Friend: A short stoy by Ismat Chughtai, translated by C. Christine Fair

They were still newlyweds when Akbar introduced Farida to Riaz. Riaz was an innocent-looking, quiet boy. “We grew up in the same neighborhood playing hopscotch, kabaddi, and marbles. As fate would have it, we were never separated…then Riaz also came to Bombay. What a strange coincidence!” Akbar proclaimed, then added, “He’s also a rather boring.”

Initially, the three of them were often together. Three tickets were bought for the cinema. In the restaurant, three seats were reserved. Riaz’s presence was considered necessary. Gradually, their marriage grew old and stale, and Akbar seemed ever more preoccupied. Farida and Riaz became even closer. Akbar would return late because of his new friends and new obsessions. Riaz came straight from work. He would drink some tea or read a magazine. Sometimes, both of them would play board games or cards. Sometimes, Farida would go and meet a girlfriend. Because Akbar came home late, she would take Riaz with her. Because Akbar would grow fed up with women’s uninteresting conversations and would abscond and say, “You return with Riaz.”

And she would return with Riaz.

The marriage was stale, but Riaz’s importance increased day by day. Unknowingly, Farida began bringing Riaz to do those miscellaneous tasks that husbands would ordinarily do, like upbraiding the servants, getting a ration card made, wandering around shopping for things, writing small letters, putting money in the bank or withdrawing it, and other such tasks.

When Farida miscarried, she fortunately found Riaz at the office. He was the one who came and took her to the hospital. On that day, Akbar was at a farewell party for some officer. When he reached home from the party at two in the morning, he learned of his wife’s perilous condition. Obviously, he was worried. But he had to wait until morning.  He dropped the officer off at the station. When he reached the hospital, seeing Riaz’s worry, the color drained from his own face. Riaz had been sitting on the bench the entire night, nodding off. Akbar insisted that he get some rest.

Akbar was not free to go to the hospital every day.  For this reason, he instructed Riaz to buy medicines and other things.  By beautiful coincidence or fate, she got better. When Akbar brought a car to the hospital to bring her home, he found that she had already gone home with Riaz. Riaz had taken the day off from work. When Akbar came home from a full day in the office, he found Riaz taking care of the house. 

Then days passed. Because of Akbar’s inattention and disinterest, even more responsibilities fell upon Riaz’ shoulders. He was still a bachelor. The issue of engagement with one or two girls came up, but he kept avoiding the topic. “I am afraid of family matters.” He would avoid the issue this way. And it was true. Akbar always advised him, “Friend, don’t fall into this trap; you won’t be able to do anything else. You have seen my condition – marriage is nothing but trouble.”

Then the children came. Avoiding the commotion of his children, Akbar went to the club, or he would go drinking at a friend’s place. Riaz went to their home straight from the office. He would play with the children and give honey to the crying kids. He would give them Gripe Water when needed. Farida greatly enjoyed asking Riaz to do all of these things. Fareeda laughed nonstop watching him change their diapers ridiculously or fumbling to pour the water properly while bathing. Initially, he was anxious. He would get wet from head to toe. When Farida told him not to do it, he said, “It’s no big deal.”

“It’s a good thing that you are learning these things. Your wife will be very happy.” Farida began to laugh, and Riaz too laughed. Sometimes a child would begin to cry without any reason, and Farida would be busy with some other work, and she would scold Riaz, “Hey! Silly man, a child is crying. Make the child stop crying.”

“The child of an idiot is not going to be quiet.”

“Can’t you take him for a while?”

And then he would pick up the child and act like a monkey to soothe the child…The child would stop crying.

As the children grew up, Riaz’s responsibilities also increased. In which school should the children be admitted? Can one of Riaz’s friends help to get the wool cheaply? He got sugar from the black market for Farida and all of her friends. Akbar himself shirked all of these duties. Sometimes there would be a film in which Akbar had no interest, so he would say, “You go and see it with Riaz. I am not interested in films like this.”

Akbar was increasingly interested only in drinking. 

It was clear. In this situation, Riaz began to have dinner there. Farida would take the kids out for a walk with him. They would go to the circus together. In the evening, they would play with the children together. Then they would very lovingly change their clothes and put them to sleep. Akbar had no time for such annoyances.

The children were not comfortable with their father. Riding on Riaz’s shoulders, they would call him “Uncle” and ask him for money. They would demand new things. Akbar only gave Farida money for household expenditures. What was the need for gifts for the children? The children came to understand this. 

Whether rain or shine, Riaz never failed to come. If some day, for some reason, he didn’t come, then the entire house would begin to worry. Farida would be confused. The entire program would be upset. “God only knows what happened to Riaz. Did he fall ill? Did he have an accident?” Sometimes she would send the servant to see him. Sometimes she would call from the neighbors’ house. If by misfortune, he went to the cinema with a friend, then the next day all hell would break out.

“Did you die somewhere, you shameless man! Had you phoned me, I wouldn’t have been so worried. I purchased film tickets, and returning them was very hard. Had I not been able to return them, then you would have to reimburse me for the tickets.”

