SQUATTER
Rohinton Mistry in his apparently funny short story Squatter has presented some of the most known troupes found in Diasporic literature. The hankering for the superior west is something that requires no introduction. Even today a lot of people go for brands like Tommy Hilfiger in spite of his known racist attitude, they will prefer any international brand to their national brand, and Mistry exactly focuses on this idea. Nariman the storyteller owns a Mercedes which he is proud of and whistles the tune of “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and has a Clark Gable moustache, revealing the western influence on him, however the stories he tells imitates the old oral tradition found in India which resounds his Indian self.
The story about Savukshaw reveals him as an ace cricketer, hunter, and artist and so on. Now we all know that language is an important fact in the post colonial studies, language becomes the medium through which conceptions of ‘truth’,’ order’ and reality becomes established. Post colonial writers are known to experiment with language and here Mistry uses the cricketing language; cricket as we know is essentially associated with the English. Here Savukshaw seems to be an ace in the game of the colonial master. His hitting all the balls “past the boundary lines” is an act of defiance, a silent cry of “we will not lose, not anymore”.
The next short story that Nariman tells is of Sarosh who immigrates to Canada which is known for its so-called “cultural-mosaic”. The farewell party organized by Sarosh’s relatives reiterates the notion that the west is a land of ‘milk and honey’ and the hope that he will be successful. However the moment Sarosh migrates to Canada the first problem that he faces is that he is incapable of using western toilets. The sheer physicality that Mistry deploys comes to embody his diasporic experience. Unlike the other writers of diasporic literature Rohinton Mistry does not experiment either with form or language but he focuses on an ‘act’ which has not been used hitherto.
Mistry parodies all the common troupes of displacement, homelessness, identity crisis, hibridity and so on by not allowing Sarosh to feel any of it. He almost becomes like those flowers of “A Change of Skies” which does not bloom in its new environment. Unlike the general psychological picture that we get of the immigrants in the diasporic literature, here it’s a physical picture that Mistry develops. It is as if his entire body seems to rebel against his decision to migrate and forces him to cling to the ways of his homeland.
The portrayal of Dr. No-Illaz is marked with sarcasm. Bhaba writes that the colonial requires that the native adopts and internalizes the form and habits of the colonial master: the native should mimic the master. Here the doctor becomes a colonial agent who “treats” and “customizes” the native so that they can mimic the colonial masters and use the western toilets. As mentioned before the idea that anything western is superior is revealed in a sarcastic light when the doctor proposes to make his bowel movement mechanical.
Mistry also hits out at the “cultural mosaic” of Canada. He shows that it is indeed a mosaic unlike a ‘melting pot’ of America, Canada though welcomes immigrants they treat them as the “other”. “Sarosh too could detect something malodorous in the air: the presence of xenophobia and hostility”. The very fact that Sarosh’s boss does not want to know what is Sarosh’s problem and immediately asks him to consult the “Immigrant Aid Society” goes on to shows the Canadian indifference to its immigrants. Sarosh was indeed a ‘squatter’ that is he is living on the soil which does not belong to him and has high chances of being evicted. Therefore in spite of the travel agent who acts as the doctor’s doppelganger encourages him to stay on in the “superior west” Sarosh moves back to India. His decision to return is accepted by his body which again starts to work normally in the plane itself . The pull to return and belong and yet hold on to his authentic self is displayed by most diasporic writers and here Sarosh fails to do it. However Sarosh faces the predicaments of a failed immigrant. When he returns home after 10 years he realizes a lot a change, therefore from being a figure rejected by his new home he becomes one who rejects his old home, unable to negotiate with the changes around him he becomes a solitary figure.
Mistry through Narimans tells all the would-be-immigrants to exercise Savukshaw-like will in order to survive their new homelands, he also sounds a warning against hybridity and underscores the need to hold on to the authentic self in the face of xenophobia through ‘practice, lots of practice”.
SHAFIA PARVEEN PG1