short essay about a Bollywood movie

Cracking the Nation: Genier, Minorities, and Agency

in Bapsi Sidhvoas cc Cracking India"1

J I L L D I D U R

P F I C T I O N A L A N D H I S T O R I C A L narratives that portray the rise o f the m o d e r n nation-state often m o b i l i z e the figure o f " W o m a n " i n the "construction, r e p r o d u c t i o n , a n d transformation o f e t h n i c / national categories" (Anthias 7 ) . Nationalist discourse i n South Asia is n o e x c e p t i o n to this practice. H e r e , " W o m a n " has been used as the a l i b i for c o l o n i a l and nationalist interventions into the everyday lives o f South Asians. F e m i n i s t critics have demonstrated that c o n c e r n about women's status i n c o l o n i a l a n d postcolonial contexts often has less to do with c h a n g i n g the actual material c o n d i t i o n s o f their lives a n d more to d o with patriarchal "struggles over c o m m u n i t y a u t o n o m y a n d the right to self-determination" ( M a n i , " M u l t i p l e " 3 0 ) . F o r instance, it is now well established that i n c o l o n i a l a n d p o s t c o l o n i a l representations o f sati (widow i m m o l a t i o n ) i n India, "women become sites u p o n w h i c h various versions o f s c r i p t u r e / t r a d i t i o n / l a w are elaborated and contested" ( M a n i , "Contentious" 1 1 5 ) . T h e w o m e n them- selves "are neither subjects n o r objects, but rather the g r o u n d o f the discourse o f sati" ( M a n i , "Contentious" 1 1 7 ) .

T h e practice o f m a k i n g w o m e n the " g r o u n d " i n patriarchal debates over c o m m u n i t y a n d state identity is the place to b e g i n questioning totalizing notions o f the g e n d e r e d subject, agency, and Pakistan's n a t i o n a l imaginary. M y discussion stages a con- frontation between the structures o f m e a n i n g that characterize conservative-nationalist discourse a n d fictional representations o f a y o u n g Parsi g i r l , Lenny, a n d her ayah's (the H i n d i w o r d for nanny) "everyday" experience i n Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, Cracking India.2 Conservative-nationalist discourse i n Pakistan constructs Pakistani citizenship as normatively M u s l i m , elite, a n d feudal-

ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature, 2 9 : 3 , J u l y 1 9 9 8

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patriarchal and pushes minorities, w o m e n , a n d subalterns to the margins o f the n a t i o n a l imaginar)-. T h i s n o t i o n o f citizenship is t r o u b l e d when it is j u x t a p o s e d with the g r i d o f i n t e l l i g i b i l i t y that i n f o r m e d the socio-historical context o f Partition a n d the "everyday" experiences represented i n Cracking India. T h e ten- sion between the material a n d imaginary events i n s c r i b e d i n Sidhwa's narrative suggests how the discourses o f gender a n d n a t i o n overlap, converge, a n d become increasingly restrictive o f women's agency as the country faces i n d e p e n d e n c e . Whereas before P a r t i t i o n , A y a h 3 is able to express her sexuality within her circle o f c o m p a n i o n s i n a m u l t i p l e a n d f l u i d fashion, after Parti- t i o n , her sexuality is e x p l o i t e d , p o l i c e d , a n d made emblematic o f the n a t i o n a l imaginary. L e n n y , o n the other h a n d , is figured as g a i n i n g an awareness o f how her interpretive agency can be used as a means to resist these pressures. L e n n y ' s narrative practice dislocates conservative-nationalist discourse by r e n d e r i n g herself a n d A y a h as subjects w i t h i n the " l o c a t i o n " o f L a h o r e , I n d i a at the time o f Partition. H e r narrative maps how their desires a n d discontents "mediate, challenge, resist, o r transform discourses i n the process o f d e f i n i n g their identities" ( C a n n i n g 3 7 7 ) . 4 M y discussion traces how Sidhwa's fictional, partial, a n d episodic figuration o f events t h r o u g h L e n n y ' s eyes is an analogue for the fragmented, non-linear, a n d contradictory experience o f "inde- pendence" a l l u d e d to i n the "cracking" m e t a p h o r o f the title.

Agency continues to be one o f the most ill-defined concepts o f theories o f postcolonialism a n d discourse analysis. Because de- constructive practice has been so successful i n m a k i n g visible the "figurative nature o f all ideology" (Poovey 5 8 ) — s u c h as the conflation o f women's identity with that o f the n a t i o n — it is easy to forget that this r e a d i n g practice w o u l d be impossible "without the interventions o f agents who r e n d e r them contingent a n d permeable" i n the first place ( C a n n i n g 3 7 7 ) . In other words, it is the situated action o f r e s p o n d i n g to the text that gives the reader, critic, writer o r speaker the possibility o f interven- i n g i n the interpretive processes that mediate the experience o f l i v i n g i n the w o r l d . O f course, this is a somewhat different n o t i o n o f agency than the one that has d o m i n a t e d E n l i g h t e n - ment thought, where the i n d i v i d u a l is supposed to act with

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full autonomy. T h i s k i n d o f agency has been c r i t i q u e d , most famously, by Gayatri Spivak i n her essay, " C a n the Subaltern Speak." Spivak argues that the subaltern cannot "speak," o r i n other words, have access to what is u n d e r s t o o d as direct agency i n liberatory discourse without r e i n s c r i b i n g an E n l i g h t e n m e n t no- tion o f subjectivity.

In perhaps what is the most controversial c o n t r i b u t i o n to the debate s u r r o u n d i n g "voice" i n feminist discourse, Spivak con- cludes this essay with the statement: "The subaltern cannot speak. T h e r e is n o virtue i n a global laundry list with ' w o m a n ' as pious item. Representation has not withered away" ( 3 0 8 ) . In response to criticism that this argument precludes any possibility o f agency for the g e n d e r e d subaltern, i n a subsequent interview that refers to this essay, Spivak stresses that h e r aim was to problematize, but not dismiss the concept o f agency. She cites her c o n c l u s i o n i n this essay as a direct response to Bhuvaneswari B h a d h u r i ' s nieces' representation o f her suicide as a case o f " i l l i c i t love" despite B h a d h u r i ' s attempts to displace this motive. Spivak reiterates that, even t h o u g h B h a d h u r i c o m m i t t e d suicide while she was menstruating (thus deflecting the interpretation o f her death as shame over an u n p l a n n e d pregnancy) a n d left a letter e x p l a i n i n g h e r motives, the p o l i t i c a l "intent" o f taking her own life was ove rl o o k e d . Spivak states,

W h a t I ' m s a y i n g is t h a t e v e n w h e n , w h e t h e r s h o w i n g h e r p o l i t i c a l i m p o t e n c e o r h e r p o l i t i c a l p o w e r , s h e t r i e s to speak a n d m a k e i t c l e a r , s o t h a t i t w o u l d b e r e a d one way, t h e w o m e n i n t h e f a m i l y — r a d i c a l w o m e n — d e c i d e t o f o r g e t i t . T h e r h e t o r i c o f t h e e n d i n g [ o f m y essay] is a r h e t o r i c o f d e s p a i r . I t w a s a t t h a t m o m e n t , r i g h t a f t e r t h e s t o r y , w h e n I s a i d , t h r o w i n g u p m y h a n d s , " T h e s u b a l t e r n c a n n o t s p e a k . "

( 8 9 ; e m p h a s i s a d d e d )

Rather than suggesting that the subaltern has no agency, Spivak argues that totalizing readings o f identity o r "voice" (or attempts to read the text "one way") ultimately require the s u b o r d i n a t i o n o f the text to the assumptions o f the reader. T h e figurative quality o f any "record" o f experience, however, requires that the reader be attentive to the m u l t i p l e a n d contradictory discourses that shape subjectivities i f s / h e hopes to provide an ethical interpretation o f the text. Moreover, i f the u n i f i e d rather than split subject remains the focus o f the reader's discussions o f

