress,
Sir Dinshaw Eduljee Wacha, President of the Indian National Congress at its 1901 Background,
session and Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Vice-Chancellor of Bombay University and Works, and
member of the Municipal Corporation of Bombay. Several of them played prominent SigniTmnce of
roles in the freedom movement. Another significant feature is that despite being a the Title
miniscule minority, the Parsis have never asked for any "reservations" in the form of
jobs or entrance to colleges in post-independent India. Along with such a progressive
attitude and comparative prosperity, the Parsi community maintains a very strong
sense of group identity and cohesiveness. Bapsi Sidhwa provides frequent examples
of this group consciousness in her novel Ice-Candy-Man.

The best instance, I can think of, is the special meeting conducted by the Parsis in
Lahore at their temple hall in Warris road to discuss the hture prospects of the
community when Independence and Partition were seen to be inevitable.

Now that we have a reasonable insight about the Parsi community let us try and
understand some of the motivating factors, which make this small religious minority
strive for a distinct identity. To understand their impetus even better, it is important
to get some knowledge about the basic tenets of Zoroastrianism.

1.4 THE ZOROASTRIAN RELIGION

The religion founded by Zarathushtra or Zoroaster (the more commonly used Greek
form of his name) is in its original form, monotheistic. In contrast to the innumerable
gods and demons (daevas) of his time, Zoroaster proclaimed the sole, absolute,
omnipotent, eternal god, called Ahura Mazda or "wise lord". Ahura Mazda is both the
creator as well as the judge on the day of the last judgement. Zarathushtra was born
in the city of Arak, in Azerbaijan. At the age of fifteen, Zarathushtra turned away
from all worldly pleasures and devoted himself day and night to the worship of Ahura
Mazda. When he was twenty years old, he bade farewell to his parents and went to
meditate in a cave. Like Gautama the Buddha and like Mahavir, Zarathushtra also
wanted to unravel the mystery of life. His queries all dealt with eternal problems like
why was there death and suffering in the world and how did evil come into the world
and why were some hungry and poor and others rich and well-fed.

According to customary tales Zarathushtra lived alone in a cave, high on mount Ushi-
daren eating roots and berries and drinking goat's milk. On mount Ushi-daren which
means "bestowing awareness", Zarathushtra received enlightenment and conversed
with Ahura Mazda in a vision. At the age of thirty, Zarathushtra went back to the
world of men and taught them the wisdom he had learnt. He and his first disciple
Maidhyomaongha became wandering preachers. Many of the nearby tribes listened
to him but rejected his teachings. After many trials and tribulations he first
succeeded in the small kingdom of Bactria in Eastern Iran. His missionary labours
continued for thirty years, after which he settled at Balkh the capital of Bactria, the
Greek name for Afghanistan. For more detailed information on the life of
Zarathushtra and his teachings you can read eminent Parsi historian Piloo Nanavutty's
book The Parsis (1977). According to her, Zarathushtra was killed when he was
seventy-seven years old. The prophet was stabbed in the back, whilst praying at the
fire temple at Balkh, by Tur-bara-tur leader of the Turanians, a tribe hostile to the
concept of monotheism.

1.4.1. The Zoroastrian Ethic

Zarathushtra preached the monotheistic religion of the one supreme god, Ahura
Mazda. His message is a positive, life-affirming, active-principled one, which
demands not so much belief as reason and action on the part of every individual.
According to the prophet Zarathushtra, the whole universe is dominated by hvo
primal forces, good and evil. The task of mankind is to choose between them.
z ~ ~ - c ~ + M Spenta
~ ~ mainyu the power of light and good are the good spirits opposed in this world
by the evil spirits angra mainyu. The supreme god Ahura Mazda thus combines with
Spenta mainyu to become the principle of good represented as Ohrmazd. The
personified evil spirit is Ahriman. Life is seen as a ceaseless struggle between the
forces of good and evil. There is no concept of earthly renunciation or asceticism.
The moral demands on Parsi-Zoroastrians are "Hvarshta (good deeds), Hukhta (good
words) and Humata (good thoughts)" (Eckehard Kulke, p. 18) The conflict between
good and evil will continue until evil is routed. After the destruction of evil,
according to Zarathushtra's teachings there will be a general resurrection, a final
judgement and then an endless era of universal peace. On earth human beings must
make their own choice. A choice of the forces of good is a personal responsibility.
In involves a life of active benevolence. The views on life after death are similar to
those in Christianity. The good people will enter paradise, the rest will be ushered
into purgatory or be plunged straight into hell.

