A story of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer: Wall of Basheer/ ভৈকম মুহম্মদ বশীরের একটি গল্প : বশীরের দেয়াল

Abstract

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer was born at Kottayam district in Kerala. He had a simple and profound writing style with a touch of satire. He was best known for his humour. ‘The Wall’ i.e. ‘Deyal’ in Bengali translation by an eminent translator Manabendra Bandopadhyay, is an autobiographical short story or short novel. It set against the background of India’s freedom struggle in the 1940’s when Basheer was imprisoned in Thiruvananthapuram central jail. This was a love story between two prisoners named Basheer and Narayani who were separated by a wall in jail. Basheer and Narayani never met, but they loved each other passionately. The story of ‘Deyal’ deals with the prison-life in the pre-independent days. The name of the main character of Basheer’s story, is also Basheer, seems like his alter-ego. He fell in love with Narayani, who was sentenced for life in ‘Jenana Fatak’. Even they were separated by the wall, they exchanged their love, standing on the two sides of the wall. The character, Basheer was not even able to say a goodbye to his fantasy woman. Life of Basheer before meeting Narayani was full of loneliness and struggle. But after her arrival, the situation was quite different. A big change took place in the life of Basheer. When the order of release arrives, he loudly protests. “Who needs freedom?”, thus by that time Narayani captured his heart in a great extent. The love of Basheer for Narayani was intimate and innocent, that’s why we can see that Basheer is standing outside with a handful of roses. Throughout the story both the characters never met each other. Even though Narayani took initiatives to meet in a hospital, everything went in vain.

Basheer is jailed for writing against the ruling British. A great change comes to the life of Basheer, when he hears a female voice from the other side of the wall. They exchange gifts and their hearts. They even fantasized about each other’s physical presence. Narayani comes with a plan of meeting at the hospital, but before that Basheer is released. For once, he didn’t want such freedom and was standing stunned outside the prison with a rose in his hand. ‘Deyal’ is undoubtedly one of the greatest romance in Malayalam literature. Basheer’s love for Narayani is presented in a divine voice. All the emptiness of his heart flew away, when Narayani comes into his life. But unfortunately fate separates them forever. Here we have tried to interpret the allegorical emblem and significance implied beneath the ‘Deyal’.