Public and the private

When compared with Humsafar, Dhoop Kinarey is vastly different in how it defines the public and private sphere. In Dhoop Kinarey, both the spheres are interconnected, i.e. the boundary between both is not clearly demarcated. Especially if both the spheres are analyzed from Zoya’s perspective: she spends almost an equal amount of time in both spheres and both hold equal importance, the public sometimes more so because of her professional responsibility. However, there are no negative connotations attached to her public existence, which can hardly be said for the woman in today’s Urdu drama that cannot get a rest from demonizing the working woman as an inadequate mother, daughter, wife, etc. Moreover there are constant interactions and overlaps occurring between the two. Fasi storms into Zoya’s hospital without the slightest hint of being intimidated by her surroundings- she is perhaps the last person who could fit in that space but the fact is that there is no barrier to her entry. In the same way Anjie can encroach upon the public as well. She comes and goes at the hospital- in one of the episodes, she comes to meet Zoya at her workplace simply because she was bored at home. She interacts with Zoya’s colleagues and even lands herself an interior design project while she is at it. Similarly, Dr. Ahmer can just as easily become part of her private sphere when he drops her to her home and she invites him in. In fact, Dr Irfan comes all the way to Anjie’s house when he wishes to meet her, and enters quite nonchalantly. As we discussed in class, something like this would be looked at from a moral lens in today’s drama, with issues such as whether or not it is appropriate for a random man to even enter the house uninvited. In this way the earlier Urdu drama is much less conservative. At one point, Anjie says “Hospital ke mahaul ko humein gharelo mahaul banana chahiye”, showing that the writer is depicting a fluidity between the home and the work place.