A Contrapuntal Analysis of Othering in  Rabindranath Tagore’s “Kabuliwala” and Tariq Rahman’s “Charity” 349 

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A Contrapuntal Analysis of Othering in  Rabindranath Tagore’s “Kabuliwala” and Tariq 

Rahman’s “Charity” 

 
Ms. Yamima Edwin1 

Dr. Atteq ur Rahman2 

1Ph.D. Scholar of English, Islamia College Peshawar 
2Assistant Professor of English, Islamia College Peshawar 

 

Abstract 

This research paper analyzes two modern short stories Rabindranath Tagore’s “Kabuliwala” and 

Tariq Rahman’s “Charity” through the conceptual lens of Othering. Within the broader theoretical 

framework of Postcolonialism, the concept of Othering entails the dichotomy of the Demonic 

Other and the Exotic Other. The mentioned writers, through their respective characters of the 

Kabuliwala and the Clerk, provide an insight into the stereotypical discourse which constitutes and 

permeates a society segregated on the basis of cultural and class differences. Through a 

contrapuntal analysis of the said texts, this paper explores how the dominant community perceives 

and stereotypes the marginalized as the Other. It also propounds the reasons behind the 

psychological constructions of fear and fascination revolving around the Other, whic1h contribute 

to forming the image of the Demonic and Exotic Other. The aim of the paper is to make the readers 

realize the significance of the acceptance of the Other in order to build a society inclusive of all 

its multiple divisions. 

Key words: Othering, Demonic and Exotic Other, marginalized, dominant, community 

 

Introduction 

Cultural and class differences permeate in any multicultural society whose individuals are 

either ignorant or discriminatory of its marginalized communities. The roots of segregation, 

marginalization and alienation lie in the diverse categories of class, culture, race and/or religion. 

Such categories give birth to essentially two divisions within a society, the dominating elites and 

the suppressed groups. Rabindranath Tagore’s “Kabuliwala” and Tariq Rahman’s “Charity” aptly 

represent the oblivious and derogatory attitude of the elite community through their characters of 

Mini and her family, and Bobby and Rabab, respectively. Besides, the two prominent characters 

of the Kabuliwala and the Clerk constitute the marginalized community whose lack of voice, 

identity or any kind of representation in the society impel the reader to ponder over the existence 

of such bias. It is indeed a matter of serious concern that the members of the dominant community 

are either unaware of the culture of the minorities — as in “Kabuliwala” — or are prejudiced 

towards their very existence — as in “Charity”. The initial reaction of Mini and her family towards 

the Afghan Kabuliwala is replete with fear and unacceptability. Although this fear transforms into 

fascination of the Kabuliwala because of his alien culture, yet the desired inclusivity of the Afghan 

culture within the Bengali-dominated society is never seen to be achieved throughout the story. 

Quite similar is the case with Bobby and Rabab, who are initially fascinated by the poverty of the 

interior city of Rawalpindi which they consider as the real Pakistan. However, upon visiting the 

Clerk’s house located at the heart of the slum areas of the city, the image of the poverty-stricken 

 
1 (Note: This research uses Mohammad A. Quayum’s English translation of “Kabuliwala” by Rabindranath Tagore) 
 



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locals takes a gruesome intensity of filth and repulsion, thus invoking fear in the two diasporic 

teenagers. The Clerk, as opposed to the Kabuliwala, is more vocal in asserting his identity in an 

attempt to subvert the stereotypical notions of incivility and vulgarity associated with the locals 

and perpetuated by the elite class. This fear and fascination revolving around the minority 

community result in labeling them, what Edward Said refers to, as the Other in the society. In 

accordance with Said’s concept of the Other, both the Kabuliwala and the Clerk can aptly be 

defined as perfect embodiments of the Demonic and the Exotic Other. Several instances in the two 

stories depict how the dominant community perceives them either as individuals to be feared, the 

Demonic Other, or to be fascinated, the Exotic Other, thus propagating a discourse which 

perpetuates segregation and alienation rather than acceptance and inclusion of the marginalized 

communities in a multicultural society.      

