RESPONSE ESSAY 3- Anjali N. Jain

A wonderfully written short story, the title of which made me wonder if the story revolved around a parent who was sorry for himself and ashamed of parenting a child whom he openly dismissed as a fanatic. The beginning pretty much caught my attention; made me extremely curious as to what all the fanaticism being mentioned here was about. Written in third person, the author has done a great job at describing at various stages the changes both, Parvez and Ali, go through. The description enables the reader to visualise every little detail given by the author and also feel the emotions felt by the characters themselves.

As one approaches towards the end of teenage years, they have a mature, different perception of the world all together, when compared to one’s earlier understanding and this, I have experienced myself. This is shown in the story through Ali. As Parvez notices the change in Ali’s behaviour, he takes it positively, as if he were becoming responsible and growing out of the teenage attitude. His room was now becoming tidy; he had developed a sense of cleanliness. But the positive notion doesn’t last long. What gets Parvez worried is Ali throwing out his possessions like his TV, video and sound system, and guitar along with other things. After all, what had Parvez worked so hard for, if not provide for his son all he wanted? Ali was no longer attached to materialistic things, so even if he were to become an accountant with a well paying job, were it of any use? This is not what Parvez worked long hours for in order to pay for his education and receive ungratefulness in return on behalf of his son.

Parvez then turns to fellow Punjabi friends who’re also taxi drivers and Bettina with whom he is having an extra marital affair with, instead of his wife. This might go on to show that there might be some kind of flaw in his wife that Bettina covers up for. As mentioned in the story, Parvez could discuss issues with Bettina, which he wouldn’t with his wife. She is probably modern in terms of her dressing and thinking, while his wife is conservative. Whether his wife is English or not, one cannot say, but she for sure is submissive and inferior in the relationship which is shown through the line, “He ordered her to sit down and keep quiet though she neither stood up nor said a word”. Also, the influence that his friends have on him is also shown. Parvez, without cross checking even once, believes that his son might be drug addict just because his friends say so. He is constantly looking out for hints and signs like the colour of Ali’s eyes, his mood, temperature and would look under the carpet, behind the empty wardrobe and so on.

As mentioned earlier, getting out of the teenage years means having a matured understanding. Ali did not want a social life or happiness that only tangible, materialistic things could give. While on one hand Parvez submitted himself to alcohol, relished eating pork and associated himself to prostitutes, he justified it as “fitting in”. He wanted to adopt the western way of living. On the other hand, Ali cut himself from his social life, gave away or donated his possessions. He found solace in his religion. He spent most of his time in the mosque and prayed five times a day, just as Islam preaches. While the father wanted to fit in, the son wanted to detach and isolate himself. This created a conflict of identity. Both of them wanted to impose their thoughts and ideologies on each other. Parvez wanted western prosperity for his son and Ali was of the opinion that, “Western education cultivates an anti-religious attitude”. Parvez thought that life was to be enjoyed and made the most of, but Ali was of the view that enjoyment was a bottomless pit. Parvez’s distaste towards Islam has its roots in his childhood when he was being taught the Koran. The degrading incident made him step away from all the religions and him, along with his colleagues, made fun of those who believed.

Because of the cultural and identity clash, the relationship between the father-son duo declines and breaks down bit by bit. Ali’s disgust towards his father forces him to speak rudely to Bettina, who is genuinely concerned about him. Parvez’s fear is later disguised into anger for Ali says that he was going to hell for his deeds and he was following Islam for the reward he would receive in paradise. Ali condemns his father’s drinking habits, eating of pork and association to prostitutes for it is forbidden by Islam. He is so smitten by the religion that he goes on to also grow a beard. Islam gives him a sense of belonging that he craves. While Parvez projects his idea of success onto Ali by wishing that he became an accountant and would marry and he settled, Ali wishes to work in prisons with poor Muslim who were struggling to maintain purity in the face of corruption. He would go to any extent to make Islam thrive for the Law of Islam was the rule of the world. Because Parvez’s views are different from his son, he deals with it by the application of violence wherein he aggressively barges into Ali’s room under the influence of alcohol and hits him till his face is bloody.

The short story, which is an interesting one, does address important issues like cultural and identity conflicts that immigrants face, the clash between the religious and western ideologies and also of the urge to belong somewhere. While Parvez belonged to England and enjoyed the freedom, Ali belonged to his Islamic roots. In order to belong somewhere, one might diverge and take a different route, but just because it is different from yours does not mean you can hastily condemn them for the same.