Much has been discussed in the session on Kalī Shalwār yet the concept behind this
title has eluded me. However, some passages in the story help to pick the
relevance if read in a secular perspective that Sa’adat Hasan Manṭo has
adopted throughout his literary work.
Manṭo’s writings specifically speak about the (physical)
division between the society and the brothel. Here I want to bring the secular
perspective of Edward Said where a particular entity is secluded from the dominant
setting of a society. Thus, Sult̤anah
represents a minority if seen in a larger perspective. This approach brings a
good relevance of the title, Kalī Shalwār,
to me. The much emphasis on a kalī shalwār
for ‘Ashurāh seems to me as an attempt by Sult̤anah
to be part of that majority (society) for which she is a secluded entity. In
the period where the story has been set up, ‘Ashura was less seen as a Shīʿah
event and rather all communities of Muslims, Hindus and Christians used to
participate in the procession. Moreover, black has much relevance to the
‘Ashura procession and probably the black dress was seen by Sult̤anah as a tool of integration into the
majority. The story describes that she even ‘sacrificed’ her earnings (Bunde) for a kalī shalwār.
Why was she so desperate to live a life like a common person
in the society? She had simply no other option but to spend her days in a
brothel! Fate! This is what bothered me much because a typical prostitute in
Manṭo’s stories never blames fate for this situation. Yet, Sultana does in one
of the passages:
Bā’in hāth ko khulā
maidan tha jis main beshumār rail kī paṭriān
chamktīn tw Sult̤anah āpnay hathon kī t̤arf
dekhti jin pār nil nilī rāgain bilkul in paṭriowñ
ki tarha ubhri rehte theiñ
A train has no other option but to follow the track.
Similarly, Sult̤anah sees the palm
lines as a dictator of her fate when she draws a similarity between railway
tracks and the palm lines.
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