"Nawabdin Electrician", Mueenuddin
"Nawabdin Electrician", Mueenuddin
"Nawabdin Electrician", Mueenuddin
“Nawabdin Electrician” is a story written by Daniyal Mueenuddin. Because it takes the form of a
short story, it lacks the enjambment (line-breaking) traditional in poetry. However, there are a few
space long breaks between paragraphs, which gives the story the effect of broken up slices of this
point in Nawabdin’s life. The paragraph breaks denote that the speaker is ending that particular
narrative about “this, (x)” in Nawab’s life to another point, usually not very long after “this, (x)”. I got
the impression of details and events adding up to a definition of Nawab’s existence.
The story is written in the third person. The speaker is not Nawabdin and is evidently uninvolved and
unrelated in the events which take place in the story. The speaker tells the story in the past form, as if
he/she (the speaker) is recounting in intimate detail a line of connected events in Nawab’s life. I
considered the speaker’s vivid detail, right down to what Nawab is thinking, unusual, especially
because of the distance the speaker puts between himself and the main character of this story he is
telling. Although the speaker, by all appearances on the page, knows everything about Nawab’s
existence, he/she never once enters the story or mentions him/herself (“I…”). The speaker’s
knowledge appears, also, to be limited only to what is going on with Nawabdin… and although we
know little about the speaker, I thought he/she viewed Nawab positively. The positive way the
speaker tells of Nawab encouraged me to root for him, by the end of the story.
“Nawabdin Electrician” is about a man who uses his talents as an electrician to makes ends meet.
Although Nawab is not a rich man, he seems to be happy with his life; it never appears that he and his
family are doing badly, despite the number of children they have (thirteen). Nawabdin works for a
wealthy man, K. K. Harouni, on the man’s farms. Nawab manages to talk Harouni into buying him a
vehicle to get around the farms in, a motorcycle, which increases his status, socially. People start
treating him differently, as if he is wise in all subjects; his opinion begins to matter, not in only his
own village, but in neighboring areas. The acquisition of the motorcycle enables him to pursue an
increased number of “interests”—business he does with people who are willing to trade him goods or
pay him for repairing damages and the like (e.g. the sugarcane press). This gave me the impression
that, not only is Nawab a genius electrician, but he is also an otherwise very resourceful man.
On one of Nawab’s errands, he, in good-nature and good faith, picks up a hitch-hiker who then tries to
steal his motorcycle at gunpoint. Nawab gets shot trying to prevent the man from robbing him, but
villagers come to his rescue, shooting the thief and taking them both (Nawabdin and the thief) to the
hospital. Nawab will survive, but the thief is dying. The man begs for Nawab’s forgiveness, but
Nawabdin denies him it and the robber dies. The story ends with Nawab considering his luck.
In the “Big Picture,” I think this is about “living a good life” and in that way, “beating the odds”.
Nawab is not well off and he and his wife have thirteen children. I would think that the strain of
working so hard to scrape by would make the man unhappy. However, Nawab is shown frequently in
the story as being happy with his life. He, compared to the thief, has his own problems and faces his
own day-to-day strife; he and the thief may even have had similarly harrowing lives before this
narration, but Nawab is the one who prevails over the troubles of living by being happy with the life
he has made for himself and the people in it.
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The story titled Nawabdin Electrician written by Daniyal Mueenuddin is a narrative about an
electrician known as Nawabdin who is recognized and renowned for his treacherous acts of assisting
his neighbors and other villagers cheat the company supplying electricity by limiting the electric
meters revolutions as well as his abilities to repair anything using mango sap and a thick piece of
leather. He is a father of twelve girls, and he realizes that despite his success, he might not be able to
afford their dowry. He, therefore, comes up with a plan for acquiring a motorbike that would help him
cover more area and thus, receive more work. However, the idea fails, and he almost loses his life.
The lies by Nawab comes up with indicate that he is not immune to the gratitude power. They play a
role in enhancing the theme of corruption and low development in the state. It suggests the greed
among individuals as well as their desire for wealth. With his passion for wealth and intent to raise
dowry, Nawab facilitates corruption and hinder development. This is stealing which is a vice in any
society. While the issue of fiddling and tampering with meters with the aim of stealing away
electricity may be standard, it shows the level of poverty in the community.
The lies also enhance the theme of hard work and passion. Nawab is determined to provide for his
vast family. He is therefore willing to cover more ground and serve more people with electricity as
well as repairing abilities. He is determined not to disappoint his family by failing to meet their dowry
needs and to cater for his basic family needs. The zeal to cover more ground is an indicator of his
willingness to work to his limits.
From another perspective, some cultural insights are evident throughout the narrative and focus on its
primary themes. While the world is made up of the first-world digital development and modernity as
well as the third-world role and indigence, Nawabdin is seen as a median of the two extremes. Despite
working for a landowner whose only care and area of concern were the issues that revolved around
him touching on his comfort and those which are of significant interest to him, Nawabdin is conscious
of the hardships and situations his fellow countrymen were facing in the impoverished country. This
gave him more desire to assist them to cope with the developments that would cost them more while
furthering his cause.
Nawabdin is of metaphorical significance in the story as he thrived on the signature technique of his
ability to cheat the electric industry through slowed and limited revolution of the meters. The words
and diction used in the story paint Nawabdin as a local genius or savior as a result of his crude
innovation and improvisation. He is employed to represent a section of the Pakistan community
whose aim and the objective is clogging the progress and development wheel of modernity. With the
use of medicine-man like knowledge and prowess of mechanics, Nawabdin is a businessman who can
survive in Pakistan while at the same time living a workday which if viewed from the air would
appear aimless and pointless. The slipping of his motorcycle is an explicit representation of what
would happen to people like him in the post-industrial and digitized era. This means that Nawabdin
should not have lied but ought to have sort other means of taking care of his family and meeting the
dowry needs for his twelve daughters. This is because, despite appearing to help people, he was after
his gains and interests while facilitating social evils and vices.
