ANWARA

She was born on December 25 1999. He was born on December 25 1999 too.

She was named Anwara as her birth brought light to her mother’s life .He was named Anwar as his birth brought joy and light to his father.

She was the first child of the Mahesh Family.

Her Father,Khalil mahesh was a reputable man of his time. He was a Professor in his community

The people respected him for he was seen as the most knowledgeable man in his community .

Prof Khalil always wanted a Male child. In his family, women were minorities, babies to be fed. Men were the real deal.

Anwar however died at a tender age . He died a natural death as he didn’t wake up from sleep again

Khalil tried and tried to get his wife to conceive again but to no avail

He hated the sight of his wife and blamed her for something she had no control over

Anwara was devastated not because her brother died but because her own father treated her as an outsider in her own home .

Anwara set out to learn

She would sneak in to her father’s study and steal books to read because in the Mahesh family , females weren’t allow to go to school

Your life is solely and only for one reason, to take care of the home

Anwara was as stubborn as a bull . At the age of 13, she could speak 3 languages

When she turned 15, her mother got her an Anatomy book as she fell in love with the idea of being a doctor

Nan I want to be like the English women who go to work in their white clothes.

It was Anwara’s 18th birthday. Even without going to school, Anwara could do literally everything the men in her family could do

Anwara get ready , Yaseer and his parents are coming to ask for your hand .

Baba don’t I have a say in this ?

She spoke to Baba in her mother tongue. Her father was not supposed to know of her many acquired skills

Nan he wants to marry me off to someone

Please don’t let him .

Anwara’s mum was lost at sea. She adored her daughter so much and she didn’t want her ending up like her.

Baba Anwara do you have to get her married ? She doesn’t want to get married

Khalil laughed

And when did women have such rights in my family? Young woman don’t start what you can’t finish. Women are useless to the community and it is supposed to stay that way

That was it

That statement triggered anwara who was eavesdropping on their conversation

Baba I am not useless . I am a woman but I have dreams and wishes. All your friends children are enrolled in school learning, you have tied me to you. I know you hate me baba but we don’t love you either. I’ll rather die than let you marry me off baba. I shall go to school and become someone so I don’t end up shallow minded like you and the rest of the people In the mahesh family

A thud

She felt his warm hands across her face . She smiled

It is fine if you hit me a million times . It won’t change the fact I am not backing down . I truly only love my mother

A louder thud

This time she didn’t feel anything on her face but when she opened her eyes , she saw her mother’s red cheeks. Baba had slapped

Is this what you are teaching this imbecile

Nan I will run away, far far away come with me

So Nan collected all the savings she had kept over the years and decided to elope with her daughter .

They deserved a better life

The end

This was supposed to be along ass story ( going through my drafts and I saw this )but unfortunately for me I’m a lazy person.so I’m just passing it off as a short story