Keki B. Shroff in a presentation made to Vision T.V. of Canada on 26 May 1995

showed how Zoroastrian ideas have played a vital rale in the development of Western
thought. He listed some theological concepts shared by Zoroastrianism with Judaism
and Christianity. The similarities are as follows:-

Belief in one supreme and loving god.

The concept of heaven and hell and individual judgement.
The ultimate triumph of good over evil.
A strict moral and ethical code.
The messiah to come for the final restoration.
The concepts of resurrection, final judgement and everlasting life.
The Zoroastrian origin of words like Satan, Paradise, Pastor and Amen.

Now that we have understood some of the basic tenets of Zoroastrianism, let us
briefly examine how it influences the behaviour of some of the Parsi characters in
Ice-Candy-Man. The narrator Lenny's mother, Mrs. Sethi and her aunt Minnie travel
all over Lal~oreproviding cans of petrol to the beleaguered families of the minority
Hindus and Sikhs to help them escape across the border. E-xplaining their secretive
and seemingly suspicious outings, Lenny's mother says:-

I wish I'd told you. We were only smuggling the rationed petrol to help our
Hindu and Sikh friends to run away. And also for the convoys to send
kidnapped women, like your ayah, to their families across the border. (Ice-
Candy-Man p.242)

The motivation behind such selfless and nobel actions by Lemy's mother is neither
individual heroism nor political gain. Instead the motivating factors for such
charitable acts can be linked to the Zoroastrian ethic of "good deeds". Towards the
end of the novel, Lenny's godmother (one of her aunts) named Rodabai shows
remarkable energy and capacity to handle crisis situations by rescuing the ayah after
she was kidnapped and kept at a "kotha." Rodabai takes ayah to a rescued woman's
camp and then arranges to send her to her relatives in Arnritsar. Again the motivation
of Rodabai's actions can be explained by the Zoroastrian credo of good thoughts and
good deeds. So I would like to emphasize that the Zoroastrian ethic is a major
motivating factor for many characters in Bapsi Sidhwa's novel.

1.5 THE MIGRATION TO INDIA

A historical perspective is essential to understand the dilemmas, identity crises and

problems of the Parsi community in India which is aptly reflected in Parsi literature.
The Parsis are the descendants of the Persian Zoroastrians who had sought refuge in
llndia in the eighth century A.D. when Persia now Iran was conquered by Arab Background,
invaders. After the collapse of the Persian empire at the battlc of Nahawand in 642 Works, and
A.D the defeated Persians who practised the ancient monotheistic religion, Signif~anceof
Zoroastrianism, were converted to Islam by the conquering Arabs. Consequently the Title
many Zoroastrians fled from Iran and sought refuge in India.

Several history books dealing with the exodus of the Parsi Zoroastrians to India have
stated that after fleeing from Madyan in Iran they first arrived at the port of Diu in the
eighth century A.D. After their stay for about 19 years, they set sail towards the
South and landed at the port of Sanjan in Gujarat around 785 A.D. Sanjan was then
ruled by the liberal monarch, King Jadhav Rana.

