Bano
Encyclopedia
Bano Naseeb is the protagonist
and main character of Razia Butt's novel Bano (novel), and of Hum TV
drama Dastaan
. She is from the province
of Ludhiana. Bano was engaged to neighbor and family friend Hassan
, but the two were never married due to partition
-induced circumstances. Her main goal throughout the novel and drama was first to have Pakistan
created, and later on, to reach Pakistan
and see it in ethereal glory.
, and the youngest of 3 siblings. Bano is shown at the beginning of the show as a typical 1940's girl, shy and obedient. But as the show progresses, we find out that she is also very loving and passionate about something she believes in.
Bano is first introduced as the sister of Saleem, who is about to get married to neighbor and family friend Suraiya. Bano and Suraiya have been best friends since they were young, and Bano is overjoyed to have her as a sister-in-law. While at Suraiya's house, just a day before the wedding
, Bano meets Hassan
, Suraiya's nephew who is just a year or two younger than Suraiya. Her first impression of him is not a good one; he has a humorous, teasing nature which she at first does not appreciate, and his calling her a "billi(kitten)" after seeing her on all fours while hiding from her mother does not help.
The day of Suraiya's and Saleem's wedding, as Suraiya and Rashida, her sister and Hassan's mother, are exchanging embraces, Hassan catches up to Bano as he sees her crying. He asks her the reason for her tears, as Suraiya is moving into her house after her marriage. He jokingly asks her whether she is trying to fantasize what it will be like when she is married and leaves home. Bano replies by saying that she will never leave home, no matter what. Hassan asks her if her decision will still be the same no matter how much her groom loves her. Bano, picking up on his hidden meaning, quickly hurries away, pausing to look back only once. She finds that Hassan is staring at the spot where she had just been standing, his hand on the tree she was leaning against.
Bano begins to warm towards Hassan, and soon the two fall in love. A substantial amount of months pass, with Hassan, who is a student at the Islamia College
, visiting Ludhiana every now and then. As things between Hassan and Bano heat up, tensions grow across all of India between Hindus and Muslims. This greatly affects Hassan and Bano, since Hassan is an avid supporter of the Muslim League, whereas Saleem is a supporter of the Indian Congress
. Their different political viewpoints often cause trouble for Hassan, as Saleem is extremely hot-tempered. When Rashida asks Bano's father for her hand in marriage for Hassan, Saleem is extremely unhappy and, speaking for his father, denies Rashida's request. He tells his father that he thinks a more suitable option for Bano would be his friend Ram, a Hindu; his father is outraged that Saleem would even suggest such a thing, and immediately accepts Rashida's offer. Hassan and Bano are engaged, much to their delight. Soon, Hassan gets a job at an engineering
company in Rawalpindi
. Hassan and his mother leave with the promise that they will be back 8 months later for Hassan and Bano's wedding.
As political tensions between Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs rise, and with the determination for the formation of Pakistan
growing stronger, Bano finds that politics become a daily issue in her household. She and her brother Faheem are adamant supporters of the Muslim League, much to Saleem's dismay. Slowly, Saleem's belief that his two best friends, Ram and Ravi, will watch his back dies. As violence outbreaks across India, riots become more widespread. Muslims are killed in their homes by thousands, and violence starts to spread closer to Ludhiana.
On one fateful night, a group of Hindus and Sikhs attack Bano's home, killing all in sight. The women are told to flee to the safety of the roof while the men attempt to stall the violence. Bano's entire family is murdered. Suraiya, unable to see her husband fall to the floor, jumps from the roof, landing next to his body. Faheem is killed as well, but not before shouting to his mother "Bibi (Mom), choke Bano's neck!" A common thing during partition violence was that Hindus and Sikhs would rape
the women before killing them, therefore taking both their virtue
and their lives. Many parents killed their daughters so that they would not have to face these trials before dying. Bibi attempts to choke Bano using her scarf with shaking hands, but is stopped by Ram and Ravi. They promise to bring the family members of their childhood friend to safety, and take them away from their home, which is still under siege. But as Ram and Ravi drag the crying pair to an abandoned home, they realize that the two have no intention of honoring their friend's memory after his death. Ram grabs Bano and takes her to a separate room, snatching her dupatta
away from her. In the other room, Bano's mother is hitting Ravi, who is frozen in his spot. She yells at him "Wo tumhare dost ki behen hai! Tumhari behen hai! Usne har sal tumhare haath pe rakhi bandi hai! (That's your best friend's sister! That's your sister! She tied a rakhi around your wrist every year!)" Bano's mother barges open the door, and Ram, furious with her and Ravi for interrupting him, slaps her and she falls unconscious. Ravi, coming to his senses, stabs Ram before he can touch Bano.
