The Day We Shocked Everyone

This post is going to be a personal rant. Yes, this indeed is a warning. Plus, it was actually my brother’s idea. Not a bad one at all.

I’ve been single for the most part of my life. The only relationships I ever had were with my shoes and loyalty directed only towards a particular brand of toothpaste. I’m just too picky. Much to the disappointment of my shoes, I got engaged last month to this wonderful person. And my shoes probably couldn’t endure this grief, and indulged in self-mutilation. I had to replace them with a new pair (with a very heavy heart). Seriously.

So, yes, when I changed my relationship status to ‘engaged’ on facebook, I apparently shocked everyone. My friends in Canada were shocked that I said yes to someone I’ve never dated. That’s true. It happened really fast and I missed my own engagement because he’s in Pakistan and so are our parents.

My friends in Pakistan were shocked because I always came across to them as the man-hater. Too proud to give up my freedom. Too ambitious. I assure them that my marriage won’t change anything because I’m getting married to a very special man.

And in our small Baloch community, this move came as a ‘disappointment’ to many. Nobody in my extended family ever married off any girl outside the family. I should, however, mention here that my Canadian friends’ shock over inter-family marriages shocked me. But that’s a different story, so never mind. The news of my engagement to an “outsider” spread like wildfire and relatives were shocked that I should marry a guy of my own choice. Lame? No! There’s more. They blamed it on my education. Some pathetic guy circulated an SMS suggesting parents never to educate the girls. I even got anonymous messages on facebook suggesting the same. I find this funny. I find this extremely funny. I laughed and I had a good laugh with my friends again but on a serious note, these men really need to get their heads checked. But not just men, women too. Particularly the ones who suggested that my parents got me engaged because I was planning to elope. Hello? How can one elope when one is already living alone miles away?

But I’m glad that I’ve broken age old traditions. I only hope to inspire girls to have the confidence to brace their dreams. Whether it’s traveling the world alone or having a say in the matters that concern them (like marriage or education). For all this, of course, I’m very grateful to my lovely and understanding parents.

So beware traditionalists! I’m definitely going to come back to “infiltrate” the mind of young girls. I’ll see what you can do about it.