Translated from Urdu by Khushwant Singh

     "The leaves of Lajwanti wither with the touch of human hands." A Punjabi Folk Song.
 

     After the great holocaust when people had washed the blood from their bodies they turned their attention to those whose hearts had been torn by the
     partition.

     In every street and by-lane they set up a rehabilitation committee. In the beginning people worked with great enthusiasm to rehabilitate refugees in work
     camps, on the land and in homes. But there still remained the task of rehabilitating abducted women, those that were recovered and brought back
     home: and over this they ran into difficulties. The slogan of the supporters was "rehabilitate them in your hearts." It was strongly opposed by people
     living in the vicinity of the temple of Narain Bawa.

     The campaign was started by the residents of Mulla Shakoor. They set up a `rehabilitation of hearts' committee. A local lawyer was elected president.
     But the more important post of secretary went to Babu Sunder Lal who got a majority of eleven votes over his rival. It was the opinion of the old
     petition writer and many other respectable citizens of the locality that no one would work more zealously than Sunder Lal, because amongst the women
     abducted during the riots, and not recovered, was Sunder Lal's wife, Lajwanti.

     The Rehabilitation of Hearts Committee daily took out a procession through the streets in the early hours of the morning. They sang as they went along.
     Whenever his friends Rasalu and Neki Ram started singing "The leaves of Lajwanti wither with the touch of human hands", Sunder Lal would fall silent.
     He would walk as if in a daze. Where in the name of God was Lajwanti? Was she thinking of him Would she ever come back?...and his steps would
     falter on the even surface of the brick-paved road.

     Sunder Lal had abandoned all hope of finding Lajwanti He had made his loss a part of the general loss. He had drowned his personal sorrow by
     plunging into social service. Even so, whenever he raised his voice to join the chorus, he could not avoid thinking'how fragile is the human
     heart'...exactly like the Lajwanti...one only has to bring a finger close to it and its leaves curl up.

     He had behaved very badly towards his Lajwanti; he had allowed himself to be irritated with everything she did even with the way she stood up or sat
     down, the way she cooked and the way she served his food; he had thrashed her at every pretext.

     His poor Lajo who was as slender as the cypress! Life in the open air and sunshine had tanned her skin and filled her with an animal vitality. She ran
     about the lanes in her village with the mercurial grace of drew drops on a leaf. Her slim figure was full of robust health. When he first saw her, Sunder
     Lal was a little dismayed. But when he saw that Lajwanti took in her stride every adversity including the chastisement he gave her, he increased the
     dose of thrashing. He was unaware of the limit of human endurance. And Lajwanti's reactions were of little help; even after the most violent beating all
     Sunder Lal had to do was to smile and the girl would break into giggles "If you beat me again, I'll never speak to you."

     Lajo forgot everything about the thrashing as soon as it was over; all men beat their wives. If they did not and let them have their way, women were the
     first to start talking..."What kind of man is he! He can't manage a chit of a girl like her!"

     They made songs of the beatings men gave their wives. Lajo herself sang a couplet which ran somewhat as follows: "I will not marry a city lad/ City lads
     wear boots/ And I have such a small bottom. "

     Nevertheless the first time Lajo met a boy from the city she fell in love with him; this was Sunder Lal. He had come with the bridegroom's party at
     Lajwanti's sister's wedding. His eyes had fallen on Lajwanti and he had whispered in the bridegroom's ear, "Your sister-in-law is quite a saucy morsel;
     your bride's likely to be a dainty dish old chap!" Lajo had overheard Sunder Lal. The words went to her head. She did not notice the enormous boots
     Sunder Lal was wearing; she also forgot that her behind was small.

     Such were the thoughts that coursed round Sunder Lal's head when he went out singing in the morning procession. He would say to himself, `If I got
     another chance, just one more chance, I would really rehabilitate her in my heart. I could set an example to the people and tell them these poor women
     are not to blame, they were victimised by lecherous ravishers. A society which refuses to accept these helpless women is rotten beyond redemption and
     deserves to be liquidated.' He agitated for the rehabilitation of abducted women and for according them the respect due to a wife, mother, daughter and
     sister in any home. He exhorted the men never to remind these women of their past experiences because they had become as sensitive as the Lajwanti
     and would, like the leaves of the plant, wither when a finger was pointed towards them.

     In order to propagate the cause of Rehabilitation of Hearts, the Mulla Shakoor Committee organised morning processions. The early hours of the dawn
     were blissfully peaceful no hubub of people, no noise of traffic. Even street dogs, who had kept an all-night vigil, were fast asleep beside the tandoors.
     People who were roused from their slumbers by the singing would simply mutter "Oh, the dawn chorus" and go back to their dreams.

