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Intizar Husain
(Translated from Urdu by Alok Bhalla with Vishwamitter Adil)
1
I
t was still raining outside. Inside, it was warm and humid. Exasperated by the oppressive humidity, one of them opened the window for a moment and then shut it immediately.
“Has the rain decreased?”
“No, it is still raining heavily.”
“Is this the Day of Judgement?”
“Allah! The rain outside is better than the hell in here.”
“There isn’t much to choose between the rain outside and the oppressive heat in here.”
“Where can we go? Everything is under water.”
“Why is it still raining?”
“Because we are still alive.”
“How many of us are here? We can be counted on our fingertips.”
“There are also the animals.”
“Perhaps, that’s why it’s so oppressive in here. How difficult it is to breathe when one is shut in with animals!”
“Yes. And who knows how long we’ll have to stay imprisoned in this place. There is no sign of the rain stopping. It’s been raining like this for days.”
“When did it start raining?”
“When?”
“Yes. Can anyone remember when it started raining; how many days ago?”
They tried to count the number of days. But no one could remember when it had begun to rain. Neither the day, nor the time.
“That means we don’t know how long we have been on this boat or when we began our journey!”
They were bewildered. How long had they been travelling — how many days, how many years, and how many generations? That is what always happens when it rains or when one is on a long journey. When it rains continuously, it seems as if it has been raining and raining for years. It is the same with long journeys. If one travels without a break, one feels as if one has been doing so eternally from one birth to the next.
“We left home the day it started raining. Does anyone remember?”
Home!
That was the first time someone had uttered the word home.
They were startled, “We had homes once!” Each of them recalled their homes as if they had left them behind only recently.
“Alas, if only she had got into the boat with me! Who knows where she is now and what waters surround her?”
“Who is she?”
“O, she’s the one who collided into me as she was descending the stairs.”
And the whole scene flashed before him. That woman, whose eyes were like those of a deer and whose breasts were like ripe and luscious fruit. When he held her in his arms as she rushed down the stairs, he felt as if he were holding a trembling dove. A moment later, she freed herself and ran like a wild antelope with long strides. Then, suddenly, she stopped and returned. The next moment, when the sun was still burning in the sky, she sank under the weight of his body and lay in his embrace under the shadow of the palm tree behind the hill.
Steps, courtyards, meandering paths, hills, tall trees full of fruit and birds. How much he recalled! But why remember houses that had crumbled in the rain and had been washed away by the flood? None of them had accepted the fact that the waters had risen above the peaks of the mountains and had not spared their homes.
“How can we forget our homes? We had spent our days there, sang songs for new brides there, lamented the dead there.”
Their eyes brimmed with tears. They remembered their homes and wept. Slowly, without hope and without doubt, they accepted the fact that their homes had been destroyed.
“O dear friends, those houses were destined to be destroyed.”
“How?”
2
Then Gilgamesh fell on his knees and spoke, “O fellow travellers, if you have the clarity of vision then consider my fate. Behold how many tumultuous and wild seas I had to cross to reach that land where Utnapishtim was resting. I prayed to him thus: ‘O Utnapishtim, I had heard that those who seek, find blessing; that at the end of a journey, there is salvation. But I have searched for a long time. Now I am exhausted. My quest has not brought me blessings; my journey has been pointless. But you sit here and rest in this garden of paradise.’
After I had finished speaking, Utnapishtim said thoughtfully: ‘O ill-fated one, I see that this difficult journey has exhausted you and that despondency has seeped into your soul. So, rest here for a while. And listen carefully. I shall tell you how I sought grace and how, at the end of my journey, found salvation. I tore down my house and built a boat.’
I was surprised and said: ‘O revered one, what are you saying? Does anyone tear down his house with his own hands?’
Utnapishtim replied sadly: ‘That was what my Lord desired. He appeared to me in a dream and informed me that Enlil was angry could not rest because there was too much noise on earth. So, Utnapishtim, your safety lies in demolishing your house and in building a boat. That is what I did, Gilgamesh. I pulled down my house and built a boat, because my Lord commanded me to do so.’ ”
3
Then they remembered what had happened. The earth had become far too crowded and men had become evil.
