Bano Qudsia was born in
Firozpur in 1927. She wrote Raja Gidh and Haasil Ghaat. She is married to
Ashfaq Ahmed. She has worked as a playwright, and her current occupation is
writer.
Bano moved with her family
to Lahore during the Partition of India. Her father, a landlord with a
Bachelor's degree in agriculture, died when Bano was very young. She attended
school in Dharamsala in eastern India before moving to Lahore. Her mother, Mrs.
Chattah, was an educationalist, and this inspired the young Bano to develop a
keen interest in academics, which turned her into a conscientious student. Her
marriage to Ashfaq Ahmed consummated the artist in her, though she says she
never discussed any of her works with her husband nor has the writer-spouse
ever tried to influence her writings. "We work very independently. Writing
a book is like bearing a child and you do not share that with anyone. God is
your only confidant. It is also like falling in love. You keep it personal and
private.As a student, she wrote for college magazines and other journals. Her
memories of her days at Kinnaird College in Lahore, from where she graduated,
are still quite vivid. She talks of the literary inspiration that was a
hallmark at Kinnaird's campuses during those days. Though her stay at Kinnaird
went a long way in sharpening her scholarly skills, Bano felt an incessant need
to polish her expressions in Urdu, the only language with which she could reach
the minds of the people. So in 1951, she completed her M.A. degree in Urdu from
the Government College Lahore with distinction.
She has authored numerous
short stories, novelettes, television and radio plays, and stage plays. Her
short stories include Baz Gasht, Amar Bail, Doosra Darwaza and Twajju ki Talib.
Of her novels, none has received as much recognition as Raja Gidh which centers
around the forbidden truth. The plot buildsaround the symbol of a vulture, a
bird of prey, that feeds on dead flesh and carcasses. The moral sought implies
that indulgence in the forbidden leads to physical and mental degeneration.Some
of her best plays include Tamasil, Hawa key Naam, Seharay and Khaleej. The
plight of women and other socio-economic issues have often been the subject of
her television serials that have inspired families wherever they have been
aired. The Graduate Award for Best Playwright was conferred on Bano in 1986,
followed by the same award for three consecutive years from 1988 to 1990. In
1986, she was also given the Taj Award for Best Playwright. Rather critical of
the deviation of today's woman from her natural role of mother and home keeper,
Bano decries what she terms 'a woman's unsolicited and disoriented escape from
responsibility.' Interestingly, though, she blames men for plotting a conspiracy
to push women out of the house, her only domain. "And women fall easy prey
to this trap. Men of the post-industrialization era gave women a taste of
luxurious lifestyles and then instigated them to step out of the house and earn
that lifestyle. The woman developed a taste for what she thought was freedom
for her, but which actually bonded her as a labourer and a
breadwinner."She cites the example of the woman who does the dishes in her
home. "This woman is more liberated than your modern women, since she does
not suffer from any conflicts of the 'self'. Poverty is all that hurts her and
she is not caught in a rat race to prove something to herself or carve out an
identity for herself. Her existence is identity enough.Bano also feels that
what she calls women's 'strength of softness' has been lost in their struggle
to prove themselves equal to men. What women take as their weaknesses are in
fact their strengths, she believes.
Bano Qudsia planned to
co-author a book with her (now late) husband. Her obligations towards her
family are much more important for her than her work. "My husband (now
late), my three sons and daughter-in-law have all been very kind to me and have
always showered their affections on me. So, how can I ever put anything else before
them?"
Having lived a fulfilling
life, which Bano ascribes to the benevolence of those around her, she kept
herself busy caring for her husband. She is now working on her present literary
undertaking - a novel which she plans to title Dastan Serai, after her home.
"I formally started work on this novel in 1992. Prior to this, I had
worked on it during the 1950s. The novel is set against the backdrop of
Partition and revolvesaround the theme of intention and motivation. It
highlights the importance of intention as the key determinant behind every act.
By Gulraiz Kamal
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