The dastrlr (Priest) who was heading these refugees approached King Jadhav Rana,
narrated their tales of woe and sought permission to settle down in Sanjan. At a
public assembley in an open Maidan, the dastur gave details of the basic tenets of
Zoroastrianism in sixteen sanskrit shlokas. It is believed that initially Jadhav Rana
was hesitant about giving shelter to the refugees from Persia, as he was uncertain
about the reaction of his own citizens. The King's first response was a sorronfil
inability to accommodate the Zoroastrians on a permanent basis at Sanjan due to
inadequancy of space.

At this crucial juncture, the dastur requested that an urn filled with milk to the brim
be brought to the assembly. When the same appeared he took off his ruby studded
gold ring and dropped it into the urn. Using this symbolic gesture, the dastzlr showed
that just as the contents of the urn had not spilt over but become richer by the
insertion of the precious ring, similarly the Parsi-Zoroastrians would bring fUrther
prosperity to that area if granted shelter. Moved by the reasoning of this pious priest.
brig Jadhav Rana asked the dastur to narrate their actual requirements. The dasntr
replied that they desired freedom of worship, freedom to bring up young children in
their own traditions, and land for cultivation so that they became self-sufficient.
Jadhav Rana agreed to these demands but imposed five preconditions for allowing
the Zoroastrians to settle in Sanjan. The five stipulations were:-

To adopt the Gujarati language. (The Parsis have adopted this language faithfully,
have forgotten their traditional dalects and in any modern day census reports indicate
Gujarati as their mother tongue).

The women would wear the sari (this sartorial custom has also been faithfully
followed and the Parsis in India have adopted sari as the dress of the community.
Traditional Parsi women wear the 'Sidhi' sari in the Gujarati fashion, draped over the
right shoulder, with one end tucked at the back and one end falling in the front).

Men should hand over their weapons.

Venerate the cow. (Due to this condition, tmditional Parsis still do not eat beef,
though there are no religious taboos against the eating of beef).

The marriage ceremonies shall be performed at night only. (This condition was
imposed so that the local population is not attracted by such a ceremony and hence
the danger of conversion is minimized. The Parsis in the subcontinent still follow
this tradition and do not allow outsiders in their fire temples, whlch is a further
guarantee that they will not attempt any conversions to their religion).

After accepting these stipulations, the fragile but learned dastur made one more
symbolic gesture to assure the king of their loyalty and diligence. He stirred a
spoonful of sugar in a brass bowl full of milk and said, "We shall try to be like this
insignificant amount of sugar in the milk of our human kindness." Emotionally
moved by such sincere commitment, King Jadhav Rana granted asylum to the
Ice-Can+Mm refbgees in Sanjan. The dashrr then appeared before the King and on behalf of the
community pledged these words:

Hame Hindustan Rayr Bashim.

We shall be the friends of All India.
(Dipanjali: June-December 1996, 1 1).

The words of the dashrr remained the basic credo or article of faith for Parsi
Zoroastrians throughout their stay in India. It also reflects the characteristic spirit of
adaptability of this minority community which enabled it to thrive in a countr):of
such diverse cultures and religions.

1.5.1. Problems of Alienation

However, eminent Parsi literary critic Nilufer Bharucha views that the conditions and
restrictions like adopting the local languages, costumes, customs and not inter-
marrying with the local population and never proselytizigg led to feelings of
alienation within the community. She writes:

These unequal conditions provided fertile breeding ground for feelings of

ambivalence and alienation from the host country. This ambivalence and
alienation became exacerbated during the colonial period, when the Parsis
were among the first to embrace English language education and become the
most Westernised Indian community. Most Parsis, thus felt bereft at the end
of the empire and the resultant loss of the specidelite status they had
enjoyed during the colonial period. Several migrated to the West in the
1950s and 60s. (Bharucha p.358)

However, as is evident in Parsi literature both the Parsis who sought opportunities in
the West and those who stayed on in India have experienced identity crisis and
confusion. In the West, the Parsis face the dilemma of being branded as just another
community of subcontinental Asians, an identity they sought to escape. In India, as
is reflected in the works of Rohinton Mistry, Dina Mehta, Firdaus Kanga, Boman
Desai and Bapsi Sidhwa, this minority community has to cope with the hegemonic
forces of the dominant community. The struggle to create their own space in the
West as well as in India and the identity struggle of what it means to be a Parsi
Zoroastrian and all the major problems, aspirations, hcpes, ambitions and prejudices
of the community are reflected in Parsi literature.

