Bapsi Sidhwa, the famous author of Ice Candy Man, has written the story of the plight of women in tribal areas in Pakistan in the heart rending novel, The Pakistani Bride was originally published in 1982 in England and India; and then republished in 1990 in the US. Almost 26 years later, the book is still up to date as the situation of women in these areas remains the same. Bapsi Sidhwa has based this novel on actual event that she heard of when she visited the Karokarm range with his husband. A girl who had run away from her husband had been killed by him to avenge his honour. The story had such a deep impact on Bapsi that she transformed this incident into a novel. The novel is set in the time before partition and begins with the story of Qasim, a ten year old tribal boy, who is married to a girl many years older than him.
Many years after his marriage, he loses his wife and all his children including his favourite daughter Zaitoon, as a result of the hardships faced in the mountain areas. Broken hearted and detached, he moves to the plains of Delhi. During the partition, he gets on a train for Lahore, but the train is attacked by Sikhs and a huge massacre follows. Bapsi Sidhwa has captured the vivid scenes of bloodshed during the partition with precision, which do not fail to have an impact on the reader. Qasim jumps of the train and runs to the forests, but a young girls about four years old clings to him calling him abba, Qasim is reminded of his daughter Zaitoon and he takes her with him giving her with him giving her the name Zaitoon. The years after the partition are marked with a friendship between Qasim and pehelwan (wrestler) named Nika. Nika’s wife and Zaitoon form a mother and daughter bond and are quite attached to each other. Although Qasim is settled in Lahore, his nostalgia for the mountains keeps on growing. As a result, he promises to marry his daughter to the son of a tribal. Nika and his wife try hard to persuade him against the match but Qasim is bent on reuniting his ties with the tribals. From there on their story entwines with the story of Carol, an American married to a Pakistani army personnel Furrukh. She is not happy with him and the attention of another man major Mushtaq flatter her and they have a brief affair. When Zaitoon and Qasim reach the cantonment, they take a lift in an army vehicle and stay with the army office for one night. A young army personnel Ashfaq develops a likeness for Zaitoon and tells her that if she ever needs any help she should come to the major.
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