Kabuliwala by Rabindranath Tagore
Introduction:
“Kabuliwala”
by Tagore is a tale of heart-rending friendship between a 5-year-old Bengali
girl Minnie and an Afghan moneylender, Abdur Rahman or Rahamat. The story
beautifully ties a bond of mutual affection and the unconventional relationship
between the two.
Inception of an
Odd Friendship
The voice of the story is lent by the father of Minnie. Rahamat, who is
a hawker of dry fruits and shawls from Kabul, frequents the Bengali locales
where Minnie and her family reside. He was a strapping, turban-clad man and
fascinated Minnie.
One day she called him from the window of her house. But as he
approached closer she got startled and ran back inside. Minnie’s father talked
to Rahmat and learned about his family in Kabul.
He introduced Minnie to him with the title of Kabuliwala. To make her
more comfortable Rahmat offered some dry fruits to Minnie. He started calling
Minnie as Khuki (a child).
As their friendship blossomed, Minnie and Rahmat started meeting and
interacting every day. Rahmat narrated stories of his homeland to Minnie and
the young girl happily returned the warmth with her own innocent tales and
playfulness. Kabuliwala listened to the young girl with great intent and
relish.
Misfortune
Overtakes the Kabuliwala
However, the maidservant of Mini’s parents started filling the ears of
Rama, Minnie’s mother regarding the Kabuliwala’s true intention. Soon, Minnie’s
mother grew suspicious of this flourishing friendship and feared that Rahmat
might even kidnap and sell her daughter. She also stopped paying Kabuliwala for
his goods.
On the other hand, Kabuliwala’s woes magnified as he got arrested for
stabbing a customer after getting involved in a scuffle. The tiff started due
to non-payment of a Rampuri shawl that the Kabuliwala sold to the customer. The
customer denied having ever bought the shawl and that caused Rahmat to lose his
control.
During the trial, he confessed to killing the man even after being
advised against it by his lawyer. The judge decided to reduce his punishment to
10-years imprisonment after being impressed by his honesty. After getting
released several years later he went to see Minnie.
Return of a
Friend
To his surprise, a lot had changed and the day he arrived was actually
Minnie’s wedding day. But when Minnie’s father realized his presence, he asked
Rahmat to leave the premises owing to his ill-fated and inauspicious absence.
Kabuliwala obliged but while leaving offered some raisins for Minnie.
He also showed a scruffy piece of paper with a handprint of his daughter
that he left in Kabul.
Seeing that her father’s heart melted and he called Minnie. Mini was
dressed and embellished like a bride but was too apprehensive to meet her
long-forgotten friend.
Kabuliwala was taken aback to see a girl he could not recognize and
struggled to cope with the reality of the time he lost while imprisoned. He was
tormented by the thought of having lost his own daughter’s childhood. She would
have been a grown woman like Minnie.
Minnie’s father understood his precarious condition and offered him
enough money for a safe trip back to Kabul and a reunion with his own daughter.
Even Minnie’s mother, realizing her misjudgment, extended the money she saved
for Minnie’s wedding ceremony.
Minnie’s father set aside a portion of the wedding expenses like for
lights etc in order to arrange 100 rupees for Rahmat. In a way, they could
sympathize with the plight of another parent longing for his long-separated
daughter.
Conclusion
The fundamental
message of the story is that people have the ability to do good as well as bad
to others. Often, it is easier to side with our fears and
suspect someone who is not like us. It can be a different skin colour or a different
language.
But if we are patient with people and try to understand their situations
and problems then we can find some common ground. They go through the same
emotions and conflicts as we do.
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