Rahi Masoom Raza was born on September 1, 1927, in the village of Gangauli in Gajipur, in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. His early education took place right there in his village. After earning a PhD in Urdu literature from Aligarh University, he taught for several years in the same place. Then he moved to Mumbai, where he wrote the dialogues, conversations, and songs for hundreds of films. Writing the dialogues and conversations for the famous serial ‘Mahabharata’ earned him the most fame in this field.

Rahi Masoom Raza was a poet and novelist for whom Indianness was synonymous with humanity. Throughout his entire writing, the common man’s suffering, pain, and expression of his struggle for survival is evident. Rahi openly opposed the forces that divide the people, political parties, individuals, and institutions. He also exposed narrow-mindedness, prejudices, and the selfish alliances of religion and politics.

Major works of Rahi Masoom Raza include: Aaghaa, Topi Shukla, Himmat Jauhari, Katra B-ARJ, Days of Discontent, The Neem Tree (all Hindi novels); Muhabbat Ki Siva (Urdu novel); I Am a Cyclist (poetry collection); New Year, My Garden: My Sabha, Raksha-Maya, The Foreign City: Foreign Streets (all Urdu poetry collections), A Thousand and Seventy-Seven (Hindi-Urdu epic), and A Small Man’s Big Story (biography). Rahi passed away on March 15, 1992.

Topi Shukla

It is necessary to know a little about Iffan so that Iffan can be the first friend of Topi. Topi always called him Iffan. Iffan hated that name. But he kept calling him Iffan. In this constant calling, there was a kind of arrogance. The names themselves are strange. Urdu and Hindi are one language, Hindavi, with two names. But you see for yourself how the names change and become confusing. If the name is Krishna, he is called an incarnation, and if it is Muhammad, he is called a prophet. Caught up in the confusion of names, people forgot that both are animals that give milk. Both were cowherds, cow dung, and Braj-Kumar. That is why I say that without Topi, Iffan is not just incomplete, but meaningless. And without Iffan, Topi is meaningless. So it is necessary to visit Iffan’s house. It is necessary to see what kind of winds are blowing in the courtyard of his soul and how the fruits are ripening on the trees of the parrots.

Iffan’s story is also very long. But we are telling and listening to Topi’s story. That is why I will not tell you Iffan’s entire story, but only as much as is necessary for Topi’s story.

I made it necessary to tell you a little about Iffan because Iffan will appear before you at times in this story. Neither is Topi a shadow of Iffan, nor is Iffan a shadow of Topi. These are two free individuals. The development of these two individuals happened freely, independent of each other. These two individuals received two different family traditions. They thought differently about life. Yet Iffan is an integral part of Topi’s story. It is very important that Iffan is an integral part of Topi’s story.

I am not talking about Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. Why would I do such nonsense! Do I say to my elder or younger brother every day that we are brothers? If I don’t say it, will you say it? If Hindus and Muslims are brothers, there is no need to say it. If they are not, what difference will it make to say it? I have no fight to fight.

I am a storyteller and I am telling a story. I am talking about Topi and Iffan. These are two characters in this story. One’s name is Balbhadra Narayan Shukla, and the other’s name is Sayyid Jargam Murtaza. One was called Topi and the other was called Iffan.

Iffan’s grandfather and great-grandfather were very famous maulvis. They were born in the land of infidels and died in the land of infidels. But they died by will that their corpse be taken to Karbala. Their soul did not take even one breath in this country. The first Hindustani child born in that dynasty became Iffan’s father.

When Iffan’s father Sayyid Murtaza Husain died, he did not leave a will that his corpse be taken to Karbala. He was buried in a Hindu cemetery.