The next day, Ravi brings Bano and his mother to a refugee
camp which is traveling to Pakistan
. Bano and her mother travel with the other refugees all day in the blistering heat. As they set up camp for the night, they are attacked by a group of Hindus, who separate Bano and her mother and rape her. After everyone is either gone or dead, Bano crawls back to her mother, only to find Bibi's dead body and her broken ta'wiz
on the ground, suggesting that she was raped as well. Bano screams and cries until she falls unconscious. The next day, a Sikh
man finds the pair of them and bring's Bano back to his home while burying her mother's body. His sister nurses Bano back to health, and once she is healthy again, the man buys her a ticket to a train to Pakistan. The train gets attacked by Sikhs halfway through the journey, and a man knocks Bano unconscious and takes her back to his home, deciding to marry her.
Bano attempts to run away from the man, Basant Singh's, house many times, but is always caught in the end. Basant Singh
, or Basanta, tells her that he has repented after she shrieked at him for killing innocents. He says that traveling to Pakistan is very dangerous, and that he will see her safe arrival there once the roadways are cleared. Bano, with no options left, is forced to believe him. He renames Bano "Sundar Kaur
", or beautiful princess in Punjabi
, because she initially refuses to tell him her name.
Nearly 6 months later, a friend of Basanta's mother, Dil Raj, tells Bano Basanta's plan to convert her to Sikhism
and marry her. Bano runs away again, but Basanta stops her and beats her until she is bloody and cannot talk. When Basanta's mother asks her whether she wants to beaten more or wants to convert, Bano replies with "Pakistan zindabad (May Pakistan live forever.)" Basanta rapes her repeatedly after this, and forcefully marries her. Months later, Bano becomes pregnant and has a son. Basanta still repeatedly beats her when she disobeys him.
Nearly 5 years later, Basanta is fed up with Bano's attitude and decides to murder her. That very day, as their son sits on the roof, Basanta runs to stop him from going to close to the edge and trips and falls, dying instanly. Bano takes her son and reaches Pakistan.
Initially staying at a women's shelter, Bano later meets Hassan again. She goes to his home, where we find out that her traumatic experiences have damaged her brain, and she is slightly insane. She hates her son because she sees Basanta's face in his, and refuses to look at him. Hassan on the other hand, after hearing about Bano's death, had spent the last 5 years in depression. When he met Rabia, the daughter of a friend of his mother's, his depression seemed to lift a little. When he found out that Rabia was in love with him, he agreed to marry her with the relaxation that Bano still had a place in his heart that no one could take. Upon Bano's arrival, he decides he will no longer marry Rabia.
When Bano finds out of their engagement, she runs away from Hassan's home, where she is already treated as an outsider by Rashida, who dislikes her because of her mental condition and circumstance. Bano and her son are taken in by a woman named Musarat and her family. As Bano gets a job and explores the Pakistan she had been dying to reach for 5 years, she realizes it is nothing like the speeches Hassan used to give about it. It is not a wonderful place like she had expected it to be, and slowly, Bano's mental condition worsens. Hassan blames her leaving on himself, and decides once and for all that he will not marry Rabia. One day, he sees Bano at the Badshahi Mosque
, and she tells him that she cannot marry him because she's not the same Bano he fell in love with. She tells him to marry Rabia, and he agrees to it because it's her last request to him.
