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The Younger Brother
A Hakim Sahib is a doctor. In Untouchable, the Hakim Sahib of Bulashah appears when Lakha recounts Bakha’s potentially fatal illness as a young baby. At first, the Hakim Sahib denies Lakha medicine, screaming at him for “polluting” his shop even as Lakha begs for help. Later, however, the Hakim Sahib arrives at Lakha’s house to help Bakha. While Lakha uses this story as proof that the higher castes are “really kind,” Bakha is less forgiving, pointing out that the Hakim Sahib “could have killed” him because of his biases.
The Hakim Sahib Quotes in Untouchable
The Untouchable quotes below are all either spoken by The Hakim Sahib or refer to The Hakim Sahib. 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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Pages 43–73 Quotes
‘In a little while there was a knock at the door. And what do you think? Your uncle goes out and finds the Hakim ji himself, come to grace our house. He was a good man. He felt your pulse and saved your life.’
‘He might have killed me,’ Bakha commented.
‘No, no,’ said Lakha. ‘They are really kind. We must realize that it is religion which prevents them from touching us.’ He had never throughout his narrative renounced his deep-rooted sense of inferiority and the docile acceptance of the laws of fate.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Hakim Sahib Character Timeline in Untouchable
The timeline below shows where the character The Hakim Sahib appears in Untouchable. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pages 43–73
...The higher-caste Hindus shouted at Lakha to leave because he was polluting everything, and the Hakim Sahib (doctor) initially refused to help Lakha. But Lakha pleaded with him, vowing that if the...
(full context)
Lakha returned home, hopeless—but a few minutes later, the Hakim Sahib showed up at the family’s door with medicine in tow, and Bakha was saved. Though...
(full context)