     People listened to Babu Sunder Lal's exhortations sometimes with patience, sometimes with irritation. Women who had had no trouble in coming
     across from Pakistan were utterly complacent, like over-ripe cauliflowers. Their menfolk were indifferent and grumbled, their children treated the songs
     on rehabilitation like lullabys to make them sleep again.

     Words which assail one's ears in the early hours of the dawn have a habit of going round in the head with insidious intent. Often a person who has not
     understood their meaning will find himself humming them while he is about his business.

     When Miss Mridula Sarabhai arranged for the exchange of abducted women between India and Pakistan, some men of Mulla Shakoor expressed their
     readiness to take them back. Their relatives went to receive them in the market place. For some time the abducted women and their menfolk faced
     each other in awkward silence. Then they swallowed their pride, took their women, and re-built their domestic lives. Rasalu, Neki Ram and Sunder Lal
     joined the throng and encouraged the rehabilitators with slogans like "Long Live Mahinder Singh...Long Live Sohan Lal". They yelled till their throats
     were parched.

     There were some people who refused to have anything to do with the abducted women who cam back "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...."

     Hundreds of thousands of women had in fact killed themselves rather than be dishonoured...how could the dead know what courage it needed to face
     the cold, hostile world of the living in a hard-hearted world in which husbands refused to acknowledged their wives. And some of these women would
     think sadly of their names and the joyful meanings they had..."suhagwanti..of marital bliss" or they would turn to a younger brother and say "Oi Bihari,
     my own little darling brother, when you were a baby I looked after you as if you were my own son." And Bihari would want to slip away into a corner,
     but his feet would remain rooted to the ground and he would stare helpless at his parents. The parents steeled their hearts and looked fearfully at Narain
     Bawa; and Narain Bawa looked equally helplessly at heaventhe heaven that has no substance but is merely an optical illusion, a boundary line beyond
     which we cannot see!

     Miss Sarabhai brought a truck-load of Hindu women from Pakistan, to be exchanged with Muslim women abducted by Indians. Lajwanti was not
     amongst them. Sunder Lal watched with hope and expectancy till the last of the Hindu women had come down from the truck. And then with patient
     resignation plunged himself in the committee's activities. The committee redoubled its work and began taking out processions and singing both morning
     and evening, as well as organising meetings. The aged lawyer, Kalka Prasad, addressed the meetings in his wheezy, asthamatic voice (Rasalu kept a
     spitoon in readiness beside him). Strange noises came over the microphone when Kalka Prasad was speaking.

     Neki Ram also said his few words. But whatever he said or quoted from the scriptures seemed to go against his point of view. Whenever the tide of
     battle seemed to be going against them, Babu Sunder Lal would rise and stem the retreat. He was never able to complete more than a couple of
     sentences. His throat went dry and tears streamed down his eyes. His heart was always too full for words and he had to sit down without making his
     speech. An embarrassed silence would descend on the audience. But the two sentences that Sunder Lal spoke came from the bottom of his anguished
     heart and had a greater impact than all the clever verbosity of the lawyer, Kalka Prasad. The men shed a few tears and lightened the burden on their
     hearts; and then they went home without a thought in their empty heads.

     One day the Rehabilitation of Hearts Committee was out early in the afternoon. It trespassed into an area near the temple which was looked upon as
     the citadel of orthodox reaction. The faithful were seated on a cement platform under the peepul tree and were listening to a commentary on the
     Ramayana. By sheer co-incidence Narain Bawa happened to be narrating the incident about Rama overhearing a washerman say to his errant wife: "I
     am not Sri Ram Chandra to take back a woman who has spent many years with another man" and being overcome by the implied rebuke, Ram
     Chandra had ordered his own wife Sita, who was at the time far gone with child, to leave his palace."

     "Can one find a better example of the high standard of morality? asked Narain Bawa of his audience. Such was the sense of equality in the Kingdom of
     Rama that even the remark of a poor washerman was given full consideration. This was true Ram Rajya, the Kingdom of God on earth."

     The procession had halted near the temple and had stopped to listen to the discourse. Sunder Lal heard the last sentence and spoke up: "We do not
     want a Ram Rajya of this sort". "Be quiet! ...Who is this man?...Silence!" came the cries from the audience.

     Sunder Lal clove his way through the crowd and said loudly, "No one can stop me from speaking..."

     Another volley of protests came from the crowd "Silence! we will not let you say a word." And someone shouted from a corner "We'll kill you!"

     Narain Bawa spoke gently, "My dear Sunder Lal, you do not understand the sacred traditions of the Vedas."

     Sunder Lal was ready with his retort: "I understand at least one thing: in Ram Rajya the voice of a washerman was heard, but the present-day
     protagonists of the same Ram Rajya cannot bear to hear the voice of Sunder Lal."

     The people who had threatened to beat up Sunder Lal were put to shame.

