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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil

An analysis of Lifting the Veil (A collection of short stories) by Ismat Chughtai

Sobia Kiran

Lahore College for Women University Lahore, Pakistan

Author Note

Sobia Kiran, Assistant Professor, English Department

Lahore College for Women University Lahore, Pakistan

Correspondence: 123 B 1 Punjab Govt Employees Cooperative Housing Society College Rd

Lahore, Pakistan

sobiakiran@yahoo.com

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
Abstract

Ismat Chughtai reflects deep insight into the development of female consciousness
in her works. She had an artistic vision and critical observation combined with rebellious nature.
There is disagreement within the ranks of feminist writers. Therefore, we find writers like
Dorothy Richardson, Jean Rhys and Ismat avoiding to be called feminists. But, the very fact that
she was a woman and was writing from the female perspective; discussing social and economic
problems faced by women as housewives, maids, working women, beloveds, students or worn
out hags, cannot be ignored. Therefore, some critics have called her pioneer of Feminism in Urdu
literature. As far as raising consciousness, an essential part of the feminist activism is concerned,
Ismat’s approach is feminist. We find not only the development of female consciousness in her
works but also a social critique as she highlights not only the problems faced by women but also
explores the socio-economic causes. Her concerns are both feminist and humanist. Her aim is not
the victory of one sex but equality based relationship and equal participation of both men and
women in political and economic fields.
Research objectives:

 The paper aims to trace feminist elements in the short stories of Ismat Chughtai, a great
Indian writer.
 The paper aims to appreciate her unique style and themes exploited in her stories.
 The paper also compares the style of this prolific writer to the techniques employed by
European writers of her stature like D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf.

Keywords: Feminism, comparison with European writers, modernism.

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil

An Analysis ofLifting the Veil (A collection of short stories) by Ismat Chughtai

Introduction: Urdu short story was a product of the influence of Western literature. Before the
First World War, except Munshi Prem Chand, there was no noteworthy writer of short stories.
Some writers, basically poets, like Niaz Fateh Puri, Sajjad Haider and Latif-u-Din, inspired by
Oscar Wilde’s Art for art’s sake theory, jumped into this field (Sarwar, 2002). Though, they
displayed maturity of form, yet they could not create interest as far as organization and character
delineation was concerned. The situation was soon saved by the positive influence of Prem
Chand, revolutions coming about all over the world and enlightenment created by study of
Western literature. Various techniques were explored with themes ranging from individual to
sociopolitical problems, domestic problems to national and international affairs. Hamid-u-Allah
Afsar, Prof. Mujeeb and Ali Abbas wrote short stories. This all provided a suitable background to
the progressive writers to contribute to Urdu short story. “The writers of Angare followed
Psychoanalysis of Freud, the technique of James Joyce and political theory of Karl Marx.” (ibid)
Krishan Chand, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Saadat Hassan Manto and Ismat Chughtai are considered
four pillars of modern Urdu short story.
Enlightened with modern education and inspired by the Western thought, the progressive
writers displayed a tendency to write on bold topics. Under the influence of Marxist and
Freudian theories, importance was given to sexual conflicts and to lay bare the conscious and
subconscious aspect of the characters. They wrote realistically about the so far hushed, yet very
much present desires of their characters. Most important names were Saadat Hassan Manto, M.
Hassan Askari and Ismat Chuhtai. Ismat was the first Urdu female writer who dared to unravel
the psychological and social aspects of a woman’s sexual life. Therefore, she holds a unique
place in Urdu literature, but in her times, her difference earned her notoriety. Many including
Aziz Ahmed and Ehtesham Hussain condemned sexual obsession of Manto and Ismat, almost the
same way as critics did of Lawrence in England. Ismat and Manto shared not only a spirit of
experimentalism and freethinking with Lawrence, but also the belief that, “the traditional moral
scheme into which all characters fit” was outdated (Travers, 2001).

Literature Review: The romantic writers romanticized about women and wrote about intricacies
and intrigues involved in love. Despite use of imagination and poetic language, their stories were
not lively. Sultan Haider Josh was the first to talk about sociopolitical and cultural issues, but
even he could not give up romanticizing woman. “Exclude woman from literature and nothing
will be left in it. How else can we create interest and colour in literature?” (Asrafi, 1994) Though
true to some extent, the argument was one sided. Elaine Showalter says in TowardsaFeminist
Poetics, “If we study stereotypes of women, the sexism of male critics, and the limited roles
women play in literary history, we are not learning what women have learnt and experienced, but
only what men have thought women should be.” (Literary theory) Woman is not just a beloved, a
toy having physical side alone. Like man, she is a complex human being living simultaneously
on physical, spiritual, intellectual and social planes. To know her well and to present her
accordingly requires a writer to take into account all these sides of her personality. The credit
goes to the progressive writers, especially Ismat Chughtai for breaking away with the tradition.
The woman can no longer be portrayed as a romantic sentimental figure. Like man, she has
impersonal interests. She displays political and intellectual interests. A woman’s writing is more

