Sowing Happiness

Milky white skin with dark brown hair and angelic smile, bright eyed Zahra, was one of the many children living in Almas Shelter Home. The home was built by Mr. Imran Khawar in memory of his late mother Almas, for welfare of young girls. This was one of the strictest and well maintained shelter homes present in the province and therefore a lot of donations were collected every year through charities. Mr. Imran had appointed specially trained staff for upbringing of girls. They were also given professional training depending upon different skills like sewing, knitting, flower decoration and embroidery. There were several small model factories in the home administered by the female heads and run by girls. This was Mr. Imran’s idea to maintain the self-respect of girls as they were given wages for their work and it helped to take unnecessary things out of their minds. In the recent years a number of girls from the home were able to engage in wedlock with boys of decent families. Zahra was eight years old when she had come to Almas Shelter House. Her father had planned a holiday and all four of them including her, her mother, father and brother Zamir were going to a hill station. She remembered saying her mother, who was the most beautiful women she had seen to date, that this would be the most memorable visit of her life. Undoubtedly, Zahra remembered it every day for first few years at shelter home. Their car met a horrible accident and all she remembered was her uncle Tahir dropping her at the shelter home and Lady Amna holding her hand. She was told that her family had died and she had no family left in the world.

             Tania was the first girl Zahra befriended at the shelter home as she threatened Zahra to tell Lady Amna, the supervisor, if she found her crying at night as it disturbed her sleep. Tania’s mother, Lady Mumtaz worked at the shelter’s kitchen. Mumtaz was fond of Zahra and used to spare her favorite boiled egg whites for her before everyone had started breakfast. Thinking about her fairy room and without her long haired doll, Zahra just couldn’t picture how to be happy. She was no longer fed by her mother and no one gave her a ride like her father on his shoulders. There was no Zamir to whom she could teach how to make bubbles from washing powder solution. Her roots were torn and sown in a new environment but she couldn’t blossom anymore. One morning she bunked a class and put some seeds in the ground, remembering how fond her father was of plants.  Her teaching adviser asked her to take extra lessons of English as she was failing in class but she couldn’t study even if she tried. One winter when she was 13, Zahra caught serious pneumonia and was taken to hospital. Tania and Ayesha, her two closest friends visited her regularly in the hospital. She was too weak when she came back to shelter home and was thrown a Get Well Soon party by her teachers and friends and it was the first time when Zahra realized that she is not completely alone in the world. She gradually started taking interest in her studies and enrolled herself in the embroidery lessons. Her grades improved and she started helping Mumtaz in kitchen as well who taught her to cook Apple pie just like her late mother. Accepting the atmosphere, her plant had started blooming in shelter house’s sunlight and so had her heart.

           Yearly there was a fair called “Healthy Society Fair” held at the city stadium and different societies and clubs displayed their art works and handicrafts on stalls in it. Zahra was on the participating team from her shelter home. She had embroidered pouches with beautiful peacock using beads of different colors. Ayesha had made paper flowers and sprayed them with beautiful colors. They were working on the theme “Happiness”. Tehmina had sewn white scarfs with silver silk wings on them. “What is happiness for you? she asked Zahra. Zahra looked at the wings and said “Being blessed enough to have people around you who love you” and smiled back at her. The day fair was scheduled, Zahra went ill but upon Lady Amna’s insistence, she went with the team. It was the first time she was participating in any such event. Strolling through the fair with Ayesha, she saw a handicapped guy on stall of synthetic army badges. He had lost his legs in some terrorist attack and was smiling while showing the badges to people. At one instance, he held the badge and cleaned it with his shirt and kissed it with respect and showed it to a young boy who was reaching towards that. On another stall, a blind guy was sitting and was selling walking sticks made from special cane and was expressing how useful they were for walking in the night. Zahra’s heart melted as she saw those people and couldn’t focus or enjoy the fair after that. Reaching shelter in the evening, she went to bed early and cried and prayed to God that if there was any trace of thanklessness in her, it was wiped off. She had realized how lucky she was and being sorry, she was actually happy in its entirety for the first time in life. Her roots had finally gripped the ground and she felt strong just like her plant in the lawn, owning the soil it was in.

            At age of 21, Zahra had become an expert in embroidering of bags and clutches and her baked pies were the most sought after cooked item in whole shelter home. She was apple of everyone’s eyes and unlike her fellows she started volunteering for administrative duties rather than working in factories. She was helping Lady Tahira in maintaining the vaccination record one day when Lady Amna called her in office and told her that she was in the group of girls scheduled to be getting married this year. Following night lying in bed, she pictured her life after marriage, what will she be like, who will be the people she is going into, what will be its significance in her life and most importantly would it make her happy. Next morning, she went to Lady Amna and requested her to take her name off the list and insisted on staying in the shelter home to work along with the teachers for betterment of girls. After a long discussion and Lady Amna’s disapproval, Zahra stood up and said “I have worked very hard to stand where I am today my Lady and after a long walk through pains and fears, I know what makes me happy. This life makes me happy. Far happier than I could be after being someone’s wife. Because here, contrary to anywhere in the world I can impact lives the way I know and the way I want to and I know my Lady how the impact helps. You want to see me happy? Let me help these girls like you helped me. Nature ripped my roots and put me here for a reason but don’t rip off my roots again, let me bloom this time”. Lady Amna stood from her seat and hugged the weeping Zahra and accepted her request.

         Staying at the Almas Shelter Home, Zahra requested Mr. Imran for funds and started two computer labs for the young girls for basic education of computer and after one session of training, she started training the girls herself. She was especially keen in befriending and mentoring young girls as she understood the pain and trauma of living away from home. She wanted them to be strong from roots to the tips and have dreams reaching to the sky. Zahra is 25 now, she is happy with her life and every night before going to her bed, she has a habit of telling bed time stories to the girls and giving them rides on her shoulder. The plant that she had sown seventeen years back has become a fully grown tree which is accompanied by small plants sowed by her students. Happiness was sown and is collectively reaped.