A study of Identity, Partition, Religion and Diaspora in Bapsi Sidhwa’s
‘Ice Candy Man’
Shridhara C. R.
Assistant Professor, Department of English
Government First Grade College,
Nonavinakere, Tumkur, Karnataka.
Abstract
Cracking India or Ice Candy Man by Bapsi Sidhwa presents the brutal experiences of women and farmers during the violence of the sub continental partition in 1947. The paper intends to study the history of partition through the eyes of a young girl. Belonging to the Parsee diaspora in Colonial Lahore, the narrator brings a subaltern perspective to the history of partition.
The core part of the paper looks into the dilemma faced by diaspora during the creation of new nation states. It also focuses on the shift in identities among divergent groups in a society in the times of national unrest. The paper discusses the novel’s portrayal of the physical and psychological agony inflicted by partition on the masses. The novel being a microscopic look at the history of partition, this paper tries to analyse the transformation in the narrator and her world having partition as a background.
Key words: Partition, identity, Diaspora, Indian politics, violence
The times of conflict always bring out the best in a few and the worst in most of the people in a society. The bonds which connect diverse groups together come under extreme strain resulting in a shift in identities. The partition of India in 1947 is such a terrible phenomenon which changed the lives of millions forever. This man made political disaster resulted in the massacre of around five million people, the abduction of more than one million women and the dislocation of more than a billion.
The diaspora or a migrated community, especially a minority faces a dilemma during unrest. They prefer either to be invisible or with the winning side. When nation states form among the religious lines such as Pakistan, their identity has to be as less assertive as possible to not be looked as a threat.
Partition of India saw violence in its utmost ugliness, especially on women. They were abducted, mutilated and killed. The survivors were ostracized by their families and society. Violence and retaliation has left numerous unhealed scars on India and Pakistan. It also shaped the identities of three countries in South Asia. According to Ayesha Jalal, a Pakistani historian, partition is “a defining moment that is neither beginning, nor end. Partition continues to influence how the peoples and states of post colonial South Asia envisage their past, present and future”.
The novel Ice Candy Man by Bapsi Sidhwa gives a fictional account of partition narrated by an adolescent girl. The novel was first published in 1988. It is set in the 1940s when the history of India took a bloody turn which unleashed the utmost barbarity of humankind. The novel looks at the unpredictability of human behaviour, deflation in values and the destruction of sensibilities in a society during partition.
The narrator in Ice Candy Man is Lenny. She is triply marginalised by being a Parsee, a girl, a handicapped one at that. The reader can be almost deceived that the narrator is really an adolescent girl. The narration is as she sees them as a young girl. However she often shifts to a higher tone and provides her opinions and comments. We can assume that the adult Lenny is reliving her past in order to make sense of the events that took place. The story is not what an eight year old girl sees; it is what she remembers as an adult. As we know, memory can deceive us. To decide whether the narrator deliberately tries to prove that her story is ‘true’ is up to the reader.
Parsees are a minority in India. They fled Persia to escape the persecution by aggressive Islam conquerors. Industrious and intelligent, they prospered in the subcontinent but held on to their religious identity. Lenny, even though a sceptic in the matters of faith, experiences a kind of peacefulness while kneeling before the holy fire. She believes in God and prays for the well being of everyone. In times of conflict, Parsees choose the winning side. During the freedom struggle, most of the Parsees supported the British. Since they are a minority, they prefer security instead of turmoil. In the novel, people like Col. Barucha blame the British government in casual talking, but as a community, they favour the British. In the community meeting, which is described with a touch of humour by Sidhwa, Parsees wholeheartedly pray for the British. When the war is over, they are happy that the ‘defector’ Bose did not win. They even hold a ‘Jashan’ to celebrate the victory of the British.
The novel is a bildungsroman of sorts. Lenny goes through numerous experiences which make a great impression on her psyche and transforms her personality.
In the presence of Ayah and her admirers she learns about strange passions which hover around men and women. Ayah is like a lady bird. Her admirers woo her in their own different ways. This world of desire and passion awakens something in Lenny. She becomes aware of a different dimension of human relationships. “My nose inhales the fragrance of earth and grass and the other fragrance that distils insights” (19). In her plays and quarrels with her cousin. Lenny becomes more and more aware of her identity as a woman. Her curiosity about men Increases. “I look about me with new eyes. The world is athrob with men” (219). This world of passions and desires is thrilling and attractive to her. The lion in the zoo is a symbol for animalistic passions inside people. The caged passions of her admirers just prowl around Ayah. But she tames them as a master. However, partition fills the veins of society with insanity. Once the riots start, the passions are unleashed and they show their barbaric side. The bond of trust, friendship and sympathy are broken. Ayah's admirers become her violators. Even a father figure like Imam Din becomes one of them.
