Ranjha

Madam ShahGul:

I am in sympathy with you. At the bottom of your writing you provide a self portrait. It tells me that you are ``confused``. Right, no disagreement there. But my dear khatoon usually people keep their confusion to themselves and keep quiet till they sort out their confusion. You, madam, seem to be in some kind of hurry.

However, it would have been of immense value had you sent it to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Toronto`s Globe and Mail and Montreal`s Le Devoir, for a larger and intended-to-see-it population.

I am most pleased to see the extent of generosity of heart and mind of The Chowk Moderators. My cap off to you. Bravo!

SD

--I think ``Ranjha``, rooh ranjha k`rné ké lee`ayé khoob hai. But isn`t the moral [if there is one] literally, literal?

Bravo Lady!

There is very little difference between Ranjha and myself. Ranjha perhaps was unaware of Philosophy, but I luckily (or unluckily) have studied a little. My coming to Karachi was for my bread and butter so that ultimately Icould have done something for those who don`t rebel like Ranjha! rather they don.t speak at all. I did the same. I want to contribute whatever I can.

Sincerely,

Zaka-ul-Islam

Hamdard Inst. of IT

Karachi, Pakistan

Should be ``his sister`` in the second-last line.
I didn`t want to imply that my taya was sexually
ambivalent. :)

There is an underlying practical consideration
in the practice of waTTa-saTTa, namely the insurance against maltreatment. If one husband
abuses his wife, it`s only with the risk of having
his sister abused by his wife`s brother.

In the cases I know about, in my paternal extended family and elsewhere, it doesn`t necessarily work. Misogynistic tendencies can
often overwhelm any waves of family loyalty.
I remember as a child how my taya used to boast
about the fact that he would kick my tayee out
at night, under any excuse that sprung to mind,
and she would stay outside crying all night, too
ashamed of herself and too low in self-worth to
actually go to her brother. My phuppa (her brother) was a nicer man I guess, as he didn`t take up my taya on the tit-for-tat, or maybe he knew that my taya didn`t really care for her sister anyway. This didn`t happen in some rural
backyard but in Nazimabad.