Swimming
Jaan to meri jaan, my life. The ghosts of language sit at the tip of my tongue and sing meri jaan. There’s a tale about two lovers, Sohni and Mahiwal. Sohni the daughter of potter Tulla and Izzat Baig of Bukhara a trader who became a buffalo herder known as Mahiwal. The two fell in love but like all the love tales of Panjab this too had a tragic end. Sohni got married to someone else but she still loved Mahiwal. She’d swim across river Chenab using a pitcher to meet Mahiwal. One night her sister-in-law caught Sohni, and decided to teach her a lesson. As Sohni began to swim her pitcher started to dissolve. Crying and begging to her pitcher she sang: mainu paar langa de ve… but the pitcher didn’t listen. Mahiwal heard her cries, and jumped in. The two drowned in love calling each other jaan. He sang meri jaan I thought I was drowning like the love in my blood but I learnt to swim when he lied, called me his jaan and left.