Parsis emigrated from Iran

Reverence for fire – Zoroastrianism

Parsis on the decline – u can’t convert in

Excommunicated if u marry outside of Parsis

British created more divisions – they were given more positions in British raj since they didn’t have caste
systems

Tales from Firozsha Baag – collection of short stories

Double diaspora perspective from Mistri

We get a sense of the community

Post-colonial – Trying to get rid of kerosene stoves, ”The British left seventeen years ago, time for their
stove to go as well” – cricket being played – superstition in Grandma – traditionalist – spinning Kustis

Colonial mindset becomes entrapped in an insidious way that it becomes difficult to uproot

How do we assimilate into a new culture?

Mistri doesn’t resolve it in terms of which is better but just reinstates the conflict

Parents conform to British/western ideals – could be because they held important positions in British
raj and now their status has changed once they left – finding new ways to navigate

Contradictions in the story – to outline conflict

Masculine ideas daddy passes on to son – ‘he had told me to be tough always’

Pride and masculinity goes hand in hand with cricket – protagonist doesn’t show that he is in pain

No name given for protagonist – identity crisis for our protagonist reflected – degree of universality

Youth/bonding/nostalgia associated with cricket – brings together the community of boys and
father/son bonding exercise – replaced with hair tweezing

Viraf’s father--masculinity—doesn’t show weakness – appearances are important – how he is perceived

in community – doestn want to give up apartment

Viraf – doesn’t show emotion—strength and not weakness (whatever their version is) – even though his
eyes are red

Both daddy and protagonist in denial – daddy doesn’t want to admit he is aging – time does not stop for
anyone

All female characters opposed by the men in the story

Mummy spoken in relation with the Kitchen – gender roles set

Women are pragmatist in this story– mamaiji accepts her old age - Mummy upset on daddy spending so
much money on cricket gear- Viraf Mother advising her husband of the ground reality – he cant climb

Daddy is a dreamer on the other hand – men in story don’t listen to the women in their lives

‘The white hair was trapped in the tweezers’ – story begins with white hair and ends with white hair –
only constant factor in life is death

Murphy baby – became very big post-independence – a radio of this company showed you were from a
rich family—iconic product logo

Infant juxtaposed with aging – image of baby—start of story

Calendar is ten years old(relic of past) – but its still being used – being used to cover up the decay of the
house wall – Daddy is not used to owning up to what is happening in the present – temporary
arrangement- paralleled to white hair

Baby remains same age – rest is aging

Expression-idioms used add to authenticity—italicized—personal touch

Run on – long sentences in end – emotion is overflowing

Step forward from his father – he recognizes he can’t stop passage of time but he doesn’t stop showing
a masculine front

Traditional way of upbringing children – men can show their children how to succeed\

DO NOT LOOK
Q) In what ways does Mistri portray the father-son relationship in ‘of White Hairs and
Cricket?’

