A Drought Stricken Country, Flooded

Recurrently being mentioned in the media for dreadful incidents in the past week, Pakistan is a country victimized by yet another deathly mishap which peculiarly happens to be a natural disaster. This year’s monsoon rains caused a calamitous flood to occur in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan – now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – and left infinite number of families homeless and destitute. Over 3 million people have been reported to be affected and about 1.3 million acres of crops are said to be destroyed, according to the Punjab Relief and Crisis Management.

Recent weeks have turned out to be grievously disastrous for the residents of Pakistan as they faced a plethora of horrific accidents, which lead to numerous deaths and repeated occurrence of the country’s name in the news. The nation had not fully recovered from the loss of their acquaintances or relatives due to a lethal plane crash in Islamabad, when another tragedy – pertaining to the assassination of a prominent political party’s member – evoked and intensified various acts of violence. Deleterious floods proved out to be another vicious blow to the poverty-stricken part of the nation – which happens to be the majority – residing near the flood-prone areas due to their inability to afford a safer habitat. Furthermore, to the nation’s additional dismay, Pakistani President Zardari opted to harbor a stoic attitude towards his indigent nation while delightfully cruising on foreign lands.

Goodbye

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There was a congenial time long ago when people – specifically the elders of eastern communities – heartily believed that their revered lifestyles and established practices would be relived and continued throughout the subsequent generations, by their own off-springs. Unfortunately, such a belief lasted only for quite a bit and later came the era of some absurd fashions which foolishly happened to be asinine mixes of both the west and the east. And now, I take you on a journey which – after much introspective thoughts – I have earnestly named Goodbye to the Eastern Traditions.

Before completely diving into the details, I would like to sincerely point out that the usage of the term “eastern” refers to both the countries – India and Pakistan – which are considered extremely wealthy in terms of renowned traditions. Most of Pakistan’s traditions are a variation of Indian traditions since both the countries were one unit in the olden days.

A Moronic Desire

An epitome of asininity…An embodiment of blind illiteracy…An absolute exemplification of heartlessness…All defined by a single desire – of having a male being born in the family – demonstrated by most of the residents of Pakistan. A daft so-called tradition which has victimized almost the entire Pakistani nation and isn’t being questioned considering the massive number of people posing as ardent supports privately, if not publicly.

A marital knot, tied between a strong man and a delicate woman, exhibits the initiation of a new beginning towards a supposedly prosperous life and an unbreakable commitment of being together for eternity; but what the in-laws fail to put forth is the condition suggesting dissolution of this contract, if and when the newlywed bride is unable to conceive specifically a son. Whether she is capable of reproducing or not, is an altogether different scenario at this point primarily because the mother-in-law – in particular – doesn’t cater to extrapolate on that scenario, thus heartily assumes the bride to be fertile.



The destitute woman in question, while succumbing to her purported mother – aka mother-in-law which I will refer to as the purported mother from now on – actually tries to fulfill the wish upon which her life continuously hangs. Unable to comprehend, as to why she would be held responsible if a son isn’t produced, she prays day and night in an attempt to make her newly founded family glad. As for the purported mother, she has a back-up plan in reserve; a plan which suggests her son’s second marriage if her desire isn’t brought to completion. To the utterly oblivious wife’s dismay, her supportive life partner also turns out to be a part of this atrocious scheme, no matter what the reason. Now, a notion worth-mentioning proves out to be the reaction of especially the purported mother after the birth of her grandchild. If luckily she is bestowed with a grandson, then she runs out on the streets and screams with joy and gives her blessing to her son; on the other hand, if a granddaughter is born, she endlessly blames the mother and shares her exasperating thoughts with her son. I can’t help but notice the importance of the wife – who gave birth after going through the troubles of pregnancy – in both the scenarios; she remains neglected and a mere medium of childbirth in this God-forsaken evil society.

The cause of the purported mother’s proclaimed superiority (even though she is a female herself) you may ask? There are two; one is her ability to produce a son, even if he happens to be the only child and after whose birth she became infertile, and second is her misconception pertaining to the asserted fact that the grandchild would serve to be a support for not only his parents - but also his grandparents. All other irrelevant thoughts – dealing with karma − do not matter and never will because she has a son and everything else is absolute garbage. She miserably fails to grasp the significance of having to see the face of an angelic child, let alone being blessed with a baby boy.

There is nothing more beastly and cruel than this asinine tradition of fostering desire to have sons or grandsons. Such women shouldn’t be granted with children of their own, let alone the penchant for having grandchildren. I consider it one of the major dilemmas of Pakistani society, which if eliminated can, not only lead to a powerful society of women but also can eventually halt their brutal deaths and murders, be it physically or mentally.