Aakriti Pant

B.A. (Hons.) English

2406

Modern Indian Writing in English Translation

Dr. Mukesh Kr Bairva

Would you agree that Ismat Chughtai's "The Quilt”?

is a lesbian story?
My disagreement arises with what rightly ‘lesbian’ and ‘lesbianism’ uphold.

Firstly, I’d like to clarify the idea of what sexual orientation is. What being lesbian means and
how the ideology/ movement /orientation lesbianism operates.
Sexual orientation is the emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction that a person feels toward
another person.

People who are homosexual are romantically and physically attracted to people of the same sex:
Females who are attracted to other females are lesbian; males who are attracted to other males
are often known as gay. Being interested in someone of the same sex does not necessarily mean
that a person is gay — just as being interested in someone of the opposite sex doesn't mean a
person is straight.

Lesbianism includes the many forms of primary intensity between and among women including
the sharing of a rich inner life, the bonding against male tyranny, giving and receiving of
practical and political support, marriage resistance and reluctance to yield to wooing. It's an act
of 'women bonding '. Beyond the idea of 'compulsory heterosexuality'. Arguing this thus
becomes like arguing if a venereal heterosexual relationship is necessarily a love story?

The story was written in 1941 and published in 1942 in Adab-e-latif. It brought immediate
notoriety since the themes were not just a taboo but something that was never acknowledged in
existence. Chugtai argued (I) Female sexuality foregrounding the sexual needs of a woman
(II) An alternative sexuality rather than a conventional one. She wrote about sex explicitly when
it was a matter of 'whispers' in the 'band kamro ki chaar deewari'. It was a frontal attack on a self-
absorbed world. Chugtai had a potent desire to bring out into open the unspeakable realities of
the hypocritical society where people turned a blind eye conveniently.
Quoting her "I detest the wailing, spineless women giving birth to bastards and detest the
faithful, sentimental wives with exemplary values. Girls committing suicide, crying their hearts
out or begging for love from their lovers are taboo in my books “(Manushi 1983)

It was the contemporary controversies and the subject matter that misled people to believe or
read "The Quilt " as a lesbian story. Also, neither the second wave of feminism had fully
emerged back then and nor was Chugtai familiar with lesbianism as the sexual orientation
backed by the political framework. The political dimension central to lesbians, lesbianism was
evidently missing, clearing the air that neither of the characters were self-conscious lesbians.
Since lesbianism like feminism constitutes a political struggle. For her it was simply a child's
description of something she can't fully understand. The narrative is a real-life episode of Nawab
Swale Khan of Aligarh who himself was homosexual. Highlighting the real-life Begum jaan's
tension and desperation in the absence of love beneath the silver lining of worldly comforts.

There was nothing beyond the principle attainment of pleasure prowess for Begum jaan.

The story takes us into a flashback from the narrator's childhood whilst she was a nine-year-old
girl. Re-stating the title, the narrator describes how whenever she's in touch with a quilt "its
shadow on the wall seem to sway like an elephant. She associates in with a 'labyrinth', calling it a
'rather uncomfortable' and not a romantic tale. Highlighting the fact that lesbianism isn't the issue
but it's reception or lack of understanding in her psychological memory and the way it was
actually introduced to her as a concept/ feeling/ idea /possession is. "Does not caste Shadows as
terrifying as the quilt dancing on the wall"
The childhood memory had been etched in the narrator's memory as a psychological quotient.
"like the scar left by a Black Smith's brand ".
Which reminds me of Toni Morrison's characteristic description of a 'scar' from "Beloved",
"resembling the trunk of a tree with its branches "

Withdrawing from the memory the narrator transcends how and why Begum Jaan had resorted to
the ideals of 'Sexual gratification’, 'Sexual expediency' as the catalyst of all her relationships with
a lack of allegiance. As if there were no terms of preference but just sexual prowess. Begum jaan
who had been married to a homosexual husband, whose interest in firm-calved, supple wasted
boys, in perfumed flimsy shirts had left her "hauled over burning embers". While she was "the
frail beautiful Begum wasted away in anguished loneliness". After compensating efforts of
wooing her uninterested husband back, heartbroken, she turned to books. The romantic novels
were no relief to her "the sentimental verse depressed her more " and instead added up-to her
longing for love, human touch and attachment. She was a prisoner in the house which made her
redundant sexual concerns a source of entertainment for herself. Her potent female sexuality and
unawareness of the world made her self-centered and pleasure oriented. Where Rabbu's special
oil massage rescued her from the fall, highlighting the raw element of eroticism rising in an
untouched human body longing for its attainment. Her "body began to fill out", "cheeks began to
glow", the special oil massage had brought the "half-dead" Begum Jaan back to life. The narrator
mocked the cosmopolitan with her appraisal of the "recipe for the oil".
As much as the oil massages made her feel better, the "persistent itch" was yet unfulfilled.

During the teen years, people often find themselves having sexual thoughts and attractions. For
some, these feelings and thoughts can be intense and seem confusing. That can be especially true
for people who have romantic or sexual thoughts about someone who is the same sex they are.
Being interested in someone of the same sex does not necessarily mean that a person is
gay/lesbian — just as being interested in someone of the opposite sex doesn't mean a person is
straight. It's common for teens to be attracted to or have sexual thoughts about people of the
same sex and the opposite sex. It's one way of sorting through emerging sexual feelings.

Exactly what was happening with the nine-year-old narrator, who was fascinated by her looks
and felt like sitting beside her in admiration. She beautifies Begum Jaan's description and holds a
vivid remark about her lips. In her thoughts "sometimes her face seemed to changed shape under
my gaze and looked though it were the face of a young boy". Which also highlights how the pre-
conceived notions of human sexuality, the conditioning the right sexual orientation of whom to
feel attracted to and whom not had made her reception a gender role conflict whilst it was simply
the fickleness of teenage emotions. She felt a strong sense of jealousy against Rabbu, called her
"Ugly woman" and "Heated iron ". At times she could hardly bear it. Yet she was unaware/
disgusted by the idea of "touch" or what "sexual pleasure" would do to her. A rather socially
conditioned notion of upbringing as she was an already rebellious child living in a conflict. "if
anyone were to touch my body so often, I would certainly rot to death"
Thus, all the sexual activities in her presence in the room made her uncomfortable. As Begum
Jaan settled for her when Rabbu went away for a while, it made her "jittery ", " terrified ", "too
nervous ".

When Begum Jaan made a pass at her she "tried to protest ", "felt very uncomfortable ", "wanted
to run away, but she held her tightly ". The act was a forced, choking revulsion, the worst
punishment. As Begum Jaan was "pressing her" she could neither scream nor cry. Just yearned in
anguish for her mother, felt like running away into the street. The whole act was clearly an
assault. Making the point of sexual pleasure and not lesbianism evident again. She was not
indulged with women as a protest against her objectification by Nawab Sahib but rather for her
own agenda. She had no allegiance for her partners, a man / woman didn't matter as long as her
spasms were fulfilled.

And for Rabbu she was a victim of an unmindful, ostracizing society. Any importance by Begum
Jaan made her oppressed self-feel important enough in the society where she was constantly
opprobriumated otherwise.

In my conclusion lastly, I'd like to draw a comparison with "Call me by your name ". Beyond
gender bias the novel explores the beauty of homosexual relationships, how beyond the sexual
plurality, a man-man, a woman-woman relationship is a complex subject and not just an agenda
of pleasure. It's a matter of consent and acceptance both. Thus, re-authorizing my negation of
"The Quilt "as a lesbian text.