Iffan’s great-grandmother was also a very devout lady. She traveled to Karbala, Najaf, Khurasan, Qajim, and wherever else, but whenever someone left the house, she would definitely keep a pitcher of water at the door and also give the sacrifice of a goat. ${ }^{7}$

Iffan’s grandmother was also bound by daily prayers, but when the only son got chicken pox, ${ }^{8}$ she stood on a rope near the veranda and said, “Mother, forgive my child.” She was from the east. She was nine or ten years old when she married and came to Lucknow, but as long as she remained steadfast, she continued to speak eastern dialect. Lucknow’s Urdu in-laws were. She kept wrapping herself in the language of her hometown because apart from this language, there was no one around here who could understand the language of her heart. When the wedding day of her son came, her heart was broken with singing and playing, but how could singing and playing happen in the house of a maulvi! Poor heart, she remained silent. Yes, Iffan’s sixth… ${ }^{10}$… but she celebrated with all her might. ${ }^{11}$

The story is that Iffan was born after his grandfather’s death. It is necessary to keep in mind the difference between men and women because without keeping this in mind, one cannot understand the map of Iffan’s soul. ${ }^{12}$

Iffan’s grandmother was not the daughter of any maulvi, but the daughter of a landowner. She came after drinking milk and ghee, but when she came to Lucknow, she was eager for that curd which was brought here from Asamiyon by black-skinned women who boiled ghee. Whenever she went home, she ate with great enthusiasm. As soon as she came to Lucknow, she had to become a maulvi again. Her own relatives complained to her that time passes and opportunity does not come, they just keep becoming maulvis.

Her soul was always restless in her in-laws’ house. When she was about to die, her son asked whether her corpse would be taken to Karbala or Najaf, but she was ruined. She said, “Oh son, if my corpse is not taken care of, send me home.”

Death was on her head, so she forgot that now where is her home. Her home is in Karachi and her home has become a custodian. ${ }^{13}$ At the time of death, how can someone remember such small things? At that time, man sees his most beautiful dream (this is the storyteller’s imagination, because he is still alive!) Iffan’s grandmother also remembered her home. The name of that house was Kachchi Haveli. It was called Kachchi because it was made of mud. She remembered that guava seedling that she had planted with her own hands and that had also become old like her. These small, sweet, and meaningless things came to her mind. ${ }^{15}$ How could she go to Karbala or Najaf without remembering these things!

She was buried in Faizan in Banaras because Murtaza Husain’s posting was there at that time. Iffan had already gone to school. The clerk came and gave the news that the bibi’s body had been removed. Iffan’s grandmother was called bibi.

Iffan was studying in the fourth grade at that time and had already met Topi.

Iffan had great love for his grandmother. The love was for his father, his mother, his elder sister, $^{16}$ and his younger sister Nuzhat, but he loved his grandmother a little more. His mother would sometimes hit him. His elder sister was also like that. His father would sometimes decide to make the house a kitchen. ${ }^{17}$ Nuzhat would start making pictures on her pajamas whenever she got a chance. Only one grandmother never broke his heart. She would tell him stories at night like the night robber, the pomegranate tree, the twelve towers, the rich Hamza, Gulbakawali, Hatimatari, and the five flower queen.

“Sleeping world, waking world, O Lord, the protector of the pure. I do not say with my eyes, I say with my ears that in one country, ${ }^{19}$ there lived a king….”

She never laughed at his grandmother’s language. He thought it was good and fine. But his father would not let him speak. And whenever he complained to his grandmother about this, she would laugh and say, “Oh, my son! Why are you speaking like an illiterate vagabond? Speak like your father.” The conversation would end and the story would begin-

“Then that king quickly shot the deer…”

This sentence fell into Topi’s heart. Iffan’s grandmother showed him the image of her own mother’s party. He had hatred for his grandmother, hatred. Who knows what language she spoke. Iffan’s father and he spoke the same language.

Whenever he went to Iffan’s house, he would try to sit near his grandmother. He never tried to talk to Iffan’s mother and elder sister. They both laughed at his speech without fail, but whenever the conversation started, his grandmother would intervene-

“Why are you going to talk to them? Stop hitting the guard.” She would hit him and say, “Go there now…” But every word became a toy of Shakkar. ${ }^{20}$ It became an amavat. ${ }^{21}$ It became a tilwa. ${ }^{22}$…and he would silently go to them.

“Your mother is doing it…” His grandmother would always start the conversation like this. First, he would circle around to know what this mother is. Then he would understand that they call mother.

