Death is a mystery. Fear of losing life, uncertainty prevailing over what is next, expectation of a heaven and fear of a hell…death haunts many of us in different forms. It may be the loss of our dear relatives or friends which brings the first shiver of fear in us. Relatives and religions tried to console this fear with superstitions. This fear was also used to force the people to live in accordance with the principles laid by religions.
There is a belief in many areas of India that once a person is dead, the soul will have to remain 49 days ‘in the sky’ before re-entering into earth. In this interval the person may visit the heaven or hell. In her novel Unchas Din (49 days), The Jnanapith winner Amrita Pritam (whom the nation honoured with Padmavibhushan) tries to remove this misbelieve from human mind and call to create a heaven out of the hell surrounding us.
Sanjayan is very sick after his love Meeta is dead. He falls into a ‘psychic reality’. He believes that he is dead and now wanders in the sky searching for Meeta’s soul. His close friend Kareem tries his best to bring back his friend from the false hallucination. In the meantime, Sanjayan visits the hell in this short period and astonish that it simply resembles the situation in earth. Corrupt ministers and falling moral values, the writer in Sanjayan could not stay in the hell but he is all prepared to write a novel based on his experience.
Kareem is married twice and have children in both marriages. However, he still carries the wounds of a lost love - ‘Mumtaz’. He now looks forward to have a baby girl who, Kareem believes will carry the soul of ‘Mumtaz’. He is an honest and dedicated worker. However, the working environment only testing his patience and now wish for some independence at least to his children. Kareem give his full support to Sanjayan to write the novel and Sanjayan tries to make happy Kareem’s life. He also teaches Salamat, Karem’s son to read and write. Sheer, the eldest daughter of Kareem learns to read from Salamat and out-skill him. She also took initiative to copy Sanjayan’s novel. Kareem and Sanjayan decide to publish the novel as their own. They were trying to make a heaven in between the hell surrounding and the limitations wrapped them. The book impresses us more with the ideas and positive thoughts than its writing style. There are few statements the author issues about the present state of affairs.
1. The superstitions about death are false. The heaven or hell is in this world. 2. As things stand, the present day politics and social life make it as a hell. 3. We can create a small heaven if we combine our efforts to that goal. These small efforts will be the basis for a big heaven. (The change from a single ‘marigold’ plant to a garden was much faster when the efforts were combined.) 4. Despite our religious faith, it is our deeds which matters.
The author seems took great inspiration from ‘Bhagawat Geeta’. The importance of work and the ‘Panchbhoota’ concept was stressed. Sheer is the true representative of the ‘change’ we require. She bought life to the hope when it was about to die. She kept the eyes open and added knowledge to understand the surroundings better. She learned new skills to spread the message of love. Moreover, her efforts were sincere and based on love.
Caste system in the society was taken in a new light. Amrita Preetam gives a new definition to the caste system. She says that, we all born as ‘Shudras’, being obedient to parents. When we learn the skills to do new jobs, we become Vaishas. When we go out to fight for the country, we become Kshathriyas. After many years of life, when we possess knowledge and wisdom, we become ‘Brahimns’. Nobody becomes a ‘Brahmin’ simply by birth. Nobody remain ‘Shudra’ if they keep on learning.
The author view that the present day politicians are not acting like the ‘sons’ of the country, but like ‘son in laws’. Each nation is losing its moral commitment to humanity and the administration is all engaged in distributing portfolios of distribution. ‘Live and let live - Is there such a place in the world?’
Difficulties faced by the writers are explained in the book as well. The book is a wake up call to the aspiring writers to stand in their legs and take the message to the world. The book shows a way…
The importance of happy family life, responsibility towards it, friendship and love is stressed by the author. ‘Love, marriage, relation…these are the things required to cook the immature letters’ ‘Parents are real artists’. ‘What kind of law is that, which do not understand friendship?’
All in all, the daughter of Punjab, Amrita Pritam show us the powerful ray of hope in this brilliant novel, Unchas Din 49 days which leads the reader from darkness to light.
Amrita Pritam (Punjabi: ਅਮ੍ਰਿਤਾ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ, امرتا پریتم ) was considered the first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist. She was the leading 20th-century poet of the Punjabi language, who is equally loved on both the sides of the India-Pakistan border. With a career spanning over six decades, she produced over 100 books, of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi folk songs and an autobiography that were translated into several Indian and foreign languages.
