Page 107 - DENG105_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_II

Elective English–II

Notes True to his word, Javed Khan releases the women from his bondage, and they are free to go
and join the British, no longer needing to be in hiding from the militants. But not before he
gets Ruth to come before him, so that he could gaze on her face once, something he has not
done till now, in spite of his passion for her.
A very perceptive, wonderfully written book, complete with a detailed look into the mechanisms
of the zenana or women’s quarters in a segregated household. A tale of survival of the refugee
women who probably did so only because of a mother playing by her wits, guts and an ability
to adapt and accept her circumstances.
The detailed and very perceptive (considering that Ruskin Bond is a man, and culturally a
British one, at that!) potrayal of the camarederie and internal politics inside all Indian Muslim
household women from a hundred years ago.
The book has an introduction by Ruskin Bond, in which he says that there was probably some
truth in accounts of an actual girl called Ruth Labadoor, whose account is to be found in old
records of the 1857 uprising. He quotes these specific references in the notes at the end of the
book, as also gives us a perspective on the period in which the book is set.

In his own words, in the introduction to this 2002 edition, he says, “In retelling the tale for
today’s reader I attempted to bring out the common humanity of most of the people involved— for in
times of conflict and inter-religious or racial hatred, there are always a few (just a few) who are
prepared to come to the aid of those unable to defend themselves.”

Something that is true of all such situations. As I discovered in my pursuit of books on the
Holocaust, human beings are really good, and they often rise above themselves at such times.
He goes on to say, “I published this account as a novella about thirty years ago. I feel it still has some
relevance today, when communal strife and religious intolerance threaten the lives and livelihood of
innocent, law-abiding people. It was Pascal who wrote, ‘Men never do evil so completely and
cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.’ Fortunately for civilization, there are
exceptions.”
Very true even today, and will always be so until there are dystopian conditions anywhere on
earth.

An analysis of A Flight of Pigeons will be incomplete without a mention of its 1978 movie
adaptation, Junoon, which translated means ‘a kind of madness,’ whether it was the conditions
during the uprising, or the madness of Javed Khan’s passion for Ruth. This movie directed by
Shyam Benegal, with Jennifer Kendal as Mariam, Nafisa Ali as Ruth, Shabana Azmi as Khan-
Begum, and Jennifer’s real-life husband Shashi Kapoor as Javed Khan, is that rare instance
when, a Hindi movie matches the expectations raised by the book, if not betters it. A must
watch for someone who enjoyed the book.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. The story starts with the capture of ............ a small town village in U. P.
2. In ............ Bond went to live in Mussoorie, where he still resides.
3. Bond has written two autobiographies. The first, Scenes from a Writer’s Life, covers the
first twenty-one years of his life and the second book, ............ narrates when Bond returned
to India after a two-year stay in England.

4. Bond fell in love with a ............ .

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