The story is based on the bond between two friends whose friendship is put into the test. It is set during the partition of the Indianan subcontinent into Pakistan and India. After the partition, the two friends were separated, one became a Pakistan and the other an Indian. In such, their communities and cultures became different and their religion became Moslems and Hindus respectively. The partition was rife with genocidal violence that leads to the deaths of several people as well as the displacement of people.
The author uses the symbolism of ‘a grain of a mustard seed’ to express this kind of friendship that was cast on true love and selflessness. The partition resulted in intense hatred between the Moslems and the Hindu. Suniti’s father was a Hindu while his friend Iqbal became a Moslem. When Hindus were being evicted by the Moslems from their land, Suniti’s father lost everything in the mob and the chaos. Iqbal was part of the Moslems mob that was evicting the Hindus including his friend. His Indian friend was shocked and convinced that if hatred would change his friend into that way, it could destroy everything and anything in the world. But Iqbal had no choice but to show allegiance to his people. Good Moslems hated Indians.
On contrary, Iqbal had secretly slipped a note and some banknotes in his friend’s pockets during the chaos. He asked for forgiveness for what he had done and requested that his friend remembers him for who he had always been to him. This restored the faith his friend had in mankind. The story teaches a valuable lesson of love for fellow human beings regardless of our differences.