She is most remembered for her poignant poem, Aj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu (Today I invoke Waris Shah - "Ode to Waris Shah"), an elegy to the 18th-century Punjabi poet in which she expressed her anguish over massacres during the partition of India in 1947. As a novelist, her most noted work was Pinjar (The Skeleton) (1950), in which she created her memorable character, Puro and depicted loss of humanity and ultimate surrender to existential fate. The novel was made into an award-winning eponymous film in 2003.
When British India was partitioned into the independent states of India and Pakistan in 1947, she migrated from Lahore to India, though she remained equally popular in Pakistan throughout her life, as compared to her contemporaries like Mohan Singh and Shiv Kumar Batalvi.
Known as the most important voice for the women in Punjabi literature, in 1956, she became the first woman to win the Sahitya Akademi Award for her magnum opus, a long poem, Sunehe (Messages). She received the Bhartiya Jnanpith, one of India's highest literary awards in 1982 for Kagaz Te Canvas (The Paper and the Canvas). The Padma Shri came her way in 1969 and finally, Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award in 2004, and in the same year she was honoured with India's highest literary award, given by the Sahitya Akademi (India's Academy of Letters), the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship given to the "immortals of literature" for lifetime achievement.
A lyrical narrative with unusually mysterious and mythological intonations blend into sheer realism. It shows how existential enquiry can be successfully undertaken with progressive optimism rather than tragic, and somewhat deterministically regressive pessimism which is so often presumed as the default human condition. Though I haven't read the original, I believe Balraj Verma's translation carries the soul of the original.
Judul : 49 Days Genre : Fantasi, Romantis Episode : 20 Episode Direktur: Jo Young Kwang Penulis : So Hyun Kyung Produksi: HB Entertaiment Company Limited
Drama ini menceritakan tentang kisah seorang wanita muda bernama Ji-Hyun (Nam GyuRi-) yang sedang menikmati kebahagiaan karena akan segera menikah dengan tunangannya.Ji-Hyun hidup dengan cerita yang sempurna. Kedua orang tuanya memujanya dan teman-temannya semua tampaknya mengaguminya. Sementara itu, Yi-Kyung (Lee Yo-Won) adalah wanita yang benar-benar putus asa atas hidupnya setelah pacarnya meninggal dalam sebuah kecelakaan, dan sering merenungkan untuk bunuh diri. Dia bekerja pada malam hari dan tidur di siang hari. Pada hari naas itu, Yi-Kyung melihat sebuah bus yang melaju kencang disekitar jalan. Dia kemudian berdiri di depan sebuah jalan yang ramai dan mencoba untuk bunuh diri dengan berjalan ketengah jalan raya,yang mengakibatkan deretan mobil bertabrakan. Pada saat itu, seseorang menyelamatkan hidupnya dengan menarik kembali. Pada saat ini, Ji -Hyun, yang mengemudi di dekatnya, menabrak sebuah truk semi-trailer yang telah berhenti di tengah jalan. Beberapa saat kemudian, Ji-Hyun berjalan keluar dari mobilnya dalam keadaan linglung. Dia terkejut melihat tubuhnya yang dibawa keambulans. Satu-satunya orang yang tampaknya memperhatikan berdiri di jalan adalah pria di sepeda motor. Pria di sepeda motor adalah Scheduler (Jung Il Woo) - seorang malaikat yang menunggu untuk mengambil jiwa ketujuan akhir mereka. Di rumah sakit, Ji-Hyun menemui Penjadwal lagi. Scheduler Ji-Hyun mengatakan bahwa karena itu belum dijadwalkan waktunya untuk mati, ia di beri kesempatan untuk pulih dari koma dan hidup. Artinya, jika ia berhasil memenuhi misinya: ia harus mengumpulkan tiga air mata murni dari tiga orang yang benar-benar mencintainya terpisah dari keluarganya dalam 49 hari ke depan. Ji-Hyun langsung berpikir tentang tunangannya dan dua teman terbaik dan yang pasti ia akan hidup kembali. Ji-Hyun kemudian mengambilalih tubuh Yi-Kyung dalam pencariannya untuk menemukan tiga orang tersebut. Ji-Hyun mendapat pekerjaan di sebuah restoran yang dimiliki oleh teman sekolah SMA-nya Han Kang (Jo Hyun Jae). Pada saat ini, memori Ji-Hyun dimulai kembali padanya. Sebelum , Ji-Hyun ingat . Ketika ia tiba, Ji-Hyun melihat teman baiknya dan tunangannya duduk mesra bersama dalam mobil. Dia akhirnya menyadari bahwa teman baiknya dan tunagannya telah berkhianat.Ji-Hyun sekarang menyadari bahwa tidak mudah untuk menemukan tiga orang yang tulus mencintainya .
