A Pair of Mustachios by Mulk Raj Anand

1 MAY 2018 DERMOT MULK RAJ ANAND CITE POST

In A Pair of Mustachios by Mulk Raj Anand we have the theme of pride, class, conformity,
acceptance, tradition and freedom. Taken from his Selected Short Stories collection the story is
narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises
that Anand may be exploring the theme of pride. Khan though not a wealthy man comes from a rich
heritage and believes that Ramanand is not entitled to style his moustache as he does. For Khan it is
a matter of pride and he instructs Ramanand to return his moustache to what is socially acceptable
to Khan. If anything Khan feels as though Ramanand has no right to wear his moustache as he does
based on his class. With Khan considering Ramanand to be of a lower class than himself. This may
be important as it would seem to be a case that how an individual styles their moustache defines
their class with no deviation being allowed. Something that is clearer to the reader by the fact that
some people have been murdered due to their non-adherence to the accepted societal norms. How
important the issue of how an individual wears there moustache is to Khan is noticeable by the fact
that he allows his pride take over his reason and ends up becoming a pauper.

Though he was not a rich man. Khan is left with nothing. Which may be the point that Anand is
making. He may be suggesting that should an individual allow for their pride to rule their heart and
head. They will only end up hurting themselves and not gaining anything. Which is very much the
case when it comes to Khan. It is as though the class structure that exists is out dated and
impractical but it is noticeable that nobody is prepared to deviate from what is accepted. A man and
his lineage is judged by the shape of his moustache. Something that some readers might find to be
ridiculous when a man’s character should define who he is. However this is not the case. It is the
style of an individual’s moustache which decides their place in society. Which may play on the theme
of freedom. An individual is not allowed to style their moustache as they see fit due to the class
system that is in operation. If anything an individual’s freedom or ability to act on their own initiative
is hindered. Each man must conform to what is accepted and what has been accepted for
generations.

It is as though not only an individual’s freedom is being curtailed but there is also a heavy reliance
on tradition. A tradition which may not necessarily be pleasing or accepted by all concerned.
Something that is very much the case when it comes to Ramanand. He does not see how he styles
his moustache as a problem. However when Khan considers it to be a problem. Ramanand is clever
 enough to realise that he can outwit Khan. Someone who is supposed to be a class above
Ramanand. If anything Khan’s weakness is his excessive pride and his adherence to a tradition that
not everybody believes in following. It is also possible that Anand is suggesting that an individual
can be hindered by pride, tradition and perception of their class. The fact that Khan lives among the
old ruins of his ancestors might also be symbolically important as Anand could be highlighting the
fact that Khan is rooted in the past and the class system that he believes in and which he thinks
everybody else should adhere to.

It is also possible that Anand is highlighting not only the ignorance of Khan but his arrogance too.
Though he has very little in life and is obliged to Ramanand he still considers himself to be better
than Ramanand. Based solely on his right to style his moustache in a certain way. So rooted is Khan
in tradition that he is prepared to give up everything he owns in order that Ramanand changes the
appearance of his moustache. It is an extreme sacrifice to make but highlights to the reader how
serious Khan considers how an individual styles their moustache. If anything Khan is prepared to
sacrifice everything he owns based on an individual’s right to style their moustache in a particular
way. It might also be important to remember that every culture in the world has a class system.
Though it may not be based on how an individual styles their moustache. It is nonetheless based on
other things. It may be based on how an individual is allowed to dress or where an individual may
be educated. The important thing to remember is that Anand may be suggesting that the real
problem in all societies is the apparent significance that an individual may give themselves based
solely on their perception of class.

Related Posts:
 The Parrot in the Cage by Mulk Raj Anand
 The Cobbler and the Machine by Mulk Raj Anand
 A Dog’s Life by Mulk Raj Anand
 Duty by Mulk Raj Anand

ABSTRACT Mulk Raj Anand is a great short story writer of the Gandhian era in Indian English writing. Anan’s short
stories are fuelled with the freshness of reality. In the writing of his short stories he was influenced by the Indian
tradition of short story especially Kathasaritasagar and the Jataka tales. One of his major short stpries is “A Pair of
Mustachio.” This story narrates the story of Seth Ramanand, a Hindu bania who is contrated to Khan Azam Khan.
They are contrasted on the basis of their chief possession. While Khan Azam Khan boasts of his Afghan ancestry,
Set Ramanand boasts of nothing but his ill-gotten wealth.

