Bapsi Sidhwa, the foremost Pakistani writer in English, passed away on December 25 at the age of 86. Sidhwa, like many Parsis of Pakistan (and India), had emigrated to the West and was based in Houston, America. Her writings captured the ironies of modern Pakistan; her fiction was also a social history of the country and of the region.
Sidhwa was born to Parsi-Zoroastrian parents in Karachi in 1938. She moved to Lahore immediately after her birth. But Lahore was where she contracted polio, underwent treatment and, later, witnessed the events of 1947 that shaped her best known work, Cracking India.
After her graduation, Sidhwa married and moved to Bombay. But she returned to Lahore five years later. She had two children by now. Her second marriage to another Zorastrian man was happier. They had three children and Sidhwa started to write.
Sidhwa’s first novel, The Crow Eaters, was published in 1978. The novel highlights the tale of relocation and conflicts for adjustment in a society. This novel took the readers by surprise for she gave endearing and, at times, dysfunctional characters humanity and individuality.
Sidhwa’s next novel, The Bride, was the tale of Zaitoon, who had been separated from her parents on the eve of Independence in the wake of bloody communal riots. Qasim, who is also fleeing the riots, rescues her, takes her to Pakistan and raises her as his own daughter. Later, the protagonist ends up in a marriage that is far from happy. Through the life of Zaitoon, Sidhwa held up a mirror to the patriarchal culture confronting a modern Pakistani (or Indian) woman. By doing so, Sidhwa was documenting the social history of a post-colonial society where liberation had not reached the masses.
Cracking India was published a little after the raj nostalgia industry had dominated fiction and non-fiction. Perhaps Sidhwa’s most important book, it recounts the brutal events of 1947 through the eyes of Lenny, a privileged Parsi girl who suffers from polio. The novel also records the rupture of the social fabric due to the violence and the trauma of Partition.
Sidhwa’s was a unique voice in writings on Partition as the narrator picks no sides. The delicate prose and the wry wit give voice to those overlooked in the mainstream narratives of history. Her focus is often on marginalised communities and invisible women and children caught up amidst strife. The inner lives of her characters quash stereotypes and reveal the complexity of identity in a fractured society.
Sidhwa rose to international fame for her collaboration with the film-maker, Deepa Mehta. Her novel, Ice Candy Man, which she wrote in 1988, was the basis of Mehta’s award-winning film, Earth. Another novel, Water, was the basis of the film with the eponymous title by Mehta that was nominated for the Academy Awards.
American Brat published in the Nineties traces the life of a young Pakistani-Parsi girl in the United States of America who challenges patriarchal and religious elements and tries to adapt to American culture. This delightful coming-of-age novel is both funny and an acute portrayal of America as seen through the eyes of a perceptive young immigrant. The novel also subtly highlights the contradictions of American culture and reveals why cultural engagement is an ever-evolving and complicated process.
Sidhwa received a number of awards, citations, and accolades. Her works have been widely referred to in the context of post-colonial literature. While she is often compared with other major post-colonial authors, her style and worldview are distinct. Her writings are grounded in realism and constitute a parallel cultural history that will live on and inspire generations of writers and readers. In particular, it is also a documentation of Parsis, a vanishing community in India and Pakistan.
