Interplay of Irony & Symbolism: SHATRANJ KE KHILADI (The Chess Players) by Munshi Premchand!!

Lucknow, circa 1856….a land of abundance, excesses and riches galore!!

A land that was neck deep in the colour of culture, music, arts, poetry, parties, food and all things superfine. Lucknow at the time of its last Nawab (Monarch), Wajid Ali Shah was a land that survived on luxury, and luxury alone. It was a City where soldiers & their stories of bravery might not be rewarded that much (as was the case with most monarchies); but where chefs, perfume makers, dress makers, embroiderers, poets, dancers, courtesans were graciously rewarded & encouraged to excel further in their arts.

You might be wondering which fantasy land I am writing about. Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh (a state in India – called Oudh or Awadh in 1856) was a seat of culture, refinement & excess of everything that spelt “The Good Life” – whether food, clothes, architecture, perfumes or the ways to spend free time that people had at their disposal.

In fact how exactly would you spend your time when all you have to do in a day is to get up, dress in your finest, eat the richest, drink the most premium and attend the most high-profile parties!! And imagine this to be an everyday ritual of life!! Lucknow was floating on a cloud of excess at that time. It seemed like the whole city was stoned into a different world. Everybody was busy enjoying & indulging into this rich lifestyle. This was also the time, when the British saw the sheer opulence of Lucknow & dubbed it as the “Paris of East”.

So Lucknowites loved indulging in many games like kite flying, cock-fights, pigeon flying contests and the best of them all…the chess playing!!

Chess, was considered (is still today), the game of elite and the erudite of the society; and here we are introduced to the main characters of this brilliant short story – Mir & Mirza; two friends, possibly in their mid 30s; hailing from rich families where earning money was no longer a concern. Financially well secured, the friends loved to while away their time in the game of chess.

Soon this indulgence grew into an obsession, where all their waking hours were devoted to the the baazi (rounds) of chess. The symbolism that Munshi Premchand has painted here represents the essence of Lucknow at that time. The Nawab of Lucknow, Wajid Ali Shah, was a man of extreme fine taste himself and was known to be over-indulgent. Legend has it, that his simplest food on an everyday basis was Biryani (a fine rice & meat concoction cooked in ample amount of clarified butter & made fragrant with a mix of at least 8-9 spices of the East. This concoction was cooked in earthen pots on low flame to impart the taste of earth to the superfine food & make it even more indulgent. At any given point, this food itself is super rich & cannot be eaten on a daily basis); his simplest clothing was embroidered chikan kurta (an extremely ornate & superfine embroidery that spells unmatched class even today) and his everyday life included spending time writing & reciting poetry & listening to his many queens reciting the same. With such an over-indulgent ruler forming as a backdrop, it is not a surprise that the whole city was numb with a sense of enjoying life to the fullest.

Mir & Mirza were no different.

Coming back to the story, the two friends used to sit at Mirza’s abode for their unending rounds of chess. They used to sit for their sessions in the morning & used to play on till late in the evening. This was obviously affecting Mirza’s married life. His wife felt neglected & was opposed to his spending all waking hours on a Game of Chess. After reaching her boiling point, she throws a tantrum, and it becomes difficult for the friends to continue playing at Mirza’s house. The scene is shifted to Mir’s house, much to chagrin of Mir’s wife.

For some strange reason, Mir’s absence is very welcome to his wife; not to mention to his army of servants, who now have to be super attentive to Mir’s minute by minute requests of hookah (a fragrant smoking pot, that works with hot coal, cold water & tobacco), paan (frangrant beetel leaves made sweet with many tit-bits and eaten as a mouth freshner) and other refreshments. Troubled by his presence, Mir’s wife plays a trick on him. She arranges for a man to disguise as East India Company’s usher and sends summons for Mir in front of the reporting British high command. Not used to or inclined to work or take up any mantle (the fear was to be stationed with a battalion at any war front), Mir hides in his house & instructs his servant to convey that he is not at home. Mirza & Mir, both petrified of being summoned, and moved away from their beloved chess, decide to leave their homes for good part of the day & create their world of escapism in the outskirts of the city, in an abandoned tomb, where they cannot be spotted.