Literature Review 

The short stories “Kabuliwala” and “Charity” have been analyzed as representations of 

class and cultural differences, and complexity of human relationships. Scholars Aziz Ahmad and 

Tariq Khan (2019) have read “Charity” from the perspective of cultural clash within the 

postcolonial discourse. Several critics also highlight the characters of the story as apt depictions 

of the colonial mindset, resulting in a cultural collision between the elite colonizer and the marginal 

colonized. In contrast to “Charity”, the focus of “Kabuliwala” shifts towards the discernment of 

complex human relationships and alienation. This is evident in S. Nancy Jaya’s (2020) article 

which accentuates the parallelism between the filial bond of a Bengali father with his daughter and 

that of an Afghan father with his daughter. Her article emphasizes upon the sentiments of a father 

yearning to meet his daughter, a peculiar emotion which surpasses all cultural barriers. Moreover, 

Rafia Khan et al. (2022) discuss “Kabuliwala” from the standpoint of its narrative stylistics, 

whereas Malashri Lal (2010) studies it from the viewpoint of Othering — a principle necessary to 

create unity in diversity. However, none of these articles investigate Edward Said’s concept of 

Othering, particularly in terms of the fear of the Demonic Other and the fascination of the Exotic 

Other, which this paper endeavors to explore. 

 

Methodology 

This research follows the methodology of contrapuntal analysis of the dominant and 

marginalized cultures portrayed in the two primary texts. Through their close textual analysis, and 

an in-depth study of their characters — like the Kabuliwala, Mini and her family in Tagore’s 

“Kabuliwala”, and Bobby, Rabab and the Clerk in Rahman’s “Charity” — the paper focuses on 

the perception of the dominant community towards the minority. By keeping in view Edward 

Said’s concept of Othering, this perception of the dominant culture oscillates between the feelings 

of fear and fascination of the marginalized termed as the Other. Various secondary sources, 

including books and published articles, have been employed to examine the perspectives of other 

researchers regarding the diversity of cultures portrayed in both stories. 

 

Discussion and Textual Analysis 

Stories by writers such as Rabindranath Tagore and Tariq Rahman constitute the 

quintessence in the literary canon of modern short story. Both the writers, although having their 

native roots in the Indian sub-continent, do not merely appeal to the Oriental readers but also to 

those of the West due to the richness and universality of their themes which surpass the bounds of 



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time and space. One such pertinent theme which dominates multiple writings of Tagore and 

Rahman is the plights and predicaments of the marginalized community. “Kabuliwala” by Tagore 

and “Charity” by Rahman are amongst their several popular short stories which aptly represent a 

society segregated on the cruel yet crucial divisions of culture, race, class and ideology. This paper 

analyzes such a society as depicted in the two aforementioned short stories through the lens of 

Edward Said’s concept of Othering, which is one of the essential elements framing the theory of 

Postcolonialism in the literary discourse.    

During the middle of the twentieth century, Postcolonial theory gained widespread 

recognition in literature with the publication of books like Orientalism by the famous postcolonial 

critic Edward W. Said (1978). Said’s works explore not just the consequences of imperialism on 

both the ruler as well as the ruled, but also aim to analyze literature and revise history from the 

perspectives of the marginalized groups in a society. Although the concept of Othering was first 

introduced in the Postcolonial theory by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak in her essay “The Rani of 

Sirmur”, it was further elaborated by Edward Said whose connotations widened the horizon of the 

said concept and generated a discourse which embodied all marginalized or suppressed 

communities as the Other in a multicultural society. This paper evaluates two apt examples of the 

depiction of such marginalized communities, found in Tagore’s “Kabuliwala” and Rahman’s 

“Charity”, and accentuates the concept of Othering not through the perspective of Postcolonialism 

but through the lens of cultural and socio-ideological multiplicities present in society. 

