Revisiting Wounded Souls in Pinjar: English-Ii

Revisiting Wounded Souls in Pinjar
ENGLISH-II
Submitted by:
Nitya Saxena
UG2017-67
Submitted to:
Prof. Sopan Shinde, Assistant Professor of Endlish
Academic Year: 2017-2018
MAHARASHTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NAGPUR

CONTENTS
CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... 1
Abstract- Revisiting wounded souls. ......................................................................................... 2
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3
Sacrificial social contract of women .......................................................................................... 3
Patriarchal Society ..................................................................................................................... 5
Partition from a women’s perspective ....................................................................................... 7
Paradigm of power hidden in women ...................................................................................... 10
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 12
1
Abstract- Revisiting wounded souls.
Violent bloodbath, refugee exodus and massacres of scores of human beings were the most
powerful symbols of partition of Indian sub-continent. The book “Pinjar” by Amrita Pritam
precisely depicts the pain of partition which engulfed three communities-the Hindus,
Muslims and Sikhs. It is the tale of a woman caught between two lands and who is coping
with a dual identity.
Through this article I want to show that how even before the country was divided into two
parts, communal rage had spread all over the country and violence was taking place in the
name of religion. The researcher wants to highlight the misery and plight of women during
the time of partition. Through this article the researcher wants to show the partition from the
perspective of a woman. During the time of partition women were treated as objects and
sacrificial social contract of women was prevalent where women were considered as a mean
to take revenge from the opposite community. Researcher also wants to bring to notice the
theme of Paradigm of power hidden in women.
2
Introduction
The novel Pinjar is written by Amrita Pritam. It has been later translated into English by
Khushwant Singh. Pinjar depicts the saga of partition pain. The effect of partition was very
vulnerable to everyone especially women. The women had the worst effect of partition. It
shows the pain and misery of women of both the sides. The novel highlights the nature and
condition of Indian society during the time of partition in 1947. Author pours her own
experiences of the partition as she was a witness of partition. Amrita Pritam has beautifully
portrait the women life during the time of partition. The author has described the account
from the Pooro’s point of view. This story is a unique glance of Indian partition. Pinjar
represents harrowing situation of women. It is a tale of human mistakes which exploit man’s
misfortunes. A number of incidents happen during partition where girl committed suicide
without any fault on their part. It is a narration of women dishonour where abducted girls and
women were not accepted by their families as the society considers them as polluted and
impure.
Pinjar is a heart touching story about how conflicts between families, communities and
nations were so brutal and violent. The novel is related to the plight of women during the
bloodiest time in recent Indian history that is of partition and the period just preceding and
following it. The novel describes the male dominating nature of the society during that period
and how women were bound to accept the decisions taken by their male counterparts.
Pinjar depicts a world of social reality which draws its meaning from the description of
experienced reality. The story revolves around a young Hindu girl who belongs to a family of
money lenders. Through her character the author depicts how the women of the twentieth
century were bound to accept their conditions considering it as their fate. The novel is
successful in implanting the anguish and terror of the partition of India in the minds of the
readers. The novel is quite interesting and creates the picture of India society which was
prevalent during the time of partition.
Sacrificial social contract of women

