False Kindness

In class we discussed how the community in Lahiri’s “A Real Durwan” treats Boori Ma. In the beginning, we are introduced to Boori Ma as the stair sweeper and gatekeeper of some sort, a durwan, of this old, brick building. The residents of this building, in exchange for her services, allow Boori Ma to sleep in front of the collapsible gate leading into the tenement. While sweeping, Borri Ma narrates stories of her past: her daughter’s extravagant wedding, her servants, her estate, and her riches. But, because she has told the stories so many times, and often forgets things or changes the stories at times, the community believes that she is just making up these stories. They don’t believe that a woman like Boori Ma could have ever been wealthy and then ended up a stair sweeper.

Now, they don’t think that she just pulled these ideas out of thin air. “The theory eventually circulated that Boori Ma had once worked as hired help for a prosperous zamindar back east, and was therefore capable of exaggerating her past at such elaborate lengths and heights” (73). But, even though the residents believe that her stories don’t accurately reflect her past, they do enjoy listening to them at times because of how entertaining they are. But her stories aren’t what allowed her to live there. The community felt safer having Boori Ma stand in between the gate, seemingly watching over the residents. Even though the building was old and there really wasn’t anything worth stealing, they still enjoyed that extra comfort of knowing that Boori Ma was there if anyone tried to break in. In fact, initially, the residents had just given Boori Ma the title of “durwan” just they could say she had a job. But, as time went on, “Boori Ma’s services came to resemble those of a real durwan” (73). Even though she was this frail, old woman, she was beginning to become a real durwan for this community. And giving this title to Boori Ma seemed to make the community happy. For her services, they give her a place to stay, a fancy title, and she can even come into their homes (but god forbid she touch the furniture). It’s almost like the residents refuse to accept the fact that Boori Ma had a prosperous past, because then their efforts to “help” her would seem less meaningful if they accepted the fact that she had a painful background, full of loss. They like the fact that they are all financially equal, except for Boori Ma, which, out of the “goodness of their hearts”, they decide help her, since she is apparently less fortunate than them.

But things change once Mr. Dalals gets promoted at work, and so he improves the brick building by installing a sink in the stairwell and a sink in his home. The Dalals continue to improves their home and even go away on a trip to Simla for ten days, promising the bring home a sheep’s hair blanket for Boori Ma. Needless to say, this sudden influx of money for the Dalals throws off the whole economic balance among the residents. They were used to all being equal, and Boori Ma being below them, but now, the Dalals have a higher economic status, and will assumably bring Boori Ma up the ladder with them. This would upset the system, the the residents frantically try to remodel their own places. So, with all the people passing through the gates because of all the remodeling being done to the building, Boori Ma is forced to reside up on the roof. Now, before this, her living conditions weren’t very comfortable, but, they are even worse on the roof top. She finds herself wishing for the Dalals to return with her new bed. In fact, she becomes so restless, that she begins to take walks around the neighborhood for some exercise. She even spends some of her life savings in the market and things are fine until the rest of her life savings and her set of keys are stolen. “It was there, while she was standing in a shopping arcade surveying jackfruits and persimmons, that she felt something tugging on the free end of her sari. When she looked, the rest of her life savings and her skeleton keys were gone” (81).

As she returns to her “home”, she finds all the residents waiting for her. They tell her that the sink in the stairwell has been stolen, and that it’s all Boori Ma’s fault. They accuse her of informing the robbers and in negligence for her job. This is ironic, because they never really acknowledged her as a real durwan. They use is as sort of a playful term, like they are doing Boori Ma a service by giving her a seemingly fancy title and allowing her to sleep by their stairwell. Either way, no matter how much Boori Ma tries to explain herself, the residents continue to accuse her because of all her previous inconsistent stories. The residents’ obsession with materializing the building dimmed their focus on the remaining members of their community, like Boori Ma. They exclaim that they need a real durwan, someone who will truly protect them and their possessions. So, “the residents tossed her bucket and rags, her baskets and reed broom, down the stairwell, past the letter boxes, through the collapsible gate, and into the alley. Then they tossed out Boori Ma. All were eager to begin their search for a real durwan” (82). They throw her out, thinking that she abused their kindness and doesn’t deserve it anymore.

At the end of this story, I just found myself despising the residents. I mean, they truly believe that what they are doing to Boori Ma is a great service by allowing her to come into their rooms (not allowing her to touch anything) and giving her the fancy title of “durwan” of the building. She’s just this old woman who has lived a hard life. But, the residents don’t want to accept her troubling background because then that would make them feel bad about how they treat her. They call her a liar in the end, throwing her out because she didn’t do her “duties” when in reality, is it their fault that they allowed so many people to walk in and out of the building because they wanted to make their own renovations. Their obsession with material possessions got the best of them as greed took over and caused them to throw this poor woman into the streets. My hope would be that the Dalals return and allow Boori Ma to live with them until she can get back on to her feet and save up again, but, like most stories we have read this semester, I don’t think this will be the case.