dialog, No.

38 (Autumn, 2021) 245-259

Waris Shah’s Heer as the Meme of Punjabiyat and

Punjabi Identity
Simple Kochar
Abstract
The present paper dwells on the most celebrated classic of Punjabi
literature – Heer (1766), the magnum opus of Waris Shah1. Even
more than two and a half centuries later the qissa as retained its
ingenuity and charm. This paper attempts to analyze the characters
in Heer and even the folktale itself as memes of Punjabiyat and
Punjabi identity. Meme is a popular unit of cultural transmission
analogous to genetic transmission and spreads the information
through imitation. Richard Dawkins introduced the concept of
meme more than four decades ago and since then the term has
travelled fairly well with its share of trials and tribulations. Waris
begins the legend on a cheerful note but ends it tragically unlike
the writers preceding him. The anguished fate of the lovers
becomes the fate of the entire Punjabi community. It is as if Waris
had foreseen the impending disasters that were to swallow his land
and people. Hence the tragic ending makes the narrative even
more realistic paralleling the destiny of Punjab. If the love affair
of Heer-Ranjha had joyfully culminated into marriage, it would
have been an ordinary story of happily ever after and a way too
perfect to blend with the psyche of the masses or to be acceptable
to them. Now they are lovers immortal and their legend a part of
the collective memory.
Keywords: Meme, Punjabiyat, Punjabi Identity, Heer, Tragedy

Introduction
Punjab’s turbulent historical backdrop has fuelled the creative
imagination of the writers with myriad themes – homeland,
invasions, conquests, partition, identity crisis and misfortunes to
mention a few. These themes come to light in the narrative of
Heer as well when we refer to Heer as a rebel beauty, Sehti as
defiance personified, feudal landlords as the adherents of
patriarchy, Kaido as custodian of social norms, haping up our

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perceptions. Thus, Heer as a meme robustly empowers and
nurtures Punjabiyat and Punjabi identity. In his key note address
to the Fourth Punjabi Conference (1993), Prof. Pritam Singh
justly remarks, “It is worth remembering that the kind of
concept of “Punjab” and “Punjabi” a person entertains, his
“Punjabiyat” will also be of the same type.” In Waris’s Heer
Punjab, Punjabiyat and Punjabi identity are all inclusive.
Primary Concepts – Punjabiyat and Punjabi Identity
In the epilogue, Waris Shah mentions his home town “I, Waris
Shah, a native of Jandiala” which is now in present day Pakistan
(st.3). Is Waris Shah known by his birth place, caste or religion?
Can borders restrict his popularity? No, because Waris is
distinguished for and by his Heer. We may choose to actively
participate in the process of identity formation or it may be
ascribed to us. Stuart Hall writes, “identity is as much a process
of becoming, as it is about what one is” (qtd. in Kidd and Teagle
26). Identity is both singular and plural, individual and
collective contending multiple tags of race, religion, language,
gender and ethnicity, etc. But Waris’ Heer has withstood the test
of time and enables a construction of Punjabi identity that is
composite and wholesome. A popular anecdote states that when
Udham Singh was charged for the murder of Michael O’ Dwyer,
the lieutenant governor of Punjab during the Jallianwala Bagh
massacre (1919) and was presented in the court of law in
London (1940), he took oath on Waris Shah’s Heer instead of
any religious text, “While Udham Singh wore his Indian identity
beyond the confines of any ethnic or religious group, by
choosing to take his oath on the Heer-Ranjha, he also depicted
his proud Punjabi identity. For him there was no conflict
between these two identities” (Khalid). In Heer, we have
interplay of both individual and group identities. On a more
personal level, the readers have a desire to rebel and to imitate
their protagonists in tasting the forbidden fruit and they also
experience catharsis in the mirth and misery of the characters.
Simultaneously, Heer also becomes the basis of identification,
imparting a sense of solidarity and belongingness with the
community.

