Khirad and Sara: Deriving Personalities and Fates from the Public and Private Domains

From the list of issues I have with the plot of Humsafar, the most excruciating one is the depiction of women and their ‘appropriate’ domains. The drama opens with the stark contrast of Khirad hanging laundry on the line and telling her mother that she has performed all the household chores, against Sara, who has no such responsibilities and is spending time with Ashar in a coffee shop. The characteristics of both women are immediately drawn up according to the functions they perform within their private and public spaces. Sara has a job and the independence to go out with Ashar for coffee and is instantly labeled as the spoilt one, whereas Khirad looks after the house, takes great care of her mother, and gives private tuition within the confines of her home and is therefore labeled as the ‘ghareeloo one’.

Throughout the drama, the characteristics of both girls are reinforced by the concept of their public and private spaces. Khirad leaves her home only when her mother falls ill and wants to go to her brother’s house in Karachi. After her marriage to Ashar she leaves the home only when she is with him, and when she gets invited to her friend’s engagement she asks for his ‘permission’. Continuing with this idea of Khirad’s ‘izzat’ stemming from her life confined to the private space, it is interesting to see how she covers her head with a dupatta but takes it off when she marries Ashar and when she goes out with him to social events. However, when she goes to university (without Ashar) the dupatta is back on her head. I can’t help but wonder how the private space can determine a girl’s ‘izzat’ and to such an extent.

On the contrary, Sara is shown mostly in the public space, she often goes out for coffee and dinner and does not have to answer to anyone in her house. I can’t help but wonder if her situation would be even slightly different had her father been around, because as we saw in Khirad’s case the man ‘in charge’ plays an important role in how strongly the private space influences a girl’s character and reputation. Moreover, Sara is the one who often calls Ashar and asks him to go out for dinner even after he is married. It is interesting to see how Sara’s public space easily interferes and threatens Khirad’s private space. Another instance of this interference is when Sara visits Khirad to degrade her and remind her of her lowly position in front of Ashar. Again, Sara is the one who is shown in her public domain and she threatens Khirad’s private domain.

This concept of the public and private domains of both the girls runs throughout the entire drama, and if the theme is looked at in its entirety, I can’t help but wonder if the drama is trying to say that Khirad was betrayed by Mrs. Baseerat only because she allowed herself to accept her public domain and to let both her spaces intervene.