Special thanks to:
#My best friend, Daniel for pushing me to write this story.
#My dearest Anuja for editing it and helping me with the title.
After a long time, I’m back with yet another piece of writing. The story you are going to read is about a person who inspires me every day and will keep inspiring me. A person who stood as a pillar by my side even when my parents ceased to support me. I tend to realize her value now when I miss the warmth of her caring hands around me. Somehow, I don’t cry over her absence but feel lucky to have had 13 precious years with this iron woman; to have breathed the same air for 13 years.
I don’t know what took me so long to write this story, but I think I lacked the sense of maturity to write it, all these years. Now that I have turned thirty and can confidently say that I have gained a fair amount of exposure and understanding of life to finally write about Sakina, my great grandmother.
Disclaimer: The core content and setting of the following story is true to the people who lived it. The framework and scenario of it is a mere fragment of my imagination.
Somewhere around the year 1942, Bombay, Maharashtra.
A handsome boy in his late teens was stepping into adulthood with a bag full of clothes and hopes for the future as he stood ready to start his journey from Bombay to Kallakurichi, a district in Tamil Nadu. Faring well with good grades in 12th class his parents were ready to go that extra mile for his further studies. They braced themselves to send their son to a far-off land for his better future. Little did they know what future had in store for them and their son.
“Wahid! You are forgetting this” he heard his mother calling after him right when he was about to step out with his father, clutching the bag, trying to be strong and confident.
His mother came in a hurry holding a piece of paper. She thrust it into his hand saying, “This is the address and the name of the person you need to speak with for your residence in Kallakurichi.”
“Yes! I have managed to find this place for you to stay with utmost difficulty. Don’t lose this paper.” His father said fretting over the thought of how his son was going to manage in that town all alone.
“Aiyyo! Sorry ammaa. I thought I kept it in my bag.”, Wahid replied while taking the paper. He glanced at it one last time and traced his fingers through the written content reading it carefully. There he read the name ‘Sakina Bee’. He tucked it in his bag carefully.
He looked at his mother one last time before leaving from the house and saw tears in her eyes. “Ammaa, not again!”, saying that he hugged her once more and then walked away. He heard his mother’s constant reminding to take care of himself, his meals etc. etc. behind him.
Year 1942, Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu.
After a long and tiring journey when he set his foot in Kallakurichi at 5 pm in the evening with the address in his hand, he reached his destination. He was searching for Sakina. All he knew was the name. He didn’t know how that individual looked like or what she did. He thought of asking someone and looked through the vicinity. He saw a woman trying to balance some utensils in both her hands and then he noticed a boy next to her with some more utensils. The boy must not have been more than 12 years of age. Both of them were moving towards the house whose address Wahid was clutching in his hand. He picked up his bag and went ahead to approach them.
With each step he was trying to form a judgement about the woman he was about to approach. He thought she must be the boy’s elder sister. And the more he observed the more he realized that she was a beautiful woman with unavoidable grace in her movements. She wore a saree and the pallu was tucked in the front which conveyed she was busy with her day’s chores.
The boy ran into the house and was back empty handed to help her carry the rest of the utensils. Her hair was loosely plaited and placed in the front. It was getting stuck again and again in the utensils that she was carrying. She tried flipping it back but couldn’t as both her hands were completely occupied.
“Ammaa! Wait. Let me help you.”, the boy told the woman and immediately pulled her plait back and took some utensils from her hand.
Listening to the boy, Wahid’s approaching legs slowed down as his first judgement faltered. She was the boy’s mother. But she looked quite young to be a mother of a twelve-year-old, his mind contradicted. Then he wondered why it bothered him and got rid of all his thoughts. He decided to do what he was there for. With two long strides he reached them.
“Excuse me! Sakina, is it?” Wahid asked. Both mother and son turned to look at him.
“Yes. What do you need?” Sakina asked in a firm and no-nonsense tone.
“Assalam Alaikum! I’m Wahid. I might be your new tenant if I like the space.”, said Wahid humbly.