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
critical of society and works of Ismat, Woolf, Jean Rhys and Dorothy Richardson stand
testimony to it. Their novels deal with, using Woolf’s words, “social evils and remedies.” (Woolf
51)
Ann Ferguson in her paper, “CompulsoryHeterosexualityandLesbianexistence.” suggests
a reconstruction of the term lesbian as ‘lesbian continuum’ that records women’s struggle against
patriarchal system.She describes heterosexuality as a symbol of male dominance (Ferguson,
1982). De Beauvoir, in The Second Sex, also sees lesbianism as a feminist resistance to
patriarchy. In Ismat’s treatment of lesbianism, we encounter psychological rather than political
connotations. In her works like “TheQuilt” and The Crooked Line, girls feel attracted to their
own sex mainly due to absence of male presence from the scene. They accept their strong sexual
desires and finding the phallic figure absent, try to find substitutes in their own sex. No doubt,
lesbianism in this context is a protest against patriarchy but not in form of heterosexuality rather
in form of segregation that is imposed on them. It is a protest against men’s exercise of their
authority to control women’s sexuality. As soon as the phallic figure appears, lesbianism is
abandoned for heterosexual life. Lesbian tendencies are viewed as a perversion, though they
work as feminist resistance against a society where male-female relationship is a taboo. Ismat
nowhere describes heterosexuality as a coercive force, with exception of few stories like
“TheWeddingSuit”and “Tiny’sGranny”, where rape is visualized as a sign of male dominance
and exploitation of women. Otherwise, heterosexual relations, if established on mutual
understanding and equality, are viewed as respectable by Ismat. Heterosexual relations bring
freedom for girls oppressed with segregation and caught in the web of lesbianism. The moment
they find the phallic presence and an opportunity to establish heterosexual relations, they
celebrate the moment and move forward in life with eligible partners. Ismat, Dorothy and Jean
Rhys did not aim at a world free from men or a world exclusively for women. They aimed at a
world where women and men should hail in equality, free from exploitation, injustices,
oppression and domination of ‘a’ sex. Ann Ferguson also rejects the narrow minded view
because it “ignores the existence of heterosexual couples in which women who are feminists
maintain an equal relationship with men. Such women would deny that their involvements are
coercive, or even that they are forced to put second their own needs, their self-respect or their
relationships with women.” (ibid) Jacquelyn N. Zita, in her paper, “Historical Amnesia and the
Lesbian Continuum”, says that if heterosexuality means male control over female sexuality,
fertility and reproduction then lesbianism is “an act of resistance.” (ibid)

Major influences: As far as Ismat is concerned, she read Greek tragedies, Shakespeare,
Marlowe, Emerson, Dickens, Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge, Emile Zola, Shaw, Ibsen,
Maugham, Gorky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Maupassant, Oscar Wilde, Lawrence and many
others. She was a voracious reader who used to read till late at night in the moonlight (Kokab,
2005). Ismat was greatly inspired by Thomas Hardy, whose novels she had translated into Urdu,
Bernard Shaw, extracts of whose plays she claims to plagiarize in her stories like Saanp and
Mere Bacche and her play Fasaadi. About Chekhov she said, “I believe in Chekhov. I read him
to be blessed.” (ibid) Whenever, she felt it difficult to complete a story, she used to read Chekhov
and her work was done.
She read a lot and got inspired by the contemporary European writers to a great extent.
She assimilated the influence of European writers from her contemporary Urdu writers as well.
In a letter to Prof. Abdul Salam, Ismat wrote; “I have read almost every English writer in detail. I
enjoyed reading all of them, but I write without copying anyone of them…. Above all, I have