While the story explores the cutthroat and feudal community in which the wealthy landowner who
had employed Nawabdin lived, it is clear that it was survival of the fittest. It depicts a complex web of
patronage underlying the small society dominated by families, servants as well as opportunists. Under
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such conditions, Nawabdin, who is an electrician, excels in his area of duty as well as at home where
he raises his twelve girls and a son through the use of his virtues of cunning and ingenuity. These
qualities which he had gained over time enable him to survive and triumph in the society that is
entrenched by poverty community as well as outlive the robber bent life which would propel him to
stealing to meet his needs as well as those of his family.
This, therefore, means that we ought not to blame Nawabdin for his desire and act of seeking revenge
against his attacker because he was on self-defense. Consequently, the attacker had ruined a means
that would allow him to cover more ground and hence earn more. He had used his cunning skills to
acquire it, and it pained him losing it. Furthermore, in a society ridden by social ills, women tend to
be the most vulnerable especially with the absence of family protection as well as marriage ties. His
failure and inadequacy to meet the needs of his family needs and pay his daughters’ dowry would put
them at risk in the society.
Conclusively, the story Nawabdin Electrician by Daniyal Mueenuddin is beautifully composed and
offers a small peep into the life in Pakistani which could seemingly be new and strange to most of the
western readers. However, to some extent, it resonates with and revolves around the humanity that we
all ought to appreciate.
The story revolves the life and experiences of a poor and intelligent electrician who works for a feudal
lord of interior Punjab known as K.K. Harouni. As far as the question regarding the morality of the
central character of the story is concerned I think that throughout the story he has been able to live up
to the standards of morality and has shown good display of ethics. In the exchange of the services that
he has offered for the feudal lord he made use of his excellent standard of service providing to
demand a motorbike from him which he was also provided without any complication. Since it was an
outcome of his service I do not think that it was in any way immoral or unethical. However towards
the end of the story the issue of morality can be subjected to argument. It is mainly in this case that
Nawabdin by not pardoning the thief displays an act of immorality, but I do feel that in a societal and
cultural setup in which Nawabdin resides such kinds of acts of forgiveness are not a regular practice
and hence his act corresponds with his cultural norms as well as temperamental makeover.
(Muennuddin, 2007)
As a person Nawabdin is very simple and does not understand the complications of world affairs. He
is more of a family kind person who intends to ensure that his wife and children live a happy and
prosperous life. Such people face immense difficulty when they are spontaneously confronted with
extraordinary situations. However I completely agree with the decisions that Nawabdin took in each
and every situation that he faced especially when his bike was stolen by a thief. Reason for this is
primarily because if the robber would have been spared he would have somehow repeated similar
kind of criminal acts by befooling and then looting someone else in a similar way. His act of mercy
might have encouraged rather than condemning the kind of activity a robber executes. Moreover by
not forgiving the robber Nawabdin also created an example that a blind mother and poor conditions
does not legitimize the execution and indulgence in an illicit activity.
I personally feel that there are many reasons due to which I would provide a positive feedback to the
story, first and foremost the story as it talks and discusses the rural conditions of the Punjab province
very beautifully outlines the small dreams and desires of a person who in such conditions intends to
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dream with a big vision and anticipates to change his and his family’s condition through struggle and
hard work. Moreover another important aspect that the story enlightens is the issue of morality and
ethics. This came into play when one of the most previous possessions of Nawabdin, his motorcycle is
snatched by a bandit who at the very same time gets the punishment of his committed crime. Even
though one may argue that by displaying the element of mercy and forgiveness the author would have
projected the message of humanity and affection on behalf of the society that he himself belongs to,
but even in that case the story would have lost the essence and attitude that it projects in its unaltered
form. Moreover such kind of a move by the author would have made the story more conventional and
even more fictitious in terms of composition.
Some of the NATO countries like Russia, France and Germany decided to part ways from the
operation that they believed was unnecessary and would fuel uncontrollable and irrevocable wave of
terrorism and extremism in the entire world.
As a result of such marginalization of allies NATO today is not involved in any direct kind of combat
in the country but on the other hand has reorganized its agendas and motives towards the training,
equipment and technical assistance of Iraqi forces that have been created since the formation of the
interim government in the country.
In conclusion it would be appropriate to say that military operations that the NATO forces are
engaged in Afghanistan and military training in Iraq are not providing any fruitful and effective
results even after nine years since the War against Terrorism and as to what is speculated from experts
and foreign policy specialists the entire military situation does not seem very favorable in terms of
either the NATO or the US security forces.
The number of casualties is constantly on the surge with 2010 being the year registering the highest
number of reported deaths of soldiers. Furthermore the operation has also fostered rifts in the civil and
military relations of US which manifested itself in the retrenchment and axing of General McChrystal.
Money and finance is constantly being pumped but the outcomes are nowhere to be seen.
Hence it is more or less a requirement and demand of time that NATO and US forces to devise
cohesive strategies through the help of local population and the Afghan government devise a proper
work plan structure through which they can ensure their proper withdrawal from the region and also
shield themselves from the malignancy and defamation that the Red Army faced in 1979. (Morellie
and Paul, 2009)
One of the initial steps that can be taken in this context is to establish and initiate negotiations with
the rather diplomatic wing of Talibans.