Published in 1892, the short story entitled “Kabuliwala”, composed by the first Indian 

Nobel laureate in literature Rabindranath Tagore, gained widespread recognition when it was 

translated into English. Originally written in Bengali, the story revolves around the Bengali 

culture, particularly depicting a stereotypical Bengali family of a little girl named Mini. The second 

short story “Charity” by Tariq Rahman, unlike “Kabuliwala”, depicts a society of the post-

partitioned Indian subcontinent, particularly that of Pakistan. Published in the collection entitled 

The Legacy and Other Short Stories in 1989, the story revolves around two Pakistani diasporic 

teenagers Bobby and Rabab who are on a visit to Islamabad, Pakistan from Europe. Both the 

stories, although written almost a century apart, run parallel to each other by delineating strikingly 

analogous societies which are segregated on the basis of cultural and class differences. Moreover, 

the characters of the two stories resemble in terms of their experiences revolving around 

discrimination of the marginalized community. 

According to Edward Said (1995), the creation of binaries or what he terms as Othering 

occurs when critical, academic or any other text is conditioned and institutionalized by the reigning 

culture to promote its dogmas and play second fiddle with any other culture. Said re-evaluates the 

meaning of text and calls it worldly. The word Othering is often considered a pejorative term as it 

implies the perspective of the dominant or privileged community towards the marginalized, 

ultimately resulting in discrimination. Tagore and Rahman, through the selected short stories, 

subvert this established narrative by giving a distinct voice and identity to the characters 

representing the marginalized. This is evident from the standpoint of the narrative techniques of 

their stories which is in the first person personal pronoun “I”. In case of Tagore, this “I” represents 

the dominant culture, that is of Bengal whereas for Rahman, “I” represents the “Westernised elite 

of Pakistan” (p. 87). Although written from the perspective of the privileged class and culture, yet 

both stories do not fail to address the stereotypical notions attached with the Other. In fact, the 



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stories implicitly yet thoroughly accentuate the importance of assimilating the Other with the 

dominant community to maintain a social balance.  

Edward Said (1995) asserts that the process of Othering is initiated by “power, of 

domination, of varying degree of a complex hegemony” (p. 5). Although Said defines Othering in 

terms of Oriental versus Occidental, it also includes “us/them, The West/the rest, center/margin, 

metropolitan/colonial subjects, vocal/silent” (Moosavinia et al., 2011, p. 105). The concept of 

Othering subsumes all such binaries. Othering is represented in the two stories when the characters 

of the Kabuliwala and the Clerk are introduced. Both these characters are identified merely on the 

basis of either their place of origin — in case of the Kabuliwala as being from Kabul, Afghanistan 

— or their profession — as in case of the Clerk. Mini, the little Bengali girl, upon seeing the 

Afghan vender on the street just outside her house starts “calling out at the top of her voice, 

‘Kabuliwala, O Kabuliwala!’” (Tagore, 1). The Kabuliwala constitutes the Other in the eyes of 

Mini whose family symbolizes the dominant Bengali culture of the society. 

Quite similar is the attitude of the Pakistani diasporic youngsters, Bobby and Rabab, who refer to 

a native man as ‘the Clerk’. “The clerk‘s---for he was a clerk---house was towards the end of the 

street” (Rahman, 91). The Clerk constitutes the Other in the eyes of Bobby and Rabab who are a 

symbolic representation of the rampant ideology of Westernism controlling the elite class. It is 

pertinent to mention here that Mini’s father gets acquainted with the real name of the Kabuliwala, 

which is Rahamat, after a few interactions. However, in case of the Clerk, neither Bobby nor Rabab 

invest any effort in finding out his real name. This namelessness on part of the Clerk, although 

unintentionally normalized by the elite class, is evident of the fact that individual identities of the 

marginalized remain suppressed, sidelined or unrecognized. 

The description of the physical appearance of the Kabuliwala as well as the Clerk is an 

exemplary evidence of how the dominant gaze dehumanizes and alienates the marginalized by 

considering them as inferiors or savages. Right from the onset of the story, Mini’s father depicts a 

rather pitiful image of the Kabuliwala by describing him as “a tall, shabbily clothed Afghan street 

vender, with a turban on his head, a bag over his shoulder and a few boxes of dry grapes in his 

hands [who] was passing through the street slowly” (Tagore, 1). Mini’s father initially considers 

the Kabuliwala as a “nuisance with a sack over his shoulder [who] will show up in a moment and 

[he] won’t be able to finish writing the seventeenth chapter of [his] novel” (p. 1). His “customary 

sack”, “long hair” and “burly look” reflect the physical characteristics often stereotyped with the 

image of a thief or a savage (p. 5). Although Mini’s father gradually establishes camaraderie with 

the Kabuliwala as the story progresses, eventually expressing his sympathy for him as a father 

towards the end, yet it cannot be denied that the majority community of Kolkata, Bengal perceives 

this Afghan man as the Other in their society. 

