The Quilt and Other Stories by Ismat Chughtai is a collection of 10 short stories covering various topics such as homosexuality, family, religion, etc.
The book starts with a story named 'Gainda' where Gainda is a young widow and a dear friend of the narrator. After a fling with 'bhaiya' of the employer family, her fate remains undecided.
The protagonist of the story is a rebellion in her own way where she dares to love somebody even if she is a widow, she falls in love with an upper class man and she also takes care of a child as a single mother.
In this story, Chughtai highlights themes such as widow remarriage, premarital pregnancy, class and status and sisterhood.
'The Quilt' is possibly the most renowned and controversial work of Chughtai since she had to fight a legal battle against the charges of obscenity for the story.
Narrated from a child's perspective, the story follows the life of Begum Jaan, who chose her own path after getting rejected by her husband. The story is about the sexual relationship between Begum Jaan and Rabbu which transgressed the norm of the society.
Begum Jaan is definitely the definition of a Pedophile.
The themes highlighted are same sex relationship, pedophilia and women's sexual desires.
'The Mole' narrates the story of an artist who wishes to win a reward by painting Rani, a young village woman.
Here, the mole is a symbol of sexual desires. Rani flaunts her mole with pride and thus have several partners.
In the story, Rani is content with her life because she does whatever suits her but it's not the same with the artist.
'The Homemaker' carefully brings out the loopholes in the idea of marriage and the idea of a 'good woman' in society.
Mirza tries to constrict his maid Lajjo who is a vocal woman by marrying her but fails miserably to turn Lajjo into an ideal woman.
The story raises an important question against the idea of marriage and the concept of monogamy.
Chughtai highlights themes such as female sexuality, women being vocal for sex, marriage and monogamy and the idea of an ideal woman through the stories 'The Mole' and 'The Homemaker'.
'Touch-Me-Not' is a story about the narrator's bhabhijaan who is in constant fear of getting disposed by her husband after several miscarriages. The story shows us the ingrained patriarchy in our society where women are seen nothing less than child producing machines.
The major themes of the story are polygamy, miscarriage and role of women in society.
In 'Quit India' the narrator narrates the story of his neighbour, an Englishman Jackson who found his love and solace in India and didn't quit India even after the eponymous movement. He found his love in Saku Bai, an outcast in her own country who cared for him even when he lost everything.
The story highlights themes like nationality, refugee and commitment.
'The Invalid' is a story about a man who was a heartthrob in his young age but now due to his illness doesn't feel valid anymore. The man vows to not let his wife or anyone feel that he is invalid no matter what.
The main theme of the story remains ambiguous to me.
'Mother-in-Law' is yet another story by Chughtai breaking stereotypes. The mother-in-law in the story chides her daughter-in-law throughout the day, keeps her busy no matter what but never resorts to violence and not even let her son abuse or assualt her in any way.
The main themes of the story are complexity of relationships and shattering stereotypes.
Now, I would like to discuss the two story I liked the most.
'All Alone' is ahead of its time. Shahzad Hasan and Dilshad Mirza fail to confess their feelings and remains separated due to their social status and later because of partition. Almost thirty years later, Sylvia (Dilshad's wife) creates the situation for the young lovers to meet and confess.
The reasons I liked the story are that Sylvia is the underrepresented type of woman. Let it be literature, entertainment or real life, woman are shown as a threat to other woman and the thought and representation of a woman like her in those days was nothing more than a fantasy.
Another reason is the closure chosen by Chughtai where further development of their relationship is left unsettled and they go back to their respective lives seems very real and fresh.
Last but not the least, 'Roots' tells a story of Amma who is unable to understand the Partition and is unwilling to leave her roots in India and shift to Pakistan. When her family decides to leave her and get settled, her long time hindu neighbour help her unite with her family again.
Chughtai highlights themes like
Chughtai writes stories with very deep meaning and much needed themes. Although the themes are beautiful, the book missed to be an absolute pleasure to read. After hearing amazing reviews about the author, I was more than excited to read any written piece by her but to say I'm disappointed won't be enough. At times, I absolutely felt like throwing away the book or DNFing it. The problem was that the stories felt very awkward. It didn't follow any pattern and was very uneven.The narration completely ruined the book for me which maybe is a result of bad translation.
Initially my rating for the book was 1.5 but after reading 'All Alone' and 'Roots', I decided to give it a 2.5 stars.
Truth to be told, I'm very disappointed and I would think twice before picking any book by the author.