Zahra and I were taking a stroll on a cool Sunday morning. We walked in silence for some minutes before Zahra broke the silence.
“Have you ever judged a book by its cover?”
“I guess that happens at some point in everyone’s life. There is always that one cover just pushes you away,” I replied simply without reading too much in to her question.
“I didn’t mean the question literally.”
“Oh you meant figuratively then? Oh ok. I have always been careful. I believe there is more to everyone than what they let you see.”
“You’re lucky!” She exclaims.
“What is this really about?”
“A long and disheartening story,” Zahra said with a sigh.
“I’m all ears.”
“My childhood friend Zubaida called me early this morning. She was in tears for a long time before I managed to get her to stop and talk to me. She spoke for a very long time after that with the tears stopping her every once in a while.”
“What happened to her?”
“Life happened to her. Love happened to her. The world happened to her!” Zahra laments almost poetically.
I was taken aback. Zahra is must definitely not the poetic type. Something must have gone terribly wrong.
“Zahra I need you to clarify. What exactly happened to her?”
“Everything Haneem! She got married to her beau a year and a half ago. Everything was perfect. He was such a gentleman and I didn’t just hear this from her I also saw it with both eyes. Frankly speaking I was so happy for her because I thought ‘sweet Zubaida had found a perfect partner’.”
“Okay so what went wrong?”
“That is what I don’t understand too. Everything is supposed to be fine. But judging from the conversation we had, every single thing is wrong. They can’t seem to agree on anything and the constant argument is taking its toll on her. It broke my heart to hear her cry so helplessly.”
“Well it’s not entirely surprising.”
“What do you mean?”
“Marriage is not like dating you know. They are two entirely different people with two entirely different backgrounds living under the same roof. Everyone has his own opinion, preference and views. It takes a lot of patience, hard work and more patience to make it work.
Zahra sighed.
“What they are going through is normal and it happens with most couples Zahra. Tell Zubaida to calm down, her marriage life is not over it just needs a whole lot of effort. They both need to sit down and iron things out like two mature adults. She needs to know when to persist and when to stand down. She needs to master the art of silence.
“Hia! Which one is art of silence again Haneem?”
“A very important art my dear! Not every situation demands a reaction. Sometimes silence is the best. Especially when people expect a reaction. Silence speaks volumes. It forces your partner to stop and think. It gives you a certain type of power. At the same time one must know when to speak up.”
“Very enlightening! I will call her up immediately!”
