APPROPRIATING THE TITLE–A STUDY OF THE NOVELLA OS KI BOOND BY RAHI MASOOM RAZA

International Journal of Mechanical and Production Engineering Research and Development (IJMPERD) ISSN(P): 2249-6890; ISSN(E): 2249-8001 Vol. 10, Issue 3, Jun 2020, 1171–1176 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

APPROPRIATING THE TITLE–A STUDY OF THE NOVELLA OS KI BOOND BY RAHI MASOOM RAZA AYUSHI KHERA & DR. TANU KASHYAP Research Scholar, Amity Institute of English Studies and Research, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India ABSTRACT On the basis of the short novella by Rahi Masoom Raza, titled Os Ki Boond, the present paper endeavors to analyze the significance of the title given by the author to the novella. The novella although constructed around the horrendous times of the 1947 Indo-Pak Partition which witnessed large scale communal violence in various different parts of both the newly formed countries, talks about the kind of enmity that starts budding in the hearts of even those people who earlier had an unbreakable bond of friendship amongst themselves. The paper, on the basis of these changing bonds between the people, tries to highlight how the politically enriched speeches by the politicians aroused hatred among people who earlier had love for each other, how these speeches played with the innocent hearts of the common people who in order to come into the good books of the politicians and to gain something from them for their own personal benefit, went to any possible extent; and how this budding hatred was then used by the politicians as a tool to propagate and instigate violence among the different sects of the society, thereby resulting in an all-pervading unrest and chaos

of the politicians and the people in power. The paper on the basis of such analysis will highlight how even the smallest of the characters or the situations play an important role in either ruining or rebuilding the society, thereby emphasizing on the importance of the title, Os Ki Boond, which in English is also known as Dew Drops, whose life is just so negligible that even the first rays of sunshine are enough to destroy its very existence. By examining the importance and significance of the title of the present novella, the paper will attempt to conclude on the hope of

Original Article

in the society and ultimately leading to the deaths of innocent individuals who had become prey to such devious acts

positivity that is bound to rest on this earth when people will start giving importance to beauties of fond relationships which flourish on the foundation of mutual trust, faith and brings the hearts of people together for rebuilding and reconstructing the new life by spreading the fragrance of togetherness on the one hand and by analyzing subtle help that came to people during such bad times unexpected from unknown godly figures.

KEYWORDS: Os Ki Boond, Rahi Masoom Raza, Indo-Pak Partition 1947, Dew Drops, Humanity, Hatred, Politics, Communal Violence

Received: Jun 01, 2020; Accepted: Jun 20, 2020; Published: Jun 26, 2020; Paper Id.: IJMPERDJUN2020102

1. INTRODUCTION It is a widely and commonly experienced belief that the pleasures of the nature which offer gentle feelings to our eyes and soul are least cherished for long. It is because of this very fact that the nature’s beauty comes free of cost and, therefore, people don’t attach any value to it and its charm is soon forgotten. Nature brings a lot of beauty into our lives and has many ways of affecting our moods besides compelling us to change our plans too. Thus, it holds many pleasant surprises for us to soothe our eyes, mind and soul. And all this goes unnoticed without any importance being attached to it. OS KI BOOND or dew drops are one such element present in the nature which gives the most pleasurable and satisfying feeling to the person, when experienced in tranquility. Though dew drops appear only during the early hours of morning but the time period of their existence is very short; the first few rays

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Ayushi Khera & Tanu Kashyap

of sunshine are sufficient to destroy their existence. Another vital aspect that is connected with dew drops is that the bliss of their presence is experienced only by the tender leaves and grass because as soon as they are overpowered by the heat of sun or the touch of a person, they die down.

This characteristic of dew drops clearly denotes that the ones who are tender at heart and who have some element of softness and tenderness in them can only be said to be having the goodness of dew drops. The presence and beauty of the dew drops can only be experienced until they stay on the leaves, grass or soft petals; we can’t even imagine their existence on a stone or a rock. The hard surface of the rock or the stone is the reason why a dew drop does not proudly hold its beauty on it which a soft leaf or petal proudly captures. Likewise, a soft hearted individual too carries the same beauty, charm and freshness which the dew drop possesses, reflects and transforms. Thus, it can be said that dew drops symbolize and transmit the goodness on to every tender hearted person whose inherent softness makes him/her to shine and influence the life and hearts of many others. However, it is also the fact that goodness quite often comes in a fragmented way and, thus, is short-lived not because of its own choice but because it is tarnished by the intervention of other powers.

2. THE NOVELLA–OS KI BOOND OS KI BOOND, a novella by RAHI MASOOM RAZA, rationalizes or symbolizes itself through many instances, like those of the relationships of different characters, the character of Shahla itself, the relationship of peace, violence and politics; the silent and transient appearance of some characters like Hashmat and Aabeda respectively, etc.