The Lord had first created men. The Lord had then created women. The men of the Lord had found the women irresistibly attractive and had taken them as their wives. Those women had given birth to daughters, and the men of the Lord had fallen in love with them and taken them as their wives. Well, that is how the earth became crowded with human beings and a place of evil. When He saw the condition of the earth, the Lord repented. In grief, He said: “I created the sons of Adam and I shall destroy them for they have polluted the earth and made it an evil place.”
There was, however, among those sinful creatures that crowded the earth, one righteous man who had always followed the commandments of the Lord. So the Lord said to him: “O son of Lamech, I shall save only you. Make a boat and when the heavy rains begin to fall, take a pair, male and female, of every living creature, into your boat.” The good man did as he was commanded.
Noah was married. His wife had given birth to sons. When they grew up, his sons had married beautiful women.
When that good man’s wife saw him build a boat, she taunted him. She gathered her sons together and said, “Look, what a mess your father has made. He spends his day cutting and hammering to build something useless.”
After a while, when Lamech’s son, Noah, couldn’t bear her taunts anymore, he said, “You are my helpmate, the partner of my life. Be afraid of the day when your passion cools and you come to give me news of the approaching storm.”
4
One morning, Manu was surprised to see that the fish had grown larger than the vessel. It was only the day before that he had found the fish caught in the folds of his clothes when he was bathing in the pond. At that time, it had been no bigger than the length of his hand. He was about to fling it back into the pond when the fish had pleaded with him, “O Prabhu, peace. Please give me shelter. I am a small fish and the big fish in the pond will eat me if you throw me back.” He agreed to give it shelter and filled a vessel with water so that the fish could swim peacefully in it.
But now he saw that the fish had grown larger than the vessel. Manuji took the fish out of the vessel and put it in a large pot filled with water.
The next morning, however, when Manuji woke up at sunrise for his prayers, he saw that the fish had grown so much larger than the pot that its tail stuck out. He was astonished. How could a fish, that had been so small a few days ago, have grown so big that even a large pot couldn’t contain it?
The fish pleaded, “Prabhu, have mercy on me. The pot is very small and I feel cramped in it.”
There was a pond just outside Manuji’s house. He took the fish out of the pot, placed it in the pond and went away feeling happy.
The next morning, however, he was shocked to see that the pond had also become too small for the fish. Its tail stuck out of the pond.
Once again the fish pleaded, “Prabhu, you promised to give me shelter, but I have not found comfort in your care.”
When he heard that, Manjuji pulled the fish out of the pond and carried it to a lake outside the town.
“Here, swim in this lake without fear.”
Leaving the fish in the lake, Manuji went back home. He was relieved that he had fulfilled his promise at last. That night he slept peacefully.
The next morning, however, when he opened his eyes, he was shocked to see that the fish had grown so large that its tail had reached the courtyard of his house. He got up quickly and went to the lake. He saw that the lake could only contain the head of the fish. The rest of its body lay outside on the ground.
The fish pleaded, “O Prabhu, since the time I asked you to give me shelter, I have been unable to move and breathe freely.”
Manuji pulled the fish out of the lake and carried it on his back to the Ganga. When he reached the Ganga, he released the fish into the river and said, “There now, I have placed you in the lap of the Ganga. You can either live in it or find another place.”
But, before he could even complete his sentence, the fish began to grow. It grew so large that even the Ganga couldn’t contain it.
Manuji was astonished when he saw that. He said, “You are a strange fish! You keep growing bigger and bigger. The rule of life is that every living creature adapts itself to the space available. But you continue to grow. No water on land can contain you. All right, the only solution left is to take you to the sea.”
