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Rabindranath Tagore’s “Kabuliwala”

           Rabindranath Tagore’s “Kabuliwala”, set in early twentieth-century Kolkata, is about a five year old girl Mini and a Kabuliwala, Rahamat exploring the bonds of friendship, affection and parting transcending the borders of race, religion and language. Kabuliwala was a middle-aged Pathan dry fruit seller from Afghanistan, who comes to Kolkata, leaving his family and in particular his favourite daughter, and Mini was a chatty girl who “can’t stop talking for a minute”.

In the opening of the story, Mini frequently visits her father(the narrator) in his study to talk and hide from her impatient mother. He desires to let Mini be herself. Mini is friendly and quickly makes friends with the Afghan peddler. Rahamat offers her the opportunity to learn about different worlds.

Mini’s father is a writer and describes himself as something of a dreamer who wants to explore the world but is “condemned to [his] house”. He has given up his desire to travel in order to take care of Mini. In contrast, Rahamat is frequently away from his home and daughter in order to be a good provider to her. It was with his daughter “in mind” that he showed up with raisins for Mini and spent so much time with her. As fathers, both share the same feelings, but they travel in different directions.

Mini’s mother who believes “the world is overrun with thieves” is terrified of the dangers associated with strangers. Rahamat’s arrest after stabbing a customer who refused to pay seems to validate Mini’s mother’s fears.

When Rahamat suddenly appears in the narrator’s study eight years after his arrest, over time Mini loses her innocent curiosity about and openness to the different people. She leaves the room without a word. Seeing this, the narrator’s “heart ache[s]”. Rahamat is also saddened that his own daughter might have changed. Both fathers realize the tragic part of growing up.

Despite this heaviness, the story ends on an optimistic note with the narrator giving Rahamat enough money to go back home and “become re-acquainted” with his daughter. However, the fact remains that their two daughters are no longer children and are now entering womanhood. The tragedy of this story is Rahamat’s loss of time with his daughter or Mini. Thus the story explores the themes of the father-daughter relationship, unlikely connections between people from different worlds, and the inevitable time passing.

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