![]() |
My mother at 25 |
I have known her ever since I can remember. She is a very soft hearted person yet very strict about discipline. A very good manager and a real leader at times, she handled many issues at the same time. She cooked, cleaned, washed, she taught us how to speak, read and write. She made it possible for us to understand our rights as human beings equal to everyone else. She is the one through whose eyes we saw a once beautiful, developing and happy Kabul, the Kabul where she had lived the best years of her life. Kabul was the city where she grew up, received her higher education and got a job.
When we were kids, she was the one who sew and embroidered us
beautiful clothes that stunned many well-to-do people. She was the one who had
a keen aesthetic sense and decorated a beautiful home with ordinary pieces other
women envied. She had thrown the idea of
a cemented swimming pool for us that we always enjoyed after the long walks
from school under hot sun. She had tied ropes to the trees in our house yard to make
a swing for us. She was the one who played chess and karemboard with us on
nights with no electricity when my father was not in the mood of playing cards
with us.
She made cloth dolls for us and houses for them out of wooden cartons. She is the woman who spent whole nights to make sure that we had hena on our hands and that we wore new, well designed and ironed clothes on Eid days. Apart from dedicating all her time to her own kids, she made sure the girls in our village had a space for having fun and so she would cook some food and invite the girls from our neighborhood to have fun, dance and sing at our house.
She made cloth dolls for us and houses for them out of wooden cartons. She is the woman who spent whole nights to make sure that we had hena on our hands and that we wore new, well designed and ironed clothes on Eid days. Apart from dedicating all her time to her own kids, she made sure the girls in our village had a space for having fun and so she would cook some food and invite the girls from our neighborhood to have fun, dance and sing at our house.
She was the one who fought for our right to education and
the right to education for our cousins. She was the one who sew school uniforms
for us as well as for our cousins so their parents don’t make a matter out of
an extra expense and they get to go to school easily. She was the one who gave
her favorite fountain pen to our cousin when he passed his high school final
exams (she had helped him to prepare for) and there was no one to understand
the importance of his achievements in his own family.
She was the one who tried to shut hundreds of mouths that
opposed our schooling as girls. She was an encouragement and support to Agha
Jan in his decision of moving to the city so we could pursue our high school. She
once told a woman from our village that one of her daughters might become a doctor and
solve any of the old woman's health issues when the woman demanded her to stop the girls
from going to school and make them work at home. The woman replied, “I will be dead by then”. And
she replied, “Well, your daughter will be alive, your daughter-in-law will be
alive and your grand-daughters will be alive and they would not have to run to
a male doctor against their will.”
While none of us became a doctor, the whole village started
to send their girls to schools following our footsteps. They practically saw
that we did not have to forget about one thing (house chores) in order to do
another (study). She taught us how to cook, bake bread and even how to sew and embroider apart from teaching us how to read,
write, speak, socialize, recite the holy Quran, play chess, make kites, weave
sweaters, be responsible and cultured citizens, be proud of being females, have
an opinion and be able to decide, be what we want to be and never give up in difficult times.
She was the one who made sure we do all the homework and motivated and encouraged us to not only pass the exams but to stand first in our classes. She is the one who took time for the uneducated women in the family and helped them with going to hospitals and was around when needed.
She was the one who made sure we do all the homework and motivated and encouraged us to not only pass the exams but to stand first in our classes. She is the one who took time for the uneducated women in the family and helped them with going to hospitals and was around when needed.
Having millions of sorrows in her heart, she never gave us even
a clue. She only said “I am the bird that flutters its wings waiting to fly towards it's nest. I am a refugee waiting to go home.” She spent the years of her youth in
refuge in Pakistan in a hope to get back to Afghanistan some day and live there
as peacefully as had once. Afghanistan was the love she had left behind in a very
young age. She got to see
Kabul after almost twenty years with teary eyes and a mind in denial of the
state of Kabul that she saw after the wars it had endured.
I am one of the proud daughters
of this woman. I love you Mor.
I loved your article, throughout your article i got the feelings if i am reading about my MOR... love
ReplyDelete:) This was such an inspiring tribute to a woman who deserves so much respect, so much acknowledgment! She shares so much in common with my mother. I certainly would be nothing without her support and intense dedication to my schooling when I was growing up.
ReplyDeleteMay God reward your mother (and all other mothers who contribute this much to their children's lives despite their own struggles) infinitely, aameen. They deserve nothing but the best of the best.
Thank you for writing this.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for liking it, qrratugai. And ameen to your prayers.
DeleteThank you for liking the article, Nazrana Janay :-)
ReplyDeleteInteresting, informative and heart touching piece, in particular the last paras. I think the story you have narrated is as a story of every Afghan mom and her role in family and society. The education supporting mind glitters your Mama and she should be a role model for all moms. Keep your pen writing on such days. One thing we have both mother day and women day! I think your piece is focus on a Mom character rather than a women.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I like your great piece. As it is not an ordinary fabricated and is originally hearty wording. Best of luck to you and your mama!... I wish you keep your pen up for ever.
Thank you for reading my blog, Achakzai saib. Yes, this is a rather old post but I thought might be relevant on days such as Women's Day and Mother's Day. Dera manana.
Deletewow-----great no words to describe this excellent piece
ReplyDeleteProud of your mother and all Afghan mothers who despite all odds and difficulties try to educate their kids..Salute to Afghan Moor.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt your mother represents all the mothers as being a mother I also want to do all things for my kids which your mother has done for you people.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt your mother represents all the mothers as being a mother I also want to do all things for my kids which your mother has done for you people.
ReplyDeleteI love it. It brought tears to my eyes :'( Love all the mothers :(
ReplyDelete