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agency, s / h e forecloses r e c o g n i t i o n o f everyday resistance that is neither conscious n o r direct. T h u s Spivak's critique a n d other examples o f feminist deconstructions o f the u n i f i e d subject o r agent do not negate o r dismiss the concept o f agency but rather call for its "critical r e i n s c r i p t i o n a n d redeployment" ( C a n n i n g 3 7 3 ) -

T h e logic o f women's actions figured i n Sidhwa's novel can be better u n d e r s t o o d i f representations o f their experience are r e i n s c r i b e d a n d r e d e p l o y e d as interpretations rather than reflec- tions o f "reality." A s K a t h l e e n C a n n i n g points out,

T h i s e m p h a s i s o n c o n s t r u i n g r e f r a m i n g , a n d r e a p p r o p r i a t i n g [ e x p e - r i e n c e ] i m p l i e s t h a t s u b j e c t s d o h a v e s o m e k i n d o f a g e n c y , e v e n i f t h e m e a n i n g s t h e y m a k e " d e p e n d o n t h e w a y s o f i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e w o r l d , [ a n d ] o n t h e d i s c o u r s e s a v a i l a b l e t o [ t h e m ] a t a n y p a r t i c u l a r m o m e n t . " I n d e e d , e x p e r i e n c e , as t h e r e n d e r i n g o f m e a n i n g , is i n e x - t r i c a b l y e n t w i n e d w i t h t h e n o t i o n o f a g e n c y , w i t h a v i s i o n o f h i s t o r i c a l s u b j e c t s as a c t o r s w h o . . . " p u t i n t o p r a c t i c e t h e i r n e c e s s a r i l y s t r u c - t u r e d k n o w l e d g e . " 5 ( 3 7 7 )

A g e n c y i n these terms is c o n c e i v e d o f as "the site o f m e d i a t i o n between discourses a n d experiences" w h i c h "dislodge [s] the deterministic view i n w h i c h discourse always seems to construct experience but also to dispel the n o t i o n that discourses are, to paraphrase Ortner, shaped by everything but the experiences o f 'the people the text claims to represent'" ( C a n n i n g 3 7 8 ) .

Sidhwa's novel is narrated from the perspective o f Lenny, a y o u n g Parsi g i r l c o m i n g o f age at the time o f P a r t i t i o n a n d i n d e p e n d e n c e . A s the narrative unfolds, it q u i c k l y becomes ap- parent that her subjectivity is mediated by a c o m m u n i t y identity u n d e r g o i n g a double-edged crisis. T h e shift i n power from a British to the H i n d u a n d M u s l i m centric states o f I n d i a a n d Pakistan respectively signals the e n d o f the Parsis' p r i v i l e g e d relation, despite their m i n o r i t y status, to the r u l i n g class. 6 T h e novel dramatizes the confusions a n d contradictions that face a y o u n g g i r l b e i n g initiated into the norms o f her c o m m u n i t y a n d societyjust as those very norms are b e i n g furtively reconstituted to suit better a new set o f c o n d i t i o n s o f power. In this sense Sidhwa's text offers the reader an imaginary peek into the "loca- t i o n " o f the Parsi c o m m u n i t y o f L a h o r e as a "conjunctural site o f i n d é t e r m i n a t i o n " (Sangari 8 7 2 ) where the discursive m e a n i n g

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o f " b e l o n g i n g " is u n d e r revision. Sidhwa's text engages with the implications o f the e n d o f B r i t i s h rule i n India, the rise o f c o m p e t i n g conservative-nationalist imaginaries a n d their inter- sections with the patriarchal power relations that circulate i n the "compressed" w o r l d (Sidhwa 11 ) o f L e n n y ' s l o c a l community. In addition, L e n n y ' s intimate relationship with her ayah a n d her visits to the S i k h / M u s l i m village o f P i r P i n d o o take her outside the bourgeois circle o f the Parsi c o m m u n i t y a n d make her aware o f the heterogeneous c u l t u r a l context o f her society at large. Sidhwa's text figures L e n n y e x e r c i s i n g agency by q u e s t i o n i n g the h e g e m o n i c structures o f m e a n i n g that infuse her "everyday" experiences. H e r decentred view o f the e n d o f B r i t i s h rule within her l o c a l c o m m u n i t y helps to defamiliarize the d o m i n a n t inter- pretation o f history a n d n a t i o n a l i s m at the time o f P a r t i t i o n a n d discloses its patriarchal a n d majoritarian u n d e r p i n n i n g s .

L e n n y ' s use o f narrative as a form o f agency can be tracked i n and t h r o u g h the novel's p r e o c c u p a t i o n with the rhetorical a n d literal i m p l i c a t i o n s o f representation at a linguistic a n d thema- tic level. T h e conventional r e l a t i o n between the figurative and the literal becomes a thematic c o n c e r n o f Sidhwa's text when the normative d i s t i n c t i o n between these two things becomes a counter-intuitive p r e o c c u p a t i o n for Lenny. Repeatedly, she is figured as struggling to separate the literal from the figurative m e a n i n g o f P a r t i t i o n i n o r d e r to grasp the "reality" o f its conse- quences. F o r instance, w h e n L e n n y overhears discussions about the p a r t i t i o n i n g o f the n a t i o n she wonders how this is materially possible: "There is m u c h d i s t u r b i n g talk. I n d i a is g o i n g to be b r o k e n . C a n one break a country? A n d what happens i f they break it where o u r house is? O r crack it further u p o n Warris Road? H o w w i l l I ever get to G o d m o t h e r ' s then?" ( 1 0 1 ) . Later, when L e n n y hears her A u n t M i n i talk about "the M o u n t b a t t e n plan to tear up the Punjab," ( 1 2 1 ) she comments: " A n d the vision o f a torn Punjab. W i l l the earth bleed? A n d what about the sundered rivers? W o n ' t their water d r a i n into the j a g g e d cracks? N o t satisfied by b r e a k i n g India, they now want to tear up the Punjab" ( 1 2 4 ) . L e n n y ' s ( m i s ) r e c o g n i t i o n o f the metaphorical use o f the images o f c r a c k i n g , b r e a k i n g , a n d tearing as literal, highlights the tension between (rather than distinct usage of)

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the figurative a n d literal aspects o f language a n d by extension, the t h o r o u g h l v mediated nature o f representation. T h e creation o f two new nation-states may not have been a c c o m p l i s h e d by the material act o f " d i g g i n g a canal" as A y a h suggests elsewhere ( l o t ); nevertheless, the discursive construction o f two different m o n o l i t h i c national imaginaries is shown to have other substan- tive material i m p l i c a t i o n s .