     "Let him speak," yelled Rasalu and Neh Ram. "Silence! Let us hear him."

     And Sunder Lal began to speak: "Sri Rama was our hero. But what kind of justice was this, that he accepted the word of a washerman and refused to
     take the word of so great a Maharani as his wife!" Bawaji, there are many things in this world which are beyond my comprehension. I believe that the
     only true Ram Rajya is a state where a person neither does wrong to anyone nor suffers anyone to do him any wrong."

     Sunder Lal's words arrested everyone's attention. He continued his oration. "Injustice to oneself is as great a wrong as inflicting it on others...even today
     Lord Rama has ejected Sita from his home...only because she was compelled to live with her abductor, Ravana...what sin had Sita committed? Wasn't
     she the victim of a ruse and then of violence like our own mothers and sisters today? Was it a question of Sita's rightness and wrongness, or the
     wickedness of Ravana? Ravana had ten heads, the donkey has only one large one...today our innocent Sitas have been thrown out of their
     homes...Sita...Lajwanti." ...Sunder Lal broke down and wept.

     Rasalu and Neki Ram raised aloft their banners: school children had cut out and pasted slogans on them. They yelled gLong Live Sunder Lal Babu.
     Somebody in the crowd shouted "long Live Sita the queen of virtue." And somebody else cried "Sri Ram Chandra."

     Many voices shouted "Silence!" Many people left the congregation and joined the procession. Narain Bawa's months of preaching were undone in a
     few moments. The lawyer, Kalka Prasad, and the petition writer, Hukam Singh, led the procession towards the great square...tapping a sort of victory
     tatoo with their decrepit walking sticks. Sunder Lal had not yet dried his tears. The processionists sang with great gusto:
     "The leaves of Lajwanti wither with the touch..."

     The dawn had not yet greyed the eastern horizon when the song of the processionists assailed the ears of the residents of Mullah Shakoor. The widow
     in house 414 stretched her limbs and being still heavy with sleep went back to her dreams. Lal Chand who was from Sunder Lal's village came running.
     He stuck his arms out of his shawl and said breathlessly: "Congratulations, Sunder Lal." Sunder Lal prodded the embers in his chillum and asked,
     "What for, Lal Chand?"

     "I saw sister-in-law Lajo."

     The chilum fell from Sunder Lal's hands; the sweetened tobacco scattered on the floor. "Where did you see her?" he asked, taking Lal Chand by the
     shoulder. Sunder Lal let go of Lal Chand. It must have been someone else," he said quickly and sat down on his haunches.

     "No, brother Sunder Lal, it was sister-in-law Lajo," repeated Lal Chand with reassurance. The same Lajo."

     "Could you recognise her?" asked Sunder Lal gathering bits of the tobacco and mashing them in his palm. He took Rasalu's chillum and continued; "All
     right, tell me what are her distinguishing marks?"

     "You are a strange one to think that I wouldn't recognise her! She has a tatoo mark on her chin, another on her right cheek and..."

     "Yes, yes, yes," exploded Sunder Lal and completed his wife's description: the third one is on her forehead."

     He sat up on his knees. He wanted to remove all doubts. He recalled the marks Lajwanti had had tatooed on her body as a child; they were like the
     green spots on the leaves of the lajwanti, which disappear when the leaves curl up. His Lajwanti behaved exactly in the same way; whenever he pointed
     out her tatoo marks she used to curl up in embarrassment as if in a shell almost as if she were stripped and her nakedness was being exposed. A
     strange longing as well as fear wracked Sunder Lal's body. He took Lal Chand by the arm and asked, "How did Lajo get to the border?"

     "There was an exchange of abducted women between India and Pakistan."

     "What happened?" Sunder Lal stood up suddenly and repeated impatiently. "Tell me, what happened then?"

     Rasalu rose from the charpoy and in his smokers wheezy voice asked. "Is it really true that sister-in-law Lajo is back? "

     Lal Chand continued his story...-At the border the Pakistanis returned sixteen of our women and took back sixteen of theirs...there was some
     argument...our chaps said that the women they were handing over were old or middle-aged...and of little use. A large crowd gathered and hot words
     were exchanged. Then one of their fellows got Lajo to stand up on top of the truck, snatched away her duppatta and spoke: "Would you describe her
     as an old woman?..Take a good look at her...is there one amongst those you have given us who could measure up to her?" and Lajo bhabi was
     overcome with embarrassment and began hiding her tatto marks. The argument got very heated and both parties threatened to take back their
     "goods!". I cried out "Lajo! ...sister-in-law Lajo"...There was a tumult...our police cracked down upon us."

     Lal Chand bared his elbow to show the mark of a lathi blow. Rasalu and Neki Ram remained silent. Sunder Lal stared vacantly into space.