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 Like the concept of identity, the concept of Punjab and
Punjabiyat are very challenging and tricky to define because of
its unique geographical and historical backdrop. “The moment
we use the word Punjabiyat, it suggests a reference
simultaneously to something that is very tangible while still
elusive. This dual character opens the term to many
imaginations and possibilities” (Pritam Singh 55). Is it ‘bhangra
and giddha’ (the cultural dances), is it ‘sarson da saag and makki
di roti’ (the national food), is it ‘gurwali cha or lassi’ (the
hospitality), is it the warm ‘jhappi’ (the way to meet and greet)
or the friendly abuses (vernacular expressions) Punjabiyat is all
of it coupled with sensibilities and idiosyncrasies of its people.
In the context of geography and identity, with Waris’s Heer, the
borders become obsolete, the divisions are softened and the
fractured selves are reconciled. The love legends like Heer-
Ranjha, Sohni-Mahiwal, Sassi-Punnu and Mirza-Sahiba enrich
the canon of Punjabiyat along with upholding its cultural legacy.
The subsequent lines by popular Punjabi singer Ranjit Bawa
reminds us how the evolution of Punjabiyat is documented, kept
culturally alive and promoted in music and cinema, the latest
Punjabi discourse.
Mirze de jhand kareer diyan (Of Mirza under the wild caper)
Ja Khive Khaan Shameer diyan (Of Khiva Khan or else of
Shameer)
Raanjhe te pai gayi bheed diyan (Of crowd befalling on Ranjha)
Jakise Chuchak jat ameer diyan (Or else of some wealthy jat
Chuchak)
Ik tare waleya baba O! (Wise old man with Iktara)
Do tukka sunaja Heer diyan (Sing to us few verses from Heer)
(0:41-57) (Self-translated)
This song strikes a familiar chord and springs an intimate
emotion in every Punjabi’s heart wherein we forget the
hyphenated identities and sectarian divisions and visualize
ourselves on a common platform.

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Overview of the Plot
Before Waris Shah, the qissa or love story of Heer-Ranjha was
recounted by Baqi Kolabi, Damodar Gulati, Saeed Saeedi,
Ahmad Gujjar, Chiragh Awan and Muqbal beginning on
different versions and ending on different notes. But it is Waris
Shah’s narration which adorns the crown. Dhedu, lovingly
addressed as Ranjha, is the youngest son of Mauju Chaudhry,
the head of village Takht Hazara. Ranjha’s elder brothers feel
envious as he is adored by their father the most. When Mauju
Chaudhry dies, bitterness spills out in sarcastic remarks from
Ranjha’s brothers and their wives. Ranjha is deliberately given a
barren piece of land from the ancestral property. Disappointed,
he leaves everything behind and reaches Jhang, the land of his
beloved Heer. Heer is the daughter of Chuchak Khan, the chief
of Sayal clan. On Heer’s request, his father appoints Ranjha as a
herdsman to tend to his cattle. Thereupon, Kaido, Heer’s
villainous uncle spies on the lovers and incites Heer’s parents
against them.
Heer-Ranjha’s love is not sanctified with marriage hood
because a ‘vagi’(cattle-drover) is no match to the wealth and
status of the Kheras. So, Heer is forcibly wedded to Saida Khera
leaving behind his downhearted lover. Ranjha decides to
become a yogi and approaches Guru Bal Nath. With shaven
head and ashes smeared over his body and big loops in ears, he
reaches Rangpur where Heer anxiously awaits him. They elope
with the help of Sehti, Heer’s sister in-law. The Kheras follow
behind and overtake them soon. The lovers are then taken to the
court of King Adli where the Kazi pronounces that Heer belongs
to the Kheras. Immediately afterwards the town catches fire
surprisingly and the king alters Kazi’s verdict in favour of
Ranjha presuming he has supernatural powers. Both the lovers
proceed towards their respective hometowns to be married
rightfully. But Heer is poisoned by her family and upon hearing
the news, Ranjha too collapses and dies.
Narratives are born out of tradition but are also in conflict
with it. This continuous tension brings out the discursive space.
For instance, we come across different types of conflict in Heer–

