Living up to its title, The Dark Hours Of The Night, this book is very dark indeed, with very little light to alleviate it. A scathing expose, by writer Salma, of a patriarchal, Muslim community in a small town in Tamil Nadu, the book takes an unflinching look at how the female species, victims of unbearable oppression, are made to kowtow to male whims and fancies.
Salma, whose real name is Rajathi, must have witnessed a skewed gender relationship from close quarters, as she has sketched in microscopic detail the lives of women, in an orthodox, hypocritical community, from childhood to old age. Her being an MP in the Rajya Sabha perhaps gave her added agency to lay bare the double standards and cruelty of a male-dominated society where even the home is not safe for the girl child.
Seen largely through the eyes of a pre-teen, bubbly girl, Rabia, the community’s rituals, festivals, weddings, coming-of-age events, appear on the surface as celebratory occasions. But, that moppets can be pawed by lecherous old relatives under cover of these occasions, is a harsh truth that writer Salma minces no words to reveal.
Early in the story, Rabia and her friend Mathina are shown going to the madrasa to learn the recitation of prayers. While the kindly, retired Hazrat pampers them with fruit from the trees in the compound, the younger Hazrat pinches their thighs if they mispronounce any word while reciting. The boy students, on the other hand, are beaten with sticks. Though uneasy and embarrassed, the girls helplessly put up with their teacher’s obnoxious behaviour.
Later in the story, Rabia is accosted with more disgusting behaviour by her newly-married sister’s husband, Sikander, who misses no occasion to grab her tight, suffocating her with his cigarette-infused breath. If Sikander is a lech, his gnarled old father is even worse, subjecting Sikander’s new bride, Wahida to his reptilian gaze, creepy touch and sickening descriptions of his sex life. Though subjected to strict dress codes, that include dupattas and davanis, girls like Rabia and Wahida are totally unprotected from the wolves lurking about in their homes. Too petrified to share their ordeals with their mothers and aunts, the vulnerable girls bear the in-house molestation quietly.
The childhood of girls is short-lived in this community where the laws are heavily loaded against them. Most times, when they ‘come of age’ they are married off with much fanfare to promiscuous men who could be twice their age or several times married.
Hereafter, pleasing their husbands, they are told, is their prime duty, with older women tutoring them how to do so; sometimes with the help of blue films. Pregnancy is the next goal that the entire community forces upon them, with all and sundry keeping tabs on the girls’ menstrual cycles.
A tough book to digest, it was written originally in Thamizh by Salma; and translated recently into English by GJV Prasad. Unfortunately, the latter does a literal translation which is clumsy in parts and inadequate in others. The original Thamizh words are retained for items of dress and food. Ditto for relationships and religious rituals.
Readers unfamiliar with Thamizh have to struggle through this vocabulary. Footnotes in English would have helped to understand details of a culture readers may not be familiar with. That apart, The Dark Hours Of The Night is a very disturbing eye-opener.
Book: The Dark Hours Of the Night
Author: Salma
Publisher: Simon & Schuster India
Pages: 392
Price: ₹599