The depiction of the Clerk’s appearance as well as the place of his dwelling is no less pitiful 

than that of the Kabuliwala’s. Bobby recounts the Clerk’s miserable demeanor by calling him “a 

reedy looking man of twenty five or thereabouts [who] wore shabby clothes…He had an intensely 

absurd look on his face and his eyes were full of naked longing” for Bobby’s attractive girlfriend, 

Rabab (Rahman, 90). His “leering” looks, “drooling” mouth and “gaping” eyes are all reflective 

of the animalistic features associated with the Other (p. 90). Bobby even refers to him as a 

“grinning half-starved ape” that is ready to devour Rabab anytime (p. 90). Commenting on the 

stereotypes related with the East, Praveen V. in his paper “Postcolonialism: Edward Said & Gayatri 

Spivak” (2016) argues that “…the orient [is] deemed remote, unchanging, primitive or 



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backward…strange, fantastic, bizarre,…represent[ing] Arabs murderers and violent, the lazy 

Indian and the inscrutable Chinamen…coward, lazy, uncivilized…while the west [is] usually 

presented [as] culturally sound and civilized” (p. 48). This “primitive”, “bizarre” and “uncivilized” 

image of the natives is evident in Bobby’s perception and discernment of the Clerk who is 

presented as a detestable local, nothing less than a beast.  

It is imperative to note here that Bobby considers Rabab and himself as the representatives 

of the Western, elite class of Pakistan. For him, “[wearing] jeans, listen[ing] to pop music”, and 

studying from European institutions are the key features of a modern generic man which they 

proudly possess (Rahman, 87). Although Bobby realizes that their ancestral heritage lies amongst 

such native Pakistanis, yet neither Bobby nor Rabab pay any heed to assimilating themselves in 

their culture while exploring it. The striking difference which sets them apart from the natives and 

eventually becomes a subject of the Clerk’s gaze is their dress, particulary Rabab’s “hip-hugging 

jeans”, that makes her “voluptuous curves” stand out in contrast to the women wearing “black 

burqah[s]” (p. 88). Ironically, at one instance, while sitting amongst the locals in a “dirt, dingy” 

restaurant, Bobby describes their countenances as “coarse brown” (p. 89). This clearly evinces that 

how the dominant culture of the West influences in creating discrimination amongst people of the 

same race. Moreover, Bobby’s urge to employ the word ‘native’ as an abuse to show his scorn at 

the staring waiter evidently manifests that Bobby and Rabab regard themselves as the privileged 

diaspora of superior race while the natives as inferior. 

Two essential components of Othering include the Demonic and the Exotic Other which 

are evident in the responses and attitudes of other characters towards the Kabuliwala and the Clerk. 

Lois Tyson, in her book Critical Theory Today (2006), portrays the Other in terms of its Demonic 

and Exotic characteristics in the following words: 

Th[e] practice of judging all who are different as less than fully human is called 

othering…The “savage” is usually considered evil as well as inferior (the demonic 

other). But sometimes the “savage” is perceived as possessing a “primitive” beauty 

or nobility born of a closeness to nature (the exotic other). (p. 420) 

Throughout the stories, the Kabuliwala and the Clerk come forth as the “savage” assuming 

the role of either the Demonic or the Exotic Other, depending upon the perceptions and reactions 

of the other characters. The reactions of the members belonging to the dominant community 

oscillate between fear and fascination of the Kabuliwala and the Clerk; in some instances, this fear 

categorizes them as the Demonic Other while in other instances, the fascination of the Other takes 

over the privileged members who perceive the two as the Exotic. Such categorizations, although 

unintentional and implicit, play a significant role in perpetuating the notion of Otherization of the 

marginalized members in a society. 