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group vs individual identity, haves vs have-nots, male
supremacy vs female subjugation, tradition vs modernity,
arranged vs love marriage, outer turmoil vs inner struggle,
kinship vs individual will. Though the central theme of the
legend is love, the conflicts in the narrative bring forth other
social vices, dilemmas and constraints making it multilayered.
Waris neither reconciles the contestations nor untangles them.
He lets his characters decide how to pursue. The nature of
struggle or tension might have changed but it continues to
persist to this day ensuring the continuity and survival of the
legend. There is interplay of binaries throughout the text of
magical and mundane, of virtues and vices, of positive and
negative emotions. “The earthly and the mystical, the solemn
and the wanton, sermon and slapstick, the religious and the
ribald, literary refinement and coarse diction merrily coexist in
the narrative” (Pankaj K. Singh 52). With his creative genius,
Waris Shah assimilates the opposites gripping the narrative with
a pragmatic approach.
Defining Meme
Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, introduced the term
meme in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. The word meme is
of Greek origin and is the abbreviated form of “Mimeme”,
which means an imitated thing. To quote Dawkins, meme is the
“new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of
cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation” (249). Dawkins
observed that Charles Darwin’s principles of natural selection2
are not restricted to only biological replication but can be
extended and applied to the exchange of ideas as well. As the
hereditary information is transmitted through genes from one
generation to the other, similarly ideas are also replicated by
means of cultural transmission. Basically, memes are the
cultural counterparts of genes carrying information. A meme can
be a song, a poem, a belief, a building design, a fashion style, a
behavioural characteristic or mannerism which is quickly
imitated from person to person becoming a popular
phenomenon. Memes reproduce, multiply, mutate and behave in
a manner similar to biological evolution.

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 With digital connectivity, meme has become the internet
buzzword. For netizens, memes commonly means jokes,
humourous videos or caricatures, etc. The term meme has been
adapted, discarded and readapted in various academic
disciplines. Memes as a genre is useful for cultural analysis as it
promotes shared culture at the ethnic and the global level
enhancing connectivity of ideas. “A meme,” as philosopher
Daniel Dennett puts it, “is an information-packet with attitude”
(qtd. in Gleick, Smithsonian Magazine). Memes not only
circulate stories of our past but also connect them with the
contemporary culture thus obliterating past-present distinctions.
In rapidly changing socio-cultural environment memes evolve
quickly precipitating the spread of information or an idea.
Gradually memes become a part of the universal social and
cultural experience.
Now the question arises how do memes reproduce or
replicate? Dawkins’ writes, “Just as genes propagate themselves
in the gene pool by leaping from body to body...so memes
propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to
brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called
imitation” (249). Memes very much require a tangible, physical
medium to spread the information further, so they replicate by
passing from one brain or person to another. Memes imitate both
by oral and written means from word of mouth to inscriptions to
paper. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “The replication
and transmission of a meme occurs when one person copies a
unit of cultural information comprising a meme from another
person” (Rogers). However, the fidelity with which the genes
replicate is somewhat missing in memes. The success rate of a
meme replication depends upon how successfully a meme is
copied and transmitted to the next host with or without mutation.
Addressing another important question as how memes
survive in the cultural environment, Dawkins answers that the
successful memes come with a “great psychological appeal”
(250). Memes also face the selective pressure and compete with
each other in the meme pool for greater space. It is as if memes
also go by the law of “survival of the fittest”. The more adaptive

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ones thrive vigorously in the socio-cultural environment
increasing their longevity while others disappear quickly. As
Jacques Monod, a French biologist puts it, “Ideas have retained
some of the properties of organisms. Like them, they tend to
perpetuate their structure and to breed....” (qtd. in Gleick, The
Information 311). While analyzing Heer we observe that the
legend chronicles the evolution of Punjabiyat and maintains the
stability of Punjabi identity by directing the cultural discourse
through oral word in the form of music, cinema, recitations,
aphorisms etc along with maintaining its supremacy in the
written word.
Analysis of the Text
Punjab has borne the brunt of both external invasions and
internal intrigues and Waris was chronicling these turbulent
times in a love tale. Punjab was in a disheveled state from the
loot and plunder by the Afghans, the simultaneous rising power
of the Sikhs in the form of misls and the crumbling Mughal
empire giving way to feudalism. The various analogies to raids
on Punjab by foreign invaders like Nadir Shah, Turks and places
like Qandhar, Kashmir, Iran etc. are memes revealing the socio-
political, historical and cultural milieu of the times. The
following words by Ranjha to Heer’s niece voicing his feelings
illustrate how thestate of Punjab, Punjabiyat and the lovers are
voyaging a similar fate. “Like Nadir Shah, the scourge of Ind /
And the Punjab, you robbed my mind / Of all its peace and rest”
(183; canto 5, st. 6). The influx of intruders has given
adaptability to Punjabis in synthesizing different cultures and
dialects. Culture as a collective entity is often in conflict with
the individual. Culture plays an important role in formulating
our identity and the latter in turn influences cultural processes
too, thus sharing a symbiotic relationship.
Waris’s narrative is brimming with life. His descriptions
are encyclopedic and come alive in simple activities like
everyday household chores, men working in fields, women
spinning cotton in courtyards, details of marriage procession,
food items and delicacies, women bedecked in fineries, singers
and dancers, details of trousseau comprising utensils and cattle

