Painting by Michael Huang
The year 1947’s turmoil came and left. It was exactly like a few unusually bad days coming and going. Kareem Daad never thought it was just Allah’s will and sat aside silently. He fought with this storm bravely and clashed with the adversary power many times. Not for defeating others, nor just for competition. He knew that the enemies were much more powerful. However, he would not surrender, and he considered it a disgrace to every man.
In fact, this was just how others saw him. For him, he saw himself risking his life to fight with beast-like men.Otherwise, if he was asked about this matter that if in a fight with adversary power, surrender means a disgrace to him or a man, he would surely be confounded, as if he had been asked a very difficult arithmetic question.
Kareem Daad was absolutely indifferent to adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing things. The year 1947’s turmoil came and left. People sat down and began to calculate how many lives had been lost, and how much property had been lost, but Kareem Daad did not care about these at all. All he knew was that his father, Raheem Daad, had been slain in this war. Kareem Daad carried his corpse on his shoulder himself and buried him in a grave that he dug near a well.
Many criminal incidents happened in the village, hundreds of young and old people were slain, and lots of girls were missing. To some girls, disgrace fell upon them in the most brutal manner. Whoever got wounded cried upon their ruined destinies and the enemies’ mercilessness, but Kareem Daad never shed one drop of tear. He was proud of his father Raheem Dad’s bravery. While fighting with twenty-five or thirty rioters armed with daggers and axes, he was defeated and fell. Having heard the news of his father’s death, Kareem Daad, addressing his soul, only said: “Buddy, you made a mistake. I told you that at least keep one weapon with you.” Then he picked up Raheem Daad’s corpse and buried it in a grave near a well. Standing next to the grave, he only said a few words as prayers for the dead: “Only Allah knows your good and bad deeds. Wish you go to heaven.”
Raheem Daad was only his father but also his best friend, who was brutally killed by the rioters. Whenever people mentioned his sorrowful death, they would curse the killers ferociously, but Kareem Daad kept silent. His lots of harvestable crops were destroyed. Two houses were burnt down to ashes. However, he never calculated his own losses. All he used to say was: “Whatever has happened was because of our own mistakes.” And if someone had inquired him about this mistake, he would have remained silent.
People in the village were now busy lamenting, but Kareem Daad got married to a girl named Jeena. He had his eye on her for a while. Jeena was grieved since her strong brother, the family’s roof beam, was slain in the riots. After the deaths of her parents, he was her only dependence. Undoubtedly, Jeena loved Kareem Daad tremendously, but the grief of her brother’s death concealed this love behind a black cloth. Now her always smiling eyes were tearful all the time.
Kareem Daad found weeping and wailing very annoying. Whenever he saw Jeena in a state of sorrow, in his heart he was deeply irritated. But he never told her about this, thinking that she was a woman whose heart might be hurt. One day he could not remain silent. In the fields, he grabbed Jeena and said: “It has been a whole year since we shrouded and buried the dead. Even they must be agitated by this mourning. My love, leave it! Who knows how many deaths we have to witness while we are still living? Save some tears in your eyes.”
Jeena found these words very offensive, but she loved him. Therefore, she thought by herself for several hours and got the meaning of what he said. Eventually, based on what she understood on her own, she agreed with what Kareem Daad had said.
When the marriage was approaching, the elders were against it, but the opposition did not cause any problems. Busy mourning for the dead, people became so slow and weak that on these matters they could not put up a one-hundred percent successful opposition for too long. Hence, Kareem Daad’s marriage proceeded. There was music (باجے گاجے آئے), all rites were performed, and Kareem Daad, having dressed his beloved Jeena beautifully, took her home. After the riots, for nearly a year, the entire village was like a grave. While the marriage procession was ongoing, people happily celebrated. However, some people in the village were terrified, since they felt this was not Kareem Daad’s marriage, but some ghosts’ marriage procession. When two of Kareem Daad’s friends told him about this, he burst out laughing. Not only laughing, but he also remembered this matter one day and even told his newlywed wife, Jeena. Jeena was trembling because of fear.
Kareem Daad gripped Jeena’s beautiful bangled wrist and said: “Now this ghost will haunt you for your entire life. Even Rahman Sain’s exorcism cannot expel it.” A little bit blushed, Jeena pressed her finger against her teeth and only said: “Keeme (کیمے), so are you afraid of nothing?” Kareem Daad lightly caressed his blackish moustache with the tip of his tongue and smiled. “Is fear anything to be afraid of?”
