Back in 1984, one of the most prominent writers of the Indian-English genre Anita Desai, came up with a book titled “In Custody”. The book was nominated for the Man Booker Prize. I came across this for the first time when I paid a visit to the Daryaganj book market, but ended up judging the book by its cover, or I should say the cover of the book failed to indulge a 16-year-old.
My next encounter with the book was in my first year of graduation. At this juncture, I used to read it no matter how boring its cover seemed to me. To my surprise, the book was quite gripping. It enraptured me. It seemed like the story about “something from everything”.
The story revolves around a guy named Deven and how his ambitions keep falling short of enthusiasm. As I dived deeper and deeper into the world of “In Custody”, it turned out to be the microcosm of the macrocosm. Taking into consideration the contemporary times, all that’s visible is: the unacknowledged aspects of our lives that are still “in custody”. These can be personal, social, political or cultural. It is our courage which lies “in custody”. Skeptically, we have so much to make others listen to. We keep judging people and when they judge us, we tend to feel offended.
Following the social realm, which entangles us within the set norm of the society: “Stand with or stand out”. Well, if you aren’t fluent in English, if you aren’t rich, if you don’t align yourself to the latest fashion, if you have stage fright, if you aren’t fair, if you aren’t cunning enough to get along with the treacherous beings, then you are not good enough. The moment you challenge any of these conventions, then you’re judgemental.
From the political side of things, honesty is the most important thing that lies “in custody”. The only thing that exists in its most expanded and free form in the four fences of politics is the “race for supremacy”. Cultural unity has been lying “in custody” for years now. All that exists presently is an ugly rift between the communities. Voices of women are subjected to different types of violence. There are cries of riot victims, patriarchal ideologies resting deep within the minds. All of these are “in custody” of the ignorance we have become so used to.
Desai’s masterpiece has enabled me to realise that all the ideas we want to bring into existence end up being neutralized because of our wills that are “in custody”. The Hindi-Urdu debate, as the central theme of the book, often symbolises the inner conflict of sticking to our old selves and becoming an abridged version of ourselves. The languages often seem to take up human attributes and signify communities. To break free from the custody of such emotions, all we need to do is: imbibe reasoning, courage and wit in every activity we undertake.