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etc. Though the narrative is set in rural Punjab but it appeals to
the readers and audiences of all age, caste, class and gender
alike. Waris’s greatest strength lies in keeping the common and
familiar as selfsame. His imagery is evocative, language is rich
in folklore, characters are realistic, dialogues are punched with
dramatic effect and stanza’s end with words of wisdom. As a
matter-of-fact, the text is rooted in Punjabi consciousness. Heer
is the womb nurturing Punjabiyat and Punjabi identity, the
strongest umbilical cord with which we cannot swerve our ties
ever.
Allegorical Characters
The narrative is replete with metaphorical symbolism and
particularly Waris makes his characters allegorical and calls
Heer-Ranjha the spirit and the body of Punjabiyat respectively,
five saints are the five senses, Sehti is death, Kaido is Miltonic
Satan, BalNath is Pir, Adli Raja is justice and Heer’s friends are
home, to lista few. The characters are delineated keeping in
view the diversity of Punjabi society. They distinctly put
forward different attitudes and ideals. For instance, Heer and
Ranjha are both archetypal heroes and icons sworn on by the
lovers as a testimony to their love and loyalty for each other.
The detailed description of Heer’s beauty – her “ruby” lips, teeth
like “pearls”, and hands like “chinar leaves” – is infact the
essence of Waris’s Punjab (12; canto 1, st. 40). Heer is another
name for love and romance but above all she is an exemplary
figure of unflinching resistance. Both Heer and Ranjha are
Muslim protagonists. But never does Waris let their religious
identity overpower their Punjabi identity. They are neither
Hindu nor Muslim nor Sikh; they are ubiquitous and pan-
Punjabi.
Sometimes the characters are individual in their own unique
sense and at times representative of an entire class or society.
Waris’s characters quintessentially exhibit the collective
unconscious of Punjabiyat. Heer’s father and brother, her
parent’s in-law and Ranjha’s brothers embody the typical feudal
values deriding any change. They are devotees of the established
social and moral codes and their vested interest lies in

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maintaining the status-quo. A well acclaimed Punjabi critic,
Najm Husain Syed aptly points out:
In this world, Ranjha is a lonely figure, an outcast…. He is
utterly disinterested in any materialistic motives…. So, he is
out of place in a world where relationships are based only
on utility and expediency. But if he is a victim of this world,
he is, at the same time, the instrument of its exposure. Thus,
Ranjha puts to a moral test the people who come into
contact with him. The only person who survives this test is
Heer. (53)
Thus, the locus of human relationships is economic
prosperity most evident in wedding alliances. Ranjha has left his
inheritance and being herdsman has further abated his status.
Hence, he cannot be a prospective match for the beautiful and
affluent Heer against the Kheras who supersede in wealth and
social status. That is why against her wishes, Heer is given to
Saida to which Waris poignantly remarks, “Gold makes the
rank, the grade, the class” (39; canto 1, st.107).
The characters are conditioned in patriarchal mindset and
are either wronged by or wrong the others. If we analyze Heer’s
situation, as Harsaran Singh points out that she is oppressed by
all the men in her life – father, lover, and brother – specially the
first two whom she entrusted herself affectionately (Pankaj K.
Singh 72). “In her (Heer’s) situation one finds the basic paradox
of patriarchy: She is important for both but in herself she has no
importance for them…” (93). Waris also highlights the gender
inequality in his couplets and exposes the social pretentiousness
where a girl or a woman is solely responsible for keeping the
family honour intact, otherwise there are no qualms to poison,
drown or bury her alive. Women like Heer and Sehti who dare
to disturb the equilibrium by challenging or defying social
norms are a huge threat to the entrenched power system. We
conduct literary festivals, organize press conferences celebrating
years and centuries of Waris Shah’s Heer but absurdly are at
unease to accept any Heer in our family. Our collective psyche
is still fraught with similar memes wherein we have fashioned