Tagore and Rahman sketch several instances in their stories which depict fear and 

fascination of the Other instilled in the hearts of the members of the privileged class and culture. 

This fear and fascination present the Other as everything which the dominant community is not, 

that is, demonic, “…exotic, alien, dangerous, unreliable, to be tamed, exhibited, a threat” to the 

other members, an “alter ego” and an “inferior reflection” of the dominant class and culture 

(Moosavinia et al., 2011, p. 105). Such characteristics construct the stereotypical notions 

associated with the identities of the marginalized, such as the Kabuliwala and the Clerk, which are 

further perpetuated by the reactions and attitude of the dominant community towards them. A 

befitting representation of this fear of the Other can be found in the character of Mini’s mother 



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whose reaction upon finding out the growing friendship between the Kabuliwala and her daughter 

is no less replete with suspicion. 

She was not free of suspicion about the Kabuliwala, Rahamat, and nagged [Mini’s 

father] to keep a watchful eye on him. Whenever [Mini’s father] sought to make light 

of her suspicions, she asked [him] a few pointed questions: ‘Are there no such 

instances of child abduction? Isn’t slave-trade still in practice in Afghanistan? Is it 

altogether impossible for a giant Afghan to kidnap a little child? (Tagore, 3) 

Such groundless suspicion indicates how fear of a man, belonging to another culture, has 

penetrated deep into the hearts of the locals who no longer trust any outsider. Although the 

Kabuliwala is a regular vender of that area, still the questions posed by Mini’s mother instigate 

feelings of insecurity and skepticism regarding him.  

Mini’s initial reaction towards the Kabuliwala is also immersed in “unfounded fear” just 

like her mother (Tagore, 2). In fact, it is the repercussion of her mother’s upbringing and her 

perception of the Afghan man, which has been passed on to her daughter, that results in Mini 

dashing inside her house upon seeing the Kabuliwala approach her. According to Mini’s father, 

“she ha[s] this childish fear that if someone looked through the bag of this Afghan man, several 

living children like herself would be found in there” (p. 1). This “childish fear” of Mini 

undoubtedly resonates with the fear of the Demonic Other. However, the fear is soon transformed 

into fascination when young Mini, due to her personality being “chatty” and “feisty”, befriends 

the Kabuliwala in no time (p. 1). Nonetheless, this fear re-surfaces towards the end of the story 

when the Kabuliwala, after serving his sentence of eight years, returns to Mini’s house with the 

hope of meeting her. Mini’s father “ha[s] never seen a homicide before…He wishe[s] he would 

leave the house immediately on this auspicious day” (p. 5). Although Mini’s father later 

empathizes with the Kabuliwala, he initially fears that the unwelcomed presence of a convict might 

hinder the celebrations of her daughter’s wedding. This attests that the fear of the Other, no matter 

how unjustified it is, always lurks amongst the members of the dominant culture. 

Disgust and aversion replaces fear, in case of the Clerk, which are other attributes 

associated with the Demonic Other and are vividly evident in the characters of Bobby and Rabab. 

In the eyes of Bobby, the Clerk comes forth as a “reedy creature” with an “unhealthy face” and a 

“cadaverous expression”, who has an “obscene swagger” urging Bobby “to beat his face into a 

pulp” (Rahman, 91). Rabab, too, with her “cold eyes expressed more disdain for him then she had 

ever expressed for a dying fly. He was a non-entity for her” (p. 91). This repulsive depiction of the 

Clerk represents how the members of the dominant social class consider the Other as crude and 

uncivilized. Furthermore, the abhorrent sight of the poverty-stricken places — including the 

Clerk’s house in a slum — which Bobby and Rabab visit are all indicative of the implicit yet 

pervasive and “unbridgeable gap” that exists between the culture of the elite class and that of the 

Other (p. 89). In the research paper entitled “Cultural Clash: A Postcolonial Analysis of Tariq 

Rahman’s “Charity””, Ahmad and Khan (2019) critiques that this “unbridgeable” distance is due 

to the “financial misappropriation in a class-led environment, that in turn creates a gap between 

cultures” (p. 51). While portraying the slums, Bobby uses such humiliating phrases like “the very 

house of squalor” where “the sun could never have peeped even once in a day”. It is “the heart of 

wretchedness” where “even God seemed to be much too far from these wretched members of the 

globe”. This is where the Demonic Other, represented by the “vulgar poverty” and “impoverished 

humanity”, resides breathing in “petrified and stagnant” air (Rahman, p. 89-91). Such culture of 



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the lower marginalized class is alien to the two diasporic teenagers who are astonished and 

disgusted by its filth. 

