Farida Khanam has been left alone by herself for the day, too, and is now re-evaluating her own life. While Lovely sits in the park, the narrative circles, like a carrion vulture, into the minds of the other family members, starting with her mother. Rather, her anger turns towards her sister, who, she feels, asks for (and gets) more than her fair share of privilege in the house. For while she’s always been under her mother’s thumb, it feels like no strange thing to her - that’s just what she’s grown up with. We completely understand the direction of her revolt, even while realising that the underlying issue is something else altogether.

It is the beauty of Gazi’s writing and characterisation that we are so completely inside Lovely’s mind through her journey.

She buys snacks, allows herself to be propositioned by a lecherous passer-by, stares at random people.Īnd through the day, her past keeps coming back to her, and revolt begins to form in her mind. She loiters around the market, buying clothes for her family.īored of shopping, she wanders to a garden she’s never been to before, and spends an hour there. She abandons all programmes, wandering wherever her whim takes her. It takes a while for Lovely to even believe that she has the next few hours to herself, but when she finally does, it’s as if she has learnt to fly. And so, here is Lovely, with her oiled braids and dowdy dress, in a three-wheeler autorickshaw, heading for the market on her own. Uncharacteristically for the sisters, their mother Farida Khanam allowed the outing to proceed solo.

To helfire and back