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Heer as a perfect beauty relinquishing her of heroism and
tenacity.
Even the womenfolk are coloured in patriarchal ideology.
Ranjha’s brothers’ wives, Heer’s mother and mother-in-law
have imbibed patriarchal consciousness and speak the language
of patriarchy. They are complacent with their socially and
culturally constructed roles of women for the hearth and men for
the fields. They are not allowed to think and act beyond these
roles and are even training their next generation to accept
similar providence. When the women of Jhang learn of Heer’s
affair with Ranjha, they chide her mother Milkhi to keep a check
on her “disgraceful ways”; for they think their daughters too will
follow Heer’s precedent (26; canto 1, st. 79). Heer’s mother in-
law too is unhappy with her. A daughter in-law is the honour of
the house. But she fears that Heer’s laments will bring ill-luck to
the family for she doesn’t fulfill her “duties marital” (210; canto
5, st. 94). The patriarchal discourse puts women in double bind
of having to abide by stereotyped gender roles otherwise they
are declared unfeminine and very conveniently prosecuted in the
name of social norms and codes.
“Freedom is always and exclusively the freedom for the one
who thinks differently”, writes Rosa Luxemberg, a twentieth
century German economist in her book The Russian Revolution
(1918 and published online in 1999). It is indeed apt for Waris
who was a progressive writer ideating ahead of his times. He
was radical in naming the epic after a female protagonist. He
was well aware of the prevailing ill-practices and pretensions of
the society and Sehti (Heer’s sister in-law) becomes his
spokesperson to criticize them. Sehti is courageous like Heer but
more unyielding with women’s secondary status. We get a
glimpse of her prudence in her banter with Ranjha where she
defends women of the negative labels attributed to them:
Ah! Blessed are the women; they
Are honoured by the holy laws;
They are the grand primeval cause
Of man in life’s eternal play. (189; canto 5, st. 24)

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 Sehti is more like Austenian protagonists. She is prudent
and could easily see through Ranjha disguised as a fiendish
fakir. With her shrewdness, Sehti devises a plan and helps
Ranjha and Heer to elope and does “turn the devious course of
fate” in their favour (221; canto 5, st.128). Keeping social
constraints in mind, Sehti is apprehensive of her future with
Murad, the Baloch lad. So she too sneaks away along with the
duo. Meanwhile Murad’s camel miraculously strides in the same
direction in which the trio is moving and he rescues Sehti
bidding adieu to Heer and Ranjha. But neither does their
successful elopement bring about any change in the coercive
social structure nor do they make up a legend.
Kaido and Kazi, the Notorious Memes
Kaido, Heer’s uncle, shady in name and deeds is undoubtedly a
very strong meme. He wields power in bringing about the
climax of the story. Firstly, he deliberately provokes Heer’s
parents and other kinsmen against the lovers. Secondly, he
persuades Heer’s parents after their consent for her marriage
with Ranjha, to poison her in the name of family honour. Najm
Husain Syed in “The Fakir as Hero: Ranjha”, poignantly
remarks that Kaido’s eccentricity stems from self-assumed,
“cultural-intellectual function. He upholds the form of
convention, (and) enjoins inhibitions” (154). He empowers
patriarchy at all levels and in turn gets empowered. Kaido’s
physical disability gets camouflaged with the ruckus he creates
in and around the lives of others as a guardian of social norms.
Kaido is a brand in himself, synonymous with venom and
hatred. Waris too testifies Kaido’s idiosyncrasy by discrediting
him with the following names, “vicious knave”, “raise the
blinding fogs/of hatred”, “cripple crook” (24; canto 1, st. 73,
74). His journey continues beyond Waris’ narrative. Whenever
some Heer is forcibly married off or killed to save the family
prestige, thereupon Kaido’s in our society triumphs crushing the
spirit of love. Not to anyone’s amazement, the Punjabi poet
Amrita Pritam calls out to Waris Shah to save once again his
Heer’s from Kaido’s, the robbers:
Despoilers of beauty and love,