Jeena was already done with her grief. She was becoming a mother. Looking at her youthful freshness, Kareem Daad was extremely joyful and said to Jeena: “I swear to Allah, you look more beautiful than you have ever been. If you make the coming baby as beautiful as you are, then there will be a rivalry between him and me.” Having heard this, Jeena would be abashed and hide her rounded belly under her chador. Kareem Daad would laugh and tease her: “Why hide this thief? Do I not know that all these dressing up is only what you did for this little swine’s child.”
Jeena would become serious immediately. “Why curse him?”
“Kareem Daad is a big swine.” Kareem Daad’s blackish moustache started trembling in jest.
Choti Eid came, then Bari Eid, Kareem Daad celebrated the two festivals with fabulous decorations. Twelve days before the last Bari Eid the village had been attacked by rioters, and his father Raheem Daad and Jeena’s brother Fazal Elahi were killed. Remembering their deaths, Jeena wept a lot, but Kareem Daad, due to his disposition of forgetting calamities, was not able to grieve as much as must have done things according to this disposition. (کریم داد کی صدموں کو یاد نہ رکھنے والی طبیعت کی موجودگی میں اتنا غم نہ کر سکی، جتنا اسے اپنی طبیعت کے مطابق کرنا چاہیے تھا))
Jeena sometimes was so surprised by how fast she is forgetting such a huge tragedy in her life. She totally forgot the death of her parents. Fazal Elahi, who was six years older than her, was her father, her mother, as well as her brother. Jeena knew perfectly well that it was for the sake of her only that he never got married, and the entire village knew that he lost his life to save her honor. For sure, his death was a great disaster in Jeena’s life. The havoc that had been suddenly wrecked exactly twelve days before Bari Eid, was like an apocalypse. Now thinking about this, she was so surprised that she is forgetting the aftermath so quickly.
Muharram was approaching, and it was the first time Jeena made a request from Kareem Daad. She really liked to watch horses and ta’ziyah. She had already heard a lot about this from her friends. Therefore, she said to Kareem Daad: “I am well, so will you take me to watch horses?”
Kareem Daad smiled and answered: “Even if you are not well, I will take you…as well as swine’s child!” Jeena found this verbal abuse very unpleasant. Hence, she was often annoyed by this. However, on something like this, Kareem Daad’s conversational manner was sincere, so that Jeena’s unpleasant feeling immediately turned into nothing and became sweet, and she thought that the words “swine’s child” are full of love.
The rumor of a war between Pakistan and India was circulating for a while. Actually, as soon as Pakistan was born, it was somehow settled that the war would certainly happen. However, nobody in the village knew when it would happen. Whenever Kareem Daad was asked this question, he would answer succinctly: “When it has to happen, it will happen. Needless worrying is no use.”
When Jeena heard about this coming war, she became rattled. She loved peace by nature. She would even be agitated by usual altercations. Besides this, in last year’s riots, she witnessed a massacre, and it was in this massacre that her lovely brother, Fazal Elahi, was slain. After endless fear she only said to Kareem Daad: “Keema (کیمے), what will happen?”
Kareem Daad smiled: “What do I know, could be a boy or a girl.”
Hearing listened to this, Jeena was relieved a lot and immediately taken away by Kareem Daad’s words, forgetting about the approaching war totally. Kareem Daad was powerful and fearless, and he was madly in love with Jeena. Having bought a gun, he trained himself to be a top shooter within a short time. All of these gave Jeena courage but without him when she heard about some horrifying rumors of fighting among men of the village in the war from some terrified friends in the cotton weaving place, she would be stunned.
Bakhtu, the midwife, came to see Jeena every day. One day she brought a piece of news that the Indians were going to dam the rivers. Jeena did not understand its meaning, so she asked Bakhtu, the midwife, for elucidation: “They are going to dam the rivers? Which rivers are going to be dammed?”
Bakhtu, the midwife, answered: “The ones that water our fields.”
