Meenu scaling walls to get to Dr. Nofil’s house. Meenu delivering medicine to Dr. Nofil so that she can catch a glimpse of him, and ensure that’s he’s okay. Meenu sending a message to Dr. Nofil via Mubashir. Meenu saved by her local villager friends from being caught by her brothers when meeting Dr. Nofil. Meenu taunted by college friends for being tutored by Dr. Nofil … Meenu being warned by the entire Kaiser Kala that she needs to keep away from Dr. Nofil so that people do not talk about the two of them. What is a girl in love to do if not climb a wall to get to her beloved one at night? Men have serenaded women at their balconies since eternity, but what if a woman were to do the same, will we let her?
Did you know that Meenu carries the honour of the entire village on her (not so) ‘naazuk’ shoulders? If she chooses to go to college to pursue higher education and not marry, she’s dishonouring her family. If she asks her prospective bridegroom about family planning, she’s dishonouring her family (and herself, and all young girls of Kaisar Lala), losing her chances of ever finding a husband. And if she, by any chance, climbs a tree to help Dr. Nofil catch cell signals to make a call back home… oops, she’s done for!
And hence, we waste no time in asking…should Meenu have gone to meet Dr. Nofil at night?
Caution: The wrong question will give you the wrong answers, and this one is positively loaded! We mean, which self-respecting, ‘honourable’ God-fearing soul will say YES! Meenu did the right thing by leaping over walls in the dead of night, sneaking out of her home, in order to meet the man she loves???
But maybe, dear Watson, the fault in our stars is not in Meenu, but in the questions we ask… Instead of asking, why Meenu navigated darkened village streets at night, scaling walls in secrecy to catch a glimpse of Dr. Nofil, we should be asking…why she couldn’t enter through the front door, and in the day time?
Perhaps we need to question the society that forces women to scale walls rather than knock on the front door.
Instead of asking “Should Meenu have gone to meet Dr. Nofil at night?” Perhaps we should ask why she couldn’t meet him in the day time. Why is it that our society suffers from a perpetual ‘log kya kahenge’ virus when we could have easily allowed her to check up on him in the day time. On the contrary, Meenu was severely warned not to meet Dr. Nofil at all so that the village people don’t “talk” and land her in trouble. For a young girl in love, who knows her beloved is facing a harsh trial, with unjust harassment allegations, not being allowed to meet him, being made to feel repeatedly that falling in love, being in love, is something frowned upon, if not deeply sinful for a young girl her age, a young adult, mind you, is perhaps, a cruel way to treat a pure heart – one who has her priorities in the right place (most of the time, she’s human after all, you know).
To expect Meenu to be responsible for the honour of the entire village, and that honour, resting on her denying her heart (Nofil) and her dreams (becoming a doctor) is tantamount to a human rights violation – too dramatic? Too true!
And for those of you saying that the drama has lost the story in a love story, one needs to understand that the drama is bang on. Why can Mubashir profess his love and not Meenu? Why can Meenu’s brothers gamble, take drugs (and become addicted to them), and Meenu’s father, bet on his birds (also a form of gambling, some might argue), no matter how loving he is as a father, and why Meenu has to do the entire housework, and study, and be answerable for her actions when no one else is?
And why all that gambling and betting, and drug addiction is not bringing dishonour to the family?
Should the male members in Meenu’s house not be made to feel ashamed for not supporting her journey – Not dropping her to college, helping her with the housework, or perpetually questioning her character? Should the men of Kaisar Kala not be questioned on taking on multiple wives, fathering multiple children, expecting them to engage in forced child labour to help support their younger siblings, taking on a second, third and fourth wife when the earlier ones die from multiple childbirths and minimal healthcare facilities. Is this not a matter of dishonour?
How you treat your women in society should be cause for honour or (dis)honour, not Meenu climbing a wall because she’s been warned not to come in through the front door.
Perhaps we need to make safer, more accepting spaces for women rather than demanding they bend over backwards, and appease the people who will always have something to say. And who have their (very fragile) honour riding on the (very steady) shoulders of a woman. Mind you, the last time we checked up on the definition, Meenu is as steady (and honourable) as they come – it is the men around her who need to take a long, hard look at their honour.
And to appease those who still question, because there will always be those…
Yes, she shouldn’t have gone at night, yes she made a mistake and yes, she did not intend to do anything “wrong” per se. But perhaps we need to question the society that forces women to scale walls rather than enter through the front door.
Get In On The Conversation With Zard Patton Ka Bunn Writer Mustafa Afridi
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Zard Patton Ka Bunn is penned by the talented duo of Mustafa Afridi & Saife Hasan. The project is produced under Momina Duraid Production & Kashf Foundation. The cast includes Sajal Ali, Hamza Sohail, Rehan Sheikh, Samiya Mumtaz, Ali Tahir, Adnan Shah Tipu, Saad Azhar, Syed Tanveer Hussain, Chaudhary Muhammad Usman, Mubashir Mehmood, Adeel Afzal, Najma Bibi, Zaryab Haider & others.
