how deven is in custody or trap in the novel in custody by Anita Desai
Answers
The last paragraph of In Custody suggested one of many epiphanies Deven endured as it marked that adversity and afflictions must be met to live life to the fullest. In Anita Desai’s In Custody, the main protagonist Deven is “in captive” or trapped on a rollercoaster ride consisting of many epiphanies and calamities. Once this rollercoaster of a storyline ends, Deven experiences the most prominent revelation of his life; realizing that life’s got its challenges to be met. Like a rollercoaster ride, life has many ups and downs. Deven looked upon Nur as a great role model and based most his poetry on the works of Nur. Desai describes Nur of once being a wonderful comet who slowly evolves into mere dust, which crushes Deven’s perception of his epic hero. Also, Sarla and Manu revealed two different symbols on Deven’s rollercoaster journey. Deven later realizes his role in life; to preserve and capture the art of Nur’s Urdu poetry by conquering the obstacles in his life. These epiphanies as well as barriers led to the most important realization of Deven. He finds out the harsh realities of life and the only way to fight it is to “learn to live thru em”.
oetry by conquering the obstacles in his life. These epiphanies as well as barriers led to the most important realization of Deven. He finds out the harsh realities of life and the only way to fight it is to “learn to live thru em”.
Nur is described as being the epitome of Urdu poetry in Desai’s In Custody. Murad even describes him as “[being] the [future] star of [his Urdu] issue. The light that blazes in the centre and sends its rays to all corners of the world where his verse is known- in Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, Russia, [and] Sweden” (10). The character’s respect for Nur is undeniable especially when it comes to Deven. Although Deven teaches in the Hindi department at Lala Ram Lal College, he still loves exploring the wonders of Urdu poetry and is given the chance, “to see [Nur], his hero and talk to him” (18). As soon as Deven arrives at Nur-Sahib’s flat, he feels “a most tide of jubilation rise and an increase inside at being recognized, named and invited into the presence of a man so clearly a hero” (34). It was to him as if God had leaned over a cloud and called for him to come up and angels might have been drawing him up these ancient splintered stairs to meet the deity” (35). This represents his first ride “up” on the rollercoaster storyline as he experienced anticipation for the first time in his dull life. His excitement and euphoria was unquestionable, but it suddenly came to an end when he finally met Nur. When Deven explains the proposal to interview him for his contribution to the special issue on Urdu poetry, Nur says that Urdu is a dead language and that there is no use in writing the article. Having told Nur that he taught at a small college where there was a department of Urdu, Nur asked if he taught in the Urdu department and Deven told him the truth that he taught in the Hindi department. Nur then accuses Deven of being a spy sent by the universities to destroy the small remains of the Urdu language; hunt it out and demolish it. Deven’s vision of Nur as a godly figure is crushed into dust. The shining comet of Nur that is believed to be a good omen turned out to be a mere dust and misfortune, which also characterizes a downfall on his rollercoaster journey.
Sarla and Manu are two different symbols in Deven’s rollercoaster life. Sarla, his wife, represents disenchantment in his life. When Deven finally arrives home from his first crushed interview with Nur, he was afraid, “she would teach him not to venture out of the familiar, safe dustbin of their world into the perilous world of night time bacchanalia, revelry and melodrama” (66).