The
legend of Heer Ranjha has gripped the minds of the Punjabis since the early
sixteenth century. What fascinates them most is the concept of ideal love as
well as ideal beauty. Ranjha is a symbol of 'the desire of the moth for the
star', whereas Heer epitomises all that is good, beautiful and true. The modern
mind has, however, seen in Ranjha a man alienated from society and in Heer a
woman in search of her identity in a feudal set-up. Ranjha was perhaps the first
character in the Punjabi folklore who preferred to get lost in the world abroad
than to vegetate at his native place. Likewise, Heer can be stylised as the
first protagonist of Women's Lib. But the legendary romance of Heer can be
imagined, in a humorous vein, as a young girl bitten by the bug of infatuation
and Ranjha as a roadside Romeo who sojourned for a while in his beloved's
village and kicked up a storm (of cold sighs, of course) when the elders failed
to bridge the generation gap-From Heer Damodar to Heer War is Shah to Heer Maula Bakhsh Kushta, some 80 Heers have been composed, most of them as tragedies, while some conclude on a happy note. But Heer Suba Singh, which is the last in the line so far, presents the episodes of romantic encounter, dalliance of lovers, conflict between the couple and the society, and then the joyous denouement, in a humorous tone, thereby correcting the vision of the reader too much obsessed with the tragic overtones and sexual undertones of the earlier versions. In Heer Suba Singh the pattern of the story is traditional, but the treatment given to it is at once fresh and original. Ranjha decides to leave his village as his brothers have usurped his land and his sisters-in-law have foul tongues. When all is said and done, the poet refers to the true cause of estrangement. The Bhabies (sisters-in-law) say :
You eat up five seers of Atta
All the maladies shun you
You have plagued our lives
While the others calls life pleasure.
Daily the neighbouring women taunt us-
'They have spoiled the new-fledged lad'
Like this they talk in their courtyard.
And blacken our faces with ignominy.
They throw arrows of slander at us
And blame us for being too indulgent to you,
Keeping our hubbies quite in dark.
The women (says the poet) are drawn towards
tender lads
As is the fish towards a net. But the ghost of love will vanish into the thin air, When shoe-beating is given to the love-lorn. Ranjha has no destination in view, he simply wants to be away from his home. After covering a long distance he feels like taking some rest but he is welcome nowhere. He proceeds on, hungry and tiied. The poet has described his condition in similes so very familiar to the common man-He is going like someone Who has been beaten black and blue By the brothers of a village belle Since he teased her at the bend of the road. Or he is like a dog Who moves about with long-drawn jaw After missing his prey narrowly.
When the night falls, Ranjha has no choice but to stay at a village mosque which is in fact a God-forsaken place. He lies down on the earth and coyers his face with his Khes (a coverlet). Here the poet depicts the true picture of the place in a vivid manner :
Dark and desolate was the place Bounded by a low earthen wall. The dogs always went this way or that By jumping over its crumbling portion. On the one side were lying the dung-cakes Serving as feed for the cocks and hens. On the other was standing a banyan tree Like a ghost in the cremation ground. At daybreak Ranjha faces the Maulvi who is more of a villain than a revered teacher. He has a tiff with this man and ultimately silences him with his retorts. Then Ranjha goes towards Jhang and thinks of crossing the river Chenab, although he has no money to pay to the ferryman. Without the fare, the ferryman refuses to oblige him but before long he willingly carries him across, since he finds Ranjha too irresistible for his two young wives in his cottage. This is indeed a humorous situation, so well tackled by the poet.
On reaching the other side of the river Chenab, Ranjha decides to lie down for a while on a cot lying vacant there. This is, in fact, Heer's bed and she is furious to see a stranger asleep, with his face covered. She takes a whip in her hand and starts lashing at the impudent fellow :
Heer gave a nudge with her whip
And asked Ranjha-
Who are you to occupy my bed ?
The fire of my wrath will consume you
As are consumed red chillies in the fire.
You are perhaps a beggar,
Who is sprawling thus on my bed,
After having a round of the hamlet.
