Heart Lamp: Selected Stories

Zeenat is the narrator and protagonist of “Stone Slabs for Shaista Mahal.” She is a housewife with liberal attitudes, though it sometimes irritates her that her husband, Mujahid, often uses this to signal his own political leanings through his attempts to influence her. Zeenat’s story is driven by her friendship with Shaista, another housewife who lives in the aspirational comfort of rural luxury, but who also helps her to recognize the repressive nature of such a lifestyle.

From the very beginning of the story, Zeenat’s perspective reflects some of Mushtaq’s biggest themes. Her commentary on the nature of her relationship with Mujahid reflects the patriarchal dynamic of spousal relations in Indian culture. Zeenat is married to Mujahid, but is reluctant to call herself his wife because it implies that she is his servant and he is her god. Zeenat also signals the need she has for someone like Shaista in the opening lines, when she expresses her joy over moving out of a city full of “people with no love for one another, no mutual trust, no harmony” (6). Consequently, the story depicts Zeenat’s relationship with Shaista as the closest relationship she has, even closer than the one she has with Mujahid.