Sassi Punnu – Folk Love Story… 25-Nov-2013 I looked at my husband, shocked. All the years that I have known him, he never showed any interest in storytelling. I didn’t even know he knew any stories. Least of all ones from Pakistan. My parents felt the same. I saw the shock in their faces when he told us which story he was going to tell. Reza and Mehru, still enthralled by the once-in-a-lifetime story time session, listened intently to their father’s first (and possibly only) tale. * * * In the southern tip of present-day Pakistan in the Sindh province, there once was a raja that mightily ruled the lands of Bhambour. He had had many children but was blessed with only one daughter. She was named Sassi, meaning the moon, for they thought she was as pure and splendid as the moon. When she was born, the raja and his wife went to an astrologer to learn of their daughter’s fate. The wise astrologer prophesied to the parents that their one and only daughter would bring great shame to her parent’s honor. Saddened, the poor parents had no other choice. Sassi could not stay there. They could not bear to kill their child. Instead, they placed their beautiful daughter in a basket to send down the Indus River. Before placing her in the basket, however, Sassi’s mother tied a taweez filled with a prayer around her daughter’s neck for protection. Downstream, a poor dhobi was washing clothes, a hard day’s labor for a meager wage. This poor man named Atta had a wife but they could not conceive a child. They had prayed for many years but to no avail. While finishing up the last of the shirts he had in his bundle, the dhobi saw something strange floating on the river. He watched as it got caught in some bushes. It was a basket. He took it out of the river and saw that within was the most precious baby girl he had ever seen. The first name to come out of his mouth was Sassi. He took her home to show his wife the answer to their prayers. So as it is, Sassi grew up the daughter of a poor dhobi. She was happy. She knew no other life. As she grew older, her beauty grew deeper. She became known for her charming looks throughout the land. Hearing about her, the raja of the land sent for this young woman. As summoned, she went to the palace to be before the raja. There, the raja’s wife saw the taweez still around Sassi’s neck and knew at once that this was her daughter. Happy to be together again, the raja insisted that she stay with them in the palace. However, Sassi could not bear to leave the poor old dhobi and his wife, who raised her all these years. Still, the raja made relentless efforts to win her back. In another one of the raja’s attempts, the raja invited Sassi to a large garden made by a neighboring raja. As she explored the depths of the garden, she saw the most beautiful painting of a young man. She fell in love with his strong stature and noble appearance. She had to meet this man. Word traveled fast. The man in the painting heard of this beautiful woman wanting to meet him so he disguised his true identity as the Prince Punnu and dressed as a trader of art to meet Sassi. They fell in love and began to blossom as lovers. Sassi, who had disregarded her royal birth and biological parents, continued to live as a dhobi’s daughter and nothing more. Punnu did not know her past and she would not dare to tell it. To him, she was a dhobis daughter and to her, he was a mere art trader. When it came time for Punnu to ask for Sassi’s hand in marriage, the only parents he knew to ask were the dhobi and his wife. The dhobi knew the importance of a humble husband, whether he be a prince or a peasant. He decided to test Prince Punnu and told him that if he could correctly wash a shirt, then he would be able to wed his daughter, Sassi. Punnu, who had never washed a single article of clothing, was unable to wash the shirt in the river against the rocks like a dhobi. The shirt came back torn. The prince offered large amounts of gold coins to compensate for his failed attempt and grudgingly the dhobi took it, knowing that his daughter’s heart would only be happy with Punnu. Next came time for Sassi to gain approval from Punnu’s family. Punnu went to speak with his parents. However, when Punnu spoke with his parents about Sassi, they flatly refused because she was the daughter of a dhobi. No way could a prince marry a daughter of a poor man who washes other people’s laundry for a living. Punnu would not be swayed. His heart was set on Sassi. No one else would do. Seeing this, Punnu’s family decided to pretend to go on with the wedding. In celebration, Punnu’s brothers decided to take him drinking the night before the wedding. His brothers gave him a large glass to drink. Punnu drank and drank until he passed out. Then, Punnu’s brothers took their brother far away from the wedding celebrations to another village. With Punnu in a different state of mind and place, the wedding could not go on. Sassi heard the sad news on her wedding night, while she was getting dressed for the ceremony. Afraid of what would become of her Punnu, Sassi, while still wearing her wedding clothes, ran across the desert sands toward the village, calling out to her Punnu. Halfway through her journey, she saw a shepherd and asked for some water. The shepherd saw her beauty. He could not rest until she was his. He grabbed her and she cried out to the heavens for help. Meanwhile, Punnu had regained his senses back in the village he had been taken to. When he realized that his family had tricked him, he too ran just as Sassi had, across the desert, calling out the name of his love. He was about halfway there when he heard Sassi calling out. Suddenly, through Sassi’s pleas to the skies, the ground shook underneath them and split into two. The earth swallowed up both Sassi and Punnu. Now, in that same place, there are two mountains that remain together for eternity. “Wow,” replied my mother. Out of all the stories she knew, she could not recall this one. She had vaguely heard of Sassi and Punnu but did not know the details. “Baba, where are these mountains?” asked Reza. “There are in the Sindh near Balouchistan. It is said that if you listen closely when you are in the valley of the mountains, you can still hear the names ‘Sassi’ and ‘Punnu’ being whispered,” added my husband rather coolly. “Come on, kids,” I said. “Time for bed.” Finally, they were ready to go to sleep. But not alone in their room. They enjoyed having the company of Ammi and Abbu in the room. It was decided that they would sleep together tonight. It was the one of the best winters we’ve had in a while. Author’s Note: This was probably the hardest story for me to write because there are so many versions of the tale. I tried to synthesize all the variations that I found together here. There are two vastly different endings I found. The alternate ending I found involves Sassi turning into a Kaknoos bird, or a phoenix. I chose not to use that ending because although Sassi comes back from the ashes, her Punnu does not. Another problem I had is with the religion of the characters. One story states that Sassi and her parents are Hindus. But this doesn’t make sense because they tie a taweez around her neck which is a necklace containing verses of the Quran to protect from nazar, or the evil eye. However, after doing a bit more research, I found that Hindus also wear a similar talisman. In another instance, when Sassi’s parents consult an astrologer, I got confused as to what their faith was because this action is seen as a bad thing and is not a part of Islam. I chose to not mention the religion conflict in this story because I had inconsistent information. I hope you guys enjoyed my storybook. Thank you for all the comments you have left me on my blog. Bibliography: Sassi Punnu. Websource: Wikipedia; Sada Punjab; The Fairy Tale Love of Sassi Punnu; Jannat Ki Tamanna By S0nu...
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 08:55:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015