The meaning of the gibberish

While reading Toba Tek Singh written by Saddat Hussain Manto we have come across the line “ Upar di gur gur di annexe di bedhiyana di mung daal di laaltein.” This line is uttered by the lunatic Bhisan Singh in the text. He doesn’t speak at all but when he does , he utters these words, which apparently seems like it is “ nonsense”. But we cannot ignore this by simply labelling it as gibberish. If we drive deep into any kind of text then we would realise that each and every word or expression or even the setting which appears as “ nonsense” has a significant role to play or a message to convey. Let us look into the other surroundings of the text so that we can have a better understanding of these words.



The story starts with the scene where the lunatics are being exchanged. With the partition between the two countries India and Pakistan the people were also divided on the basis of religion and people who had nothing to do with religion or place because they have lost all the understanding of these absurd ideas were also divided because the ultimate “ god” the decider was the government. People’s fate was in the hand of the government, people were merely wooden dolls dancing according to the orders of the government. Even the lunatics were not to be spared.

Bhisan Singh is one of the lunatics who has no idea about partition or anything, all he remembers is Toba Tek Singh , the village he belongs to. He is a person who has lost his memories about family, he is not even able to recognise his daughter. But one thing that hasn’t removed from his mind is his native place. It shows how it feels to leave one’s native place , how it feels when you sleep in a different country and wake up in a different one.

Whenever Bhisan Singh is irritated he utters “ Upar di gur gur di annexe di bedhiyana di moong daal di laaltein.” What does it mean? Well apparently it doesn’t mean anything but if we look the line from a more intense and intellectual point of view, we would be able to realise its significance.

There are multiple interpretation or observations of this. Gur is a substitute of sugar which is also made of sugarcane. Annexe means territory. Bedhiyana means unnoticed and moong daal is a type of crop that is found in India. Daal is something which is consumed everyday by us. And laaltein is a type of lamp. What does it convey to us?

The above mentioned words are the names of some rustic necessary elements. It portrays the lifestyle of the people at that time. When Bhisan Singh utters these words he is actually conveying the some photographs of his early life. The memories of his mother making daal for him, having gur in the morning and playing in the light of the laaltein when the sun sets. The word “ Upar” indicates to the aristocratic people or the government who had divided the country “ bedhiyana “ meaning without noticing the people of Toba Tek Singh , the lunatics of the asylum. Lord Radcliffe had divided India and Pakistan by drawing a line in his study room. This ignorant act of partition caused the destruction of thousands of lives , dreams, people and so on.

Then he utters the line “ Upar di gur gur di annexe di bedhiyana di moong daal di Hindustan and Pakistan di Dhurr phittey mun”. In this line Bhisan Singh expresses his disgust at the absurdity of partition. He again recalls his childhood and the end of the line “ Hindustan and Pakistan di dhurr phittey mun” suggests that for people the concept of India or Pakistan does not matter what matters the most is their village, their people, where they really belong to.

Bhisan keeps on asking about where Toba Tek Singh is. He wants to go back to his village. Its showing the identity crisis that the people had gone through. How the idea of “ homeland” was taken away by the government.

In the conclusion we can state that the impression of the lunatics actually is a hidden way to indicate that even the lunatics had the sense humanity unlike the so called normal or sane people who had committed such an insane act of partition.