The changes in the national level affects Lenny’s small world. She perceives them as the conversations between her adult friends change gradually from a friendly talk to argument and finally to the level of deep hatred. Lenny watches helplessly as people cease to be individuals and become Hindus Muslims and Sikhs. They become one with faceless and mindless mobs.
Lenny witnesses religious identities getting more and more aggressive as the days go by. Politics and religion get prominence in their talks. In the beginning, Ayah succeeds in distracting them but slowly the friendly chats give way to heated arguments. Communities get very conscious about their identities in the testing times. Asserting one’s own identity is a psychological response of stronger communities in the times of conflict. Ice candy man’s comments on Sikhs that they are puppets in the hands of Hindu receives enrage Sher Singh. Finally when Ice Candy Man half confesses half boasts that he has killed Hindus and burnt their homes, the thin string of friendship that holds the group breaks down. It is evident in the words of the Gardener who finds it hard to believe people he call brothers are ready to kill him now.Lenny senses the animosity growing. Her nightmares about the lion and the siren symbolise the terrible events to follow.
The realization about religious differences comes very suddenly to Lenny. “One day everybody is themselves- and the next day they are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian. People shrink, dwindling into symbols” (93). Religious communities turn to their symbols more vigorously when they are threatened. It results in the othering of the ‘enemy’. Ayah’s worships, Imam Din and Yousuf’s prayers which they neglected before are examples for that. However untouchables like Hari, Machoo and Papoo get confused. Hari tries to grow his bodhi to assert his Hindu identity but when the threat to his life is imminent, he converts to Islam. Another untouchable family becomes Christians. The difference between the dominant and the marginal in a society during partition is striking. While the former cling to his/her identity strongly the latter is ready to change it in order to survive.
The above point brings another aspect of partition to light. In the novel, the narrator recognises different interests wearing the mask of religion in order to profit from the situation. In Lahore, the Hindu moneylenders are looted and in Punjab the Muslim and Hindu landholders are evicted. Ice Candy Man turns into a monster because of his jealousy on the Masseur and to avenge the death of his family. The reaction of a hindu priest when the shadows of Yousuf and Lenny cross him plants a deep hatred in Yousuf. Ice Candy Man points out at different social and personal sins coming together to culminate in a tragedy.
The Ice candy man is a symbol of the age. The readers do not know who he really is. His identity is fluid, ever changing. He is a man of the seasons, changing with the times. He brings the news of the outside world to Ayah. Even though an admirer, his approach to Ayah is a little perverse and aggressive. Ironically, he uses the name of religion and nation to defend his crimes.
Major political events and figures of the time are seen as from a telescope. Lenny’s world is very small. She perceives changes through the changes in her friends. This makes her narration a history from the point of view of a subaltern. However, the narration is not completely devoid of political stands. Gandhi is seen as a manipulator who led the country into a tragedy. “Gandhi visits Lahore, I’m surprised he exists. I almost thought he was a mythic figure”(85). The distance between Lenny's world and the outside world is very big. However the narrator points a finger of accusation towards Gandhi. She holds him responsible for the massacres that were about to follow.
In the eyes of the narrator Nehru is a charming politician who is favoured by the British while Jinnah is a straight forward lawyer turned statesman who somewhere could not compete with Nehru in pleasing them.
The birth of a new nation and the identity as its citizen cannot be fully comprehended by Lenny. She is struck by the sudden shift in her identity, thus changing her existence. To a child who can only understand physical changes, this seems strange. “I’m a Pakisthani, in a snap, just like that”. She struggles to imagine the division of a country. “Can one break a country? And what happens if they break it where our house is? Or crack it further upon Warris road? How will I ever get to godmother’s then?” (92). The absurdity of the cruel fate is sounded in the innocent question of villagers of Pir Pindo. When the Goorkha soldiers come to evict them, one of the villagers asks “what? Is Pakistan already there?”
Despite the gloom that settles on the story, a small ray of hope shines in Lenny’s world because of some women in Parsee community. They help the victims of partition and look for Ayah everywhere. The sympathy and bondage among women is emphasized in their portrayal. The women in Ice Candy Man are not just victims. Despite the unthinkable cruelty inflicted upon them, they spring back and try hard to heal the wounds of the time.
Ice Candy Man is the saga of sufferings seen by an adolescent. The ugly side of religious and geographical identities is revealed here. It is also about the transformation in the personality of Lenny who gets educated about the innermost desires and passions. She also becomes aware of the brutal instincts which lurk behind every common person. The novel brings forth the play of conflicting identities in the terrible phenomenon called partition. It points out at social differences, prejudices, economic interests, personal grudges, political and religious identities all coming together in the time of partition to fulfil their own ends through violence. The novel also looks at human values getting destroyed in the turmoil, but retains hope in the deeds of a few sensible people.
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