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The Narrator
Rahamat is a traveling fruit seller from Afghanistan, or a Kabuliwala, and is often referred to as such. He is first seen wearing “dirty baggy clothes,” which indicates that he is from a lower class. As he is not from Calcutta and speaks broken Bengali, Rahamat is something of an ostracized figure in town, and the narrator treats him with suspicion until the man makes friends with the narrator’s five-year-old daughter, Mini. Rahamat bribes Mini with pistachios to talk to him at first, but eventually they develop a real friendship. He visits the narrator’s house every day and brings Mini more nuts, fruits, and raisins, and listens to her excitable chatter for as long as he can before he has to return to work. Occasionally, he also talks with the narrator about Afghanistan and what life is like there. One day while he is collecting debts from customers in the neighborhood before returning to his home, Rahamat gets into a fight with someone who won’t pay him and stabs the customer. Rahamat is promptly arrested and led away by the police, but he has the chance to explain to the narrator what happened and where he is going. Eight years later, Rahamat is released from jail and goes straight to the narrator’s home to see Mini again, but is shocked to see that she has grown up. It is Mini’s wedding day, and when she comes into the room to see Rahamat, she is wearing her wedding clothes. Rahamat tries to rekindle their former friendship by telling her an old joke they used to have about her going to her father-in-law’s home, but instead of laughing, Mini becomes shy and blushes before silently leaving the room. This reminds Rahamat that his own daughter, Parvati (who still lives in Afghanistan), will have grown up and become a different person. The story ends with the narrator giving Rahamat the money he will need to get home and be reunited with his family, the men having bonded over the love they both have for their daughters.
Rahamat / The “Kabuliwala” Quotes in Kabuliwala
The Kabuliwala quotes below are all either spoken by Rahamat / The “Kabuliwala” or refer to Rahamat / The “Kabuliwala”. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Kabuliwala Quotes
[…] I saw my daughter sitting on a bench in front of the door, nattering unrestrainedly; and the Kabuliwala was sitting at her feet, listening—grinning broadly, and from time to time making comments in his hybrid sort of Bengali. In all her five years of life, Mini had never found so patient a listener, apart from her father.
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Mini saw the Kabuliwala (Rahamat) once before, and was shy when meeting him, so it is something of a surprise to the narrator to see her “nattering unrestrainedly” with Rahamat just outside of their house. The first time they met, the narrator had politely bought something and chatted for a while with Rahamat, but Mini had refused to talk to him. The position of both Mini and Rahamat—him sitting at her feet and she propped up on a bench with a sari full of raisins and nuts—implies that they have become very comfortable with each other. Rahamat both literally and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusam
Rahamat would say to Mini, “Little one, don’t ever go off to your śvaśur-bāṛi.’ […] She […] couldn’t clearly understand what Rahamat meant; yet to remain silent and give no reply was wholly against her nature, so she would turn the idea round and say, ‘Are you going to your śvaśur-bāṛi?’ Shaking his huge fist at an imaginary father-in-law Rahamat said, “I’ll settle him!”
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As the narrator learns more about the unique friendship between the Kabuliwala and Mini, he also learns that they have a number of inside jokes that they go over almost every time they talk together. This particular one about a śvaśur-bāṛi is foreshadows the fact that Rahamat is eventually arrested and sent to prison, since “prison” is one of two meanings of the term śvaśur-bāṛi. It also reveals even more about the fatherly role Rahamat is playing in his friendship with Mini. Rahamat clearly loves Mini and enjoys their time together (just like the narrator does), and he doesn’t want Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beata
Mini came straight out with her ‘Are you going to your śvaśur-bāṛi?”
‘Yes, I’m going there now,’ said Rahamat with a smile. But when he saw that his reply had failed to amuse Mini, he brandished his handcuffed fists and said, “I would have killed my śvaśur, but how can I with these on?’
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Late in the year, Rahamat is preparing to go home to Afghanistan, and one of his final tasks is to go door to door to all of his customers and collect payment for the products he sold them. Unfortunately, one customer refused to pay Rahamat what he owed and they got in a physical altercation that ended with Rahamat stabbing the customer and promptly being arrested. As Rahamat is being led away by two policemen, they happen to pass by Mini’s house and, seeing him, she runs out and greets him with a line from one of their inside jokes. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Q
Living at home, carrying on day by day with our routine tasks, we gave no thought to how a free-spirited mountain-dweller was passing his years behind prison-walls. […] [Mini] even stopped coming to her father’s study. And I, in a sense, dropped her.
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Rahamat is convicted of assault for stabbing a customer who would not pay him, and is sent to prison for eight years. The narrator and Mini do initially fall right back into their usual domestic routine, but over time there are some distinct changes in their relationship. The incident with the Kabuliwala marks the end of Mini’s early childhood. For Mini, the sight of her beloved friend in handcuffs and covered in blood changes her perspective of him. Rahamat’s kindness toward Mini quelled her early fear that he was a kidnapper, but covered in the evidence of a violent crime, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipis
I had never confronted a would-be murderer before; I shrank back at the sight of him. I began to feel that on this auspicious morning it would be better to have the man out of the way.
