Anita Desai depicts very impressively the conflict between fantasy and realism in the novel “In Custody”.

1. Fairfield Institute of Management and Technology
CASE STUDY METHOD
Subject Name: India writing in English
Subject Code: BAENGH204
Submitted to: Submitted by:
Name of the Faculty Name: HARSHIT
PROF. Asst.prof. Shikha Dutt
Enrollment no:
35390121719
Course: BAENGH
Semester/Section: 4rd

2. Case study method
1 contents Page.no
2 Introduction 1
3 Objectives 1
4 Anita desai
in custody
2-6
5 Conclusion 7
6 biblography 7

3. INTRODUCTION
In Custody (1984) is a novel set in Delhi, India by
Indian American writer Anita Desai. [1] It was
shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1984.
OBJECTIVE
TO devlop further understanding
TO devlop a practice of learning new aspect new
aspect of the subject and subjective and
development a habit of recarch

4. Anita Desai’s “In Custody”
Anita Desai depicts very impressively the conflict between
fantasy and realism in the novel “In Custody”. The class
situation forces the hero to enter into fantasies of sudden
wealth, unexpected cheques, acceptance in the literary
circles of the metropolis. Only for his survival he works as
a Hindi lecturer.
His meeting with his friend Murad brings a total change in
his life. Devan complains to Murad about non-payment for
his contributions to the Urdu magazine Awaaz. He advises
Devan to go to meet Nur at Delhi. Being inspired by Nur,
he loves Urdu poetry.
To fulfil his unsatisfied desire of becoming Urdu lecturer,
he decides to go to Delhi and meet Nur. But the first visit
to the house of Nur makes him feel the suffocating, cruel
nature of Nur’s wife. Devan runs away from there in a huff.
Ironically, Devan’s ideal Urdu poet Nur lives in a back lane
of Delhi’s Chandini Chowk bazaar.
Even when Devan reaches Nur’s residence, located past a
gutter overflowing with garbage across from a gloomy
hospital. Devan imagines that Nur himself resembles his
poetry, that Nur exists on this higher plane because his
poetry lifts Devan to such heights. Nur’s house in the

5. bazaar finally upsets his vision of the condition such a man
would inhabit.
“He had pictured him living either surrounded by elderly,
sage and dignified litterateurs or else entirely alone, in
divine isolation”(p.51). Devan expects his poetic hero Nur
to sit with him and speak with him about the beauty of his
verse. But contrary to his thoughts Nur’s houses full of
parasitic hangers.
Desai depicts the picture of village roads, temples, houses,
wells and villages very minutely. She points out the
conflict between illusion and reality by depicting the
changed picture of village, killing the calm and healthy past
life. Devan memorizes those days full of enjoyment at the
background of industrial world. The reference of Nur and
his thoughts,” The first white hair on a man’s head
appearing like a white flower out of grave.” (p.26)
indicates the fantasy avoiding the realism. The clash
between illusion and reality showed very cleverly in the
following line.
“ Life is no more than a funeral procession winding
towards the grave, its small joys, the flowers of funeral
wreaths…” (p.26).
Devan leads a sad and unhappy life and at that time comes
a ray of hope in the form of his childhood friend and
companion Murad. He is the Editor of an Urdu magazine

6. that aims to publish long last unpublished poems of the
famous poet Nur shahjenahabad. Murad gives the
opportunity to Devan to interview the great poet. As a great
lover of Urdu poems, Devan eagerly goes to meet his
favourite poet. Devan’s sense of feeling of Godly call for
him indicates illusion that forces him to forget the realism.
The entry into the company of the poet, Devan senses the
feeling of relief. Here he feels,
“He casting away the meanness and dross of his past
existence and steadily approaching a new and wonderously
illuminated era.”(p.40)
We may observe the illusion’s overcoming on the realism.
The poet’s response to Devan reflects the illusion as: “Urdu
language is dead, finished. So, now you see its corpse lying
here, waiting to be buried.”(p.42)
The novel bears Desai’s special imprint of observation of
the minutia of the old Delhi living, of the eccentricities of
Nur and Shenanigans around the news. Devan has no
emotional battles to conquer or reckon with the
imponderables of existence:”All through his childhood and
youth he had known only one way to deal life and that was
to lie low and remain invisible”.(p.20) Murad mocks him
out of his stupor to rededicate himself to his nascent love
for Urdu poetry.

7. Devan’s quest to interview the doyen of Urdu poetry
however seems affected by numerous malefic of his
nativity. He flounders at every step of his progress while
the poet recedes spatially and becomes inaccessible. For a
drop of manna Devan traverses the squalor and stench of
the veritable Hades separating him from his ideal. Nur is
seen residing over his congregation of “ lotus…
shopkeepers, clerks, bookies and unemployed
parasites”p.50.
Devan had visualized the “great poet” differently: “ He
had pictured him living either surrounded by elderly, sage
and dignified litterateurs… in divine isolation”(p51) His
grandiose visions at the feet of the master, listening and
scribbling the inspired and sublime occurrences invariably
end up in situations both comic and contemptuous.
When Devan observes and watches the real life of
poet, he understands that Nur devotes his time for
creating works and enjoying the parties and
neglecting his family life. The life of literary men like
Nur is caught between realism and illusion. They
receive respect outside the house but fail to get the
same in their house.
The normal life of household of literary man is seen
disturbed as they run after the worldwide fame.
Devan feels very nervous at this scene and runs out

8. being failed to connect the realism and illusion
observed in the life of the poet.
Devan reminds of his dead father who gets
experiences with his mother and traps him into
fantasy and realism.
He used to apologize to his wife as “wife had
expected more from a husband and felt grievously
disappointed at the little he had made of his
life.”(p.73) Devan’s department friend siddiqui
comments on Devan’s idea of becoming a biographer
of Nur. He says that Devan becomes the victim of the
fantasy.
Devan also feels very happy to enter into dreamy
world believing it as the reality. Thus, he frequently
thinks of this dreamy world and feels satisfied
imagining it a real life. Devan imagines that he was
taking Nur’s poetry into safe custody and he himself
a custodian of Nur’s genius.
Devan feels himself in a “kind of zoo in which he
could not hope to find freedom” (p131) In despair he
surmises “All he knew was that he who had set out to
hunt Nur down being hunted down himself, the
prey” (p.143). A victim of his own facile optimism,
Devan unlentingly pursues the incantatory moments
of the muse despite the exploitative demands of Nur
and his Begum. Devan conducts himself with dignity

9. and earnestness, though every step he takes is
stymied, Devan doggedly pursues the illusion
hopeful to decipher his poverty which poured
stutteringly amidst mouthfuls of briyani and drink.
Desai shows that how Devan’s dreams about his poetic
hero Nur come to disaster in the novel “In custody”. After
his meeting with Murad, he imagines of his future to
achieve fame and fufil his dreams. But all the dreams of
Devan finally turn into a failure.
His interview with his ideal hero ends up in disaster and he
remains deserted at the end of the story. Towards the end
of the novel, when everyone deserts him Devan suddenly
finds his own strengths and learns to accept his
responsibilities with fortitude.
Mirapur and Delhi are two different settings and his travel
between them teaches him to come out of his illusion,
fantasies and to face the reality.

10. Conclusion
After completing this assignment I expect to
development further
After completing this assignment I havedevlopment more
intrest
BIBLOGRAPHY
1BOOK
2GOOGLE