Ehsaan Manzil: Parda

The lifestyle of the Sharif Muslim family described by Intizar Hussain in the short story "Ehsaan Manzil" is thought-provoking. Intizar Hussain says in the short story, the brother only knew he had two sisters and the father only knew he had only two daughters. One wonders if it is more of an imposed cultural thing rather than a respected religious obligation because there is no 'parda' from blood relatives in any form of Islam leave alone from brother and father. Ironically, the story reveals that generations pass and the trend does not change. Parda from the blood relatives actually denotes the obsolete lifestyle which the Sharif Muslim families were stuck to, without any reason. The only thing these families seem to care about is how the people would look at us, if we do such and such. This supposed air of superiority have kept them backward even today. Intizar Hussain writes about the nineteenth century in the twentieth century but it still applies.