Sunday Story - The First Step

It was balmy and cheerful morning—the light wind quietly stirred the tree leaves to wake them up from the slumber that winter had put them in, while the squirrels scuttled from one tree to another, and the birds chirped the most melodious of their songs as if welcoming the much-awaited spring. But none of these pleasant visuals had been successful in untangling the bundle of nerves that Farah was that morning; neither had been Rayhan, her beau and the man whom she was about to introduce to her family as the one whom she wanted to enter into matrimony with.

Farah’s family was quite a progressive one as compared to their contemporaries. Having been brought up and lived in megalopolises, her parents had progressive views. They were open-minded enough to not consider their daughter an inferior, provide her with quality education, support her ambitions, and encourage her to grow up to become an independent individual. However, they weren’t open-minded enough when it came to the question of Farah’s life partner. And Farah’s twitchiness was proof of that.

While they were forward-thinking in other respects, they were bound by their community and its spoken and unspoken rules regarding marriage, especially the checklist of an eligible partner. When it came to finding a suitable boy for one’s daughter, the rules allowed for the boy to be older than the girl. But, the other way round was not–rather, it was looked down upon. And that is exactly what the root cause of Farah’s trepidation was. While Rayhan ticked every other checkbox on the prestigious list, he missed out on this crucial one—he was one year and seven months younger than Farah.

Rahyan did his best to reassure Farah that everything would go well, and her parents, being more forward-looking than the rest, would eventually understand once the two of them had talked to them. Also, her younger brother, Umer, was already supportive of her and had agreed to stay by her side when Farah and Rayhan talked to her parents. Though it did little to ease Farah’s restlessness, it still gave her enough courage to finally get out of the car they had been sitting inside for the last two hours, trying to come up with the best possible way to break the news.

Mr and Mrs Saad were lounging in the living area of their home, occupied with their respective activities when Farah and Rayhan entered the house. While it wasn’t the first time Farah had brought Rayhan to her home, her parents were surprised on seeing him that day for he was supposed to be vacationing with his family in Puducherry. About 15–20 minutes after having settled down and exchanged pleasantries, it was Rahyan who spoke first—

“Aunty, uncle, the reason I flew back to Bhavnagar is that there is something important that Farah and I wanted to talk to you about. Farah and I… we want to spend the rest of our lives with each other—We want to get married.”

The room fell into pin-drop silence. Farah, who all this while had been concentrating on her parents' faces, tried to look for the slightest clue that would help her gauge her parents' reaction. On the other hand, Mr and Mrs Saad, both of them rendered speechless, continued staring at Rayhan. It took a while, but eventually, Mr Saad broke the silence and asked Rayhan what his mother had to say about their decision. Rayhan immediately–almost over-enthusiastically—assured him that both his mother and elder sister had given their blessings to the couple and were more than happy to have Farah become a part of their family.

Rayhan’s assurance didn’t fully convince Mr Saad. Though he had no qualms against him, he was younger than his daughter. If he got her married to him, society's views about him and his family would be affected. And he was unsupportive of that happening, given that there wouldn’t be anyone to support them after him. However, this didn’t let Farah or Rayhan from continuing on their quest. Even Umer joined them shortly after. After what seemed like the longest and most difficult viva voce of Farah, Rayhan, and Umer’s life, Mr and Mrs finally opened up to the possibility. 

Farah and Rayhan’s happiness knew no bounds! Though they hadn’t completely won the battle as of yet, they did clear the first step. The willingness of Farah’s parents was a ray of hope that shone brightly on their dream.

Liked this story? Here's another that breaks stereotypes! - Diminishing Boundaries