Questions about "Maps for Lost Lovers"

p. 249: "Surely she could not have lied about the pregnancy? Perhaps she wants to hurt him—plant pain in someone—for the injustice she has suffered in recent months."

Could this theory be true? If so, why would Suraya choose Shamas to take her emotions out on? Does Suraya like Shamas or is she bitter towards him?


p. 258-259: " 'She told us in passing that she was devastated when Mah-Jabin left her husband, despite the fact that like every other decent mother she had told her daughter that the house you are going to—the house of your husband and in-laws—is Heaven but you are not to desert it even if it becomes Hell, that as far as the parents are concerned a daughter dies on the day of her wedding.'

The second of the new arrivals says, 'Your wife did not want you to know about the fact that she had visited us obviously because you don't have a mother's heart in your breast and wouldn't have understood. A mother misses her children when they run away so she wants them back.' "

These two lines provide extremely conflicting views that Kaukab allegedly had: she demands that her daughter vanish from her world and live with her in-laws and becomes upset when she doesn't, and yet she tries to go to such drastic measures to bring her children back to her. Which one of these two views is Kaukab's priority? How does this conflict relate to the overarching inner conflict she has between her faith and her family? Is this scenario a case where she puts her family first, something we rarely see her do?


p. 267: "She'll make some rice pudding for Shamas this afternoon because he has asked for something sweet, and goes to check that there are pistachios in the cupboard. And maybe she should taste Shamas's food—despite the fact that it is Ramadan and she's fasting—to make sure that the things like spices and salts are in proportion. Allah—ever kind, ever compassionate—says that if you are a slave, a servant or a wife, and your master, employer, or husband is a strict man, you are allowed to taste the food you are cooking for him during your Ramadan fast to see that the salt and spices are according to his preference, to prevent a beating or unpleasantness. Shamas doesn't mind, but—since he is not well—perhaps her violating the fast would fall into the category of wifely devotion and love, and be excused."

Another case of Kaukab choosing between family and faith, but in this instance, she argues that her faith excuses the needs of her family. What is she prioritizing here? This passage also arises questions about the relationship between Shamas and Kaukab. Is this really what Kaukab's perception of "wifely devotion and love" is? How has Aslam portrayed Kaukab as "a slave" or "a servant" and Shamas as "a master" or "an employer"? Is "preventing a beating" just continuing the slave analogy or referencing the times that Shamas beat Kaukab and triggering a small fear or recollection in Kaukab's mind, or both?



p. 272-273: "A pious woman cannot bear the thought of letting a man other than her husband touch her—so in Paradise, where there is nothing but ease and satisfaction, why would she be put through the torment of being groped and fondled by strange men? In Paradise everyone will have at least one companion, for there is no celibacy in Paradise, and so the pious woman would be happy just to be given an eternal place by her earth-husband's side after Judgement Day."

In her thoughts, Kaukab specifically notes that it is okay for her husband to touch her, just not other men, and yet she refuses to let Shamas touch her. If her faith is not the reason why she essentially is abstinent, then what is the reason? Also, Shamas and Kaukab are constantly fighting with each other, angry at each other, and Shamas even beat Kaukab throughout the story. Would Kaukab really want an eternal place by her earth-husband's side, or is this desire something her faith is telling her she wants?


Why is the section titled "Autumn" so short? Why does "Winter" repeat itself twice? How does the winter imagery connect to the events of the story?

Three Passages for 11/2

p94-95: " 'It is a pity about this,' she says. 'Perhaps I could make you a kameez of this, but you probably don't wear Pakistani clothes these days.' The words are spoken with the back turned; the listener is being tested, to see if she can guess what expression of the face accompanies the words, as a lover would suddenly close both eyes and demand to know what color they are: the right answer would be a proof of love."


p103: " 'Yes I know, you've told us. But I think there is a thing called a 'griddle' in Britain that resembles Pakistani baking-irons, and of course the Mexican tortillas are cooked on—'

'If we'd had you to guide us during those early years we would have done things differently, and I apologize if I repeat something I've already told you but I don't lead a life as varied as yours.' It wouldn't tip the scales on a pin, the amount by which a comment has to fall short from the ideal in the listener's head for it to be regarded an affront, an offence—a crime. 'If I tell you something every day it's because I relive it every day. Every day—wishing I could rewrite the past—I relive the day I came to this country where I have known nothing but pain.' Immediately after taking it off the iron, Kaukab polishes the chapati with a pat of butter that melts and is propelled forward on the hot surface like a snail secreting the lubricating slickness to move on as it goes."


p112: "Equipped with that knitting needle she had shut herself in here after discovering herself pregnant—the smell of rust in her nostrils and the taste of iron behind her teeth and the gums seeming to grow richer every second, as though chains to bind her were being forged within her—and had realized only then that she did not know how to proceed. How exactly was it done? In the end her courage had failed her and she had sat trembling. A legal termination at a clinic was an impossibility: her only source of money was her parents and they would not have allowed her to have an abortion, and would have used the pregnancy to renew their efforts to make her return to her husband."