When the rules of engagement change: The Way We Were by Poonam Saxena
The song Kudmayi, from Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, bears within it echoes of a very different world.
Among the many catchy songs in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is Kudmayi, which plays in the background as the two lead characters (Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt) are married in a glittering ceremony.
There was much scratching of heads when the song was released. What did “kudmayi” mean? I knew instantly, because of a short story we studied in school called Usne Kaha Tha (She Had Said So).
The story has a recurring line of dialogue between a 12-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl. The two keep meeting in Amritsar’s busy bazaars, over a month. He always asks: “Teri kudmayi ho gayi?” She always answers “Dhat!” and runs away. Until she doesn’t.
On their last such meeting, she doesn’t laugh in response. Yes, it’s done; can’t you see my shawl with its rich silk embroidery, she says.
Our Hindi teacher explained that kudmayi meant engagement.
I remember being very moved by the story when I read it in school. Even today, re-reading it brings a lump to my throat.
Usne Kaha Tha was written more than a century ago, by Chandradhar Sharma Guleri (1883-1922). It is one of only three short stories by him, but it was enough to immortalise him in Hindi literature.
The story was written in 1915 and published in the great Hindi literary magazine Saraswati, which was famously edited by Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi (1864-1938) for 18 years, from 1903 to 1920.
The most remarkable thing about Usne Kaha Tha is that it doesn’t feel dated at all. A story about Indian soldiers in World War 1, it is a tautly written tale of war, love and sacrifice. It is based in fact: more than a million Indian soldiers fought in that war, and about half of them were from Punjab. These were largely poor peasants, carried off to the frozen trenches of Europe to fight someone else’s battle, recruited initially through economic incentive and later through plain coercion.
Usne Kaha Tha follows a group of such men, who have been sent to icy, slushy trenches in France, where they face exploding shells and a crafty enemy.
The 12-year-old boy has grown up to become jamadar Lahna Singh, who sacrifices his life to save the subedar and subedar’s son, Bodha. Before going to war, Lahna meets the subedar’s wife, purely by accident. She turns out to be the girl from the market. Will he please protect her husband and son, she says. She has no one else in the world. He promises to do so, and keeps his promise. Because usne kaha tha.
He averts what could have been a murderous attack by Germans. In that effort, he is shot twice, the second time grievously. But rather than leave in an ambulance, he sends the subedar and Bodha away to safety. The final passages of Usne Kaha Tha are the most poignant, as Lahna Singh lies close to death, cradled in a weeping friend’s lap. He is delirious, talking about a mango tree in his village. The mangoes will be plentiful this year, won’t they, he says.
Usne Kaha Tha is regarded as the first modern Hindi short story, a tale of its time, rooted in reality.
In 1960, it was made into a film starring Sunil Dutt and Nanda, produced by Bimal Roy and directed by Moni Bhattacharjee (best known for his 1963 dacoit drama, Mujhe Jeene Do). The film may have faded into obscurity but the story rightfully remains in a league of its own.