The document provides an in-depth analysis of Bapsi Sidhwa's novel Ice-Candy-Man and its portrayal of the partition of India. The summary is: 1) Ice-Candy-Man uses the perspective of a young girl to depict the rising tensions and violence between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs during the partition. 2) The novel illustrates the breakdown of communal relations and social mores as religious extremism took hold. 3) Sidhwa provides historical context and accurately captures the trauma experienced by all communities during this violent period of history.

1. INTRODUCTION
Partition has been the theme for many of the Pakistani and Indian
authors. It was an event that not many can forget. Families were torn apart,
toddlers were left orphaned. The partition holocaust wrought havoc on all as
communalism made people go wild. The tragic and momentous event has stirred
the creative imagination of many writers, who weaved the fabric of tragic tale
highlighting untold and unbearable atrocities of communal violence between the
Hindus and the Muslims. The literature that made its appearance during the
partition of Indo-Pak Sub-continent highlights the grim details of bloodshed and
untold tales. We can observe people, who were alive then did not write about it,
either because the hurt is still fresh, or they were ashamed of what happened to
them or the evils they did to the others. The young writers tend to skip through it
because of the emotional and political connotations a novel based on partition
might have.
Bapsi Sidhwa is one of such writer, who made their appearance in the
colonial literature liking a shooting star.

2. THEME OF PARTITION IN ICE-CANDY-MAN
Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man mirrors miseries of disastrous
partition in the history of Indo-Pak Sub-continent. Through Ice-Candy –Man
Bapsi Sidhwa has skillfully narrated the documentary details of historical
perspective of partition; she seeks to explore and unravel the breakdown of inter-
communal networks and most importantly addresses a larger historical question
–national leaders’ failure to realize a united India. This fair and impartial
historical perspective is indispensable because the novel has been cast against the
backdrop. Ice Candy Man focuses on the thematic paradigm of partition theme,
the disintegration of social mores with the advent of partition has been brought
out , it also evinces (demonstrates) the beguiling impact of communal forces hell-
bent on whipping up the frenzy, and a study of inferiority complex.
The twirty-two chapters of Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, Ice-Candy-Man (1981)
sparkle with a whole world teeming with numerous details surrounding day-to-
day life with all its political, social and religious import.
The partition theme in Ice Candy Man has been acknowledged variedly
by many critics and magazines. In The New York Liberty Journal, it has
been commented in the following words:-
“The originality and power of Sidhwa’s splendid novel on
the partition of India and the subsequent communal
violence derived from her choice of protagonist; Lenny, an
eight-year-old Parsee girl from Lahore, a spectator living
in the midst of, but a part from, the rising tension among
Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs….”

3. The partition saga in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Cracking India originally Ice
Candy Man in light of current political, religious, and social tensions in India
and Pakistan, a more appropriate title could easily have been, “The more
things change, and the more they stay the same.”(Critics on Bapsi
Sidhw’s work. Ironically, its adaptation in, Earth, by Deepa Mehta, attests to
its timeliness. Set in 1940’s India, during the time of independence and the
partition, Cracking India brings to life the deeply religious, national, social,
and economic tensions marking both historical and current Indo-Pak political
dynamics.
The story revolves around a young polio ridden Parsi girl, Lenny, the
Muslim Ice Candy Man and the beautiful Hindu Ayah. The naïve observations of
the young girl about startling images of violence, fear and hatred
intensify considerably for the readers.
The co-mingling of innocence and experience allow the reader to view this
extremely confusing and unstable chapter of Indian history through a simpler
lens, a more objective voice. The people in Lenny’s life are reduced to physical or
spiritual characteristics. People from different religions be it a Hindu, Muslim or
a Sikh are painted in the colors of callousness and hatred that they espouse
for each other. Religion to the young narrator is nothing but a superficial label, as
characters switch from one to the other with such nonchalant ease. Though
coming from a young narrator might have made things a lot easier to read but
what makes it very complex is the socio-emotional and political trauma &
turmoil that Sidhwa talks about so beautifully through this book. She talks

4. about the colossal pain and sufferings of people cutting across the boundaries of
religion and nationality, the latter being a concept, which was just being forced
upon them from high up.
The real good about the Ice Candy Man, is the universal appeal it has, it
can fit in per se to the happenings in Northern Ireland, Bosnia or for that matter
till now strife-ridden Afghanistan. Sidhwa says in his nature man has not
changed much as he always keep fighting for one or the other thing, sometimes
he fights for religion, for land, for women, for position, for greed or sometimes
just for the sake of it. Superficial things have come to take a center stage in our
lives, something that robs from us the basic premise of our existence.
Through Cracking India, Bapsi Sidhwa has indeed brought to life the spiritual,
emotional, and very real implications of the partition of India. In so
doing, she has “cracked” the riddle of India and revealed to us the cultural
difficulties that plagued South Asia before, during, and after its split from the
British and the creation of Pakistan.
In an interview, Bapsi Sidhwa, while commenting upon the theme of Partition
her works, she remarked:-
“I wanted to write about the partition precisely because so little has been written
about. I spent time visualizing a scene from the time of partition--- The roar of distant
mobs was a constant of my childhood: it was a sound that terrified me, because I
knew they were doing evil-“
About major themes in Ice Candy Man, She said:-