L e n n y ' s naive narrative perspective also dramatizes the way the tension between text a n d context opens up a space for interpretation, rather than the search for "T"ruth, i n literary representations o f "everyday" history. T h e act o f narration gives L e n n y the opportunity to intervene i n the various struggles over the m e a n i n g o f historical events. As the country moves toward i n d e p e n d e n c e , L e n n y ' s narrative tracks the increasingly c o n - stricted a n d g e n d e r e d d e f i n i t i o n o f nationalist discourse. F o r example, it becomes apparent that despite the nation's expres- sion o f c o n c e r n for "abducted" women's safety a n d happiness, women l i k e A y a h are neither subjects n o r objects o f the dis- course, but what L a t a M a n i has called the " g r o u n d " o r "currency" ("Contentious" 1 1 8 ) for nationalist struggles. 7 L e n n y ' s narrative, however, counters this practice; when the Recovered W o m e n ' s C a m p is first established i n the servants' quarters b e h i n d their neighbour's house, L e n n y assumes "it's a women's jail, even t h o u g h they l o o k i n n o c e n t e n o u g h " ( 2 0 1 ) . T h e m a n n e r i n w h i c h the w o m e n are kept u n d e r g u a r d , separated from the c o m m u n i t y ("There is a p a d l o c k the size o f a grapefruit o n the gate, a n d a large key hangs from the steel bangle a r o u n d the Sikh's wrist") ( 2 0 1 ), a n d the way "[t]he servants evade questions as i f there is s o m e t h i n g shameful g o i n g o n " ( 2 0 1 ), leads L e n n y to think that the w o m e n must be guilty o f some c r i m e . Indeed, while this may not be the way the women's treatment is justified, L e n n y ' s naive observations p o i n t to the anxiety s u r r o u n d i n g their sexual " c o n t a m i n a t i o n " by the "Other" community. Ayah's replacement, H a m i d a , who hasjust been released from the camp a n d sees herself as a "fallen w o m a n , " tries to e x p l a i n that the w o m e n are "fate-smitten," but this does not satisfy L e n n y who recalls: "I've seen A y a h carried a w a y — a n d it h a d less to d o with fate than the will o f m e n " ( 2 2 6 ) . W h e n she asks G o d m o t h e r to

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clarify what H a m i d a means by c a l l i n g herself "a fallen woman," G o d m o t h e r explains that "She was taken away to Amritsar. O n c e that happens, sometimes, the h u s b a n d — o r his f a m i l y — w o n ' t take h e r back" ( 2 2 7 ) . L e n n y is outraged at the scapegoating o f the w o m e n . "It's monstrously unfair" she thinks, but also notices " G o d m o t h e r ' s tone is accepting" ( 2 2 7 ) . L e n n y ' s interrogation o f the n o r m a l i z e d assumption that i n f o r m "abducted" women's treatment helps to make visible the way patriarchal conservative- nationalist interests p r o d u c e their identities as victims. M o r e - over, h e r off-centre view h i g h l i g h t s how the women's suffering is both a p r o d u c t o f their a b d u c t i o n from a n d rejection by their o r i g i n a l families a n d c o m m u n i t i e s and the state's effort to erase their history.

A t the time o f P a r t i t i o n , the patriarchal construction o f women's identities, a n d i n particular, their sexual purity as sym- bolic o f c o m m u n i t y h o n o u r a n d integrity, made them subject to particularly g e n d e r e d a n d h u m i l i a t i n g acts o f aggression as I n d i a and Pakistan sought to establish their sovereignty. T h e physical suffering a n d displacement "abducted" w o m e n e x p e r i e n c e d at the hands o f i n d i v i d u a l s , their families a n d c o m m u n i t i e s con- fronted the two states with one o f the first challenges to the seamless presentation o f the m o d e r n - n a t i o n as a universally ac- cessible a n d equitable expression o f the social contract. Pub- lic outrage over the presence o f "abducted" w o m e n l i v i n g i n the c o m m u n i t i e s o f the O t h e r i n I n d i a a n d Pakistan i n 1 9 4 7 a n d after, placed social pressure o n the state to intervene a n d "recover" them o n b e h a l f o f the (masculine) citizen-subject. Regardless o f their own wishes, H i n d u w o m e n were "recovered" to I n d i a a n d M u s l i m w o m e n were "recovered" to Pakistan.

Despite the state's a n d c o m m u n i t y ' s c o m b i n e d efforts to con- tain "abducted" women's agency, they appear to have h a d some say i n the d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f their "fate"—if o n l y i n isolated cases. W o m e n l i k e A y a h , for instance, who were aware o f the "multiple subject positions they o c c u p i e d at any given moment," were the most successful i n contesting their objectification i n a n d t h r o u g h these patriarchal legal interventions ( C a n n i n g 3 8 4 ) . Sidhwa's text opens u p a narrative space that resists this objec- tification, where A y a h a n d L e n n y are portrayed as neither "her-

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oines" who rise above the patriarchal conservative-nationalist struggles that e n g u l f their c o m m u n i t i e s n o r are they c o m p l e t e "victims" o f its physical a n d discursive violence. Instead, they are figured as negotiating their subjectivities w i t h i n the interstice o f experience a n d interpretation a n d s h a p i n g the outcome o f ma- terial events as they d o so. Moreover, Sidhwa's narrative practice helps to imagine the k i n d o f c o m p l e x a n d contradictory power relations that exist between social structures a n d i n d i v i d u a l agents. H e r novel engages with the material a n d discursive i m p l i - cations o f P a r t i t i o n a n d makes visible the "conjunctural sites o f i n d é t e r m i n a t i o n " where "agencies slip t h r o u g h structures i n new situations, at transitional moments o r i n l i m i n a l areas" (Sangari 8 7 2 ) . W h e r e w o m e n l i k e A y a h o r L e n n y question the interpre- tation o f their identities by patriarchal c o m m u n i t y a n d state interests, they perform an act o f resistance that destabilizes the d o m i n a n t order. Cracking India figures L e n n y as conscious o f Ayah's strategic use o f h e r m u l t i p l e subject-positions as a means to subvert the discourses that inscribe her body i n m u l t i p l e a n d contingent ways. In what follows, I w i l l e x p l o r e the r e c e p t i o n , contestation, a n d m u l t i p l e meanings o f these interpretative acts i n the epistemological context o f p o s t c o l o n i a l Pakistan i n o r d e r to "resist the tendency o f discourse analysis to displace the sub- j e c t o r to reduce h e r 'to mere bearer o f systemic processes'" ( C a n n i n g 3 8 4 ) .

T h e question o f what w o u l d count as transformative agency i n this conservative-nationalist temporality o f struggle is a difficult one to answer w h e n agency is u n d e r s t o o d o n l y as direct. T h e concept o f direct agency refers to the actions o f i n d i v i d u a l s that are p u b l i c , self-conscious, collective a n d unfettered by social structures—actions taken by the autonomous subject I m e n - t i o n e d earlier. N o n e o f these things can be said to characterize women's agency i n Cracking India; o n the contrary, their ac- tions are generally isolated, i n the private sphere a n d mediated by restrictive social discourses that are not necessarily "self- conscious" i n E n l i g h t e n m e n t terms. T h i s , i n turn, makes it diffi- cult to i m a g i n e how women's agency contests the structures a n d practices o f s u b o r d i n a t i o n i n everyday material a n d discursive practices. Because examples o f direct agency are u n l i k e l y i n

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representations o f women's everyday experience, there is the danger o f i n t e r p r e t i n g their b e h a v i o u r as passive o r dictated by " r u l i n g ideology." "What one needs to keep i n m i n d , " however, as Sumit Sarkar suggests, "is a vast a n d c o m p l e x c o n t i n u u m o f intermediate attitudes o f w h i c h total s u b o r d i n a t i o n a n d o p e n revolt are only the extreme poles" ( 2 7 3 ) . In o r d e r to account for "inventionary possibilities adequate to a t h o r o u g h g o i n g p o l i - tics o f change" (Sarkar 2 7 3 ) the critic must problematize the division between the p u b l i c a n d private a n d recognize their co- i m p l i c a t i o n .