1.5.2 Declining Numbers

Madhavankutty Pillai in an investigative article in the Asian Age of 13 May 1997

reveals that prosperity, extreme individualism, urbanization, late marriages, low birth
rate and antique laws about not accepting the children of Parsi women married
outside the community are taking their toll on the Parsi community in India.
Statistics show that the Parsis are the most urbanized community in India. 94% of
the Parsi population is urbanized as compared to 16.4%of Hindus. Also the Parsi
population in India has declined from about 1,14,890 in 1941 to about 75-80,000 in
1997. Though there are no definite figures available at present, a rough estimate is
that in a year there are 1,000 deaths and 500 births.

Given these conditions and factors, the laws of statistics dictate the eventual
annihilation of this community. If attitudes do not change, it seems unlikely that the
Parsis will see another millenium change. Under these circumstances, as Rohinton
Mistry has indicated in a recent interview, fiction such as his will record the history
of the Parsis for the ages to come. Seen in this context, literature like the novels of
Bapsi Sidhwa are a vital source of infomation about Parsi beliefs and practices.
1.6 TITLE OF THE TEXT Background,
Works, and
Signifwanee of
1.6.1 Political Connotations of the Title the Titk

When this novel was first published in 1988 in London, it appeared as Ice-Candy-
Man. This was the title that Sidhwa had intended. However, in the 1991 American
edition, the title was changed to Crachng India, because the publishers thought,
Americans would misunderstand "ice-candy" and confuse it with drugs. The new
title for the American edition is more explicit and clearly indicates that'it is a novel of
partition, which prioritises India. However the original title had significant symbolic
connotations. First of all we must remember the centrality of the ice-candy-man's
role to the love theme and political themes of this novel. Sidhwa deliberately avoided
naming the central character. He is called ice-candy-man because this name has
certain specific political connotations.

Sidhwa has always maintained that this character represents what she calls or
considers the "icy" unstable quality of politicians who determine the fate of their
subjects. At one point in the novel, Lenny the adult narrator talks about the "Ice
lurking deep beneath the hypnotic and dynamic femininity of Gandhi's non-violent
exterior" (Ice-Candy-Man p.88). Such men are icy, according to Sidhwa because
they are remote and indifferentto the human loss they cause by their political acts.
She also feels that political leaders like Gandhi, Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose
and the English Viceroy Lord Louis Mountbatten were cold as ice to the sufferings
caused by Partition. Such an interpretation is again part of Sidhwa's historical vision.
She has always believed that politicians stir up trouble and it is the ordinary person, a
woman like godmother, who "battles wrongs."

So the title Ice-Candy-Man is a metaphor for those who wield power and it provides
an inventive and indirect way to explore the role politicians played in the holocaust
and bloody birth of Pakistan and the new India. Sidhwa feels that politicians like the
ice-candy-man were just role playing. She thereby implies that politicians are not
consistent and their public image keeps shifting. It is also suggested that the motives
of politicians appear noble but are often selfish. Like the scheming politicians, the
ice-candy-man also frequently changes roles. When the sales of ice-candy decline in
cold weather he changes his profession. He becomes a birdman who takes pride in
deceiving his customers. When due to communal tension, bigotry is on the increase,
the ice-candy-man become "allah's telephone" (p. 107), posing as a holy man with a
direct line to the almighty and apologizing to his clients that allah "has been busy of
late. .. you know; all this Indian independence business." (p. 107). So towards the end
of the novel, the ice-candy-man becomes a holy (actually unholy!) pretender, which
the author implies is the role of many politicians. Ultimately the ice-candy-man takes
up the despicable profession of pimping. So overall it is seen that the ice-candy-man
uses his glib tongue and power of rhetoric to be successful in many roles. The author
suggests that politicians especially during the time of Partition were indulging in
mere double-speak.