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 each man now turned a Kedu
where can we seek another like
Waris Shah today? (3)
The Kazi and boatman Luddan are aides to Kaido. In an
argument with Mullah at the mosque, Ranjha strips him off his
fraudulent behaviour and calls himan imposter who “deceive(s)
innocent folk” and accept bribes (7; canto 1, st. 25). Waris also
chastises Kazi for idolizing caricatured religion. Without even
slightest of remorse, Kazi advises Heer’s father to lure the
witnesses with money to forgo the “bride’s consent” and “ratify
the marriage rite(s)” hurriedly (69; canto 2, st.44). He goes a
step further in mocking the religious practices by commanding
to “gag” Heer and “marry her by force” (71; canto 2, st. 49).
Punjabis have precipitated illusions around themselves to
overcome imperfections of the past. They have developed
affections for austerity while simultaneously enjoying pretence
which is most evident in observing social practices like birth and
wedding ceremonies which are celebrated like grand festivals.
Idea of a Community
A community as a whole is distinguished from the others with
certain distinctive traits or characteristics that are associated
with it. Gujarati and Punjabi communities in the sub-continent
have been extremely mobile in exploring the globe. Waris
himself writes about his travels to earn a livelihood and to “win
a poet’s laurel crown” (77; canto 2, st. 61). Punjabis and the
motif of journey are perfectly synonymous to each other. Critics
have pointed it out for Ranjha as well. Ranjha’s excursion from
Takht Hazara to Jhang Sayal to Bal Nath’s abode and then to
Rangpur is significant of the Punjabis unquenchable wanderlust
and love for migration. It has always pulled the Punjabis
towards foreign territories simultaneously feeling nostalgic
about their homeland resulting in dual emotions of euphoria for
the new and heartache for the old. The image of Ranjha
travelling afar is etched deeply in Punjabi psyche that they carry
a bit of Ranjha everywhere with them.

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 Anthony Cohen writes, “People construct community
symbolically, making it a resource and repository of meaning,
and a referent of their identity.” (qtd. in Kidd and Teagle 233).
Cohen further says that the idea or concept of community is
more of an “imagined” or a “symbolic” unit rather than ones
drawn on maps or demarcated geographically. Heer is the
legend of home (Punjab) or rather it brings us home whenever
wherever it is read and recited. It is a pure Punjabi discourse
reminiscence of the undivided Punjab. The medieval Punjab was
a heterogeneous society with a predominant kinship or fraternal
authority. The collective power of the community is absolute
barely leaving any place for individual will or desire. This
power play is the basis of all the conflict giving birth to the
legend and its characters. Love is sacrificed at the altar of the
magnified power of the kinship. Heer and Ranjha are on the
other side of the continuum. The streak of rebelliousness from
the lovers openly challenges the established system. Any
deviance from social laws and codes is an offence and any
aberration is strictly countered as fraternal authority is
sovereign. The kinship system also raises an important question
regarding the group and social identity – ‘Do I belong?’ as an
individual finds it difficult to break ties.
Heer as a Devotional Meme
Almost all Sufi poets from Shah Hussain to Bulleh Shah and
Ghulam Fareed have venerated on Heer-Ranjha. For Sufi poets,
the love affair of Heer-Ranjha is divine and they act as
devotional memes. Heer is the symbol of a true devotee seeking
her beloved as Sufi poets seeking communion with the God.
Bulle Shah sings for Heer:
Ranjha Ranjh akardi hun main aape Ranjha hoyi
Sakhiyo ni mainu Dheedo Ranjha, Heer na akho koyi
(Chanting the name of Ranjha I myself am Ranjha now
My friends call me Dheedo Ranjha not Heer anymore).
(Dutt)
Heer becomes one with her lover losing herself and her
identity. Heer and Ranjha are buried in a single grave at the

