River

~ Taking the Plunge

“This river has flown forever. Those who plunge, emerge – that’s how it’s always been.” Shah Latif’s words immortalize the legend of Sohini, a potter’s daughter, who makes pots and dies as her unbaked pot crumbles in a turgid river.

Sohini falls in love with a Muslim trader, lzzat Baig. Her father marries her off to someone else. In his love for Sohini, the wealthy trader, Baig, becomes a penniless fakir and a humble cowherd- Meher. Meher, who grazes cattle across the river. The tinkling call of the Beloved’s cattle bells across the river is a powerful motif in this story. It is a call for transgression, for setting out, for taking the plunge. Sohini swims to the other side to meet her love with only a baked day pot as her support, and returns before dawn.

One fateful night, her clay pot is substituted with an unbaked one by her jealous sister-in-law. Sohini steps into the river only to merge with it. Meher, hearing her cries, jumps in to merge with her.

Sohini represents the principle of absolute surrender and faith and not holding back once it is clear what one must do.