5. “Love exists in its many forms and faces throughout the book. There's the cruel, pitiless
face of love, and the warmth of the love between Godmother and the child, Lenny. The
caring and nurturing love between Ayah and Lenny, between the mother and Lenny.
Even Slavesister and Godmother, in spite of their constant bickering, have a strong
bond. Love takes an awful shape when the Ice-candy-man allows Ayah to be
kidnapped by the mob. “
As the action of the novel unveils, we confront a pattern of communal
amity where the three communities –the Hindus , Muslims and Sikhs –are still at
peace with one another. But the intimations of an imminent death and
destruction lurk in the symbolic –significance of Lenny’s nightmares of the Nazi
soldiers “Coming to get me on his motorcycle” and that of men in uniforms
quietly slicing of a child’s are here, a leg there. She feels as if the child in the
nightmare is herself. The nightmare suggests the impeding vivisection of India,
which was as cruel as the dismemberment of that child. This chilling horror that
she feels no one being concerned about what is happening, sums up the lack of
concern on the part of the authorities to check the unbridled display of
barbarianism during partition. The hungry lion of the Zoo still another Lenny’s
nightmare appears to be a symbol of the flood of mutual hatred that the dawn of
independence released to play havoc with the Hindus, the Muslims and the Sikhs
on both sides of the border. Thus with these symbols the novelist prepares the
readers for the gruesome and gory pattern of a communal discord that becomes
blatantly obvious during partition.
Later, we perceive the pattern of communal amity that existed in rural
India between the three communities. On her visit to Pirpindo, a Muslim village,

6. Lenny finds the Muslims of Pirpindo and the Sikhs of the neighboring village
Dera Tek Singh sitting together and sharing concerns about the worsening
communal relations in the cities. The Sikh priest, Jugjeet Singh’s and village
Mullah’s concern has a ring of religious concord in Pirpindo and other villages;
“Brother, our villages come from the same racial stock. Muslim or
Sikh, we are basically Jats. We are brothers, how can we fight each
other?” In fact, the roots of communal amity in rural Punjab go so deep that the
members of the three communities are ready to sacrifice even their lives for
protecting each other. “If need be, we will protect our Muslims brother’s
with our lives” Says Jagjeet Singh, “I am prepared to take oath on the
Holy Quran”, declares the Village Choudhry, “that every man in this
village will guard his Sikh brother with no regards for his own life”.
At this stage of Indian history the pattern of communal relations between the two
rural communities, despite buffetings from outside, was still that of harmony and
concord.
The rumblings of communal discord soon reach Lahore, Lenny’s parents
entertain guests form various communities to dinners and it is at one of these
dinner parties that the Inspector General, Mr. Rogers expresses the differences
between the Congress under the leadership of Nehru and Muslim Leagues under
Jinnah, who are pushing India to the brink of partition. Mr. Singh, another guest
however thinks that once independence is gained, they will be able to settle all
their difference, as these have been created by British: “You always set one
up against the other….you just give Home and Rule and see. We will

7. settle all their differences and everything!”
While violence has affected everyone, the Sikhs barbarity stands out
prominent in this respect. Sidhwa describes a train massacre through the eyes of
Ice-Candy-Man:-
“A train from Gurdaspur has just come in …Everyone in it is
dead. Butchered. They are all Muslims. There are no young
women dead. Only to gunny –bags full of women’s breast..”
But Sharbat Khan is sure that “they are stirring up trouble for all” .
Here he becomes a persona of the novelist and comments that it the intransigent
sectarianism of the national leaders, which wrought havoc on the pattern of
communal amity existing in rural India.
The fear of partition and the violence it would unleash drives the common
man to think about his safety. On her second visit to Pirpindo, on the occasion of
Baisaki when the festival is already in full swing, it is in the midst of these gay
activities that Lenny’s friend Ranna senses the steel of suspicion and fear. Bapsi
Sidwa captures the prevailing feelings:-
“And despite the gaiety and distractions, Ranna senses the chill spread
by the presence of strangers. Their unexpected faces harsh and cold. A
Sikh youth, whom Ranna has met few times, and who has always been
kind, pretends not to notice Ranna. Other men, who would normally
being aware of it, his smile becomes strained and his laughter strident”
In this tense atmosphere, the Alkali leader, Mater Tara Singh visits Lahore.
Addressing a vast congregation outside the Assembly Chambers he shouts, “ We
will see how the Muslims swine get Pakistan! We will fight to the last
man! His address is greeted with the roar of “Pakistan Murdabad ! Death to
Pakistan Sat Sri Akal! Bolay So Nihal!”

8. In the Ice-Candy-Man, Sidwa has also used allegory to depict the trauma of
partition. The child narrator, Lenny is also affected by the violence in Lahore as
she say, “ The whole world is burning. The air on my face is so hot I
think my flash and clothes will catch fire”.
Ice-Candy-Man is an overtly politically motivated novel. Sidhwa admits this in
an interview with David Montegro, The main motivation grew out of my
reading of a good deal of literature on the Partition of India and
Pakistan what has been written by the British and the Indians.
Naturally, they reflect their bias. And they have, I felt after I had
researched the books, been unfair to Pakistan. As a writer, as a
human being, one just does not tolerate injustice.”
In a nutshell, Bapsi Sidhwa has provided the pen picture of the partitioned
Indian Sub-continent and the atrocities across the borders on both sides in an
impartial way.