Good Advice Is Rarer than Rubies by Salman Rushdie
"Good Advice Is Rarer than Rubies" by Salman Rushdie is a short story that explores themes of love, deception, and the complexities of cross-cultural relationships. Set against the backdrop of a British consulate in Pakistan, the narrative follows Miss Rehana, a young woman seeking a visa to join her fiancé in England. Her encounter with Muhammad Ali, a seasoned con man who typically exploits women seeking visas, takes an unexpected turn when he finds himself genuinely captivated by her beauty and spirit.
Despite his usual self-serving motives, Muhammad Ali offers Miss Rehana sincere guidance, warning her of the rigorous scrutiny she will face from British officials. However, she firmly rejects his suggestion to engage in illegal activities to obtain a visa, highlighting her integrity and the cultural nuances of her situation. When Miss Rehana ultimately fails to secure her visa due to her inability to satisfactorily answer questions about her fiancé—whom she has not seen since childhood—she chooses to return to her life in Lahore, content with her decision.
The story juxtaposes Muhammad Ali's initial intent to deceive with Miss Rehana's earnestness, ultimately leading to a reflection on the nature of genuine advice and the value of personal happiness over societal expectations. Through this narrative, Rushdie invites readers to consider the deeper implications of cultural identity and the meaning of good advice in a world where it is often scarce.
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Good Advice Is Rarer than Rubies by Salman Rushdie
First published: 1987
Type of plot: Realism, postcolonial
Time of work: The late twentieth century
Locale: Outside a British consulate in Pakistan
Principal Characters:
Miss Rehana , a young woman from Lahore, Pakistan, who is applying for a visaMuhammad Ali , a crooked professional advice giver
The Story
The story begins on the last Tuesday of a month when a colorfully painted bus brings Miss Rehana to the gates of a British consulate. This is the day when women, referred to as "Tuesday women," go to the consulate to get visas to join fiancés who are working in England. Muhammad Ali, identified as an "advice expert" watches Miss Rehana descend from the bus and go to the consulate gates, where a guard tells her that the English officials are still eating breakfast. Muhammad Ali is immediately taken in by her beauty. Although he normally is paid for his advice and seeks to cheat women seeking visas, he decides to advise Miss Rehana even though she tells him she has no money.
The aging confidence man leads the young woman to his desk in a corner of the shanty-town near the British consulate. There, she tells him that she is seeking permission to go to Bradford, England, to be with her fiancé, Mustafa Dar. Muhammad Ali warns her that the sahibs, or British officials, are suspicious of the women seeking to go to England and that the sahibs will interrogate her in detail, asking private and sometimes embarrassing questions. If she fails to answer correctly, they will conclude that she is not really the fiancé of a British resident and will refuse her request. These are the claims that Muhammad Ali usually makes to his victims before asking them for money to obtain the proper papers from an acquaintance of his who works in the consulate. However, the old man is so taken with Miss Rehana that he offers to provide her with a British passport.
Muhammad Ali is surprised by his own generosity and feels that, against his better judgement, he is about to give her the valuable passport for free. Miss Rehana, though, is shocked that he is urging her to do something illegal. She protests that such an action would justify the suspicions of the British sahibs, and she walks away from him.
The con man spends the day waiting for Miss Rehana outside the consulate. When she appears, smiling contentedly, he assumes that she has been given the visa. She tells him, though, that he was right. The British officials did ask her detailed questions about her fiancé. The engagement, she explains, was arranged by her parents when she was nine years old and Mustafa Dar was thirty. Because she had not seen Mustafa Dar for many years, she was unable to answer most of the questions about him and permission to enter England was denied.
Muhammad Ali exclaims that the outcome is tragic and that Miss Rehana should have taken his advice. However, the young woman is not at all sad not to be leaving her home for marriage to a virtual stranger in a foreign country. She returns on the bus to her job as an ayah, or nanny, for three boys in Lahore. Muhammad Ali is struck by the happiness in her smile.