Salman Rushdie, “Midnight’s Children”, 1981 was the topic of an earlier blog post.
Here I present: Amrita Pritam ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਾ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ 1919-2005, “The Two Faces of Eve”, 1971 which was a Punjabi-language novel. India & Pakistan area of overlapping speech is the Historical Punjab shown ABOVE.
There are nineteen (19), untitled chapters in the book, shown BELOW.
The first sentence of each chapter is shown BELOW.
Chapter. “First Sentence”.
#1. “The sight of her baby dragged Anita from the deep waters of a reverie and brought her to the shore.”
#2. “The weight of the nightmare lay heavily on Anita’s mind all day.”
#3. “Next morning, the midwife found that Anita had developed low fever.”
#4. “Anita’s cot and the baby’s cradle were in the same room, but Anita’s fever had become a wall that stood between the cot and the cradle.”
#5. “On the road that Anita used to watch expectantly and always told herself not to watch; on those streets one day, she came upon Sagar.”
#6. “Anita did not remember how she spent the next days.”
#7. “A cold silence accompanied Anita whenever she sat down; cold silence kept her company still when went anywhere.”
#8. “Anita looked once at each of her things.”
#9. “The remainder of Anita’s life now stretched out before her like a boundless sea.”
#10. “After lunch, Anita would often go to the library, a few minutes walk from her office.”
#11. “It was five in the evening, Anita was about to get up from her chair when Iqbal telephoned.”
#12. “Anita had not been to her office for five days.”
#13. “A minute before daybreak, Anita woke up.”
#14. “The first rays of sun lit up the sky and awakened Anita.”
#15. “There was not much to buy: little things, but so many of them.”
#16. “A new city, a new house and new household chores.”
#17. “The dust was swallowing up large mouthfuls of the setting sun’s ruddy glow.”
#18. “Anita got down from the train at the city where her child was.”
#19. “Rambali took a very long time returning home.”
SUMMARY.
Anita is the protagonist: and, Anita is married to Iqbal. Anita, while happily married, is carried away on the waves of extramarital emotions to Sagar. Their utopian love affair receives a jolt as Sagar wants to possess her body which she rejects. Then follows the emotional turmoil and pain of separation.
- Here I presented: Amrita Pritam (ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਾ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ) 1919-2005, “The Two Faces of Eve”, 1971 which was a Punjabi-language novel. Amrita Pritam, “Pinjar; The Skeleton and The Man“, 1950 is her most famous novel. “Pinjar” has been adapted to film; and, also has a female protagonist Puro abducted by Rashid (antagonist character).
- There are over 130 million Punjabi speakers; and only Hindi & Bengali of India have more speakers.
Furthermore, there are 30 million Sikh religious followers in the World; and, the Punjab Sikh population is nearly sixty (60) percent. Sikh Punjabi diaspora is global, with populations in Canada & the United States that are large.
Salman Rushdie, “Midnight’s Children”, 1981 was the topic of an earlier blog post.
