Touch Me Not is a short story written by Ismat Chughtai, a renowned Urdu writer whose works of fiction are women-centered and drawn from middle-class life. Through her stories, she tries to explore the ongoing socio-cultural conflicts of society. Reading between the lines of the story Touch Me Not, Chughtai has portrayed her belief in self-hood and self-definition of women, in the times when terms like individual identity and free will of women were not even in existence.
The title ‘Touch Me Not’ comments on the delicate and fragile nature of women, showing their dependency on others. It reflects upon the unfortunate conditions that existed for women, where their destinies tend to revolve around the male-dominated society. The story also touches upon the so-called predestined expected roles of women of being a wife, a daughter-in-law, and a mother. The setting of the story, i.e. in a train’s compartment, is in itself symbolic of this confined space within which women’s destinies are charted out in the patriarchal society. “The fact is, the moment her mother stopped feeding her, she (the protagonist) came to adorn Bhaijan’s bed”. Such instances in the story are in itself depicting the fact that women’s fate is destined to play the role of wife as soon as they are born.
The protagonist of the story, Bhabhijaan, has several miscarriages. As a result of this, the next time the pregnancy advanced a bit, the mother-in-law, Bi-Mughlani, took extra care of her daughter-in-law’s health. Doctors from Delhi were called upon. Care was taken to ensure that the protagonist successfully bears a child this time. This is quite evident from the line, “if she (referring to the protagonist) failed in this one conjugal duty (that of giving birth to an heir), she would have to forgo all bridal comforts”. It then becomes necessary for the protagonist to give birth to a child to prevent her marriage from falling apart.
Nowhere in the story, Ismat has mentioned the protagonists’ own desire to bear a child. Ismat writes, “she was desperately looking forward to the delivery which would make her life secure. If the father of the newborn lacked interest, the grandfather would certainly provide for her maintenance”. A child here becomes a symbol of a woman’s identity. In this sense, the narrative gives us a glimpse of the fears, hopes, sorrows and desperate attempts of a woman to attain an individual identity through performing the domestic and child-bearing roles allocated to them by society. The question that arises here is, do women don’t have dreams of their own? Are women only allowed to live for others?
‘Yes’ is the answer that will come to your head instinctively because that's how the story has been outlined by the writer. The story even encounters us to the aggrieved veracity of how women conspire to undermine other women’s positions. How they too tend to carry forward the oppression against other women. This is evident from a particular instance in the story where the mother-in-law internalized patriarchy by inflicting violence on another lady who also happened to be pregnant.
Besides , Ismat has also thrown light upon the pathetic state of lower-class women. When a woman belonging to the lower class delivers a child on the train, she is gawked with disgust. Even though the roles are the same, the love and compassion of a mother are the same, yet different treatment is meted out based upon one’s caste and class.
Overall, the story successfully brings the attention of the readers to the pathetic state of the women. Where on one hand it tells us how women themselves are preachers of this dogmatic society, it also brings to our attention the efforts of some women to come out free from the clutches of patriarchy. It informs us of the conditions with which women are often treated. It also gives us a disclaimer in the form of the title: handle a woman with caution, lest she breaks into pieces. The question remains, does a woman need someone to take care of her and handle her with caution? The answer lies within each one of you.
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