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
read life, the greatest book of the world to write about and found it very interesting.” (Salam,
1973) The writers she was inspired by were also charged for their bold writing. Zola for a short
period of time was banned in France and England and so was Anton Chekhov because charges of
obscenity were leveled against them. In her collection of essays My Friend, My Enemy: Essays,
Reminiscences, Portraits she occasionally echoes views of Shaw, Zola and above all Chekhov.
Like Chekhov she believes in “the artist’s duty to describe the world as he or she finds it; the
unfeasibility of passing absolute judgment on literary texts; the denial of corrupting influence of
literature…” (76)
Ismat and Manto have often been compared to Lawrence in various aspects. Firstly, on
account of sexual themes in their work though they differ in style and treatment of themes a lot.
Secondly, among English writers Lawrence’s reputation has “undergone vicissitudes, fluctuating
wildly and producing extreme reaction of either love or hatred”, in Urdu literature no other writer
has generated such mounting controversy as Manto and Ismat. Lawrence’s works in England
while theirs in India was banned. (1942, Manto’s works were banned even after partition)
RebeccaWest’s complaint about Lawrence, “We don’t always feel after reading him that we have
‘stayed in safety.” (Fernihough, 2001) It was a common complaint by Urdu critics against Ismat
and Manto too. They were acknowledged as great but posthumously. They were quite unusual for
their times. Anne Ferni Hough writes about Lawrence, “He has been seen as the champion of
freedom and individualism in countries with oppressive regimes….” (ibid) She mentions India
too. Similarly, Ismat and Manto, in India are seen as champions of liberalism. Sexual subject in
their work is used as a need to seek freedom from ‘social obligations’ and as a means to discover
‘personal authenticity’. (ibid)
Analysis of her stories: Ismat’s stories are unique as far as their plot, characterization and use of
language are concerned. The language used by her is the living language spoken by common
people in domestic zone, varying in tone according to various characters belonging to different
classes, professions and age groups. Even Muhammad Sadiq, who complains that a few of her
short stories are not stories at all but ‘psychoanalytic pieces’, appreciates her use of language; “In
her mastery over the spoken language and dialogue, she has no equal in Urdu.” (Sadiq, 1985)
Ismat used a different kind of language from men. Virginia Woolf asserts the need for a different
idiom and language, “to carry the reader on easily and naturally from one end of the book to the
other.” (Woolf) The use of different idiom was essential for female writers to portray the
problems and aspirations of women different from the male tradition. This is essential to present
the natural shape of their thought without, as Woolf says, ‘crushing or distorting it.’ It is possible
only if a woman is well determined and can stand the opposition “to be true to herself.” (ibid)
Ismat’s stories, indeed, are a reflection of her society. They are a bitter comment on the
prevalent decadence and moral deterioration of the society. She focused, especially, on the plight
of women in a suffocating and conservative Muslim community and injustice done to them in the
name of religion. She has remarkably depicted the social and emotional exploitation and the
consequent deprivations of women. Ismat remarkably uses irony and satire to explode the
balloon of hypocrisy and to expose the double standards of a so called pious, rigid and
superstitious society. To call her a social critic will not be wrong. She holds a unique place
because of her boldness and truthfulness.
“TheQuilt” is a superb example of her insight into human psyche. Her life as well as the world
around her was pacing smoothly, when her story “TheQuilt” exploded like a bomb and caused
great tumult as no one could expect such blasphemy from a woman. In a society, where the very
idea of a woman writing stories was unacceptable, mentioning such subject was nothing less than

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
challenging god. Overnight, she became notorious. She had no female predecessor in Urdu who
dared to explore the prohibited area. She had to undergo a trial because of this story.
The critics, reading this story, ignore the excellent psychoanalysis of the characters
succumbed to sexual perversion and criticize for the sake of criticism. They can not accept
lesbianism as subject of a story for it can corrupt young minds. They attack what is not at all
depicted in it and do not appreciate the irony embedded in the story that highlights a very
important social problem. In Urdu literature, the credit goes to Ismat, a woman, who explored
such suppressed regions of female psyche. As Lawrence and Whitman are prophets of body so
are Ismat and Manto. Body has its rights. They understand that denial of bodily demands is
unnatural.
“TheQuilt” is a story of a married woman whose natural instincts and emotions are
crushed against her will. They are not allowed to take the natural course and result is perversion.
Chaucer, Marlowe, Bacon, Browning, Whitman and Lawrence wrote about the blind force of
‘Eros’, otherwise no one would write sarcastically and ironically about the corruption prevalent
among priests, monks and nuns. Browning’s “FraLippoLippi”is the justification of the claims of
the body upon soul. God created both Adam and Eve for each other. Stronger the segregation,
stronger is the attraction.
Ismat looks for the motives of this perversion throughout the story. She tells why Rabbu
and Begum Jaan are having this relationship. The former is economically dependent, while the
latter is emotionally and sexually frustrated, being married to a person who could not fulfill her
physical needs. She is married to an elderly nawab to lead a comfortable life. The nawab “…was
very virtuous. No one had ever seen a notch girl or prostitute in his house.” (Lifting the Veil 14)
But, piety alone is not sufficient. Body, too, has its claims and demands. Ismat points out his
‘strange hobby’ as well. “He kept an open house for students young, fair, slender-waisted boys
whose expenses were borne by him.” (ibid) He spends his time with boys and Begum Jaan was
forced to live alone. Here, we find a slight reference to Nawab’s homosexuality. Later in the
story, we come to know that Rabbu’s son also stayed with Nawab. He was given ‘new clothes
and other gifts’ but he left him “and never came back even to see Rabbu…” (ibid) These ellipses
say a lot about him. It is interesting to note that the critics who objected to lesbianism in the story
(mainly because it was for the first time explored in Urdu and that also by a woman) ignored the
references to sexual perversion of nawab himself. In a male dominated society, prostitution,
extramarital relations, drinking and homosexuality on part of men were considered normal but
could not be suspected in women. Men wrote about sexual desire in men which could work as a
conscious or subconscious motive for their various constructive or destructive actions. No one
except Ismat drew attention to the fact that a woman also has sexual desire that can move her as
ruthlessly as a man.
Begum Jaan loves winter. The quilt is used as a symbol. It works as a cover to hide the
secret pleasure of sleeping with Rabbu. The protagonist is a guest at Begum’s house for as long
as her mother is out of city. She sleeps in Begum’s room. She is horrified to explain the
movement of the quilt in the dark, “…shaking vigorously, as though an elephant was struggling
inside.” (ibid) She is unable to understand that it is a monstrous desire that is changing different
shapes, stealing dark pleasures banned and denied otherwise. In the morning, the quilt looks
‘perfectly innocent’. Ismat is expert in using powerful images, visual, sensory as well as sound to
suggest a lot more in a few words. The visual image of the movement of the quilt is followed,
next night, by “the slurping sound of a cat licking a plate”. (ibid)