The Other is not just looked at through the lens of the Demonic Other; many a times, fear 

replaces fascination and for the dominant community, the Other becomes the Exotic. This is 

precisely the aura which exudes the Kabuliwala once Mini’s father begins having regular 

conversations with him. Mini’s father is “like an exile in [his] own home as [his] mind constantly 

likes to travel to other places. The moment [he] hear[s] the name of a foreign country, [his] mind 

longs to visit that unknown place” (Tagore, 3). The curiosity of the unknown attracts Mini’s father 

towards the alien culture of the Kabuliwala. He is profoundly fascinated by the non-conformity of 

this stranger and shows immense interest in his incessant tales of his homeland, Afghanistan. 

Mini’s father 

mitigate[s] his desire for travelling…by talking to this man from Kabul…[who] 

blare[s] out stories of his homeland in his broken Bengali and [Mini’s father] 

fancie[s] it all before [his] eyes: tall, rugged, impassable mountains…red-hot with 

torrid heat, and a caravan moving through the narrow, dusty passageway in between; 

turbaned traders and travellers passing by, some on camel back, others on foot (p. 3) 

The above quote narrates a detailed description of a land and culture utterly mysterious to 

Mini’s father, which gives birth to feelings of fascination and amazement of the Other. The 

character of the Kabuliwala thereby also comes forth as the Exotic Other while reminiscing over 

his life in Afghanistan. 

A similar fascination engulfs Bobby and Rabab when they set off to explore the area of 

Raja Bazaar in the internal city of Rawalpindi to see the “novel realities of [their] country” 

(Rahman, 88). The fact that Bobby labels this excursion as an “adventure” of “cultural exploration” 

clearly justifies the fascination exhibited by the privileged class towards the Other (p. 88). With a 
discerning eye, they are attracted towards the Exotic Other which comes forth in the form of a 

“strange medley of the medieval and the modern” in the old city, where centuries old tongas and 

Japanese cars rush simultaneously on the congested streets, thus colliding the twentieth century 

with the fifteenth (p. 89). Moreover, Bobby and Rabab’s bus ride also becomes an emblem of the 

fascination of the Exotic Other. The “burqah” clad women, “snowy beard[ed]” men, 

“unblossom[ed]” school-boys and “innocently happy faced school-girls” are all spectacles of intent 

observation and captivation for the diasporic youngsters (p. 88). In this manner, “the public bus 

[becomes] a cultural hub symbolising the behavioural pattern and lifestyle of the commoners and 

the elite gentry as enthusiastic onlookers” (Ahmad and Khan, 2019, p. 50). Upon entering the slum 

area of the city, disgust soon takes over Bobby and Rabab, however, it cannot be denied that their 

curiosity and fascination of an alien class and culture impel them to explore the Exotic Other. 

 

Findings and Implications 

In their short stories “Kabuliwala” and “Charity”, Rabindranath Tagore and Tariq Rahman 

through their respective characters of the Kabuliwala and the Clerk succeed in creating a world 

which is not far from reality. These characters, belonging to the marginalized community, become 

subjects of fear and fascination by the members of the dominant class and culture. The 

discriminatory mindset of the dominant community is evident through the characters of Mini and 

her family, Bobby and Rabab who perceive the Kabuliwala and the Clerk as either the Demonic 

or the Exotic Other. However, it is worth mentioning that both writers do not silence the voice of 



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the Other. In fact, the Kabuliwala and the Clerk display their distinct identities in an assertive 

manner as soon as they seek an opportunity. In a multicultural society, segregation based on class 

and cultural differences is a matter of serious debate. The two stories, subtly yet effectively, focus 

on the significance of social integration and inclusivity of all members, whether dominant or 

marginalized, in order to maintain a social balance. 

 

  



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