Sakina eased a little and replied, “Walaikum Assalam. I was informed that you would be coming. Please come in.” she gestured him to go in. She still had the aura of not entertaining unnecessary talks.
The boy entered the house followed by Wahid and then Sakina. The house was a humble dwelling even though it was a 3BHK. His eyes scanned through the entire place and taking in the minutest of details. The dimly lit hallway had 2 wooden chair and a cot. It looked quite odd for this big a house to have utilities in bare minimum.
“Please sit while I get you water and some snacks.”, she said and called her son to come along with her to the kitchen.
The boy came out with a glass of water and some appams with chutney. He placed it on the cot.
Sakina came out and stood at a distance and directly spoke business without any greetings or regards. “This house is where me and my kids stay. There is a guest house right at the back. It has a separate entrance to it. So, I decided to rent it out. Please have the snacks and then I can show you the room.”
He had the snacks in silence and then Sakina and the kid took him to show the guest house. Wahid saw the room and was satisfied with the basic facilities it had. He finalised it and moved in. He was a college student and so he had one concern. Food. Sakina said that she runs a tiffin service and that’s how she earned a living. So, that issue was also resolved.
Once he freshened up and lied down on the mat, the evening’s conversation with Sakina came rushing back. The matters like renting a part of the house, showing the room and finalising the tenant were usually done by the male members of the family. Why did Sakina do it all by herself singlehandedly?
Slowly and gradually, as days passed by, all his doubts were answered. He also got acquainted to two more members of Sakina’s family.
Sakina was a thirty-four-year-old woman but looked quite young for her age. She was a widow with three kids. Eldest was twelve-year-old Abdul Wahab. Second son was a ten-year-old Abdul Rahim and the third one was a four-year-old daughter, Habiba. She was a single parent with no help in any means. She was taking care of her small catering business, taking care of the three kids physically, mentally, and financially.
That’s all about Sakina who stood strong amidst the orthodox setting of 1942. This was an era when a woman with all the needs being fulfilled had to face so much discrimination. One can imagine the plight of a widow with three kids in such a setting.
When Wahid’s regular college started, he emerged as the college’s handsome hunk. In those times very few girls came out for further studies and those few never left a chance to drool over him. Little did these girls know that fortune had already taken over to write a history.
As days passed by the nineteen-year-old boy started falling for the strong headed and independent Sakina. He would return from college and teach reading and writing to her kids. His mind and heart were in a constant battle. His mind would state the fact of the age gap between them, and his heart would simply deny stating love has no boundaries.
A single boy residing next to a widow’s dwelling was just enough a reason for people to form tales on them and gossip, during those times. Soon the rumour travelled across the town that they had an affair going on.
Sakina cared less about these rumours, but it turned her life into a living hell. Her business also got affected due to it.
After a year of immense turmoil, Wahid’s heart finally won the battle and he decided to propose to Sakina for marriage. This would put an end to all the rumours surrounding them, he thought. He was very well aware that he was going against his family, relatives and society. It took him enormous courage to cross the line of tradition and culture of the surrounding that he was brought up in.
He mustered up the courage and proposed to her one fine day. Hearing his proposal Sakina was furious. She denied the proposal saying, “I am not in love with you. Do you see the age gap? How can you even think about it? And I don’t want to confirm these rumours by accepting your proposal.”
She impulsively denied his proposal. But that moment changed something within her. The young girl within her who craved for love, care and affection started hoping against the strong wall that she had built around her. And this wall threatened to crumble down in pieces. She could not let that happen.
Sakina was taught to behave in a certain way, to follow the customs and tradition. Being a widow, she accustomed herself that she didn’t have the right to enjoy the little pleasures of life, didn’t have the right to live life in her own terms. It took her time and fortitude to undo all those traditions and age-old customs to get empowered. Unknown to her, she started looking at herself in the mirror. She started taking care of herself. It took a while for her to accept the change of feelings within her and accept it as normal.
Finally, when her heart wanted to fall recklessly in love with Wahid while her mind reasoned otherwise. She had a past that was unknown to Wahid. Oh, he knew that she was a widow with three kids and was fifteen years older than him. But there was yet another past that he was unaware of. She was assured that once she reveals that, he wouldn’t want to marry her. And that stopped her from hoping for a happy life again.
