my article on Umer Marvi published in Heritage mag

aSerenade to a dead breed

By Shanaz Ramzi

      One often reads tales of passionate and everlasting love between a man and a woman. In most cases, these legendary couples are no more than mythical figures – creations of folk lore, greatly romanticised over time. But sometimes, these romances are based on real stories, and so amazing are they, and so seemingly fairytale-like the protagonists, that it becomes difficult to believe that such people actually existed. One such story is that of Umar Marvi.

   According to Sindhi history, Marvi was a young and beautiful girl living in a village called Bhalwa, close to Umerkot. Hired-hands at farms by profession, her family was poor, but Marvi was a happy soul who loved her life, her village, and the people all around her.

   As the story goes, an orphan boy, Phog, lived with Marvi’s family, and attracted by her beauty, wished to marry her. But, Marvi’s heart was already given to another – Khet, her handsome, young fiancé who lived in a neighbouring village, and reciprocated her feelings. Depressed at being rejected, Phog left for Umerkot to seek his fortune, and found employment with Umer Soomro. In those days, Sindh had its capital at Umerkot and was ruled by Umer Soomro who was renowned for his justice, as much as for his appreciation of beauty.  

   One day Umer Soomro learnt of Marvi’s great beauty from Phog and decided to see for himself if she was indeed, as exquisite as she was made out to be. So, disguised as an ordinary villager, he went to Marvi’s village, and came upon her as she was drawing water from a well for her goats. Needless to say, the minute Umer set eyes on Marvi, he was smitten by her beauty. He asked her for some water, and as she poured it into his palms, he stood transfixed, the water spilling through his fingers. The well still exists, and is now famous as ‘Marvi jo khooh’, in memory of the day that the ruler of Umerkot fell in love with the village girl, Marvi.

   Umer returned to his home and from there began to try and woo Marvi by sending her expensive gifts and jewels. However, she refused all his overtures, and he soon realized that he was making no headway with her. Finally, frustrated and no longer able to restrain himself, he forcibly abducted her from her village, and rode off with her on his camel to his palace in Umerkot.

   So how, one may well ask, is this tale any different from the countless ones we see in Indian films, and how is Umer any different from the many feudal lords who cannot take no for an answer? The difference lies in both Umer’s and Marvi’s characters. Umer kept Marvi with loving care, showering her with every imaginable comfort in the hope that she would appreciate him for who he was – a man head-over-heels in love with her. At no point did he try to force himself upon her, as he wanted to win her over through love and not coercion. There are few instances today, and indeed, in history, of men displaying the kind of honour, integrity and respect that Umer showed Marvi.

   Marvi, on the other hand, was as resolute as they come. She was steadfast in her refusal of all luxuries bestowed upon her; loyal to her fiancé, and yearned for her village and her simple, happy life. So depressed did she become at being separated from her beloved hometown that she refused to change her clothes even though they had become tattered, or wash her hair, lest she lost the lingering perfume of her village that remained on her person.   

   Finally, Umer realized that Marvi was a lost cause. Nothing he could do or get for her could take the place of what she had been made to leave behind. As this truth dawned on him, the rebuffed ruler gracefully accepted his defeat, covered her hair respectfully with a ‘chadar’, and let her return home. So rarely does one come across a man of Umer’s standing who is willing to take the kind of rejection he did, and eventually sacrifice the object of his love and desire, that the famous Sindhi poet, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, who has written poems narrating the famous love stories from Sindh and Punjab, such as Heer Ranjha and Sohni Mahiwal, made an exception in the title of the poem about Marvi and Umer, by placing the name of the male protagonist before the female one, as a tribute to such exemplary decency.

   But Marvi’s woes were not yet over. When she returned to her beloved village, she found that her chastity had been cast in doubt and she was being looked upon by one and all as a ravaged girl, who should be despised.

   When, try as she would, Marvi could not succeed in convincing everyone that she was as pure and untouched as she had been the day she had been picked up by Umer, she decided to take the ultimate test of integrity traditionally accepted by her people – walking on hot coals. The belief was that if a person was making an honest claim, nothing would happen to them even if they walked over burning coals, while if the claim was false, the soles of the feet would bear testimony to the lie by getting blisters.

   Marvi took the test and emerged unscathed, proving beyond doubt that she was every bit as chaste as she claimed to be, and that she had displayed exemplary loyalty and love for her people. Today, her name is as synonymous with commitment and love for one’s homeland, as Umer’s is for decency and true love.