you ain’t messing with my click

It’s interesting that in Lahiri’s “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar”, we experience, for the second time, a person who is different from the rest of the community and is treated as an outsider, never fully accepted. In Bibi Haldar’s case, she has this mystery, medical condition that no doctor can seem to figure out. “For the greater number of her twenty-nine years, Bibi Haldar suffered from an ailment that baffled family, friends, priests, palmists, spinsters, gem therapists, prophets, and fools” (158). She is seen as an outcast because, at any given time, she could begin to seize uncontrollably. Ever since her father died, she is even isolated from the her cousins who house her, especially the wife of the house, for she believes that Bibi is a danger to everyone, convinced that “the devil himself possessed her” (163). Even when Bibi is prescribed the treatment of marriage, her cousins aren’t in support. Assumably Bibi’s cousins, Haldar and his wife, would jump at any chance to get rid of Bibi. But, when asked if they would support the decision to find Bibi and husband, they respond that, “Bibi possesses insufficient quantities of respect and self-control. She plays up her malady for the attention. The best thing is the keep her occupied, away from the trouble she invariably creates” (164). They also complain that they do not want to pay for the wedding expenses, if there even is a wedding. And, even when Haldar does cave in, he publishes a one line advertisement in the town newspaper reading, “Girl, unstable, height 152 centimetres, seeks husband” (165). Now, I’m not one to judge, but that is one of the most pathetic advertisements for a groom that I have ever seen. Not only is the fact that the advertisement is only one line pitiful, but also the use of the word “unstable”. That word just raises a red flag in any potential husband’s mind. So, it came as no surprise that no one responded to the ad.

But, this is all okay, because Bibi seems to have this group of people on her side. The narrative voice seems to be this collective group of people who support Bibi. She’s got her own little support system I suppose. So, Bibi should be fine if her cousins don’t accept her because she’s got her posse with her, right? Unfortunately, I am not completely sold. I just don’t buy into the fact that this group of people is being nice to Bibi because they like her. I just see them as telling stories and making themselves out to be the good guys. They say that they helped this poor, ugly, unstable girl find a cure to her unexplainable condition. Obviously, if it weren’t for them, Bibi wouldn’t have a happy ending to her story. (To the best of their knowledge, of course). Bibi had a child and is cured because of it, so who cares who the father is. It’s the end result that matters, right? I suppose that’s all that matters to these people, but as a reader, I kept asking how the hell she got this baby. And because of how dark the stories we’ve read this year have been, I generally just assume the worst. Because of this, I don’t tend to think of the end of Bibi’s story being generally happy. I mean, it just seems like the group of people (of which I just assumed was just some gossipy women) like Bibi because she’s entertaining and makes a good story, not because they care about her. So, when she begins to ignore them, they assume that she’s doing just fine. “She was, to the best of our knowledge, cured” (172).

Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve encountered a group of people who both interest themselves with, and then exclude, a person who seems different from the rest of them. In “A Real Durwan”, Boori Ma is the outsider of the community. The residents feel like they are doing her a favor by appointing her the durwan of their community and letting her sweep the stairs and guard the gate. When, in reality, Boori Ma used to live a lavish life, full of servants and weddings and such. But, she lost it all and now must be this “durwan” of this community who don’t really seem to respect her and acknowledge her true past. But, when she doesn’t fulfill her duties, they throw her out onto the streets. Now, for Bibi, the story doesn’t really take that direct of a turn, but the group that was initially interesting in what happened to Bibi, while also being intent on helping her out when needed, now just assumes that everything is fine and dandy. They abandon her, just like the community did to Boori Ma. They didn’t even take the time to hear her story and find out who the dad is, they just assumed that things will be fine when she is on her own.

Throughout this book, it’s interesting to see how India and America are portrayed. Through these two stories, it’s obvious that India is a more communal place than America, but there’s always those people who don’t fit into the group. As Mr. Mitchell said, this is kind of similar to Mean Girls. And so, going off that comparison, if that one person upsets the click, they will be throw out and left behind by the community. In Boori Ma’s case, she has proved to be less useful than before to the community, seemingly letting robbers through the gates. So, she is thrown out because she is causing more trouble than solving. In Bibi’s case, her seizures are seemingly cured, so she can no longer be the group’s pity case. She can live on her own, so they leave her, assuming that everything will be alright. In both of these cases, we see this seemingly close knit crowd that happens to be a pretty exclusive group. They love a quality story with a happy ending that puts them in a good light. So, although Lahiri tends to pain India in a better light than America (except for the last story), it’s still interesting to see that even India has its downfalls in this book.