"Lihaaf" ("The Quilt") is a 1942 Urdu short story written by

Ismat Chughtai Ismat Chughtai (21 August 1915 – 24 October 1991) was an Indian Urdu novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker. Beginning in the 1930s, she wrote extensively on themes including female sexuality and femininity, middle-class ...

. Published in the Urdu literary journal ''Adab-i-Latif'', it led to much controversy, uproar and an obscenity trial, where Ismat had to defend herself in the Lahore Court. She was asked to apologize and refused, winning the case, after her lawyer pointed out that the story makes no suggestion to a sexual act, and prosecution witnesses could not point out any obscene words: the story is merely suggestive and told from perspective of a small girl. In the coming decades it was widely anthologised, and became one of her most known works, besides ''Angarey'', which remained banned for several decades. Years later, she mentioned in detail the court trial in her memoir, ''Kaghazi Hai Pairahan'' (A Life in Words: Memoir). Though it received attention for its suggestion of

lesbianism A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fema ...

, it also deals with the insulated and suffocating life of a neglected wife in a

feudal society Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

. It became a landmark for its early depiction of sex, still (Jan. 1995) a taboo in modern

Indian literature Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Republic of India has 22 officially recognised languages. The earliest works of Indian literature were o ...

, let alone Urdu literature.

Storyline

The story is told from the point of view of a small girl who is the niece of the protagonist, Begum Jan. Begum Jan has had a very depressing life after marriage. Her husband, the Nawab, was much older than her and was thought to be extremely respectable for never having had any encounters with prostitutes. But it is soon revealed that it is because his interests lie in the other gender. The lonely Begum starts to wither but is saved by Rabbo, her masseuse. Rabbo is a servant girl who is not so pretty but very deft with her hands. When the narrator is left at Begum Jan's place by her mother, she realises that despite her past admiration of love for Begum Jan, there lie many secrets with her. At night, the great shadows formed by the quilt of Begum Jan and her odd behavior in the absence of Rabbo bring to light their hidden relationship, traumatising the narrator.

Film adaptations

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

, a'' 1996 Hindi film directed by

Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 1 January 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996 film), ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth (1998 film), Earth'' (1998), and ''Water (2005 film), Water'' (2005 ...

and starring

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...

and

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), '' Bawandar'' (2000), '' Kannathil Muthamittal' ...

was loosely based on the short story. The short story was adapted to short film by the same name directed by Rohan Sonawane. ''Lihaaf: The Quilt'' is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

film based on the story; directed by Rahat Kazmi, starring

Anushka Sen Anushka Sen (born 4 August 2002) is an Indian television actress and model known for portraying the role of Meher in the children fantasy show, ''Baal Veer''. She has also played Manikarnika Rao/Rani Lakshmi Bai in the Indian historical drama te ...

Tannishtha Chatterjee Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress and director best known in the west for her performance in the British film ''Brick Lane'' (2007), the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same name Mir Sarwar Mohammad Sarwar Mir is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Hindi films including '' Kesari'', ''Bajrangi Bhaijaan'', and ''Jolly LLB 2''. Career Mir Sarwar started his career with renowned directors M K Raina and Bapi Bose in Delhi. He was p ...

Sonal Sehgal Sonal Sehgal (born 13 July 1981) is an Indian actress who debuted on the silver screen with the critically acclaimed ''Aashayein (film)'' directed by the national award-winning director Nagesh Kukunoor where she was cast opposite John Abraham ...

, Shoib Nikash Shah, Namita Lal and

Virendra Saxena Virendra Saxena (born 23 November 1951) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi theatre, film, and television. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. Saxena is known for his character roles as well as his unique voice. He has acted in ...

Bibliography

* ''The Quilt and Other Stories'', New Delhi, Kali for Women, 1996.

References

{{reflist

External links

Dossier 18: Lihaf* (The Quilt)
* http://www.writersasylum.in/2013/08/reviews/ismat-chughtais-lihaf-a-short-note/ * http://www.museindia.com/regularcontent.asp?issid=46&id=3792

Ismat Chughtai (1915-1991)
Indian short stories Urdu-language fiction 1942 short stories Obscenity controversies in literature Indian short stories adapted into films LGBT literature in India Feminist short stories 1940s LGBT literature Urdu-language novels