But things get worse for Bano as she goes to her office one day to find that her boss is drunk, an action which is not allowed in Islam
. Bano is horrified at his infidelity, and even more when he starts to call her "beautiful" and begins to undo her burqa
. He snaps her mother's ta'wiz
off her neck, and Bano has a flashback of her former life, and the struggles she and her mother faced. Losing her mind, she grabs a box opening knife and stabs her boss with it in a moment of panic until he dies. She grabs the ta'wiz out of his hand and holds it up in front of her, having a flashback of when she had done the same when her mother died.
Bano goes to Hassan's home, where his wedding with Rabia is about to take place, covered in blood. She says to him in hysteria, "Mainay iss pak sar zameen ko pak kardiya. Mainay Basanta ko mardiya. Ab yahan koi Basanta nahi. (I have killed Basanta. I have made this Pakistan pak [clean]. Now there's no Basanta here anymore."
At the end of the show, Bano is shown in an asylum
. Hassan and his newly wed Rabia are visitng her. She asks them how her country is doing, and they tell her it is perfect. The last words she says in the show are "Pakistan zindabad," which she says repeatedly while using her mother's ta'wiz as a prayer bead necklace
.
on her head when in the company of men. At the beginning, Bano is shown as very pretty, as when Sultana says "Shakal aur mizaaj dono aik larki mein bahaut kam miltay hain (It's not very often that you find a girl with a pretty face and charming personality.)" Towards the middle of the series, her face starts to become older, her color waning, and by the end of the show, her eyes have perpetual circles under them and her facial expressions are much more clipped.
In later episodes of the drama, Bano faces post-traumatic syndrome, and loses most of her sanity. Her sole purpose in life remains to be able to "see the dirt of my [Bano's] beloved country." Near the end of the show, Bano is obsessed with Pakistan, and her only goal is to make it the glorious utopia
that she had heard so many speeches about. After killing Kaleem, a corrupt politician, Bano thinks that she has killed all of the "Basanta's" in Pakistan, and that her country is finally "pak" or clean, like she had imagined it to be.
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
and main character of Razia Butt's novel Bano (novel), and of Hum TV
Hum TV
Hum TV is a 24-hour Pakistani entertainment TV channel based in Karachi. It is the first brand of Eye Television Network Limited, Pakistan. Hum TV began its transmission on January 17, 2005.-Serials:* Manay Na Ye Dil * Akhri Barish...
drama Dastaan
Dastaan (drama)
Dastaan is a Pakistani drama serial dramatized by Samira Fazal, and based on the novel "Bano", by Razia Butt. It is based on the Partition of India , and takes place between 1947 and 1956. The drama depicts the story of Bano, a girl from a close knit Muslim family living in Ludhiana in the...
. She is from the province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
of Ludhiana. Bano was engaged to neighbor and family friend Hassan
Hassan (character)
Hassan portrayed by Fawad Khan) is a main character of Razia Butt’s novel Bano, and of Hum TV drama production Dastaan. He is from the province of Ludhiana. Hassan was engaged to neighbor and family friend Bano Naseeb, but the two were never married due to partition-induced circumstances...
, but the two were never married due to partition
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
-induced circumstances. Her main goal throughout the novel and drama was first to have Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
created, and later on, to reach Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and see it in ethereal glory.
Character Information
Bano is a girl from Ludhiana, IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and the youngest of 3 siblings. Bano is shown at the beginning of the show as a typical 1940's girl, shy and obedient. But as the show progresses, we find out that she is also very loving and passionate about something she believes in.
Bano is first introduced as the sister of Saleem, who is about to get married to neighbor and family friend Suraiya. Bano and Suraiya have been best friends since they were young, and Bano is overjoyed to have her as a sister-in-law. While at Suraiya's house, just a day before the wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
, Bano meets Hassan
Hassan (character)
Hassan portrayed by Fawad Khan) is a main character of Razia Butt’s novel Bano, and of Hum TV drama production Dastaan. He is from the province of Ludhiana. Hassan was engaged to neighbor and family friend Bano Naseeb, but the two were never married due to partition-induced circumstances...
, Suraiya's nephew who is just a year or two younger than Suraiya. Her first impression of him is not a good one; he has a humorous, teasing nature which she at first does not appreciate, and his calling her a "billi(kitten)" after seeing her on all fours while hiding from her mother does not help.
