Ice-Candy-Man

Ice-Candy-Man narrates a society which has deflated chivalrous attitudes, encourages petty self-serving tendencies and indifferent tolerance of pogroms so long the self stays alive with a whole skin; a society which was given what it deserved--a sanguine and blood-curdling mindset, which made Partition of India a grim reality. The characters and events of the novel suggest that "vanity, hypocrisy and self-deception . . . somehow constitute a truer reality than altruism, self-sacrifice and heroism, even when these are known to have existed. This reinterpretation, Andrew Rutherford argues, of historical and psychological reality by art involves an opposition not only be¬tween high and'lower mimetic modes, but between the low mi¬metic and the ironic, highlighting what he terms as "a disbelief in the psychological probability of the ideal.

Khushwant Singh in his review in The Tribune has com¬mented that Ice-Candy-Mandeserves to be ranked as amongst the most authentic and best on the Partition of India Githa Hariharan also comments in Economic Times that Sidhwa has captured "the turmoil of the times, with a brilliant combination of individual growing up pains and the collective anguish of a newly independent but divided country. Seen through the prism of a marginalised minority girl-child, it focuses on the deterio¬rating communal climate in pre-Partition days. "Lenny's naivete, her privileged position, and her religious background lend her version of Partition a quality that other novels about this tem-pestuous period in Indo-Pakistani history lack. Protected by her religious background and her parents' status, Lenny is not di-rectly affected by the contumelious situation of Partition days, but she keenly observes and comments on the events happening around her. The tone of a reporter which she adopts for recording the events or commenting on them enhances the poignancy of the emotions which are linguistically underplayed. The hilarious tone of the Parsi's Jaslian prayer, organized to celebrate the British victory in the Second World War is soon replaced first by the acrimonious bickering between Mr. Rogers and Mr. Singh, then by the vague fears and apprehensions unsettling Lenny's group, and later on by the details of murderous mob fury un¬leashing death and destruction over whoever comes across them. Lenny learns that India is going to be broken, and has many un¬answered queries, "Can one break a country? And what happens if they break it where our house is? Or crack it further up on Warris Road? How will I ever get to Godmother's then?"

The insensitivity of the social climate is highlighted and individual deeds of kindness and support eclipse out. The massa¬cre of Pir Pindo narrated in the words of a young boy Ranria pre¬sents perhaps the vilest side of adult nature which continuously haunts the reader. Lenny senses the changing situation and is perturbed. Listening to the verbal parrying of Ayah's admirers she closes her eyes in frustration, "I close my eyes. I can't bear to open them they will open on a suddenly changed world. I try to shut out the voices."

The brutal realities of the Partition depicted in Ice-Candy-Man with a candour, do not overshadow the resilience of spirit exhibited by several characters in the novel. Rodabai, the God¬mother arranges free education for Ranna, Lenny's mother and Electric-Aunt store petrol in order to facilitate the escape of their friends, Hamida is rehabilitated. Dormant possibilities of the re¬surgence of human spirit can also be sensed in Ayah as, taking a bold decision, she determines to go back to her family. She re¬jects the constricting present and decisively wants to face future in all its tentativeprobabilities. The resilience of women charac¬ters saves the novel from being a heart-rending depressing ren¬dition of journalistic reporting.

Ice-Candy-Man also includes several comments on contem¬porary political figures. Sidhwa has presented the Pakistani per¬spective regarding these figures and almost all the major con¬temporary Indian political figures are either caricatured or pre¬sented in an unfavourable manner. During her interview with David Montenegro, Sidhwa comments:

The main motivation grew out of my reading of a good deal of lit¬erature on the Partition of India and Pakistan. . . . What has been written has been written by the British and the Indians. Naturally they reflect their bias. And they have, I felt after I'd researched the book, been unfair to the Pakistanis. As a writer, as a human being, one just does not tolerate injustice. I felt whatever little I could do to correct an injustice I would like to do, I have just let facts speak for themselves, and through my research I found out what the facts were.

Gandhi's visit to Lahore is presented in such light as makes him "an improbable mixture of a demon and a clown." Lenny recalls how he interminably talks about enema, personal hygiene and sluggish stomachs. Sidhwa portrays him as a politician, changing his stances to suit his needs. During the heated discus-sions among Ayah's admirers the butcher snortingly terms him as "That non-violent violence-monger--your precious Gandhi-jee." In an attempt to soothe him the masseur says, "He's a politician yaar. It's his business to suit