Difference

by

Memoona Saqlain

♥
Shamma, curbing a sigh, stared at the saige of the colourful artificial flowers that

were hung round the bed and were now flying about frantically due the ceiling fan as the

fan was moving at full speed, trying to cool the room which had become a hot furnace in

afternoon sun of June. The room was overcrowded with the dowry furniture and even the
♣
parchatis were loaded with the brass kitchen ware the bride has brought in her dowry.

The noise was deafening as every relative woman, kids and maids were gathered in the

room to see the bride. The bride who was clad in an expensive and heavily worked red
♦
jora , a lot of gold ornaments and very heavy make up, could barely be seen among all

the eager faces.

Shamma moved a little closer to the saige but could not see the bride’s face
♠
properly as the bride was wearing a huge round teekka on her forehead, a palm shaped
•
jhomar on the left side of her head which was only a fraction of a centimetres away from
⊗
her round teeka, in her nose she was wearing a big nath that almost covered all of her

left jaw bone, her earrings were also huge and round, in her neck she was wearing a

number of necklaces both short and long. Her head was somewhat bowed and her heavy

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Bridal bed decorated with flower garlands on all four sides.
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Wooden hanging shelves in the rooms, used for decorating utensils.
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Bridal dress which heavily embroidered with thin golden metallic wires called tilla.
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An ornament which brides wear on the forehead.
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Another bridal ornament wore on the side of the head.

A bridal ornament wore in the nose.
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kamdar dupatta that had been fixed to her head with God knows how many safety pins

and hair pins, (which fortunately were invisible due to the glitter in her hair and also
¬
because most of them were put on the backside of her shirt). Her bright red lehnga was

spread on the bed in a huge circle around her and it was difficult to tell where it ended

and where the bed sheet started as the bed sheet perfectly matched her kamdar lehnga.

Many women, sat on her lehnga, some out of confusion and some in a hurry to see the
∑
bride and her ornaments. Some elderly chachis and mamis expertly weighed her earrings

and necklaces by taking them in their hands and proudly, but with a bit of jealousy,

announced that they were made of pure 22 caret gold.

Shamma, blankly, looked at all this. Everything around her was the same. The

room was same but the bride in the red dress was not she…………but………… someone

else. Then she sat on the saige, which was a huge charpoi, specially built for her wedding
⌡
by Labbah tarkhan . She clearly remembers that she could hear her heartbeat that day as
•
her heart was beating like a dhool , playing crazy tunes which she had never heard before.

She could hardly wait for the moment when Salman would come into the room……..She

felt nervous and recoiled with shame at the thought of being alone with him whom she

had always thought as her lover. She could not contain her happiness and her bangles
ε
jingled from time to time. She was wrapped in different delicious smells of ubtan ,

hanna, roses and jasmine they intoxicated her. She could not keep her eyes open, her


Heavily worked headdress.

A blouse type dress worn by brides.

Aunts.

Carpenter
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a special round shape drum which is played with palms on both sides.
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It is a mixture of sweet smelling herbs mixed with rose water or milk and is applied to the skin of the
bride to be for some days prior to wedding
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dreams weighed too heavily upon them. Her whole body had turned into something

ethereal she remembered that she did not notice the noisy crowd that was gathered around

her. She felt like a conquered queen who had the whole world under her feet. Everyone
ϕ
said Mashalla as she looked so pretty in her red wedding dress. But she cared very less

about the noise, praises and comments, for her mind had been somewhere else. She

thought of all those moments when she saw Salman and she remembered how she felt at

those times. She never saw him directly in the eye and kept her gaze averted. Her face

always glowed and her lips only quivered as she could never utter a single word in front

of him. She always waited for him to come home from Lahore during his vacations from

school, college and university. He was a heart throb due to his good looks and charming

ways. Though he never said anything particular to her but it was the norm of their family

and young boys and girls were expected to behave thus. It was the right conduct and

parents arranged the marriages for the young ones. Therefore, Shamma was quite content

with Salman’s rather normal behaviour towards her. And at last when Salman returned to

village after finishing his studies his wedding was arranged with Shamma by the mutual

consent of their elders.

Suddenly a child shrieked when he was almost crushed by a heavy woman who

sat down on him, probably in her excitement to see the bride she had not noticed the child

who was sleeping there. In fact no one has known that he was here until this incident. The

commotion in the room brought Shamma back to this hot and stifling room. Now all the

women, including the bride, started to laugh and the wailing child was pacified by his

mother. Then someone outside the room announced that Salman’s mother was going to


An expression used by Muslims when they see something beautiful.
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distribute the suits among her sisters and devranis, jithanis, bhabhis and bahus and all

the women, except Shamma left the room. Suddenly the room became very quiet. The

bride straightened her neck and rested her head on the pillow and dozed off. Shamma

could not control her tears which were now pouring down as rain, soundlessly and

cleverly so that the bride would not notice her. Through her cloudy eyes she saw herself

on the saige, listening to Salman’s footsteps when he approached the room. She bent her

head on her knees and covered herself thoroughly with her dupatta and waited and

waited………………….. He came inside, shut the door but did not bolt it. She could feel

him approaching the saige, he came near her and said, “I’ve married you so that our

mutual land is not divided. This marriage has taken place because my father and your

father wished it. For me……………………….this marriage means nothing. You are ten

years elder than me and it’s a lot of difference…………………………….”

Shamma’s head never lifted again, her lips never smiled again, her bangles never

jingled again and her eyes bled invisible tears……forever. Today after fifteen years

Salman was able to remarry after the deaths of his father and taya, Shamma’s father.

What Shamma could not understand was the simple fact that the bride in front of her was

quite young and the difference between Salman and her was of more than fifteen years.

Wearily she thought would Slaman be rejected now due to the difference for which she

was once? Would his life be a living hell now as hers has been and will be for the rest of

her life?


sister in laws and daughter in laws