Akanksha Sridhar

193604001

Word Count: 793

The Omniscient Narrator in Tiny’s Granny

In Ismath Chughtai’s shorty story, “Tiny’ Granny,” the omniscient narrator’s voice which
oscillates between objectivity and subject allows Chughtai to explore the complex social space of
the mohalla.

The setting and the narrator play a pivotal role in the story. The omniscient narrator’s
voice accounts for all the occurrences in the story. This is important it captures the everyday
occurrences of the narrative. Additionally, the subaltern protagonist of the Granny and her
granddaughter Tiny are seen living their lives in the public social space of the mohalla in
contrast than the domesticity that women of the upper strata were restricted to. This feature of
the narrator’s lens allows the Chughati to capture a multi-class perspective in the social space i.e.
the mohalla, and tackle the habitus that women brought to the public space – which the
individual is, “shape and are shaped by intersecting social fields.” (Gopal 11). Chughtai
constructs binary stories that embody the identity of the characters with help of the oscillating
objective and subjective voice; from this binary arises the characters with similar or opposing
habitus interact differently with the social space. The narrator then bridges the gap between
binary stories and pushes to compare and contrast the binaries in order to derive meaning within
the social space.

This technique is clearly seen when the binary that is drawn between Tiny and her
Granny. Both these characters share the habitus that comes from their poverty. However, the
ends to story comes from the differential circumstance and their engagement with the social
filed. The alternating objective and subjective narrative creates the identity of Tiny in the
following fashion. The objective narrative narrates the storyline of the rape of Tiny at the hand of
the Deputy Saheb, the dialogue between Tiny and “gentlewoman of the mohalla” (Russell
‘Tiny’s Granny), the incident of the boys harassing her, contestment of her body by various men
and her eventual departure with Siddiq’s nephew. The subjective narrative weaves these
instances together with a series of metaphors and imagery such as that of the chicken, flower, rag
and prayer to put forth the binary: that of the helpless young girl who was jumped to womanhood
by circumstance which pushed her towards promiscuity which she eventually championed her
way out her circumstance when she runs away from the mohalla and gains freedom. In a similar
fashion Granny’s binary is brought out: that of the nameless thief is tormented by name-calling
and social punishment; and being reduced to direct the adjective of her action (even when her
action doesn’t really affect them anymore) by the mohalla which refuses to acknowledge or
understand her circumstance of poverty and deprivation, who seeks solace in Tiny, her burqah
and pillow as they are they only shreds of identity she is entitled to. After living through years of
poverty and the loss of Tiny, Granny (symbolized by the giant) dies sorrow when her pillow
(symbolized by the bee - last shred of existence) is crushed by the monkey (symbolized by the
price – the mohalla) and seeks freedom only in death (Russell ‘Tiny’s Granny). In this way, the
binaries bring out how the two characters’ deal with their situation by engaging with their social
field. Through this binary, the narrator pushes the reader into discovering how the identity
shaped by society or the lack there affects the psyche of the subaltern and their eventual paths.

Similarly, the picture of class distinction and hypocrisy of ‘false religiosity’ that emerges
out of the contrasting binaries of the Granny and Deputy Saheb. Deputy Saheb’s crimes are even
though acknowledged overlooked with the pretense of his religiosity and status in society. On the
other hand, the crime’s Granny reduce her to the adjective of her action and her use of religiosity
as defense is seen as problematic. This contrast of acceptance one’s defensive use of religiosity
and the rejection of the others’ brings out the false religiosity that is fueled by class issue – the
notion that is prevailed even today as the criminal rich overcompensate through their religiosity
for their wrong-doings.

The story concludes with an imagery of ‘Judgment Day’, which suggests that the whole
story was indeed a binary of the last paragraph. From this subtle binary, contrast the hardships
and discrimination that Granny faced at the hands of humanity with, “the red poppies” (Russell
‘Tiny’s Granny), that her grave receives at the hands of God – this contrasting of the inequality
in the human realm with the egalitarian world of God brings out the essence of social inequity in
the ‘mohalla’ and the society at large.
 As it is evident, Chughtai’s omniscient narrator’s succeeds in weaving through binary
stories and helps Chughtai bring to life the complex social space of the ‘mohalla’ to discuss
facets of social inequality.

Works Cited

Gopal, Priyamvada.” Gender, Modernity, and the Politics of Space”. Literary Radicalism in
India: Gender, Modernity, and the Politics of Space. Routledge, 2005.

Russel, Ralph. "Tiny’s Granny." Ismath Chughtai: Lifting the Veil. Eds. M. Asaduddin. India: Penguin
Books Ltd, 2001. 144-157. Print