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
“In The Name of Those Married Women”, published in another book with a different
title, “The Quilt Trial”, is an account of the trial she had to undergo because of her story “The
Quilt”.The trial issued many other problems like public insult and above all disturbed family life.
She calls it an ‘ill fated story’ that became a constant ‘source of torment’. (ibid) Shahid
threatened to divorce her. Newspapers were full of articles against her; heated debates followed
in the literary circle; she received letters filled with ‘filth’ against her. A case had been filed
against Manto too. He kept his head high, while she felt guilty and embarrassed. Things were
different for her because she was a woman, and social pressure on her mounted double.Years
later, Ismat met Begum in a party, who knew that “TheQuilt”was based on her life. Ismat was
extremely happy to know that having divorced nawab, Begum married again and had a son. That
was exactly what Ismat had wanted; to free Begum from the clutches of Rabbu and lead a happy
married life.

No one can deny the truthfulness with which Ismat portrayed socio-economic and sexual
exploitation suffered by woman. “The Wedding Suit” depicts the pathetic situation of a widow
and problems generated for her and her two daughters because of poverty. Qualities of soul like
piety, sincerity, hard work and skillfulness in domestic chores all become insignificant without
affordability of good dowry. Kubra’s mother, a seamstress, has spent her life sewing dowries of
many young girls. She never disappoints anyone and resolves the problem even if someone runs
short of cloth. Her sole dream is the marriage of Kubra, her elder daughter, who is aging. She
does not realize that her younger daughter has also grown up. How can she think of her when
there is no one to ask for Kubra’s hand? Ismat has successfully used black humour to present a
timeless problem. Bi Amma, regardless of the hopelessness, continues sewing clothes for
Kubra’s wedding and puts them into a wooden box. Ismat uses the metaphor of ‘heavy coffin like
wooden box’ to make it clear that a poor widow cannot expect much for her daughter. (Chughtai,
2001)
Ismat is sarcastic about the social convention that forces a woman to become an obedient
servant to man. In her interview, Ismat strongly criticized these taboos and the girls who
followed them. She vehemently opposed the submissive role of a girl. She did not believe in
compromise and thought it to be a deception. A girl’s self esteem should not be tamed to
compromise with every injustice done to her. In this way, she is rightly called as the first
rebellious woman or the feminist of Urdu literature.
All this service to an ungrateful person like Rahat and traditional training of girls leads to
nothing. Their poverty and dependence on would be bread earner in a male dominating society
make them an easy prey. Rahat does not propose her. On the contrary, he makes fun of their
poverty and low-standard food served to them. Hamida, being the younger sister, is assigned the
responsibility to bring Rahat around to propose Kubra. Hamida tries her best but in return, she is
stung with his ‘filthy eyes’ and suggestive remarks. She understands that Rahat is a blind, hollow
and lustful man who is not worth Kubra. She feels agony to see Kubra’s hands busy in silent
service, “…they remain busy like bond slaves, from morning till night, grounding spices,
drawing water, chopping onions, laying the bed, cleaning shoes. When will their slavery end?
Will there be no buyers for them? Will no one ever kiss them lovingly?” (ibid) The stark realism
of these lines lays bare the bitter fact of a society where an expected son in law is served beyond
one’s capacity. Having no sweater for herself, she knits a sweater for Rahat. The metaphor of
hands is extended. “The hands that knitted it are meant to rock the cradle. Clasp these hands, you
ass!” (ibid) Ismat successfully presents the insensitivity of the society, manifested in the

