Introduction, "The Ghost of Firozsha Baag" is a short story
by Rohinton Mistry in "Tales from Firozsha Baag." Rohinton Mistry is
an Indian-born Canadian writer. This book barres eleven different short
stories. The short story "The Ghost of Firozsha Baag" is
a short story revolving around Jacqueline, pronounced wrongly as Jaakaylee, by
the people of Firozsha Baag. The Catholic ayah who has now lived forty-nine
years in Firozsha Baag I still not acknowledged, and we gave everything on the
floor. As the story progresses, the racist and subaltern treatment of the ayah
is brought to light.
Summary and Analysis
The story starts with
the narrator declaring, "I always believed in
ghosts." The narrator then
brings to light that when she was in her village in Goa, she saw many ghosts
and then came to Bombay to work as an ayah. Her Father and the villagers also
believed in ghosts. The narrator then contrasts her life in Goa and Firozsha
Bag, pointing out that the people of Firozsha Baag didn't believe in ghosts and
called her crazy for believing in them. She then narrates her first encounter
with a ghost in Firozsha Baag. On Christmas Eve, the ayah went with other ayahs
to Cooperage Stadium to celebrate Christmas Eve. She, unlike other ayahs,
didn't have a boyfriend and returned home at two am, climbing the stairs.
The narrator suddenly introduces herself as Jaakaylee; a wrong pronunciation of her name Jacqueline which the people of Firozsha Baag used. Jaakaylee also reverses the time when she was fifteen years old and had traveled from Goa to Bombay with Uncle Joseph. She, by that time, had been working in Firozsha Baag. The narrator implicitly points out how living in Firozsha Baag for forty-nine years was not enough for her to gain her identity, i.e., even her name was not pronounced correctly by the people. Her language became a mixture of Parsi- Gujrati with bits of English instead of Konkani. The narrator then returns to her story and highlights how she saw someone in a white gown on the staircase. The person, in numerous instances, vanished in front of the ayah, making her believe that she saw a ghost. After witnessing this paranormal activity, the ayah called out her Bai and Seth at two am by knocking at their doorstep. After hearing her out, both of them ignored her plea with a different attitude. Seth laughed off her cry, whereas the Bai called her crazy and accused her of telling lies to sleep inside. The ayah seeing this attitude of Seth, remembers the time when she used to sing Konkani songs for Seth when he was a child.
Related
Articles:
|The Ghost of Firozsha Baag, Analysis of the Story
|Summary
|Easy Tricks to Make Money Online in 2022 |Proved
|Easy Ways to Become Impactful Homo Sapiens
The narrator further
highlights the racist attitude of the Parsis she had encountered, who preferred
Mangalorean Catholics over the Goan Catholics because of their golden color. If
a child having a dark skin color was born, they would call him ayah's child. Because of this racism,
the narrator draws an analogy between the rich Bias and Seth and the
Britishers. The ayah again returns to highlight the mocking nature of children
in Block B who would make fun of her. The narrator, on Easter, again encounters
the ghost, but this time not on the staircase but on her bed. After jumping on
her chest for some time, the ghost vanished. Because of the fear of being
ridiculed, the ayah, this time, didn't tell anyone about her encounter with the
ghost. The children still used to make fun of her by imitating the man on the
radio and would shout:
"SEE TODAY, at APSARA CINEMA, R.K.Anand's new film BHOOOOT BANGLA,
starring KAAKAYLEE of BLOCK B!"
The ayah complains that
at the age of sixty used to grind curry masala on a mortar and pestle. The
employers would buy expensive things like the car, but we're not ready to buy a
grinder machine. They also narrate the incident of the mischief of Mr. Moody's
son. He tried scaring off Vera and Dolly, two fashionable sisters, by
pretending to be a ghost and then shining the torchlight into the girl's
miniskirts. After this incident, a strict rule was made that "no one plays the fool about ghosts," but the regular encounter of the ghost with the ayah was
still happening. The narrator remembers Cajetan, a boy back in Panjim who was
full of mischief, just like the ghost. Jaakaylee ponders why this ghost comes
once a week, i.e., every Friday night, and wonders if it is because of the fish.
Read also, How
To Deal with Academic Failure?
As Christmas was
approaching, the ayah felt terrible about not confessing to the Father about
the ghost. One day she went and told Father D'Silva about her encounters with
the ghosts, after which he didn't come. On Christmas, the Seth and Bai of ayah
decided to go to the New Year's Eve dance. For the first time in the fourth
nine years, they left their children with ayah. After their departure, the ayah
completed her take and waited for them. While waiting, she felt a strong
nostalgia and reminisced about her past life in Panjim. While waiting, she felt
a sudden chill because she was draped on a white bedsheet. The Bai, on her
arrival, mistook ayah for a ghost and started believing in her. Unable to
comprehend the situation, the ayah agrees with the story of the Bai and tells
her stories of her village. The neighbors mocked the Bai, which catalyzed a
better relationship between the Bai and the ayah. The Bai, because of this
mocking of the neighbors, developed a profound interest in these stories and
inquired ayah about their existence. She even offered the ayah to sit with her
and offered her a cup of tea. Dustoorji performed a special Parsi ritual, and
the Bai invited ayah to perform this ritual with her. The story ends with ayah
cooking her special Goan Curry for Seth and his family.
