A Dream that didn’t come true
Author: Rizwan Ahmed Memon
A true spirit of serving humankind makes one so
brave that one fears nothing and nobody. People who risk their lives and do
dangerous work to benefit human beings are real friends of God and His beloved
mortals. Ronak, a social worker, had also put his life at risk. He worked for
women’s education in Sindh province of Pakistan, where education was considered
something that spoils girls.
Ronak started his struggle in Larkana. His
target was the rural areas of Larkana. He took his necessary electronics, like
a projector, laptop, mobile, and a calculator. He would conduct seminars at
Otaqs (guest rooms in villages where people sit and chat in their free time).
He would raise awareness among villagers about women’s rights and their status
in Islam.
Ronak reached a village named Dahani, where
people were not interested in education at all. The men would stay at home and
make the women do the chores, graze the cattle, work in the fields, and look
after the children. Ronak had never seen this kind of rule anywhere else
before. He wasn’t even allowed to enter the village because no strangers could
enter the village. He saw that most of the men wore Sindhi caps and had beards.
He couldn’t find anyone who could understand or help him.
He was sad and tired. Around the village were
gardens of olives, so he decided to go into a garden and eat some of the fruit.
He plucked some olives and sat under an olive tree to eat and relax. He saw
that some buffaloes were grazing, but there was no one with them.
“Hey, who are you? And what are you doing here?”
asked a woman who was in the top of the tree under which Ronak was sitting.
Ronak got spooked at first. He looked around,
but there wasn’t anyone to be seen. The women threw an olive at him.
“Hello! Look up.”
“Oh, sorry. I am Ronak. I am new in this
village.”
“Go back to wherever you have come from!
Strangers are not allowed here. If any man of this village sees you, he will
kill you in the name of honour-killing. He will think that you were chasing me,
and even he might think that there was an affair between us, he will kill me,
too.”
“I am a social worker. I work for the education
of girls.”
“Oh, really? I had a dream in my childhood of
getting education, but that didn’t come true.”
“Oh, why?”
“That is a long story. Well, my name is Roshni.
In our tribe girls are not allowed to go to school. That’s what I have been hearing
since my childhood,” Roshni said to Ronak.
“But I can admit you to school.”
“I am now too old to go to school.”
“There is no age limit for learning.”
“Well, there must be different values in your
tribe. That’s very contrary to the rules of this village. I will have to leave
this place before anybody sees me.”
“Listen, wait a second!”
“Sorry. I cannot.” Roshni left with her
buffaloes.
Ronak was facing difficulties in that village.
He would go to Larkana where he had reserved a room in a hotel, and come to
Dahani in the morning. It was not so far from the city.
The next day, Ronak came to the same garden to
find Roshni. As he approached the garden, he could hear a sad song in a woman’s
voice.
“Weak, powerless creature I am.
He says you were born to work.
My Lord is that true?
I don’t think so.”
Listening to these sentences sung in a
heart-touching voice, Ronak got goose bumps. He traced the footsteps which led
him to the same olive tree under which he met Roshni the day before. Roshni was
sitting on a branch, and there was a cloth she was doing needle work with and
was singing along.
“He shattered my dreams.
He snatched my childhood dolls.
And handed over me things
That I couldn’t do well.”
Ronak didn’t disturb her. He sat at a small
distance and listened to what she sang.
“You have a beautiful voice.”
“Oh my God! You have come again! What do you
want?”
“I want you to go to school.”
“You, a stranger, will send me to school?”
“Yes, I can.”
“See, I have already told you that if someone
finds us talking together, he will kill both of us. You better leave.”
“I am afraid of nobody.”
Roshni was confused and afraid. She quickly
gathered the buffaloes and left the garden.
Everyday, Ronak came to the garden, and tried to
talk to Roshni. He somehow motivated her to attend school.
“But it feels very awkward to sit with little
children in a class.”
“You want to get an education, right?”
“Yes.”
“So for that, you will have to attend the
class.”
“My family won’t approve of it. They didn’t
allow me to go during my childhood; why would they do it now?”
“You are now an adult. You have a right to make
your own decisions.”