This word pleased him. The word “mother” he would suck like a sweet dumpling. Mother. Father. Elder sister.

Then one day, it happened.

Dr. Bhargava Narayan Shukla, the man with blue oil, had entered the twentieth century in his house. That is, food was served on the table-chair. There were indeed plates, but not on the table.

That day, it happened that the eggplant curry pleased him a little more. Ramadulari was serving food. Topi said-

“Mom, give me some eggplant curry.”

Mom!

All the hands on the table stopped. All the eyes fixed on Topi’s face. How did the word “Mom” come into this house. Mom! The walls of tradition started shaking. “Where did you learn this word?” Subhadradevi asked.

“Word?” Topi blinked his eyes. “Does a word have a mother?”

“This word ‘Mom’ who taught you?” The grandmother groaned.

“We learned it from Iffan.”

“What is his full name?”

“We don’t know.”

“Who did you become friends with?”

Ramadulari’s soul went to Gangana.

“Bibi, how many times do I have to tell you not to speak this vagabond language in front of me?” Subhadradevi rained down on Ramadulari.

The battle changed.

The next day, when Dr. Bhargava Narayan Nileshwarwal learned that Topi had made friends with the collector’s son, he swallowed his anger and came the very next day with clothes and sugar permit.

But that day, Topi’s great misfortune ${ }^{24}$ became. Subhadradevi immediately got up from the dining table at that time and Ramadulari hit Topi again very hard.

“Do you want to go back to your house again?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, then hide yourself in the yard.”

…Ramadulari became tired from hitting. But Topi did not say that he would not go to Iffan’s house. Munna Babu and Bhairav kept watching his 25th birthday show.

“We were watching kebab shop one day.” Munna Babu put a piece.

Kebab!

“Ram Ram Ram!” Ramadulari took two steps back in disgust. Topi started looking towards Munna Babu. Because the reality was that Topi had seen Munna Babu eating kebabs and Munna Babu had given him a tip. Topi knew this, but he was not a thief. Until now, he had not told anyone about Munna Babu except Iffan.

“Did you see them eating kebabs?”

“No, I didn’t see them that day?” Munna Babu said.

“Then why didn’t you tell me that day?” Subhadradevi asked.

“This is a lie, grandma!” Topi said.

That day, Topi was very sad. He had not become so big yet that he could get caught between lies and truth. And the truth is that he had never become so big. That day, he had been hurt so much that his whole body was in pain. He kept thinking only one thing that if he became bigger than Munna Babu one day, he would understand him. But to become bigger than Munna Babu was not possible in his nature. He was born smaller than Munna Babu and remained smaller. The next day, when he met Iffan in school, he told him everything. They both skipped the jugarafia hour. ${ }^{27}$ From the fifth shop, Iffan bought bananas. The thing is, Topi never touched anything except fruit.

“It can’t be that we all change our grandmother,” Topi said. “Then your grandmother will come to our house and our grandmother will go to your house. Our grandmother used to tell everyone to speak.”

“It can’t happen,” Iffan said. “My father will not accept this. And who will tell the story? Your grandmother tells stories of twelve towers.”

“Can’t you give me one grandmother?” Topi heard his own heart breaking.

“My grandmother is also my father’s mother,” Iffan said.

This sentence came into Topi’s understanding.

“Is your grandmother as old as my grandmother?”

“Yes.”

“Then don’t think about it,” Iffan said. “My grandmother says that old people die.” “My grandmother will not die.”

“How can she not die? Is my grandmother lying?”

Just at that moment, the clerk came and it was known that Iffan’s grandmother had died.

Iffan left. Topi was left alone. He walked into the gymnasium with his mouth covered. An old Chaprasi sat somewhere smoking a beedi. He sat in a corner and started crying.