Indirect agency c o u l d thus i n c l u d e , as K u m k u m Sangari ar- gues, any "range o f actions w h i c h take forms that are difficult to fit into c o m m o n l y u n d e r s t o o d typologies o f o r g a n i z e d p o l i t i c a l activity" (868) but nonetheless, impact o n the flow o f power. Gyan Prakash a n d Douglas Haynes attempt to account for this "range o f actions" i n their book, Contesting Power. H e r e , they call for a n o t i o n o f resistance that "can be a p p l i e d to a m u c h wider range o f sociocultural practices a n d takes into account the ways i n w h i c h the subjectivity o f the d o m i n a t e d is constrained, m o d - ified a n d c o n d i t i o n e d by power relations" ( 2 ) . T h i s n u a n c e d u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f resistance o r agency rethinks power as "con- stantly b e i n g fractured by the struggles o f the subordinate" (Prakash a n d Haynes 2 ) . "Social structure" Prakash a n d Haynes argue "rather than b e i n g a m o n o l i t h i c , autonomous entity, u n - c h a l l e n g e d except d u r i n g dramatic instances o f revolt, appears more c o m m o n l y as a constellation o f contradictory a n d contesta- to ry processes" ( 2 - 3 ) . In this context, there is n o "pure f o r m " o f d o m i n a t i o n o r resistance because "the two are so entangled that it becomes difficult to analyze one without discussion o f the other" (Prakash a n d Haynes 3 ) .

T h e entanglement o f d o m i n a t i o n a n d resistance is apparent i n L e n n y ' s observations about h e r experiences i n h e r family h o m e a n d community. H e r e , Sidhwa illustrates how the exercise o f i n d i r e c t agency can used to reinscribe o r displace the norms o f women's subjectivities. F r o m the outset o f Cracking India, Sidhwa represents L e n n y as i n t e r n a l i z i n g a sense o f inferiority a n d subse- quent lack o f autonomy as a g i r l located i n the hierarchy o f family power relations. O n e o f L e n n y ' s major preoccupations are the

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differences she perceives between h e r b r o t h e r a n d herself. Physi- cally, she compares herself unfavourably to h e r brother: "I am skinny, wizened, sallow, wiggly-haired, ugly. H e is beautiful. H e is the most beautiful t h i n g a n i m a l , person, b u i l d i n g , river o r m o u n - tain that I have seen. H e is f o r m e d o f g o l d mercury" ( 3 2 ) . L e n n y ' s a p p r e h e n s i o n o f her brother's favoured status i n the family is conveyed i n this passage t h r o u g h her choice o f compar- i n g h i m with " g o l d mercury" a n d contrasting h i m with her own "ugliness." T h e g e n d e r e d nature o f L e n n y ' s p e r c e p t i o n o f her- self as ugly as c o m p a r e d to her b r o t h e r is evident i n the deroga- tory connections she makes between femininity a n d shame. She explains,

H i s n a m e is A d i . I c a l l h i m Sissy. H e is t o o c o n f u s e d t o r e t a l i a t e t h e first f e w t i m e s I c a l l h i m b y h i s n e w n a m e . A t l a s t : " M y n a m e is A d i , " h e g r o w l s , g l o w e r i n g .

T h e n e x t d a y I p e r s i s t . H e p r e t e n d s n o t t o n o t i c e . I n t h e e v e n i n g , h o l d i n g u p a s a r i - c l a d d o l l I say, " H e y Sissy, l o o k ! S h e ' s j u s t l i k e y o u ! " ( 3 2 )

L e n n y ' s i n t e r n a l i z e d hatred o f h e r gender identity is e x e m p l i f i e d i n this passage by the taunts she directs at her b r o t h e r a n d the hyper-feminine c o n n o t a t i o n o f the d o l l she goads h i m with. H e r sense o f inferiority i n relation to her b r o t h e r is c o m p o u n d e d by her racial identity: L e n n y ' s skin c o l o u r is noticeably darker than her brother's, who is able to "pass" as " B r i t i s h " i n the play- grounds a r o u n d L a h o r e . A y a h demonstrates p r i d e over this fact, c a l l i n g A d i her "little E n g l i s h baba" a n d enjoys the assumptions strangers make about his racial heritage b e i n g white. L e n n y notes,

A y a h is s o p r o u d o f A d i ' s p a u c i t y o f p i g m e n t . S o m e t i m e s s h e t a k e s u s t o L a w r e n c e G a r d e n s a n d e n c o u r a g e s h i m t o r u n a c r o s s t h e s p a c e s e p a r a t i n g n a t i v e b a b i e s a n d E n g l i s h b a b i e s . T h e a y a h s o f t h e E n g l i s h b a b i e s h u g h i m a n d f u s s o v e r h i m a n d p e r m i t h i m t o r o m p w i t h t h e i r p r i v i l e g e d c h a r g e s . A d i u n d o e s t h e b o w s o f l i t t l e g i r l s w i t h b l u e e y e s i n s c r a t c h y o r g a n d y d r e s s e s a n d w r e s t l e s w i t h t a l l o w - h a i r e d b o y s i n t h e g r a s s . A y a h b e a m s . ( 3 5 )

T h i s quote emphasizes the racial a n d patriarchal privilege that A d i shares with the white boys w h e n he literally a n d m e t a p h o r i - cally crosses "the space separating native a n d E n g l i s h babies." T r a d i n g o n assumptions about his racial heritage, he is able to

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harass the y o u n g white girls without r e p r o a c h a n d compete as an "equal" with the "tallow-haired boys." Lenny, o n the other h a n d , expresses anxiety about the consequences o f her dark skin. She recounts how

E v e r y n o w a n d t h e n S l a v e s i s t e r s e r v e s G o d m o t h e r s t r o n g h a l f - c u p s o f t e a w h i c h G o d m o t h e r p o u r s i n t o h e r s a u c e r a n d s l u r p s . I t o o t a k e a n o c c a s i o n a l a n d g u i l t y s i p . D r i n k i n g t e a , I a m t o l d , m a k e s o n e d a r k e r . I ' m d a r k e n o u g h . E v e r y o n e says, " I t ' s a p i t y A d i ' s f a i r a n d L e n n y s o d a r k . H e ' s a b o y . A n y o n e w i l l m a r r y h i m . " ( 9 0 )

.As a g i r l , L e n n y ' s surplus o f p i g m e n t is c o n s i d e r e d a d o u b l e liability. H e r i n f e r i o r status i n a racist a n d patriarchal society places pressures o n her to negotiate patriarchal patronage t h r o u g h marriage a n d identification with the white colonizer.

Despite this i n t e r n a l i z e d sense o f inferiority, L e n n y ' s narrative suggests that she learns how to exercise i n d i r e c t agency from witnessing a n d p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n the negotiations o f power rela- tions between her parents. T h o u g h L e n n y figures the d o m i - nance o f her father i n all matters i n c l u d i n g finances, favour a n d family harmony, o n several occasions, she also carefully records the way her m o t h e r negotiates her needs with her father, thus exercising some agency (albeit, h i g h l y i n d i v i d u a l i z e d ) i n how matters w i l l be resolved. O n one particular m o r n i n g , for exam- ple. L e n n y reports,

F a t h e r is i n a g o o d m o o d . S o , M o t h e r t o o is i n a g o o d m o o d . S h e g i v e s m e a h u g . S h e p u t s t o o t h p a s t e o n F a t h e r ' s t o o t h b r u s h . S h e t e l l s m e t o t a k e F a t h e r ' s e m p t y c u p a n d s a u c e r t o t h e p a n t r y . B u t F a t h e r l a t c h e s o n t o m e w i t h s u c h a s h o w o f s p e e c h l e s s a n g u i s h a n d c o n s t e r n a t i o n at t h e t h o u g h t o f b e i n g p a r t e d f r o m m e t h a t M o t h e r says, " L e t i t b e . Y o u s a f w i l l t a k e t h e m . "

S h e s m i l e s i n d u l g e n t l y : as i f s h e c o u l d c r o s s m y f a t h e r i f s h e h a d a m i n d t o . ( 7 4 )

T h i s scene exemplifies L e n n y ' s awareness o f how her father's disposition dominates any situation where d e c i s i o n m a k i n g oc- curs. L e n n y articulates the way her mother's m o o d hinges o n her father's i n the o p e n i n g sentence o f this passage by l i n k i n g the two sentences i n terms o f their m e a n i n g ; her mother's "good m o o d " a n d the reason for it is inscrutable i n this sentence with- out reference to her father's m o o d i n the previous sentence. W h e n L e n n y ' s father refuses to release her to perform a task that

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her m o t h e r requests her to do, L e n n y notes how her m o t h e r q u i c k l y retracts her o r d e r — b u t not without first i n d i c a t i n g that she c o u l d contradict his will i f she wanted to: "She smiles i n d u l - gently: as i f she c o u l d cross my father i f she had a m i n d to." T h e contingency that the phrase "as i f adds to this statement pro- motes the sense o f uncertainty that L e n n y associates with her mother's w i l l as a w o m a n s u b o r d i n a t e d to the patriarchal p r i v i - lege o f her husband.

