This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 14; the fourteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.
Her husband Toufeeq was equally excited for his baby. He was glad he could marry the girl he liked so much since his childhood and now it is a good news which has filled the family of Toufeeq with unexplainable joy. Gudiya swung slowly, just go get a little feel of the cool breeze, she knew she has to be careful, it is her fifth month of pregnancy. And the thinly built Gudiya had begun to show the baby bump now.
She knew she had left her past behind. As it is it were just 10 days of marriage with Mohammad Arif, who left one day and didnot return.
Everybody thought, it was good that her parents had arranged her second marriage to Toufeeq. She had moved on, in real sense.
Her happiness though was shortlived. Arif, had been declared a deserter by Army, when he disappeared while he was on duty mine sweeping near LoC, but later was found languishing in Pakistan jails and the Indian authorities got him released. The news spread to Gudiya's village like fire.
She was full term pregnant, had come to visit her mother's place, when the news of arrival of Arif reached her. She was summoned back to her first husband's place, as she had not legally divorced her first husband. The matter of her heart, her choice, her life and her marriage became slave of the local religious leaders, and in her haplessness, she could only utter once " I am not a cow or a buffalo that you can now send me to Arif. I love Toufeeq, I want to go to him.
May be that was the only thing she could say before she was quietened by her family, society, elderly men and religious leaders etc. Even her child to be born was labelled as illegitimate, as it was out of the wedlock. Do I need to say it that Guriya was sent back to Arif, her first husband?
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| image courtesy: rediff news |
It was a return she had not expected, it was a return, which finally killed her.
RESTLESS
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29 comments:
Muslim society is sort of weird in some senses, I don't know what to say. It was tragic and Arif should have taken the wiser decision. Sad, how can one kill one's lovers love, if they really love them?
Yes, I remember this incident that happened a couple of years back-I was very moved by this inarguably WRONG decision taken by the village people.Sometimes, I wonder that if we can see that something's wrong, why can't others see that too?
Nevertheless, a wonderful and a different take on the topic.
All the best!
I remember this incident. I just don't get why Arif wanted Guriya back even though she clearly wanted to be with Taufeeq. Poor woman literally became a Gudiya in the hands of the so called wise men.
well i remember dis breaking news...n it was very sad...and as i expected of you...you had put it in a very apt manner..
@ B A: well irrespective of religion dis cud have hapened to anyone...
namit
i blog at http://i-am-a-man-namit.blogspot.com/
Women are always puppets in the merciless hands of destiny and suffer death many times before their body perish. A woman should be bold enough and determined to do what she values and not just accept what society offers her. Its her life after all, and no one has a say in it. If a woman stands strong, even the Gods will fear the reproach. A practical post. All the best...
Kudos,
Restless, you have done some research here. Moving towards professional journalism, are you :)?
nice read.
Society is weird, period!!
Why did the husband want her back even after she told him she loved the other man?!! Weird fellow!!
He should have moved on..
Best of luck for BAT :)
Nice post :)
Another different take.. Awesome.. ATB for the BAT.. :)
Okay. That's a nice story. I have some points of observations for you:
a. You are extremely consistent in writing loooong sentences. Man, I have never see such consistency ever before. Very very long sentences.
b. The story reaches a real dilemma towards the end... Arif was not to be blamed equally... and I feel sorry for him too.
c. This story is quite similar to a Bollywood movie.. it starred Abhay Deol, Soha, and Sayan.. Ahista, i think. Not sure. Good story.
d. The most unfortunate one, as we see, is of course Gudiya. Wonder what she thought on hearing the news.
Thanks for the post restless. Good luck for BAT.
I am glad you wrote this. Women oriented tales can go on till the mind set of society doesn't change. A brilliant take .
Best for BAT
This is a different take on the theme return.. I love to thank you for penning down this and loved the character Gudhiya...
--Someone Is Special--
Wouldn't have known bout this had it not been for your post.
This 'society' can be such a bigot.
Is it really that tough to use one's commons sense? To rise above the stupid senseless rules of the society?We make the society & it crushes us under meaningless laws & customs.
Thanks for sharing this story with us,its a return that signifies how we keep returning to our norms & never move forward.
all the best for BAT!
I didn't come across this article before. Thanks for writing about it!
great take on a strong topic.... appreciate it.
I will never understand these cultural issues. It's really sad indeed, what happened to Gudiya.
Though Arif can't really be equally blamed, I think (I haven't read the news article), Gudiya's fate was indeed unfortunate.
You have written about it very well and I loved your take on the subject.
All the best for the BAT.
Well this is smthing we all are seeing but will not be acting upon because we are commoners(0 power or rather we dont want to), if the one with power is mere a spectator of such catastrophically insane incidents ... I hope these things such as Khaps and few other clans are abolished sooooooon.
all the best , very serious but moving.
It makes me feel " don't we have right to live or what"..
Sometimes ,men behave weird...they treat women like puppets...
sad....
hats off Restless for this wonderful post !!!
That was quite a potent piece of writing.
Leaves a very strong impact,esp the last line.
And the manner in which you have used a real-life incident to portray the prompt word was marvelous in itself.
When others start deciding for us, our freedom is lost....
best of luck for BAT
I thought I knew this as I read along. And then the picture confirmed it.
Though it is a well known piece of news, what makes it a good read is the way you've told the story.
A job well done! Good luck!
It's hard to imagine how people do not realize that a woman's not a tennis ball to be tossed back and forth between men! She's an individual! This story made it to the forefront but there are thousands others that don't. It's a pity.
@ BA- it's not about any religion actually, being an illiterate woman is enough to suffer.
@ Jaspreet - thanks, that's encouraging.
@ dreamer - well said!
@ Namit - hey thanks namit!
@ CB - well said, thanks!
@ Md Muddassir shah -thanks!!!! oh no, not really!
@ Girish -Wish ppl think like u!
@ Bedlam - thanks!
@ Kshitij - a. is that a compliment?! b. well yes, we should feel sorry for Arif too. c. yeah, later someone told me there is some movie based on the story, i didnot know. Thanks.
@ tikulicious - thanks a ton!
@ SIS - u welcome dear!
@ Kevin - hmm sadly.
@ Rinaya - So true Rinaya, thanks.
RESTLESS
@ Vee- thanks!
@ Sadiya - thanks!
@ D2 - yeah, it's difficult to understand really. thanks.
@ Saket Dabi - Ah Khap panchayats, they are some intersting ppl!!
@ Nikita - yes, that's sad nikita. but thanks dear.
@ Brijender - glad u appreicate the style!
@ shweta - so true. thanks.
@ Karthik - yeah it was, thanks.
@ Sidra Sayeed - absolutely. well said. thanks!
@ Anonymous - ur comment was irrelevant, hence deleted.
RESTLESS
This incident happened at a place which is very near to the place where i live.
Ya poor Gudiya died soon after she went with Aarif.
And little do people know that Aarif later married to another girl and she also died soon after.
Poor both the girls it was better if Aarif would have stayed there in Pakistan maybe two lives would have been saved.
First time to your blog its very nice.
@ Abhishek - thanks and welcome here!
ah, so he remarried too? and she also died? oh God. Actually Arif is also not to be blamed.
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