One aspect of Ahmed Ali's description of life in Delhi (in Part I) I find interesting is the monotony of the day to day in both public and private spaces. He lulls the reader into complacency about both spaces, continually referencing its sameness and staidness. We almost accept the status quo until an event However, while private space is boring because it is closed off from the outside world, each home a fortress "protecting" its women, the public space is oppressively staid in its poverty (31). He states that women in the home are not active participants in life, that "life passed them by" (29). This ambivalence about life in Delhi--both nostalgic and critical--poses an interesting question. What are Ali's true feelings about the social structures in Delhi? About women? He has, in my opinion, a fairly progressive view of his female characters. Whether courtesans or the Asghar's relatives, he portrays them with humanity and compassion, but is careful not to over-emphasize their feminine virtue.
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This is interesting. I hadn't though about the similarity in tone that exists between Ali's descriptions of public space and private space. I've only thought about the different possibilities present in either. For me, private space in Twilight in Delhi indicates an vaccuum of Muslim cultural values, and Delhi is an artifact of the Mughal dynasty exposed to the elements, so to speak, eroding away. Both, however, break down more or less contemporaneously or simultaneously. Maybe this is another way to think about this
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