The day of Suraiya's and Saleem's wedding, as Suraiya and Rashida, her sister and Hassan's mother, are exchanging embraces, Hassan catches up to Bano as he sees her crying. He asks her the reason for her tears, as Suraiya is moving into her house after her marriage. He jokingly asks her whether she is trying to fantasize what it will be like when she is married and leaves home. Bano replies by saying that she will never leave home, no matter what. Hassan asks her if her decision will still be the same no matter how much her groom loves her. Bano, picking up on his hidden meaning, quickly hurries away, pausing to look back only once. She finds that Hassan is staring at the spot where she had just been standing, his hand on the tree she was leaning against.
Bano begins to warm towards Hassan, and soon the two fall in love. A substantial amount of months pass, with Hassan, who is a student at the Islamia College
Islamia College
Islamia College may refer to:*Islamia College , Lahore, Pakistan*Amiruddaula Islamia Degree College, Lucknow, India*Islamia College , Peshawar, Pakistan*Islamia Science College , Karachi, Pakistan...
, visiting Ludhiana every now and then. As things between Hassan and Bano heat up, tensions grow across all of India between Hindus and Muslims. This greatly affects Hassan and Bano, since Hassan is an avid supporter of the Muslim League, whereas Saleem is a supporter of the Indian Congress
Indian Congress
The Indian Congress occurred from August 4 to October 31, 1898 in Omaha, Nebraska, in conjunction with the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition. Occurring within a decade of the end of the Indian Wars, the Indian Congress was the largest gathering of American Indian tribes of its kind to that...
. Their different political viewpoints often cause trouble for Hassan, as Saleem is extremely hot-tempered. When Rashida asks Bano's father for her hand in marriage for Hassan, Saleem is extremely unhappy and, speaking for his father, denies Rashida's request. He tells his father that he thinks a more suitable option for Bano would be his friend Ram, a Hindu; his father is outraged that Saleem would even suggest such a thing, and immediately accepts Rashida's offer. Hassan and Bano are engaged, much to their delight. Soon, Hassan gets a job at an engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
company in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
. Hassan and his mother leave with the promise that they will be back 8 months later for Hassan and Bano's wedding.
As political tensions between Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs rise, and with the determination for the formation of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
growing stronger, Bano finds that politics become a daily issue in her household. She and her brother Faheem are adamant supporters of the Muslim League, much to Saleem's dismay. Slowly, Saleem's belief that his two best friends, Ram and Ravi, will watch his back dies. As violence outbreaks across India, riots become more widespread. Muslims are killed in their homes by thousands, and violence starts to spread closer to Ludhiana.
On one fateful night, a group of Hindus and Sikhs attack Bano's home, killing all in sight. The women are told to flee to the safety of the roof while the men attempt to stall the violence. Bano's entire family is murdered. Suraiya, unable to see her husband fall to the floor, jumps from the roof, landing next to his body. Faheem is killed as well, but not before shouting to his mother "Bibi (Mom), choke Bano's neck!" A common thing during partition violence was that Hindus and Sikhs would rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
the women before killing them, therefore taking both their virtue
Virtue
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
and their lives. Many parents killed their daughters so that they would not have to face these trials before dying. Bibi attempts to choke Bano using her scarf with shaking hands, but is stopped by Ram and Ravi. They promise to bring the family members of their childhood friend to safety, and take them away from their home, which is still under siege. But as Ram and Ravi drag the crying pair to an abandoned home, they realize that the two have no intention of honoring their friend's memory after his death. Ram grabs Bano and takes her to a separate room, snatching her dupatta
Dupatta
Dupatta Dupatta(Urdu: دوپٹا, Hindi: दुपट्टा, Bengali: ওড়না, Sindhi: پوتي, Tamil:துப்பட்ட) Dupatta(Urdu: دوپٹا, Hindi: दुपट्टा, Bengali: ওড়না, Sindhi: پوتي, Tamil:துப்பட்ட) (alternative names include chadar (in Pakistan), orni/odhni, chunri, chunni, orna, and pacheri, is a long,...
away from her. In the other room, Bano's mother is hitting Ravi, who is frozen in his spot. She yells at him "Wo tumhare dost ki behen hai! Tumhari behen hai! Usne har sal tumhare haath pe rakhi bandi hai! (That's your best friend's sister! That's your sister! She tied a rakhi around your wrist every year!)" Bano's mother barges open the door, and Ram, furious with her and Ravi for interrupting him, slaps her and she falls unconscious. Ravi, coming to his senses, stabs Ram before he can touch Bano.