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shrine of Heer in Jhang. It is the ultimate symbol of union and
victory of lovers in death. With metaphysical symbolism, Waris
uplifts his characters spiritually and frees his narrative from the
confines of time and space. What remains behind is the soul of
Punjabiyat, the eternal legend – timeless, dateless and ageless.
Punjabi scholar H. S. Gill says, “The narrative of Heer
operates at two levels…the anthropological level and the
cosmological level”; at the first stage, characters progress at the
“cultural level” and at the second, “we encounter the same
dramatis personae circumventing the realities of profane life
with the sanctions of divine authority…” (319). Heer and
Ranjha endure hardships with some solace in the form of divine
intervention. The five saints bless both the lovers time and again
with their grace. The patron saints reward Ranjha with five gifts
and also protect Heer from Saida’s advances after marriage. The
history of Punjab is rich in traditions of Bhakti so gurus are held
in reverence along with their ability to perform miracles. Ranjha
too persuades Bal Nath to attain monkhood to help him reunite
with his beloved.
Heer has a wide readership base irrespective of class,
caste, community. It is Punjabiyat in macrocosm. As writes
Balwant Gargi for folk drama (appropriating it to the legend), it
“does not give a slice of life; it offers a panorama of existence”
(qtd in Pankaj K. Singh 17). It is a common culture to recite a
line or two from Waris’ Heer whenever the elderly gathers for
evening chitchats in rural Punjab. Other than literary and
scholarly analysis, Heer is potently alive in popular culture, in
informal readings, maxims, songs, cinematic adaptations and
paintings. The water of Chenab outflows bearing the love legend
in its bosom decrying of the union and separation of the lovers.
The places that we visit, the characters that we accompany in
Waris’ Heer are all powerful memes reverberating in Punjabi
lifeblood and sentiment
Conclusion
“When we die there are two things we can leave behind us:
genes and memes…Our genes may be immortal but the
collection of genes that is any one of us is bound to crumble

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away…But if you contribute to the world’s culture, if you have
a good idea, compose a tune…write a poem, it may live on
intact, long after your genes have dissolved in the common pool.
Socrates may or may not have a gene or two alive in the world
today, as G. C. Williams has remarked, but…meme-complexes
of Socrates, Leonardo, Copernicus, and Marconi are still going
strong” (Dawkins 258-59). Similarly, Waris and his Heer are the
touchstone of Punjabi culture and identity. “May “Heer” be still
the scholars’ craze!” wishes Waris in the epilogue to the poem
and it comes true (st. 5). Heer is tradition, culture, emotions,
history and legend.
The dramatic history of Punjab has altered the face of
Punjabi identity and the concept of Punjabiyat. The events of the
past have traumatized the community and its evolution and
entrapped them in limited zones. When Punjabiyat is battling
with internal schisms and external censures, secular texts like
Heer provide it a safe anchorage; an emblem of the past which
the entire community owns with pride. Waris criticizes
mortification of the institutions of marriage and religion by its
highest authorities. He derides his characters from treading the
beaten path and let them decide their destiny. They have flaws
and face challenges, they succumb and resist to pressure, they
are steeped in hubris and humility, they act, react and surrender
and still continue to move forward. It seems as if the readers are
transported inside the narrative. The characters undergo various
ordeals; make choices, face consequences and experience
emotions like a common man which becomes the basis of their
affinity with the readers.
Heer challenges textbook orthodoxy and conventions. It
does not imprint another set of commandments to be followed
rather it allows the characters and the readers to take a leap of
faith in fulfilling their “Personal Legend(s)”3. The ultimate
justice of the lovers is their union even in death that leads them
to heaven and gives them the “joy of immortality” (canto 6, st.
45). The readers too are encouraged to listen to their personal
calling. The imperfection of human relations infuses courage in
us to discover what we are and what more we can be. Perhaps,

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the destiny of Heer is to cradle Punjabiyat with all its flaws and
hopes and nurture it as a cosmic Punjabi dream. Though
Punjabis dream of regaining the lost glory, it is their undying
spirit and resistance that keeps Punjabiyat and their identity
dynamic. In contemporary times when Punjabiyat is combating
its own indoctrinations segregating Punjabi identity on
geographical, linguistic, religious or ethnic fault lines, Heer
turns up as a symbolic meme consolidating it.
End Notes:
1. The paper follows S.N. Dar’s English translation of Waris
Shah’s Heer as the primary source of reference.
2. In his book On the Origin of Species (1859), Darwin brings up
the idea of evolution by natural selection. Each organism tends to
adapt and change itself according to its environment. The beneficial
changes increase the organism’s chances of survival and reproduction
by passing favourable traits to their offspring’s as well.
3. The term is coined by Paulo Coelho in his fiction work The
Alchemist. “Personal Legend” is one’s destiny or ultimate purpose in
life and when we pursue it we also help further the destiny of the
universe which shows how interconnected we all are. According to the
Coelho all living and non-living beings have a personal legend but not
everyone/everything is able to realize it.

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