Saturday, October 25, 2008

INFIDELities

Another dawn… Another work day…

Meetings, strategies, plays…
Introductions are left to others though.

Wearing many hats but remains resolutely without title. Perhaps that indicates a tendency to avoid labels?
Hating being told that something cannot be done for whatever reason:
Girls shouldn’t do that;
That’s much too difficult. Perhaps something a little less time consuming, something more suited to a woman;
That is unacceptable in Islam;

Maybe that’s why the tendency to push beyond boundaries…

So with a number of degrees, years of experience and a portfolio of achievements, she is now classified “Too smart for her own good”.

The voices echo the sentiment :
Not married.
No children.
What good is that?
She thinks she is better than everybody else and yet she is all alone.
See where all the degrees got her?

Too smart for her own good…

She walks with her head held high inspite of it all. She’s an instrumental part of a four person team which assists over fifty thousand rural Africans. Now in the process of providing a clinic, they make a difference.

Home to a cat though for she is too smart for her own good…
It wasn’t always like that but his mother felt she was not right for him.
Once…
Twice…
Third time a charm.
“Here’s another, she has the same name even. But she’s not too clever.”

They write. He tells her about his fascination with India. They exchange book titles. He makes her laugh. They walk. They talk. He is astounded. She takes his breath away. It is unfair he says that someone should be so smart and so beautiful, inside and out. She is disbelieving. He treats her with respect; admires her strengths and smiles at her flaws.

He’s not right for her they say.
He doesn’t understand the culture.
He’s an infidel.

But, she’s too smart for her own good.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

may she find the strength to be with the one that moves her soul :), beautifully written.

Az said...

"Too smart for her own good"...

This post is brilliant. Encapsulates everything about whi I am at the moment. Portrays my predicament beautifully. Bitter-sweet :)

Anonymous said...

"Many things in life will catch your eye but few will catch your heart"

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

so many of these and like stories echo each other.. hmm.. to your very first commenter.... may all .. men and women find the strength to be with the ones who move their soul... because of and in spite of whatever those around them might expect or say :)

Anonymous said...

So very sad. Here's wishing she can move beyond and find peace and, maybe, happiness.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful ...

KiLLa said...

I had this argument with my mother.. With regards to "she has no kids, she not married, what makes her thik she's better"..

Thats a debatable point. i feel.. I could eb posed the same question, being a guy..

word veri - flummorr

Anonymous said...

:)Were you in my mind when you wrote that?

Princess said...

Wonderfully written!!

desert demons said...

That so many identify with this, is both heart-warming and sad. That our community sits in judgment of women is pitiable, but that it is the revered mother figure that in many instances is responsible for the passing of judgment is deplorable and that our very sisters are the ones who degrade our daughters.


"The attitude of the Qur'an and the early Muslims bear witness to the fact that woman is, at least, as vital to life as man himself, and that she is not inferior to him nor is she one of the lower species. Had it not been for the impact of foreign cultures and alien influences, this question would have never arisen among the Muslims. The status of woman was taken for granted to be equal to that of man" (http://www.jannah.org/sisters/statuswomen.html).

That we find respect from those outside of "OUR CULTURE" is both shameful and damning. However, it must bring us all to a realisation - we must be aware of our behaviour and its consequences. We must be the drivers of change.

Ladies, seek to empower yourselves! Seek knowledge. Therein lays the key to your success and freedom from oppression.

Voltaire questioned tolerance and concluded "It (tolerance) is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature". Unless we do so, we will be responsible for the disintegration that is bound to occur as a result.

We each have the power to change the world. Change yourself!