Damsels out of their Spheres=Damsels in Distress

Humsafar, like every other Pakistani drama portrays the female characters with their typical clichés in the form of Khirad and Sara. The first episode in particular has been cleverly shot, where the two households, and the two different lives led by Khirad and Sara are juxtaposed.

Khirad is portrayed as the naik achi bachi who cares about her mother, who knows where her priorities lie, and hence does most of the ghar kay kaam to ensure her mother’s comfort. Her time is spent in washing clothes, cooking, cleaning, and looking after the mother. This is what her private sphere is comprised of.

Furthermore, Khirad and her mother live alone, without the presence of a male figure in their household. And they seem to have combined their public and private spheres; since they teach tuition at their home for extra money. Hence it is safe to call them self governed and independent (to some extent).

Sara, on the other hand, too doesn’t have any male figure in her household, yet there is a stark difference between the two women. Sara, living in Karachi is depicted as the ultimate city girl; her life surrounded with parties, coffee shops, and her job with her “best friend and bachpan ka dost”, Ashar. Her private sphere differs pretty much in all aspects from that of Khirad. What is quite evident however, is the fact that Sara is ungoverned unlike Khirad. Sara can somewhat be compared with Mary Crawford here, who too does not have a fatherly figure, and has all sorts of friends, and is certainly ungoverned when compared with Fanny Price.

Sara has all that she wants, and life is perfect until Khirad and her mother enter the scene. This is when the audience gets to view the ungoverned side of Sara, where she is seen as bursting out in anger at the kaam wala, snapping at her mother, degrading Khirad and indulging in rash behavior, that is, attempting suicide.

So what is it that keeps the drama moving? It’s the clash of the spheres. For me, the private and public spheres are of great importance in the drama.

Khirad leaves her private sphere and it is only when she is forced into another private sphere that trouble first arises. As long as people remain in their own rightful spheres, things seem to be smooth. Stepping out of the boundary of the sphere is what causes chaos to ensue for both Khirad and Sara. The only difference is, while Khirad suffers silently (much like Fanny price), Sara suffers for the whole world to see. Khirad feels she is being insulted by being pushed into someone else's life, whereas Sara feels its utterly wrong for someone like Khirad to enter the private sphere of someone like Ashar.

Hence it is the clash of the spheres which brews trouble for our two damsels in distress, since both feel they are better off in their own private spheres.