So, Manuji pulled the fish out of the Ganga, lifted it onto his back and carried it to the sea. As he was walking towards the sea, Manuji suddenly recalled that a long time ago, Vishnuji had appeared on earth in the form of a dwarf and asked the demon king, who ruled over the earth, for as much land as he could cover in three strides. The foolish king confidently thought that a dwarf couldn’t cover much land in three steps. So he agreed to grant the dwarf his request. But Vishnuji, at once, revealed his divine form and, in three large steps, covered the earth, the sky and the heavens.
The recollection of that event alerted Manuji. He looked suspiciously at the fish and thought to himself, in those days, when the earth was in the thrall of demons, Vishnuji appeared in the shape of a dwarf to save it from evil. Why shouldn’t Vishnuji appear once again to save it from evil men who roam across it so freely? He can, if he so desires, crush them like ants. Manuji was still lost in thought when he reached the sea.
He pushed the fish into the sea and said, “Now, please leave me alone. Grow as much as you want to in the sea.”
But even before he had finished speaking the fish began to grow. It grew so large that it covered the entire sea.
When Manuji saw the spectacle, he was filled with dread. He bowed his head with reverence, folded his hands, shut his eyes and said, “Prabhu, shanti.”
Then he heard a voice, “O Manu, the earth is being tormented by evil men. But I will save you. Make a boat. And when the waters of the ocean rise and cover the earth, take a pair, male and female of each of the birds and the beasts that live, into the boat.”
When Manu heard that voice, he said, “O Prabhu, when the ocean floods the earth, will the boat made by my hands sink or float?”
The voice declared, “O Manu, tie your boat to my whiskers.”
Manu answered, “I shall obey you. But what shall I tie it with? I don’t have a rope.”
Immediately a snake glided through the waves of the sea.
“O Manu, here is your rope. Tie your boat with it.”
5
Suddenly, Noah’s wife came running out of her house, her hands were covered with flour. There was fear in her eyes. Terrified, she cried, “O my husband, the oven is cold, the fire in it is extinguished and water is bubbling from its base.”
Noah immediately understood that those were the signs from God he had been waiting for, and said, “Listen, the Day of Judgement is at hand. Gather all your children and go to the boat.”
His wife replied, “I’ll place a heavy stone on the oven. Then the water will not gush out.”
So, she went back to the house and placed a heavy stone on the lid of the oven. Then she returned to Noah and said, “See, my plan worked. Water has stopped bubbling out.” But even as she was speaking, water flooded the courtyard of the house and burst through the door. The lid, with the stone on it, floated away in the water.
At that very moment the neighbour’s wife came running out of her house. There was fear in her eyes as she screamed, “Water is springing out of my oven like a fountain, and the courtyard is flooded.”
Other women too came running out of their houses. Each of them was terrified. They screamed that the fire in their ovens had been extinguished and that water was gushing out.
When water from some outside source floods our homes, we can try to stop it, but what can we do when it springs from the very foundations of our homes?
Now, it so happened that the fires in all the ovens in the town were extinguished at the same moment. It was meal-time, and the housewives had just lit their ovens and begun to bake fresh rotis. Well, the fire went out in one oven, and then in another, and in another. Damp patches appeared on the walls, then water started collecting at the base and, finally, it seemed as if the earth itself had cracked — water sprung out of the ground with great force. It burst out of the ovens, flooded the courtyards and submerged all the roads.
And, then, it began to rain. It rained so hard that it seemed as if all the gates of heaven had opened.
Noah said, “The Day of Judgement is upon us.”
He quickly went to his boat, and took with him a pair, male and female, of every living creature. He pleaded with his wife, “Listen, the final catastrophe is upon us. The lid on your oven with was swept away like a leaf by the flood. Your courtyard is covered with water. Gather all your children and come into the boat.”
His wife, however, remained adamant, “O my husband, I have lived with you in this very house for more than five hundred years. We have spent all our days and nights in it. Do you remember the days of sorrow we endured together in this house and the days of joy we shared? All my children were born here. I nurtured them with my milk in this very house We greeted our grandchildren and great-grandchildren with joy here. Tell me, why should we leave our home now?”