Jeena, after thinking for a while, laughed, and said: “Aunt, what kind of silly things you are talking about, who can dam the rivers? Are there even some pipes (وہ بھی کوئی موریاں ہیں)?” Slowly rubbing Jeena’s belly, Bakhtu said: “Sister, I don’t know. I told you everything I heard. This thing has also been published in newspapers.”
“Which thing?” Jeena still was not convinced.
Bakhtu caressed Jeena’s belly with her wrinkled hands and said: “The very rivers that are going to be dammed.” Then she pulled the kameez on Jeena’s belly, lifted it, and said in an expert manner: “Allah bless you, the baby should come in ten days from today.”
As soon as Kareem Daad came back home, Jeena asked him about the rivers. Initially, he wanted to avoid this question, but when Jeena repeated her question several times, Kareem Daad said: “Yes, I have also heard something about this.”
Jeena asked: “What?”
“The thing that the Indians would dam our rivers.”
“Why?”
Kareem Daad answered: “Our crops would be destroyed.”
Having listened to this, Jeena was convinced that the rivers can be dammed. Therefore, (نہایت بے چارگی کے عالم میں) all she said was: “How cruel these people are.” This time after a while Kareem Daad smiled and said: “Forget this, tell me about aunt Bakhtu who just came.”
Jeena answered half-heartedly: “She came.”
“What did she say?”
“She said that from today in ten days the child would come.”
Kareem Daad shouted: “Zindabad.”
Jeena did not like this and murmured: “You look happy like you know what kind of Karbala is coming here.”
Kareem Daad went to the chaupal. Almost all men gathered there. People were asking Chaudhary Nathu about the news of the river being dammed. Some were cursing Pandit Nehru ferociously, and some were asking for curses. In spite of believing this, some people rejected the fact altogether that the rivers could be diverted. Some people had the idea that whatever was going to happen was the punishment for their sins. The best way to get over this crisis would be to gather in the mosque and pray.
Kareem Daad was sitting in a corner silently and listening to them. Chaudhary Nathu was the one who was leading theverbal abuse against the Indians. Kareem Daad felt uncomfortable after hearing this and had to change his sitting posture constantly. Everyone was saying in one voice that damming the rivers is a brilliant weapon, the most meanness, baseness, the worst cruelty, the most horrible sin, and Yazeed-like.
Kareem Daad coughed several times in a way as if he was preparing himself for a speech. When Chaudhary Nathu launched another wave of heavy verbal abuse, Kareem Daad shouted: “Don’t curse anyone, Chaudhary!” A big abuse relevant to the Indians’ origin was stuck in Chaudhary’s throat. He turned around and looked at Kareem Daad in a strange way. Having adjusted his turban, he said: “What did you say?”
Kareem Daad said in a slow but firm voice: “I said don’t curse anyone.”
After shouting out the curse loudly that had been stuck in his throat, Chaudhary Nathu said to Kareem Daad in a sharp tone: “Anyone? What are they to you?” Having said this, he addressed the men attending the chaupal: “You people have heard that he (Kareem Daad) says do not curse anyone. Ask him what’s the relationship between the Indians and him.”
Kreem Daad answered with great patience: “My relationship with them? They are my enemies.” Broken laughter burst out from Chaudhary’s throat. It was so loud that his moustache was spread. “You guys have heard. They are his enemies, and the enemies should be loved. How happy it is?” Kareem Daad replied in a solemn manner: “No Chaudhary! I am not saying that the enemies should be loved. I only said that they should not be verbally abused.” Kareem Daad’s best friend, Miran Bakhsh was sitting next to him, who asked: “Why?”
Kareem Daad only said to Miran Bakhsh: “Buddy, what’s the benefit? By damming the rivers, they want to turn your lands barren. And by verbally abusing them you think the account has been balanced. What kind of wisdom is it? You only curse when you have no solution to the problem.”
“Do you have a solution?” Miran Bakhsh asked.
After a little bit of hesitation, Kareem Daad said: “It is not my own problem, but hundreds and thousands of people’s. My own answer cannot be all people’s answers. In dealing with such matters, a mature answer could be prepared only after careful deliberations. They cannot divert the rivers in one day. It will take years. However, you guys are expressing your anger immediately by giving verbal abuses here.” Then he put his hand on Miran Bakhsh’s shoulder and said with great sincerity: “I also know perfectly well that it is wrong to call India vulgar, base, and cruel.”
