Such a Long Journey

Gustad represents tradition, the old ways of doing things. He likewise represents the older generation, as he is part of the last generation born under British rule and came of age in a free India. There are several ways Gustad clings to the past. He has a few significant possessions handed down to him from his family, including his grandfather’s chair. When he looks for a pen with which to write to Jimmy, Gustad rejects a ballpoint for his old-fashioned ink pen. He thinks:

This was the bloody problem with modern education. In the name of progress they discarded seemingly unimportant things, without knowing what they were chucking out the window of modernity was tradition. (61)

As a religious man, Gustad finds the words and rituals of prayer comforting. The words of the Zoroastrian prayers are in the liturgical language of Avestan, which Gustad doesn’t understand, but at Dinshawji’s funeral the familiar but unknown words blend with the sounds of the night to create a music that soothes Gustad’s heart. Adherence to tradition is at the root of Gustad’s conflict with Sohrab and Dilnavaz’s reliance on Miss Kutpitia’s folk magic. Dilnavaz is the one resident of Khodadad Building to have a relationship with the older woman, and it stems from Dilnavaz being taught from childhood to respect her elders. The importance of tradition in the wider society in which the novel unfolds is illustrated by the black wall’s transition from eyesore to religious shrine. The novel’s India struggles with the balance of the old and the new. Religious and cultural beliefs are steeped in tradition. This explains why Gustad gets nervous taking meat or poultry on the bus; he’s afraid of offending the numerous vegetarians he will encounter. Dr. Paymaster’s neighborhood and his experience in medical practice also demonstrate the hold tradition has over the local people. At one point in the novel, he changes the sign advertising his practice. Though his services are still the same, people distrust him once he has a modern-looking sign. Peerbhoy Paanwalla is a voice of the storytelling tradition. At the same time, however, he and Dr. Paymaster march at the head of the demonstration against the city, demanding modern updates to their sanitation and living conditions. Mistry’s novel reveals the constant push-pull of life in 1971 Bombay.