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
character of Rahat, deaf and blind to the needs of an aging girl and a dying family. The blunt
expression of pain is free from sentimentalism though it is heartrending enough to make one cry
at the helplessness of the family.
Rahat leaves for home as his marriage is fixed. Having a sexual errand, considered to be
an evidence of man’s manhood, he never looks back at the spoils. Kubra, suffering from
tuberculosis, dies. Unlike her wedding suit, coffin has a different fate. She must wear it and
depart for the grave. Ismat has ruthlessly criticized the one-sided and partial laws of the society
where nothing helps the poor. They are exploited by the powerful and thrown away. Sons in laws
are beyond their affordability in an environment where without heavy dowry no one proposes
agirl.
In “Kafir”, Ismat has questioned the validity of religious differences. The topic discussed
in it is rather more sensitive than the one discussed in “The Quilt”. Her use of language serves as
a redemptive element and saves her skin. If “The Wedding Suit” is an example of black humour
“Kafir” is an example of mild irony and humour, though nowhere she feels the need to prick the
conscience of the readers to change and reform the society. All claims of brotherhood and
religious freedom are shattered when it comes to inter religious marriage. Ismat makes fun of the
distorted role of religion. Instead of resolving conflicts, it is creating distances, problems and
causing bloodshed. The controversial ideas are presented wrapped in the garb of humour and
mild irony as to avoid creating controversy in the society. The word Kafir is used in different
contexts, with different connotations as an abuse and rebuke, and finally is explained in poetic
terms where it means ‘beloved’.
Munni and Pushkar, though in love, are conscious of the religious difference. They
frequently call each other kafir and threaten each other with hell and angels with iron rods. Their
hearts beat together. Munni celebrates Holi and Diwali with him; for that she becomes a Hindu.
Pushkar celebrates Eid with her for that he becomes a Muslim. Passion transcends all boundaries
and lines drawn by class and religious differences. Isamt shows how religion becomes a
plaything in the hands of politicians, so called religious scholars as well as masses to earn their
own ends. Their quarrel is compared to ‘Hindu-Muslim riots’. (ibid) Ismat has satirized the
current scenario in the subcontinent, where Muslims and Hindus have been living together in
peace for centuries, but manipulated by politicians and religious scholars become bloodthirsty
for one another. The following exchange of dialogues highlights the need for open-mindedness
and liberalism to maintain peace and harmony not in the life of individuals alone but in the
world.
Pushkar: Do you know in what sense poets have used the word ‘kafir’?
Munni: That kafir is different, you Hindu donkey!
Pushkar: Are Hindu donkeys different from Muslim donkeys? And how about
Jewish donkeys?
We had great fun debating how to classify donkeys based on religion. (ibid)
Ismat makes us question, why a person belonging to one religion should hate or condemn
others? Religion, a source of comfort and peace, should not become a source of pain, agony and
hatred.
“TheNet” is a remarkable example of the psychoanalysis of the development of female
psyche from early childhood to adulthood. She presents how innocent friendship between two
friends grows, with changing desires, into rivalry. In a conservative society, where everyone gets
conscious about the physical changes, girls become even more conscious and the only safe
emotional outlet for them is to read sentimental stories and identify themselves with the heroines.

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
“They would read sentimental stories in the dark room, get worked up on them and fall into each
other’s arms.” (ibid) This dark room is their external subconscious where they can express their
suppressed emotions that are socially banned. Wearing vests makes them envious of their brother
moving without his shirt on. Physical growth has different meanings for girls and boys. The
former faces restrictions while the latter wins freedom. Death wish becomes extreme as it is
looked at as a path for freedom and emancipation.
Ismat, as an expert psychologist, lays bare the fact that sexual consciousness first takes on
the form of narcissism. The girls enjoy playing with their bodies and bathroom becomes their
retreat. “…Liberation! Liberation from all inhibitions. … They liked to go on stroking slowly
with their fingers and longed for some abrasive object to rub against their body to cure the
continuous tickle….” (Chughtai, 2001) Later, sexual desire transforms into idealizing their
teachers. They feel attached to their teachers to the extent of infatuation. Adulthood makes their
life miserable. Anonymous desires disturb them, especially as they work as messengers between
their elder sisters and their lovers. They feel jealous of their sisters and want to replace them.
Once they secretly open a gift and are embarrassed to find a dress of pink net. This net is a
symbolic net in which they are caught. A net of their sexual desires and feelings entangles them.
Its sight triggers a chain of strange thoughts and develops a secret rivalry in them. The
development of selfhood accomplishes itself at this stage, when both hide their feelings from
each other. Like ‘snakes’ they guard each other. Returning the dress to Apa and mentioning
Anwar Bhai betrays their secret feelings. Each wants to wear the dress herself and wants to get
rid of the other. Attan is caught trying the dress. Saffiya betrays her to Apa. She is denied the
privacy that a growing girl requires to view her body and feel the changes in it.
“TheMole”is a psychological study of the mind of an artist. The mole becomes a symbol
of the irresistible attraction between the two sexes, male and female, which despite the great
social and intellectual difference and distances between an artist and a girl from the slums
supersedes all these distinctions. Piety or moral inhibitions of the artist madden him and make
him crazy, when he comes to confront the natural ‘obscenities’ of a girl free from all inhibitions
and morals. Isamt presents a conflict between two life styles; natural life lead by Rani and
socially approved life lead by the artist. Rani is a Pan like figure who lives an instinctive life.
Choudhry has drawn portraits of many women from other countries, “both in nude as well as
dressed up.” (ibid 71) He never felt as disturbed as drawing a sketch of Rani, who is completely
unmanageable. She invites his attention to the mole on her breast and narrates her fling with
Ratna and Chunnu, while taking bath with them. Choudhry was dumbfounded at her expertness
in obscene talk at such a young age. He could not decide whether to respond to the call of nature
or to maintain his composed disposition. He tried to cool himself down in the small pond nearby.
To his shock, he found Rani and Ratna enjoying in the pond. Rani looked into his eyes, standing
nude, “…mole seemed to strike Choudhry like a bullet.” (ibid) He could not withstand the call of
nature and paid the price in form of life-long frustration and sense of deprivation. He lost his
source of inspiration with Rani who had disappeared somewhere. His lifetime piety and goodwill
paid him nothing. As Rani, caught by police for throwing her illegitimate child, swore in court of
his innocence, “Choudhry is impotent.” (ibid), he went insane. “Yes, he wished an accomplice!
Imprisonment, pain, suffering, calamity, public disgrace_ he would have taken it all upon himself
smiling. If he had known that he would be acquitted in that manner, he would not have pleaded
innocence to God and prayed to Him.” (ibid)
Ismat depicts the unconscious power of ‘Eros’, when suppressed and thwarted it can
drive man to madness and insanity. Choudhry ends with obsessive compulsive psychological