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After eight years in prison in Calcutta, Rahamat is released and allowed to go where he pleases. The day after he’s released, Rahamat goes to the narrator’s house with boxes of grapes and nuts for Mini, but his reception is not as warm as he expected. Mentally and emotionally speaking, Rahamat is no longer a part of the narrator’s “familiar spot” in which he feels safe and confident. Having committed a violent crime, Rahamat is now a very unfamiliar figure—he is even physically unfamiliar, having lost his hair and become emaciated in jail. As a result, the narrator is both Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia solut
Every year Rahamat carried this memento of his daughter in his breast-pocket when he came to sell raisins in Calcutta’s streets: as if the touch of that soft, small, childish hand brought solace to his huge, homesick breast. My eyes swam at the sight of it. I forgot then that he was an Afghan raisin-seller and I was a Bengali Babu. I understood then that he was as I am, that he was a father just as I am a father. The handprint of his little mountain-dwelling Parvati reminded me of my own Mini.
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The narrator tells the Kabuliwala that he needs to leave when he suddenly shows up unannounced in the narrator’s study on the day of Mini’s wedding, but as he is going the Kabuliwala reveals to the narrator that he has only come for love of his own daughter, Parvati. The revelation takes the narrator by surprise, although, in hindsight, it explains why Rahamat was so enthusiastic about befriending Mini. The placement of Parvati’s handprint on a piece of paper kept close to Rahamat’s heart shows just how much he loved and missed his daughter, even during his eight long years Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore cor
Mini now knew the meaning of śvaśur-bāṛi; she couldn’t reply as before—she blushed at Rahamat’s question and looked away. I recalled the day when Mini and the Kabuliwala had first met. My heart ached.
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Once again, the old joke about a śvaśur-bāṛi reveals the state of Mini and Rahamat’s relationship. In the beginning, this joke was a source of delight as Mini questioned the friendly old Kabuliwala and he theatrically threatened to “settle him!” As he’s being taken away by two policemen, Rahamat attempts to make Mini laugh by smiling and laughing about going to his śvaśur-bāṛi, but without eliciting any response, good or bad. Now, however, Mini blushes and can’t look Rahamat in the eye. She now knows exactly what śvaśur-bāṛi means (both definitions of the term), she has lost her innocence, and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidun
Mini left the room, and Rahamat, sighing deeply, sat down on the floor. He suddenly understood clearly that his own daughter would have grown up too since he last saw her, and with her too he would have to become re-acquainted: he would not find her exactly as she was before. Who knew what had happened to her these eight years?
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The narrator grants the Kabuliwala’s request to see Mini one more time, but when she comes down and Rahamat tries to rekindle their friendship by repeating an old joke, she becomes timid and turns away from him without responding. When Mini was a precocious five-year-old and Rahamat first met her, she became a surrogate for his own daughter of a similar age, Parvati. Just as Mini reminded him of his daughter during their friendship, Mini’s unfavorable reaction towards Rahamat serves as a disheartening warning for what his own daughter might be like when he finally sees her again. Rahamat kept Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis
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Rahamat / The “Kabuliwala” Character Timeline in Kabuliwala
The timeline below shows where the character Rahamat / The “Kabuliwala” appears in Kabuliwala. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Kabuliwala
...which the main characters are escaping from a prison—but Mini suddenly catches sight of a Kabuliwala outside. He is dressed in "dirty baggy clothes” and carrying boxes of grapes. The narrator...
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Hearing Mini yelling about him, the Kabuliwala comes up to the house, but Mini suddenly becomes afraid that the Kabuliwala actually carries...
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A few days after the Kabuliwala’s first appearance, the narrator walks out of the house and sees Mini sitting and talking...
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...scolding Mini for somehow getting her hands on a half rupee. Mini explains that the Kabuliwala gave it to her, and the girl’s mother is upset with her for accepting it....
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One of the jokes between Mini and the Kabuliwala—whose name is Rahamat—involves her eventually having to leave to go to her śvaśur-bāṛi. The narrator...
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...loves imagining faraway places and “the free and pleasant life” he could have there. The Kabuliwala, who has traveled far more than the narrator, offers him an opportunity to hear stories...
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...marauders.” Because of this, she repeatedly warns the narrator to keep an eye on the Kabuliwala. When the narrator tries to convince her that the Kabuliwala is safe, she launches on...
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The time eventually comes for the Kabuliwala to collect his debts and return to his home. He is busy all day during...
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...he hears “a sudden commotion in the street.” From his study, the narrator sees “our Rahamat” being taken away in handcuffs, covered in blood. One of the policemen bringing him away...
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The narrator goes outside to ask what happened and, between what the Kabuliwala and the policemen tell him, he gathers that a neighbor who owed Rahamat money refused...
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The Kabuliwala is sentenced to prison for many years, and the narrator and Mini soon forget him....
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...busy as preparations take place, but the narrator stays in his study to work. The Kabuliwala suddenly appears in the room unannounced and it is difficult to recognize him because his...
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The narrator nervously asks the Kabuliwala to leave because they are busy, but as he’s leaving the Kabuliwala asks to see...
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The Kabuliwala reaches into his shirt, “somewhere close to his heart,” and pulls out “a crumpled piece...
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Mini comes down wearing her wedding clothes, which startles the Kabuliwala. After a moment, he addresses her as “Little one” and asks her if she is...
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The narrator gives the Kabuliwala some money and tells him to go back to Afghanistan, and that by his “blessed...
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