Sanskriti Merchant
Roll number 345
UID Number 141256
A ENG 3.02
CIA 2
Partition Literature
The overlapping social issues of eras could sometimes define how far we’ve come. The story ‘Lajwanti’ shows us a brief spectacle of exploitation of women whilst restricting itself from straying away from the main theme which is Partition. Rajinder Singh Bedi, an explicit storyteller of Sikh history, deviates from the norm of shying away from sharing gory details. A rare exception to his counterparts, he breaches upon a topic that has until recently been shunned away from Indian history. A first hand encounter of the partition is reflected in all his stories. He grew up with an overlap of Sikh and Muslim cultures and was finally compelled to live in…show more content… In many ways, I would describe it as tightly choreographed chaos with a glimmer of courage now and then. The story talks about the situation in a village in the Punjab region post partition. The daily life of the people has inevitably changed and steps to reinstate diminishing order are being taken. A man by the name of is the main character of the story. It starts out as an ode to the blood adorning the streets and gives one a sense of the despair of the time. However, it quickly shifts to the issue of rehabilitation of the people affected by the chaos. An issue brought up by the committee is that of bringing back Hindu women from Pakistan and reuniting them with their families. However, the mindsets of the common people of the time still restrained some men from taking back their wives since they had become “impure”. This issue of abduction of women and their general state of being is also reflected in the movie ‘Train to Pakistan’ where the young girl being a Muslim is treated as a prize and her choices are determined by the man who owns…show more content… Even though many men had given up the hope or the courage to bring their wives back, he continued to look for her. He was put at the forefront of the The Rehabilitation Hearts Committee. The menial name to some extent could symbolize the sort of casual outlook towards the movement. Over a period of time however he gave up hope of ever finding her and considered it a lifetime loss. An immersion into social service gave his life some meaning. This aspect gives us an idea of the character trying to pay for his sins in some way. The sins are then introduced to us. He used to beat his wife and treat her in an abusive manner. A significant aspect of this is an indication of sexist mindsets of the age. Bedi gives us a clear depiction of how women accepted that it was their husbands’ right to hit them, even regarding it as a sign of manhood. Bahadur Lal changed his view on this front when he lost his wife promising to treat her with respect and urging all men to disregard the abduction in order to cause less mental pain. This sort of reversal of the character gives one a sense of