Moth Smoke

Daru is driving to a college party to deal drugs. He is smoking a joint himself and thinking about Mumtaz. His reception at the party bothers him: The kid who pays for the drugs wants Daru to leave as quickly as he can. Daru again feels snubbed and returns home in a foul mood. When Manucci asks for his pay, Daru threatens to strike him but holds back, barely. Instead, he decides to roll a joint with some heroin mixed in; he calls his concoction “hairy” (161). He enjoys the effect, and time slips effortlessly away.

Manucci wakes him the next evening, telling him that Mumtaz is there. This is the only thing that can rouse Daru from his stupor. He and Mumtaz talk about the impact of the nuclear tests and how the banks have frozen all foreign currency accounts; in the guise of Zulfikar Manto, she is writing an article about this. She asks Daru if he has ever considered finishing his PhD, but he says no. Daru thinks about telling her about his heroin use but decides not to. They again make love, and when he wakes up, she is gone.

Daru’s uncle is worried about him, which only irritates Daru. He has stopped looking for a job; the economic downturn associated with the nuclear testing has affected employment—at least, this is what he tells his uncle. He finally admits to Mumtaz that he has tried heroin; she is shocked and insists that he never do it again. Their affair continues, and he falls ever more deeply in love. Mumtaz tells him that she thinks she is a bad mother; he protests, but she claims that their affair is proof. They both believe that “Ozi still doesn’t know,” but Daru reflects that Ozi was a bully as a child and now has the power to get what he wants “done and done quietly” (173). He starts thinking about borrowing Murad Badshah’s gun.

Daru attends another party, thrown by an old school friend, and runs into Ozi. Things are awkward between them, but not confrontational, so Daru still believes Ozi does not know about the affair. Daru is enjoying himself when an old friend asks if it is true that he sells hash. Daru is angered and ashamed. Still, when he gets a call from a young man called Shuja the next day, he agrees to sell him some hash. Even Manucci begs him to quit selling, which only enrages Daru. He slaps Manucci “with all [his] strength” and leaves (178). When Daru returns, Manucci has gone.

A few days later, Shuja calls again, asking Daru to come to his house with more drugs. When Daru arrives, he is surprised: The house is a full-blown compound, guarded by men with beards. It turns out that Shuja has told his fundamentalist father about the drugs, and the guards beat him severely. At the hospital, the doctors suggest that Daru is lucky to be alive. Daru claims he was in an automobile accident.

Ozi introduces himself in this chapter, telling his version of events. He admits that he is not always a likable person, and he confesses to participating in his father’s corrupt business practices without guilt. Ozi claims that Daru would have gotten nowhere—no education, no opportunities—were it not for his father, Khurram Shah. Daru is ungrateful, from Ozi’s point of view. He also wants the audience to know that Daru is a hypocrite: Before Mumtaz left him, he recounts, she took in Manucci, Daru’s former servant, who was beaten by Daru. Ozi asserts that this proves Daru’s violent nature, as well as his hypocrisy.

Ozi then tells a story of two little boys, Ro and Lain (short for Hero and Villain), who became best friends before jealousy and betrayal intervened. Ozi has seen Mumtaz and Daru together, witnessing them in the act of making love through an open window. He has also discovered that his wife is writing under the pseudonym Zulfikar Manto. But he says nothing to either of them about what he knows—and Mumtaz nevertheless leaves him. Thus, Ozi confesses that he is not at all sorry to see Daru on trial for the death of the boy.

Daru heals, slowly and painfully, from the attack. Mumtaz cares for him as best she can when she visits. When he is alone, he uses heroin and tries to kill the moths that gather around the candles. He is still without electricity. On his 29th birthday, Mumtaz visits, and they talk about wishes and Ozi. Mumtaz notices how bitter Daru is about Ozi’s wealth. She repeats her fears about being a bad mother. Daru believes that the two of them are like moths circling the flame, though Mumtaz warns him about saying such things.

The monsoon brings rain and flooding, as well as the realization that Manucci is not coming back. Daru will have to learn to care for himself. His resentment about his predicament hardens; he wants revenge for his pain. At the same time, Mumtaz begins to pull back from the relationship; she reminds Daru that she is married and has a child. This angers Daru, who lights up a heroin-laced joint in front of her. She is angered that he has continued to use heroin, and the drug makes him reckless. He tells Mumtaz that she is a bad mother, since she would rather be with Daru than with her son. Mumtaz leaves, and when Daru awakes, he finds that she has left him some money in his wallet. This only strengthens Daru’s resolve to mete out what he considers justice.

He goes to Murad Badshah and says that he is ready for whatever scheme the rickshaw driver has in mind. They are going to rob a designer boutique, and Murad needs Daru because of his respectable look: “You can walk into a boutique without arousing suspicion,” he tells Daru (214). Murad makes the plans, while Daru smokes and kills moths. After Daru has his cast removed, Murad takes him out for practice with the gun. Daru is not very skilled, but he likes feeling the power of the gun in his hand.

Daru passes the time in a daze; his aunt and uncle are concerned about him, but he brushes it aside. He goes to the movies—in what used to be a grand cinema, during his parents’ day—and a young bearded man tries to get him to come to a religious service. Daru says he is not a believer. Mumtaz finally returns, only to tell Daru that the relationship is over. In his anger, Daru tells Mumtaz that Ozi killed a boy with his car. After she leaves, Daru thinks that Muazzam is the only thing keeping her with Ozi. If only Muazzam were not around, Daru could have Mumtaz for himself.

The day of the robbery arrives. Murad is worried about Daru’s instability; it is clear that Daru’s drug addiction is taking its toll. Daru experiences “fear stronger than the hairy can hide” (231). Still, they go through with the deed. Daru puts a gun to the security guard’s head, which signals Murad to come in and take valuables and money from the clientele. A young boy “who looks like Muazzam” runs for the door, and Daru raises his gun. There is a loud sound, and the glass in the front door cracks. Daru wonders, “Was that me?” (233).