247 Dr. NISHI SINGH

CLASH OF CHARACTERS IN MULK RAJ ANAND’S A PAIR OF MUSTACHIOS Dr. NISHI
SINGH Adhyapak: Govt High School of Parsora Block: Berasiya, Dist-Bhopal (M.P.)
ABSTRACT Mulk Raj Anand is a great short story writer of the Gandhian era in Indian English writing. Anan’s short
stories are fuelled with the freshness of reality. In the writing of his short stories he was influenced by the Indian
tradition of short story especially Kathasaritasagar and the Jataka tales. One of his major short stpries is “A Pair of
Mustachio.” This story narrates the story of Seth Ramanand, a Hindu bania who is contrated to Khan Azam Khan.
They are contrasted on the basis of their chief possession. While Khan Azam Khan boasts of his Afghan ancestry,
Set Ramanand boasts of nothing but his ill-gotten wealth. Key Words: Gandhian era; Kathasaritasagar and Jataka
tales; contrast; nouveau riche
. Introduction

Mulk Raj Anand is one of the three most prolific writers from amongst the founding fathers of Indian English
fiction, the other two being R. K. Narayan and Raja Rao. They are known as Fathers of Indian English fiction. There
are certain similarities between these three. All bear the mantle of beginning the Indian English fiction. It was the
Gandhian Period in Indian politics. With the emergence of Mahatma Gandhi literatures in India languages became
an echo of Gandhian principles and philosophy. This impact was visible on Indian writing in English as well. Among
these founding fathers Mulk Raj Anand was most deeply impressed by Mahatma Gandhi and his ways of life. His
Untouchable is the most vivid and touching portrayal of the Indian untouchables; this novel was direct influenced
by Mahatma Gandhi. There was another similarity amongst these great writers. Though all are better known as
novelists yet they also wrote some memorable short stories.

Mulk Raj Anand took his idea of short story from Indian classics. Kathaaaritsagar (based on the
Brihatkatha of Gunadhya) is one of the sources from which Anand took his idea of the short story. After reading
this volume Mulk Raj Anand Anand said, “A symbol of highly finished art of story-telling in India.” (Preface page. 5)
The other influences on Mulk Raj Anand were those of Panchtantra, Jataka tales and Aesop’s fables. Through these
works Anand informed about the harsh realities of life. Another source for the short stories of Anand are the folk
tales. Anand inherited his love of the folk tales and the rustics from his family, especially his mother. As an
impressionable child, he was nourished on the folk tales and he was never tired of listening to them time and time
again. In fact, the folk tale form has seemed to me the most perfect form of short story to him. One of his favourite
folk tales was the story of Raja Rasalu and he would request his mother to tell him this again and again.
The humorous anecdotes imagined by one of our teachers, Master Shah Nawaz, based on the incidents in the life
of Raja Birbal and Akbar the Great, impressed him with the gift of laughter that one could bring to bear on human
foibles.

Discussion Mulk Raj Anand put this story at Number 1 when he collected his short stories in a volume A Pair of
Mustachios and Other Stories (2002). This shows the importance Anand attached to this short story. It is in reality a
superb narration. It is among Mulk Raj Anand’s most valued, most read and commented upon and anthologized
short stories. This story brought Aand great popularity. In the present article the aim is to highlight the particular
society of pre-Independence India and the social, economic and cultural factors that governed and conditioned
that society. As a young boy Mulk Raj Anand interacted with boys hailing from different communities and this
impacted “A Pair of Mustachios” as well. In India we come across people of different religions and different castes
living cheek by bowl with one another. Such differences do not matter to people.
It is the story of a Hindu baniya (businessman) Seth Ramanand and Khan Azam Khan, a Muslim, who claimed
descent from an ancient Afghan family which migrated to India in very ancient times along with Muslim invaders.
Many members of this old family were noblemen and councillors in the court of the Moghul kings. Seth Ramanand
is a nouveau riche grocer and money-lender who amassed wealth and money out of the recent fall in prices of
wheat. This richness brought airs to the grocer. He got an idea that he should twist his goat mustache a bit so that
it looked like a tiger mustache. This was not the way he was supposed to twist his mustache, according to the
custom of those days; the goat mustache was in order for this class. The poor mouse-moustached farmers and
peasants did not mind or rather care about it a bit as most of them had been beholden to Seth Ramanand either
because they owed “him interest on a loan, or an installment on a mortgage of jewellery or land. Then, the Seth
had been careful enough to twist his moustache so that it seemed nearly, though not quite, like a tiger
moustache.” (the story available on the internet) In this position Seeth Ramanand lived in peace and happiness
with his neighbours.

In a nearby village lived a mussulman named Khan Azam Khan, a tall and middle-aged man. He lived in an old
dilapidated Moghul style house. He himself descended from an old renowned Afghan family whose which boasted
of noblemen and conucillors with Mughal kings. He had a handsome personality. He proudly bore a tiger
moustache. He usually wore a gold-brocaded waistcoat, though he hasn’t even a patch of land left. There were
many doubters in the neighbourhood who used to call Azam Khan an imposter. Many other people, especially the
priest of the temple, maliciously said that his ancestors were connected with the Mughal kings not as noblemen
and councillors but as sweepers.

