Made and prepared by

Aitzaz Khalid
About the author

Qaisra Shahraz is one writer who has made the Muslim voice heard, and who has helped to
establish the foundations of a modern British-Muslim literature movement. Even though
many of her works “deal with Pakistan’s rural life with special focus on women’s situation” it
may not be correct to characterise her simply “as a regional novelist”, because her role in
debunking the myths surrounding Muslim women has international relevance, not just to
Pakistan. In one of her responses below, Shahraz explains why she should be taken globally.

Qaisra Shahraz embodies plurality on many levels. Her childhood memories of growing up in
Pakistan connect her to the three cities of Lahore, Gujrat and Faisalabad, and then, since the
age of 9, Manchester. Since she moved to Britain with her parents she has remained a true
Mancunian. Thus, together with her childhood memories of Pakistan, both the East and West
(specifically Pakistan and Britain) pervade and influence her writing.

Shahraz studied English and European Literature at the University of Manchester and
Scriptwriting at the University of Salford. A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a
member of the Royal Society of Literature, Shahraz is a writer, education consultant, college
and university inspector, teacher trainer, journalist and scriptwriter. She manages to shuttle
between some of these careers on a regular basis and gives almost equal attention to them
without compromising her role as a wife and mother. An active member of the Faith Network
4 Manchester and a trustee of the Manchester Multifaith Centre, Shahraz is deeply engaged in
social and community activities including interfaith dialogue. Thus her writing career is
enmeshed with social and educational activism and is distinguished by wisdom culled from
these experiences.

The inclusion of her short story “A Pair of Jeans” in the anthology Holding Out: Short Stories
by Women (1988) marked her literary debut, and since then she has been anthologised in
other collections. It was in 2001 that she finally gained international recognition as an
important writer of literary and social interest with the publication of her acclaimed novel,
The Holy Woman. Regarded both as a prequel and sequel to The Holy Woman, her second
novel, Typhoon, was published in 2003. The year 2013 saw the publication of her third novel
Revolt and of A Pair of Jeans and Other Stories, a collection of her short stories written over
two decades. The following exchange with Qaisra Shahraz is meant to inform the reader
more about her thoughts, ideas and writing career.
Short Introduction to the Story

A Pair of Jeans was originally a short story published in 1998 and was Qaisra Shahraz's
literary debut. After receiving great critical acclaim, it now appears as a set text in colleges
and schools in Germany. It is narrated in the third person by an omniscient narrator. It is
divided into three settings: first from Miriam’s way from picnic to her home, second, house
of Begum and Ayub and third again Miriam’s home. All characters of the story are Pakistani
based UK residents. Its central focus is the dress, “jeans and boots” of Miriam, a Pakistani
British Muslim girl. She is introduced as a college student whose character is delineated by
the author as an amalgamation of different values and beliefs (Eastern and Western values).
At the outset, she is shown as engaged with Farooq, a Pakistani British man whose parents
break their engagement without any solid reason.

When Miriam, a young Muslim woman of Pakistani background, comes back from a hiking
tour with her university friends, she arrives home at the same moment as her future in-
Laws, who are paying a visit. They look in horror at her Western-style clothes, and instead of
discussing the details of the wedding with Miriam`s parents, leave as soon as possible. On
arriving home, the in-laws discuss whether Miriam would be an appropriate wife for their
son. They decide against Miriam and cancel the engagement the next day.

Critical Analysis

A Pair of Jeans” by Qaisra Shahraz is a short story based on how a person’s dressing/clothing
can change peoples’ perception of them and cause a major impact on different aspects of their
life.

This story shows how ‘a pair of jeans’ the symbol of westernization in Pakistan as well as the
Muslim society abroad. In Eastern countries especially Islamic states, the western world is
seen as unscrupulous, with a lower moral code with indecent lifestyle totally opposite to that
of the traditionally rich culture of their forefathers.

In this passage the author depicts the dilemma of the Eastern females living abroad who are
born there and in order to amalgamate in that country adopt their clothing styles, considering
it to be more practical for every day. However, when the females are in their social gatherings
for instance holidays, weddings, funerals and other events they wear the traditional clothing
of Pakistani females such as shalwar kameez, lehenga, sharara, saree etc. This is due to the
insistence of the old generation of parents who originally migrated from their home country
to the western countries such as Britain or USA and expect their female family members of
having the traditional views of their original homeland despite the females being born and
raised in abroad and may never even have visited their parent country.
Similarly the main female character, Miriam makes such a small blunder as she wears jeans
and tank top for treading along with her friends in an outing on the same day her future
in-laws are visiting. Miriam had planned to arrive early at home to change her clothes to a
more traditional garb before her in-law’s arrival but she ends up getting late coming home
and her future in-laws see her in the western attire consisting of tight jeans and a short tank
top which bears the flesh of her waist. Also, the lack of a Mehram (any close male family
member) accompanying her at such a late hour in the evening ends in her future in-laws
misconstruing her as being an ultra-modern, independent western female and hence decide to
break off the wedding because they want a more traditional daughter-in-law for their son,
Fawad. Miriam who had been looking forward to the final stages of the wedding preparations
and planning a life with her future husband is heartbroken and concludes that her jeans are
responsible for creating this havoc in her life.

