Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar is a tale of self liberation, a transformation- from Pooro to Hamida, from a simple, innocent girl to a matured, experienced woman who is bold enough to negate the hateful game of religion. Set against the background of religious and clan feuds on the eve of the partition of India, Pinjar aims at presenting the struggling miseries of the Indian women in the whirl of cultural and religious differences. Originally written in Punjabi by Amrita Pritam, recipient of Jnanpith Award, Sahitya Academi and Padma Shri, Pinjar or The Skeleton is translated into English by another veteran writer in Indian English, Khuswant Singh in 2009. The text, although short in length, is full of profound depth of humanism. In each of its
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Although Rashida does not behave with her like “an enormous grizzly bear” (9; ch. 2), her abduction and conversion to Islam before marriage with him raise so many humanist questions that cannot be ignored anyway. Pooro feels unconscious in deep shock. When she comes to her senses, she finds herself within four walls. She bangs her forehead against the walls as if to wish herself to be bold enough to change the course of her life herself. She, like a freedom fighter begins to hammer the door of her confinement with her bare hands still she feels exhausted. She shrieks and falls back unconscious once again, “She dreamed she was in a cave. A black bear was combing her hair with its claws. She shrank in size while the bear grew bigger and bigger” (13; ch. 3). The freedom of life is abducted from Pooro with her confinement in the hand of Rashida. All her dreams and all her joys are snatched away from her life. It is surely an offence from the view point of humanism. Adolescence, according to psychology, is very much sensitive and sensible a stage for any human being because at this stage boys and girls grow a mind which is not matured enough to think rationally yet it carries an indomitable romantic wonder which can conquer any peak of victory. Pooro’s mind at fifteen is killed permanently with …show more content…
According to humanism, human life is precious because he is the measure of all things. But Pooro’s life proves that human life is everywhere not only in chains but also in torture. Pooro is married to Rashida. Her arm is tattooed on with a new name, ‘Hamida’. With that inscription, her Hindu name ‘Pooro’ becomes old and lost. Pooro becomes not only homeless but also unknown to herself. She becomes a refugee in an unknown land. The compulsion that is applied for the conversion and the stoic surrender that Pooro shows at that time can remind anybody about an animal sacrifice at religious rituals. The human Pooro remains no one to
Although Rashida does not behave with her like “an enormous grizzly bear” (9; ch. 2), her abduction and conversion to Islam before marriage with him raise so many humanist questions that cannot be ignored anyway. Pooro feels unconscious in deep shock. When she comes to her senses, she finds herself within four walls. She bangs her forehead against the walls as if to wish herself to be bold enough to change the course of her life herself. She, like a freedom fighter begins to hammer the door of her confinement with her bare hands still she feels exhausted. She shrieks and falls back unconscious once again, “She dreamed she was in a cave. A black bear was combing her hair with its claws. She shrank in size while the bear grew bigger and bigger” (13; ch. 3). The freedom of life is abducted from Pooro with her confinement in the hand of Rashida. All her dreams and all her joys are snatched away from her life. It is surely an offence from the view point of humanism. Adolescence, according to psychology, is very much sensitive and sensible a stage for any human being because at this stage boys and girls grow a mind which is not matured enough to think rationally yet it carries an indomitable romantic wonder which can conquer any peak of victory. Pooro’s mind at fifteen is killed permanently with …show more content…
According to humanism, human life is precious because he is the measure of all things. But Pooro’s life proves that human life is everywhere not only in chains but also in torture. Pooro is married to Rashida. Her arm is tattooed on with a new name, ‘Hamida’. With that inscription, her Hindu name ‘Pooro’ becomes old and lost. Pooro becomes not only homeless but also unknown to herself. She becomes a refugee in an unknown land. The compulsion that is applied for the conversion and the stoic surrender that Pooro shows at that time can remind anybody about an animal sacrifice at religious rituals. The human Pooro remains no one to