Meet the Parents

On Monday night (Dec 15), her mom called and said, "Beta, I have told everyone at home that this time when you come over, you will bring him too". She stood frozen, not knowing what to say in response to the bombshell her mom had thrown at her. The moment she had been pushing for the past few months thanks to her inner fears (will they approve of him?, what if they don't?, is this the right time?, should she wait some more time? etc. etc. etc.) , sprung up at her with no prior information. Of course, she would have taken him sooner or later but maybe she was buying more time, for herself and for him. Every time he asked her if he could accompany her home, she would refuse.
After the phone call, she stood rooted to the spot, her stomach queasy and her conversation with her mom ringing loud in her ears. The first few moments, the devil in her advised her to wriggle out of the situation. It was so damn easy to tell her mom the next day, that he can't come because he is busy and not tell him anything, she thought. It was so damn easy. However, she could hear a faint voice inside her saying, "Give it to him, he deserves it". As that faint voice became louder, she realized there was no way she could deny him this. There was no more confusion then. She was happy for him more than for herself. Calling him an hour later, she broke the news to him. The surprise and joy in his voice gave her a strange feeling of contentment.
As the week progressed towards that Saturday, her inner fears struck back with full force. Day after day, she barraged him with instructions (what to do, what to say, what not to say, how to behave and so on and so forth).
And then Saturday dawned. It was an okay day, she thought. Two-and-a-half hours after the journey began, they reached home. And suddenly, that Saturday turned beautiful. Spreading warmth, cheer and laughter he won over everyone's hearts. As he charmed them effortlessly, her heart sang and swelled with pride.
It turned into the most beautiful Saturday of her life. Sorry, he turned it into the most beautiful Saturday of her life.

Stranger in the Mirror

Last night was a royal mess. Today followed suit. The reason?
Not only did she manage to hurt the person she loves the most, she also couldn't face herself in the mirror. Why does she understand things only after the harm is done? The whole of last night and today she has been feeling sorry, hopeless and undeserving. Sorry for what she did, hopeless for what she thinks of herself as a person and undeserving of the love he has for her.
He has forgiven her, in fact, he had forgiven her last night only. But she can't help feeling heart-broken. The gloominess transferred itself onto work too. She messed royally not once, twice but innumerable times.
She stood besides the printer waiting for a print to come only to realize a moment later that she hadn't given any print command. She forgot things she was supposed to do. She felt lost today. Completely.
She shudders to think what she would have done to him had he done something like that to her. She wouldn't have spoken to him, yelled at him, in short, she would have made life hell for him. She wants to make amends but will she get a chance, an exactly similar chance? He has assured her saying she will get innumerable ones. Just like the innumerable times he has forgiven her (and continues to do so)?
For now, she can only apologize from her heart and pray to God to give her another chance to be a better person, to deserve the love he has for her. His love—which makes her world go around, which makes her feel she can conquer the world, which makes her complete.....which makes her and him like the double inverted commas....

A Thousand Splendid Blogs

Well, after 48 hours’ woth of mashakaat, here I am penning down my first blog entry (ya, ya I am a computer illiterate)...well better late than never…especially so after a hard and looong day at work… The amount they can make you run and when herself my boss is such a lazy bum!!

Boy! I just finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni...makes you feel fortunate to be born in a democratic nation…the Taliban sucked man!! These were some of their (note: only some) guidelines for women:

>Women will not speak unless spoken to

>Makeup is prohibited

>If fingers are found painted, they will be chopped off

>Painting, dancing, music, poetry is prohibited

>They will not be seen outside their homes alone without a male relative

And so and so forth…to top it all, all hospitals for women were converted into “males only” territory leaving a small, dingy, smelly structure for the treatment of women with no docs, no medicine available... Imagine undergoing an operation without anaesthesia, which is exactly what one of the protagonists (Laila) underwent and which made my insides curl… Also, Laila’s soulmate (a very endearing, one-legged, pashtun Tariq) reminded me of that special person in my life and how fortunate I am to have him in my life… I don’t know if it was in fact a good thing, but I felt relieved when the US declared war on the Taliban in the book.