“Let me die,” she whispered in my ear. I shouted loudly, “But why?” She looked at the ceiling, trying to hold back her tears, but it couldn’t help; she cried. Her throat became heavy as she cried her heart out. She said, “I curse myself for fantasising about things. Reality has destroyed me.” At this I said to her, “Stop being a philosopher every time.” This made her smile a bit but her heavy heart still showed in the expression on her face.
She was a daughter raised by a proud single parent (her dad) like a princess. Her dad being her biggest support never missed any moment to make her smile, shine, laugh and be proud. But still on many occasions she missed her mom. And now that she was going to be married soon, she was missing her mom much more. Her dad had saved every single penny for her wedding and as she had always wished, she had got a handsome groom with a golden heart.
As her father began to make arrangements for the wedding, he found himself short of money. Because the way she had dreamt of the wedding, it required huge expenses.
“Can’t we just simplify it”? her dad asked. She replied with a change in her tone: But what about my reputation? Didn’t you see my friends getting married? Their dresses, their jewellery, the decoration and all the stuff?
Hold on! Are you getting married or what! Someone (a fool maybe) who didn’t know the latest trends asked her. Isn’t marriage a bond of love, peace, kindness and bliss? Isn’t it so basic a part of one’s life that it should be as normal as life itself? Something that everyone can afford without any hardship?
A pin-drop silence followed. Everyone nodded their head in approval but nobody had courage enough to speak in the fool’s favour.
He went on, saying that every now and then everyone among us might have encountered this problem in our lives. I don’t know why on earth have we made a big fat wedding a sign of prestige, respect and honour. I mean, one is at liberty to do whatever makes her/him happy, but we should not assign meanings to it. Let us for a while be practical. Pardon me if by any means you find me mocking anyone. It is just an opinion! Cultures develop just like this. The ideas that are accepted, the customs people practice, over time makes them act in a particular way, and solidifies culture and after some time for a nation or community or whatsoever group, culture becomes their identity. Let us not make it happen that these things define who we actually are!
Let us normalise simple marriages, affordable ones, cherished ones. Let them be dreams that really come true.

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Munazah Hafiez