“The [Sohni-Mahiwal] narrative turns conventional gender roles – as depicted in western children’s stories such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty – on their head. Here, the female protagonist is not saved by her prince charming. Her appeal is not just in her beauty, which would bedazzle the prince, but in the fact that she exerts her agency. It is not the man but the woman who puts her life in danger every day to swim across this mighty river [the Chenab] of Punjab. The attitude towards the institution of marriage is also distinctly different from how marriage is portrayed in western children’s stories. For Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, marriage represents the end of the story – happily ever after. Marriage in this folk legend is just another event that does not mean much.” More here.