Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in In Custody, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory and the Passage of Time
Ambition and Failure
Family, Gender, and Indian Tradition
Beauty vs. Utility
Indian Identity and Pluralism
Summary
Analysis
Deven and Murad are sitting in Murad’s Delhi office. Murad complains that Deven says no to everything, and Deven explains that he can’t possibly give up his job, life, and family to become Nur’s secretary. So, Murad tells Deven to “go back to [his] village” and “rot with your buffaloes and your dung heaps.” He insists that many other poets would happily take the job, and that Deven is disrespecting the Indian tradition of apprentices learning from gurus. Deven declares that he has given up on being a poet and doesn’t need a guru.
Once again, Murad uses every insult and argument he can think of to pressure Deven into lending his time and energy, all against his better judgment. Specifically, Murad plays on Deven’s love for literature by suggesting that his life only has value if he sacrifices his normal obligations to spend time with Nur. (But Deven doesn’t just have “buffaloes” and “dung heaps” in his village: he has his family, his job, and his home.) People with artistic inclinations may be familiar with this tension between everyday obligations and a creative calling—and, quite possibly, people who try to shame them into working for free by promising them greatness (like Murad).
Themes
Deven demands to know why Murad offered his services to Nur as a secretary. Murad insists that he didn’t—he just ran into Nur, who asked if Deven was returning for the interview. But Deven doesn’t believe a word Murad says, and he points out that the word “secretary” never once came up in his conversation with Nur. Murad complains that Deven blames other people for making him do things, instead of just making his own decisions, and tells him to go do the interview. Deven complains that nobody listens to anything he says, and then despite his best instincts, he leaves and heads straight to Nur’s house.
By this point, readers have learned to take Murad’s claims with (at least) a grain of salt. His story about running into Nur is obviously a lie—in fact, one of this novel’s more understated mysteries is that the reader never actually sees Nur and Murad interact, which contributes to the sense of mystery around whether they are secretly orchestrating the whole interview scheme to defraud Deven. At the same time, in this passage, Murad is totally correct when he criticizes Deven for letting other people push him around and failing to take responsibility for his failures. The irony is only that the person Deven most needs to stand up to is Murad himself.
Themes
Deven finds people rushing into Nur’s house and supposes that he is giving a poetry recitation. He enters the courtyard and sits among the crowd, which grows and grows until he finds himself pushed toward the front, unable to breathe. The guest of honor sits at the front of the crowd: it’s not Nur but his wife, Imtiaz, dressed in her black and silver veil. Two men carry Nur to the front row, where he sits right in front of Deven. Feeling that he owes Nur an apology, Deven mutters that Murad passed on Nur’s message. Nur asks if Murad is coming to the event, and Deven realizes that Murad has been deceiving him again.
Deven’s plan to catch Nur alone for a private interview is foiled once again; clearly, the party during his last visit wasn’t an isolated event. This shows that, even while Deven and Murad thought of Nur as reclusive, he actually lived a remarkably public life as a central figure in his local community. Still, Deven is shocked to see the crowd assemble around Imtiaz rather than Nur. This is because Deven views Nur as the true artist, the only one who really matters, and Imtiaz as nothing more than a support system for him. Of course, this is the same way he thinks about his own marriage to Sarla—after all, Nur’s explosive relationship with Imtiaz and Deven’s resentment-filled marriage to Sarla are foils for one another throughout the novel. Through these relationships, the novel shows how India’s strongly patriarchal gender norms prevent women’s labor, needs, and art from being taken seriously.
Themes
The crowd cries out for Imtiaz to recite her poems. Her musical accompanists come downstairs, and she teases them for drinking. Attendants bring her a box of betel leaf to chew and a glass of water. Nur whispers to Deven that it’s Imtiaz’s birthday and this event is intended to honor her. Deven is confused: he still doesn’t even really know who Imtiaz is.
Imtiaz is the woman Deven saw with Nur on his first visit—but he doesn’t recognize her yet, and the reader may or may not. Regardless, Deven is scandalized that the crowd is celebrating her—a woman—instead of Nur. Worse still, it turns out that she is a poet in her own right. In fact, this event is a mushaira, a traditional kind of north Indian poetry recitation that traces its roots back to the Persian-influenced royal courts of north India’s Muslim rulers (the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire).
Themes
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Deven doesn’t even pay attention when Imtiaz starts to sing. Instead, he gets annoyed that Nur isn’t performing instead, that Imtiaz’s voice is so high, and that her verses tell conventional stories about love and God. He assumes that Nur taught her everything she knows, and so her poetry is just a disgraceful parody of his. He can’t stand how the audience joyously celebrates such inferior art—it reminds him of how Sarla’s family gossips when they come to visit. He can’t stop wondering whether Imtiaz is also a prostitute or dancer, how old she is, and who let her perform at Nur’s house.
Deven’s resentment has little to do with Imtiaz’s poetry and everything to do with his own insecurities about gender roles. After all, he doesn’t even listen to her before judging her work as inferior and derivative. He seems to feel that, if he appreciates Imtiaz’s poetry, he will degrade Nur’s—and, worse still, take Imtiaz’s side in her marital conflicts. This is just like how, in his own marriage, he prefers to reject Sarla’s complaints instead of accepting that they have a legitimate basis. In short, he chooses to feel superior because he is a man rather than resolve the actual problems that arise (which would mean having to change and give up some of the power that he has simply by virtue of being a man).
