The Great Indian Rip-off 5

Previously, Jawahar marries Edwina and Jaya marries Morarji (Parts 1-3 and Part 4).

Tragic heroes make great drama, think of Yusuf Sahib in Devdas. We need a tragic hero. The obvious tragedian here is Ali, tricked by Jawahar early in the story, and more recently beaten by the same for Edwina’s affections. In this part, we continue to see other tragedies in Ali’s life.
Remember Ali is married to Ayuba? Why was Ali allured by Edwina? Obviously the marriage was not a happy one. In this part, we see the reason.

Relying on flashbacks, we are introduced to new character. Zia-ul-Huq is the local butcher who marries Fatima, Ali’s sister. We are clearly shown that Zia has the grin of a shrewd jackal, not a very savoury character, Zia we get the feeling will play a pretty prominent part in the future.
For one thing, Fatima’s son Mujib does not take kindly to the marriage, and there is clearly much antipathy between him and Zia, an antagonism that is set to deepen over time.

But this is for the future. For now, the important part of the story is with Zia’s cousin Abdullah, a worker at Kashmir Apparels.

Abdullah is good looking. Abdullah doesn’t talk, he recites quatrains. Abdullah helps out with the wedding. Abdullah flirts with Ayuba. Ayuba flirts with Abdullah. Before long, we have them in an illicit liaison.

This doesn’t escape Ali’s attention. Unhappiness at home is what drives Ali to Edwina. Of course, we know that Ali doesn’t find happiness with Edwina. What happens at home?

What happens is that Ayuba becomes pregnant. The facial features leave little doubt that the child named Zulfiqar Ali is not the son of Mohammed Ali. By the end of this part, we see that a broken-hearted Ali committing suicide.