Give Me Wings To Fly

Being brought up in a well-educated middle class family, and the only daughter, I had the luxury of living my life on my own terms. Though in my culture, women should cover their face with a veil and not allowed to come in front of men or any outsider. Thank God, this was not practiced in my family and I was a free bird. I completed my education and as I was home loving, I decided to settle in life with the partner of my family's choice.
Finally, I got married to the most handsome fellow of this world, he was very loving and caring, but a bit possessive. Within a week I realized, my in-laws were very conservative and it was not allowed for a woman to leave the house without covering her body. Tight fitting clothes were strictly no-no. I was totally dumb; I had been thrown to a totally different environment. I was not even allowed to talk to any outsider. Whenever I had to leave the house, I had to cover myself with a veil, which would suffocate me a lot and most of the time I was breathless, but nobody pitied me. I needed freedom from this, my expression and emotions were all lost into a world of oblivion and illusion. I was like a bird trapped in a golden cage, which yearns to fly. I had the potential to fly high up in the sky like a free bird, as I know how wonderful it is to be in control of one's womanhood. I needed attention, love and affection, but due to lack of this my heart would get numb, my world was full of oppression and depression.

But after the birth of my daughter, there was a change. I promised myself that she will never walk in my shoes; she has to grow strong and not weak like me. I brought her up in a very different environment, very much opposed by my in-laws. I took my husband into confidence, though it was a very gradual process and it took years for me to convince him, but finally I won. I had slowly taken the bold step of revolution; I was going strong not for me but for my daughter, for the entire womanhood.

After 25 years, I was a free woman, walking hand in hand with my daughter; I enjoyed this as if I was born today. My husband sent my daughter to America, much to the surprise of my in-laws, for further studies and she came back with flying colors.
She was married to the person who valued her, respected and loved her as a woman and gave her equal status in society. Today I am a proud woman, a wife and a mother.