Lajwanti – Rajinder Singh Bedi

Lajwanti – Rajinder Singh Bedi

The chapter Lajwanti by Rajinder Singh Bedi is set in the wake of the India-Pakistan Partition – specifically, the abduction of women on either side of the border.

During the Partition, tens of thousands of Hindus and Muslims were forced to pack and leave, because suddenly, allegiance to one’s country was based on religion. Families who had been living on the “wrong” side of the border since generations had to migrate, at moment’s notice, to their “homeland”. In the midst of all this pain, anguish, separation and large-scale identity crises, displaced people began attacking the “enemies” – through thefts, violence and abductions, as was the case with the protagonist Sunder Lal, and his wife Lajwanti, who was abducted.

In brief, the story Lajwanti is as such:

Sunder Lal, after losing his wife Lajwanti to abductors, and abandoning all hope of finding her again, put his heart and soul into the rehabilitation of those women who were abducted and brought back, but not accepted into their own homes. Sunder Lal urges the families and husbands of these women to “rehabilitate them into your hearts,” through processions and speeches. He is supported in this endeavour by many, but faces opposition too, especially from the orthodox, religious section in society. One day, his brother-in-law sees Lajwanti in a truck full of abducted women to be returned. Sunder Lal brings her home and treats her like a goddess, with utmost reverence. However, under the impression that her fragile heart would break if she were to recount her “traumatic” experiences, he does not allow her to speak about it. The story ends with Lajo bemoaning the fact that she had been rehabilitated, yes; but not accepted.

My analysis of this story is based chiefly on two issues touched upon in the narrative.

To begin with, the supposed immorality of a woman who had been abducted, and who did not kill herself instead:

“Couldn’t they have killed themselves? Why didn’t they take poison and preserve their virtue and their honour? Why didn’t they jump into a well? They are cowards, they clung to life…”

The author goes on to describe how some of the women who had been returned were not acknowledged by their husbands, brothers and parents, for fear of God, or worse, society.

Such situations had arisen because of the ignorance of the people at home, who hadn’t been abducted, who hadn’t gone through what the abducted did, and who did not understand that it was not the abducted that were immoral – it was the abductors that were lecherous. They could not understand the futility of killing yourself for honour, or rather people’s perception of it. Rajinder Singh Bedi addressed this issue in Lajwanti, because he wanted society to see how their loved ones who did not commit suicide would be treated.

The second issue I will address here is the interpretation of the holy texts to either prove a point – that the women must not be accepted into their homes – or to debunk it.

In the story, Narain Bawa and the people at the temple happened to be discussing the topic of Ram Rajya and how, even the voice of a common washerman was heard, acknowledged and acted upon by the great king, when Sunder Lal and his procession was passing by. In rebuttal, Sunder Lal explained how true Ram Rajya was one where a person neither does wrong to anyone nor suffers anyone to do him any wrong. He further compares the ejection of Sita from her own home, with the ejection of the abducted from their homes.

In conclusion, when there is so much pain, on both sides, the people should have simply stated afresh and rebuilt their lives, with their wives and sisters and mothers, abducted and brought back and rehabilitated or otherwise.

In class, many valuable points were added on, which I have tried to list out below:

"Additionally, it must be mentioned that Sunder Lal's behavior was almost hypocritical. On the one hand, he treats her with utmost kindness, but on the other, he refuses to give her a chance to talk about her experience."

"The author shows the deification of Lajwanti as Sunder Lal's attempts to put her up on a pedestal - unattainable, not relatable to - and to distance Lajwanti from himself, in a cruelly duplicitous manner."

There is more, of course - I'll insert it here when I find it.