The novel aptly describes the theme of sacrificial social contract of women. The author
beautifully describes how during the time of partition women were considered as the objects
and were considered as a mean to take revenge from the opposite community. During that
time women were considered as the property of the enemy community and it was considered
3
that they can be looted, plundered and exploited as a commodity. It is seen from the ancient
times that only a woman has to sacrifice her personhood during such hot times as wars,
partition, kidnapping, fighting, etc. and is reduced from the subject to an object. During
Partition the people, though they may be Hindu, Sikh and Muslim feel pride in taking
revenge against the women of opposite religion. It was such a worst time in which only
women suffered a lot.
The novel also describes extreme violation towards women. It shows large scale women
molestation. During that time women were not safe at any place even the refugee camps were
unsafe for them. Refugee camps were considered as safe place as they were fully protected by
the military guards. But the reality was totally different from this. The author narrates the
situation at refugee camps as follows;
“There was a refugee camp in the adjoining village set up for the Hindus and Sikhs. The
camp was guarded by the military. But daily the Muslim hooligans would come and take
away young girls from the camp at night and bring them back next morning.1”
Thus, we can say that women became the worth sufferer during partition. The abducted
women were subjected to mass rapes and sometimes, they were paraded naked. During those
days if somehow they manage to run away and went back to their families, family members
refuse to accept them. Some thought that once the girl is violated, she is polluted and then
who will marry with her. Same things happened with the female characters of the novel-
Pooro, the madwoman, Lajo and Kammo. But these women were not antagonistic towards
each other on the basis of religion, but rather they shared a bond forged through empathy.
The main character of novel, Pooro was also a victim of sacrificial social contract of women.
She was abducted by a Muslim boy Rashida. Rashida was forced to carry out this act of
abduction in order to take revenge for the similar act committed by Pooro’s uncle. The
partition was considered as the proper time to take the revenge and Rashida abducted Puro, as
woman for woman. The woman, though she may be Hindu or Muslim, men use them as an
entity of honor killing or a way of taking justice. Later, when Pooro was not able to
understand the reason for her abduction then Rashida cleares his intention behind the
abduction as follow;
1
Amrita Pritam, Pinjar-The Skelton and stories Tara Press; 1st edition (1 January 2009), pg5
4
“It was my love and the prodding of the Shaikh clan that made me do this. But I cannot bear
to see you so sad... If the Hindus want to keep their heads on their shoulders, they had better
stay quiet”2
Later in the novel, Pooro’s sister-in-law, Lajo was also abducted by the muslims. The novel
describes the tragic situation as follows-
“Hamida’s ears burned with rage when she heard of the abduction of Hindu girls by Muslims
and Muslim girls by Hindus, some had been forced into marriage, some murdered, some
stripped and paraded naked in the streets.”3
From all these instances we can say that Pinjar depicts the female victim of religious
violence. This abduction and rape of the women of one community by the men of other
community was a way of dishonouring the other community as a real symbolic subjugation.
In these acts are also the notions of women as property. Pinjar is a story of mixture of
ethnographic and historical events.4 It is an account of nasty aspect of society. It shows how
for their own benefits society treats women as an object. In this novel the author aptly depicts
dominating approach of society against women. It represents psychological description of
human brutality and cruelness. The author shows actual darkness behind the partition of
India.
Patriarchal Society
In this novel Amrita Pritam brings out the patriarchal or male dominant nature of society. She
depicts how from the earlier days women were considered inferior to men and they were not
given equal rights. During the time of partition the situation was very miserable. Women
were treated as the objects of men they were molested, raped and were paraded naked in the
streets. Extreme violence was used against women. They were not given basic Human rights.
The women were used just as a symbol of sex for the pleasure of men. Through this novel the
author for grounds the gendered premises of traditional myths and the male-centered social
and ethical codes of conflicts with need to be questioned and redefined in the context of the
lives of the contemporary Indian women. In India gender has always been and still in large
extent, a prescriptive factor in life which, in interaction with the ideologies of caste class and
2
Amrita Pritam, Pinjar-The Skelton and stories Tara Press; 1st edition (1 January 2009), pg.17
3
4
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/62020/6/06_abstract.pdf (20th Mar. 2018, 10:15 P.M)
5
religion, circumstances for the social permissible range of experiences and determines their
response to all that transpires5.
There were many instances in the novel that showed the signals of male dominant society.
One day Pooro was lost in her thought when suddenly Rashida stood in front of her way and
was watching her. This was their first encounter. The author shows this as-
“Rashida eyes were glued on Pooro's still unformed breasts."6
"Pooro become tremble with fear and run past Rashida. She caught up with her friends on
the outskirts of village. She was out of breath and terrified.7”
This fearful incident with Pooro is a symbol of a male dominated society. It shows how even
by the look of Rashid, Pooro was so frightened.
Two days later Pooro went in field where Rashida was standing behind a tree. Pooro sees
Rashida. She shuddered at the prospect. Author describes:
"Pooro felt the blood drain from her legs.8"
In this scene writer sketches the picture of Rashid very aptly. Author describes Rashida as:
"a enormous gizzly bear, he stretch out his arms, his big claws draw her into an embrace,
caress her neck, sharp nails, ready to drag into his cave, hairy, powerful form, glowing
eyes.9"
One day when Pooro was collecting beans from the fields, she was abducted by the Rashida.
Pooro felt very helpless and requested Rashid to let her go but he got angry and shouted at
her. Rashid picked Pooro up and took her in his powerful arm and he said the following line:
"Who will quench the fire in my heart?10"
This scene shows the helplessness of Pooro. It is symbolic to the treatment of women in a
patriarchal society. Pooro tried to free herself, but could not get out of his embrace. Here
5
http://www.ijelr.in/2.3.15/187-193%20NANCY.pdf (15TH Mar. 2018, 7:20 PM)
6
7
8
Amrita Pritam, Pinjar-The Skelton and stories Tara Press; 1st edition (1 January 2009), pg 9
9
10
6
author tries to show that eventually women always become the victim in a male dominated
society because women are not as physically strong as men. They always have to depend on
their male counterparts. Though women are considered as goddesses in the Indian culture, but
ironically male dominated society always hits the women. They fail to give respect to
women. Because of this Patriarchal society, women suffered a lot during the time of partition.
Partition from a women’s perspective