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
disorder of drawing ‘long, conical, round lines_ like a signed mark.” (ibid) Later, Bano Qudsia,
in her novel Raja Gidh, compares Eros to a violent horse, which, if carefully and skillfully
handled, is a source of every creative work, and the inspiration required for the purpose.
Otherwise, it can destroy everything and hinder one’s spiritual growth. D.H. Lawrence too, used
Pan as a ‘counterforce’ to Christ and “as an antidote to a civilization suffering from the ill effects
of an ascetic Christian ethos.”(Finney, 1983) Pan made frequent appearances in his works like
The White Peacock, Apocalypse and The Overtone. He celebrates the call of nature against all
external checks.
“TheHousemaker” raises many questions, especially it calls into question the difference
between a respectable man and a girl from the gutter; moreover it questions the validity of
marriage itself. Marriage is prone to breed more problems as it makes one possessive and
consequently suspicious. It is a name of responsibilities, which spoil the freedom of life. On the
other hand, free relationship promises the benefits of marriage like companionship and
cooperation without any disadvantages. This story is a strong satire on the double standards of
the society. For Ismat a marriage, solely based on economic dependence is not different from
prostitution and Krishan Chander shared this belief too.
Ismat laughs at the hypocrisy of a society that draws a line between a debauch man and a
whore. A man can remain respectable even if he goes to brothels but an orphan girl, forced to
lead a promiscuous life to earn her bread is neither respectable nor acceptable, though, her very
presence reminds Mirza of his late mother. Like an honourable woman bound in marriage, she
serves the same purpose that of housekeeping. Lajo falls in love with the house out of necessity,
for it is the only house where she gets the chance to rule. “Without a mistress, it was as good as
hers. A house does not belong to a man. He is more like a guest.” (Chughtai, 2001) Mirza too,
having a woman at home, stops going to courtesans. He and everyone in mohalla seem to go
crazy about her. Like a suspicious husband, he becomes jealous of milkman, school teacher and
anyone talking to Lajo. People offer her bungalows to serve as mistress. The only path to keep
her seems to marry her, but Ismat makes it clear that in this society keeping a mistress is a status
symbol but to marry her is a shame. Marriage means the end of romance. Man loves stolen
sweets more than the simple food he gets at home. He soon loses his interest in his wife though a
mistress can hold ever lasting appeal. Marriage and divorce were like nightmares and Lajo was
happy that they were over. Being a bastard saved her life; otherwise she would have been killed
for the sake of honour. Mirza is happy to see her back as she like his mother sets everything in
order. She is his house maker.
“Gainda”, like “Bandi”, an untranslated story of Ismat, states the bitter reality of a feudal
society, where maids are used as dolls to satisfy the needs of growing sons and discarded later. At
the same time, Ismat discusses the problems faced by a young widow, her deprivations, her
desires that she has to crush in order to live in a society that expects only strict austerity on her
part. Parallel runs the theme of the development of a child’s consciousness of her surroundings
through observation and mimicry. Gainda, a maid and playmate of Bibi, becomes a widow at a
very young age. She can no longer play bride as she cannot wear ‘sindoor’ or bangles anymore.
Life’s pleasures are banned for her though the flame of life is not extinguished in her. Voicing the
social code cannot help and later, not only she accedes to play bride with Bibi but becomes
mistress of Bibi’s brother. The reality is perceived from the eyes of a child, who tries to behave
coyly like Gainda, with an elderly servant Meva Ram, who fortunately paid her no attention. She
cannot bear her brother paying attention to Gainda, ignoring her. She suffers from Electra
complex. It is strange that Ismat does not focus on developing it as a separate theme in the story.

