A Small Window in the Iron Gate

The story begins on the cusp of the divide of the Indian Subcontinent. It centres on an educated and fairly renowned family of Mogul origins, living in the quarters of the old city of Delhi. The circumstance in which they move to Pakistan is dictated by the tumult and ferment of the times. In a climate of genocide the family migrates to Pakistan leaving behind two unwed daughters who abscond to Bombay to pursue their destiny. The older one to unite with her lover who is of Hindu faith and the younger who is tricked into separation, from her family, to live with a man whom she is bound merely through signature the marriage contract. The man in question is 15yrs older than the adolescent girl, Pareesa. The girl’s journey begins with the protagonist’s kindness and understanding toward helping her adjust to a new life with him. He wins her confidence and trust. Just as she is about to make the bend, Pareesa’s father returns to India to claim both his daughters. Pareesa leaves for Karachi while Laleh the older daughter stays back with the man she loves and is now married to. Ignorant of the fact Pareesa becomes a Pakistani national. Unaware of this development her husband resigns to her departure and awaits her return, on completion of her graduation, as promised by her father. She is happy to be reunited with the family but sees the disparity between the two divergent societies. The girl misses the solidarity of her husband. Hoping to return with him she writes several letters asking him to join her in Karachi. She is unable to identify with the present society and compares the two. As luck would have it the girl discovers, on reaching Pakistan that she is now bearing her husband child. The protagonist on hearing the news travels to Karachi to bring his family back. In Karachi he senses his mother in laws hostility as well as a cousins’ interest in his wife. The point of conflict emerges in their relationship as it begins to play on Akbar’s subconscious. Being a person of heightened cerebral activity his quirks begin to surface and assume negativity toward his relationship. He relentlessly immerses himself in work; a career in art emerges through his consistent efforts and rises to be the successful and famous painter Akbar Waziri. His stature and economic status levitate beyond the ordinary. The major shift is when the girl realizes the prejudice and injustice done to her daughter by her father. This is the turning point in her life when she realizes her own strengths and gears them to use. This is the journey of a naive girl who grows from ignorance to experience and from innocence to wisdom. Her physical journey is across two countries exposing a vista of different cultures across, and within the borders of her own land. Inclusive in her journey is her friend Aneesa Qasim, niece Mitra, and her inner coterie of supporters. The special person in her life she prioritizes as much she does her children is am impaired girl called Fawzi. Their lives are knotted with hers forming an integral part of her own story. And all of this adds to the essential enigma that encapsulates a span of 25 odd years. Other characters converge into the scenario, lending expansion to the plot which traverses countries, borders and continents. From the brothels of Calcutta to the high life of the world the saga unfolds striking, unnerving truths. The narrative of the celebrated actress Moneta unfolds psychotic darkness behind the glitz and glamour, her beauty and success. The origin of Khairi Aztaar Hekim-bashi hits the reader in the gut because it is the denial of a reality that potently permeates our society; its umbilical stigma rampages through every class and cadre. The statement of ‘Woman’ in this novel is to liberate herself from the shackles of society, to cure her of the abuse and atrocity she has been subjected to, and to emerge a winner no matter how small the window in the Iron Gate. The deeper threads of the story bind beneath its physical structure, the nuances of human relationships, the aftermath a Diaspora, the unity of struggle by woman in different avatars: a wife, mother, daughter, and sister. It walks the apathy of the higher echelons of a so called civilized society. It also deals with the complexities of the mind and the myriad and altered hue’s of humans. The powerful brain behind the freak human which is capable of supreme love and empathy for another, his infinite faculties of understanding, patience, hope and belief combined with his undying, unfaltering love for a woman which no man, not even the most intelligent of their breed can match. Khairi Aztar Hekim-bashi’s sane mind and sensitive soul far surpass the fettered brilliance of Akbar Waziri’s, which is unable to break loose from its own oppression. The victimized humans characterized as Moneta Aztar Hekim and Fawzi Jafferboy who are tormented largely by their own flesh and blood; their journey of strife and ultimate liberation. All these characters are collaged to conjecture a narrative that is intriguing yet plausible. The irony is that the Small Window in the Iron Gate continues to remain so. Viewing today’s society and its perception toward woman is a validation of such an image.