From the very beginning, the novel reflects how the politics influences and dominates the will and sentiments of the people of Gazipur after the Partition of India and Pakistan, who in the pursuit of making the government happy and in order to get the election ticket, make plans to change the name of the school. This lust for politics further widens the differences between the people besides spoiling their mind and thereby completely ruining the mental fabric and depth of relationships between various characters. Hayatullah Ansari and Wazir Hasan start harboring differences between them on the one hand while Deendayal and Wazir Hasan also start feeling the gap between their relationships getting widened.

Wazir Hasan and Deendayal who are introduced as the childhood friends but because of the Partition and resultant political rivalry, start opposing each other on almost every count so much so that one time close friends who earlier used to share each and every secret now stand on two different sides of the river. “. . . isiliye deendayal se unki dosti usi tarah bani hui thi. Ab Mulakate zara kam hoti thi. San 21-22 se algaav shuru ho gaya tha.

Pani mei besahara behene wali cheezo ki tarah ye dono alag hote ja rhe the San 35 mei dono ne is algaav ko mehsus kiya. San 40 tak beech mei diwar uth gayi, 45 mei dono nadi k alag kinaro par the – nadi se alag.

Nadi se betaalluk.Nadi ke dard se aashana.” (23, Os Ki Boond, RahiMasoom Raza) In due course of time, the relationship between Hajra and Wazir Hasan also passed through difficult times. It is astonishing that after the Partition, Wazir Hasan’s son Ali Bakar left his home and moved towards Pakistan whereas prior to it, he was against the formation of Pakistan while Wazir Hasan in favour . The partition brought so much of Impact Factor (JCC): 8.8746

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swings in their mood and understanding which caused Ali Bakar to leave his home and his family. Due to this sudden change in the mind-set of both Ali Bakar and Wazir Hasan, Hajra started blaming Wazir Hasan for favoring the formation of Pakistan as according to her it was only because of Partition that her son left her, his wife and his 16year old girl.

The friendship of Shahla and Sheharnaaz as demonstrated also symbolizes OS KI BOOND. They both were sharing a relationship which at once Deendayal and Wazir Hasan in their childhood eventually would have shared. It can be said that the bond of friendship between them was pure but short-lived like the dew drops. The moment Shahla gave a Rupee 10/note to Wahshat as a consultation fees, the friendship of Shahla and Sherharnaaz and the love bond between Shahla and Wahshat came under scrutiny. Both the relationships got disturbed and unsettled.

“Sheharnaaz jaha khadi thi, wahi khadi dekhti rhi ki Shahla use dur hoti ja rhi hai.” (57, Os Ki Boond, Rahi Masoom Raza) Although the Rupee ten notes merely created the split amongst the three but Wahshat’s advice added much more woes thereto. Giving the case to a Hindu Lawyer in order to get the permission to create the ‘MAZAR’ of Wazir Hasan, further widened the rift not only between Shahla, Sheharnaaz and Wahshat but it also made a way for the lawyers of both the communities to get more and more cases. The moment Thakur Shivnarayan Singh got Shahla’s case; he became the leader of the Muslim community.

All these instances clearly depict that the relationships in the society are also like OS KI BOOND. They appear to be pleasant and blissful at the primary or surface level, but they still remain momentary rather non-existent like the dew drops. As soon as the light and heat of hatred, jealousy, misinterpretations, misunderstandings and competency falls over a certain relationship; the love present in it dies down; the relationship stands devastated.

OS KI BOOND or the dew drops can also be compared with the inter-se relationship between peace, violence and politics; where peace is always short-lived because of being overpowered by violence and politics. In the novella also, after the partition the people in Gazipur are so much indulged in politics that they forget the love bond that they ever shared with their friends or family members. People in order to fulfil their own material wishes made themselves indulged or occupied with the politics. The same was the character of Behal Shah, who in order to secure or maintain his business and customers, thought of supporting Shahla for creating the ‘MAZAR’ of Wazir Hasan , so that he could sit there and earn his living.

Violence and politics are so much interlinked with each other that they never let peace live long. Either because of politics or of violence, one or the other gets instigated thereby resulting in the death of peace. Even the end of riots, which were triggered because of the SHANKH blown in the Muslim dominated area, could not ensure safety of the life of Wazir Hasan. The only fault of his was that he came out of his home in the dark night, after performing his Namaz in the temple and blew the SHANKH taken out by him from the well, and in return was shot dead by the soldiers who had surrounded the temple for security.

Though, Wazir Hasan’s intentions were very pure, he didn’t want to create any kind of riots in the place; but because a Muslim man entered the temple, he was killed for allegedly breaking the idol. This very incident paved the way for another riot in Gazipur and led to the rise of mythical beliefs in the Hindus.

