Hunger — PROSE

Hunger – Nasira Sharma About the Author:
 Nasira Sharma was born in Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) in 1948. She holds a Master’s Degree in Persian, though she has a great hold on many languages such as Hindi, Urdu and English. Her published works include Saat Nadia Ek Samandar, Shaalmali, Theekreykee Mangni, Zinda Muhavarey (Novels); Shaami Kagaz. Pathar Gali, Sabina ke Chalis Chor, Sangsaar, Ibney Mariam, Khudoki Wapasi (Short Stories). Besides, she has to her credit a number of translated books and television serials.
Summary:
 Rizwan had found a job for himself through an acquaintance in the Kihaan newspaper. He had been giver work on the condition that first he would contribute a few articles. He had been told to submit interviews with five people along with their names and addresses. He reached a crowded market known for the selling of expensive commodities and wondered how people were still buying them. He stopped near a cold drink shop and looked for some worker in the shop (not the shop owner) to interview him. Suddenly his eyes fell on a man carrying a load on his head. Rizwan reached him and directly asked his name. The man said he was Kasim. Rizwan, without providing any time gap, carried on with a series of questions which Kasim answered, such as, profession (selling old clothes), income (five hundred rupees a month) etc. But when Rizwan asked him where he lived, Kasim got irritated and asked Rizwan why he wanted to know. Rizwan pacified Kasim who then replied that he lived wherever he found a place. Thus a series of dialogues follow. We come to know that Kasim’s family lives in a village, and they have no land. When Rizwan informs him that the Government is helping the farmers, Kasim asks Rizwan’s identity. Rizwan tells him that he is a journalist and there is nothing to be afraid of. Kasim says that he would not like to do farming, as it is not his profession; his father cannot farm as he is too old. When asked what his father does, he replies that he “starves” as he does the job of a labourer for living.
 When Rizwan asked him further about his family, he came to know that his grandfather died of cold and hunger and that his grandfather’s father used to work in somebody’s house and died of high fever. He has a son who will be five next year and will join him in his work as of now he only chases street dogs. When asked whether he wanted to take a loan to set up a business, Kasim informed that he was already in debt and was working hard to settle it. When he was told that the new Government wanted to give them a better life, therefore these questions were being asked, Kasim merely mentioned that last time too many questions were asked and after the political procession, nobody remembered anything. He further added that on the day of the procession, he had to sleep hungry as throughout the day he was shouting slogans and not working. Kasim then said that he could not talk anymore as it was time for his work. There would be some labourers near the ditch who might want to buy some warm clothes.
 When Rizwan asked him to give him his address, he merely asked which address would he provide as he sleeps sometimes in front of some shop, sometimes under the bridges. When asked by Rizwan to meet him at the same place the next day, Kasim informed him that he was going to his village the next day and pushed off. Rizwan looked at him walking with a huge burden on his shoulders.
 It was six o’clock in the evening and Rizwan was thinking of the endless problems back home. His mother was ill, his father had died almost two years ago and his two younger brothers had dropped out of school. It seemed it was time to starve. At seven, he was supposed to submit thefirst interview at the newspaper office. He felt sad and started walking wearily as he had not eaten anything since morning his pocket was empty except for the bus pass. He reached his office and left the interview on the table with his name and address. He came out of the office with the only satisfaction that he could come to the office the next day though the problem of finding another name and address for the next day was already worrying him. He was having hunger pangs and was exhausted, and he simply wanted to reach home as quickly as possible.
Critical Appreciation:
 Nasira Sharma’s short story “Hunger” depicts the life of the poorest of the poor people of India. They are victims of the political and social injustice. “Hunger” is a striking contrast to the otherwise shining India that we are accustomed to. The story is about a young poor man Rizwan, who gets a job in a newspaper company on the condition that he will come up with five interviews of people with their addresses in the first five days and then the employers will decide whether he is fit for the job. It is his first day at his job as a journalist and he meets a poor man called Kasirn from whom he learns about his life. The pathetic situation of Kasim and his family back in the village tells us what real India is all about.
 The story does not say where it is set – in which town but it does not matter as it can be any town. It is a story of any part of India. Poor and hungry people like Kasim and Rizwan live in all parts of the world and consequently by not naming the town, Nasira Sharma provides the story a universal parameter.
