DADDU of Garam Hawa 1973 release
As the story of Garm Hava
unfolds the perceptions of characters on changing time, there is one character
which continues to dwell in its own world. The world is neither of fantasy nor
of reality. This is a world of nostalgia of bygone time. A small fragile, spectacled
character of Daddu played by------------- portray the fact that concept of Saas
Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi had relevance at the time of partition as much it has in
contemporary times.
Next to mute Haveli of Mirza
family, is the character of Daddu. She is the live (talking) bridge to the
past, signifying the roots of the family. A home is where the heart is and
Daddu’s heart is deeply entrenched in the Haveli. Changing political, social
and economic equations in the country hold no water for Daddu. As the family
discusses future prospects over dinner, Daddu firmly tell her sons that there
father is buried here and she is not going to leave the place and live elsewhere.
She is adamant that nobody can through her out of place, as she is living in
her own house. The character is reflective of innocent, apolitical and naïve in
her own way, cut off from the happenings outside the Haveli. The oldest member
in the Haveli, she is unaware, both as a women – who were not so active
politically – and also senior citizen who has resigned from the life.
Even as Salim Mirza is
compelled to dispose of the Haveli, Daddu is resentful in her own ways and hide
herself in a remote corner. She refuses to leave the place she has leaved all
throughout since her marriage in childhood. To her the Haveli is everything as
it is a connection to her past and thus her absolution in her future. Finally,
she is carried out forcibly by family. As they move into new house, the grand
old lady instantly occupies the room on the top floor. Although it is not a
place of convenience and comfort for her, the rooms offer her the view of
vacated Haveli.
In the course of migration,
Bakar, Daddu’s eldest grandson also goes off. The granny calls for her great
grand children, only to realize that they have left, “without leaving a handful
of soil for her funeral”. Daddu holds on to every little peace of gossip she is
able to lay her ears on. She is full of past memories, juggles to make sense out
of changing political scenario and modernity. She is sarcastic of Halim’s
stupidity of leaving big Haveli and factory only to ‘grind in a mill’ in Pakistan.
Daddu is critically ill but holds
on to her breath with hope of being united with her Haveli again. She is so
nostalgic of her past that as her end nears, Salim is forced to take her to the
Haveli. The past reverberates in her ears, the eyes get the glow recalling the
past. In that shot span she lives her life right from the time she was brought
here as a child bride to the present. Finally breaths her last peacefully with
entire family staring down on her. Despite the change of political scenario and
its aftermath, Daddu’s wish of being buried in the land of her husband is fulfilled.
The character of Daddu lends
humour and relaxation to otherwise a serious theme.
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