Thus this passage beautifully yet realistically depicts a dilemma for Pakistani females
especially those living abroad as their family, in-laws and the Pakistani society want them to
be what they deem as traditional Pakistani females and free of western influence in their
dressing, lifestyle and mindset.

I believe that the main character’s carelessness, as well as her lack of being fully truthful to
her future in-laws, caused the whole misunderstanding as she herself portrayed herself to be a
fully orthodox Pakistani female. I also think that even though the ‘pair of jeans’ is the symbol
of westernization and is held responsible for the whole situation in this passage, the real
reasons were the lack of any male family member accompanying her at such a late hour and it
was actually the main character’s short tank top that bared her waist which was the bigger
taboo; as it is shown that her future in-laws could understand the practicality of university
students wearing jeans but baring of skin especially the belly area was intolerable. Baring of
skin is considered to be highly offensive and intolerable in Eastern countries both Islamic and
even in some non-Islamic states. Also, the fact that the main character herself was highly
aware of it and uncomfortable wearing it means that if she knew what she is wearing is not
acceptable and is objectionable then she should have avoided wearing it, could have covered
it with something longer or worn something else altogether but she didn’t.

I conclude with that the passage shows that clothing matters a lot and how people and society
are fixated on a person’s clothing to perceive that individual’s personality and character and
how if the clothing is different in another situation the peoples’ perception of that individual
will be different altogether so one should always be careful what they choose to wear.

Structure of the plot

After a very short introduction of the main character and the main theme of the
impact/influence of clothing, the plot heads straight for its first climax, namely the
accidental encounter at the gate.

This creates sufficient confusion and anxiety among all the participants to keep the tension
high for the rest of the story.
There are two different narrative centres, Miriam and that of Ayub and Begum, the narrative
sections are fairly equally divided.
A second climax is placed towards the ending when Begum is breaking the news of the
broken engagement to Fatima which causes Miriam`s and Fatima`s emotional collapse and
leads to the two endings.
The two versions of the ending involve the reader actively in the reading process: the reader
is invited to make a choice between two solutions and thus participate in the creative process
of imagining a probable or possible outcome. As both endings are rather open, the
readers may be invited to come up with a third or fourth ending.

Themes

1. Impact/influence of clothing
2. Cultural clash/traditional values (the clash between East and West).
3. Patriarchal society

Impact/influence of clothing

The action starts in the story when Miriam glanced the time on her wristwatch and exclaimed
that she was late. Her action of glancing time paves way for her quick reaction. She gets
restless and speedy for her home and anxiously provides order to her order-less dress. On the
way home, she desires not to meet with any of her acquaintances. Her swiftness for her home
and her stressed condition create suspense in the reader’s mind who also becomes swift and
speedy to get further knowledge about the restlessness of Miriam. Then, just after reaching
the main door of her home, she hears a siren of a car behind her and “looks back to see who it
is?” (ibid, p.157). She sees two persons (a man and a woman) in the car. On looking at the
persons, she lost all her confidence. “Her step flattered, colour ebbed from her face” (ibid,
p.158). These actions alarm the readers that something bad is going to happen with Miriam.
But suddenly, quite the reverse, she restores her self-confidence but still regrets to be too late
for her home. Her restoration of self-confidence pacifies the reader who feels that s/he has
himself/herself lost his/her senses with Miriam. These persons are in reality the guests of
Miriam. Earlier than Miriam could speak anything, the two guests surveyed her shrunk vest
under the unbuttoned jacket with tight jeans-clad. They become uncertain and feel as she is a
stranger for them. When she salutes them, they ignore her salutation and even avoid their eye
contact with Miriam (ibid, p.158). These circumstances make the reader attentive to know the
reason behind their vagueness. However, Miriam knocks her house door and encounters her
mother Fatima. Fatima shocks at an unexpected entry of her daughter with her guests.
Miriam’s suspicious figure: her dressing, especially her half an inch naked midriff, and her
late arrival, makes Fatima a raging storm and she “communicates her displeasure and signals
her daughter with her eyebrows to go up and changing into something respectable” (ibid,
p.159). In response, Miriam quickly does whatever she is directed. After a few minutes,
Miriam returns in “blue crepe Salwar Kameez '' with a long dupatta around her shoulders.
Her look attracts the “four pair of eyes' ' towards her who compares her past appearance in
tight jeans and short vest to her present feature in Salwar Kameez (ibid, p.160). This change
in Miriam’s personality with the change in her dressing not only attracts the guest but it also
has a good effect on the reader’s mind. The reader here realizes that Miriam’s present
appearance is somehow acceptable for her mother and her guests. Now the suspense
increases, when Fatima asks Miriam to bring some refreshment for her guests while they
(guests), in response, leave their host without eating anything (ibid, p.161). These actions and
reactions make a contradictory atmosphere for the reader.

