Over the course of time, I gradually grew friendly with Zinat. She took to calling me ‘bhai’, and I quite liked this. She was sociable but didn’t talk much; she was guileless and sincere.
But I didn’t like her flirting with Shafiq. First of all, she did it awkwardly. The fact that she called me ‘bhai’ also had something to do with it. When Shafiq and Saindo got up and went outside, I asked her about this flirting but perhaps I did so too severely because suddenly tears welled in her eyes and she left crying for another room. Babu Gopi Nath, sitting in a corner and drawing on his hookah, quickly got up and followed her. Sardar said something to him through a series of glances, but I couldn’t tell what. A little while later Babu Gopi Nath reappeared and called to me, ‘Manto Sahib, please come with me.’ I followed him.
Zinat was sitting on a small bed. When I came in, she covered her face with both hands and lay down. Babu Gopi Nath and I sat down in chairs next to the bed. In a very serious manner, Babu Gopi Nath said, ‘Manto Sahib! I love this woman very much. She has been with me for two years. I swear by the saint Hazrat Ghaus-e-Azam Jilani that I’ve never had reason to complain. Her sisters, I mean other prostitutes, robbed me with both hands, but she’s never taken more than a reasonable amount. If I went off and stayed for weeks at some courtesan’s house, this poor soul would pawn her jewellery in order to get by. Like I said, I’ll be leaving these worldly things soon enough. My money’s going to last for just a few more days. I don’t want her to have a bad life. In Lahore I tried to get her to understand her situation. “Try to pick up on what the other girls are doing. Today I’m rich but tomorrow I’ll be poor. It’s not enough for a courtesan to know just one rich man. If you don’t seduce someone else before I’m gone, you’ll be in a world of hurt.” But, Manto Sahib, she didn’t listen to anything I said. She stayed at home all day as though waiting for someone to arrange her marriage. I asked Ghaffar Sayyan for advice. He told me to take her to Bombay because he knew two prostitutes who’d become actresses there. I thought Bombay would be okay. Now it’s been two months since I brought her here. I called Sardar from Lahore so that she could teach Zinat all the necessary skills. She can learn a lot from Ghaffar Sayyan too. No one knows me here. Zinat was worried that she would disgrace me. I said, “Stop worrying about that. Bombay’s a huge city. There’re hundreds of thousands of rich men. I bought you a car. Go find a man who’s good for you.” Manto Sahib, I swear to God that my heartfelt wish is to see her get on her own two feet and be wise to the world. I’m ready right now to put 10,000 rupees in the bank in her name. But I know that in fewer than ten days she’ll be sitting outside and Sardar will have taken her every last rupee. You too tell her it’s important to be a little savvy. Since I bought the car, Sardar’s been taking her every evening to Apollo Bunder but so far nothing has happened. Today Saindo had a very difficult time getting Muhammad Shafiq to come. What do you think about him?’
I didn’t think it was the right time to say what I thought. But Babu Gopi Nath began again, ‘He looks like someone who lives well, and he’s handsome too. Zinu dear, do you like him?’
Zinat didn’t say anything.
Babu Gopi Nath’s talk about bringing Zinat to Bombay confused me. I couldn’t believe it was possible, and yet what I saw afterwards proved everything to be true — it was Babu Gopi Nath’s heartfelt wish that Zinat become a rich man’s mistress, or that she learn how to work men for their money. I say this because if Babu Gopi Nath wanted merely to get rid of her, that wouldn’t have been so hard. He could arrange that in a single day. But since his intentions were honourable, he tried everything to secure Zinat’s future. In trying to get her into acting, he invited over numerous men who, it turned out, were only pretending to be directors. Then he got a telephone installed in the apartment. But nothing came from any of this.
Muhammad Shafiq Tusi kept coming by for about a month and a half. He even spent several nights with Zinat, and yet he wasn’t the type of man who can support a woman. One day, in a sorrowful and offended tone, Babu Gopi Nath said, ‘Shafiq Sahib turned out to be a gentleman only in name. He carries himself as though he has a lot of pride but look — he tricked Zinat into giving him four sheets, six pillowcases, and 200 rupees. Now I hear he’s dating a girl named Almas.’
This was true. Almas was the youngest daughter of Nazir Jan of Patiala, and Shafiq had already dated her three sisters. Shafiq spent Zinat’s 200 rupees on seducing Almas, and their story ended when she tried to kill herself by swallowing poison after fighting over him with her sisters.
Zinat called me several times after Muhammad Shafiq Tusi stopped visiting her and asked me to find him and bring him back. I looked for him, but no one knew where he lived. Then I ran into him one day at the radio station. He seemed very worried. When I told him Zinat wanted to see him, he said, ‘I already know. It’s too bad, but I really don’t have any time to spare these days. Zinat’s a good woman, but she’s too virtuous — I don’t have any interest in women who act like wives.’
Zinat lost hope in Shafiq and started going again with Sardar to Apollo Bunder. Over the course of fifteen days and countless gallons of petrol, Sardar was able to entrap two men. Zinat got 400 rupees off them. Babu Gopi Nath thought things were improving because one of them (an owner of a factory that made silk clothes) told Zinat he wanted to marry her. But then this man didn’t come by again, and soon one month had passed.
One day I was going down Hornby Road on some business when I saw Zinat’s car near the pavement. Muhammad Yasin, the owner of the Naginah Hotel, was sitting in the back seat. ‘Where did you get this car?’ I asked.
Yasin smiled. ‘Do you know the girl who owns it?’
‘Yes, I know her.’
‘Then you can understand how I got it,’ Yasin said, winking. ‘She’s a good girl, isn’t she?’
I smiled back.
Four days later Babu Gopi Nath came to my office in a taxi. He told me how Zinat had met Muhammad Yasin. One evening Zinat and Sardar had picked up a man at Apollo Bunder and taken him to the Naginah Hotel. This man fought with them over something and left, but Zinat struck up a friendship with the hotel’s owner.
Babu Gopi Nath was satisfied because Yasin had given Zinat six top-of-the-line saris during the two weeks or so they had been seeing each other. Babu Gopi Nath thought that once their relationship got even stronger then he’d head back to Lahore. But things didn’t work out that way.
A Christian woman was renting a room in the Naginah Hotel. Yasin began flirting with her young daughter, Muriel. Every morning and evening Yasin would take Zinat’s car and drive Muriel around town while poor Zinat stayed in her room. When Babu Gopi Nath learned about this, he got very sad. He said to me, ‘Manto Sahib! What kind of people are these? If you’re tired of something, just say so! But Zinat’s strange too. She knows well enough what’s going on, but she doesn’t even say, “If you want to go out with this Christian girl, then get your own car. Why’re you using mine?” What should I do, Manto Sahib? She’s a real good girl, but I don’t know what to do. She has to learn to be less naïve.’
Zinat wasn’t shocked when the affair with Yasin fell through.
After that nothing new happened for many days. Then I called one day and learned that Babu Gopi Nath along with Ghulam Ali and Ghaffar Sayyan had gone to Lahore to get some more money as he had already spent the 50,000, and that Babu Gopi Nath had told Zinat it would take some time because he had to sell some property there.