A veiled vision

I sat in the lobby of a beach resort in Penang, observing people. Some of them were checking-in/out and some of them were returning from the beach or the pool. There were very few business travelers. Most of them were there on a holiday, it was obvious. There were people from all over and I sat there using one of my favorite techniques of killing time-watching people and wondering about their lives and history! Some of them were on a honeymoon and there was the ‘did-I-get-married-to-the-right-person?’ look on some of their faces. I wondered if at the end of the trip, the apparent tension would vanish and they would go back to live happily ever after. And there were some who seemed blissfully happy and thoroughly enjoying the time off with their families and friends.

But in this session, what hijacked most of my thoughts were not people whose faces I tried to read…but those that, I couldn’t read. Couldn’t read..not because they had expressionless faces…because their faces were covered in burqas. It struck me, that these women, couldn’t use their facial expressions to emote. They would have to express anger or displeasure at say, the hotel staff either with strong words, bang of a fist or through their partners! Well, this is definitely not the biggest inconvenience a burqa clad woman faces, am sure…just that it was something that struck me only now. Maybe they are different people than what their friends and families know them as, because of a lot of the body language being hidden under the burqa. And then, of course the more obvious thought grazed by…they were here having flown miles and miles away from home, at a beautiful beach,all covered up…just watching their husbands and kids splash around in water…Were they smiling underneath? Did they really feel the warm sun and crisp sea breeze from under that burqa? Did they want to let out the child in them and scream excitedly in the water…go jet skiing or parasailing? Did they feel that it was all worth the while…flying half way across the globe? I wondered on…what more were they missing out on because of the piece of cloth on them? The good part is that a lot of them are probably not even aware of what they are missing out on…simply because the thought or desire to do this and that, doesn’t even occur to them.

I recently finished reading ‘Sold’. ‘Sold’ is the true story of Zana Muhsen and her sister who were born and brought up in the UK and were forcibly sold as brides to grooms in Yemen. Their father sells them off to his friends and sends them to Yemen at the pretext of a holiday. The young girls who were used to the british upbringing till they were about 15 find it very hard to cope with the life that Yemenis women are expected to lead. The ironical part of the whole thing is that, as time goes by (Zana finally manages to escape after 8 years) these free thinking girls feel very insecure without their burqas and don them even if they aren’t forced into them.

At the end of it all, I realised, maybe the burqa doesn't bother them at all...but I decided to value my freedom a little more…and went for a jog by the beach! :)