Main nee Jaana Khereyan de Naal...

Heer Ranjha- The Lore and the Love

“The words of the bards come down the centuries to us, warm with living breath.”

A haunting number from Shafqat’s album Tabeer- one that is as popular as Khamaj and Aankhon ke Saagar, his signature songs- Khereyan de naal is one of the few contemporary songs which introduce the present generation to the love and longing of Heer. Sung with a lot of love and feel, it makes you one with Heer’s pain as she pleads with her mother not to force her to marry Saida of the Khera village and send her away because she loves only Ranjha.

It also talks about love having the same status as God…of it being the essence of all faith, spirituality and the entire being.

The song is written and composed by Shafqat, who borrowed its hook from Tufail Niazi’s original. And what a beautiful composition that one is... 

The legend of Heer-Ranjha invariably finds a mention every time anyone talks of immortal love in our part of the world. Our poetry, our music, our art has carried this wonderful tale of love forward for centuries.

Waaris Shah’s Heer-Ranjha is one of the most beautiful examples of the tradition of Qissa poetry in the Punjabi literature. Waaris Shah rewrote this tale of two lovers which was told and retold by many like Damodar Dass and Ahmad Gujjar before him. And Heer today, is synonymous with Waaris Shah’s Heer. Heer Ranjha is the story of lovers who cut across boundaries of society, religion, tradition- It is the rise of love to a spiritual high where all these restriction cease to exist and matter. It is the story of discovery of divinity in love.

Heer -Ranjha, Famous painting By Sobha Singh

Ranjha of Takth Hazara leaves home after a fight with his brothers over property. He meets Heer Sial at the banks of River Chenab and it is love at first sight. Ranjha is hired by Heer’s father as a herdsman on her recommendation. Love blossoms in the forest where Ranjha’s flute beckons Heer and the two lovers continue to meet on sly till Heer’s uncle plays spoil sport. Heer is married off to Saida of Khera despite her protests and claims that she is already married to Ranjha. While Heer continues to pine for her love, Ranjha decides to become a Jogi. Fate brings Ranjha and Heer face to face once again and this time they are determined to unite forever. Even Heer’s parents relent but the villain Qaido strikes again. He creates a misunderstanding which leads each of the lovers to believe that the other is dead. Grieving for their partners, they thus embrace death

The poet has beautifully explored every stage of love- from the initial attraction, to complete devotion and the ultimate sacrifice for love

Written in 1776, it is sung today with the same pathos as it was back then. In fact they say the mettle of a Punjabi singer is actually tested by the way he sings Heer. Many singers on either side of the border that now divides Punjab have sung Waaris Shah’s Heer. But I find this version by Iqbal Hussain Bhatti very endearing as it is a narration of the story interspersed with singing. 

Listen to it here… 

"If you take myth and folklore, and these things that speak in symbols, they can be interpreted in so many ways that although the actual image is clear enough, the interpretation is infinitely blurred, a sort of enormous rainbow of every possible color you could imagine"

-Diana Wynne Jones

The love also came alive with the Sufi poetry of Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain, both of whom sang of it a couple of centuries before Waaris Shah. They used Heer and Ranjha as symbols- Heer is the soul looking to reunite with the Divine, which is Ranjha. Heer became the voice of their own desire in their brilliant kaafis. The love and the longing then culminates into the realization that the Divine resides within

As Shah Hussain says…

"Ranjhan Ranjhan phiraan dhodeindi,

Ranjhan mairay nal"

I wander all over looking for Ranjha

When Ranjha is with me

And Bulleh Shah sings…

"Jidoon dee may jogi dee hoyee

Main wich main na reh gayee koi"

Since I have embraced the Jogi’s love

There’s no “I” left in me

"Ranjha Ranjha kardee

Nee may aapay Ranjha hoyi"

My search, my obsession with Ranjha

Transformed me into Ranhja, Himself

"Sadyo nee maynu Deedo Ranjha

Heer na akho koi"

Please Address me now as Ranjha

For no more is there any Heer

Shafqat sings Bulleh Shah

The Sufi poets therefore see a higher form of love, a notch above the love one has for fellow humans.

Heer in the contemporary context

Amrita Pritam, one of the most powerful names in Punjabi literature, invoked Waaris Shah in an emotional outburst about the tragedy of partition,that divided Punjab amidst the most horrendous bloodshed. She used references from Waaris Shah’s poem to express her anguish over the state of Punjab as it reels under this tragedy.

"Aj aakhan Waaris Shah noo kito.N qabra.N vicho.N bol!

Te aj kitab-e-ishq da koi agla varka phol!

Ik roi si dhii Punjab dii tuu likh-likh mare Wain

Aj lakkha.N dheeyan rondian tainuu.N Waaris Shah noon kahen"

Today, I call out to Waaris Shah, to speak out from his grave

To add another chapter to his Book of love

When one daughter of Punjab cried, you wrote a whole saga

Today a million daughters are crying out to you, O Waaris Shah..

And this is just one example of how Heer and Ranjha have grown over the centuries from being protagonists of a folktale to  symbols of Punjab and Punjabiyat

Heer is relevant even today.In some places love still remains taboo; crimes are still committed in the name of religion, women’s rights still curbed.

Waaris Shah’s Heer of 1776, when admonished by the Qazi for the shame she brings to the family says-“Woe to that nation that destroys its daughters…” and this could well be said by the Heer of 2013

And that is why Heer will continue to be the muse of writers and poets of many generations to come; for there are a thousand facets to Heer and each facet has the potential to inspire a thousand new songs! And as long as we continue to sing and cherish Heer, love will continue to thrive….