That evening, he went to Iffan’s house, but there was a crowd there. The house was full. There were more people than usual every day. But for Topi, the house had become empty because of the absence of one grandmother. Even though he did not know her name, he had not eaten anything from her hands even after hearing her name a thousand times. Love does not bind these things. A bond of this kind had already formed between Topi and the grandmother. Even if Iffan’s grandfather had been alive, he would not have understood this bond in the same way as Topi’s relatives had not been able to understand it. Both were incomplete in their own ways. One completed the other. Both were thirsty. One quenched the thirst of the other. Both were strangers in their own homes and alone in full homes. Both had removed the loneliness of the other. One was ninety years old and the other was eight years old.

“If my grandmother had died instead of your grandmother, it would have been all right,” Topi consoled Iffan. ${ }^{28}$

Iffan did not give any answer. He did not even have an answer to this thing. The two friends silently started crying.

Topi took an oath on October 10, 1954 that he would not make friends with any boy whose father had a job that changed frequently.

October 10, 1954, of course, has no great significance, but this date has great importance in Topi’s personal history, because on this very date, Iffan’s father left for Badayun on transfer. A few days after Iffan’s grandmother’s death, this storm ${ }^{29}$ happened, so Topi became alone because none of the other three sons of Collector Thakur Harinam Singh could become his friend. Dabbu was very small. Bihu was very big. Guddu was equal, but only spoke English. And there was also the fact that they all knew they were the sons of the collector. Someone did not even open his mouth to Topi.

The gardener and Chaprasi recognized Topi. So he went to the bungalow. At that time, Bihu, Guddu, and Dabbu were playing cricket. Dabbu hit. The ball came straight to Topi’s mouth. He raised his hand in fear. The ball came into his hands.

“How’s that!”

The head umpire was Malvi. He raised his finger. The poor boy only understood that when the shout “How’s that!” happened, he had to raise his finger.

“How are you?” Dabbu asked.

“Baldev Narayan,” Topi answered.

“How is your father?” Guddu asked.

“This is Bhargava Narayan.”

“Oh,” Bihu said to the umpire, “Is this Bhargava Narayan? Is he one of the other Chaprasis?”

“No sir,” the umpire said, “He is a famous tailor in the city.”

“Do you mean doctor?” Dabbu asked.

“Yes sir!” The head Malvi got so much English. ${ }^{30}$

“But look so calm,” Bihu said.

“!” Topi froze. “Keep your mouth shut. Start dancing in one leg.”

“Oh you…” Bihu waved his hand. Topi fell down. Then he got up crying. But the head Malvi came in between and Dabbu gave his alasheshan a shushkar. ${ }^{31}$

Seven sticks of hunger in the stomach, and Topi’s senses returned. And then he did not even look towards the bungalow of the collector sahib. But the question arose that then what would he do? In the house, Laxmanarayan, who read and wrote, was there, who understood his sorrow and pain. So he went to his lap and after going into the shadow of Sita, his soul also became small. Sita was hit by everyone in the house, big and small. Topi was also hit by everyone in the house, big and small. So they both started loving each other.

“Don’t worry, baba!” One night, when Munna Babu and Bhairav were making a daj, ${ }^{32}$ he was very upset, so Sita took him to her room and started consoling him.

It happened that the days were hot. A new coat came for Munna Babu. A coat was also made for Bhairav. Topi got Munna Babu’s coat. The coat was completely new. Munna Babu did not like it. Still, it was made for him. It was to be worn. Topi immediately gave that coat to the other nurse Ketki’s son. He became happy. A thing given to a child cannot be taken back, so it was decided that Topi would eat jada.

“We will not eat jada or orda,” Topi said.

“You will eat shoes,” Sita said.

“You don’t even know that shoes are eaten and then worn,” the grandmother said.

“You are being disrespectful to your grandmother,” Munna Babu said sadly.

“Then we will worship them.”

What happened then! The grandmother raised the sky on her head. Ramadulari started beating her…

“You reached the tenth in the tenth,” Sita said, “You should not be angry with your grandmother. She is your grandmother.”

Sita easily said that he had reached the tenth, but this thing was not so easy. To reach the tenth, he had to pass through great difficulties. He had failed twice. He reached the ninth only in the year fifty-eight, but he could reach the tenth only in the year fifty.

