On Roopnagar

Does Roopnagar, the place of Zakir’s birth, his only real ‘home’ and the place that is ravaged beyond repair by Partition, really exist? There is something eerily tragic about the paradisiacal beauty of Roopnagar as described in the opening passage. The evocative images of the birds, the trees and the placement of the setting in a time “jab duniya nayi nayi thi, jab aasman taza tha aur zameen abhi maylee nahi hui thi” create a hypnotic trance which builds a mythical feel. All other places mentioned in the text, the most prominent being Lahore with its many clubs, exist while Roopnagar slips out of the reader’s grasp and envelops Zakir with a dark nostalgia that he cannot shrug off.

This idyllic setting seems to capture the happenings of Partition in a single setting. The coming of electricity, the death of the monkeys (so obviously a religious symbol), the displacement of Zakir’s abba from home, the sudden rise in immorality, the spread of disease and the turning of brother upon brother (captured in the story of Habeel and Qabeel) all reflect the many disasters that accompanied Partition. The idealistic view that Intizar Hussein seems to entertain about India and Pakistan before Partition is also contained within the setting of Roopnagar. The different religious myths told by Bi Amma and Bhagat Ji though seemingly different are inherently similar—the fate of Earth rests upon animals and the rejection of Bhagat Ji’s teachings by Bi Amma while the child Zakir clings on, represents the ridiculous arrogance that shrouds each religion. Sirindar and Zakir’s friendship reflects the secular that is forced to separate due to demarcated neighborhoods.  These subtle indications speak volumes of what should have been and what actually happened.

All in all, I believe in the possibility that Roopnagar may not even exist but is a result of Zakir’s skewed childhood memories, hopes and the terrible mental effects of Partition compressed into the destruction of a self-built Utopia.