A Thousand Splendid Suns - No matter what, do not read this… it’s full of
Treachery
Betrayal
Injustice
Inevitable
Greed
Unfairness
Incontrovertible
BITTER TRUTH
of all LIFE itself!!!
It's too good and whelming, and by the time you reach half way, you feel your heart heavy, some kind of burden
It just makes me sick to wonder where men such heartless pricks, ruthless animals !
If need be save a copy of it, but just don't dare to read it…
Detailed Synopsis on the plot
Harami,
bastard, yes, thats how the books starts in early 1960's. Mariam, a harami, for the only sin she
committed was to be born illegitimate, though the mistake and the sin was
committed by their parents. Her mom was a pessimist, always talks bad to her
daughter, for she didn't know how to love. Taunting her daughter with bad words
was her own way of loving her daughter.
Mariam
though loved Jalil, her baba, and was stupid silly little girl to believe all
the lies he says. She would eagerly await for Thursday to come as that is when
Jalil pays her a visit, with gifts and chocolates.
Though
jalil already had three wives, he didn't take mariam and her mother for a
legitimate relationship for the fear of ruining his family name and reputation
of his own.
As years
roll by, Mariam turns fifteen and asks a birthday present, something which she
will regret for the rest of her life. She asks him to take her to the newly
released cartoon movie, screened in his own theater. And she insisted she watch
it along with her entire family, which she has never gotten to meet.
Jalil
agrees, reluctantly though. When he fails to show up the next day to fetch her,
she heads to his home herself, despite Mariam's mammy warning "You step
out of house, it will be the last time you see me". Mariam
reaches his home, in the town of Herat, only to despise herself, for Jalil has
turned his back on to her. Jalil's driver takes her back to his home after she
strikes on a night long dharna in his porch.
When she
curses herself, the day can't get any better, she reaches home and is shrieked
by the scene of her mother's corpse dangling atop from a tree branch! This time
Jalil has no option but take her in, Mariam regrets the day she stepped out of
her house, if not for which her mother would have lived. Soon, Jalil's family
plans to get rid of this illegitimate child, they plan to marry her off to a 45
year old businessman, a shoe maker, Rasheed from Kabul. Not having much of a
choice, like a docile kid, she marries him and curses herself for the rest of
her life. Allah punishes her, or that's how she thinks when she couldn't attain
motherhood, she'd consummate, conceive and finally cuss up for losing her
child, it happened straight six times until she gave the thought of motherhood.
She'd envy the baby girl next door 'Laila' born to her neighbors Babi and
Hazmi, a year after Mariam moved in to Kabul with Rasheed.
Laila
has her own saga, when she was born on 1979, the soviet were making trouble,
her mammy looses her two sons to those Soviet wars, but Laila never, not for a
moment, felt for her loss, for she had never known them much since her birth.
They were already in war while she was still going to school with Tariq (her
companion). Laila and Tariq were always fond of each other, they'd go to
school, to malls, to bazaars together. They were like a couple since birth.
Tariq was two years elder to her and was also a cripple, who has amputated leg.
Babi, Laila's father was a well educated man, who wanted Laila to
study well and would always pat her "tomorrow is women's world, it will be
you governing, administering, leading". But then there was shrieking
reality, the Soviets had now run away, leaving treachery and corruption to the
hands of the locals talibans and phastoons and tajik's and many many more.
Years roll on, when Afganisthan falls from within one side, innocent love
sprouts between Laila and Tariq amidst the war. When the war worsens Tariq's
family plans to move out to Pakistan, when Tariq reaches Laila with this news,
she almost collapses and in affright and agony they unite physically and mentally.
Laila
denies Tariq's hand in marriage for she can't let alone Babi alongside his sick
wife and her mother. Tariq moves along, a couple of weeks pass by and finally
Laila's mammy agrees to move out from the god forbidden part of this country.
As and while Babi, Laila and her Mammy were moving out, a taliban rocket fell
atop their roof, taking away lives of Babi and mammy. Laila was stranded alone
in the ruins of the shredded buildings, whom Rasheed found out and took her to
his home and had her treated by Mariam - this was the turning point in either
of their lives!
A couple
weeks later, on betterment of Laila's health, a visitor stops by in Rasheeds
house and seeks for Laila, to pass on the news of tragic end of Tariq and his
family in the border of Pakistan where they fell victim to one of those rockets
that went off herein as well. Soon after the tragic news, Rasheed comes up with
a proposition, there is no free lunch, if she needs a roof under her head and
food to live on, then she's gotta marry him, else she can be on her way and he
wouldn't force her into it. Laila knows well what awaits outside, she has seen
it happen to other girls, her friends, her classmates, bombed, ravished, throat
slit or worse all three.
She accepts Rasheeds proposal for two reasons, first she's got
nowhere else to go and she doesn't want to end her life on her own for now she
bears another life within her - little Tariq
Fifteen
year old Laila marries sixty year old Rasheed, years roll on, and these are the
darkest years of her life, letting Rasheed ravage her, exploit her youth, she
gives birth to Tariq's daughter - Aziza. A couple years later she gives birth
to Rasheed's son - Azmail. Rasheed himself was not such a pleasant man, in the
initial days Mariam and Laila where cats and dogs, but eventually things
changed when Laila stood up for Mariam when Rasheed raised hands and Mariam for
Laila. Laila became her long lost child for Mariam. There were days Mariam
would let Laila place her head in lap and lay asleep while her own kids crawled
nearby in the afternoons. Years rolled on further, so did the raise in torments
and taunting from Rasheed.
When war
savaged and there was nothing much left with them, as Rasheed could no more pay
for bread Laila is forced to let Aziza in an orphanage. She'd pester Rasheed so
often to pay visit to orphanage as Taliban had laid rules as a women should not
stray afar from home in the absence of man, a relative of hers, or if found,
would be thrashed and sent back home! It was once such day, she was astounded
to meet Tariq. It strikes her only then
that Rasheed had tricked her to get her married, all were lie. They converse in
their home, while Mariam takes care of kids. Tariq promises to meet her
tomorrow again not aware of what next is about to happen. When Rasheed returns
home, his son blabbers about a new friend of laila visiting and Rasheed starts
thrashing her, only this time much more violent with harsh words, he also
mentions that he was not a fool to be unaware of Aziza and her real dad!
When he
strangles her, Mariam becomes restless and for the first time in her twenty
seven years with Rasheed raised his hands against him, and ends up killing him!
When
everything settles down, when Laila gains conscience, Laila suggest they
evacuate and run away with Tariq, but Mariam, the ever innocent and now
experienced too, decides to act like a mother. Yes mother, which she had wanted
to be all her life. She bids farewell to her kids, Laila and Tariq with his new
family and Mariam surrenders herself to jurisdiction. She is then given
verdict, the very well known and she starts counting end of her days.
Mariam thought she'd feel guilty, she'd throw
up, make a scene and make them drag her to her deathbed. But to her surprise,
she doesn't. She faces her end with the very thoughts - "This was a legitimate end to a life of
illegitimate beginnings."
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Splendid indeed!
Thenappan..,
