A Morning Walk

 

I was strolling along the narrow trail through the lush green fields in the cold, hard morning weather. It was my daily routine. I would leave the village in the morning and go to the fields far away. Green fields look very charming when they dance with the wind. I like that scene when the dew drops come to shower the fields. Waving fields with the blowing Breeze give a lot of pleasure. That's why I came here daily in the morning and walked in the fields in the distance. It has been fifteen days since I came here. It was my village. But I left it in my childhood when I went abroad to study. Now I have returned after many years. My parents also went with me abroad, and now they are also there, just as I came here to meet my grandparents. When I went, I was just ten years old, and now I have returned after twenty years. Natasha dwelt in this village too. I saw her for the first time in these fields in the morning. She also came here for a morning walk. She was with her cousin sister. After this, I saw her daily; we met at the same spot. Our houses were in opposite directions, so she came from the other side of me. We would cross each other quietly every day, then I would go down the trail in the fields and they would pass straight. Sometimes they looked at me and smiled at each other, I would just glance at them and pass. 

 

One day, I was returning from the fields when I came upon a dirt road, and suddenly it started to rain. I ran to find a place to escape the rain. When I reached the road I saw the tube well. The tube well engine was in the raw room and the front part of it was outside where the water comes out. I didn't know then why the engine was covered with a small rough room. Well, there was a thatch adjoining the room. I went downstairs and stood there. After a couple of minutes, I saw those two girls were running away from the rain and trying to find a safe place. I offered them an empty spot because there was enough space and three or four people could stand easily there. We were standing there silently for a while then I asked, "do you live here in this village or are you a guest of someone?" One of them spoke,” we're from this village.  But it seems you're a guest here?"

 

Yeah, I had fifteen days to come here. But not actually I'm a guest because this is my village. I lived here in my childhood." I told them briefly about myself.

 

"Okay. Nice." She just replied a tad and then got silent. After a while of silence, I asked their names.

 

The girl who spoke first answered again and told me her name is Natasha and she is my cousin, she did tell me her name but I have forgotten. But it's okay she is nothing important. We talked for a while; she told me that she is studying at a university in the city.  After some time rain stopped and we headed towards our homes. I wished I had asked her, Are you coming tomorrow? But I kept silent. That night I kept thinking about her and waiting for the morning. At dawn, I woke up quickly and got out of the house. When I reached the same area where I met every day, I saw her in the distance coming towards me. Today she was alone. When she reached near I stopped and said hi. She stopped too and replied. "Hi. Good morning. How are you?"

 

I replied and asked about her cousin. She told me she went back to her home in her city. “Oh. So you walk alone daily?"

 

"Yeah, of course."

 

"Without any fear?"

 

"Yeah. I go to my university alone too."

 

"Wao. Interesting." I praised her, "so if you haven't any fear then would you walk with me today?" I asked her.

 

"Sure. Why not."

 

After this, we walked in the green fields for a long time. I asked about her family and study and told her about my family and my country. Then she said," Now we should go back, if someone were to see us, then it would be a problem."

 

Huh. "You were saying sometime before you haven't any fear, now what happened?" I asked mischievously.

 

“I haven't any fear alone, but with you, it can create a problem if someone sees me with you."

 

“Okay. Okay. Let's go."

 

Then we came back to our home. We promised in our hearts that we would meet tomorrow again. I kept thinking about her all day, passed that night in very difficulty as an awakening. 

 

I got up quickly, prepared, and went for a walk. I saw her from a distance coming towards me. When we reached near we greeted each other and descended on the trail. There was a musty smell of mustard. Due to the rain, the smell of wet soil mixed with it. We were moving as we talked with each other on the narrow trail. She was walking before me and I was behind her. She was talking to me, and I was thinking she was not like the village girls. Because I lived abroad for a long time, I had set an image in my mind of the village girls; this girl was different from that. Although she had worn a simple shalwar kameez and I used to see her daily in this dress. When the trail ended then there was an open ground where lush green grass was growing, we cleaned the spot and sat there. She told me that she is the youngest in her house; she has four older siblings, two big brothers, and two sisters. She is the first to be allowed to go to the university otherwise her two sisters couldn't go there despite her wanting to. She was stubborn and finally, she was allowed after enough resistance. Sun was appearing as smiling before us telling the whole village about us with his pure light. “We should go now," she said as she got up, and we walked back. After walking a little we saw a few men passing on the road. We stopped on the trail in the middle of the fields so that no one could see us. I grasped her hand, and she smiled. When the men passed then we moved ahead towards our homes.

