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Its a poignant tale of a struggle for acceptance, of misplaced identities, lost and confused youth, and

aspirations that that take selfishly over the simplicity of life, clouding the sky of happiness with pain,

loss and pathos.

The story takes us on a journey. A journey that covers the road on the wheels of its main characters

Ayesha, the mother, saleem- the son,and zubeida- his girlfriend.

Let us start with the son. Saleem in the beginning of the film appears like any other boy youd see.

Young, nave, unconcerned about the world and hopelessly in love with a young girl called zubeida.

They exchange messages through their friends, meet secretly in lonely places, he plays the flute and

she teases him. But like any other boy of his age, even saleem is tormented by his future. And the

question here is what must he do to sustain himself and the girl he loves. His mother often asks him

and it upsets her as well as saleem to believe that he doesnt have any career ambitions uptill now.

However all this changes as the political backdrop of the story starts to shift. Saleem who is lost about

his own purpose in life looks upto his friend whom he criticises earlier but later gives in to in lieu of a

better vision for life. It is from here that we see the change in his character. His metamorphosis from a

nave chap to a hardliner is interestingly wrapped in the stereotypical images that we often come

across. Saleem who needs to take permission from his mother to go to the city, doesnt care for it any

more. He is shown as a total rebel as the film moves from the first half to the second. We see him

being lured by the city life when he is marvelling at the watches, the vcr, the cars the crowded markets

flooded with goods, that not only promise a fulfilment of needs but also of wants. He is a changed man

when he back comes to the village. He has a purpose now and that is jihad. A holy war that he must

not only wage at the battlefront but also in his own village and bring back the community from

satanshands. Discipline the people, protect the women, and regulate everyones lives. We see the

beard growing on his face, and a little turban on his head he slowly distances from zubeida as well.

The flute never appears in his hands any more. Instead its replaced by a pistol. He goes on from being

mamas boy to grown man who expresses immense dissatisfaction once he finds out that she sent

sweets and savouries to the sikh pilgrimsand even fights with her over it telling her that maybe once

these Sikhs were her brothers but not anymore, at any cost. And its only in the end that we see him

completely transformed in body and in thought into a hardlined political partys chief secretary.

Now we move on to Ayesha- the mother. She sets a symbol for womanhood from the time of partion to

years after it. She is a widow, she takes care of her house, of her son and is shown quite happy and

jovial in the beginning of the film. However in the first five minutes of the film we see a glimse of a

dark shadow hovering over at the back of her head when the little girl asks her why doesnt she ever go

to the well. The water to her house is delivered to her by her friend. For those familiar with the history

of intimate violence in Partition, this detail, offered only in passing, bears grave significance for it

forebodes the terrifying reality of Ayeshas existence. This foreboding is later intensified through

images of Ayeshas memories of young feet and laughing voices playing around a well. We see how

in the flashbacks the well stands as a witness to her happiest and her darkest times. In one particular

flashback she recounts the horrors of partition and how with the birth of two nations, men hadabducted women, fathers killed their daughters and all this to save their honour! The abduction of

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women at that time represented a failure. One was her own and also that of the men in her life(her so

called protectors) her father, brother. So preserve the social order, to preserve their honour it was

better to have the women killed rather than them being taken by force, raped and then killed perhaps.

The main theme in this film has revolved around women. And the rest sets a backdrop for for the

story to unfold in a manner as to highlight the whole social political scenario encompassingwomanhood in that era. And what it meant to be a woman during and after partion.

The happy background of the film in the beginning when you see women free on the streets with no

moral policing, with no one asking them to cover their heads, no one stopping them to live their life as

they want, from rejoicing in a wedding, singing songs in a free spirit, all turns to shambles with the

changing political scenario as a campaign for zia- ul- haqs reign is being run in the background. For

Ayesha this brings her world down as her son turns into a fundamentalist, and her long lost brother

comes to find her with the sikh pilgrims. She is suddenly haunted and caught off guard by a past she

had buried in the silent waters of the well she refused to visit again. The feet in the flashbacks arealways running.. like they are reminding us of ayeshas struggle to run away from her past every

moment she breathes. In her little trunk we see the Koran and the picture of the sikh gurus kept

together, her tormented look as she reflects over the damage the political scene has caused her, first by

taking her away from her father and brother, and now distancing her form her son. Shes looking for a

home, trying to hold on to a place where she belongs or atleast she thinks she does. she is in constant

confrontation denial and material loss of home. But probably the home never comes to her. Once

uprooted from the land she so loved she had to change her identity to come back to it. She had

married in that hour of crisis, her abductor who had been kind. Adopted a religion she wasnt born

with, and dedicated herself to it. Taught the Koran young girls everyday was she trying to convince

herself that this was her identity till the end?

The other characters in the film- zubeida, the happy go lucky barber, the Islamic fundamentalists, and

the brooding postman who gives Ayesha the news of Bhutto sahib being hanged, very efficiently paint

various aspects in which the change in the political scenario affects the country. To the barber it

doesnt mean anything. He doesnt give a squat for zia-ul-haqs reign. He wonders whether Mr Zia

even represents people of his kind. Zubeida in this film is a reflection of womanhood from a different

perspective. One that has been born in a free country, one that wants to study to be a person of her

own, who loves and wants a family, who sees her village being enslaved by the men who claimthemselves to be her protector but are actually just there to restrict her( read all other women) into

being an embodiment of their honour. The image of a wall of the girls school being raised is met

with confused and disgruntled expression on her as well as all other girls. Soon theyll be all asked to

cover their heads and wear hijabs too.

A very striking image in this film is when saleem visits Rawalpindi and attends the meeting. In the

background the man is calling for jihad and explaining how satan has taken over this country and

what a moral decline is sweeping across its face. And the scene focuses on a little girl on a bicycle

disappearing through the end of the road. Its a powerful magery showing that the time of innocence isgone, that the freedom for women is ending/disappearing as the road ends, that covering ones head

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would be an indication of her faith, morals and honour. and also the young saleem who is listening to

all this in the background will go back a completely changed man.

Ayeshas life turns for the worse when her brother turns up at her door. Her identity as a sikh is

disclosed. Her son turns estranged, her long old friend stops bringing water to her house. And thats

the only time shes shown taking water from that well, having a bitter encounter with her brother. She

is no longer invited to the wedding of her firends daughter. This boycott from the village tells her that

the life for here here is done. So she wakes up the next day, puts on her locket, says her last namaz and

turn to that well for the final time, but not to draw water but to end her misery for once and for all . .

This time, Ayesha invited death to descend upon her, for the silent waters that had so long held her

secret to finally engulf her.