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
The incestuous desire and Electra complex is referred to in stories like “AmarBail”,
“TheMole”, “TheNet”, “Tiny’sGranny”and her novels too. In “TheNet”, both Attan and Saffiya
are attracted towards ‘Bhayia’, lover of Aapa; in “TheMole”, Rani is attracted to Choudhry,
much advanced in his age and vice versa; in “Tiny’sGranny”, it takes on a horrible and satanic
form, where Haji Saheb rapes a nine-year-old Nanhi.
“Touch Me Not”, once again celebrates Pan like existence, asserting that those who live
close to nature thrive and enjoy themselves, while those who are delicate get destroyed. Bhabi
Jan, a woman enchained in social bonds and norms, crushed under pressure of social
expectations is set against a woman from the gutter, living her life without a care in the world.
Bhabi Jan, like Bhabi Jan of “Chataan”, an untranslated story of Ismat, is a helpless figure. Her
husband loses interest in her as soon as he finds, “his beautiful doll-like bride turning into a
permanently sick woman.” (ibid) Her consecutive abortions add to her worries. In a society
where a wife is expected to provide man with an heir, her life turns into a misery. Having lost her
beauty, bearing no child, she loses rest of the territory as well. The following lines sum up the
plight of any married woman living in the same situation. “She knew that another miscarriage
would be her husband’s ticket to a secondmarriage. Now Bhai Jan could do anything in the name
of progeny… If she failed in this one conjugal duty, she would have toforgo all bridal comforts.”
(ibid) She is a dependent who is afforded only if she gives what her husband and in laws want;
otherwise she is doomed.
Third time she conceives, it is arranged to send her to Aligarrh to avoid a miscarriage. On
the train, a woman boards, who is helpless with labour pains. Holding the handle of the
bathroom door she delivers a child and becomes as normal as before, while Bhabi Jan, not
bearing the sight of delivery, has another miscarriage. Ismat laments the fate of a girl from who
complete ignorance and naivety is expected as if it becomes a decent girl. Ismat is of the opinion
that a girl must listen to adult talk and learn from experienced women. A girl should observe
delivery as it will not destroy her morality but give her strength and stamina. Bhabi Jan would
have been mentally prepared and would not get so terrified. She would know, “Giving birth is as
easy a job for woman as getting on or off the train is for Bhai Jan.” (ibid)
Ismat’s strong female characters like Lajo, Rani and this woman of the roads survive
because they can endure pain that is part of life. They accept the natural course of life. They do
not suffer from scruples like shame, embarrassment and public opinion. They do not follow the
norms of the society and follow their instinct. This freedom and independence, though won at the
cost of physical abuse, gives them strength. On the other hand, girls brought up in strict
restrictions, leading their life in traditional passive roles become incapable to continue their
existence and finally lose the battle in favour of their male counterpart.

“Sacred Duty” seems to be a development on the theme of “Kafir”. Samina, an educated

girl from a rich Muslim family, marries secretly her Hindu class fellow, Tushar, son to a Seth.
Her father, Siddiqi Sahib, though a liberal and broadminded person, cannot bear this shame.
Same is true of Tushar’s parents. Being conservative Hindus, they cannot accept a Muslim bride.
They convert the bride to Hinduism and perform the marriage according to ‘Arya Samaj rituals’.
Siddiqi Sahib accepts the marriage and brings the couple back only to convert them back to
Islam. Faith on both sides seems to be in danger and God in wrath. The title, again, is ironical as
the sacred duty of a religious scholar is reduced to merely conversion of a person from another
religion to his religion. Religion, whether it is Islam, Hinduism or Christianity, is reduced to a
few rituals observed at certain occasions to win publicity or to be considered honourable.

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
The young generation loses its faith in any religion as it can see through the flaws of the
devout followers who cite Allah, Bhagwan or God to serve their purpose. For Tushar, conversion
to Islam makes no difference as he remains the same man. Having prayed in mosque, ‘mandir’
and church, he finds no difference in them. Samina and Tushar both leave their parents for
making them ‘dance like monkeys’. They leave a letter to declare:
All religions are gifts from that Supreme Being who is called Bhagwan or
God….we know of his thousand other names _ He who is powerful and
compassionate. (The Quran)
Who is within and without. Who is above and below. Who exists in darkness and
in light. In presence as in absences. In negation as in affirmation. (Gita) (ibid)
Ismat once again is criticizing the distorted role of religious leaders to generate hatred between
various sectors of society instead of bringing people together. The story ends with the hope if
golden teachings of religion can be really followed.
“Tiny’s Granny” like “The Wedding Suit” presents the bleak picture of a poverty stricken
old woman. The story is a bitter satire of the society where poverty is a crime and the poor are
punished beyond measure. Their fate is doomed for generations. Life long struggle hardly
secures them food without any security for old age. Tiny’s Granny starts her struggle since early
childhood and continues to do so till she becomes Tiny’s Granny. She does various jobs like
cooking’ cleaning, tale bearing and ends up as a beggar when she is not able to do anything else.
She lives in a society where respect is denied to the poor and salary is paid like charity. The only
thing she cares about in life is Tinny but her helplessness and poverty impel her to appoint her to
do ‘odd jobs’ at Deputy Sahib’s house. Tinny, only nine year old, is raped by Deputy Sahib, “one
of the leading men in the mohalla, grandfather of three children, a religious man who regularly
said his five prayers…” (ibid) Tinny’s granny, living on the mercy of others cannot do anything
against the culprit. Tiny, from a child becomes a woman, “squat, fat, puffy, like a clay toy which
the potter had knelt on before it had hardened.” (ibid 149) Later, her elopement leaves granny
completely distraught, living on stale food and fighting with monkeys who were after her dried
bits of food. Facing every sorrow and humiliation in the world she dies all alone.
The last paragraph of the story is a good example of use of imagination in Ismat’s stories;
“And God, beholding the degradation of humanity, bowed His head in shame and wept tears and
those divine tears of blood fell upon Granny’s rough grave, and bright red poppies sprang up
there…” (ibid) It also is an example of the anguish, typical of progressive writers, on class
distinction and unequal distribution of wealth. Life long struggle pays nothing to the poor except
kicks and abuses.
“Vocation” calls into question the strict line drawn between a whore and a respectable
woman. The line becomes more obscure when one’s seemingly respectable aunts are involved in
this business to earn their living at the expense of others’ domestic life. The social attitude is to
look down upon this marginalized group of society i.e. courtesans. The protagonist voices the
conventional social views while expressing her hatred towards her neighbour. At heart, though,
she knows that men adding to a prostitute’s wealth are no others but her own pious relatives. She
encounters a strong conflict raging in her when she compares her vocation of teaching to
prostitution. She finds herself in loss. She sells her ‘squeezed up brain’, while the other sells her
body. She looks worn out, while the other looks younger than her age. Above all, she cannot earn
in life what the other earns in a day. “Respectability, chastity _ if you kept these eggs warm
under your wings would a peacock hatch out of them? …I felt like breaking that illusion in a
single stroke so that everyone knew about the filth within.” (ibid) Ismat makes fun of the concept

