An Ode To Waris Shah

- By Amrita Pritam

ANSEEYA VAZ
ROLL NO. 50
“When a man denies the power of
Women, he is denying his own
subconscious”
Transformed Version of poem
An Ode To Waris Shah into
a Story
Characters

Amu(Amrita) Nimrat

Harpreet

Aksat
Chacha
Setting

Sindh

Attari Border
Come! let us take a moment's shelter under some
roofLook! there - before you, a little way offThere is
an empty spaceBetween truth and falsehood.

Refugee camps at Purana Qila, Dilli

“Freedom is for the educated people
who fought for it. We were slaves of
the English, now we will be slaves of
the educated Indians or the
Pakistanis”
“Please leave me! Don’t do this to me, Ouch! It
hurts. Help!” she screamed in agony.”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W5nHxS9F8ms
I asked myself, “Is being born a girl, a curse? Or
being poor and helpless a fault? Where is
humanity in this universe? When did humans
turned basalt?”
 “When one
daughter of
Punjab died, you
wrote a wailing
saga”
 “Today daughters cry to
you… Look O! Waris
Shah, look at your
daughters waiting for
your rise from your
grave…looking for
empathy when all hope
is lost

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5r
U8ewfRs-s
 “The partition of 1947, India and
Pakistan was not merely a division
of land… it was a division of hearts,
families, friends, souls, love and
most of all ‘Humanity’.People died
either “remembering their loved
ones” or “finding their loved
ones”…People died!!”
Social Relevance
 The poem and story also talk about the allusions that Amrita Pritam is
making with regards to feminist writings, open discussions of sexuality
and verses on theme of lost identities and lost homes. In her poetry we
see quest for liberation and self realization which is closely linked to her
identity as a woman and her sexuality.
 Amrita Pritam’s legacy for women and subsequent generations is
to intentionally challenge status quo, trying to use art to challenge
accepted taboos and redefine them. Be fearless, unabashed and
courageous in the face of crude censorship and charges of obscenity,
of raising and using your voice to speak as you see the world – not in
the manner that the world expects you to speak.

“Many stories are not written on

paper, but are written on the bodies
and minds of Women”
Further References
 https://m.hindustantimes.com/punjab/words-and-visuals-
commemorating-70-years-of-ajj-aakhan-waris-shah-nu/story-
AyEIP01vQO4yXCd91IV7uN_amp.html
 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/21233/9/13%20c
hapter%203.pdf
 https://www.youngbhartiya.com/article/revisiting-partition-through-
poetry
 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UJsgGuryKPc