In general, it appears that L e n n y ' s m o t h e r uses her agency i n a consensual fashion — i n the interest o f m a i n t a i n i n g her patri- archal p a t r o n a g e — a n d thus contributes to the perpetuation of elite patriarchal practices. "Patriarchies," K u m k u m Sangari argues, "are resilient not only because they are e m b e d d e d i n social stratification, divisions o f labour, other p o l i t i c a l structures, r e l i g i o u s / c u l t u r a l practices, institutions a n d categories, but also because o f the contractual a n d consensual elements i n t h e m " ( 8 6 8 ) . Rather than confront her h u s b a n d about the various inequities i n their relationship, L e n n y ' s m o t h e r uses i n d i r e c t agency to get what she wants without seriously c h a l l e n g i n g the basis o f her s u b o r d i n a t i o n . It becomes apparent, however, that even these privileges are not without their costs. T h e negative effects o f this u n e q u a l but mutually constitutive relation o f sub- j e c t i o n are not lost o n L e n n y who represents the "games" her m o t h e r a n d father engage i n over the d i s t r i b u t i o n o f the family finances as a playful, but ultimately d e g r a d i n g activity. She de- picts how her m o t h e r chases her father a r o u n d the b e d r o o m attempting to get money from h i m for some h o u s e h o l d expenses a n d comments:

M o t h e r ' s v o i c e t e e t e r s b e t w e e n a m u s e m e n t a n d a w h e e d l i n g w h i n e . S h e is a v i r t u o s o a t j u g g l i n g t h e r a n g e o f h e r v o i c e a n d a c h i e v i n g t h e e x a c t b a l a n c e w i t h w h i c h t o h a n d l e F a t h e r . F a t h e r h a s t h e k n a c k o f e x t r a c t i n g t h e m o s t t a l e n t e d p e r f o n n a n c e s f r o m us a l l — a n d f r o m a l l t h o s e w h o w o r k f o r h i m . ( 7 6 )

L e n n y ' s p e r c e p t i o n o f the different positions o f influence w h i c h her parents occupy i n this negotiation process is evident i n the analogy she draws between this "performance" a n d the theatre — as well as the e m p l o y e r / e m p l o y e e relation this relationship mimics. W h i l e her m o t h e r is the performer, "juggling the range

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o f h e r voice," h e r father is the director, "extracting the most talented performances from us a l l . " T h o u g h there is an underly- i n g fluidity to the c i r c u l a t i o n o f power i n this "game," ultimately, her father is i n the d o m i n a n t p o s i t i o n . Even t h o u g h a playful m o o d pervades the scene, L e n n y ' s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f the way this process demeans her m o t h e r is conveyed t h r o u g h her descrip- tion o f the events; l i k e an a n i m a l her m o t h e r "scrambles across the mattress o n all fours" as she tries to catch her husband. W h e n she "warns" h i m o f h e r d e t e r m i n a t i o n , L e n n y describes h e r voice as "tearfully c h i l d i s h " ( 7 6 ) . In this scene, L e n n y ' s m o t h e r is fig- u r e d as exercising consensual agency to shore u p h e r access to middle-class domestic security rather than intervene o r displace the patriarchal a n d class conventions that govern h e r marital relation.

T h e g e n d e r e d , u n e q u a l a n d yet agonistic qualities o f this power struggle take o n a darker significance for Lenny, who finds that she is increasingly c o m p l i c i t i n her mother's struggle for favour with her father. H i n t s are given i n the narrative that L e n n y ' s father is involved with another w o m a n a n d that he beats his wife; L e n n y comments: "But there are other things they fight about that are not clear to me. Sometimes I hear M o t h e r say ' N o , Jana; I won't let y o u go! I w o n ' t let you go to h e r ! ' " ( 2 2 4 ) . O n e day L e n n y reports: "I surprise M o t h e r at her bath a n d see bruises o n her body" ( 2 2 4 ) . W h e n she reflects o n their daily ritual o f greeting her father w h e n he returns h o m e f r o m work, she is acutely aware o f how her m o t h e r m o n i t o r s her father's reaction to h e r stories, r e d i r e c t i n g the conversation to m a i n t a i n a posi- tive response. W h e n her father expresses annoyance over her brother's behaviour, L e n n y reports how " [s] w i t c h i n g the b u l l e t i n immediately, M o t h e r recounts some observation o f m i n e as i f I've spent the entire m o r n i n g m o u t h i n g e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y b r i l l i a n t , saccharine sweet a n d fetchingly naive remarks" ( 8 8 ) . After b e i n g called u p o n regularly to repeat o r invent these kinds o f remarks L e n n y figures herself as i n t e r n a l i z i n g her s i m p e r i n g perform- ances: "As the years advance, my sense o f inadequacy a n d u n - worth advances. I have to t h i n k faster—on my toes as it were . . . offering l e n g t h i e r a n d l e n g t h i e r chatter to fill u p the infernal time o f Father's mute meals" ( 8 8 ) . T h e hellishness L e n n y associ-

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ates with these interactions between her parents is a far cry from the playfulness c o n n e c t e d with the earlier scene discussed above. D u r i n g these l u n c h time performances, L e n n y ' s awareness o f her i n f e r i o r status as a g i r l i n a patriarchal society, the different and u n e q u a l expectations h e r parents have for her a n d her brother, her mother's subordinate position i n the marriage a n d her own c o m p l i c i t y i n its p r o d u c t i o n telescope, a n d are o n l y deferred by her act o f story-telling. In one o f the rare retrospective a n d self- reflexive narrative moments i n the novel, L e n n y asks: "Is that when I learn to tell tales?" ( 8 8 ) . W i t h this move, Sidhwa empha- sizes L e n n y ' s g r o w i n g awareness o f how h e r use o f discourse has the potential to be either c o m p l i c i t o u s or resistant to the defini- t i o n o f her identity a n d actions w i t h i n the terms o f the u n e q u a l relations o f power that circulate i n her h o m e a n d community.