The children also chimed in, “We aren’t going to speak to you. Why didn’t you come yesterday?” After getting a makeup gift from him, the children forgave him. Riaz began coming to the house dutifully. 

If Riaz wasn’t feeling well, then Farida would show up at his house with the children. Instead of taking care of Riaz, she had him take care of her. To avoid her tantrums, whenever Riaz fell ill, he would go to Farida’s house to rest. If Akbar, by mistake, came home from the office straightaway, then Farida and the children would begin to worry about what problem had caused him to come home early. Farida and Riaz’s program would be messed up. They bought only two cinema tickets. They would not get adjacent seats for the third ticket, and certainly Riaz would sit apart from them. Moreover, because of the embarrassment, there was no enjoyment. Every day, she pulled him wherever she wanted. Then one day her husband shows up, and he is thrown away like a fly in the milk.

Dinner table arrangements were also screwed up. Usually, there was no plate put out for Akbar. Returning at two or two-thirty in the morning, he would request a tray to be sent to his room. On the days when he would come early, it seemed as if a guest had come unexpectedly. Quickly, space would be made for him. Riaz, who ordinarily sat next to Farida so that he could help her feed the children, would sit far away on the last chair. The children would look at the changed situation in confusion. Farida was helpless. Akbar would behave like a complete stranger, and Farida would have to take care of the children alone. If Akbar tried to help, more unpleasantness would ensue.

“Oh no! You’ve put so much rice on his plate…you’re going to kill the poor thing. As it is, he’s already coughing. No. Don’t give him yogurt. This chutney was for the children. You ate it all.” Akbar kept on sitting there like a culprit. 

“Riaz, you are sitting there devouring your food. Don’t you think you should feed the children? I only have two hands, what can I do?” She would scold him. Within no time, Riaz would take charge of the table.  He very efficiently served the food – who liked which piece of meat, whose turn it was to get the long marrow bone, whose turn it was for the kidney, who would get the raita, and who would get the soup. Who will get scared and who will get coaxed, who will be scolded lest they make a mess, who without scolding, will go on crying and not eat.

Along with this, there was some fun and jokes. A story about bread. A tale about meat. A spicy joke about peppers. What did Akbar know? Only Riaz knew these things. These were private jokes that no outsider could understand, and Akbar was an outsider. Like a fish out of water, he was confused and bored and went on eating with disinterest.

Akbar could not go to Delhi. Even though it was the holidays, there was a cricket match, and Akbar was crazy about cricket. There was a time when Riaz was also interested in cricket, but because Farida became irritated with him, after her nagging, he lost his interest in cricket. If a match came, Farida felt as if another mistress had entered her life. For this reason, Farida used various ruses to make Riaz disinterested in cricket.  On those days, she would plan picnics, she would get cinema tickets, and would badmouth the match. She would make an appointment with the dentist. Without even noticing, Riaz’s interest in cricket diminished. His interest in swimming remained. However, Farida was afraid of water, but she went with the children. Riaz would teach the children how to swim, and she would sit on the bank knitting sweaters.

In the beginning, she would knit sweaters for Akbar, but he would give those sweaters to those friends whom Farida especially did not like. Riaz kept things that were even twenty years old. Every year, she would knit a new sweater and repair an old one for him.

Despite this, Akbar and Farida were husband and wife. They had children. They lived in the same house, in the same room. The distance between their beds was two and a half feet. It was obvious that the question would never arise of Farida going to Delhi alone with the children…. She was compelled to get Riaz a ticket.

Farida would stay at her brother’s house. Her brother and his wife went to Meerut for a friend’s wedding and left their two children. They enjoyed themselves in Delhi. The last time, she came with Akbar…Akbar was very worried about going outside. They stayed in a hotel. Early in the evening people came together to enjoy themselves. There was a lot of hustle and bustle…. But the children were not with them. They left them with Riaz. They enjoyed themselves as if it were a second honeymoon. But every once in a while, they would remember the children, and their fun would be spoiled…. Then, the children were left with Riaz. But this time, the children were with her. Time and time again, she felt Akbar’s absence…. But she was already used to this.

Riaz planned a nice tour. They took photos of Farida and of the children laughing. Sometimes, Farida would say, “Riaz, get into the picture too…. Ask someone to click the photo.”  Then Riaz would come and stand next to Farida…. the children would be nearby.

The children of her brother, Manu and Shahina, who met Farida’s children for the first time, called Riaz “Uncle,” creating a friendly environment. But one day Shahina asked in astonishment, “Why are you calling your dad Uncle?”

“What do you mean?”

“Uncle Riaz.”

“Silly…Uncle Riaz is our uncle.”

“Okay? He is not your daddy?....” Shahina asked innocently, and the children made a big joke about it…” Uncle! She thinks you are our daddy. What a silly girl.”

Riaz, feeling embarrassed, laughed. Farida also laughed.

“So what. Are you not like my daughter?” Riaz replied.

“But…” The girl did not understand how to explain her confusion.

