Wednesday, October 17, 2012

How does the character of Babu in Tariq Rehman's short story "Babu" find peace in his profession? Please explain with reference to the story.

Babu finds peace and joy in the marble
chippings that make art out of the floors he creates.

The narrator explains
that Babu's preferences were tiles in the beginning. He was completely preoccupied with tiles.
However, he changed his focus to marble chipping that he could use to mix with cement and then
lay it all out as a slab on the floor. This change is how the narrator says Babu achieved the
mason's nirvana.

Babu explains to the narrator's father that the marble chips
bring peace of mind. They are expensive but that money brings peace. It brings a beautiful and
cool floor that cools a person down when they walk on it. That makes it worth the added
expense.

As the world changes, Babu is less respected and finds it harder to
get work. His attitude and willingness to be strict make it so that he isn't getting work. When
the narrator is married with a child, he recognizes that Babu has become an old man who now does
handy work for money and doesn't talk about the marble chips he loved so much anymore.


The narrator gives him a job to help with their home but warns him that he can't afford
the marble chips for the floors. They have to be plain cement. Babu says he understands and
works hard to surprise the narrator and his wife. When he unveils the house, they find out he's
spent his life's savings and his daughter's dowry to give them the marble floorshis artthat he
loves so much.

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