Lihaaf by Ismat Chugtai

Lihaaf' is exemplary on many fronts. It was written in 1942 in unpartitioned India. As I read this story, I felt inclined to know more about its author. How can she be so brave and brash? One wonders many such things: who were her influences? How did she become the kind of writer she was? I wanted to know about her parenting and everything else that shaped her.

I guess even though she grew up in an upper-middle-class (conservative Muslim) household, she was, not completely immune to socio-cultural restrictions women were subjected to in that period. From a very young age, being a girl, she was not allowed to do certain things that boys were encouraged to do. However, her family, being educated and cultured, was most probably not rigid in aligning themselves with the mainstream norms of the time. Ismat, rather than getting affected or confused by these rules, did everything she was asked not to. These restrictions, imposed on her only due to her gender, were, in fact, egging her own to explore more, question more, so that she could become more of herself. Sometimes snubs and slights, do the opposite. Ismat was a shining example.

Before I comment on the story, I would like to write a bit more about her. Having read some of her work, it seems like she was familiar with western literature, but at the same time, she was deeply absorbed in Urdu literature from a young age. I must say that the story 'Lihaaf' is an interesting outcome of east-west communion. Having said that one can also argue that she was even ahead of most western women writers in writing about 'sexuality.' If one considers her background and the extremely conservative norms of the times, what she did in her writings was indeed a brave.

A young girl goes to live with her relatives – a wealthy household with servants. A household one generally associates with the households in bazaars, noisy and crowded with servants. The lady of the house is referred to as Begum Jan. Her husband is always away on business trips and pays least attention to his wife (or to any woman). While reading the story, I wondered often about him. What was he like? What sort of life did he live when he was away? What moved him? How was his inner world like?

The story tells us about Begum who is always ill. Sometimes more so than at other times. Her bodily pain is such that no one can cure her, except one of her female servants. They would close bedroom doors and spend hours inside – the female servant massaging and soothing Begum's mysterious 'pains.' It is only one female servant who can soothe her. If the pain is too intense, the same female servant is called. She would close the door and help the Begum with her deft moves in broad day light amidst all hullabaloo of the household.

We get to know this story in more details through the eyes of its child narrator. She would sleep in Begum's room, on a separate bed, though. At night, in dim light, she would see shadows taking queer shapes on the wall – a scary site for the young girl. She would see shadows of two animals fighting and taking unusual shapes. (The reader knows that Begum and her female servant are having sex).

Ismat in no ways celebrates or opposes the sexual act, she merely tells the story through a child who sees Begum and her female servant doing 'funny things' under the quilt - Lihaaf. What was amazing about the story is that she could address such an 'unspeakable' issue – her audience were not Scandinavians, but deeply religious and conservative Indians. Of course, the story did not go well with the norm makers. She had to undergo a criminal trial for 'obscenity.' However, she asked the prosecutor which words did he consider obscene in the story. He could not find any.

Read the story if you find it and remember that it is originally written in Urdu. Also, remember that it written in 1942 by an Indian 'Muslim' woman.