     Sunder Lal was getting ready to go to the border at Wagah when he heard of Lajo's return. He became nervous and could not make up his mind
     whether to go to meet her or wait for her at home. He wanted to run away; to spread out all the banners and placards he had carried, sit in their midst
     and cry to his heart's contend But, like other men, all he did was to proceed to the police station as if nothing untoward had happened. And suddenly
     he found Lajo sanding in front of him. She looked scared and shook like a peepul leaf in the wind.

     Sunder Lal looked up. His Lajwanti carried a duppatta worn by Muslim women; and she had wrapped it round her head in the Muslim style. Sunder
     Lal was also upset by the fact that Lajo looked healthier than before; her complexion was clearer and she had put on weight. He had sworn to say
     nothing to his wife but he could not understand why, if she was happy, had she come away! Had the government compelled her to come against her
     will?

     There were many men at the police station. Some were refusing to take back their women. "We will not take these sluts, left-over by the Muslims," they
     said. Sunder Lal overcame his revulsion. He had thrown himself body and soul into this movement. And there were his colleagues Neki Ram, the old
     clerk, and the lawyer, Kalka Prasad, with their raucous voices yelling slogans over the microphone. Through this Babel of speeches and slogans.
     Sunder Lal and Lajo proceeded to their home. The scene of a thousand years ago was being repeated; Sri Ram Chandra and Sita returning to
     Ayodhya after their long exile. Some people were lighting lamps of joy to welcome them and at the same time repenting of their sins which had forced
     an innocent couple to suffer such hardship.

     Sunder Lal continued to work with the Rehabilitation of Hearts Committees with the same zeal. He fulfilled his pledge in the spirit in which it was taken
     and even those who had suspected him to be an arm-chair theorist were converted to his point of view. But there were many who were angry with the
     turn of events. The widow in number 414 wasn't the only one to keep away from Lajwanti's house.

     Sunder Lal had nothing but contempt for these people. The queen of his heart was back home; his once silent temple now resounded with laughter; he
     had installed a living idol in his innermost sanctum and sat outside the gate like a sentry. Sunder Lal did not call Lajo by her name; he addressed her as
     goddess Devi. Lajo responded to the affection and began to open up, as her namesake unfurls its leaves. She was deliriously happy. She wanted to tell
     Sunder Lal of her experiences and by her tears wash away her sins. But Sunder Lal would not let her broach the subject. At night she would stare at his
     face. When she was caught doing so she could offer no explanation. And the tired Sunder Lal would fall asleep again.

     Only on the first day of her return had Sunder Lal asked Lajwanti about her "black days" Who was he...? Lajwanti had lowered her eyes and replied
     "Jumma." Then she looked Sunder Lal full in the face as if she wanted to say something. But Sunder Lal had such a queer look in his eyes and started
     playing with her hair. Lajo dropped her eyes once more. Sunder Lal asked, "Was he good to you?"

     "Yes"

     "Didn't beat you, did he?"

     Lajwanti leant back and rested her head on Sunder Lal's chest. "No...he never said anything to me. He did not beat me, but I was terrified of him. You
     beat me but I was never afraid of you...you won't beat me again, will you?"

     Sunder Lal's eyes brimmed with tears. In a voice full of remorse and shame he said "No Devi..never...l shall never beat you again. "

     "Goddess!" Lajo pondered over the word for a while and then began to sob. She wanted to tell him everything but Sunder Lal stopped her. "Let's
     forget the past; you did not commit any sin. What is evil is the social system which refuses to give an honoured place to virtuous women like you. That
     doesn't harm you, it only harms the society."

     Lajwanti's secret remained locked in her breast. She looked at her own body which had, since the partition, become the body of a goddess. It no
     longer belonged to her. she was blissfully happy; but her happiness was tinged with disbelief and superstitious fear that it would not last.

     Many days passed in this way. Suspicion took the place of joy: not because Sunder Lal had resumed ill-treating her but because he was treating her too
     well. Lajo never expected him to be so considerate. She wanted him to be the same old Sunder Lal with whom she quarrelled over a carrot and who
     appeased her with a radish. Now there was no chance of a quarrel. Sunder Lal made her feel like something fragile, like glass which would splinter at
     the slightest touch. Lajo took to gazing at herself in the mirror. And in the end she could no longer recognise the Lajo she had known. She had been
     rehabilitated but not accepted. Sunder Lal did not want eyes to see her tears nor ears to hear her wailing.
     .. And still every morning Sunder Lal went out with the morning procession. Lajo, dragging her tired body to the window would hear the song whose
     words no one understood.

     "The leaves of Lajwanti wither with the touch of human hand."

     Extracted from Land of Five Rivers
     published by Orient Paperbacks, Madarsa Road, Kashmere Gate Delhi 110006