Wahid cared less about the society. All he knew was that he was in love with Sakina, and he cannot give up. He cannot let society and its customs to dictate his life. He made up his mind to propose to her for marriage yet again.
When he went to her with the proposal once again, she denied it with a calmer tone this time. He told her not to worry about the society. For him the age gap didn’t matter. All that mattered to him was her. What she thought was all that mattered to him. He assured her that they will fight with this world and the society together.
She said that society can never influence her decision. She was way more independent than that when it came to taking decisions about her life. She said she had a dark past. The one which he was not aware of and that stopped her from moving on. Wahid asked her what it was as his heart picked up pace.
Sakina once was a young and naïve girl when she was married off. The man who married her, turned out to be a fraudster. He spent a night with her and fled the next day with all her jewelleries leaving her helpless and dependent. Her parents then married her off to Abdul Rehman. He was a noble man who loved her and took care of her. They also had three kids. But unfortunately, he was down with terminal illness. And again, her life took a drastic change leaving her with three lives that depended on her.
Sakina said if she married Wahid then he would be her third husband. She knew that Wahid belonged to a reputed and a wealthy family. If he marries a woman with such a horrid past, let alone the fact that she was fifteen years elder to him, it will tarnish his reputation forever.
He went through a storm within him when he decided to marry her knowing that she was a widow. And now these new revelations were too much for him to wrap his head around. He went back to his room all broken and shattered.
Again, his mind and heart were in a battle. His mind kept repeating her past and his heart kept reminding him the reason why he fell in love with her. He loved her because she was strong and an independent woman. But how did she become so strong? Because she went through so much in her past which made her what she was. If that horrid past was the reason behind the best qualities in her that he loved so much, then how can he not accept her with that?
Yet another year passed by when he finally made up his mind that he would again propose to her and this time he would win her over.
When he proposed to her for the third time, that was THE moment for Sakina. The wall she had built around herself came crumbling down seeing his love for her despite so many reasons for it to falter. Wahid said he loved every bit of her existence. Even the horrid past that she carried along.
But this didn’t stop her from standing up for herself. She put forth a condition in front of Wahid. She said she would marry him only if he promises that he wouldn’t expect a child of his own. To some she might look selfish. But she stood up for herself and her body. She already went through five pregnancies and two still births. She couldn’t put her body through more pain.
Wahid agreed to her condition and promised her that he wouldn’t expect a child of his own. All he wanted was to have Sakina in his life as his soulmate.
1945, Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu
Wahid completed his graduation and by the time they got married, he was 22 and Sakina was 37. Her eldest son Abdul Wahab who was 15 at that time, was a perfect product of the existing orthodox society. He called his mother a selfish woman and fled from home.
1945, Bombay, Maharashtra.
When Wahid came back to Mumbai, along with his newly wed bride and her children, they knew they were to stay strong and fight the world. But what awaited them back in Mumbai was a wedding preparation in full swing. Wahid’s parents had finalized an alliance for him with a girl of their choice and the wedding was scheduled to happen in 10 days.
He was the most eligible bachelor amongst the big extended societal circle. The wealthiest and the most reputed families were ready to marry their daughters to him. And his parents had chosen the best girl who fits the definition of ‘perfect’ in the eyes of the society. But to him the definition of ‘PERFECT’ was Sakina.
When he revealed his marriage to Sakina, his parents refused to accept her as their daughter-in-law. But Wahid didn’t budge from his decision for even a second. His parents knew that they were fighting a lost battle. Then they finally decided to accept her only to make her life a living hell. They didn’t leave a single chance of torturing her. She endured everything because she knew that Wahid was a strong pillar of support to her. He promised to be with her through thick and thin, and he kept his promise. He endured all the pain and torture along with her that his parents put her through.
And that’s how love conquered. This is the love story that broke all boundaries and stereotypes that the society had built. And I, Anisa, the great granddaughter of Sakina and Wahid proudly share this timeless gem of a hidden history of true love.
The lost soul 