Examine the relationship existed between Deven and Murad in Anita Desai's, In Custody.

Most of the characters in the book are highly manipulative and do not get along well with others. Murad is a bully; he is also very adept at playing Deven for a fool and knowing exactly what to say in order to get him to do what he wants. As a publisher, he wants Deven to interview Nur so that he can make money out of it, but he tells Deven that the interviews will be helpful in assisting scholars of Urdu to learn, knowing that this more altruistic take on the interview will persuade Deven back to Nur's house.

Murad Beg is a college friend of Deven Sharma who comes from a well-off family than that Deven. So when Murad meets Deven in the first character of the novel he mocks him by saying that Deven has remained a two 'cigarette man' and can not afford to buy a whole packet of cigarettes. This shows that though Deven and Murad are friends, still there lies a vast gap between them, the gap which never is filled as Murad will always remain a money-minded shrewd manipulator and Deven, but scored better than Deven in exams. In the novwl, we see that Murad takes out an Urdu magazine called Awaaz for which Deven has again come to Mirpore to coax and cajole Deven to go to Old Delhi and meet the famous Urdu poet Nur Shahajehanabadi and interview him so that a feature can be brought out on the next edition of Awaaz which focuses on Urdu poetry.

Murad can fill Deven's heart with a desire for achieving something which Deven would have never dared to do by himself. Even though it is because of Murad that Deven's meeting and consequent relationship with Nur become possible in the novel, we see that Murad makes the most benefit out of the whole episode. Murad makes a secret pact with Mr. Jain to fool Deven into buying a second-hand tape recorder and by providing assistants like Chintu and Pintu so that he can make out of it. At the end of the novel, when Deven goes to him with the request to give money to pay the bills of rent where Nur's interview has been performed; Murad tirades Deven once again tells him not to pester him.