From next day on, both friends place themselves comfortably in the deserted tomb, where they can play chess with no hindrances. Here Mirza notices some upheaval & a small barrage of English army charging at Lucknow with arms & ammunitions. As the city was rife with rumour at that time, that British wanted to annex the State of Oudh & dethrone Wajid Ali Shah and take away most of his active rights as a Monarch; they speculate this to be the motive of the marching army. However, largely undaunted, the friends continue their game. Mirza, is however, troubled when he sees the army returning & hears that Wajid Ali Shah has indeed been taken captive (The Nawab surrendered without a fight – he was a man of culture, not a man of sword & valour), and Lucknow will now change its colour. Mirza, disturbed & distracted by this news, starts losing his games against Mir, who remains completely unperturbed by the recent turn of events.

The continuous loss at games results in Mirza throwing a tantrum, which finally results in a verbal spat between both the friends. The verbal spat crosses all limits & in anger both friends draw their swords to settle matter over their petty issue & end up wounding each other fatally & ultimately die.

They draw the sword, but draw it too late. They draw the sword, but draw it not to save their real king (the Nawab), but to save their fake King of Chess!! They draw blood, but not to save their beloved city, but to save their false honour that was a gift of the indulgence of this city!!

The Chess Players is an interplay of symbolism & irony at each step. There are so many undertones of socio-cultural & behavioural repression that you have to read between the lines many times to understand their full intent.

Mir & Mirza represent the populace of a city that is intoxicated under the influence of over-indulgence. Mir & Mirza are actually mere mohre (pawns in a Chess game), who represent the residents of Lucknow, including their Monarch, Wajid Ali Shah. In a way, they represent the city.

Their obsession with chess & each other can be deduced into many things at many levels. On the surface it seems an obsession with the game, a little deeper it actually infers the intoxication with the feeling of indulgence; and if you go really deep, it has undertones of repressed homosexuality. The two men are oblivious to food, women & other pleasures of life. Their life is a crux of each other & their game of chess. An even further depth can be added to this, where this can be viewed as Lucknow’s attitude towards life. Safely ensconced in its world of innate luxury, the city was oblivious to other aspects of life, and was obsessed with indulgence in all its waking hours. It was as if the whole city was living & imbibing an escapist attitude & did not want to face the practical issues of an everyday life.

Both Mir & Mirza’s wives, though passing side characters, have depth & meaning, if you read between the lines. Both wives are sexually deprived (as the husbands spend all waking hours in each other’s company playing Chess). Mirza’s wife tries to allure him & fails miserably, and Mir’s wife is possibly having an affair of her own, which might explain her preference to have her home without Mir.

And finally, the last scene…Mirza’s constant distraction & irritation at the changed political scenario of Lucknow, is actually symbolic of the City waking up from its reverie and feeling irritated at facing a looming possibility of change that it was hitherto ignoring. It is a symbol of Lucknow finally seeing the change lying in front & afraid at the possibility of facing it.

On the other hand, Mir’s obliviousness to the whole situation is the other part of City’s psyche that wants to live in complete disdain, arrogance & its previous state of trance. When Mirza challenges Mir, it is actually the interaction of the Lucknow’s (its citizens) inner conflict. The City knows & is seeing the change; it is irritated & fearful of the change; it tries to wake up from its reverie & is challenged by itself…challenged by its over-indulgent, sleeping self that is refusing to come out of its state of trance.

When challenged, a conflict emerges, with Mir & Mirza both dead…signifying how an Era changed in Lucknow forever & ever, just because its citizens & its Monarch could not wake up in time & accept hard facts facing them!!

2013 –

Today Lucknow is the capital of Uttar Pradesh, one of the largest states in India. Once a seat of such lavish extremities & culture, today the city is a mere ghost of what it stood for once and is a seat of constant political upheavals in the country!!

In 1978, Academy award winning director & one of the most precious gems of World Cinema, Satyajit Ray, made a film out of this short story. This film embodies the thought of the story’s author Premchand with an absolute precision. Ray actually understood Lucknow & the layers of this short story that was originally penned in 1922.

 

The film went on to win three Filmfare Awards, including the Critics Award for Best Movie, and was a nominee for the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 28th Berlin International Film Festival^. It was also selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards (source: Wikipedia).

P.S: This blogger is a proud Lucknowite.  Born & brought up in the City, she amongst many other Lucknowites is the offspring of an era that is struggling to uphold its golden legacy, and remember the era gone by with an envious sigh!!