Worlds Apart

I apologize I was in a rush and did not have time to elaborate. When next I peruse a story by you, I will keep in mind your request.

Re: # 47

Thanks for the comments...would've been nice if you'd enlightened me about the grammatical errors too.

Barring the grammatical errors, this was well written. Good to know all Bradford girls are not hellbent on divorce in the first year. I know many American-born girls who have been married at an early age to men "back home"; it has worked out for some, not for other, but for many who stuck it out, it has been worth it. They now are "gracefully aging" just like Ranya with their own large broods populating the earth everywhere.

Stroke of luck Ahsan chose to move to a less oppressive environment early on. But for that circumstance, the marriage would likely have pewtered out eventually. But realistically this story applies to many couples who decide to "stick it out". Not uncommon.

Re: # 45

Sometimes, thunder shatters the air too close to us and the dark gaping holes of uncertainty and despair begin to sparingly widen. Sometimes, through time, interjects a moment, this moment, where existence latches on to a slanting ledge. When, then, one hears the squeal of one`s fingernails one realizes that death is just a happening, but the real gist of life is the quest for the avoidance of pain.

May be in theory one can assume, at that instant, for a mind to in inverse polarity counter itself. One can, in theory, profess that phenomena like cognizance, reason, justice, and perhaps devotion hold, then, the same meaning they do when one`s soul is not ablaze.

Monet painted the woman with an umbrella, but could she have seen how she looked in that frame? We can do whatever we want to do in theory, we can create universes out of feeble pebbles of sand, or give life to primordial sentinels of eternity.

Raniya, in making her decision to stay with Ahsan, must have asked herself `why` she wanted to leave him while asking herself `why` she wanted to stay. The answer, her answer, lay interlaced somewhere between a scream, a gasp, damnation, hope, love. (How much time it ought to, for someone in her state of mind, take to chart a map out of oblivion and start to walk it?)

You wrote your story, my friend, but, oh, how I wonder, and desire to know, what the lady with the umbrella is feeling right now.

Re: # 43
Thank you for your comments.

If Raniya had chosen not to stay and give Ahsan a chance at that particular moment, she would`ve been the poorer for it, but not to blame nonetheless.

Ahsan was a loving husband, as were the parents-in-law. They belonged to another world, and that was the whole point/problem. Their reference points were different form Raniya`s. What seemed suffocating to Raniya was acceptable to the rest. It was only when she expressed her frustration that Ahsan was able to see her point of view - there`s value in communication! He loved her enough to want to change things in order to make her happy, and not dismiss her cries for mere hysterics. She had no reason to doubt his word - for she hadn`t asked for anything before then, and been disappointed - and it would not have been against logic to give him a chance to `make it up to her` as he promised.

Re: # 41, #42

I agree that the probability of finding eternal bliss under such circumstances is less, yet this being a short story based on true events gives ample evidence that unexpected things do happen.

You`re right in asserting that men in a male-dominated patriarchial society do tend to abuse their power over women. Yet, no one is all good or bad. All women are also not sweet-innocents! There are many sensible and caring men around who treat women as equals in terms of dignity and human rights. Let`s celebrate such men in this story, hmmm?

The issue of forced marriages is a serious one and under much criticism from all quarters. Change is not easy to accept. Many parents who have raised children abroad tend to feel insecure, wanting to preserve their own culture and pass it on to the next generation. Hence, they settle for even mis-matched proposals of marriage from their own relatives.Things are changing, but it`s a slow process...maturity.

The absence of choice that you`ve mentioned is indeed conspicuous...and that was my point! The marriage was not the children`s choice, but that is as far as it goes. Choosing to give up everything, and then wanting to give it her best shot was Raniya`s choice; to try and make it up to her, was Ahsan`s choice. Both of them made a conscious decision/effort to save their marriage, and succeeded. You see, it takes two to make a quarrel, and two to settle one too!!!

Hope your queries have been effectively addressed...thanks for your comments - I appreciate your interest.

My thoughts sprang to the moment in the story, after reading the whole piece, when Raniya struggles to break free from her life in Pakistan. At that moment, at that very moment, what if nothing said or done had been sufficient to change her mind? If she had decided to leave Ahsan and go back to England, and did, would she be at fault? I wonder what really made her change her mind about giving it another try. Seems to me that she defied her (and of human) sense of reason and normalcy when she decided to give her life with Ahsan another try, and that too in a short few moments. But why?

#41 bjkumar

Okay, I went overboard in #41 - in the heat of the moment.

Not all men are creeps, of course. (What do I know - I am just another man!)

However, this writing represents a certain amount of wishful thinking.

Rigid societies do not usually bend themselves to the needs of individuals.

People can learn to adjust to anything, I suppose.

See Tehera, it is not important if the main characters reach their destination, their desired state of Utopia and all the rest. It is the element of CHOICE which is conspicuous by its absence.

Good read (as said earlier) however, and all the best for your future pieces!

#Write-up

Desi Cinderella-e-Pakistan meets REAL life Pakistan and starts ruing – but lucks out and gets a hubby who REALLY understands and takes care of HER needs – so that she can start building her own life around him and start repeating the brain-washing-cycle which can then produce the NEXT generation of desi Cinderella-e-Pakistans! A bit too long, otherwise readable and interesting. Pakistani society is so male dominated and men are SUCH creeps! (Shudder!) The whole society stinks but numbskulls who fancy themselves as the parents are the real culprits – not just for marrying THIS character off like cattle – but even more so for brainwashing her so that she would ACCEPT such crappy fate like cattle!

Re: # 19

Thanks for your appreciation.

I`m glad you enjoyed the piece and were able to grasp the underlying theme. In all relationships, ultimately - for any arrangement to succeed - both parties have to `want` to make it work. :)

Re: # 25

Thanks for your appreciation. I`m glad you enjoyed reading it. :)

Re: # 21
Thank you for your comments.

Interesting, indeed, why you were disappointed to learn it is not entirely a fantasy! Things do turn out for the better even in real life depending upon mutual commitment.

This story is a fictional piece of writing `based` on true events ...which does not mean it is a word for word account at all. Perhaps I have not been very successful in my story-telling, to make you feel it would`ve been better as just a figment of my imagination? :)

Re: # 35

Are you saying that having seen the stable, happy marriages of several family members who continually negotiate issues of money, immigration, religious interpretation, child rearing, career choices, and extended familial expectations disqualifies me to comment on the authencity of this piece with regards to marriage, you kaka, have clearly been partaking of too much bhang with your bollywood diet.

And god knows what training you have had in reading fiction...feel free to let us know about your degrees, your published work and the composition and literature courses you design and teach.

hamzaad:
aren`t you going a li`l overboard with your extrapolations on other interactor`s lives, relationships etc? that`s pretty low. i can see you playing devil`s advocate on issue say `X` but #35 is completely uncalled for.

Re: # 32

There you have it then, neembu! A counter to this article which is so bollywoodish etc. Don`t you want a TRUE representative sample rather than a deluge of bad endings selected just because they are bad endings? And that right there is the diagnosis of your psychosis. You have been unable to learn lessons from bollywoodish endings because, one, you don`t have the proper training to approach these subjects; second, you have become too emotionally involved with the worst of these stories too close to home.

A symptom of this psychosis is that you want to shoot down any happy ending, however true or frequent it might be.

Re: # 33

Dear neembu,

I was actually glad of his comment, because it gave me an opportunity to expand.

I just find it incredible and horrific that some parents (usually the father), do not have any love for their children.
How else can you explain some of the `arranged` marriages and `honour killings?

How can a father, do this???????:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6722699.stm

I hope the bastards get deported from UK, after they come out of prison.