The partition of India highly concentrates on the lives of women and their struggle, anger,
loss and so on. It is the partition in which women suffered at all levels. It also centers on the
patience and sacrifice of women. It is also about hatred and affection, love and sorrow, loss
and gain of women. Puro, the representative of all rural women of the time and her
helplessness and pity on her fate is nothing but the 'Skelton', no thought and no movement.
The title of the novel is also based on this theme. The literal meaning of Pinjar is Skelton
which means lexically and horrifying appearance or nothingness. Metaphorically we can say
“no life- no flesh”. The author uses this term as a sense of absurdity in existence, and a frame
of bones without blood and flesh.
Amrita Pritam depicts the journey of Pooro and highlights the atrocities that she faces in her
life through the partition era. From the very beginning she was abducted and she goes to the
parental desert when her father refuses to accept her. Pooro’s hope to live her life again was
shattered as her father expressed his inability to take her back as she would bring social
disgrace to the family. He says:
“Daughter this fate was ordained for you, we are helpless.11”
Her mother added:
“Who will marry you now? You are defiled! Your religion is polluted. Daughter, it would
have been better if you had died at birth.12”
The author highlights that women had to constantly prove their innocence and assert their
right to dignity in our patriarchal society. The other reason for not accepting the abducted
women was the safety of the other members of the family. It points to the instances of men
being bartered for the safety of the male members of the family during those harrowing days.
11
12
7
Usually it was a daughter who scarified for their family. The reaction of Pooro’s mother
makes it clear when she says:
“Where will we keep you? Please go away at once, the Muslims will follow you. They will kill
your father and brother.13”
This is the inexplicable plight of the abducted women very touchingly narrated. Amrita
Pritam tries to highlight that women had to constantly prove their innocence and assert their
right to dignity in our patriarchal society. In the novel there are many women who were
abducted, raped and exploited.
The mad woman also impregnated though she was merely a limp of flesh with no mind to go
with. Pooro says:
“What sort of a man could have done this to her?”14
“He must be a savage beast to put a mad woman in this condition. She is neither young nor
attractive she is just a lump of flesh without a mind to with it…a living skeleton …..a lunatic
skeleton…a Skeleton picked to its pones by kites and vultures.15”
this mad woman arrives to village outskirts where villagers serve her food. She goes around
half clad and half fed. But the villagers are shocked to know one day that she was pregnant.
She is found dead with the birth of a baby boy. Hamida and Rashida bring the mad woman’s
child home and take care of the infant. She even breastfeeds the child. All female characters
are treated merely as a body, not as humans. Pooro calls them all a ‘cage’, a skeleton
compelled to suffer as if they had no heart, no soul, and no feelings. We can say that Pinjar is
a huge outcry hidden behind the silent sobs of thousands of females like Pooro, a victim of
religious and communal conflicts during the Partition of the Indian subcontinent. Having
caught the disturbance of Partition with great immediacy and tragic power, this novel
becomes an intimate leap into events that tear apart the world of females like Pooro.
There are many heart rendering incidents in which young girls and women becomes victims
for the hooligans. One day Pooro sees a band of dozen or more goondas pushing a young girl
13
14
15
8
before them. She had not a stitch of clothing on her person. The goondas beat drums and
danced about the naked girl. Hamida could not find out where they come from or where they
were going. She laments:
“It was sin to be alive in a World so full of evil, It was a crime to be born a girl.16”
The novel highlights various instances in which women are maltreated. They were treated as
objects. After the marriage of Pooro and Rashida she was renamed as Harmida. This name
was not only a new name for her, but it is a new identity for her. Now Pooro lives a dual life.
The author narrates as:
“In her dreams, when she met her old friends and played in her parents’ home, everyone still
called her Pooro.17”
And again,
“It was a double life. Pooro became Hamida by day and turned back Pooro by night. In
reality she was neither Hamida nor Pooro; she was just a skeleton, without a shape or a
name.18
This dual life made Pooro empty from inside. Living this dual life was very difficult for her.
In the process of this dual life she actually lost her true identity and she became merely a
Skelton- having no soul and no life.
She became so empty that she cannot even accept her own child. For her it is Rashid’s
torture. She is bewildered with the thought that she is carrying a portion of a person who has
spoiled her life. Author narrates this instance as:
“He had been planted inside her by force…. against her wil.19”
There are various instances to show this agony of Pooro:
She thinks, “Only if she could take the worm out of her womb and fling it away.20”
And she feels, “…as if the boy was drawing the milk from her veins and was sucking it out
with force…21”
16
17
18
19
20
9
All these show that Pooro faced difficulties in accepting her own child. This is merely
because she was completely shattered from inside.
There are also instances of Kammo, Tara and Lajjo that shows the agony and plight of
women during the time of partition. Kammo is a motherless young girl who is ill-treated by
her aunt. She sees her mother in Hamida, but her aunt bans their meeting. Tara is suffering
with some unknown disease and is fed up of her own life. Her husband has brought another
woman to live with and forces Tara to become a prostitute. Lajjo is sister-in-law of Pooro.
She was also abducted and tortured by the Muslims. All three are in their full senses but pass
through the torture silently so as to get three basic needs of life: food cloth and shelter. They
suffer but they continue to live.
All these instances are symbolic to the women’s physical, mental and emotional distress.
These instances show the partition of India from the perspective of women. They show the
agony and condition of women during the time of partition. It shows the real image of
detested women in partition.
Paradigm of power hidden in women

