Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Tearful Eyes

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Tearful Eyes

Her footprints on the dust reminded him of sweet memories he had with. Her black and white picture flashed through his head for a moment. Her words, “I miss your hugs and kisses when we are apart. I’ll be back, Ali” echoed. Her parting glance and tearful eyes crossed his mind. He felt as if the world was whirling around him. “Will she keep her promise?” he mouthed. Her keepsake, which was her smiling picture, was still in his hand. He stared at it, put it on his heart, pressed it with his both hands and closed his eyes to find solace. But he could not repress his burning emotions, a drop of tear rolled down his cheek. He sobbed painfully. “Yes, she will be back! She doesn’t lie to me. She…” he murmured.

“Will you return soon, Jamila?” he addressed her picture, “Do you promise?” His eyes focused on the picture. He could not take his eyes off her sweet smile and charming face. “I love you Jamila, I love you so much!” he whispered to the picture. He returned her smile, kissed her photo and put it on his pocket.

He took out his MP3 and played a soulful music: “When you’re down and out, when you’re on the street, when evening falls so hard, I will comfort you, I’ll take your part! When darkness comes, and pain is all around, like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down….” The music added insult to his injury and reminded him of the romantic words of his love when she was whispering to him, “You are the love of my life! You make me the happiest girl and make me feel so good when you hold me! I could never love anyone the way I love you! You mean everything to me. To be in your arms makes my life complete. I have finally discovered true love – you. You are the kindest man I know and I want to be with you forever!” Her memories never left him alone. He needed a shoulder to cry on but there was no one. He felt so much lonely.

He remembered that when he was a child, his grandma told him the love story of Romeo and Juliet and due to the tragic ending of the story, she told him that true love never ends in happiness. He started muttering the dialogue between Romeo and Juliet, which was written by William Shakespeare,” Romeo: If I profane with my un-worthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. Juliet: Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this; for saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss. Romeo: Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too? Juliet: Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. Romeo: O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair….”

Such poignant lyrics and soulful poetries aggravated his wounds further. There was no one so that he could bare his soul and be solaced. Shakespeare rightly defined love as, “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes; being vexed, a sea nourished with loving tears. What is else? A madness most discreet, a choking gall, and a preserving sweet. Here is what love is: a smoke made out of lovers’ sighs. When the smoke clears, love is a fire burning in your lover’s eyes. If you frustrate love, you get an ocean made out of lovers’ tears. What else is love? It’s a wise form of madness. It’s a sweet lozenge that you choke on.”

Jamila, who fell in love with her cousin on a trip, returned to her home and promised him to be back. However, she did not know how the fate would play with her. She lived in countryside. Since her father suffered from misery, he okayed to a rich suitor of her daughter. But, Jamila was always dreaming about marrying Ali. When Jamila shared it with her mother, she rolled her eyes and told her to accept whatever her father decided. Her mother scolded her for making no bones about speaking marriage. According to their tradition, if a girl talked about her marriage, she would be considered “brazen”. The girls had no right to choose their life-partners and had to live under the same roof with whomever their parents suggest, for the whole life. Jamila suppressed her emotions and kept her mouth shut.

When her mother left the room, Jamila rested her head on her knees and sobbed bitterly. Her mother’s cold manner was highly disappointing. “I am ready to die, but I’ll marry no one other than my love.” She mouthed. “Let anyone, my neighbors and my friends, scold me for my love, I’ll not succumb to them.” Few minutes later, her father entered her room and told her about the rich suitor. To his unmitigated chagrin, she turned down his suggestion. Her father raised his eyebrows and reproached her more severely. He said, “Either accept it or I am no more your father!” Then, he left the room with anger. Now, you have to guess that what happened to the girl few days later.

In our patriarchal society, especially in villages, girls are mostly treated the same way. They are hardly given the choice to decide about their life-partners. Whomever their parents suggest, they have to grin and bear it. Love meets failure, and lovers’ life ends in disappointment. This story is written to reflect the state of Afghan girls.

Hujjatullah Zia is the newly emerging writer of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at outlookafghanistan@gmail.com

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