Submitted to:Miss Humaira Subject:Pak Literature

Submitted by:Ayesha Butt Class:MA 3-Mor

Analysis of “Monsson Wedding” by Taufiq Rafat

The poem MOONSOON WEDDING by Taufiq Rafat is a profound manifestation of the problems and
mentality of rural mob in Pakistan,amid a wedding,a monsoon rain or a wedding in monsoon rain, as the
title suggests.He has skillfully juxtaposed the two ideas to unveil the grim realities and peculiarities of
our Pakistani wedding culture.

By employing free verse Rafat has construced different perspectives through the personal
reflections as he attempts to delineate the wedding environment amid heavy monsoon fall. A link seems
to be being made between the risks offered by the river and by the marriage. This poem strikingly
depicts our classic conservative thinking who blame bride for this natural uninvited guest(rain), if there
is raining on her wedding. as it narrates a proverb directly linked toPakistani culture as whosoever licks
the pots while eating meals brings a lot of rain on her wedding day and the same proverb is echoed by
almost every narrator: the bride’s mother admits this fact.The girl has been licking too many pots

Different characters are present with different judgments on bride, wedding and dowry. Everyone
looks confused; bride, groom, bride’s mother, groom’s father and ferryman.It is a satire on traditional
marriages in Pakistan for which people have shaped certain concepts, ideas and they are totally imbued
with them. Actually, it mimics traditional Pakistani weddings.

Poem starts with a tender and weak voice of bride’s mother, who is confused and worried about her
daughter to whom she is sending in a different house with different residents, to her which is a cold
house among strangers and she don’t know how they will treat her.But she cannot do anything as it is a
natural phenomenon. She thinks her ‘the shy one’, because she lacks self-confidence. She represents
the typical rural young girls who lack broader vision of world and people, due to the curbs of their
elders. Even they are not provided the right to choose their spouse according to their own will.

In Pakistan dowry is the principal issue for woman, this poem clearly portrays people desire for heavy
dowry, even groom is found to be stucked up into his own fantacies and contemplations despite getting
a life partner.Verb ‘gloats ‘depicts the greedy animal nature of the husband who will forgive the petty
dowry if the bride’s appearance comes up to the expectations of the bridegroom.'' If her face matches
her hands' clearly depicts the desire of a fair toned woman of our society’s man.

Another materialistic approach is reflected through the desires of the in laws to have ‘a couple of oxen’
in order to cross the brown muddled river and the swampy lands around it. In this ruthless situation
groom’s father still care about dowry and thinks that they had specified everything just for her use only
a cot, a tiny trunk and a looking-glass

It is true that our people desire to get something purposeful which may give them more wealth. Besides
he is blaming bride for all hurdles happening there. Our society doesn’t bother that a full-fledged lady is
going to be their family member and she will be there to serve them and manage their house. But they
needs objective things to full their houses which is sorrowful situation and strictly against our
religion.Poet is presenting the attitudes expressed by the male characters in it as patriarchal and
chauvinist.

Meanwhile when everybody is heading towards their homes, the bride in her palanquin is drenched due
to its water leaking roof, another perturbation in her mind is her apprehensive rumination about her
husband, she thinks, “what sort of man is my husband? Symbolically,the palankeen can be seen as a
coffin, carried as it is by "bearers" and whole situation of bride can be depicted as her outset to an
eternal miserable life.

Final stanzas remindes us of the dangers of the journey, because "The light is poor, and the paths
treacherous.People face difficulty while going back to their homes due to swampy path. Another major
problem of our people is their fixed ideas about incidents, they never bother time in our marriages; they
think that no one should care about time during these occasions. But nature never awaits anyone.They
stride to evade themselves from getting muddled and while crossing river water seeps into boat and
bride has to face this without any objection, because in our culture it is very disgraceful if bride claims or
even laugh, coy bride is truly bedded at last .

The brown river and the predicaments while going homes symbolize the unpredictable problems lying in
the future nuptial life of the bride.During the cross,the boat of wedding party is caught up in the
frowning waves of river( due to excessive and prolonged rain)and throws passengers and luggage
aside.A happy morning outset ironically ended in most tragic ways at the cost of lives and longings. Here
one thing which is more noticeable is flood,symbolic to sweeping of the arrange marriage traditions
which has been erased by the sudden explosion of modernism. Everyone dies in flood, meeting with the
ends they thought of in sexual and economic perspectives, cancelling all the human success and dignity.