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Lakharay owh nay jo
ambaraan tay karan tehriraan CALL it destiny or coincidence, Renu Behl had started her literary journey as Urdu poet but, on the advice of an experienced litterateur, she switched over to prose. Soon she discovered that her short stories were in great demand. Various magazines, newspapers and other publications readily hosted her works in their columns. The next logical step was the publishing of her short story collections in book form. Consequently, her first anthology, Aaina (mirror), was published in 2001. And since Lady Luck was smiling at Behl the debut book won an award from the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Akademi. Thereafter two more of her short story anthologies – Aankhon sey dil tak and Koyee chaarasaaz hota – were published. Her latest book, Khushboo merey aangan ki deals with different aspects of human relationships with the feminine aspect featuring prominently. The story Agni pareeksha, for example, contrasts a husband’s attitude with that of a wife. For two years Rashmi had been visiting the police station in search of her missing husband. She puts up with all sorts of humiliations at the cops’ hands. Even when people suggest that her husband might have been long dead she refuses to give up hope and visits soothsayers for succor. During her visits to the police station she encounters a man who is searching for his missing wife. Due to empathy the two begin to exchange notes and information. One day the man is informed that a woman answering to his wife’s description has been located in a mental asylum. When Rashmi suggests that he should go and rescue her he refuses on the ground that he doesn’t know with whom all she might have co-habited during the period of her disappearance. This shocks Rashmi who wonders why had she never thought of her husband on similar lines; the endless wait for husband had become the raison d’`EAtre of her life. Shouldn’t men too be subjected to agni pareeksha like women have been since the dawn of civilization?
However family life remains the most prominent motif in Behl’s stories. Kisko kya mila features two families. One family falls on bad days after the division of the joint family property. While the man’s own kin refuse to help him his wife’s friend comes to their rescue by helping him set up business. The man works from dawn to late night to provide for his wife and children. The other family, Khannas, comprises an old couple, their two grown-up daughters and a dog named Sandy. Khanna treats Sandy as his son and wouldn’t countenance anyone calling it a dog. He accepts his situation and generally remains jovial. Another story Saanjh Dhalay illustrates that scenario of modern times wherein parents devote their lifetime for their children, but in old age children desert them for greener pastures. Similarly, the title story deals beautifully with a mother’s psyche and depicts the importance of a daughter in her life. It protests against the various injustices meted out to women as a matter of routine in our society. This collection is good
value for money.
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Behl
has a knack for portraying the psychological aspect of human
relationships with that slight ironical twist which leaves the reader
pondering over the denouement. For example, in the story Mehrum hai
ajnabi two young doctors from New Delhi, Sameer and Anand, go to
Srinagar to attend a seminar. While on an evening stroll they get caught
in a rainstorm and seek shelter in a house owned by a young widow. They
leave after the rain subsides. However, Sameer meets the widow later
again posing as Dr. Anand and spends three nights with her. On their
return to N. Delhi the two doctors start working in different hospitals.
A couple of years later Dr. Anand is informed by an attorney that the
widow had died and willed her property to him. He is also handed over a
letter from her wherein she mentions her gratitude for making her nights
blissful, even if briefly. Anand is absolutely flummoxed as he had never
met the woman except for a couple of hours during the rainstorm. When he
narrates the whole story to Sameer the latter rues his fate.