W h e r e L e n n y ' s mother's actions often result i n "overly i n d i v i d - u a l i z e d private resolutions" (Sangari 867) to her s u b o r d i n a t i o n , Ayah's use o f i n d i r e c t agency becomes a source o f i n s p i r a t i o n for Lenny. T h e difference between these two examples o f i n d i r e c t agency i n terms o f their transformative potential seems to h i n g e o n Ayah's intimate relationship with L e n n y a n d her "unregu- lated" expression o f desire. In other words, A y a h a n d L e n n y ' s relatively unsupervised time together allows them to b u i l d a b o n d o f u n m a n a g e d intimacy that challenges patriarchal, racial, and bourgeois conventions. L e n n y ' s a d m i r a t i o n o f the influence Ayah's sensuality gives her over British a n d native (male) Indians is established from the outset o f the novel. As A y a h pushes her i n a p r a m a l o n g J a i l R o a d , L e n n y comments,

T h e c o v e t o u s g l a n c e s A y a h d r a w s educate me. U p a n d d o w n t h e y l o o k a t h e r . S t u b h a n d e d t w i s t e d b e g g a r s a n d d u s t y o l d b e g g a r s o n c r u t c h e s d r o p t h e i r p o s e s a n d s t a r e a t h e r w i t h h a r d a l e r t e y e s . H o l y m e n , m a s k e d i n p i e t y , s h o v e a s i d e t h e i r p r e t e n s e s t o o g l e h e r w i t h l u s t . H a w k e r s , c a r t d r i v e r s , c o o k s , c o o l i e s a n d c y c l i s t s t u r n t h e i r h e a d s as s h e p a s s e s , p u s h i n g m y p r a m w i t h t h e u n c o n c e r n o f t h e H i n d u g o d d e s s s h e w o r s h i p s . ( 1 2 ; e m p h a s i s a d d e d )

T h e "education" that L e n n y refers to i n this passage is a central feature o f her interactions with A y a h , a n d can be read as an example o f an u n d i s c i p l i n e d affectionate relationship between a servant a n d c h i l d that A n n Stoler terms an "education o f desire" ( 1 0 9 ) . A n "education o f desire" is Foucault's phrase for the

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process t h o u g h w h i c h the subject learns about the "correct" expression o f h i s / h e r sexuality. Correct, i n this sense, refers to the epistemological assumptions that i n f o r m any discourse o f sexuality i n a given culture. In h e r b o o k Race and the Education of Desire, Stoler takes Foucault's argument one step further to argue that an "education o f desire" c o u l d also refer to the cultivation o f e m o t i o n a l ties between c h i l d r e n a n d their nannies. These ties can be seen as potentially subversive, as i n L e n n y a n d Ayah's case, when the "cultivation o f the s e l f they involve crosses "carefully m a r k e d boundaries o f class a n d race" (Stoler 1 9 1 ) .

Sidhwa's representation o f an affectionate relationship be- tween L e n n y a n d A y a h that goes u n m o n i t o r e d by her parents demonstrates the subversive potential o f desire. T h i s relation- ship gives L e n n y insight into the contradictions a n d the potential for resistance to her society's d o m i n a n t codes. T h e relatively unsupervised relationship between A y a h a n d her charge allows L e n n y ' s "education o f desire" to u n f o l d without the usual i n - junctions against her d e v e l o p i n g too m u c h familiarity with her nanny. H e r narrative figures her g r o w i n g awareness o f the links between the power relations she experiences as a girl g r o w i n g up i n a patriarchal, m i n o r i t y c o m m u n i t y a n d the pressures A y a h negotiates as a female H i n d u servant l i v i n g i n c o l o n i a l I n d i a and p o s t c o l o n i a l Pakistan.

Clearly, the fascination that A y a h holds for L e n n y is related to her ability to exercise agency despite the subordinate social posi- tion she occupies. In the pre-Partition w o r l d o f L a h o r e , L e n n y perceives Ayah's "chocolate chemistry" as a l l o w i n g her to negoti- ate h e r desire for sexual intimacy with a variety o f m e n from diverse cultural backgrounds a n d thereby subvert the patriarchal expectations for her behaviour. L e n n y notes, for instance, the "subtle exchange o f signals a n d some o f the c o m p l e x rites by w h i c h Ayah's admirers co-exist" ( 2 9 ) . O n c e A y a h has made a decision about who she w i l l spend her time with, L e n n y remarks how the other m e n , " [d] usting the grass f r o m the clothes . . . slip away before dark, leaving the one luck, o r the lady, favors" ( 2 9 ) . Ayah's ability to displace the codes o f m o n o g a m y a n d chastity suggest an alternative to the patriarchal relationships that govern L e n n y ' s mother's life.

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L e n n y likens Ayah's h o l d over the m e n i n her social circle to "the tyranny magnets exercise over metals" ( 2 9 ) . T h e type o f agonism this m e t a p h o r suggests is repeatedly associated with Ayah's influence over the m e n : "Ayah's presence galvanizes m e n to m a d sprints i n the n o o n heat" (41 ; emphasis added). F r o m the naive perspective o f a c h i l d , Ayah's negotiations with Ice-candy- m a n a n d others take o n the semblance o f a military a c t i o n i n w h i c h L e n n y learns to participate i n o r d e r to extract attention, treats a n d favours for herself:

T h i n g s l o v e t o c r a w l b e n e a t h A y a h ' s s a r i . L a d y b i r d s , g l o w - w o r m s , I c e - c a n d y - m a n ' s t o e s . S h e d u s t s t h e m o f f w i t h i m p a r t i a l n o n c h a l a n c e . I k e e p a n e y e o n I c e - c a n d y - m a n ' s t o e s . S o m e t i m e s i n t h e c o u r s e o f a n e n g r o s s i n g s t o r y , t h e y t r a v e l s o c a u t i o u s l y t h a t b o t h A y a h a n d I a r e t a k e n u n a w a r e s . I c e - c a n d y - m a n is a r a c o n t e u r . H e is a l s o a n a b s o r b - i n g g o s s i p . W h e n t h e s t o r y is e x t r a g o o d , a n d t h e t e n t a t i v e t o e s p o l i t e , A y a h t o l e r a t e s t h e m .

S o m e t i m e s a t o e s n a k e s o u t a n d z e r o s i n o n its t a r g e t w i t h s u c h l i g h t e n i n g s p e e d t h a t I h e a r o f t h e a t t a c k o n l y f r o m A y a h ' s s t a r t l e d " O o f . " O n c e i n a w h i l e I p r e e m p t t h e b i g t o e ' s r o m a n t i c i m p u l s e a n d , c a t c h i n g i t m i d - c r a w l o r m i d s t r i k e , t w i s t i t . I t is a m e a s u r e t o k e e p t h e c a n d y b r i b e s c o m i n g . ( 2 9 )

T h i s passage depicts h o w Ice-candy-man's seduction o f A y a h t h r o u g h story t e l l i n g is c o u p l e d with a military-like strategy (sug- gested by the words "target" "attack" a n d "strike"), that occa- sionally leads to the r e c i p r o c a l expression o f desire between them. A s L e n n y points out, A y a h sets c o n d i t i o n s o n the m a n n e r a n d circumstances i n w h i c h she is w i l l i n g to entertain Ice-candy- man's advances ("[w]hen the story is g o o d , a n d the tentative toes polite"). In all cases, the emphasis i n L e n n y ' s figuration o f these encounters is o n the u n e q u a l but not unmanageable relations o f power between A y a h a n d the m e n i n her social circle.

W h i l e Ayah's body is i n s c r i b e d as a symbol o f I n d i a by conservative-nationalist rhetoric, her desires c o n t i n u e to subvert a n d remake that imaginary at the l o c a l level; she holds the g r o u p o f h e r admirers together a n d diffuses conflict a m o n g them, at least temporarily, despite the intensification o f racist a n d patri- archal discourse at the time o f P a r t i t i o n . A case i n p o i n t here occurs w h e n the m e n i n Ayah's social circle engage i n divisive racialized rhetorical attacks against the H i n d u a n d M u s l i m c o m -

B A P S I S I D H W A ' S " C R A C K I N G I N D I A 59

munities alternately. L e n n y comments o n how it is A y a h who redirects the conversation by c h a n g i n g the topic o f the discus- sion to the character o f the British V i c e r o y a n d his wife. L e n n y notes: "She, l i k e M o t h e r , is an o i l p o u r e r " ( 9 9 ) . As a symbol of I n d i a (initially, all the m e n co-exist peacefully a n d productively i n her presence), a n d target for patriarchal struggles for power, the subversive effects o f Ayah's b o d i l y expression o f desire articu- late a m o r e permeable a n d heterogeneous d e f i n i t i o n o f the national imaginary than the narrow, restrictive one that eventu- ally prevails i n Pakistan.

