Relationship between Zakir and Sabirah

Having read past the first six chapters of Basti by Intizar Hussain, the author has woven a tale that revolves around characters whose lives have been transformed due to partition of 1947. There are multiple themes in the book that reflect this transformation from a colonial to an independent state. For example, Hussain uses the introduction of electricity in Rupnagar to show how various characters reacted to a shift from rural to urban lifestyle. The transformation that I will look at in specificity is Zakir and Sabirah’s relationship and how it transforms because of partition, particularly for Zakir in this novel.

The argument that I’m going to make is that Zakir is a displaced figure in Basti, and Sabirah comes to represent his home. After Partition when he spends time in Lahore or Vyaspur or at college in Meeruth, Zakir is always reminiscing about his childhood, at times he gets nostalgic and detached from his surroundings. There is almost a kind of passivity on part of the protagonist in Basti, unlike other stories about Partition where conflict is heavily emphasized. Manto’s Toba Tek Singh is one example that is contrary to Hussain’s portrayal of Partition.

Zakir’s relationship with Sabirah can be explained in three distinct parts. In Rupnagar as a child when he meets Sabirah for the first time, on page 26 of the novel, in the first paragraph, Zakir first dawdles around her, until he sums up the courage to approach her and asks her to play with him. The very first time that Zakir addresses Sabirah he calls her ‘Sabo’. This encounter is very dissimilar to other encounters with girls from Zakir’s childhood. For example, in his encounter with the Hindu girl Vasanti, Zakir asks her to play with him and she refuses saying, “Chal Musallay kay chohray”. Afterwards he goes home happily, not offended in the least at what Vasanti says.

Another thing worth mentioning is that when he talks to Vasanti he remembers touching her bare arms softly and speaking softly. What’s important to notice is that he’s narrating these stories from memory, sitting now in Lahore after Partition. The difference is apparent that he always remembers Sabirah with fondness and it’s always her that she remembers out of everyone else in Rupnagar. This helps establish the importance of Sabirah in Zakir’s life from childhood.

The second part of the relationship can be described as the time he goes back to Rupnagar when he’s at college in Meerut. This is the first time he goes back to visit Rupnagar after his family leave for Vyaspur when he’s still an adolescent. This time we see a marked change in Zakir’s encounter with Sabirah. He notices that Sabirah has matured physically; her height, her bosom that she now has to cover with a dupatta, she no longer meets her eyes, these are the very first things that Zakir notices about her. Once he comes back to college, he recounts all that occurred between Sabirah and himself to Surindar (Zakir’s college friend). The entire conversation between Zakir and Surindar on page 53, is evidence of a romantic relationship that has now been struck between Sabirah and Zakir.

The third part of their relationship can be described as the time after partition when Zakir is living in Lahore and Sabirah is living in Delhi. Zakir receives a letter from Surindar in which he tells Zakir about meeting Sabirah at his workplace. Zakir learns how Sabirah chose to stay back after partition despite her entire family moving to Pakistan. Surindar also writes that Sabira appears despondent and sad, on occasions when he mentions Zakir she doesn’t reply and remains silent. This part of their relationship is made important by the fact that they are not only separated from each other geographically but are also no longer exchanging letters. Towards the end of chapter six, the 1971 war breaks out and any chance of Zakir leaving Lahore to meet Sabirah goes out of the window.

In many ways Zakir is a displaced figure in this novel because once he leaves Rupnagar, he is never able to form strong associations wherever he goes. As a history professor at the college where he teaches, he questions the real need for his work. Even his relationship with his parents cannot be construed as deeply meaningful for him. He obeys his father’s wishes but laughs at his archaic memories of the failed Khilafat movement. His own actions lie in congruence to his father’s religious values, when he does not allow Salamat and Afzal to consume liquor in his house. As a child even he remembers growing up in an idyllic community of Hindus and Muslims, where his Bi Amma bemoans that he should have been born in a Hindu household. Stories of origins of human life are fused for Zakir between competing Hindu and Muslim narratives.

On page 146, Zakir says that “Main uss ki udaasi aur kharein main zinda hoon” plainly exemplifies that Zakir associates his own activeness with Sabirah as opposed to his passivity as a protagonist throughout the novel. So, if we think about it given that's represented as an exilic figure in Basti, Sabirah becomes the only figure that represents his home and gives and helps Zakir to anchor his memory somewhere in the past, in Rupnagar.