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“. . . Ab jab balwa khatam ho gaya aur curfew uth gaya to log uss shankh ke darshan krne ke liye aane lage, jo khud-b-khud kuen se nikala aur jab usne dekha ki ek malechh murti ko tod rha hai to vah khud-bkhud bajne laga ki P.A.C ke jawan jag gaye.” (51-52, Os Ki Boond, Rahi Masoom Raza) It is very much evident from the above incidents that peace is quite similar to the characteristics of dew drops; peace is so short-lived which even when it prevails it is never valued by the people. On the other hand, violence and politics are the heat that ruins the peace. Violence and politics never give a pleasant feeling to any one rather both leave a trail of gloom and despair. All through the novella the author has very beautifully coupled the opposites, which in a very magnificent manner explain to the reader as to how these basic terms of goodness play an important role in building the individuality of a person; but unfortunately these lexes having huge importance in one’s life are taken for granted or less looked upon or cherished; which ultimately leads to their death.

“Muskurahat bijli ki tarah chamki.pal bhar mei ujala kar ke andhere ko aur badha gayi.” (24, Os Ki Boond, Rahi Masoom Raza) “Prem aur rajniti.Kaisi ajeeb baat hai.” (28, Os Ki Boond, Rahi Masoom Raza) The author has very explicitly communicated about these virtues and values which are so short-lived, and has in a very agonizing way described their deaths. These elements because being taken for granted in the society nowadays; their end too is caused by the evil elements present in our society, like politics, violence, rape, riots, etc. The above quote expressing the astonishment of equating love and politics (prem aur rajniti) together is one such example. And Shahla was one such victim in the novella, who all through her life was fighting for constructing the ‘MAZAR’ of her grandfather but in the end was brutally raped

by Behal Shah, who earlier stood with her in support of her mission but ended up in raping and killing her.

3. CONCLUSION The novella ends with a very significant line: “bahar sadak khamosh thi. Aur sooraj OS KI BOOND dhund rha tha.”(113, Os Ki Boond, RahiMasoom Raza) – which very well signifies that this process of suppressing the goodness will go on in the future as well leading to the deaths of the innocent individuals? It has no end. The virtues, values, peace, people like Shahla and Wazir Hasan, relationships of love and friendship will continue to die because the fight for power is not going to end anywhere, rather it will continue to perpetuate the criminality of higher magnitude which builds its foundation on the platform created by the death of goodness. And such a dismaying situation very clearly compliments with one of Gulzar’s poem titled ‘Karachi’: Tere sheher mei bhi to cheele Usi tarah lasho ke upar mandlati hain jaise mere sheher ke chaurahon par bandobast ki goliya kha kar…..

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logo ki laashe jab girti hain aasmaan mei mandlate gidhh neeche utar aate hain hum dono ke, do mulko mei aam aadmi kitne milte julte hain. (37, Footprints on the Zero Line, Gulzar) Kites hover over corpses in your city In much the same way they do In my city, on its crossroads, When bodies fall Prey to police firing The vultures begin to descend In this, our two countries So much is common among the common people. (36, Footprints on the Zero Line, Gulzar, Trans. by Rakhshanda Jalil) The above lines by Gulzar very beautifully capture the dilemma of the common man from across the borders, who because of having become prey to the seemingly sweet speeches of the politicians die a painful death, without even getting acknowledged of what they did. Rather politicians being power hungry and which also is their basic characteristic play their dirty games on the bodies of the dead ones and further instigate the whole situation into a more dreadful one.

Even the couplet by Sahir Ludhianvi quoted here in the novella by Wahshat is also very apt: “Abhi na chhed muhobbat ke geet ae mutrib Abhi hayat ka mahol khushgawar nahi.” (51, Os Ki Boond, Rahi Masoom Raza) After reading this quote I wonder: “ye hayat ka mahol khushgawar kab hoga? Kab aaega vo mukam jab sab azaadi se sans le sakenge? Vo konsa waqt hoga jab shanti aur achhai ko kuchh tavjo di jaegi? Vo waqt kaisa hoga jab Hindu ho ya Musallman sab ek dusre par vishwas kr paenge aur darr khamoshi ki chaadar odhke so jayega.”

4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author is highly grateful to her supervisor for helping her out in critically interpreting the text and thereby making her produce such an effective research paper which will help the upcoming students in the field of literature in understanding the basic nuances that are related to Partition Literature.

REFERENCES 1.

Raza, RahiMasoom. Os Ki Boond. New Delhi, India: Rajkamal Prakashan. 2013. Print.

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Ayushi Khera & Tanu Kashyap Gulzar.Trans. Rakhshanda Jalil. Footprints on Zero Line. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India: HarperCollins.

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