Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies
Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies is a short story, by Salman Rushdie, that was first
published in the collection East, West in 1987.
This short story uses third-person narration to tell the tale of a young Indian woman who is
on her way to get her papers to go to London, but receives unasked-for, free advice from a
trickster and con-man named Mohammad Ali.
The short story "Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies" is a story about the new self-confidence
of Britains former-colonies.
The story begins with a scene in which Miss Rehana, a Pakistani woman, leaves the bus in
front of the British consulate.
It`s Tuesday, the day women in Pakistan can apply for a permit to go to England. Most of
those "tuesday-women" are accompanied by uncles and brothers. Miss Rehana comes alone
and doesn`t even wear a veil. She sticks out of the mass and Mohammad Ali, an old man is
fascinated by her.
M. Ali makes money by giving advice to rich women who want to emigrate - he also offers Ms.
Rehana his advice. She tells him that she is an orphan and couldn`t pay for his advice. M.Ali
is so bewiched by her charisma that he advices her for free. He tells her what questions she
might have to answer and that he knew someone who could get her an illegal permit. But Ms.
Rehana refuses to take his offer and goes into the consulate. When she comes out again she is
in a happy mood and invites M. Ali for a pakora. M. Ali congratulates her in the assumption
that she`d passed the test. He is shocked when she tells him that she got all the questions
wrong and got rejected - on purpose.
One of the main themes of this short story is emigration in Pakistan. Many Pakistanis
emigrate to England. England’s former colony still has not enough self confidence. Most
Pakistanis see their future in Britain even though life in Pakistan can be good as well. Women
give up their life, say farewell to their families, knowing that they maybe wont see them again,
and not knowing how their further life. Miss Rhena does the opposite, she declines her "safe"
future with an unknown man in England. Instead she stays in Pakistan with her family and
her basic lifestyle.
The other main theme is women being dependent on men. In Pakistan it is tradition that the
man rules in the family and the woman always follows him. That makes women completely
dependent on their husband. Most girls even can not choose whom they will marry, often the
parents choose a son in law when the girl is just a little kid. Miss Rhena is supposed to marry
a man her parents have chosen for her and she does not know how he is, further if she marry
him and goes with him to England she will be completely dependent on him. For Miss Rhena
this marriage means the loose of her freedom. The fact shat she better stays in Pakistan, with
her freedom than goes to the West and into the chains of marriage, makes her a modern
thinking person. It seems a little bit ironic that Miss Rhena is more modern than these girls
who go to the west, in that England is the expression of modern life.