The next day, Ravi brings Bano and his mother to a refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
camp which is traveling to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Bano and her mother travel with the other refugees all day in the blistering heat. As they set up camp for the night, they are attacked by a group of Hindus, who separate Bano and her mother and rape her. After everyone is either gone or dead, Bano crawls back to her mother, only to find Bibi's dead body and her broken ta'wiz
Ta'wiz
The Ta'wiz or Tawiz is a locket usually containing verses from the Quran or other Islamic prayers and symbols. As a general rule it is worn with the belief that it will repel any evil intended for the wearer and will also bring him luck. As such it is intended to be an amulet. The word Ta'wiz is...
on the ground, suggesting that she was raped as well. Bano screams and cries until she falls unconscious. The next day, a Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
man finds the pair of them and bring's Bano back to his home while burying her mother's body. His sister nurses Bano back to health, and once she is healthy again, the man buys her a ticket to a train to Pakistan. The train gets attacked by Sikhs halfway through the journey, and a man knocks Bano unconscious and takes her back to his home, deciding to marry her.
Bano attempts to run away from the man, Basant Singh's, house many times, but is always caught in the end. Basant Singh
Singh
Also see SinhaSingh is a common title, middle name, or surname in Northern India and South India used by sikhs warriors and kings. eg. Man Singh I, Maharana Pratap Singh. It is derived from the Sanskrit word Siṃha meaning "lion and used by Ahir kings of Nepal". It is also used in Sri Lanka by...
, or Basanta, tells her that he has repented after she shrieked at him for killing innocents. He says that traveling to Pakistan is very dangerous, and that he will see her safe arrival there once the roadways are cleared. Bano, with no options left, is forced to believe him. He renames Bano "Sundar Kaur
Kaur
Kaur in Sikhism is a mandatory middle name for female Sikhs.-History:Kaur is a name used by Sikh women either as the middle name, or as a last name. It cannot be regarded as a true surname or family name...
", or beautiful princess in Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
, because she initially refuses to tell him her name.
Nearly 6 months later, a friend of Basanta's mother, Dil Raj, tells Bano Basanta's plan to convert her to Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
and marry her. Bano runs away again, but Basanta stops her and beats her until she is bloody and cannot talk. When Basanta's mother asks her whether she wants to beaten more or wants to convert, Bano replies with "Pakistan zindabad (May Pakistan live forever.)" Basanta rapes her repeatedly after this, and forcefully marries her. Months later, Bano becomes pregnant and has a son. Basanta still repeatedly beats her when she disobeys him.
Nearly 5 years later, Basanta is fed up with Bano's attitude and decides to murder her. That very day, as their son sits on the roof, Basanta runs to stop him from going to close to the edge and trips and falls, dying instanly. Bano takes her son and reaches Pakistan.
Initially staying at a women's shelter, Bano later meets Hassan again. She goes to his home, where we find out that her traumatic experiences have damaged her brain, and she is slightly insane. She hates her son because she sees Basanta's face in his, and refuses to look at him. Hassan on the other hand, after hearing about Bano's death, had spent the last 5 years in depression. When he met Rabia, the daughter of a friend of his mother's, his depression seemed to lift a little. When he found out that Rabia was in love with him, he agreed to marry her with the relaxation that Bano still had a place in his heart that no one could take. Upon Bano's arrival, he decides he will no longer marry Rabia.
When Bano finds out of their engagement, she runs away from Hassan's home, where she is already treated as an outsider by Rashida, who dislikes her because of her mental condition and circumstance. Bano and her son are taken in by a woman named Musarat and her family. As Bano gets a job and explores the Pakistan she had been dying to reach for 5 years, she realizes it is nothing like the speeches Hassan used to give about it. It is not a wonderful place like she had expected it to be, and slowly, Bano's mental condition worsens. Hassan blames her leaving on himself, and decides once and for all that he will not marry Rabia. One day, he sees Bano at the Badshahi Mosque
Badshahi Mosque
The Badshahi Mosque or the 'King's Mosque' in Lahore, commissioned by the sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1671 and completed in 1673, is the second largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the fifth largest mosque in the world...