 His lack of acceptance of aging contrasted with the son’s viewpoint – Mamaiji – has to
show a masculine front
 What is the significance of the impact of the epiphany if internalized only?
 Masculinity
 Divide between old and young- Sunday – not wanting to accept
 Repression of emotions
 Cricket as a means of bonding-lost
 Not willing to accept ‘weakness’- conventional ideas of weakness enrooted in
masculinity
 Traditional way of upbringing children – men can show their children how to succeed
–---Mummy spoken in relation with the kitchen- doesn’t occupy a central role in his
life --gendered roles
 Language – run on + long sentences in the end – emotion is overflowing on part of
reader – vivid imagery
Answer: Since the dawn of independence in the subcontinent in 1947, South Asian cultures
have been dominated by a tussle between traditionalist and post-colonial values, many of
which have resulted in a one-dimensional and repressed growth of South Asian cultures as a
whole: in particular, the development of toxic and internalized masculinity. Mistri’s short story
‘Of White Hairs and Cricket’ aims to analyze the effects of this assimilated culture on the
common Indian man through portraying the relationship of the young Parsi protagonist with his
father and how it progresses over the story. Through the use of literary devices and symbols,
changes in language and tone over the course of the story, epiphanies, and the development of
characters, Mistri aims to pose the central question to the reader: ‘Is the suppression of
emotion and rational thought as a result of pre-conditioned shows of masculinity imposed by
society a sustainable outcome for the healthy and positive emotional growth of the mass
Indian population?’
First and foremost, the short story presents the protagonist as a young child, probably in his
pre-pubescent stages while the father has been presented as an aging man with ‘white hair,’
which is a central symbol in the play. It is also pertinent to note that in South Indian cultures, it
is considered the norm that only men can show their children how to succeed while the women
in the lives of the children are relegated to the ‘Kitchen’ and strictly defined gendered roles. In
this story, it is no different and the father has been presented as the conventional head of the
family; it is he who aims to provide for the household and handles the upbringing of his child,
the protagonist, while the Mother works day and night in the Kitchen, ‘where the Primus roared
and her dreams where extinguished.’ Delving more into the role of the father as a guide to
success for the protagonist, we see this particularly at multiple moments. Not only does the
father build concepts of ‘bravery’ and ‘strength’ in the protagonist’s mind, such as when he
commends him for blocking an extremely fast cricket ball with his shin (a cause of immense
pain for the protagonist), but he also affirms to his son that there is no ‘future’ in India and that
he will send him abroad. This offers us a lot of insight into the father’s character and his
relationship with his son. ‘As I would have done’ when commending his son’s actions indicates
that showing a strong front to the rest of the world and being ‘tough’ – a common masculine
idea- is a main injunction that he has bred into his son something which to the reader appears
morally incorrect since the protagonist experienced pain which ‘nearly made his eyes overflow’
as a result of blocking the ball. Not only that, but the irony in the situation is revealed since the
father is the one who does not show a tough front when his son pulls out his white hairs and
exclaims in pain, something which surprises his son as well, which goes to show how far the
ideas of masculinity have been indoctrinated in his mindset.
It also appears ironic in the sense that the father is the one who is not able to find a mere job to
support the family (and his advising his son to go abroad) and his dreamlike/ purposely hopeful
attitude in this sense also becomes a front which he has taught his son, another aspect of the
holistic indoctrination to never show ‘weakness.’ But Mistri constantly involves the reader in
this scenario and makes them question whether the things which are ‘weaknesses’ for the
protagonist’s father and the society as a whole are weaknesses at all. After all, not admitting
that he cannot get a job on part of the father would not keep the family entrapped in the naïve
hope of a better future, which is referenced by Mistri as ‘Harbingers of hope that ended in
disappointment and frustration.’ However, this attitude is mirrored in the son as well, who
refuses to tweeze more of the white hairs of his father and doesn’t recant since ‘it was a matter
of pride. You always did what you said what you were going to do.” We see that the sentiment
is there, that the son feels guilty at disappointing his father but these emotions remain
internalized and it is the societal norm which ends up manifesting itself in both the father and
the son, which is the fundamental thesis of internalized and toxic masculinity. An ironic element
is that the father’s face ‘was like Mamaiji’s when the thread broke and slipped through her
fingers,’ when his son refuses to tweeze his hairs, which is laughable since the values of pride
and strength are exactly what he has been instilling in him. This comes to show that the societal
norms and dictions are not healthy for the positive emotional development of tangible
relationships such as that of a father and son as seen here. Suppression of emotion is also
something that has been instilled in the son by his father as seen in the reference to the cricket
ball. What is alarming about this aspect is that an emotional indifference has been ingrained
into the son in all situations, regardless of whether he in society or even his household such as
when the son feels like hugging his father, ‘but we never did except on birthdays.’ Even after
the son’s epiphany in the end, when he feels guilty beyond measure and wants to serve his
father, he cannot do so since his father does not ask him and his pride and internalized
masculinity does not allow him to go up and offer his help to his father. This is reinforced by the
dialog of the son “Something-remorse, maybe just pity – stirred inside, but I quashed it
without finding out. All my friends had fathers whose hair was greying.”
Cricket has also been presented as the main source of bonding between the father and son as
shown in the above references but it too is eventually lost. It is important to understand why
the cricket ground is one of the fondest memories of the protagonist involving his father. It is
commonly said that when playing, all masks come off a person and in this scenario, the mask of
masculinity comes off of the father in the mind of the son who has becomes one and the same
with him. However, it is also a point where their relationship diverges as highlighted by the fact
that the father now no longer takes his son and his friends to play cricket after his moment of
epiphany in the cricket ground that he cannot catch up with the young children any more.
However, the extent of this epiphany can be questioned since if he had a complete realization,
he would have no problem taking the children for cricket and sitting on the side but he would
rather not take the children and confront his conundrum which is just another facet of his
inability to accept weaknesses. Thus, in his inability to accept his aging factor, he has taken
away ‘the things I held dear’ for his son and thus is not able to play his role as a good father.
Moving on, it is pertinent to note that while the former’s approach to life is still one
dimensional with ideas of life and death being beyond, the latter is approaching the final stages
of his life and is becoming closer to death in every passing moment which is shown by the
‘white hairs’ which represent the unassailable passage of time. In context, we see that this is
the point where the way of thinking of both the father and the son truly diverges. While the
father is determined to not accept the passage of time and his declining youth since doing so
would be accepting his weakness, we see a resignation on part of the son at the end of the
story that he cannot stop the passage of time and is ‘powerless’ to stop his father’s white hairs,
which is a step forward in actuality from the conundrum in which his father was trapped in.
The role of language is extremely important in allowing us as the reader to gauge the
transformation in the relationship of the father and son over the course of the story. Initially,
when the masculine point of view is the only influence on the son, we see a lack of superlatives
and vivid imagery for representation of emotions. Instead words like ‘avoiding’, ‘quashed’,
‘stirred’, ‘pretended,’ have been used to indicate the lack of emotional upbringing of the son
who also narrates in a linear point of view. However, this diverges towards the end where the
internal epiphany of the child that he cannot stop the passage of time and his father’s eventual
demise tends to change the tone and the type of imagery used. Rushed, run on and long
sentences are used in contrast to the lines of relatively stable length and emotional meter to
indicate the emotional instability and the bombardment of emotions on the son. Superlatives
and vivid/dark imagery start to come into play, such as ‘shudder’ and ‘glinted pitilessly’, ‘glinted
cruelly,’ which can be related to the harsh realization of the son. A desperateness enters the
tone in the third last paragraph when he wishes that his father asks him to tweeze his hair