Student Question
What does it take for the narrator's husband to wear his turban in "Montreal 1962"?
Quick answer:
In the story "Montreal 1962" by Shauna Singh Baldwin, for the narrator's husband to wear a turban, he must put up with the ignorance and discrimination he encounters from those who do not understand why he does it. The process of washing the turbans is laborious, but the narrator does it with joy because of her pride in their heritage.
The closing line "Then we will have taught Canadians what it takes to wear a turban" is from the short story "Montreal 1962" by Shauna Singh Baldwin. It is about a Sikh couple who has moved from India to Canada and now faces discrimination due to the custom of Sikh men growing their hair long and wrapping it up in a turban.
The narrator of the story is the man's wife. He comes home from his search for employment and tells his wife that he will get a job if he agrees to cut his hair short and stop wearing turbans. The narrator addresses the story to her husband as an answer to this dilemma. They have come to Canada because they were offered employment, freedom, and opportunity, but now that they have arrived, they realize that they face ignorance and discriminatory practices.
The woman considers this problem as she...
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goes through the elaborate process of washing her husband's turbans. At first she took a sari to the local dry cleaner, but the employee there had no idea what it was. From this she realizes that she will have to handle the laundry herself. To clean the turbans, she first fills a metal bathtub with soapy water, spreads a bed sheet on the floor, and unravels the turbans. She then puts the turbans in the soapy water and scrubs them. After filling a sink with clean water and starch, she rinses the soap out of the turbans and puts them in a basin.
The next step is to stand on a chair by the window and tie the turbans to a curtain rod so they can dry. She has to fold each turban carefully so it will dry properly. When they are partially dry, she moves them to the backs of dining chairs so they will dry completely.
When she has finished cleaning and drying the turbans, the narrator takes her favorite, a bright red one, and wraps it around her hair. As she takes it off and sets it down, she realizes that she cannot let her husband compromise their principles and way of life by cutting off his hair and forsaking his turbans. He must wear the turban proudly even though they are surrounded by strangers.