Ruskin Bond’s The Flight of Pigeons and Qurratulain Haider’s Agle Janam Mohe Bitya Na Kijo are stories that centre around the world of the Muslim
women. There is a strong thread of similarity that runs through them, even though they are both set in different
time periods of Indian History.
Both stories present a picture of a patriarchal setup, where women are enclosed in the walls of the
house and have to lead lives of compliance and obedience to men folk. Men may do what they like with their lives, marry as many times they wish to and when they like according to their whims, whereas women are mere objects and playthings in the hands of men.
Firstly the way women are presented in a male dominated society is an issue in both stories, but there is also the presence of a certain kind of language that identifies these Muslim women.
While Haider’s story is set in the background of the pre partition days, Bond’s story centres around the time of the revolt of 1857 in Shahjahanpur.
Haider’s story is about the sojourn of two impoverished orphaned sisters,Rushke Qamar and Jamilan (who is crippled in the legs). They struggle to retain their identity in a a male dominated world. Bond’s story is about the survivors of an Englishman’s family (killed in Shajahanpur by the
rebels) and their contact with a Muslim family in whose house they take refuge till the rebels are overcome by the British.