“In our tribe, girls do not make any decisions,
not even of their own marriage. My father and brother didn’t even ask me
whether I was happy or not when they decided my marriage. However, my husband
is a kind man. He cares for me. He is very different from the men in our tribe.
He respects women.”
“Will he allow you to attend school?”
“I am sure he will.”
“Shall I talk to him?
“No, it is not appropriate. Maybe he will not
like this.”
“Look, dark is falling, and the buffaloes are
moving to the village now. I will meet you tomorrow.”
“Okay. I will wait for you.”
At night, Roshni said to Muhammad Khan, her
husband, “If we had children - a girl, would you have allowed her to go to
school?”
“Why do you ask this, Roshni?”
“I just wanted to know your view about girls’
education.”
“My tribe’s view is my view. Our ancestors never
sent the girls to schools. They have always opposed girls’ education. That’s
the reason there is not any schools in our village.”
“What is the harm in getting an education? I
believe an educated woman can look after her children very well. Education
helps one on every walk of one’s life.”
“You may be right, but I respect the village
customs and traditions.”
“With the passage of time everything changes,
and I think it is time for our customs to change.” Saying this Roshni slept.
Muhammad Khan couldn’t sleep that night. He thought
about the questions Roshni asked him. He also was sick of the traditions of his
village, but he had always remained silent in front of his father, his uncles,
and other elders of his tribe.
The next day, Roshni told Ronak about her
husband’s view of girls’ education. Ronak asked, “Would you leave this village
and stay in the city with your husband? There you can go to school.”
“My husband will not leave his village,” replied
Roshni.
“It sounds like your husband is a rational man.
He will understand my point of view if you help me in meeting with him?”
“This Friday evening, my husband will sit in the
main Otaq of the village. You can meet him there, but do not mention the fact
that we’ve discussed this and are in agreement.”
“How can I get into the village?”
“If anyone stops you and asks who you are – and
why you have come, tell him that you are an olive trader and you have come from
Quetta to meet with Muhammad Khan for olive deals.”
In this way, Ronak met Muhammad Khan, then
confessed that he was actually a social worker, and was told how to enter the
village under the guise of being an olive vender. He convinced him that
education is necessary for boys and girls and asked him for his help to raise
awareness in the village.
“Brother, I am with you, but it is very
difficult to talk about girl’s education and rights here,” Muhammad Khan said.
“Can I arrange a seminar in this Otaq this
coming Friday?”
“I will have to ask the elders.”
In the evening, Muhammad Khan talked to his
father about the social worker. “Now a city boy will teach us the rules of
living life!” Muhammad Khan’s father angrily replied.
“Father, he just wants to tell the people about
the importance of education?”
“You know, in this village no one wants
education.”
“Father that is because they have been told that
education is something that spoils man. The people of this village hate western
clothes, the English language, and education because they have always been told
wrong concepts about them. Whereas, clothes are clothes; every nation has their
own way of covering the body. In the same way, every nation has their own
language, just as we have our own tongue, Sindhi. Plus if education was a bad
thing, the Holy Quran wouldn’t have said that God instructed us to read by
using the word “Iqra”, the first word revealed to the Prophet.”
“Your tongue speaks a lot.”
“Sorry, father. I cannot be a slave to these
old-fashioned and useless customs anymore.”
“If you dislike our ancestors’ traditions, you
do not deserve to live in their village,” saying this Mohammad Khan’s father
went to his bedroom.
Roshni was listening to their conversation
behind the door of her room. “I know that social worker,” said Roshni to
Muhammad Khan.
“How do you know him?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes. I do.”
“So listen…”
She told her husband everything about the social
worker.
“Why don’t we leave the village for the sake of
the future of our children? I had a dream that didn’t come true, but I want all
the dreams of my children to come true. If we remained here, it seems
impossible.”
“You are right, Roshni. We will leave this
village and its customs. We will move to the city forever. Our elders will
never allow us to be independent and liberal here.”
Muhammad Khan talked to Ronak, and he helped
them find a house in the city. There they lived happily ever after. Roshni went
to school, making her childhood dream come true.
Many people stick to the traditions of their
elders for entire duration of their lives. If the customs are outdated and
worthless, one should always change them. If one cannot change them, one should
change oneself.