Overall, the novel 1s far too subtle to state a direct political view. However, it does
not idolize the Indian leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and vilify
Jinnah as often happens in post-partition fiction and histories. For political reasons,
at times, Sidhwa provides an alternate view of Jinnah and appears to be praising him.
However Sidhwa's overall belief is that the maneuvering of those in power has no
more substance or permanence than melting ice-candy. So ironically the seller of
such an ephemeral product, the man who shifts from one role to another turns into the
unlikely symbol of those who were making history or at least thought they were
doing so. The title, as I have tried to explain is not just chosen at random but has
several interesting political connotations which enhance the subtle meanings of this
text.
1.7 LET US SUM UP

It must be realized that Bapsi Sidhwa drifted h m being a typical socialite and wife
of a successful businessman in Lahore to becoming an internationally acclaimed
novelist. She became a novelist by chance and accidentally discovered that she
possessed the gift of telling stories in a gripping and hlimorous manner. This is also
-
probably due to the influence of her favourite authors Dickens, Tolstoy, V.S.
Naipaul and P.G. Wodehouse. Her narrative style is racy with liberal use of Urdu
and Gujarati words and idioms. The novel for detailed study, Ice-Candy-Man is quite
autobiographical, as the girlchild narrator Lenny suffers from polio, which afflicted
Sidhwa at a young age. In her novel, the Parsi-Zoroastrian background is dom~nant.
Hence in this section, we have identified features of this minority, and have given a
comprehensive view of their religion and group identity. The Parsi diaspora, the
migration to undivided India is sh6Wn in greater details because it has an impact on
how certain characters behave in this novel. To give you a better understanding of
this humorous but unique hovel, I have also given a brief presentation of two of the
most contentious topics amongst contemporary Parsis, their alienation from the
majority community and their declining numbers. Finally the political connotations
of the title have been examined.

1.8 GLOSSARY

Gathas: Sacred texts of the Parsis

Inexorable: Relentless or unyielding or remorseless

Millenium: A period of a thousand years

Minority discourse: A type of writing with emphasis on the

views, attitudes and feelings of a small
group of people who differ from others in
certain characteristics.

Paradigm: An example or model used as a standard for

the whole group of an archetype. Also the
framework of theories and concepts forming
the background of a scientific approach.

Patriarchy: A society or sacial organisation marked by

the supremacy of the father or a male figure.
Male dominated society in which male
members act as leaders.

To convert from one religion or belief to

another

Resurrection: A state of revival.

Scatology: Obscenity or obsessive interest in obscenity

in relation to excrement

Shlokas: Verse forms, used in ancient Indian

Literature
 Background,
1.9 QUESTIONS W A C and
S i g n i T Z of
the Title
Q 1. How and why did Bapsi Sidhwa become a novelist? Mention the authors
who influenced her style of writing. Why did she prefer to write in English?

42. Outline the origins of the Parsi community, and give an account of the
Zoroastrian ethics.

43. Why did the Parsis immigrate to India? How did they gain permission to
settle in Gujarat?

44. Discuss the various political connotations of the title, Ice-Candy-Man.

1.10 SUGGESTED READINGS

Background Material

Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religrous Belie@ and Practices, London:

. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979.

Bharucha, Nilufer. "The Charting of Cultural Territory: Second Generation

Postcolonial Indian English Fiction" in The Postmodern Indian English Novel ed. by
Viney Kirpal, Allied, New Delhi, 19%.

Dhalla, (Dastur) M.N. History of Zoroastrianism: Oxfbrd O.U.P., 1938.

Palkhiwala, A. Nani. We the Nation: The Lost Decades, New Delhi: UBSPD, 1994.

