From Beneath The Rubble

From Beneath The Rubble

-Fictional Short story – Feminism in Pakistan 

By Hannan A. L. Khan 

(All events and characters are fictional and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.)

She was rather tall for her age. This and many other of her attributes, both physical and emotional, used to turn many heads back in the day. For Mahnoor Sheikh was not a typical woman born and raised in the suburbs of Lahore, Pakistan. Graduating at the top of her class from Cambridge with a degree in law, she still remembered her determination as she entered the Andaleez and Zandz law firm. Even her boss was intimidated by her very presence, mostly because he knew she was too good for her job. Her corporate stature grew rapidly over time, most of which was a proof of her strong will and dedication to her specialty in environmental law. She was one of few who appreciated life and were content with it. Although first impressions made her out to be a career-oriented woman, the opposite was true. Having been raised in an environment where marriage and having children was the greatest duty a woman could do, she firmly believed in the notion. Hence, when her parents sought out an arranged marriage for her, she was happy to oblige. 

Having resigned from her prestigious job at the wishes of her husband, she hoped that he would keep in mind this sacrifice she made and value her more. She did all that a typically good Pakistani wife was expected of. Having given birth to two children, she would quite often look back at the days when she was valued more for her intellect rather than how clean she kept the house. She put in her all for her husband, her children and her house. Even more so than she did once at her job. And this is why she was utterly heartbroken when her husband pronounced his love for another and claimed to have fathered other children. Not only was the betrayal clawing away at her heart for she had grown to love the man but what bothered her even more was the fact that he felt no remorse at having brought her to her knees. What was even more agonizing? He did not divorce her and continued on with his affair. She could not fathom the idea of acquiring a divorce for herself because she had been taught by her mother that a good wife bears all, be it something as mere as a scolding, as hurtful as a betrayal or even as barbaric as physical abuse. 

Such a turn of events brought her to the brink of death. Having thought about it for quite some time, she held the gun her husband kept in his cash vault and was determined to take her own life when her three year old daughter walked in and hugged her. She had started to believe that all human contact on an emotional level, even with the children she had, was lost to her but this single hug moved her. Moved her and made her come to a decision that sometimes enough was just enough. Seeking a divorce and further winning over custody of her children in a legal battle that spewed over months, she was the first such woman in her family to stand up for her rights in such a way. With no means to support the two children she held so dear to her heart, she decided it was time to step back into the corporate world so that she could make a positive difference in her daughters’ lives and teach them what she herself had been deprived of from her mother. 

Even though her job skills had become a little rusty, it was only a matter of time before she regained her status in the place she had first called home. Such is the story of Mahnoor Sheikh. People may call her a lousy wife. An unfit mother. A reckless homemaker. But she was what she was. And she was an independent and strong willed woman, who built her life brick by brick only to have it bulldozed by another. But from beneath the rubble she rose, stronger than ever and showed the world her true worth.