Noah answered, “O companion of my days, that house of yours no longer has a secure foundation. The foundation of the house laid by Adam is weak. Oh, it was my misfortune that I built my house amongst evil people whose misdeeds corrupted the world. Therefore, the Lord has now ordained that the house be destroyed. Before its walls collapse and its roof caves in, it would be better for you to leave it and come into the boat. From this day on, the boat is our only refuge between the earth and the sky.”
But his wife replied obstinately, “If I can’t find shelter in my own house, how will I find shelter anywhere else?”
Noah then turned to his sons and called to them, “O my children, your mother has chosen to stay back on earth and be with those who are to be sacrificed today. Listen to your father, get into the boat lest you are left behind with the unbelievers and caught in the whirlpools of death.”
His sons decided to accept his advice and got into the boat. Only his eldest son, Canaan, chose to stay back with his mother. He said, “O my father, why should I leave this house. My umbilical cord is buried here. Why should I turn my back on this earth which has sustained me and enter the boat in which you have collected a pair of every living creature?”
When Noah heard his son’s arguments, he pleaded, “Listen, my son, this is the Day of Judgement. That is why all living creatures, men and animals, are together in this boat. There is no other place of safety in this deluge, no other place where life can survive.”
But his son replied, “O my father, it is better to die alone than to live with a crowd. I would rather drown in my own house than survive on a boat with strange animals surrounded by flood waters.”
It grieved Noah deeply that his wife and eldest son had decided to stay back on earth and cast their lot with the unbelievers.
The boat began to float on the water. With a heavy heart, Noah turned to bid farewell to the house in which he had lived for five hundred years. He saw that the house with its large gate, which his forefathers had built, was now desolate and surrounded by rising waters. His wife and son had climbed up to the terrace for safety. As he watched, the house slowly disappeared and the waters rose higher and higher.
It rained so hard that it seemed as if the sky had suddenly opened all its gates. It rained all day and all night. It rained day after day. It continued to rain incessantly for such a long time that the distinction between day and night, morning and evening, one day and the next was utterly erased. The land disappeared from sight so completely that it seemed as if it had never existed.
Then it so happened that the crow felt restless in the boat. It flapped its wings, cawed and flew out of the window. But it returned to the boat at once after circling the sky. Its return confirmed that water had covered the entire earth and that there was no dry place left for it to set its feet down.
After a while, the pair of mice on the boat became impatient. They scuttled around the boat to see if they could find a hole somewhere. When they found none, they began to nibble a hole in the bottom of the boat. The other animals realized what the mice were up to. They were terrified. A hole in the boat would destroy the last of the living creatures in the world.
They went to Noah and pleaded with him to stop the mice. Noah regretted that he had invited the mice into the boat and said, “I am sorry that I gave them a place on the boat. They cannot go against their nature and refrain from nibbling and making holes.”
Noah ordered the mice to stop. But, when they refused to obey him, he waved his hands over the face of the lion and a cat jumped out of its nostrils. The cat immediately pounced on the mice and devoured them. All the animals in the boat praised the cat and thanked her for having saved them from imminent destruction.
After a while, it so happened that the dove beat its wings and flew away. When it came back to the boat with an olive twig in its beak, everyone knew that the flood waters had begun to recede and that dry land had emerged once again. A moment later, however, they were shocked to see that the cat had pounced on the dove and devoured it, before it had time to settle down.
“How could the cat do that?” they asked in bewilderment. “It even ate the olive twig! Now, who will tell us where the dry land is? We are lost in the flood once again!”
It was very oppressive and humid inside the boat, but the cat seemed quite comfortable.
6
The flood waters were still in an uproar. In the hazy darkness, it seemed as if the sky above had dissolved into the waters below. They could not remember when they had left their homes or how long they had been tossed about in the midst of those thundering waters.
“Will we ever go back?”
“Where?”
“Home.”
“Home?”
They were bewildered and anxious once again. Home. The very thought of home threatened to shatter their sanity just as a storm threatens to uproot trees.