, and she tells him that she cannot marry him because she's not the same Bano he fell in love with. She tells him to marry Rabia, and he agrees to it because it's her last request to him.
But things get worse for Bano as she goes to her office one day to find that her boss is drunk, an action which is not allowed in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Bano is horrified at his infidelity, and even more when he starts to call her "beautiful" and begins to undo her burqa
Burqa
A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...
. He snaps her mother's ta'wiz
Ta'wiz
The Ta'wiz or Tawiz is a locket usually containing verses from the Quran or other Islamic prayers and symbols. As a general rule it is worn with the belief that it will repel any evil intended for the wearer and will also bring him luck. As such it is intended to be an amulet. The word Ta'wiz is...
off her neck, and Bano has a flashback of her former life, and the struggles she and her mother faced. Losing her mind, she grabs a box opening knife and stabs her boss with it in a moment of panic until he dies. She grabs the ta'wiz out of his hand and holds it up in front of her, having a flashback of when she had done the same when her mother died.
Bano goes to Hassan's home, where his wedding with Rabia is about to take place, covered in blood. She says to him in hysteria, "Mainay iss pak sar zameen ko pak kardiya. Mainay Basanta ko mardiya. Ab yahan koi Basanta nahi. (I have killed Basanta. I have made this Pakistan pak [clean]. Now there's no Basanta here anymore."
At the end of the show, Bano is shown in an asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
. Hassan and his newly wed Rabia are visitng her. She asks them how her country is doing, and they tell her it is perfect. The last words she says in the show are "Pakistan zindabad," which she says repeatedly while using her mother's ta'wiz as a prayer bead necklace
Prayer beads
Prayer beads are used by members of various religious traditions such as Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Anglicanism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Bahá'í Faith to count the repetitions of prayers, chants or devotions, such as the rosary of Virgin Mary in Christianity and dhikr ...
.
Appearance
Bano is described in the book as brown-eyed, with long black hair always in a braid. She is shown in the drama as medium height, brown-eyed and black-haired, as well. She always has a dupattaDupatta
Dupatta Dupatta(Urdu: دوپٹا, Hindi: दुपट्टा, Bengali: ওড়না, Sindhi: پوتي, Tamil:துப்பட்ட) Dupatta(Urdu: دوپٹا, Hindi: दुपट्टा, Bengali: ওড়না, Sindhi: پوتي, Tamil:துப்பட்ட) (alternative names include chadar (in Pakistan), orni/odhni, chunri, chunni, orna, and pacheri, is a long,...
on her head when in the company of men. At the beginning, Bano is shown as very pretty, as when Sultana says "Shakal aur mizaaj dono aik larki mein bahaut kam miltay hain (It's not very often that you find a girl with a pretty face and charming personality.)" Towards the middle of the series, her face starts to become older, her color waning, and by the end of the show, her eyes have perpetual circles under them and her facial expressions are much more clipped.
Personality
Bano is characterized as a very loving girl, who takes offense to teasing very easily. As the series progresses, Bano's character is more developed, as a girl who would do anything for a cause she believes in. She is very shy, especially when it comes to Hassan, and would usually walk away at the sight of him in the earlier episodes before their relationship developed.In later episodes of the drama, Bano faces post-traumatic syndrome, and loses most of her sanity. Her sole purpose in life remains to be able to "see the dirt of my [Bano's] beloved country." Near the end of the show, Bano is obsessed with Pakistan, and her only goal is to make it the glorious utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
that she had heard so many speeches about. After killing Kaleem, a corrupt politician, Bano thinks that she has killed all of the "Basanta's" in Pakistan, and that her country is finally "pak" or clean, like she had imagined it to be.