Theme:
 Poverty and Hunger: Poverty is a financial state of a person which refers to certain lack of material possessions. But when one talks of absolute poverty or destitution, it refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Poverty is a striking feature of the world. Some people amass great wealth at the cost of others and a large number of people are left to suffer every day without basic necessities of life. Nasira Sharma’s short story ‘Hunger’ deals with two such individuals – one educated and therefore trying his hands in the world of media as a journalist and the other a rag-seller who lives on the streets of the city to support his family back in the village. When we first meet the journalist Rizwan in the story, we sympathise with Kasim without knowing that Rizwan is also in a similar state – hungry and famished, trying to support a family consisting of an ill mother and two younger brothers who have dropped out of school. When we know about Kasim from the interview, we are similarly puzzled at the life of a man who earns five hundred a month selling old clothes, living in the streets of the city, in financial debt, and willing to make his five year old son join the same profession.
 Socio Economic Inequality: Rizwan was interviewing Kasim and came to know about the poor state of Kasim. He asked Kasim if he wanted any help from the Government. Kasim states that he is not interested as he has been trapped in the rhetoric, of the politicians too many times. Last time when he went for a political procession, he had to sleep foodless that night. Nasira Sharma adeptly portrays the picture of absolute poverty of the two characters in the short story not only to make us feel pitiful towards them, but to comment also on the government schemes for the poor and the destitute which promise much but are of no help to the people suffering every day in different corners of India. This short story is not an individual incident, but a situation which is very common in India. Nasira Sharma through her writing is trying to build up a social and political awareness amongst the masses about India, the real India which is missing in most of the narratives of the progress of India.
 Media and Journalism: The role of Media or Journalism is to bring before the masses the truths and facts about the happenings around the world, to help the mass form opinions, etc. In Nasira Sharma’s short story “Hunger’; Rizwan is on the first day of his job as a journalist. He chooses the perfect topic to start his job. Journalism is not just a profession, but it is also about creating social awareness. Bringing to light the truth about reality Rizwari, though not consciously, butaccidentally, takes an interview of a rag seller which portrays the true financial state of India, the absolute poverty in which people live, how the politicians make big promises in their processions and never fulfill them how the Government policies for the poor and the destitute never helps the needy, etc. These issues which need urgent attention are taken up by Rizwan as a journalist, which portrays what the role of the media should be.
Characterisation:
 Kasim:  A rag-seller lives on the street and earns five hundred rupees a month to support his family in a village. His father was a labourer and his grandfather used to work in somebody else’s house. Nasira Sharma portrays how for generations, Kasim’s family has been living in abject poverty and had found no way out. Kasim wants his five year old son to join his profession. When Rizwan tells him if he wants to take a bank loan, he says that he is already in debt; and when Rizwan asks him that the Government can help, he merely says that last time when he went to a political procession, he had to sleep hungry that night. Kasim has understood, the fact that the rhetoric of the politicians is no good and that there is no way he can come out of poverty laden existence. He thinks that hard work is the only way by which he can earn enough to meet his basic requirement of food. The generations of oppression has made him a staunch non-believer in all the government policies for the poor and the destitute as he knows that the poor will never reap benefits from them. Therefore instead of wasting his time giving an interview to Rizwan, he goes to sell the old clothes to the labourers in the ditch.
 Rizwan :  Rizwan is a young man who is trying to find a job for himself in a newspaper company. His father is no more, his mother is ill, his two brothers have dropped out of school because of financial crisis. He is now forced to take up a job. He is on his duty for the first day as an amateur journalist. He was offered the job on the condition that he would bring interviews of five people in the next five days and then the employers would decide whether he was apt for the job. On his first day in the crowded market place, he catches hold of a rag seller and tries to interview him, but with very little success. What he learnt from the interview is that the poor people have accepted their poverty as they know they have no way out of their doomed existence. The irony of the interview is that he was asked to submit the interview with the name and address of the person interviewed, but Kasim lives on the streets of the city and does not have an address. Rizwan provides his own address to it, submits it at the office and is relieved to some extent, but as soon as he thinks of the next day’s interview, he starts worrying as he knows that it will be difficult to find another person for an interview. Rizwan is famished and exhausted at the end of the day. He is worried about the next day, but he has hope about what the future holds for him.