Judul : 49 Days Genre : Fantasi, Romantis Episode : 20 Episode Direktur: Jo Young Kwang Penulis : So Hyun Kyung Produksi: HB Entertaiment Company Limited
Drama ini menceritakan tentang kisah seorang wanita muda bernama Ji-Hyun (Nam GyuRi-) yang sedang menikmati kebahagiaan karena akan segera menikah dengan tunangannya.Ji-Hyun hidup dengan cerita yang sempurna. Kedua orang tuanya memujanya dan teman-temannya semua tampaknya mengaguminya. Sementara itu, Yi-Kyung (Lee Yo-Won) adalah wanita yang benar-benar putus asa atas hidupnya setelah pacarnya meninggal dalam sebuah kecelakaan, dan sering merenungkan untuk bunuh diri. Dia bekerja pada malam hari dan tidur di siang hari. Pada hari naas itu, Yi-Kyung melihat sebuah bus yang melaju kencang disekitar jalan. Dia kemudian berdiri di depan sebuah jalan yang ramai dan mencoba untuk bunuh diri dengan berjalan ketengah jalan raya,yang mengakibatkan deretan mobil bertabrakan. Pada saat itu, seseorang menyelamatkan hidupnya dengan menarik kembali. Pada saat ini, Ji -Hyun, yang mengemudi di dekatnya, menabrak sebuah truk semi-trailer yang telah berhenti di tengah jalan. Beberapa saat kemudian, Ji-Hyun berjalan keluar dari mobilnya dalam keadaan linglung. Dia terkejut melihat tubuhnya yang dibawa keambulans. Satu-satunya orang yang tampaknya memperhatikan berdiri di jalan adalah pria di sepeda motor. Pria di sepeda motor adalah Scheduler (Jung Il Woo) - seorang malaikat yang menunggu untuk mengambil jiwa ketujuan akhir mereka. Di rumah sakit, Ji-Hyun menemui Penjadwal lagi. Scheduler Ji-Hyun mengatakan bahwa karena itu belum dijadwalkan waktunya untuk mati, ia di beri kesempatan untuk pulih dari koma dan hidup. Artinya, jika ia berhasil memenuhi misinya: ia harus mengumpulkan tiga air mata murni dari tiga orang yang benar-benar mencintainya terpisah dari keluarganya dalam 49 hari ke depan. Ji-Hyun langsung berpikir tentang tunangannya dan dua teman terbaik dan yang pasti ia akan hidup kembali. Ji-Hyun kemudian mengambilalih tubuh Yi-Kyung dalam pencariannya untuk menemukan tiga orang tersebut. Ji-Hyun mendapat pekerjaan di sebuah restoran yang dimiliki oleh teman sekolah SMA-nya Han Kang (Jo Hyun Jae). Pada saat ini, memori Ji-Hyun dimulai kembali padanya. Sebelum , Ji-Hyun ingat . Ketika ia tiba, Ji-Hyun melihat teman baiknya dan tunangannya duduk mesra bersama dalam mobil. Dia akhirnya menyadari bahwa teman baiknya dan tunagannya telah berkhianat.Ji-Hyun sekarang menyadari bahwa tidak mudah untuk menemukan tiga orang yang tulus mencintainya .
وہ انچاسویں دن کی سوغات بھی تو بد دعا ہے... دھرتی پر دوبارہ جنم لینے کا مطلب یہی ہوتا ہے.
Fantastic novel. Story revolving around Sanjay, a hindu author & his friend Karim a Muslim machine operator. Once Sanjay fell sick, Karim brought him to his home to take care where Sanjay not only recovers but during sickness he narrates story while unconscious while Karim copies it on book. After recovery Sanjay writes novel on that narration. In the mean time Sanjay & Shereen develop love for each other. In the end they tie knot while remaining on their religion. Fine story telling.