If Ayah's b o d i l y experience o f desire as agency represents a challenge to conservative-nationalism, it is this same site that becomes the focus o f scrutiny i n the struggle for power that unfolds. T h e f l u i d a n d l i m i n a l discursive configuration o f c o m - munity identity that Ayah's pre-Partition interaction with the g r o u p o f m e n exemplifies, is shown as gradually e r o d e d as the country moves toward i n d e p e n d e n c e . W h e n p o l i t i c a l events por- tend the prospect o f P a r t i t i o n , it becomes apparent that her heterogeneous experience o f day to day life is b e i n g under- m i n e d . It becomes increasingly difficult for A y a h to negotiate her autonomy i n the g r o u p o f m e n . T h e intensification o f women's d i s c i p l i n e o f the self a c c o r d i n g to c o m m u n i t y a n d n a t i o n a l patriarchal codes is illustrated i n Sidhwa's text when L e n n y observes how Ayah's relations with the m e n i n her social circle become c i r c u m s c r i b e d by a m o r e r i g i d definition o f her racial, gender a n d sexual identity. O n e o f the first hints o f this occurs w h e n Ice-candy-man provides L e n n y a n d A y a h with a run down o f the latest "news o f the w o r l d " ( 3 8 ) . After he reports how C h a n d r a Bose has stated that "If we want I n d i a back we must take p r i d e i n o u r customs, o u r clothes, o u r languages . . . A n d not go m o u t h i n g the got-pit sot-pit o f the E n g l i s h ! " ( 3 8 ) , L e n n y re- counts how

F i n a l l y , n a r r o w i n g h i s f o c u s t o o u r i m m e d i a t e s u r r o u n d i n g s , h e says t o A y a h , " S h a n t a bibi, y o u ' r e P u n j a b i a r e n ' t y o u ? "

" F o r t h e m o s t p a r t , " A y a h a g r e e s w a r i l y . " T h e n w h y d o n ' t y o u w e a r P u n j a b i c l o t h e s ? I ' v e n e v e r s e e n y o u i n

s h a l w a r - k a m i z e . " ( 3 8 )

Ayah's response that ayahs who wear saris (and thus m i m i c that stereotype o f more formally educated G o a n ayahs) earn more

BO J I L L D I D U R

money than those who wear Punjabi clothes, discloses that she is not unaware o f the identitarian politics that prevail i n h e r con- temporary surroundings. She deflects Ice-candy-man's attempt to pigeon-hole her identity as narrowly "Punjabi" by r e s p o n d i n g to his question about h e r "identity" with dismissive assent: "For the most part" ( 3 8 ) . In this b r i e f scene, Sidhwa weaves together the m i c r o a n d m a c r o - p o l i t i c a l discursive contexts o f the Punjab i n 1 9 4 3 to disclose how w o m e n "are b e i n g redefined as semiotic objects o n w h i c h the actions o f the state are to be i n s c r i b e d " (Das 7 0 ) . H e r e , however, the e l a b o r a t i o n o f the practices o f the bio- p o l i t i c a l nation-state are shown as dialogically i n f o r m e d by the everyday practices o f self-representation.

In this a n d other key moments i n the narrative, Ice-candy-man is cast as b o t h synecdoche a n d supplement to the patriarchal power relations i n L a h o r e at the t i m e — s i m u l t a n e o u s l y enforc- i n g a n d elaborating definitions o f n a t i o n a l identities as they relate to the traffic o f women's bodies a n d practices o f l i v i n g . Later, as the conservative nationalist p o l i t i c a l rhetoric intensifies i n the discursive realm, L e n n y becomes "aware o f religious differ- ences" for the first time:

It is s u d d e n . O n e d a y e v e r y b o d y is t h e m s e l v e s — a n d t h e n e x t d a y t h e y a r e H i n d u , M u s l i m , S i k h , C h r i s t i a n . P e o p l e s h r i n k , d w i n d l i n g i n t o s y m b o l s . A y a h is n o l o n g e r j u s t m y a l l - e n c o m p a s s i n g A y a h — s h e is a l s o a t o k e n . A H i n d u . C a r r i e d a w a y b y r e n e w e d d e v o t i o n a l f e r v o r s h e e x p e n d s a s m a l l f o r t u n e i n j o s s - s t i c k s , f l o w e r s a n d s w e e t s o n t h e g o d s a n d g o d d e s s e s i n t h e t e m p l e s .

I m a m D i n a n d Y o u s a f , t u r n i n g i n t o r e l i g i o u s z e a l o t s , w a r n M o t h e r t h e y w i l l t a k e F r i d a y a f t e r n o o n o f f f o r t h e J u m h a p r a y e r s . . . . C r a m m e d i n t o a n a r r o w r e l i g i o u s s l o t t h e y t o o a r e d i m i n i s h e d , as a r e

J i n n a h a n d I q b a l , I c e - c a n d y - m a n a n d M a s s e u r . ( 1 0 1 - 0 2 )

L e n n y ' s account o f the changes i n Ayah's a n d her followers' behaviour emphasizes the way the n a r r o w i n g a n d s h o r i n g u p o f c o m m u n i t y identity diminishes the vitality a n d c o m p l e x i t y o f social relations i n the community. A y a h a n d the others recon- figure their self-presentation when they sense their interests are i n danger o f b e i n g m a r g i n a l i z e d — o r conversely, elevated to a p r i v i l e g e d p o s i t i o n — w i t h i n the shifting relations o f power per- vading the country.

A direct r e l a t i o n between the intensification o f these patri- archal nationalist discourses a n d the d i s c i p l i n a r y pressures o n

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women's subjectivities can be traced i n Sidhwa's r e n d e r i n g o f the escalation o f g e n d e r e d sectarian violence at the time o f Partition. As tensions w i t h i n Ayah's g r o u p o f followers intensify, they en- gage i n arguments about the future o f each c o m m u n i t y i n what will become Pakistan. In their debates, images o f emasculation are l i n k e d with the identity o f the m i n o r i t y c o m m u n i t y o n each side o f the boarder. In one such discussion, the l o c a l "restaurant- o w n i n g wrestler" proclaims: " O n c e the l i n e o f division is drawn i n the Punjab, all M u s l i m s to the east w i l l have their balls cut off!" ( 1 3 9 ) . T h e subjugation o f the O t h e r n a t i o n / c o m m u n i t y is re- peatedly associated with a f e m i n i z a t i o n o f the m e n a n d the v i o l a t i o n o f the w o m e n . W h e n the first reports o f the riots begin to trickle i n , Ice-candy-man reports how "[t]here are no y o u n g w o m e n a m o n g the dead! O n l y two gunny-bags full o f women's breasts!" ( 1 5 9 ) . T h e fact that w o m e n are singled out as special targets for torture a n d a b d u c t i o n is not lost o n A y a h . W h e n Ice- candy-man takes A y a h a n d L e n n y u p to the r o o f to witness the b u r n i n g o f L a h o r e , L e n n y recalls how A y a h begins to withdraw from the g r o u p i n a defeatist attitude: "Ayah moves away, her feet suddenly heavy a n d dragging, a n d sits o n the r o o f s l u m p e d against the wall. She buries her face i n h e r knees" ( 1 4 7 ) . A s the violence against w o m e n increases, A y a h begins to lose her ability to negotiate her desire i n an on-going fashion.

