A Suitable Boy(609)

Deeply disturbed, he mentioned to Saeeda Bai some of the things that were on his mind. He could not understand how he had obtained either Rasheed’s hatred or his conditional forgiveness. The image of Rasheed and his wild imaginings would haunt Maan for weeks.

Saeeda Bai, for her part, became so concerned about Tasneem’s safety that she summoned the watchman and told him that under no circumstances was Tasneem’s old Arabic teacher to be admitted to the house. When Maan mentioned Rasheed’s belief that there was a plot to marry him against his will to the infatuated Tasneem, Saeeda Bai indignantly and with disgust in her voice read out a part of one of Rasheed’s letters, which certainly gave Maan the impression that the overwhelming weight of passion was on Rasheed’s side. He had written to Tasneem that he wanted to bury his face in the clouds of her hair and so on and so forth. Even his handwriting, about which he used to be so particular, had regressed to a scrawl under the force of his feelings. The letter, to judge from the excerpt that Saeeda Bai read, was alarming. When he added to this the whole bizarre conception of a plot with all its conditions and ramifications, about which Saeeda Bai had until then been ignorant, Maan could not help sympathizing with her agitation, her inability to concentrate on anything else – on music, on him, on herself. He tried in vain to distract her. So vulnerable did she seem to him that he longed to take her in his arms – but he sensed that hers was a volatile and explosive vulnerability and that he would be hurtfully rebuffed.

‘If there is anything I can do at any time,’ he told her, ‘you have only to send for me. I don’t know what to do or what to advise. I will be in Rudhia District, but they will keep track of me at the Nawab Sahib’s house.’ Maan did not mention Prem Nivas because Saeeda Bai was no longer persona grata there.

Saeeda Bai’s face became pale.

‘The Nawab Sahib has promised to assist my father’s campaign,’ Maan explained.

‘Poor girl, poor girl,’ said Saeeda Bai softly. ‘O God, what a world this is. Go now, Dagh Sahib, and may God keep you.’

‘Are you sure –’

‘Yes.’

‘I will not be able to think of anything but you, Saeeda,’ said Maan. ‘At least give me a smile before I leave.’

Saeeda Bai gave him a smile, but her eyes were still sad. ‘Listen, Maan,’ she said, addressing him by his name, ‘think of many things. Never place your happiness in one person’s power. Be just to yourself. And even if I am not invited to sing at Holi in Prem Nivas, come here and I will sing for you.’

‘But Holi is more than three months away,’ said Maan. ‘Why, I will see you in less than three weeks.’ Saeeda Bai nodded. ‘Yes, yes,’ she said absently. ‘That’s right, that’s quite right.’ She shook her head slowly a couple of times and closed her eyes. ‘I don’t know why I am so tired, Dagh Sahib. I don’t even feel like feeding Miya Mitthu. God keep you in safety.’





17.5


THE electorate of Salimpur-cum-Baitar consisted of 70,000 people, about half Hindu and half Muslim.

Apart from the two smallish towns included in its name, the constituency encompassed over a hundred villages, including the twin villages of Sagal and Debaria where Rasheed’s family lived. It was a single member constituency: only one candidate would be elected to the Legislative Assembly by the voters. Ten candidates in all were standing: six represented parties, and four were Independents. Of the former, one was Mahesh Kapoor, the Minister of Revenue, who was the candidate for the Indian National Congress. Of the latter, one was Waris Mohammad Khan, the candidate who had been put up as a dummy by the Nawab Sahib of Baitar in case his friend did not get the Congress ticket or chose not to stand or bowed out of the race for some reason or other.

Waris was delighted to be a candidate, even though he knew that he would be expected to throw his weight as actively as possible behind Mahesh Kapoor. Just the look of his name on the list of validly nominated candidates outside the office of the Returning Officer made him smile with pride. Khan came just below Kapoor in the list, which was arranged in the order of the English alphabet. Waris thought this significant: the two allies could almost be paired together by a bracket. Though everyone knew what his function in the election was, the fact that he was present on the same list as some of the better-known citizenry of the district – indeed, of the state – gave Waris a certain standing at the Fort. The munshi continued to order him about, but more cagily than before. And when Waris chose not to obey, he had the ready excuse that he was busy with election work.