As far as the uniformity of the text and the flow of events
is concerned, Godavri was very disturbing for me. Sibtay also pointed it out in
class and it is vividly pointed out by the author in many places. For example
the place where the narrator introduces “Baa” and “Maa”. It goes like this
“aik
aurat Jism k kisis zaroori hissay ki tarah is Kunbay k sath
Lagi
the. Gosht aue khoon k ptuloon ko paida ker k ab unhe
paalnay Poosnay
ka kaam kerti the………….
This paragraph conveyed a very deep message rather a harsh
reality about the role of women in the society at that time showing that how
women were considered necessary for only bearing children and then raising them
and their role was limited to inside the house only. But what came next after
these lines was the mere description of scenery and the utterly household
stuff. Then again later in the text when “Maa” warns “Ushaa” about the nature
of “Baa”. Those were extremely important lines as they revealed many layers
from the character of Ushaa but what came next? A complete different discussion of “Mirza Ghalib” and his “sweet mangoes”
which completely shattered the readers’ whole conception of what the narrator
fed him in the previous lines.
Apart from the disturbing text one can also think along the
lines of comparing Manto’s concept of Prostitute with the character of Ushaa in
Godavri. Is Ushaa in any way similar to the characters of Manto like Sogandhi,
Sultana or Bismillah? We see that Ushaa is well aware of men’s nature, she can
recognize their intentions, she is sensitive, emotional and also has religious
inclinations. So it would be interesting to compare her with the popular Manto’s
character of prostitute.
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