The Bride's Pyjamas PDF Notes

Page |1 Readings on Indian Literatures 3 Short Story The Bride’s Pyjamas Akhtar Mohiuddin...

Page |1 Readings on Indian Literatures 3 Short Story The Bride’s Pyjamas Akhtar Mohiuddin Intro Akhtar Mohiuddin is a leading Kashmiri short story writer. He has written more than 40 radio plays and six collections of short stories. ‘The Bride’s Pyjamas’ portrays a love story between a seventy-year-old man, NabirShalla and his wife, Khotan Didi. The story focuses on the permanence of love. It also draws our attention to the hypocrisies of the society in its attitude towards old people. The story reduces age into just numbers. NabirShalla repairs clothes. The couple had lost eight of their ten children in their infancy. But away from the tragedies of life and other geriatric concerns, the old couple is still so full of love and make most of their life. The story was originally written in Kashmiri, and translated into English. Essay Q. Age is just a number. Explain with reference to the story. ‘The Bride’s Pyjamas’ written by Akhtar Mohiuddin is an interesting story. It portrays the warmth of love in marital relationships. The story focuses on the permanence of love. It reduces age into just numbers. Seventy-year-old NabirShalla and his wife, Khotan Didi have been married for many decades. They still had a passion for each other. They had ten children; they lost eight of their children in their infancy. Only two daughters survived. NabirShalla was a shawl-maker. He mended cloth for living. One day, he finished darning a patch, and to cut the cord, he looked for the scissors. He asked his wife about the tool. Khotan Didi, while looking for the scissors on the shelf, pulled a bag. It was full of old clothes and worn-out garments of their children. As she was pulling out the old clothes, she chanced upon a pair of rose-red pyjamas. They were the pyjamas she had worn on her https://www.youtube.com/@MurukanBabu  Page |2 marriage day, a long time ago. Those pyjamas were still there, the only thing left of her dowry. Her heart gave a sudden throb as she plunged into the memories of her youth. NabirShalla persuaded Khotan Didi to put on the pyjamas. Just as she put them on, NabirShalla hugged her with the passion of their youth. The sight of the rose-red pyjamas gave them a chance to drive away the monotony of their old age. They danced to the memories of their wedding day without worrying about societal judgements. Love is for all ages. Age is just a number. Paragraph 1. The significance of the red- rose pyjamas in the story. Khotan Didi, while looking for the scissors of NabirShalla on the shelf, pulled a bag. It was full of old clothes and worn-out garments of their children. As she was pulling out the old clothes, she chanced upon a pair of rose-red pyjamas. These were the pyjamas she had worn on her marriage day, a long time ago. They were still there, the only thing left of her dowry. Her heart gave a sudden throb as she plunged into the memories of her youth. The sight of the rose-red pyjamas gave them a chance to drive away the monotony of their old life. They danced to the memories of their wedding day. The story focuses on the permanence of love. 2. Love is for all ages - Explain in the context of the story. ‘The Bride’s Pyjamas’ is an interesting story that portrays the warmth of love in marital relationships. Seventy-year-old NabirShalla and Khotan Didi have been married for many decades. They still have a passion for each other. They had ten children; only two daughters have survived. The man mends cloth for living. One day, Khotan Didi, while searching through a bag full of old clothes, finds the red pyjamas she wore on her marriage day. NabirShalla persuades her to put them on. Just as she puts them on, NabirShalla embraces her with the passion of their youth. Love is for all ages. 3. Character sketch of NabirShalla NabirShalla is a seventy-year-old shawl-maker. He had passed most of his years sitting in the verandah, mending clothes. He and his wife Khotan Didi have been married for many decades. He remembers two songs and sings them all the time. The songs sum up his philosophy of life, i.e., live, love and enjoy. In the story, the sight of the rose-red pyjamas gives NabirShalla and Khotal Didi a chance to drive away the monotony of their old life. They forget themselves for a moment and dance to the memories of their wedding day without worrying about societal judgements. Love is for all ages. To NabirShalla and his aged wife, age is just a number. https://www.youtube.com/@MurukanBabu  Page |3 Short Answer 1. What did NabirShalla do for a living? NabirShalla was a shawl-maker. He mended cloth for a living. 2. What did Khotan Didi go in search of? Khotan Didi went in search of the scissors of NabirShalla. 3. What made Khotan Didi sad all of a sudden? When Khotan Didi pulled out her children’s old garments from the bag in the shelf, she remembered her children one by one and she became very sad. They had ten children; only two daughters survived. 4. What did Khotan Didi chance upon in the middle of her old clothes? As Khotan Didi was pulling out the old clothes, she chanced upon a pair of rose-red pyjamas. These were the pyjamas she had worn on her marriage day, a long, long time ago, but they were still there— the only thing left of her dowry. 5. Who had come to visit them at the end of the story? Their elder son-in-law had come to visit them at the end of the story. Prepared by: Prof. MURUKAN BABU C.R. (formerly) Associate Professor of English Panampilly Memorial Govt. College Chalakudy email: [email protected] https://www.youtube.com/@MurukanBabu