“Go naughty girl! You are not my daughter…Now ask me for the chocolate.”

“Of course I am your daughter…..” The girl hung from his neck. 

Farida’s girlfriend invited them to dinner. What to do with the children?

“Because I ate inappropriate food yesterday, my throat is hurting…You go and I’ll take care of the children….” Riaz put an end to the worry. Farida happily got ready, but before going, she gave him water for gargling and advised him to suck on a penicillin pill. She gave him some instructions about the children and then dressed herself to the nines. 

“Oh…I’m fed up seeing this pale-yellow saree. I swear to god, one of these days, I am going to burn it,” Riaz called out while lying on the bed.

“Oh! Who are you?...” She wanted to change the subject, but looking in the full-length mirror, she saw that Riaz was right, and she changed her saree.

The party was fabulous. Everyone asked about her husband. Explaining it, she felt bad that he didn’t come because of a cricket match. She told one person one thing, another person another thing. But she tried to avoid the issue. 

“I left my children with Riaz. They must be troubling him,” Farida said when a girlfriend was insisting she stay longer. 

“This is pretty amazing that you are outsourcing the raising of your children to your husband…” said the husband of a girlfriend who complained.

“But my husband is in Bombay.”

“But you were just saying that you came, having left your children with Riaz.”

“Oh darling…How silly…. Farida’s husband is named Akbar,” the girlfriend clarified the matter.

“Oh…and who is Riaz?

“Akbar’s childhood friend…they are like brothers.”

“So there is no problem if we equate him with Akbar?”  A burst of laughter echoed.

Farida felt awkward. These people are so cheap…To hell with them. Who is going to explain this to them? On several occasions when people mistook Riaz for her husband, she didn’t take it amiss…Those people definitely seemed to be fools. What comes from such discussions? But the matter was not put to rest when a girlfriend said, “Why don’t you marry off Riaz to Zenith?” “I have told the poor fellow so many times, but he doesn’t listen. He puts it off with a joke.”

“You tell him, he’ll surely accept.”

“You mean to say that I haven’t already done that?” Farida screamed.

“No. Tell him more forcefully.”

“How can I be more forceful?... Is he a child that I can pin down and force-feed medicine?” She was even more annoyed.

“Oh oh! What is there to be annoyed about?”

“Why should I be annoyed?...” Farida said in outrage.

“Just leave it…” The girlfriend tried to escape.  Farida was ashamed. People thought she had not let Riaz marry…She began to feel anger towards Riaz. How many times did she tell him to get married, but he changed the subject.

“Leave it.”

“You are talking like a fool.”

“I don’t want more trouble…” And then he would go roughhousing with the children. Sometimes he would scold the children to make them do their homework. He would study their grade reports…. Meeting with their teachers was beyond Akbar’s capacities. Without even looking, Akbar would sign his signature and say, “Tell Riaz, you look this over carefully. It’s beyond me.”

One day, Riaz came in furious and began to scold Farida. “Do you have any clue how precocious your daughter is….Who knows what boys she’s running around with? I swear to god, I am so furious…”

“She doesn’t listen to me,...” Farida said on the verge of tears.

“If she doesn’t listen to you, then teach the bitch a lesson…Otherwise, I will teach her a lesson.”

“What good is beating her…?” Then both of them, thinking about the psychology of children, kept worrying. The thought did not occur to either of them that they should take the opinion of Akbar in this matter. What was the point? He will worry unnecessarily.  His alcohol addiction had increased to such an extent that he would worry about the smallest of things then everyone’s lives would begin to suffer.

The trip to Delhi was over. The children’s vacation was also coming to an end. Farida was waiting for her brother and sister-in-law. They would leave after meeting them.

“Akbar hasn’t come?” They asked in astonishment upon arrival. 

“He had some work.” Farida told an absolute lie.

“So who is staying in the outer room?”

“Riaz.” Farida said carelessly. But she began to feel afraid.

“Riaz…Meaning he came here with you as well?”

“Yes…But.” Because of the way they were asking, Farida shrank in fear from the tone.

“I can’t tolerate such things,” he thundered in anger.

“Oh just let it go,” the sister-in-law said. “The neighbors will hear.”

“If the neighbors hear, let them hear…Am I afraid of them? Have you no shame?... Now your daughter is growing up…Seeing your sin, what will she learn?  You are making a fool of Akbar. But you can’t make a fool of me…. The entire world will spit upon your birth. 

“People will spit on my birth?” Farida thought.

“I have never met such a shameless man as Akbar in my entire life. Can’t he see anything? 

“What can’t he see?” Farida also thought.

“But you have the nerve to bring this filth into my house…”

“Filth?...” Thinking this, Farida felt a ringing in her temples.

“...You run around with your boyfriend…” The sister-in-law tried to stop him, but he said it anyway.

“Friend!” Farida felt like bursting out into laughter. Riaz is her friend. But laughter was stuck in her throat. The past twenty years passed in front of her eyes in an instant…. Friend! In the eyes of the world, if Riaz is not her boyfriend, then what is he?... And she got up and began packing her luggage.