Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘A Real Durwan’ is the fourth story from the short story collection ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ by Jhumpa Lahiri, published in 1999. The story collection was awarded with the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. ‘Durwan’ means a door-keeper in both Hindi and Bengali languages. The story depicts how materialism consumes people's emotional worth
. It highlights the stark realities of class divisions and the resentment they breed, as seen in the character of Boori Ma and her interactions with the building's residents. The story also delves into the significance of truth and memory, highlighting how perspectives and interpretations shape our understanding of events. Furthermore, the theme of social alienation and division is prominent, exploring the isolation and marginalization experienced by Boori Ma within her community. The impact of judgment and the lack of empathy towards those perceived as liars also feature significantly. The story touches upon materialism, status, and the search for contentment in the face of societal pressures. Partition and the ensuing mass exodus is also a major theme. In the exile of Hindus from Muslim lands and vice versa, millions of people were left homeless. Boori Ma, though she may be lying about her previous wealth, is proven to be a refugee by her accent.
Characters of A Real Durwan:
Boori Maa is the main character of the story. She is a 64-year-old Bengali woman who has been a refugee since Partition in 1947. As a durwan, or “doorkeeper,” it is her job to clean the apartment building where she lives and watch the front door in exchange for a place to sleep and eat. She is an outsider in comparison to the people who live in the building since she is a solitary woman, in a lower class. Her tales of the lost luxuries of her life before Partition entertain the residents, though they suspect that the tales hold a few elements of truth. Boori Ma is accused of alerting robbers when a recently installed basin is stolen from the stairwell. She is dependent on the power of her memories (or delusions) and on the kindness of her neighbors. When she loses the latter, she cannot maintain the former. Mr. Dalal is a lower-level salesman of plumbing supplies. He lives with his dissatisfied wife in the building that Boori Ma maintains. He suddenly gets an increment and promotion that makes him somewhat rich. His newfound moderate wealth prompts him to buy a communal wash basin for the building and a private one for his home. This influences other residents to make changes themselves. The purchasing of basins for the building causes a renovation boom among his neighbors. Societal pressure encourages a race for materialism. Mrs. Dalal is a kind woman who takes good care of Boori Maa. However, she is dissatisfied by her financial situation and often browbeats her husband, Mr. Dalal who tries to appease his wife with lavish gifts and a vacation. Out of kindness, she offers to buy a new set of bedding for the old woman. But while Mrs. Dalal is a major figure in Boori Ma's life, the old woman is just a footnote for Mrs. Dalal. She forgets about the new bedding after the arrival of the basins. Presumably, she would have prevented Boori Ma's expulsion had she not been out of town. Mr. Chatterjee is the eldest resident of the building that Boori Ma maintains. Even though the narrator shares that Mr. Chatterjee has not opened a newspaper since 1947, he is considered the most erudite intellectual in the apartment. When he recommends that the apartment needs a real durwan, everybody agrees and Boori Ma is thrown out.
Summary of The Real Durwan:
The story is told from the point of view of a third-person narrator who introduces Boori Maa, a 64-year-old woman, frail from many years of manual work. She lives and works in a residential building in Calcutta, India. Each day, like the one that begins the story, she sweeps the steps and cleans around the building. As she cleans, she talks about the luxuries of her former life, one that existed before Partition (the division of India and Pakistan in 1947) when she still lived in Bengal.
As she is growing old, the task of maintaining the building’s four floors is becoming difficult for her, especially as the rainy season nears. Still, she has diligently taken up many duties even beyond sweeping. She keeps a good watch of the apartment.
While working, she often tells the stories of her past in her raspy attractive voice. She was separated from her husband, two daughters, and home because of partition. Tied to the end of her sari is a set of skeleton keys belonging to coffer boxes that housed her valuables. She chronicles the easier times in her life, the feasts and servants, and the marble floor of her home. The details of her journey across the border shift in each retelling. Often people pinpointed and accused of lying but her tales were so impassioned that no one could dismiss her outright. She occasionally garbles her facts and contradicts herself. Each litany ends with the same phrase, “Believe me, don’t believe me.” Boori Ma’s accent confirms she is from Bengal, and the residents don’t doubt she is a refugee, but they debate the veracity of her claims of wealth. However, because she does such an excellent job maintaining their building, they do not argue with her. Occasionally, they even invite her into their rooms for tea and biscuits. Boori Ma’s careful attention to the building causes the residents to see themselves as having “a real durwan.” For the lower class society, it is a symbol of pride.
Everyone interprets her according to their views. Mr. Dalal fails to understand how a woman so rich ended up sweeping the floors of their apartment. His wife thinks she is the victim of changing times. Mr. Chatterjee believes she simply mourns her family and wraps herself in illusion. Despite the innocuous lies, everyone likes her. Mr. Chatterjee has not left his balcony or even opened a newspaper since Independence, but all the residents greatly respect his opinions.
However, times never remain the same. In the coming monsoon season, Boori Maa suffers knee ache. She also fails to sleep well for several nights due to an intensely itchy back, which she blames either on mites or on a spirit living in her bedding. Mrs. Dalal has a particular affection for Boori Ma. She takes an interest in the aging woman's health and decides that Boori Ma needs a new bed. Mr. Dalal, a low-class salesman of plumbing gears suddenly gets a promotion and becomes the manager of his firm with an increment. To celebrate his success, he buys two washbasins from his firm. One for his own flat, and one common, for the whole apartment to be used by the other residents. Mrs. Dalal is not happy about it. She considers it a waste of money, but, after a day of loud arguments, she begins to enjoy their newfound prosperity. That evening, Mr. Dalal demonstrated the public basin's functions. Unexpectedly, however, petty resentments and jealousies break out among the wives when they discuss the new amenity. The other residents of the apartment are not happy about it. They think Mr. Dalal is showing off his newly found richness. They feel jealous and hurt, and feel the need to compete and assert themselves. The women of the apartments continue to backbite Dalals, talking about costly cooking ingredients, sumptuous saris, and other absurd extravagances that Mrs. Dalal uses.
Mrs. Dalal is unhappy and complains that the washbasin for their flat is not classy. Mr. Dalal decides to appease his wife with lavish gifts and a vacation. The Dalals leave without yet having replaced Boori Ma’s bedding, but Mrs. Dalal promises they will bring back a special blanket for her. While they are gone, the building’s renovations continue. The importance of Boori Maa is reduced. Many workers are renovating other flats in the apartment. Boori Maa begins feeling alienated and lonely. To ease her isolation, she spends the life savings she has kept in her sari since she fled Bengal and buys herself small treats. But one day, as she wanders through the market, she feels a tug on the end of her sari, and her life savings and the skeleton keys disappear. She fears it is a bad omen. When she returns to the building, she learns there has been a burglary in her absence. Someone stole the basin Mr. Dalal paid to have installed.
All the residents gather around her, accusing her of being in cahoots with the thief. Boori Ma denies the accusations: “Believe me, believe me”, she says. The residents know her for the contradictory stories of her past. They say, how can they believe her now? The residents seek the advice of Mr. Chatterjee. Mr. Chatterjee says that Boori Ma’s “mouth has always been filled with ash.” He indicates that it is difficult to trust her or to believe that she assisted the burglars. However, things have changed. Mr. Chatterjee says that the building has changed and so have the residents. The building is much nicer now and the residents appear richer. Now they do not need a Boori Maa but ‘a real Durwan’. The residents agree. They decide to throw away the Boori Maa and appoint a real Durwan’ in place of her.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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