Nandini Sirohi English (Hons.) Vivekananda College, DU Theme of female sexuality in ‘Lihaaf’ by Ismat Chughtai Lihaaf or The Quilt, the controversial short story by Ismat Chughtai was published in 1941, way before Independence, in an Urdu Literary Journal titled Adaab-i-Latif. It is a story about repressed sexual desires, female sexuality and the exploitation of another’s body to fulfil oneself. The story, which can be debated as a “Lesbian” text, landed Chughtai in an obscenity trial in Lahore court. The story’s publication shadowed her later works and affected her life deeply, Chughtai writes in her book ‘A Life in Words: Memoirs’ ,“ I am still labelled as the writer of Lihaaf. The story brought me so much notoriety that I got sick of life. It became the proverbial stick to beat me with and whatever I wrote afterwards got crushed under its weight.” One can’t help but wonder after reading the story how brave it was of Chughtai to write about same-sex desires in a time and society where the whole idea of female sexuality remained unaddressed and ignored under the quilt. As Subhash Chandra writes, “Let it be said to the credit of Chughtai that in 1941, when the Second Wave of feminism had not fully emerged even in Western Europe and America, it was bold of her to write ‘The Quilt’.” Chughtai through the story reveals the varied ways in which sexuality can function as a force that controls and inhibits individuals, especially females, but can also empower them. As Assad expresses: “ By sexuality, I mean not only the biological instinct towards sex, mere genital, but a social construction created by and through the physical and social interaction of the individual with those around him or her.” (Assad 1992:10) Chughtai’s Begum Jan is a figure who asserts her sexuality and sexual desires and defies the norms of conventional sexuality which imprints the culture in which it’s developed and is historically specified. The story, narrated by a pubescent girl who is the niece of Begum Jan, is about the trail of events and shapes that take place under the quilt between Begum Jan and Rabbu. But nothing is said or made clear in the story, the beauty of its ambiguity helps the reader to analyse the themes of same-sex politics, sexual abuse, condition of women in patriarchal society and more importantly, female sexuality and identity. The story is ambiguous and represents female sexuality in a way it's never done before, although in a suggestive manner. “ ‘Lihaaf’, in fact, makes no explicit reference either to sexualt activity or, indeed, to lesbian relationships. Yet the story contains some of the most suggestive and sensual representations of homoeroticism in modern Indian fiction.” writes Priyamvada Gopal. The narrator recalls her first incident into the world of sexuality that “is etched in my memory like a scar left by a blacksmith’s brand.” that she experiences at Begum Jan’s place. The Nandini Sirohi 1