Instead of Miran Bakhsh, Chaudhary Nathu screamed: “Wow, listen!”
Kareem Daad only said to Miran Bakhsh: “My brother, to expect mercy and kindness from the enemy is foolishness. A fight begins and people are crying that the enemy is using rifles with big balls. (بڑے بور کی رفلیں) We throw small bombs, and they throw big ones. So tell your religion this complaint is also a complaint. (تو اپنے ایمان سے کہو یہ شکایت بھی کوئی شکایت ہے) A small knife is used for killing, and so is a big knife. Am I lying?”
Chaudhary Nathu started thinking, and without allowing Miran Bakhsh to reply, he immediately said with outrageousness: “But the issue is that they are damming the rivers. They want to kill us with hunger and thirst.
Kareem Daad took off his hand from Miran Bakhsh’s shoulder and said to Chaudhary Nathu: “Chaudhary, when we called someone an enemy, then how can we blame us for wanting to kill us with hunger and thirst? They will not kill you with hunger and thirst. They will not make your flourishing fields desolate and barren. And from there they will send pots of palao and pitchers of sherbet for you. For your amusement gardens will be made here. (تمہاری سیر، تفریح کے لئے یہاں باغ بغیچے لگائےگا)
Chaudhary Nathu got roasted. “What kind of nonsense?”
Miran Bakhsh also slowly asked Kareem Daad: “Right buddy, what kind of nonsense is it?”
“It is not nonsense Miran Bakhsha.” Kareem Daad said to Miran Bakhsh in an explanatory manner. “Just think this very issue that during a fight, two parties can do anything to knock down the other. Wrestlers have the right to use any trick until one’s loincloth drops on the battlefield.”
Miran Bakhsh nodded his shaved head. “This is fair.”
Kareem Daad smiled. “So, damming the rivers is also fair. For us, it is cruel. For them, it is reasonable.”
“How can it be reasonable? When your tongue is hanging out to the ground due to thirst, then I will ask if this cruelty is reasonable or not. When your children crave for grains of food, then say damming the rivers is absolutely fine.”
Kareem Daad licked his dry lips with his tongue and said: “(میں جب بھی کہوں گا) Chaudhary. Why are you forgetting the fact that not only are they our enemies, but also we are theirs? If we were in control, we would also cut their life sustenance. But right now they are the ones who can do this and are going to do this, so we have to think about how to prevent this. What would happen by only giving verbal abuses? The enemies will not be pouring milk for you, Chaudhary Nathu. If it is possible, they will mix poison into every droplet of your water. You call them cruel and barbaric because you do not like the way they kill. However, the strange thing is that before the fight begins, conditions of marriage should be arranged with the enemies. Should tell them that look, do not kill me with hunger or thirst, but with guns or guns with big balls, you could certainly kill me as you wish. In fact, this is utter nonsense. Think calmly.”
Chaudhary could no longer control his anger. “Bring some ice and put it on my heart then!” (برف لا کے رکھ میرے دل پر)
“I would certainly bring.” Having said this, Kareem Daad laughed. He patted Miran Bakhsh’s shoulder and left the chaupal.
While he was on the porch entering the house, Bakhtu the midwife was coming out. Having seen Kareem Daad, she smiled with her mouth wide open.
“Congratulations. You’ve got a boy like the new moon. Have you thought about his name?”
“Name?” Kareem Daad thought for a moment. “Yazeed…Yazeed!”
Stunned, Bakhtu the midwife’s mouth was wide open. Kareem Daad entered the house while chanting the slogan. Jeena was lying on the charpai, who looked pale. Next to her, a chubby baby was sucking his thumb. Kareem Daad looked at him with glances full of love and pride and touched his cheek with a finger. “Oh, my Yazeed!”
Jeena screamed lightly with astonishment: “Yazeed?”
Kareem Daad carefully looked at his baby’s appearance and said: “Yes, Yazeed. This is his name.”
Jeena’s voice became very weak. “Keeme, what are you talking about? Yazeed?”
Kareem Daad smiled. “What’s wrong with this? It is just a name.”
All Jeena could say was: “But don’t you know whose name it is?”
Kareem Daad replied seriously: “It is not necessary that this baby would also be that very Yazeed. That Yazeed dammed the rivers. This Yazeed will open them.”
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