Themes
Suddenly, Imtiaz clears her throat, stops the music, and replaces her harmonium player with another woman, who starts singing alongside her. Imtiaz explains that her throat is troubling her, and she starts to sing in lower tones. Nur stands up in the middle of the performance to declare that he’s had enough and wants to lie down. When Deven helps him stand, someone asks if he isn’t enjoying the performance. Deven and Ali help Nur stand and walk upstairs to his bed, where he collapses.
By walking out of Imtiaz’s performance, Nur makes a public show of his resentment toward her—and, ironically, lets his marital conflicts and disdain for popular art get in the way of his declared mission to revitalize Urdu poetry. At the same time, readers may wonder if Nur’s real motivation is jealousy. Regardless, by showing Deven enable Nur’s bitterness, the novel further challenges the reader’s instinct to identify with him. (After all, he is clearly on the wrong side of this conflict.)
Themes
Ali brings Nur a drink, then he returns to the concert, leaving Nur and Deven alone. Nur complains about women’s vanity and explains that Imtiaz used to be satisfied hearing his poetry but eventually became jealous and started performing her own. He moans that she has stolen his house, jewels, and friends. Already drunk, he insults her in “the most filthy terms he [can] assemble” and calls out for more alcohol.
Deven again has to confront the ugly truth about Nur, who is looking less and less like the sage who will save Urdu and more and more like a bitter, dying old alcoholic who is lost in delusional fantasies. (The only problem is that Deven shares the same fantasies.) After all, Imtiaz is upstaging Nur less because her work is remarkable than simply because he stopped producing new poetry. In fact, Nur’s complaints are awfully similar to Deven’s: he blames other people for his own lack of imagination and willpower, and he can’t stand to watch women succeed when he fails.
Themes
Deven changes the subject, asking whether Nur really wanted him to take dictation, but Nur moans about how others have already stolen from him. Deven brings up Nur’s postcard, and Nur explains that he sent the card because, one day, he started to remember an old poem he had written and wanted someone to help him write it down. Deven offers to help right now. Nur complains that he’s “too broken and crushed” to try remembering his old poems—but perhaps the right kind of friend could help him.
Between Nur’s changing the subject and his complaining about feeling “broken and crushed,” he seems to want Deven around primarily to stroke his ego. Of course, this suggests that Nur surrounds himself with the partying yes-men Deven met in Chapter Three for precisely the same reason: he feels a desperate need for positive affirmation. In fact, there’s a disturbing parallel between Deven and Nur’s entitlement and self-pity: they both feel that they deserve better, but the world has left them behind. Nur is clearly using Deven to get the affirmation he craves, but perhaps Deven is seeking exactly the same from Nur.
Themes
Before Deven can respond, Imtiaz walks in, disheveled and enraged. She mocks Nur and accuses him of being jealous of her poetic success. Then, she drops a flood of rupee bills on the floor and calls Ali to pick them up. Nur tells Ali not to touch the money, but Imtiaz declares that without it, Nur won’t be able to afford alcohol—which has ruined his poetry and his voice. Another woman (Safiya) comes to the door, starts harshly insulting Imtiaz, and tries to attack her by jumping over Nur’s bed. Overwhelmed by the drama, Deven runs away.
Imtiaz forces Nur to confront the bitter truth that, at least for the time being, she is the more successful poet. Not only does her work pay the bills, but her performance is also clearly doing more to revitalize the Urdu language than Nur’s parties. Her fight with the other woman—Nur’s other wife, Safiya—initially makes no sense at all to Deven. So, this visit to Nur’s house ends the same way as the first one: Nur’s family descends into a chaotic fight, and Deven flees. After all, staying would mean trying to figure out what is happening, intruding on a family’s private affairs, and above all, looking squarely at Nur’s shortcomings.
Themes
Deven goes to Murad’s office, where he explains that he has to get home to Sarla. Murad mocks him, but Deven says he refuses to throw his life away to get involved in Nur’s family drama. Murad calls Deven a disappointment and suggests that he doesn’t really care about Nur’s poetry or the interview. But Deven insists that he respects Nur’s genius and reveals that Nur is planning on dictating new poems to him. He thinks he may even be able to get Nur’s memoirs, too. Impressed, Murad proposes a whole Awaaz edition on Nur’s new work; Deven says it could be a book.
Murad continues bullying Deven in exactly the same way as before, with scarcely any interest in what actually happened during Deven’s visit to Nur. Clearly, he thinks that the harder he pushes, the more he will get out of Deven. Meanwhile, Deven’s promise to get Nur’s poetry and memoirs suggests that he’s actually right. So, no matter what happens, Murad’s solution is the same that it has always been: to ridicule Deven more and push him harder. Needless to say, Murad is enthusiastic about Deven’s plan to interview Nur primarily for selfish reasons: he thinks this will boost the status of Awaaz and make him money. (Not even Murad shares the unadulterated love for Urdu poetry that he demands from Deven.)
Themes
But Deven worries that he won’t have enough time for all the dictation. Murad suggests tape recording, but Deven finds the idea repulsive. Still, Murad insists that print is dead, and the solution is just to get Nur drunk and tape record him, then transcribe the poems later. Deven admits that it’s a good idea, but he doesn’t have a tape recorder. Murad screams that it’s not so hard to get one, and he sends Deven out.
Murad continues pushing Deven around, and Deven continues uncritically accepting his ideas. While tape-recording an interview might seem like common sense to 21st-century readers, it’s important to remember that this book was written and is set in the early 1980s, when such technology was relatively new—and unreliable—in India.
Themes