You have perhaps sold your horses
And after pocketing the profit
You are enjoying sound sleep.
You appear to be lifeless,
Like a labourer, extemely tired,
After a day's work without wages. Heer, however, repents when she beholds the handsomeness of Ranjha. She is swept off her feet and the same is the case with Ranjha. Smitten by his youthfulness, she implores him to stay on at her place as a herdsman. Ranjha has his own doubts and fears and does not mince words when he says :
I know I shall have to leave this place,
After sifting the dust of Jhang's fields
And tending the herds of Syals' buffaloes,
With a reward of shoe-beating.
I am already a victim of your fair tresses
But spare me the agony of further involvement.
You will surely elope with someone
After feeding me on stale crumbs. Ranjha starts working as -Chaak (herdsman) in Heer's house. He leaves for the fields in the morning, with a large herd of buffaloes. Heer follows him sometime later with Churl (eatable prepared in ghee). All these days they have a good time till Kaido, Heer's uncle, grows suspicious of their intimate togetherness. He has a deformed body as well as a warped mind. The poet has drawn a pen-portrait of this odd specimen of mankind-
Heer's uncle Kaido was always intoxicated,
And spent his time at the Takkia.
He had a snub nose and narrow eyes
He looked like a 'bijju' from across the Chenab.
He walked by throwing his weight on the lame leg
And gave a strange jerk to his body.
He had disguised himself as a Faqir
By wearing long rosaries around his neck
And donning a long cloak, decorated with patches. Kaido tells his brother Sultan Chuchak Khan about the love affair of Heer and Ranjha. Chuchak is beside himself with rage and so is Heer's mother Malki. There is an interesting dialogue between Heer and her mother. Malki reprimands her thus-
Ah ! what will happen
When Sultan your father, knows all this ?
He would pull your tongue out
If you went on babbling like this.
Your infatuation will evaporate in no time
when you receive a few fists in your neck.
We are Jats and not the Maulavis of mosques
We know the worth of your oaths.
You shall be hooked with the ceiling upside down
And given the thrashing of your lifetime.
A streak of genial humour runs through the whole of this Qissa. The more serious a situation, the lighter is the treatment given to it. At times Suba Singh appears to be parodying Heer Waris Shah, thus making the reader smile with tears in the eyes. A time comes when Heer is forced to marry Khera Said Khan. She delays the performance of marriage ceremony by entering into an argument with the Qazi. At a crucial stage her father intervenes and asks the Qazi to go ahead with the ceremony. On getting the green signal, he rushes through and declares them man and wife. Here the poet says-Just as the hounds run after a rabbit And strike it hard on drawing near The Qazi rushed through the marriage ceremony Grown bold on hearing the Sultan's word. Weeping bitterly and crying hoarse Heer was thrown into the Doli (Palanquin) She slapped her forehead with her hands As if someone had made her a widow. Now comes the inevitable wedding night. Said Khan goes to his bride with a throbbing heart. There on the bed Heer awaits him, of course not for a close embrace-Stooping a little, walking like a thief Saida approached the bed where Heer lay. She was lying, with her breath held, Like a corpse in a fresh grave. Saida tried to force his will As his patience had been tried too long. Heer Jatti, furious at his advances, Gave him a severe beating. She kicked him in the chest And threw him down the bedstead. At last Ranjha goes to Bal Nath and becomes a Jogi. He then goes to Rangpur to meet his beloved. There he comes across certain difficulties but before long he succeeds in having a tete-a-tete with Heer at her in-laws'house. Saiti, Heer's sister-in-law, gives her a helping hand but is reluctant to allow Ranjha to stay in their courtyard for a long time. Ranjha, however, is in a mood to throw caution to the winds but Heer saves the situation. She asks him to see reason and leave the place at once-Heer laughed and winked at Ranjha Why pick up a quarrel like this ?
The lovers should not enter into an argument In the courtyard of the rivals.
Suba Singh has rounded off this tale with the elopement of Heer with Ranjha. The lovers go to Takhat Hazara and are married there in the true sense of the word. Being a humorist, the poet could not but end the tale on a comic note.