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….