This novel has beautifully shown paradigm of power through the female characters of her
novel. She tries to show another perspective of partition. She has not only shown the misery
of her female characters but at the end she has also shown how the women comes out from
their plight and misery. Pooro been nourished as a paradigm of power hidden in a woman and
its significance and manifestation. It is shown that her mood has constant shifts. This makes
her character realistic. From the beginning to the end, with each event she becomes one more
woman on the pages of Pinjar. Pooro’s fear for the child in her womb, anguish for Rashid’s
mean act of her abduction, awaiting the moment of her marriage to Ramchand, rechristenised
to ‘Hamida’, her acquaintance to Kammo, Tara and the mad woman, helping Laajo, the
gradual positive change in her attitude for Rashid, and finally her decision of considering
Pakistan her home forever altogether makes her character round. All these shows the dynamic
nature in the character of Pooro. Throughout the novel Amrita Pritam has nourished the
character of Pooro as an essence of women power and significance.
21
10
In the starting of the novel when Pooro’s family refused to accept her after her abduction, she
was heartbroken. She thought that her life has come to an end. She had no hapes and desires
of living. The author shows this as:
“When she had come this way earlier, she believed she was returning to life…, she had come
full of hope. Now she had no hope, or any fear too.22”
But towards the end of the novel she chooses Pakistan as her Country and refuses to go back
to her family. This decision of Pooro shows the non-normative choice taken by her. She
refused to go back to her family, community and nation that had once denied her. Thus we
can say that in doing so she recreates her own identity, ‘Hamida’ which had been once
imposed upon her.
22
11
Conclusion
The researcher concludes that The novel Pinjar is no doubt an excellent novel highly explores
novelists capacity of communicating lot of things in a very few words. Amrita Pritam has
highlighted the deep human psyche during partition. Puro, the central character symbolizes
that even a Skeleton has to live in the face of adversities. The title Skeleton is highly
symbolic in nature. It symbolizes the unique philosophy of life that man is responsible for his
own actions and to choose his destiny.
Thus, the novel Pinjar is a saga of women's sacrifice, courage and suffering. Historical in
nature, the novel highly focuses on the lives of the innocent and their journey towards
experience. Fully philosophical in nature, the novel, Pinjar very well narrates the truth of life,
the Karma and destiny. Puro is really an ideal character puts behind a lot of impression of
goodness and knowledge. Puro’s overall action proves a strong answer to the questions of
religion and to the gender - biased society. The novelist thus struggles for the emancipation of
women and identity.
12

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Revisiting Wounded Souls in Pinjar

MAHARASHTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NAGPUR

Sacrificial social contract of women

“Rashida eyes were glued on Pooro's still unformed breasts."6

"Pooro felt the blood drain from her legs.8"

"Who will quench the fire in my heart?10"

Partition from a women’s perspective

“Daughter this fate was ordained for you, we are helpless.11”

Her mother added:

“What sort of a man could have done this to her?”14

There are various instances to show this agony of Pooro:

Paradigm of power hidden in women

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