Date of Reading: 01/02/2017
Author: Ahmed Ali
Publisher: Rupa
Place: New Delhi
Year: 2007
Price: Rs. 295
Rating: 4/5
It is in a second-hand bookshop that I had my first glimpse of 'Twilight in Delhi'. In spite of the tattered and dusty shape it was in, the book was intriguing and that made me buy a personal copy. The story of a pre-independent Delhi told through one of its affluent families; it doesn't offer any breathtaking mystery or thrill, but just the drama of day to day life.
This is a delightful read from beginning to end with its slow paced rhythm that will definitely take you into the world of Mir Nihal and his family. Trust me, you will even feel the heat of Delhi's summer!!! And in the backdrop we get the colours of Delhi with its pigeon and kite fliers and as the story progresses the place too transforms by the imperialist hands.
Mir Nihal is an orthodox Muslim family man who leads a comfortable life with his two sons being a part of the government service. Another of his sons, Asghar, leads a love lorn life as he wants to marry Bilqueece, a girl from a lower social class family.
In order to get permission from his parents he seeks the help of his elder sister, Begam Waheed, who comes home to arrange the marriage. Begam Nihal tries talking to her husband about this but Mir Nihal remains adamant. So the women of the house plans for the wedding secretly, thinking Mir Nihal can be persuaded later. Asghar goes to Bhopal with Begam Waheed to wait out the year before he can marry Bilqueece.
Meanwhile Babban Jan, Mir Nihal's mistress, dies leaving him desolate. In his hurry to see her for the last time, Mir Nihal forgets to lock the pigeon coop and most of his beloved birds become the food of one stray cat. Both these incidents affect him deeply. He gives permission for Asghar's marriage to Bilqueece and takes up his old hobby of studying alchemy.
On the day of King George's coronation, Mir Nihal goes with his grandchildren to watch the parade. On the way back he comes across a beggar who happens to be the son of the last Mughal Emperor. He gives him some money and walks away meditating on the change in Delhi.
Asghar and Bilqueece get married but the romantic spark he had for her soon disappears. He gets a job and a separate home and a daughter, Jehan Ara, is born to the couple. Bilqueece's father dies causing her great distress. This worsens as she feels the disinterestedness of her husband also. She becomes weak due to tuberculosis and dies soon after.
Bilqueece's younger sister Zohra helps him to look after the child. He gets infatuated with her and eventually she too returns the feelings. Asghar takes his parents' blessings for the marriage, but Zohra's mother opposes the proposition as she had often seen Asghar ill treating Bilqueece.
Asghar's brother Habibuddin is brought home sick. Mir Nihal had been denigrated to the state of an invalid by then. Habibuddin dies and after his funeral Asghar finds Zohra's servant waiting for him with a letter. It informs him that Zohra is being married off to someone the next morning. He weeps bitterly with a broken heart.
Something to ponder . . .
"In spite of griefs and sorrows a man gets used to life, for its flow must always go on." - 120
"For if it were not for Hope, men would commit suicide by the scores, and the world would remain a barren desert in which no oasis exists." - 125
"Life goes on with a heartless continuity, trampling ideals and worlds under its ruthless feet, always in search of the new, destroying, building and demolishing once again with the meaningless petulance of a child who builds a house of sand only to raze it to the ground." - 150
"And Izrael, the angel of death, had not a moment to spare. From house to house he rushed, from door to door, snatching the souls away from human beings burning with fever yet hungry after life, wanting to live on in a world which did not care about them at all." - 233
Mir Nihal is an orthodox Muslim family man who leads a comfortable life with his two sons being a part of the government service. Another of his sons, Asghar, leads a love lorn life as he wants to marry Bilqueece, a girl from a lower social class family.
In order to get permission from his parents he seeks the help of his elder sister, Begam Waheed, who comes home to arrange the marriage. Begam Nihal tries talking to her husband about this but Mir Nihal remains adamant. So the women of the house plans for the wedding secretly, thinking Mir Nihal can be persuaded later. Asghar goes to Bhopal with Begam Waheed to wait out the year before he can marry Bilqueece.Meanwhile Babban Jan, Mir Nihal's mistress, dies leaving him desolate. In his hurry to see her for the last time, Mir Nihal forgets to lock the pigeon coop and most of his beloved birds become the food of one stray cat. Both these incidents affect him deeply. He gives permission for Asghar's marriage to Bilqueece and takes up his old hobby of studying alchemy.
On the day of King George's coronation, Mir Nihal goes with his grandchildren to watch the parade. On the way back he comes across a beggar who happens to be the son of the last Mughal Emperor. He gives him some money and walks away meditating on the change in Delhi.
Asghar and Bilqueece get married but the romantic spark he had for her soon disappears. He gets a job and a separate home and a daughter, Jehan Ara, is born to the couple. Bilqueece's father dies causing her great distress. This worsens as she feels the disinterestedness of her husband also. She becomes weak due to tuberculosis and dies soon after.Bilqueece's younger sister Zohra helps him to look after the child. He gets infatuated with her and eventually she too returns the feelings. Asghar takes his parents' blessings for the marriage, but Zohra's mother opposes the proposition as she had often seen Asghar ill treating Bilqueece.
Asghar's brother Habibuddin is brought home sick. Mir Nihal had been denigrated to the state of an invalid by then. Habibuddin dies and after his funeral Asghar finds Zohra's servant waiting for him with a letter. It informs him that Zohra is being married off to someone the next morning. He weeps bitterly with a broken heart.
Something to ponder . . .
"In spite of griefs and sorrows a man gets used to life, for its flow must always go on." - 120
"For if it were not for Hope, men would commit suicide by the scores, and the world would remain a barren desert in which no oasis exists." - 125
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| Ahmed Ali |
"And Izrael, the angel of death, had not a moment to spare. From house to house he rushed, from door to door, snatching the souls away from human beings burning with fever yet hungry after life, wanting to live on in a world which did not care about them at all." - 233