 

After that, it became our habit of sitting in the same place every day, talked a lot and we would get up when the sun started staring at us. Also, we now have daily talked at night on the phone. When we disconnected the phone we realized the night had gone deep. One day we couldn't talk at night. Coincidentally, I went for a walk in the morning. She didn't come there either. I realized she wouldn't come now then I returned. I was feeling sad the whole day. Everything that I liked seemed bad. I lost interest in everything. There was no heart in anything. I felt everything was nonsense and cheesy. Lush green fields are very bad. Everything in the world is random and clumsy. Finally, I received her call in the evening then I felt calm. I expressed anger at her, then she told me that she was very busy. First, some guests came, and second, she had a lot of work for her University, which is why she couldn't come for a walk, nor could she contact me. Well, I said to her whenever she would face some kind of matter she must tell me first. After that, the time went on similarly, we met in the morning and talked on the phone at night. One day we were talking, she seemed very happy, I asked the reason, she said, “just a few days are left then my degree would be completed then I'll do a job. Truly, I'm waiting badly that day when I'll go to the job. Do you know no one girl did a job in my family because she wasn't allowed, I'll be the first who does this"? 

 

So, your family allowed you for this?" I asked curiously.

 

“No, but I'm sure I'll persuade them." She said with almost belief.

 

"But I think they are right. What do you need for the job? And if you ask me about my point of view then I tell you I'll not allow you for the job after marriage." I said as I was giving an order.

 

"What are you saying this Fari, It is my passion and I'll do it at any cost."

 

"See, our family does not consider the job of the girls to be good, and even I do not like it."

 

"Well, will talk in the morning now I'm going to sleep." She said and disconnected the phone. 

 

In the morning, when I went for a walk she wasn't there. After some time she came. Her face was downcast; it seemed that she didn't sleep the whole night. I asked as she neared," what happened? Where did you leave, why are you so late today.

 

"Nothing." She said and sat down. There was silence for a while. Finally, I spoke, “Isn’t it too cold today?" She just said 'yes' and got silent. After some time she spoke, "well Farukh, tell me how do you see me after marriage?"

 

"What do you mean"? I didn't understand."

 

“Meaning is simple. I asked, "which type of wife do you want?"

 

Oh. Okay. So, yeah... She should be obedient, take care of my likes and dislikes. Don't do anything else that I dislike.

 

“So that means you don't want to be my guardian but you want to be my master, my king."

 

“So I would be your master," I said in the same style.

 

“You want that, I do everything according to your choice. If you call night, day... so I would call it day. If you call the red, green... then I would call it green. If you make the right, left... then I would call it left and if you call the left, right... then I do the same." She almost screamed.

 

"I didn't mean such that."

 

"I know very well what you mean. You want a slave, not a wife. You want to be my master, not my guardian." After this she got up, "I'm sorry Mr. Farukh Ibrahim. I cannot marry you. I've known your thoughts, so goodbye. I don't want to keep any contact with you."

 

She went with anger and I remained there. I had no idea that she would take such a thing so much seriously. I thought she would agree until tonight but she cut off all communications. After one month I found out that she always left the village and went to her relatives in the city. I tried a lot to contact her but couldn't succeed. After remaining for a few days there, I also left the village and went back to London. Now after fifteen years I'm coming back into my village and strolling in the same fields in the morning.

 

Now I think she was right, people like me don't change even if they go wherever in the world. She said one day, "The village people are uneducated and unaware so they don't understand these things."

 

 

I figure I'm uneducated and unaware more than village people. I didn't learn anything from studying abroad. I think people like me are the people who want to become a master or knight, whether for the home, family, or the country. If they call white, black...people should agree, whether they call the sun, the moon... or night, day, no one would oppose them.