One of my short stories...

1. THE EVIL DESTINY
BY
YAQEEN UL HAQ AHMAD SIKANDER
This story is of a young woman Salma who in spite of her enormous struggle for her family
failed to save her own life. Young Salma lived happily with his husband Iqbal and one son
and a daughter in a town. Their house was not so big, yet beautiful. Salma's father-in-law
and mother-in-law also lived with her in the same house. Salma managed the home and
Iqbal worked in a company. He was the only bread earner of the family. They were not so
rich but still the couple lived happily with mutual understanding and cooperation.
One day the door bell rang. Salma opened the door and a policeman stood before her
asking her to come to the Police Station to identify a dead body which according to the
police was of Iqbal. On hearing these words Salma was dismayed and felt unconscious. After
sometime she gained control over herself and went to the police station. Her dreams were
shattered like a mirror when she saw the dead body of Iqbal, her husband, who had died in
a road accident. Iqbal's father had retired and now there was nobody to support the family.
Even the Salma was uneducated.
After a few months, Salma's father-in-law (Iqbal's father) felt ill. He was rushed to the city
hospital where the doctors diagnosed that he had throat cancer and about two lakh rupees
will be required for his treatment. Also her children were discharged from the school as the
fee of several months was pending. Now Salma was in a real trouble. Financial crises were
running in the home and there was no source of income. Iqbal, the only source of income to
the family was gone and Salma needed a lot of money for her family, for the treatment of
her father-in-law and for paying the fees of her children but she could see no ray of hope.
Even she could not do some job to manage the money as she was ignorant and illiterate.
After some days, her friend Noori who lived in the city visited her. After hearing all her story
she assured her that she will manage a job for her in the city. Salma readily agreed thinking
that the days of hardship will be over soon and everything will be all right but she did not
know what the fate had already stored for her in the future.
Meanwhile Salma left the town leaving her mother-in-law and two children there. When she
reached the city, her friend Noori took her to a house of prostitution (Brothel). At this
moment Salma felt angry, disagreed to do the immoral job of a prostitute and cursed Noori
for she had brought her there. In the meantime Noori consoled Salma and requested her to

2. think that she had no other way of earning money to support her family. At last Salma had
to cooperate and she finally agreed to do the immoral job of a prostitute.
She sold her body that day and continued it day after day to satisfy the demands of her
family. After some time she managed two lakh rupees for the treatment of his father-in-law
but unfortunately he died as now it was the last stage of his cancer. Meanwhile she again
admitted her children in the town school and purchased a lot of gifts and toys like TV etc. for
them. She wanted to see her family happy. She was not happy with her job but was
continuing it so that she can run her family smoothly. Like every mother she wanted to give
her children the best education and facilities. Perhaps some years continued like this. Then
she felt tired of her immoral job and decided to shun it. Now she wanted to spend her
whole time with her children. Then she left her depraved job.
After leaving the dark world of prostitution, she went to her home. Everything was running
smoothly and now she felt the real happiness with her children. Again the luck did not
favour her. She felt ill and went to the doctor who advised her to get her blood tested.
When the report came Salma realized that she was HIV positive. She was completely
broken. She had no hope of happy life. Now she was dying slowly. And her life would
continue like this until her death.
Ghalib has rightly said:
Gham-e-hasti ka Asad kis se ho juz marg-e-ilaj
Shama har rang mein jalti hai Seher hone tak
(What can relieve you from the pains of this life except death O Asad, And the candle burns
and burns till dawn)
These verses exactly fit on Salma and many other women like her who prefer death over life
because of the pains and hurt which life gave. Their lives continue anyhow till their demise
which is just like a dawn for them as it puts an end to their agonies and sorrows.
(The basic idea of this story was taken from somewhere but the Author is responsible for
presenting it in this form)
(The Author can be reached at www.yaqeenulhaq.info or can be mailed at yaqeen@ymail.com)