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
of virginity that is used as a trump card by a woman at critical moments. The protagonist, to her
amazement, comes to know that the courtesan in her neighbours was no other but her relative. To
curse a courtesan is easy but to trace her links in one’s own lineage is like looking into oneself
and raking the filth that one disgusts in the surroundings. Ismat was true to herself and all her
struggle was to express herself and women without pretension. Ismat and Virginia aim at a new
order, to change the established values to give importance to what seems insignificant to man.
“Mother in Law”presents stereotypical characters, mother in law and daughter in law,
involved in an ageless conflict over the man who tries to maintain balance between the two
scales. The characters are not even named except the son, Asghar. Mother in law is jealous of her
bahu for using the wile tactics to win her son. She threatens her to bring a second wife for her
son. The bahu succeeds in stealing joyous moments with her husband, when her mother in law is
asleep. Asghar brings mangoes and bangles for his wife stealthily and rebukes her in his
mother’s presence to please her. “Kick out the bitch Ammi, let’s bring another woman. This
one…’ said Asghar as he looked at his wife affectionately.” (ibid) This drama invokes her
sympathies for bahu, her ‘enemy’. The slightest notion of her son’s attention to bahu infuriates
her and she starts cursing both of them again. Ismat uses mild irony and humour to depict the
ambivalent attitude of mother in law towards her bahu.
“Roots” mourns over the loss of an old mother, whose children decide to leave for
Pakistan leaving her alone in India. The close relationship between Hindus and Muslims is
embodied in the relationship between a Muslim family and Roopchandji’s family, a Hindu
doctor. The two families lived together always sharing their grief and happiness, but partition
divided the two families. There was “a chasm miles wide. Amma would look at its bottomless
depth with melancholy eyes and shudder.” (ibid204) Hindus lost their lives on their way to India
and Muslims on their way to Pakistan. Amma could not leave her house where she spent her life
giving birth to her ten children and bringing them up. She felt afraid if her saplings would be
able to gain roots in the new land. Roopchandji, cursing the government and politicians,
followed them and brought them back and the house “came back to life.” (ibid) Ismat depicts the
chaos caused by partition though she ends the story on a happy note of reunion. In her essay,
“WePeople”, she admits that parents in her stories did not appear as ‘dynamic characters.’ She
ignored them as obstacles in the fulfillment of a person’s desires. For the first time, she felt she
realized the selfless love of her parents, especially mother. She had her mother as an example to
build on the character of mother in “Roots”. Her children too left for Pakistan leaving her mother
alone. (My Friend My Enemy, 2001) The theme of the story is power of matriarchy.
Conclusion: Woolf talks about women’s fiction and its subjects relevant to women, their married
life and the number of their children. Ismat’s stories very well illustrate this feminist concern.
The critics who object to the narrow range of subjects exploited by Ismat ignore the times. Same
justification goes for her that Woolf supplied for the works of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and
George Eliot. They were excluded from “certain kinds of experiences.” like that of war, business
and politics. They observed the characters and realities in their house. (Women and Fiction 47)
Encyclopeadia of Indian Literature states:
Ismat Chughtai who ranks with the first grade modern short story writers
of Urdu_ Manto, Bedi and Krishanchander, is one of those writers who
replaced idealism in fiction with reality. She claims that whatever she
writes is not the handiwork of her imagination; it is what she herself has
experienced, or perceived. (1753)

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
She writes against irrational taboos and checks that cause abnormalities and
psychological complexes in young people, especially women leading a suffocating life.
Ismat observes all these evils and overhears ‘revealing conversation’ of elderly ladies in
the house, hiding herself under a cot or behind a curtain, and presents these life-like
pictures “in a style that was at once disturbing and fascinating.” (ibid)

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Running head: An Analysis of Lifting the Veil
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