In the land of the Five Rivers, flew winds that told tales taller than tangible imaginations. Some observed from afar, some said the storytellers sound senseless, some still do but herds flocked from pinds afar to sit on a chataai on the floor to hear of lives greater than theirs.
Three centuries ago in the lands of Punjab, many hearts sang in chorus for her, a song of utmost devotion but the moment she asked, not one vocal was sung and not one note was played. Through her eyes, she spoke poetry and while the trees snapped their barks in awe, the hearts just listened and listened, and listened.
Izzat Bibi or as the world who fell for her knew her, Heer. She was born into a wealthy family of the Siyal Jat Tribe. Through the galiyan of Punjab, voices echoed that were intoxicated by Heer. Her eyes were melodic and while my pen could trace and forge the path of the universe, I fear I have struggled for a century of dawns, trying to describe how beautiful she was.
And as beautiful she was from outside, inside her skin lied the answer to the greatest question many madmen including I have asked ourselves: what will save us now?
Beauty. Beyond the barbaric, beneath the layers of madness. Beseeched by dynasties as if it were, was she to just come to her balcony once a day and bless these poor souls bequeathed in the bodies of these boys who have fallen hopelessly, completely, passionately in love with her.
Inside homes forged with red-bricks with wooden doors in narrow streets birthed many conversations between amateur boys and grown men but soon enough, the conversations navigated back to Heer’s beauty, the inevitable truth and just as her name was heard, all uttered in unison:
Sabse sohni kudi aa Heer / the most beautiful is Heer.
She felt like playing the most melodic flute. And speaking of flutes, permit I to introduce you to the boy who made spinning planets stand still with his flute, Ranjha. From the Ranjha Jat Clan, Ranjha was the youngest of four brothers who lived in the village of Takht Hazara by the river Chenab in Punjab.
Ranjha was his father’s favourite, a fate wished for by many but gifted only to a few. Being his father’s favourite, the four brothers were made toil in their lands while our dear Ranjha lived a life of ease playing his flute. Butterflies would hover around him every time Ranjha played his flute, some sat on his shoulders while some nested on his head.
Ranjha led an easy life until one day when something terrible happened to him. Ranjha’s father, Mauju Chaudhry passed away tragically and that changed the relationship he had with his family entirely. The four brothers became greedy and quarrelled over the land that their father left them with. Heartbroken, Ranjha saw his brothers fighting over land without even grieving for their father.
Seeing this tragic sight, Ranjha decided to leave his home. He packed some clothes, his flute and left. Ranjha walked for days through the green fields and as he did, from above he looked like a star on a green surface.
After much traveling, he came to Heer’s village. And just like a normal day, the boys sat outside in the narrow streets filled with homes made with red bricks and spoke of the moon that shines even in the day in their village.
Ranjha stumbled upon the ethereal sight of that very moon and instantly fell in love. He chased that moon like when we were children and we thought that the moon might be accompanying us. Jumping from terrace to terrace, following her through streets and the fields where the crops grew, Ranjha followed Heer to her home.
And immediately the very next day, he approached her father looking for work. Heer’s father offered Ranjha the job to herd his cattle and even as Ranjha loved living a life of ease, he gladly accepted the job to see the moon that shines even in the day. Ranjha herded the cattle and in his free time played his flute.
And everyday, Ranjha used to herd the cattle and play his flute and soon enough, Heer started to come to the farm just to hear Ranjha’s flute. This was the only melody she didn’t want to control, never wanted to be silenced. And she was the only spectator Ranjha wanted to play the flute for so passionately.
Eventually, Heer fell in love with Ranjha and they both used to meet each other in the fields. Each morning, Ranjha would take the buffaloes out to the fields and would bring them back by playing his flute and each morning, Heer would make and take sweet bread to the fields where they spent time together.
They secretly met like this for twelve years and the fields soon began to recognise them too. Undoubtedly the buffaloes knew too of their love. In the green fields, Heer & Ranjha were like a star and a crescent moon on a green surface; surely their art would have been admired for eternities.
Until one day when Heer’s uncle, Kaido caught both of them who grew jealous of Ranjha as he used to observe how sweet Heer would smile for hours on end with her cheeks red whenever Ranjha used to come by.