Further, when Ayub and Begum, the names of two mentioned guests and future in-laws of
Miriam, return to their home and Ayub asks her wife, Begum,“I thought you told me that she
was very sharp … Was that naked waist you call modest?”. This critical statement gives way
to the inner storm of Ayub who then ironizes Miriam’s dressing, her morality, her rebellious
personality by declaring her a “modern girl”. He unexpectedly remarks “what if she has a
boyfriend already”. in the end when Begum makes a phone call to Fatima and breaks
Miriam’s engagement with her son. They (parents-in-law) are extremists and
Miriam’s wildness compels them to do so. Miriam was aware of their psyche and then she
was worried about her dress that was awkward for them and finally it brought disaster in her
life. In this case, the story can be categorized as a tragedy in which Miriam’s dreams are
broken.

First of all the title, A pair of Jeans has some connotative significance in the story. It
denotatively refers to simply a dress but connotatively it undermines the innocence of
Miriam. Her father-in-law grunts about her as “Huh!’… Sharif! Dressed like that!” (ibid,
p.162). In this way, her dress (jeans and short vest) implicitly refers to her immorality,
anti-religious (anti-Muslimism) feelings, modernity, and her feminist rather rebellious nature.
Shamsie states that Miriam’s “boots and jeans symbolize all that is…decadent and rotten”
(2007, p. xii). This symbolical presentation of her article proves ironic in her life. Finally the
The narrator remarks: “the shabby and much-worn pair of jeans lay at the foot of the bed,
blissfully unaware of the havoc it had created in the life of its wearer” (ibid, p.168).

Cultural clash/traditional values (the clash between East and West).

The plot and the characters altogether develop the theme of the cultural clash. Pakistani
people love their culture and Islamic principle and if anyone rebels against their established
rules in the name of modernism so they break their relationship with them as Begum breaches
the engagement of Miriam and Farook.
The story encompasses the world from all directions especially Western and Eastern beliefs
and thoughts are enriched in it. Here, the characters of the story appear in different dresses
that provide the knowledge of different cultures. Jeans and short vest refers to Western
fashion. Western women commonly wear these dresses either at their home or out of the
home. Then shalwar kameez and chadar, a dupatta, and shawl are the examples of Muslim
dresses. Muslim women mostly wear long dresses to cover their body and wear dupatta for
more respects. They wear chadar or shawl when they go outside. Likewise, the “chiffon sari”
refers to Indian culture. Davidson and Seaton remark that sari is a “Hindustani dress”. It is a
single long piece wrapped around the body that covers over the head too. Miriam’s love for
an outing, her free celebration with her college friends either male or female, her late arrival
at home even at “11 O'clock” at night are the references to the Western society where parents
give full freedom to their mature children to enjoy their lives according to their own wishes.
The word “walaikumassalam” is a reply to Assalam o Alaikum. It is an Arabic word.
Assalam o Alaikum implies “may God keep you safe and sound” and “Wa-Alaikum Assalam
'' refers to “may God keep you safe and sound too”. It is a Muslim salutation. Muslims in the
whole world greet one another by these courtesies. There are a few typical ideas such as
“docile, obedient, and sweet” used for daughters-in-law. These qualities refer to the Eastern
rather Pakistani and Indian daughters-in-law who always subdue themselves before their
husbands and his family members. There is a reference to “mehndi party”. It is an amazing
and sensible ritual of Indian and Pakistani marriage ceremony in which
The bride’s hands and feet are adorned with mehndi (henna). Likewise, the word “begum” is
derived from “begam”, a Hindi and Urdu word. It is a respectable title familiar in Pakistani
and Indian society which is particularly used for a Muslim woman of high rank. The
sentence, “after twenty-five years of marriage she could read him like a book” is clotted with
the chronological reference of Begum’s marriage. Begum was married to Ayub twenty-five
years before. The visit of Miriam’s parents-in-law to her house and their meeting with her
mom, Fatima, is a reference of Pakistani and Indian culture where parents of the engaged
girls and boys arrange several meetings to understand the families of one another.

Patriarchal society

The independent decision of Begum and Ayub for their son Farook concerning his marriage
is another example of Pakistani and Indian Patriarchal system where parents have complete
authority to select or reject the life partner of their children according to their own wishes.
Mostly their marriages are called arranged marriage in which they do not consult their
children.