Summary
The final chapter opens with a passage from the poetry of Muhammad Iqbal. The passage discusses a form of wine that exposes life’s secrets and mysteries. The poet asks for the power to speak the truth.
Ice-candy-man now wonders around Warris Road outside the Women’s Camp. His arm is in a sling and he waits outside reciting Urdu poems about heartbreak by Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and, Ghalib. He throws rose petals and candy over the gate to the women. The Sikh guard now sees him as harmless and even sits down with him sometimes. Ayah is sometimes taken over to Mr. Phailbus for homeopathic treatment. He waits outside to catch a glimpse of her, but Ayah pretends he does not exist. One morning Ice-candy-man is gone. Ayah has finally gone to her family in Amritsar. Ice-candy-man goes after her, escaping into India through the Wagah border.
Analysis
The book comes full circle with its description of Ice-candy-man’s fate. Given that the original title of the book is not Cracking India but Ice Candy Man, it makes sense that the novel ends with him. At first a friendly popsicle seller and admirer of Ayah’s, later an evil pimp, he has now been transformed into something of a mystic. He recites poetry and waits outside desperately for a glimpse of Ayah. In Lenny’s eyes, he “has become a truly harmless follow. My heart not only melts—it evaporates when I breathe out, leaving me faint with pity.” He is now a “moonstruck fakir who has renounced the world for his beloved.” A fakir is a mystic who has given up on worldly pleasures. They are often skinny from lack of food and bearded or long-haired from letting their physical appearance go. A famous example of this kind of figure from across the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent is Majnun, a man who was in love with a woman named Layla. When Majnun could not have Layla, he wandered the desert and become something of a holy madman, conversing with animals. Ice-candy-man has now become this kind of mystic lover. He is even willing to cross the border into India to chase her. From the beginning of the novel, the threat of India being split up hung over the heads of all the characters. Now that this has happened and caused so much tragedy, Ice-candy-man makes the choice to cross this border himself in the name of a kind of mad love or obsession. With his departure, the story comes to an end.