Kaido filled poison inside the ears of Heer’s parents, Chuchak & Malki and as they were caught, they were separated from each other. Heavy-hearted and grief-stricken, Heer and Ranjha were separated from each other. And not only that, Heer’s parents ensured that the moon Ranjha so endearingly loved was filled with scars as they forced Heer to marry another man by the blessing of the local priest or Maulvi.
Heer was married off to another man as Ranjha was stripped from his job. With a heavy heart & a dried mouth, Ranjha wandered the countryside alone as Heer wept day and night. A lost, broken Ranjha then met a Jogi i.e. an ascetic named Gorakhnath who was the founder of the Kanphata (pierced ear) section of Jogis.
Eventually, Ranjha became a Jogi himself, pierced his ears as he renounced the material world, let everything go and chanted the Lord’s name while roaming from pind to pind all over Punjab. Heer, heartbroken still refused to eat properly and became a former shadow of who she was. The world always scars the beautiful, an age old sin that refuses to die even now.
Both Heer and Ranjha’s clothes were stained with dirt and their hands were dark. The light in their eyes only glimmered a little and lived only a while away from death. Separated, Heer reminisced of their days together in the fields as every time a memory of them would whisper into Ranjha’s ear, he would chant even louder to subdue it. But love soars unsubdued, never drowns. Many suns have risen and drowned yet still either of them haven’t smiled.
Roaming, chanting the Lord’s name and also trying to forget Heer, Ranjha eventually ends up in the village where Heer now lives. Fate has them meeting again. Dirty long hair with an unevenly long and dirty beard, carrying beads in his hand, Ranjha runs into Heer and not even a second has passed. For them, time stopped.
Not even a second wasted, Heer recognised Ranjha and immediately burst into tears. She held him, put her gentle hands on his cheeks and Ranjha in a deranged mental state with his ears pierced, stares into her eyes. And from her eyes plays again that sweet melody that once intoxicated Ranjha and immediately, he recognises her. They belong to each other, again.
Heer holds Ranjha’s face in her hands as he touches her wrists that have marks on them. Many tried to pull her apart from his memories against her will yet she stayed. Yet she fought.
They are met again and this time, they fight valiantly to be together. Heer fights her parents, the wicked Kaido and the world to be with him and as does Ranjha. And finally, the world bows in front of them. Heer’s parents agree to their marriage. A sigh of relief and soon enough, tears strum from the lovers’ eyes as they cover each other with their arms.
Finally, they will be together. After what felt like eons of melancholy and dark nights, the sun of love rises again and with it, the melody of Ranjha’s flute does too. A date for their wedding has been decided by the Maulvi. Ranjha plays his flute again as him and his moon, Heer spend time in the green lands again.
Ranjha aids and heals Heer’s wrist wounds and wipes the tear marks off her cheeks as Heer turns him into a man from a madman again. For the world, they become recognisable again as the spark in their eyes return but for them, they would recognise each other in total darkness.
On the wedding day, Heer is in her room and she cannot wait for the greatest moment of her life, the moment she’s yearned for, died for and fought for so desperately. As this is a special occasion, a sweet is given to Heer.
Ranjha is in his room, getting ready. Heer takes a small bite of the sweet.
The yes Heer got from her parents for this wedding was a deception. Kaido, Heer’s uncle set out to teach Heer a lesson for this rebellious behaviour. He poisoned a sweet and sent it to Heer’s room and since this was a special occasion, no one would have cared to notice if the sweet were poisonous.
Heer takes a small bite and falls ill. Ranjha rushes to her aid upon hearing that her sweet was poisoned but he was too late. Upon reaching, Ranjha finds his Heer dead.
A galaxy of grief & melancholy falls upon the shoulders of a mortal man, he loses his sanity and refuses to breathe in a world where his beloved lives no longer.
Ranjha eats the leftover sweet and lies beside Heer as in his final moments, he sheds a tear but smiles for now, no one will be able to separate them. No one.
Heer & Ranjha are both buried together in Heer’s hometown, Jhang.
— the end.
Is there a source for this story? Thanks!
This is such a beautiful and melancholy story, and your retelling of it is lovely.