Short Story- Woman is not Free
Woman is not free
Dalip Singh Wasan, Advocate.
I had been receiving from the side of Sukhwant some articles, some short stories and some poems and since those were beyond my reproach, I had been giving due place to those items in my monthly magazine. I sent to her one money order, but she returned the same saying that she was not writing literature for earning. So I started sending her a complimentary copy of my magazine each month.
I organized annual function of my paper and I invited Sukhwant to preside over the function. She was honoured because my board of editors had adjudged her the best writer of the year who had been getting place in our paper. She delivered a well planned speech and she gave special advice to new writers. Her speech was, “ If you want to become a writer, you should read hundred of books on that subject. You must be very near to the people around you and you must try to understand their actions and reactions. You must know the psychology of the people because when you shall be presenting characters, you should see that none is coming forward totally a new person came down from Heaven. We all belong to this earth and therefore, none of character should be beyond this earth. We should see that we are writing something which shall give to our readers a new life. After having a reading of our book, he must be a changed person. If he touches our book in the library, he must get the same for reading. The book which is placed in the library is not the real book and the writer has failed in his cause. A writer must be able to create more and more readers and if he is not in a position, then he should stop writing……,”. All the visitors appreciated her talk and they had been after her when we were having our tea.
And I got an invitation card of her marriage. She was marrying a gazetted officer of the state. I attended the marriage and came back. I was surprised to note that she stopped sending me her articles, her short stories and poems. I had been waiting for two three months and then I visited the house of her parents. They gave me the new address of Sukhwant, but I was informed that they too were not much happy over her writing. They were of the view that women should not write because when they talk of love, romance, relations and lovemaking, all looks bad because such things should not be the subject matter written by a woman. Therefore, I did not write to Sukhwant at her new address. However, I had been waiting for her and I was hoping that one day she would certainly come and one she would restart writing, because a writer of the status of Sukhwant cannot keep her pen idle for long. And one day she came to my office and said, “ I want to write, but the people from this side too would not allow me to write because they too are of the view that woman should not enter this field.” I had not a writing from the side of Sukhwant till the time I closed down the paper because my people too were not much happy with my venture. I had been running the paper for two decades, but my people never read that paper nor they ever appreciated the works contained in that paper. My husband once passed remarks, “ You are a lady and you should concentrate on kitchen only because you have been brought to this house to run the kitchen.” These remarks of my husband who was post graduate in English give me a new surprise, but I had to tolerate all this and I am still bearing all those remarks and still in dreams I am receiving items from Sukhwant and still I am editing those items in my magazine.
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- Dalip Singh Wasan
Tags: Board Of Editors, Literature, Psychology, Reproach, Tea
