By MSM YAQOOB
Rohinton Mistry is one of the prominent short story Canadian
Indian-born writers and he paints a robust social picture with his portrayal of
household dramas in which every individual reveals the social and political
forces that shape their lives.
The auspicious day starts inauspiciously for Rustomji, with soiled
droplets falling from the roof over his head as he sits on the toilet. As a
result, his bowel routine is disrupted, which irritates him to the point that
he leaps out of his skin and vents his frustration on the building control
officers, his wife, and his neighbors. He needs to bathe all over again due to
the mess to get ready to go to the Fire Temple for the day's special
proceedings.
His wife's situation isn't any better, as she has to cope with the leaking roof. Since the maid is late for work, Mehroo is unable to properly decorate their home's entrance, as she normally does on Behram Roje. She tries to get ready in time to make it to the fire temple for the day's religious service and prayers, but she soon learns that something awful has occurred there. All activities for the day have been canceled due to the death of the old Dustoor Dhunjisha the night before by a junior temple employee.
Meanwhile, Rustomji prepares to visit the Fire Temple, but on his way there, he meets with an unwelcome accident. Someone spits paan juice on his white clothes as he exits the bus. This enrages him, and he screams obscenities at the guy who carried out this heinous crime. This angers the crowd and Rustomji barely escapes them on the pretext of his old age. He reaches home with a chaotic state of mind with the entire day completely ruined.
Mehroo is upset as well, and when she
returns home, she notices Rustomji's paan-stained clothes and hears of his
accident on his way to the Fire Temple. She prepares tea to alleviate their
frustration at the turn of events on the 'Auspicious Day.' The unexpected
ending of the story reflects the reality of life and an end to sentimental
values and beliefs.
Question
In his Tales of Firozsha Bagh, Mistry has painted a robust social picture with his portrayal of household dramas in which every individual reveals the social and political forces that shape their lives. Discuss with reference to the story Auspicious Occasion.
From a quick glimpse of the story shows that the tale of Rustomji, which opens the collection, establishes the sources of the character's dissatisfaction and creates reader's affection for the grumpy neighbor. Mistry's eloquent and meticulous writing pays close attention to the tiniest nuances in order to create vivid depictions of everyday life's mundanity and profanity.
Mistry familiarizes and makes available to all readers the world of Parsi
Bombay through his long explanations of individuals engaged in prayer rituals,
domestic duties, or riding city buses. Mistry's usage of bowel motions as a
motif—an idea echoed in his fiction—exemplifies how he constructs daily life
into a mixture of the mundane and the profane.
In the story Auspicious Occasion we see the main character's husband
and wife the social and political forces that shape their lives. In comparison
to his wife Mehroo, who is much younger than him and is beautiful, cool, and
ordered in her approach to people and life in general, the husband Rustomji is
very old, disorderly in nature, and chauvinistic and lewd in his language and
attitudes. She is nostalgic and holds ancient values and rituals in high
regard.
We are "as familiar with the residents of Firozsha Baag as we
are with our own neighbors" because of his "witty prose and
touchingly real characters."
The above discussion can be summed again in these words that he has painted a robust social picture with his portrayal of household dramas in which every individual reveals the social and political forces that shape their lives.