Thus, Seth Ramanad and Khan Azam khan are projected by Mulk Raj Anand as contrasting characters. Mulk Raj
Anand has portrayed characters that are the victims of the circumstances in which they live. In an Indian village,
during very olde times, the bania was the pivot of the village community. Seth Ramanand is certainly the hero of
the short story, but Khan Azam Khan is the foil who contrasts with the hero. The later’s survival depends upon the
goodwill of Seth Ramanand. On the one extreme was Azam Khan who boasted of his past ancestry though he had
no money or land at present; even the ornaments etc. were being sold by him to make both ends meet. On the
other hand, there was Seth Ramanand who had no ancestry to boast of though he was rich and naturally
influential today in the village and its neighbourhood. Khan Azam Khan naturally wore a tiger moustache; but Seth
Ramanand who arrogated to himself greatness, wore a moustache that looked like a tiger moustache. Anand
asserts,

The landlord, the moneylender and the priest are manifestly jealous of anyone’s long ancestry, however, because
they have all risen from nothing—and it is obvious from the stately ruins around Khan Azam Khan what grace was
once his and his forefathers. Only Khan Azam Khan’s pride is greatly in excess of his present possessions and he is
inordinately jealous of his old privileges and rather foolish and headstrong in safeguarding every sacred brick of his
tottering house against vandalism.

One day Khan Azam Khan went to the moneylender Seth Ramananda’s shop to pawn his wife’s gold nose-ring
when he noticed the upturning tendency of the hair on Ramanand’s upper lip. Thus up turning made the
moneylender’s goat moustache look almost like his own tiger moustache. He abused Seth Ramanand by calling him
a “lentil-eating shopkeeper”, “swine” and “seed of a donkey.”. He asked him not to bear the moustache like than
of an aristocrat. Khan Azam Khan then said, “Look at the way you have turned the tips of your moustache upwards.
It almost looks like my tiger moustache. Turn the tips down to the style proper to the goat that you are! Fancy the
airs of people nowadays!” (From internet) Seth Ramanand dutifully lowered down the tips of his moustache as he
was very amiable. He knew he prospered at the goodwill of his customers and he did not want to anger Khan Azam
Khan. Very promptly his moustache came down “like a dead fly.” The anger of Khan Azam Khan at once vanished.
But only one end of his moustache came down. Khan did not want his moustache being aped by the bania. But the
transaction was over and Set Ramananda very meekly said: “I humbled myself because you are doing business with
me. You can’t expect me to become a mere worm just because you have pawned a trinket with me. If you were
pledging some more expensive jewellery I might consider obliging you a little more. Anyhow, my humble milk-
skimmer doesn’t look a bit like your valiant tiger moustache.” Anyhow Khana Azam Khana controlled his anger and
went away. Seth Ramanand said that he pawned all his belongings included property he would consider to lower
the other tip of his moustache. Soon an agreement was signed between the two and Khan walked away, “And they
(people) laughed to see the Khan give a special twist to his moustache as he walked away maintaining the valiant
uprightness to the symbol of his ancient and noble family, though he had become a pauper.” This story, narrated in
third person, also deliberates on the various types of moustache. This part of the story is narrated in a satirical
manner. One can say that satire is never absent from the short stores of Mulk Raj Anand. It must be remembered
that various kinds of mustachios have been worn in India to mark the boundaries between the various classes of
people. It was certainly so in British India. Mulk Raj Anand remarks that moustache are a matter of pride for
average Indian as they are for the nationals of many other countries like, Americans and Englishmen. Moustache in
India are like poetic symbols. People wear them with pride as they signify the class to which a brearer of the
moustache belongs. It has been so since times immemorial. A bania is not expected to don the insignia of a soldier.
Anand says that people wear their mustache as if it had been patented by the Central government or they have
been proclaimed by some notification of the British King or Queen. Mulk Raj Anand says, “And any poaching on the
style of one class by members of another is resented, and the rising ratio of murders in my country is interpreted
by certain authorities as being indicative of the increasing jealousy with which each class is guarding its rights and
privileges in regard to the mark of the mustachio.”

Conclusion

The short story “A Pair of mustachios’ thus deals with the fortunes of two characters, the protagonist, Seth
Ramanand and his foil, Khan Azam Khan. While Khan wears the moustache proper to his class, but Seth Ramanand
approximates his moustache to that of Khan. Thus he is a usurper. Both the characters have been treated with
satire – one because he wears a moustache to which now he is not accredited (having gone poor and penniless),
while the other approximates his moustache to another class, for which he is not entitled. In his characterization
Anand has shown great brevity and economy in the use of words to evoke the atmosphere vividly.

References

Miulk Raj Anand, Preface to Selected Stories (Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1955), Mulk Raj
Anand, “A Pair of moustache,” available on the internet. http://sittingbee.com/a-pair-of-mustachios-mulk-raj-
anand/