Bapsi Sidhwa is a Pakistani author who writes in English and lives in America. Her novel Ice Candy Man takes place during the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, depicting the human rights violations and conditions people faced. Through the character of Lenny, a Parsee girl, Sidhwa shows how the political changes affected citizens. The novel realistically represents the exploitation and abuse of women. Sidhwa uses code mixing by including Urdu and Punjabi words in conversations to give the story a local flavor and connect to the languages commonly spoken in Pakistan. This novel was one of the first by a Pakistani woman author to describe the experiences of people in Lahore during the partition.
2. BIOGRAPHY
• Nationality: American (Pakistani exile, emigrated to United States,
1984).
• Born: Bapsi Bhandara, Karachi, Pakistan, 1938.
• Education: Kinnaird College for Women, B.A. 1956.
• Career: Conducted novel writing workshops, Rice University,
1984-86; assistant professor of creative writing, University of
Houston, 1985. President, International Women's Club of Lahore,
1975-77. Pakistan's delegate to Asian Women's Congress, 1975.
3. NOVELS
• The Crow Eaters. Lahore, Pakistan, Imani Press, 1978; London,
Cape, 1980; New York, St. Martin's Press, 1983.
• The Bride. New York, St. Martin's Press, and London, Cape, 1983.
• Ice-Candy-Man. London, Heinemann, 1988; as Cracking India,
Minneapolis, Milkweed Editions, 1991.
• An American Brat. Minneapolis, Milkweed Editions, 1993; London,
Penguin, 1994.
4. CODE MIXING IN LITERATURE
• Code-mixing is the widely accepted phenomena in the everyday
life of bilinguals. Pakistani English Literature in which Pakistani
speech communities and characters are depicted is the examples
of these instances. The sociolinguistics types, reasons and
context of the code-mixing done by the characters are tracked
down in this work which proves that sociolinguistics theories are
not only applicable to real life situations but also on the written
representation of such situations by competent authors
5. ICE CNADYMAN
• Bapsi Sidhwa is an author of Pakistani origin who writes in English and
is resident in America. She describes herself as a "Punjabi-Parsi-
Pakistani". Ice Candy Man presents violation of human rights and
pathetic conditions during the partition of Subcontinent in 1947.
Through the character of Lenny, Bapsi Sidhwa gives the details of how
the political changes affect the citizens of India. The novel realistically
represents the exploitation and suppression of women. Men using their
masculine powers fulfill the desires and brutally assault the women.
Sidhwa as a novelist talks about the power and skills of women.
• Sidhwa's novel deals with the partition of India and its aftermaths. This
is the first novel by a female novelist from Pakistan which describes the
fate of people in Lahore. The novel deals with "the bloody partition of
India through the eyes of a girl Lenny growing up in a Parsee family,
surviving through female bonding and rebellion."
6. SIGNIFICANCE OF CODE MIXING IN NOVEL
• Bapsi Sidhwa is an author of Pakistani origin who writes
in English and is resident in America. She describes herself as a
"Punjabi-Parsi-Pakistani". She mentions Urdu and Punjabi and she
wants to dominate her own language because language is the
symbol of a person identity. Sidhwa uses Urdu language in her
novel just because she wants to give local touch to her novel
• We find many examples of code mixing in this novel “ICE CANDY
MAN”. Bapsi Sidhwa is a Pakistani writer and she uses Urdu
language in her novel just because she wants to give local touch
to her novel. When she wrote this novel she lived in English
colonized society, where Urdu and Punjabi are the common
language of the people. She mentions Urdu and Punjabi in her
novel because she wants to dominate her own language because
language is the symbol of a person identity.
7. EXAMPLES
• “Waris road, Lind with rain
gutters”……………………………………………………………………....[Page 1]
• “Her eyes twinkling concern, in her grey going out
saari”………………………………………..[Page 8]
• “Bhai jee! Wake
up”…………………………………………………………………...............[Page 10]
• “A woman in a shabby black burka holds the
child”………………………………..….[Page 12]
• “Far away I hear a siren, tee-
too!”………………………………………………………….……[Page 21]
8. EXAMPLES
• “Choorails, vitches with turned- about feet, who ate the hearts of
children”.[Page 22]
• “He is my little English
baba!”…………………………………………………………………..….[Page 25]
• “Last evening ayah took us for a walk in Simla-
pahari”………………………………...[Page 25]
• You like jungly lions in
zoo”………………………………………………………....................[Page 26]
• “He is a pahailwan: a
wrestler”……………………………………………………………….…..…[Page 27]
9. EXAMPLES
• “Ayah covered my head with her saari
palloo”…………………………………………..….…[Page28]
• “Japanese will help us liberate India from the
Angrez”…………………………………....[Page 28]
• “I have never seen you in shalwar-
kamize”…………………………………………..………….[Page 29]
• “Arrey baba, says
ayah”…………………………………………………………………………………....[Page 29]
• “Duffa ho! Go! She
says”…………………………………………………………………………..……….[Page 29]
• “Save me! Save me! Bachao!
Bachao!”……………………………………………………………...[Page 30]
• “Ayah Shouts: put him down at once, oye,
badmash!”…………………………………..…..[Page 30]