POWER DYNAMICS SHAPE THE IDENTITY OF A MINORITY (A STUDY OF PARSI MINORITY IN BAPSI SIDHWA’S ICE CANDY MAN)

Abstract

It has been the dilemma of the minority that it has never been allowed to form its own identity. Its identity has always been defined by the dominant class. Parsi community is the endangered minority in the world. It is dispersed throughout the world without a homeland of its own. Parsis have always adopted the rules and customs of the majority of that country in which they settle. Bapsi Sidwah has written Ice candy man in the context of partition of united India in 1947. Being as Parsi herself she has also discussed through characters how Parsi community decides to follow rules and customs of that majority who will rule Pakistan. To support my argument from theoretical perceptive I will be referring to P.D.Nimsarkar’s essay “Dimensionality of History and Politics in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man”. Nimsarkar’s has comprehensively elaborated the plight and miseries of Parsi community at the time of independence of Pakistan and India. He highlights the fears and confusion which a minority encounters when its’ fate lies in the hands of dominant ones. This research paper aims to elaborate that the identity of the Parsi minority is shaped by the majority with reference to Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice candy man.