Nanavutty, Piloo. The Parsis Delhi: National Book Trust, Delhi 1974: Parsi
Anjuman, rpt. 1992.

Chenoy, N. Polly. "Anglicisation of the Parsis" cited in Mainstream, 1 April, 1989

pp. 1-9.

Kavarana, Roxanne. "The Parsis In India: A Community Under Stress'', The Times of
India Research Foundation Journal. April 1989.

Khullar, Ava, and Bose, Shanker. "The Parsis - a Socio - Economic crnd
Demographic Survey", A Monograph prepared for the Centre of Shr& of Developing
Societies, Delhi, 1978.

Kapadm, Novy. ed., Kaikhushru Pallonji Katrak Dare-Meher, Silver Jubilee

Celebrqtions Journal, 1961-1986 of the Delhi Parsi Anjuman, 1986.

Paranjape, Makarand. "The Novels of Bapsi Sidhwa" in Commonwealth Fiction ed.

R.K. Dhawan, Classical Publishing Co., New Delhi, 1988.

Sahukar, K. Adi. cd., Dipanjnli, June-December 1996, Journal of The Delhi Parsi
Anjuman.

Singh, Arun. "The Parsis: The Faith and the People" cited in The Parsis: MaGyum to
Sanjan, An Appraise1of Ethnic Anxieties Reflected in Literature, ed., Novy Kapuha
and A.G. Khan, New Delhi : Creative Books, 1997.
Secondary Material

Dodiya, Saydipsinh, ed. The fiction of Rohlnton Mistry, New Delhi: Prestige 1998.

Gandhi, K.J. ed., FedNewsletter, Published by the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian

Anjumans of India, New Delhi

Jusawala, Feroza and Reed Way Dasenbrock. ed, Inteiviews with writers of the PosC-
Colonial World. 1990.

Kulke, Eckehard. The Parsis in India: A Minority as Agent of Social Change Delhi:
Bell Books, 1978.

Kap& Novy and Khan A.G. eds., The Parsis Madyan to Sanjan, New Delhi:
Creative Books, 1997.

Montenegro, David. Points ofDeparture - International Writers on Writing and

Politics, 1989.

Randeria, Jer. The Parsi Mind: A ZorasMan Asset to Culture, New Delhi:
Munshiram Manohar La1 Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 1993.

Sidhwa, Bapsi. 'Why do I write?" in The Novels of Bapsi Sihwa. ed. Dhawan, R.K.
and Novy Kapadia, Delhi: Prestige, 1996.

Taraporewala, I.J.S. The Religion of Zarathushtra rpt Bombay: Indian House, 1979
UNIT 2 THE NARRATIVE VOICE IN ICE-CANDY
MAN
Structure

2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Narrative Voice and its ambivalence
2.3 Lenny's Narrat~ve
24 The Function of Narrator's several Identifications viz. the society
25 LetUsSumUp
2.6 Glossary
2.7 Questions
2.8 Bibliography
2.9 Suggested Readings

2.0 OBJECTIVES

The ob-jectiveof this unit is to study the unique narrative voice of Ice-Ccindy-Man.
The author's reasons for employing a girl-child as the narrator of her novel set in the
politically volatile period of India's Partition in 1947 will also be explored. We shall
see how Lenny's dual aspects as the narrator and the chkf character of Ice-Candy-
Man modify a novel on the theme of communal antagonism into an intensely
complex and personal statement.

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Having read the novel the readers must have noticed that it is, above all else, the
narration by an intensely self-reflexive and observant character. This character, an
eight year old polio afflicted child, Lenny, narrates the incidents, introduces the
novel's characters and talks aloud as it were, her ruminations on all the subjects
included in her narration. Therefore, the narrative of Ice-Candy-Man becomes a
character's autobiography. The text juxtaposes the child's psyche with the goings on
of the adult world, while for this child the world around her itself is a text.