Ayah's effort to displace the increasingly constrictive patri- archal nationalist discourses that intersect i n her body, o f course, eventually fails. W h e n h e r current lover, Masseur, is f o u n d butch- ered i n the street L e n n y notes how " [ t] he glossy chocolate b l o o m i n h e r s k i n is l o s i n g its sheen" ( 1 8 8 ) ; what was once a seductive tool fades i n the dualistic logic that pervades c o m m u n i t y identity. T h e m o m e n t o f h e r subjection to d o m i n a n t patriarchal logic comes w h e n , l e d by Ice-candy-man, some o f the l o c a l M u s l i m m e n , e x u d i n g "surety a n d arrogance" ( 1 9 1 ) , take A y a h from L e n n y ' s parents' house by force:

They drag Ayah out. They drag her by her arms stretched taut and her bare feet—that want to move backwards—are forced forward instead. . . . The men drag her in grotesque strides to the cart and their harsh hands, supporting her with careless intimacy, lift her into it. Four men stand pressed against her, propping her body upright, their lips stretched in triumphant grimaces. ( 1 9 5 )

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T h e emphasis i n this r e n d e r i n g o f Ayah's interaction with the m e n is o n the use o f force a n d her effort to resist physically; she is "dragged" a n d "forced" a n d "pressed" into submission. Discur- sive efforts to define her identity are a b a n d o n e d and brute force is d e p l o y e d to resolve the ambiguity o f her p o s i t i o n . As D i p e s h Chakrabarty suggests, the t r i u m p h o f discourse "has always been dependent o n the m o b i l i z a t i o n , o n its behalf, o f effective means o f physical c o e r c i o n " ( 2 ) . W i t h i n the constricted patriarchal logic o f the m o d e r n - n a t i o n state, Ayah's body is r e c o u p e d into a subordinate role, dependent, at least temporarily, o n the pa- tronage o f Ice-candy-man for h e r p r o t e c t i o n from the violent crowd.

P r i o r to the escalation o f Partition tensions, A y a h is able to negotiate the u n e q u a l relations o f power with the m e n i n her c o m m u n i t y a r o u n d issues such as the expression o f her sexuality a n d c o m m u n i t y affiliation. After P a r t i t i o n , she is m o r e con- strained a n d eventually her body becomes a f u l c r u m for the power struggles between the w a r r i n g c o m m u n i t i e s . As Veena Das argues i n relation to the treatment o f w o m e n d u r i n g Partition violence: "[t]he woman's body . . . became a sign t h r o u g h w h i c h m e n c o m m u n i c a t e d with each other" ( 5 6 ) . Nevertheless, t h o u g h Ayah's body is i n s c r i b e d with c o m p e t i n g patriarchal conservative-nationalist discourses, Sidhwa's text suggests that she is not just "the systemic bearer o f process." O n the contrary, my r e a d i n g o f Cracking India suggests that A y a h is also able to resist a n d rewrite those inscriptions t h r o u g h the expression o f h e r own desires, however imperfectly it may seem. T h e tension between the material a n d imaginary i n a n d t h r o u g h these i n - scriptions points to the possibility o f i n d i r e c t agency as desire that evades the n o r m a l i z i n g process o f power a n d brings the concept o f the u n i f i e d subject to crisis. L e n n y ' s "education o f desire" i n h e r close relationship with A y a h takes her out o f the confines o f the bourgeois Parsi c o m m u n i t y a n d exposes her to the heterogeneity o f socio-cultural perspectives that make up a "temporality o f struggle" representative o f L a h o r e at the time o f P a r t i t i o n . H e r narrative discloses the "conjunctural sites o f i n d é t e r m i n a t i o n " that characterize experience, the relationship between text a n d context, the entanglement o f the p u b l i c a n d

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private, a n d figures how agency (or interpretation) can shape the o u t c o m e and u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f historical events. T h o u g h the n a t i o n a n d c o m m u n i t y are " b r o k e n " t h r o u g h the events o f P a r t i t i o n , it is clear that L e n n y has "cracked" the patriarchal- nationalist code that (re)asserts itself i n the aftermath.

N O T E S

1 Support for this research was partially funded by the Social Sciences a n d H u m a n - ities Research C o u n c i l of Canada a n d the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. I am grateful to Judy Barton, Terry G o l d i e , C r a i g G ö r d e n , Teresa Heffernan, Marie- Christine Leps, A r u n Mukherjee, and Bart S i m o n for reading and c o m m e n t i n g o n various drafts o f this paper.

2 This novel was originally p u b l i s h e d u n d e r the title ice-Candy-Man i n 1 9 8 8 . My references are to the 1 9 9 1 p u b l i c a t i o n . M y understanding of "everyday" experi- ence derives from J o a n W. Scott's essay "The Evidence o f Experience."

: i L e n n y identifies her ayah as Ayah throughout the novel. H e r actual first name, Shanta, is m e n t i o n e d only once, by Ice-candy-man (Sidhwa 3 8 ) .

4 " L o c a t i o n " in this sense refers not to a fixed point but rather a "temporality o f struggle" "characterized by m u l t i p l e locations a n d nonsynchronous processes of movement 'between cultures, languages, a n d c o m p l e x configurations o f meaning a n d p o w e r ' " ( M a n i , "Contentious" 2 6 ) .

5 T h e definition o f discourse that informs this understanding o f agency is what C a n n i n g describes as a "modified Foucauldian one o f a convergence of statements, texts, signs and practices across different, even dispersed, sites" ( 3 7 9 ) .

6 T h e history of the Parsi c o m m u n i t y i n c o l o n i a l South A s i a is shown as fraught with contradictions i n that they, like the rest o f South Asians in India, were subject to c o l o n i a l rule, but at the same time enjoyed a privileged relationship with the c o l o n i a l administration and often expressed outright admiration for British colo- nial culture. Questions regarding the positionality a n d identity o f the Parsi com- munity at this time and, subsequently, i n postcolonial India have been investigated by Tanya L u h r m a n n i n her recent book The Good Parsi. In this study, she tracks assumptions about racial a n d cultural superiority that characterized the dominant Parsi community identity u n d e r c o l o n i a l rule a n d its consequences for their postcolonial situation in India. "The G o o d Parsi," i n L u h r m a n n ' s analysis, is a trope for the ideal Parsi c o l o n i a l subject i n c o l o n i a l India. This trope characterized Parsis as "charitable, truthful, racially pure, a n d as like the British as a native community c o u l d be" ( 1 0 0 ) . It was invoked to support claims that "the moral qualities o f the Parsis must be classified as more E u r o p e a n than Indian, and, like the British, as Superior to the m o r a l qualities of the native Indian" ( 1 0 0 ) . See especially pages 1 0 0 - 1 0 .

7 T h e phrase "abducted" women refers to women displaced from their families and communities d u r i n g the migrations a n d sectarian violence that accompanied partition. F r o m 1 9 4 8 to 1 9 5 6 , these women became the object of "recovery operations," i n India a n d Pakistan "which sought to recover those women who had been abducted and forcibly converted d u r i n g the upheaval, a n d restore them to their respective families a n d countries where they 'rightfully b e l o n g e d ' " ( M e n o n and Bhasin W S 2 ) . T h e scare quotes that M e n o n and Bhasin place a r o u n d the phrase "rightfully belonged" suggest the questionable legitimacy o f thisjudgment. What qualified as the "rightful" communities, families, a n d countries for these women appears to have been a particular construction o f their identity determined

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by the state-sanctioned Central Recovery O p e r a t i o n . See articles by R i t u M e n o n , K a m l a Bhasin, a n d Urvashi B u t a l i a for an extended discussion o f these activities. See my recent essay "Fragments of Imagination: R e t h i n k i n g the Literary i n Histo- riography through Narratives of India's Partition" for a discussion o f how fictional partition narratives can be a resource for u n p a c k i n g the patriarchal and major- itarian power relations that inflect India's national imaginary.

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