"Love Across the Salt Desert" was the Title of one of the best stories in our Standard XII syllabus English text book. I am quite thankful to the NCERT (National Council for Education ? ?) for compiling lovely short stories and for introducing us to great authors like Oscar Wilde, RK Narayan, Khushwanth Singh, Rudyard Kipling etc.
This particular story I am talking about is set in an Indian village at the borders of India and Pakistan in the Salty Deserts of the Rann of the Kutch (somewhere in Gujarat or Rajasthan). The village is totally parched and dry and it has not rained there for years together. Many villagers earn their livelihood by smuggling goods across the border braving the BSF(Border Security Force) , Pakistan Army and bringing back goods from Pakistan as exchange. Our hero and his father too smuggle stuff into Pakistan and bring back spices from a Pakistan Village.
On one such visit The Hero meets the Spice Seller's daughter. "Eyes Meet, Love at First Sight" - Kannum Kannum Nokia - The Eyes do all the talking and it is understood that the Hero will come, "aur Dulhania Le Jayega". The Hero returns home with his father then informs his mother of his love and that he will be going to bring home his bride. As do standard Indian Movie mothers she wants her son to be happy, but his concerned of his safety and finally she courageously sends off her son with some food and jewels. Our hero braves the border forces in style and reaches the Pakistani village. The Spice Seller is hesitant but he sees the love in their eyes and does not stand in between their love. The Hero brings his lover in style, back to his village and it rains for the First Time after long long years. The village hails the girl as the saviour, and All is Well That Ends Well!!
Subham
(:) was watching Veer Zara for a while yesterday and thatz what prompted to write this entry.
21 comments:
nostalgia is the word that comes to mind after reading this entry. a really long time since i heard the title "love cross the salt desert".
the thing about nostalgia is that it never comes alone but along with itself brings forth a torrent of hidden and lost memories.
Dei. do u remember who the author of the story was?
really nostalgic. brings back the times of our xii std classroom alive.i still remember the enthusiasm with which we used to read these love stories then,.
do you know where i can find this story online?
If my memory serves right, it was K N Daruwala. O Man! What I'd give to get my hands on those books (from Grade 7 to 12). I have just requested the NCERT folks to put stuff on the web (old volumes)....thanks to the guy who originated the thread...
Anyone remember "Man Who Hated Time"? Or the one by Dr. Christiaan Barnard who performed the first heart transplant.... some days I tell you.
I was looking for some reference to Love Across the Salt Desert, and ran into your blog...quite entertaining and refreshing.
Don't really remember "The Man Who Hated Time", but the first heart transplant...boy that was good!
So were the Olympic Gold, Sinking of the Titanic, and Captain Patch. Just where did they pick these from...I sometimes wonder! The Other Side too, I still remember being stunned for many days after reading that story.
Anyhow...long story real short, I likes your blog, adding to my reading list.
And if you happen to have the text of Love Across the Salt Desert, do send over!
my std XII classroom has come alive before me by reading this entry...and as correctly mentioned by someone here, a flood of emotion along with it....those stories were awesome, and that kind of passion with which we followed and drowned in those stories.....some other stories whose names I remember from STD XI and XII are 'last leaf', 'sparrows', 'titanic', thanks to the CBSE people for having given us such beautiful chapters to go along with one of the most beautiful chapters of our lives....that teenage...and that innocence!!
wow thx a lot guys. It was definitely a memorable story for me. Dint expect so many ppl to remember it.
cheers
Like all other dwellers here, I too was searching for those wonderful stories I read in the best days of my life. As someone else said, what I wont give to get my hands on those old syllabus books from standards VIth to XIIth. I really hope CBSE puts them online.
My favorites were (not from any particular standard) The Necklace, Last Leaf, The Dowry, How much land does a man need? and many more.
Oh boy those days!!!!! If only I could go back to them. And this pain is only compounded by the facts that for those 7 years (VIth to XIIth) I lived in a boarding (which is so awesome I cant even describe) and my life is is in really bad shape. And then remembering those beautiful and tension free days makes me so sad.
is dat this a true story?
Hey man! The last part of ur review is wrong, that the spice-seller doesn't resist the Indian guy, Najab and Fathima...seeing their love. The original thing was, 'both of them fled together, the spice seller, being ignorant of it......'
Keki N. Daruwalla
It's to short..... make it a little long with easy words..
It's to short..... make it a little long with easy words..
It is really good story.
It can be find in NCERT 12th standard English book.
Really I loved it.
Great Article
very informative website
Great Article
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ISC Class XII Exam Question Papers 2012: English
Nice Website
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