Adarsh Ajit
Name of the book : ghar mein hai bairaag
Author : Khalid Hussain
Publisher : Chetna Parkashan,
Ludhiana
Price : 350/
Strained political relationship in the
subcontinent, pleading the cause of women, severely criticising the immorality, terrorism and criminality, are the major thoughts highlighted in Khalid Hussain’s ghar mein hai bairaag. The stories beday
di lanka and paani par rekhaayein open out the disastrous results of partition and the unabated enmity between India and
Pakistan. But the author has not lost the hope of endurance.
In the two-page story shatru kaun two opponent soldiers guard their respective borders. The clouds of war hover. The two establishments threaten each other. Ironically, the soldiers, separated in partition, enjoy the sweets on Deepawali. Borders divide the lovers/relatives in yet another story lakeer. The narrator is on the first bus flagged off to Muzaffarabad. He promises all help to Saabri so that she meets her beloved husband living in India. She comes to Indian side bringing tremendous happiness to Sajaawal, her husband, and their children but all is short lived as her visa expires. No law comes to the rescue. In a very interesting story haathi addayi laakh ka the writer highlights the human problems through an elephant Raju who crosses over to Pakistan by mistake. The master of Raju follows the case of bringing back Raju but Pakistani ranger demands 1, 25,000 rupees, the cost of damage done to a school by Raju. The matter is brought to the defence ministry. They take the matter with Pakistan consuming enough time and the reply comes to deposit 2, 50000 as 1, 25000 rupees were spent on Raju’s illness. This gives a shock to the owner of Raju whose earning was dependent on this elephant because Raju was the main attraction of his circus.
After giving the pre-1990 idea of peace, amity and brotherhood Khalid compares contemporary Kashmir situation with historical background in satisar ka surya. Noor represents secularism, humanism, and mysticism moralizing love and goodness and is known as Nund Rishi and his foster mother as Lalleshori. Hakim refutes his lustre and wants to terminate his continuation by fabricating a vicious trap. The philosophy of hatred, disunity, turmoil, cruelty, and immorality rules the land until the theology conquests.
Finally the polluted water of Satisar is drained out. mrtiya vekhti ki gaatha unfolds the autobiographical narrative of a dead man excavated from snow. Unabated atrocities force him to join militancy. But he is a secular and peace-loving by heart. He disobeys militant dictates to kill any Hindu. He was shot at by them. The men who were to be killed by him carry his coffin. manushya ke bhitar ka manushya is a trendy recounting of Zameer Ahmad, the staunch supporter of fundamentalism. Ameer of a militant group threatens to kill their driver Tej Ram. Zameer Ahmad importunes for humanity quoting scriptures. Ameer is impressed. He leaves him unharmed with a smile and a pat. In sanjhi peeda, a Kashmiri Pandit leader, after a flaming speech in a function meets an unknown Kashmiri Muslim in Raghu Nath Bazaar. Both forget their respective frenzied philosophies and embrace each other as they belong to a common culture.
In ishq malangi the writer creates the character of Kale Khan as a failed lover belonging to Urdu Bazar having positive as well as negative backgrounds. Urdu bazaar has also the unforgettable fortune of music and melody. Despite repeated appeals by Kale for making love, Feroza turns out to be stonehearted. The maddening love transforms Kale into a novel personality. He picks up the job of breaking the stones but fails in melting the heart of his beloved who is nothing but a beautiful whore and wants only materialistic returns. She turns down the union of two souls. Kale Khan is still without a clue of his beloved Feroza. Shaadan Billi Jammu Wali is a story of a woman having melodious voice inherited from her mother. She is making the listeners/watchers ecstatic with her gestures. Gofura Pahalwan is the confidante and guard of Billi. Gajay Singh, a roguish character, aspires for Billi but Billi falls in love with a sufiyana/mystic singer Yousuf. On seeing these developments Gaje Singh kills Yousouf. Pahalwan having latent love for Billi axes Gaje Singh to death and surrenders to police. Billi is a changed woman now. Even the narrator of this story, after the death of his wife, is lured towards Billi but finds her in different attire, away from the worldly affairs. She has left singing. She has opted to live and cherish mysticism.
In ghrtkumari, Gulaan, an orphan, marries a drunkard but loses her husband in her early twenties. Gulaan’s elder brother-in-law, Jaji, makes unsuccessful plea of marrying Gulaan and finally rapes her. Khalid terms it a lightning. Lightning and cloudbursts mark the exclusive management of taking revenge. Gulaan entangles his son-in-law in the mesh of her beauty. Consequently Jaji’s son-in-law keeps himself away from his wife killing Jaji within. Jaji kneels down before Gulaan begging for her daughter’s relationship with her husband. Gulaan hatefully sneers at the tears in Jaji’s eyes. The venomous and revengeful laughter of Gulaan envelops the whole habitation.
In halalaa, a young and beautiful girl, is knotted to a Nawaab. He is incapable of satisfying her sexual desire. She flirts with her husband’s bachelor cousin and gives birth to a son and two daughters. Nawaab succeeds in catching them red-handed and shouts: ‘talaaq, talaaq, talaaq’. Rajaan leaves the home. Separation from children compels Rajaan to involve the elders for making a compromise. For remarriage with Nawab, Rajaan succeeds in marrying another man who divorces him after a night. The story Baba Tikki is almost crafted in the same frame. In Baba Tikki the climax reveals that his impotence is due to testicular cancer.
Posters divulging misfortune, infamy and wickedness are affixed on the walls of Akraam Manzil in ishtiharaan wali haveli. Akraam and his sons Aslam and Inam stain the repute of their father. Husna, the daughter of Inam Khokher believes in enjoying physical relations with mutual understanding and does not bother for socio-religious norms. The rising immoralities collapse Akraam Manzil burying Akraam’s wife under its debris. In nyai-anyai a girl belonging to the lower class is the victim of rape and the accused is a boy belonging to a business class. All goes against the boy in the court. The judge known for doing justice is all set to pronounce judgment in favour of the girl. The mounting pressure on the judge from all quarters compels him to set the accused free. Khalid links the episode to the past and visualises Sita and Draupadi in the girl thus representing the cause of women. The victim quoting Abu Shahma, the accused, the son of Hazrat Umar, makes the hair stand on end.
Unprecedented style of Khalid in crafting the plot is seen through the characters of Radha and Krishen in gahre paaniyun ka dukh. Radha, a statue in the waters, talks to Krishen who wants her to come out of it but Radha remains stubborn in living her own lonely life dejecting Krishen. The author paints man’s struggle to attain the wealth through the wrongs means in meri chaadar mere paer. But the riches destroy the peace of his mind. Khalid makes the efforts retrograde and the man runs after his old house which gives him sound sleep.
Kudos to Deepak Aarsi, the translator, for maintaining fidelity and cohesiveness of Khalid Hussain’s fictional outflow without doing any tampering of the plot construction. Known for raising socio-political issues, having command on the chronological, historical, biological and geographical backdrops, Khalid seems to be a skilled portrayer of neglected plots also.
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