The dividing line between a child as the narrator and a writer speaking through a
child's consciousness is deftly camouflaged by the use of first person narration in the
present tense. miis ambivalence in the narrative voice is revealed only on account of
Lenny's acute self-awareness of her implication in.the rather precious response she
makes to the world around her.

So we have to address several issues when we discuss the'narrative voice of this

novel. Firstly, why is an ambivalent narrative voice employed by Sidhwa for this
story? Secondly, why does she use a child's perspective to contextualise the events
of a political battle in India's history? Lastly, why is this child a character
marginalized from several locations of her social identity i.e what purpose is served
by Lenny's being a handicapped Parsi girl child narrator?

The possible answers to these questions would provide valuable insights into the
political sympathies of the novel itself.
Ice-ceMo
2.2 THE NARRATIVE VOICE AND ITS AMBIVALENCE

The narrative opens with the Urdu poet Iqbal's 'Complaint to God':

Shall I hear the lament of the nightingale, submissively lending my ear?

Am I the rose to suffer its cry in silence year after year?
The fire of verse gives me courage and bids me no more to be faint.
With dust in my mouth, I am abject: to God I make my complaint... (1)

It is often through 'verse' 'or art that the stifled sentiments of the victimised m~norities
in any culture are given a voice. For her novel Bapsi Sidhwa chooses the eight year
old,Lenny as the narrator to voice the anxiety of the underprivileged during India's
pahition. Lenny in the novel is not just rnarginalised as a child but also as a girl, as a
Parsi and as a physically deficient member of her society. This makes her's a very
effective and resonant narrative voice both in the genre of Partition novels and in the
bildungsroman writings.

Spoken from the margins of the mainstream discourses of patriarchy,.nationality,

religion and aesthetics, Lenny's comments: reverberate with questioning and critique
even at their most d v e : 'He [Gandhi] is a man who loves women. And lame
children. And the untouchable sweeper - so he will love the untouchable sweeper's
constipated girlchild best' (87).

I would also like the students to notice here how the narrator is distancing herself
from the "untouchable sweeper's constipated girlchild" in spite of the ironic
similarity in their multiple marginalized status. Lenny is thus avoiding, even
resenting, any gush of Gandhi-like pathos as a desired response to her narrauve.
Instead, the narrative carries the readers along a lighthearted current of irony and
wayside observation into some of the most heart-rending areas of human experience.

Like most eight year olds, our child narrator is an untiring explorer. Forever asking
questions, forever watching, listening - her curiosity to Eathom the seen and the
unseen dimensions of life around her is typical of growing children. And her
intuition is stronger than most. The result is a collage - like m t i v e . Events,
people and ruminations are unpredictably juxtaposed in it and hence, the various
concerns the author has in mind are presented in an uncontrived manner.

The child-narrator is shown coming across post-colonial politics, gender divisions.

victimisation and dilemmas of the minority communities, child-abuse et al. and she
tells her story as such. In her interview for The Hindustan Times in 1998, Bapsi
Sidhwa emphasized the importance of a writer's location when hdshe is writing. 'I
wanted ta be in Pakistan/India. There are little details one absorbs, a sense of place, a
resonance of being there, memory does not give you the feel' she explains. Perhaps,
the same can be said about Sidhwa's use of a child as the story-teller. Narrating as a
child (its autobiographicalaccount) makes childhood the location of experience. It
gives the feel that writing 'about' childnood as an adult might miss - "a resonance of
being there". So Lemy's experience and her expression of it strikes a special chord
with the readers. Innocently wide-eyed sometimes, and at other times staggeringly
precocious, Lenny's perspective detamiliarizes the common places of adult
experience 'What is God' she wonders (94) and 'What is a fallen woman?" she asks
her Godmother (2 15).

However, Ice-Candy-Man is not a child's almanac only. The author, infact, is

keeping a close watch over this mini-narrator. In the introduction we said that there
is a deftly camouflaged dividing line between the child-narrator and the writer