“Which home, friends? Look outside. Do you see any sign of a town or a building? Didn’t Gilgamesh tell you that Utnapishtim pulled his own house down and built a boat?”
“Utnapishtim didn’t do the right thing.”
“Perhaps. But, at least, he appeased his Lord.”
“And no noise on earth ruined the sleep of his Lord.”
7
Markandeya looked out of the window. There was darkness all around. Darkness and roaring water.
As the hood of Anantnaga spread wide over the waters, Markandeya drew back at once, and cried out, “Narayana, Narayana!”
There was darkness all around and the spirit of God hovered over the waters; waters which had no shore and seemed to spread far into infinity. In that wild, roaring, infinite flood there was no beginning and no end, no time and no space.
8
They could not remember when they had left their homes or how long they had been floating like leaves in the middle of that vast body of water.
Then the crow became restless again. It flapped its wings and flew away. This time, it did not return.
They looked out of the window. It had stopped raining but water still covered the face of the earth. They could hear no other sound but the roar of the flood waters around them.
There was no sign of the crow anywhere.
“The crow is an intelligent bird. It will not return.”
“Well, at least, we know that there is dry land somewhere. Our boat too will find a shore. O God, show us a place where we can live in your grace.”
“O fellow travellers, do you still believe there is a piece of earth left where there is grace? We are surrounded by deep waters and there is no one who can guide us to that spot of dry land where we can receive God’s grace. If only Noah were here, then…”
“Noah?”
“Noah is no longer here.”
“No!”
Fearful, they looked at each other and asked, “Where is Noah?”
9
Then Hatamtai spoke the following kalaam, “O my dear fellow travellers! O my good people, don’t lose heart, be patient and see what lies behind the veil which God has thrown over the face of the earth. Follow my example. I have travelled across many flooded rivers in rudderless boats.
Listen carefully to what happened to me when I was searching for Mount Kohenazha. I was walking along, anxious and lost in thought, when I suddenly saw a beautiful and lofty mountain. I decided to walk towards it. After a three-day journey, I reached the foot of the mountain. When I stooped to pick up a stone, a fountain of blood burst out of the ground. I was puzzled but there was no one who could help me solve the mystery.
I looked around and saw a river flowing at the foot of the mountain. The river was flooded and I couldn’t see the other shore. Puzzled, I said to myself: ‘O God, how will I get across this river!’ At that moment, I saw a boat coming towards me. I thought a boatman was rowing it. But when it reached the spot where I stood, I saw that there was no one in that boat. I was mystified. I took God’s name and got into the boat. Then I saw a bundle in a corner. I was hungry, so I reached for the bundle and opened it. There were two hot naans and some kebabs in it. I was surprised and said to myself: ‘O God, from whose tandoor could these hot naans have come?’ It occurred to me that the boatman had, perhaps, baked them for himself. I was unsure if I had the right to eat food meant for others. But a fish put its head out of the water and said: ‘O Hatamtai, these naans and kebabs are your share. Eat them without fear or hesitation.’ The fish then dove back into the water and disappeared. I wondered who had brought the boat across the river, who had sent me that food and who that fish was.”
10
Fish! Everyone remembered the fish with a start. They had forgotten about it. At first Manuji was completely bewildered, but later he tied the boat to one of the whiskers of the fish.
They looked out. It was still dark and the flood waters continued to roar around them. There was, however, no sign of the fish anywhere.
“We can’t see it.”
“Look out for that fish. We are fastened to one of its whiskers.”
They gazed into the darkness. All they could see was the rope rippling in the water. There was no fish in sight.
“Friends, at least the rope is still there, floating like a serpent around the boat.”
“But there is no fish in sight. That is a cause for worry.”
They were apprehensive and filled with doubt. They recalled the events that had happened a long time ago, but they couldn’t solve the mystery.
The boat continued to float. There was darkness everywhere and all they could hear was the roar of the flood waters.
*******
Notes Original title: Kishti . Date of publication: 1987
Alok Bhalla is a literary critic, poet, translator and editor based in New Delhi
Alok Bhalla in The Beacon
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