Modern
fictional pieces of writings generally revolve around the themes of alienation,
relativity, transformation, and consumption, but the fictional works produced
by Pakistani writers are different in themes and even in style. Pakistani story
writers, for instance, Daniyal Mueenduddin, Rukhsana Ahmad, and Qaisra Shahraz
depict the society in terms of culture and economics. Except for A Pair of
Jeans by Qaisra Shahraz, both the stories Nawbdin Electrician and The
Gatekeeper’s Wife vividly depict the excruciating condition of the poor in
Pakistan. A Pair of Jeans reflect the class difference. There is an economic
disparity in Pakistan. Continue Reading...
The capitalistic system is deeply engrossed
where the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. When poverty exceeds the
boundary, they have no option except to act on some illegal activities like
Nawabdin and gatekeeper’s wife
Tara. Let’s take a closer look at all
the stories to get more knowledge about the society and the poor’s financial condition in Pakistan. The story
revolves around Nawbdin in ‘Nawabdin
Electrician’ written by Daniyal
Mueenduddin. It is a short story but depicts clearly the economic condition of
the people of Pakistan. Nawabdin is basically an electrician and working for
K.K Harouni, an influential and feudal lord by having a lot of fields.
Nawabdin slows down the revolutions of the
electric meter to be saved from many bills. He uses to treat the water pipes
sometimes heating them, sometimes joining the wires, sometimes bypassing
switches, and so on. He is a poor person by having thirteen children. If he
will not do this, his children face starve and ultimately die. The condition of
his house is also very pathetic and poor with a ragged wall and leaking roof.
He gets a Honda motorcycle from his patron as a gift, and it incites him more
to keep this illegal activity up. The story becomes more tragic when one day a
thief asks for a lift. He keeps the gun in Nawabdin’s head and fires which leads to the injury to
Nawabdin. Another villager supposedly fires at the tree and a bullet hits the
thief and both take them to the hospital. The thief dies and Nawabdin saves.
This glimpse of the story shows that both
Nawbadin and the thief are poor. Thief very vividly describes his financial
position to Nawabdin. He has no house, no shelter, and even not sure about the
next meal. The same economic conditions can be seen in the contemporary society
where we are living. Another story, ‘The
Gatekeeper’s Wife’ written by Rukhsana Ahmad also depicts the same
economic condition but with different characters and scenarios. The story
revolves around two main characters Annette and Tara. Annette, a newly married
woman from British visits Pakistan for recreational purposes and loves animals
while Tara is the wife of the gatekeeper who is extremely poor. One day on her
visit to the zoo, Annette sees that a long, thin woman enters the restricted
area near the heera’s cage.
She picks up the meat given for the cheetah and saliently makes her way home.
Annette gets shocked and depress hurry back home and tells all the story, she
has seen in the zoo. Annette keeps a meeting with Tata. Tara tells her the
story which clearly reflects her poverty and economic condition. She tells
Annette that her children were starving and even the cheetah wanted her to feed
her children with this meat.
A Pair of Jeans by Qaisra Shahraz clearly
portray the gap between the nations. All the story dramatically changes due to
the dress of Miriam. It leads to the break of engagement. The glimpses of all
three stories clearly show that the economic condition of Pakistani society as
well as class difference. There is a clear demarcation between poor and rich.
Economic inequality is visible. The number of beggars increases day by day,
price hiking, and the unemployment rate all make Pakistan an economically
disabled country which can be seen in the modernist fictional piece of writings
as well.
The additional analysis is done by SOL.