Relationships and Friendships
- HassanHassan (character)Hassan portrayed by Fawad Khan) is a main character of Razia Butt’s novel Bano, and of Hum TV drama production Dastaan. He is from the province of Ludhiana. Hassan was engaged to neighbor and family friend Bano Naseeb, but the two were never married due to partition-induced circumstances...
- Hassan is Bano's main love interest throughout the show and novel. Hassan and Bano both meet for the first time at Suraiya, a friend of Bano's and aunt of Hassan's, wedding. Bano is not very fond of Hassan at the beginning, whereas for him, it is love at first sight. The two bond quickly, though, and are soon engaged. Hassan leaves soon after their engagementEngagementAn engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...
due to a job he receives in a different town, and the two are separated because of Bano's loss during partition. They meet again nearly 6 years later.
- Suraiya - Bano calls Suraiya "Bhabi", or "sister-in-law", and sometimes "Khala", or "aunt", when she slips up and is thinking of Hassan. Suraiya and Bano were best friends since childhood, and became sister-in-laws just around the beginning of the novel. Their friendship carried on even after Suraiya was wed to Bano's brother Saleem. Suraiya died in the massacre that took the life of most of Bano's family members.
- Saleem - Saleem was Bano's eldest brother, and she mostly referred to him as "Buray Bhaiyya," or "Big Brother." They had a very loving relationship around the beginning of the novel, but things began to get rocky as Bano grew closer to Hassan. Saleem's political views were radically opposite to Hassan's, and in that time period, political views were everything. When Bano too joined the Muslim League, Saleem was outraged, and their relationship was left badly damaged. After Hassan and Bano's engagement, Saleem decided to put his rivalries aside for Bano's sake, and the two reconciled. Saleem is killed along with his wife and the rest of his family members the night of the massacre.
- Rashida - Bano called Rashida either Rashida "Baji," a term used to show respect for older sisters, or otherwise Rashida "Khala," or "aunt." Rashida and Bano's relationship was very loving at the beginning of the novel, and Rashida was very happy to have Bano become her daughter-in-law. After the massacre and the five-year period where Rashida and Hassan presumed Bano to be dead, their relationship hits very dangerous waters. Rashida is, against her better judgement, repulsed by the fact that her son wishes to marry a woman who has been raped countless times, lived in the home of a SikhSikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
man for five years, and has a son that Hassan would be required to take care of. She momentarily forgets that Bano suffered all these traumas in the name of PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Rashida's cold behavior towards Bano is one of the factors that causes Bano to flee Hassan's home after he brings her there.
- Rabia - Though Rabia is first mentioned at the beginning of the novel as the fourteen-year old daughter of a friend of Rashida's, no interaction between her and Bano is shown. After the five-year interlude, Rabia is engaged to Hassan and believes Bano to be horrible for stealing him away from her. After seeing Bano's mental condition and listening to her lament about her family members' deaths, Rabia decides that she will not marry Hassan if it will help Bano "Baji." When Bano hears of the two's engagement, she tells them to get married for she is too mentally unstable and "un-pure" (referring to the many times she was raped), to marry him.
- Basant Singh - While Bano boards a train to LahoreLahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
after the massacre and death of her mother, it is attacked by a group of racist Sikhs. One of these Sikhs is Basant Singh, or Basanta. Bano screams obscenities at him and curses him, saying that his "GuruGuruA guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
" (Sikh god) will never forgive him for taking the lives of so many innocents. Basanta, impressed by her spunk, kidnaps her and takes her to his home to convert her and marry her. She refuses and attempts to run away many times, resulting in him beating her and forcefully marrying her. Bano is forced to live in his home for 5 years, being beaten and raped nearly everyday. Basanta slipped off the roof of his home 5 years later, freeing Bano from her capture.
- Ghulam Ahmed - Originally named "Maggan Singh" by his father, Ghulam Ahmed is the son of Bano and Basanta, who Bano was forced to carry in the 5-year period she lived in Basanta's home. After his father's death, Bano brings him to Pakistan with her for the sole purpose of showing him that her countrymen are far better than "his kind." Bano feels a deep hatred towards her son, because of the resemblance to Basanta she sees in his face. She often refers to him as a "gaali," or curse word, and that every time she sees his face she can hear Basanta cursing at her and her country, Pakistan.