When he failed for the first time, Munna Babu came first in intermediate and Bhairav in sixth. The whole house put him on the tip of their tongue. He cried a lot. The thing was not that he was stupid. He was quite fast, but no one let him read. Whenever he sat to read, either some work came out for Munna Babu or some thing had to be demanded from Ramadulari which could not be demanded from the servants - if all this did not happen, it was known that Bhairav had made his pajamas fly in the air.

The next year, he got typhoid.

The third year, he passed in the third division. This third division stuck to his head like the vaccine for kalank. ${ }^{34}$

But we should also keep in mind his difficulties.

In the year fifty-eight, he was with his companions. He failed. His friends moved forward. He remained. In the year fifty, he had to sit with those boys who were in seventh grade the previous year.

To sit in the same grade as those who are behind is not an easy task. His friends were in the tenth grade. He met them, played with them. He could not make friends with anyone among those who joined with him. Whenever he sat in the class, he felt strange about sitting in his own seat. The shame on him was that when the masters taught the weak boys, they showed him as an example-

“What does it mean, same avatar (or Muhammad Ali?) want to stay in this grade like Baldev?” ${ }^{35}$

When they heard this, the whole grade started laughing. Those who laughed were those who were in seventh grade the previous year.

He somehow endured this year. But when in the year seventeen, he also had to sit in the ninth grade only, he became completely like wet clay, because now even in the tenth grade, ${ }^{36}$

There was no friend left for him. Those in eighth grade were in the tenth grade. Those in seventh grade were with him! He looked very old and distinguished among them.

He became alone in his school, just like in his full house. The masters completely stopped taking his notice. Whenever someone asked a question and he raised his hand to answer, no master ever asked him for an answer. But when his hand kept rising, one day the English literature master sahib said-

“You have been reading this book for three years, you must have all the answers in your mouth! These boys have to take the matriculation exam next year. I will ask you a parsala.”

Topi was so ashamed that the redness ran over his black color. And when all the boys laughed loudly, he completely died. When he came here for the first time, he was also completely like these boys.

Then that day, Abdul Vahid shot him with an arrow in the reshees that made Topi completely wake up. Vahid was the fastest boy in the class. He was also a monitor. And the biggest thing was that he was the son of the doctor Sharfuddin, the man with red oil.

He said, “Baldev! Now we are going to enter the village. Make friends with the English. We will leave, you will remain with them.”

This sentence went through Topi’s heart and he took an oath that he would pass whether he got typhoid or the father of typhoid.

But a selection came in between.

Dr. Bhargava Narayan Nileshwarwal stood up. Now how could anyone who can read and write stand up in any house for selection!

He was in the house when the doctor sahib’s jurisdiction was established, then there was a crowd in the house and Topi saw that the exam was on his head.

He got involved in his studies. But how could anyone study in such an environment? So it was necessary for him to pass.

“Wow!” The grandmother said, “God saved you from the glance. The speed is good. He passed in the third year, third grade…”

Thought Questions

1. How is Iffan an important part of the story of Topi Shukla?

2. Why did Iffan’s grandmother want to go to her village?

3. Why could Iffan’s grandmother not fulfill her desire to sing and play at her son’s wedding?

4. What was the reaction of Topi’s relatives to the word ‘Mom’?

5. What importance does October 10, 1954 have in Topi’s life?

6. Why did Topi ask Iffan to change grandmothers?

7. Why did Iffan have special affection for his grandmother alone in the whole house?

8. Why did Topi feel that Iffan’s grandmother’s house was empty after her death?

9. Topi and Iffan’s grandmother belonged to different religions and castes, yet they were bound by an unknown and unbreakable relationship. Write your thoughts on this statement.

10. Topi failed in the ninth grade twice. Tell-

(क) What were the reasons for failing in the class twice despite being intelligent?

(ख) What emotional challenges did Topi face by sitting twice in the same class?

(ग) Suggest necessary changes in the education system keeping in view Topi’s emotional difficulties?

11. Why did Iffan’s grandmother’s house of her hometown become a custodian?