The door opens loudly, I hear gentle footsteps and everyone waiting for her -shout out of
excitement- “Shanzay, Shanzay, Shanzay’’, because babies are cute, irresistible
to hug and a reason to smile for us humankind. I push my brother sideways and
block the route for my sister, to be the first one to hold and cuddle my niece.
The moment I do that, I scrutinize her pinkish white complexion, bewildered by
her facial expressions full of pride, because she can clearly see with her
gorgeously lightening bright blue eyes that even “Ami and Abu’’ (her
grandparents) are panicking in the line to get hold of her, and her blonde
silky curled up hair is becoming a mess because three siblings have fought
enough by now to carry and kiss their niece on the cheeks, out of natural sheer
love they have for their universally beautiful baby doll. During her mother’s
short stay, all she does in forty eight hours is to screech and shrug away the
attention she deserves, because she is nevertheless a beautiful baby. People express
their love for her abundantly, and she shrugs off with confident expressions
and she should, however, it pricks me, it bothers me, it gets to my nerves,
when some people tell her, that she is like her “Laila” Khala. Neither do I take
that as a compliment, nor does it add to my pride or ego, for some astounding
facts which have played a significant role in what I have become today.
If she is me, life will be a bed of roses for her till she
reaches her teenage. She will be definitely chosen for the role of a princess
or a queen for her annual day, and probably stage a whole drama on vampires
because of her blue eyes, and sometimes recognized as the best Halloween
character because her white complexion can be quite horrifying when applied a
dangerously deep hot red lipstick on her pink lips and amazing the audience
with the perfect look. Teachers will be praising her as the cutest student of
the class and grabbing her by the cheeks so much so that her veins start
showing their bluish deoxygenated blood vessels on her white face. Not until she reaches the age of thirteen, when her lovers would start becoming few and despisers
more in number. Yes, she is taking a class group picture with her mates, when
girls start pushing her here and there, not because she is very beautiful and
they would love to stand with her, but because they say, ‘’oh god, her fair
complexion ruins the whole picture, and pity on the person who stands next to
her, she looks so dark with this gori’’. Wait a second, where are the other
gori’s of the class? Is she the only beautiful person in the class? Obviously not.
Those so called beautiful girls will be in some corner of the school, taking
pictures of themselves with their cameras, which are going to be sent to their boyfriends
in a while, because they are so beautiful, and they are high in demand, yes,
they are the hot chicks of the town. They are wanted for their beautiful eyes
and glowing skins. Only if they would know they are objects of lust and
not something which is sincerely desirable by a boy. After a few years, she will
start going to the university. Most of the girls will tell her during the first
meeting that she is beautiful and probably never talk to her again unless they
need to. Guys will think she has attitude because she thinks she is beautiful,
as if they would possess some technology which would process her mind,
overseeing the nail paints and make up of other girls, because for some reason
average looking people are definitely more beautiful from the inside, always, really? After getting
a little adjusted there, and a lonely stroller most of the time, she will pass
by two benches. Her view will be entertained by a beautiful girl sitting with
her guy on one bench and an average looking girl with her boyfriend on another
bench. Both of them will be equally enjoying themselves. After three months,
she will pass by the same view of two benches. The couple on the second bench
would look as normal as before, but the beautiful girl on the first bench will keep
looking at them with envious eyes. She will
keep walking forward, when she will hear rumors on her way that the beautiful
girl got dumped by her guy because her character was weak. Since she is
beautiful, how can she be a clean soul? Whereas the other brother on the second
bench, has officially gotten engaged to the girl who was average looking, after
all, he has not engaged her looks; he always used to say he will marry a
beautiful mind and not a beautiful girl, and there he is, with his soul mate. She
will keep walking towards her class, wondering if a beautiful girl can have a
beautiful mind too, or is it really impossible? After reaching her class,
people who would be engaged in deep jolly conversations, would stop talking to
each other for a second, silence would conquer the room, and people will stare
strangely towards her, passing sly smiles at her sweet gestures. The teacher
would enter the class, with checked papers in his hands. She might have topped
her exam-thanking God for rewarding her for her hard work and after a few days
she might get to listen to rumors like she scored those marks because that
teacher has a secret crush on her, or she topped the presentation not because
of her good presentation skills, but because her body flaunted the listener of
the presentation. Only God would know her state of mind then. And she will never tell her parents, because
their proud faces owing to her excellent results would not deserve to hear
something as low of what she is going through.
The world will shatter her, no matter if she is beautifully
inside out, or only from the outside. Even the girl who is universally beautiful
only on the outside, have been made ugly from the inside, because she has been
scared and marred by the desperate men out there. Folks! Beautiful people have
feelings too. You have no right to spread rumor about a girl if she is
beautiful. Likewise, a beautiful girl has brains too. She is not dating her
teacher if she is topping his subject. A beautiful girl deserves equal honor as
an average looking girl. There is a Pashto quote quite famous, ‘’Toro khandeledi, speeno jareledi’’.. The dark ones
have smiled and the fair ones have cried. I believe all my nieces and all those
girls going through similar experiences shall read this one day. And my message
to them is never to crush their self esteem or sell themselves short because of
the insecurities of other people. The women who are truly beautiful from the
inside, will come to you in the form of your close friends and they would be
such strong girls that they would have nothing to be insecure about you, and in
case of men, he will make you his life partner if God has made him worthy
enough to marry a lucky girl like you, and make you even more beautiful for the
sake of God. I have faced immense rejection from both men and women in my life,
because of many reasons, but my spiritual journey towards God have made me
found beauty in my heart. And remember, that God wants to make you as beautiful
from the inside just like you are from the outside, so do not stumble on your
lows, and He will grant you with more beauty, in the form of words, actions,
looks, material and last but not the least, in the shape of an enlightened soul.
Stay beautiful and be patient.
