Any piece of literature reflects the
ideology and thought process of the people who produce it. We cannot separate
the influence of socio-economic & political conditions of the society from
the literature. This short story named The Moustache by Tariq Rahman is
the true cultural depiction of the Punjab region in the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan.
There is a tradition in the villages of Punjab that the male heads of the families, the elders of the tribe, usually used to sit together in the evening after finishing their work. The main purpose of this gathering is to share the grief & sorrows of each other. They also try to find out the solution to the problems by discussion.
They use to discuss the burning issues. The topics vary from time to time. Sometimes the elders also tell the stories of the great heroes & legends to the villagers. This is a sort of entertainment for those people who have no other means to get them entertained.
For Punjabis, there are a few things which they always relate to the honor “The Moustache and the Turbans”. Having shiny, big, and upturned mustaches linked with manhood. The title and the whole story are suggestive of this. It is a preconceived notion among the rural class of Punjab that for a strong man, it is very necessary to have a big mustache. The myths of the people having a very thick growth of mustache are being told to keep the young minds constantly influenced and encouraged.
The basic mode of living in the rural areas
of Punjab, Pakistan is the cultivation of different types of crops in the
fields. People only depend upon the land which they own. They survive on the
food which they produce on the farms. So, for the farmers, their land is very
sacred. They cannot tolerate getting themselves separated from it. Punjabis do
not let anyone take away their sacred piece of land from them on which they
survive.
With the increase in the size of the land,
the honor, and dignity of the family increases. The person who has the biggest
share in the land of any village is called “Chaudhry”. He, the Chaudhry,
can also be called a Feudal Lord who hires the laborer as his “Kammis”. They
are like serfs to the Chaudhry.
Before the introduction of the latest
technological pieces of equipment, farmers were using bullocks in the fields.
In doing this, they needed a lot of effort and energy, so the strongest male
members of the family were being given the task to work on fields with the help
of bullocks. In this story, the famous Punjabi cuisine is also described.
Usually, the males of the family should be served with large glasses of
buttermilk and a heavy amount of fresh pat of butter. The rural population
likes to have Gur and roasted corn as their evening snack. Gur is a special
wintersweet that is prepared with brown sugar.
During the gathering at night, the
villagers of Punjab also use to sing the famous poems of different poets. These
poems are the true cultural heritage of Punjab. One of them is Heer by Waris
Shah. This is a way of entertainment for them.
Villagers used to keep a stick with them
when they are out as a tool for their defense as Dadu had in his hand when
Chauhdry's men approached him. People with a higher rank like 'Chauhdrys' can
interfere in the personal life of anyone. They threaten people by saying 'your
sister will be raped.' The 'Chauhdry's men' used foul words full of hatred for
the son of a serf who wants to grow his mustaches. They even do not bother
beating a man insanely. Village peoples think that only the upper-class people
are supposed to have mustaches and not the lower or serfs.
The whole night dadu’s mother howled like an animal in pain and beat her breast.
This line depicts that in Punjabi culture
women use to mourn and beat themselves in times of trouble. People of Punjab,
Pakistan believe in supernatural things and they are of the view that these
creatures can control a person’s thinking. As stated in the story about dadu’s
mother:
Moulvi sahib said she had been captured by a demonic djuun.
This story was written in the 1980s, so the
concept of Hakeem's was more famous than doctors. The story also reveals the
bitter truth of remote areas that the serfs are not allowed to send their
children to high schools. The schools were very rare in number and they were
situated in distant areas.
Punjabi people use to praise their martyrs
in a much-exaggerated manner, they attribute heroic qualities to the martyrs
which they might not possess. They feel honor for being the family of martyrs.
Another aspect that is shown in this story is that villagers use to apply
butter on their hairs and use to wash them with lassi. Women use to apply
butter on the head and men in mustaches. In the 1980s literacy rate was very
low and people lived hand to mouth, always busy striving for food. So the
children of serfs could only dream for long, black, upturned mustaches and to
become a soldier.
As Pakistan is a Muslim country and the
girls cover themselves. They wear hijabs and dupattas. In Punjab, girls use to
cover their heads if there are male persons around them and they do not look
directly in the eyes of boys. It is the culture of Punjabis to bring sweets
home at any event, festival, or when someone comes with good news. they love to
have sweets along with their traditional food, as Shafqat brought 'burfi,
laddu and jalebi' with him when he came back home after his recruitment in
the army. Another cultural aspect mentioned in the story is that people believe
in taking solemn oaths (manats) for different purposes just like the writer and
his wife took the oath to light the lamps in the tomb of a saint. People have
faith that their wishes will be fulfilled if they would offer any sacrifice on
the tomb of saints.
Villagers consider it as a weakness if any
boy would not have grown their beard and mustaches till the age of 16/17
years. Boys make fun and poke them. A healthy mustache is a sign of bravery
and manliness. They believe, likewise, the job of a clerk is against manhood
and it takes away the pride of a man while a soldier has a wonderful job to
perform.
This article is written by Hira Wazir, one
of the contributors at the School of Literature.
