In his magnum opus Twilight in Delhi, Ahmed Ali, one of the leading figures in Progressive Writers Movement, seems to be reconstructing Indian Muslim culture as a commodity to be consumed by the west. Ali takes his readers into a journey of the Orient with its decadent society, its kite and pigeon flying sessions, its zenanas and lovelorn males and females. The Orient which has been created by Ali is not a land of magnificence and charm but is a land of lost glory and fading lustre. The novel begins with darkness and ends with the same erasing and obliterating all the possibilities of hope for the future.
Delhi as the Defeated City
There are many instances in the novel where the colonial Delhi has been associated with gloom, death and darkness but one image that stays and lingers on is that of Delhi being compared with a “beaten dog”: “Like a beaten dog it has curled its tail between its legs, and lies lifeless in the night as an acknowledgement of defeat” (Ali 2010:6).
Women as the ‘Other’
Ahmad Ali has portrayed the women of the novel as the ‘other’ --- the ‘other’ whom Ali hardly knows about, women who live and die within the four walls of their houses. Twilight abounds with female characters but most of them are on the verge of mental breakdown and are leading a life of suffocation, pain and agony. Bilqeece is introduced for the first time in Asghar’s dream --- as an object of desire and not as an individual in her own right.
The Character of Mir Nihal
Ahmed Ali’s fascination for the character of Mir Nihal is very visible in the kind of praise with which he sketches the character. Mir Nihal is portrayed in the novel as the guardian of the age old traditions who doesn’t allow his son to go to Aligarh Muslim University for his education. But Mir Nihal simply fails to ponder over his own actions and aberrations --- his relationship with Babban Jan and the hint in the novel of his own involvement with Dilchain, the maid of the house.
Urdu Language and Culture
On several occasions in the novel Ahmed Ali has shown his concern for the Urdu language. But by associating the language with a decadent social order perhaps Ali has pronounced an untimely death for a rich language. Ahmed Ali’s choice of language in writing his novel is not only significant but is an intelligent step to ensure wider readership and helps him to arrive at the international scenario.
The novel professes to engage itself with the issues regarding the onslaught of British Empire and the erosion of the identity of Delhi, its culture and language. On the contrary Twilight fails to capture the imagination of Indian Muslims and the Urdu speaking populace but manages to fetch critical acclaim from the western writers as it showcases Delhi, shorn of its glory, on the verge of decay.
Works Cited
- Ali, Ahmed. Twilight in Delhi. New Delhi: Rupa & Co, 2010.
- Askari, Muhammad Hasan. “A Novel by Ahmed Ali.” The Annual of Urdu Studies, Vol 9, 1994.
- Coppola, Carlo. “Ahmed Ali in Conversation: An excerpt from an interview.” The Annual of Urdu Studies, Vol 9, 1994.
- Metcalf, Barbara D. “Urdu in India in the Twenty-first century.” Ed. Ather Farouqui. Redefining Urdu Politics in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006.
- Mir, Ali Husain and Raza Mir. A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry: Anthems of Resistance. New Delhi: India Ink, 2006.
- Saksena, Ram Babu. History of Urdu Literature. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1990.
- Yaqin, Amina. “The Communalization and Disintegration of Urdu in Anita Desai’s In Custody.” Ed. Ather Farouqui. Redefining Urdu Politics in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006.