Tag: Agahi Award

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Slices from Life

The Old Man

By Munaj Gul Baloch

I enjoy traveling; it’s a passion that still burns within me. The thrill of exploring mountains, rivers, forests, and historical places gives me immense pleasure. One particular memory stands out—the cloudy morning of 2017, when Hasnain and I embarked on a journey to our friend’s place in Dasht Kunchti, located in the district of Kech in Balochistan.

Our companionship was unique; we often found ourselves lost in thoughts, discussing social issues, the beauty of rain, clouds, and mountains. Nature mingled with our essence, and we couldn’t breathe without adventures. Traveling two or three places in a month became a part of our life, and our Sundays were always filled with stories, both blue and happy.

Our journeys left us with recollections, more potent than lessons, that lingered in our minds. What we saw, we will never forget; it’s ingrained in the subconscious.

Let me share the story of our journey to Dasht Kunchti, a trip that etched its beauty and meaning in our lives forever. Traveling a distance of two to three hours on a bumpy road was no easy feat, especially when the path was desolate with no shops and few fellow travelers, as was the case on the Jalbar road from Kolaho to Dasht.

When we started, the sky was cloudy, and a gentle breeze accompanied our ride. The beauty of the journey lay in the gratifying weather and the captivating mountain scenery. While crossing Jalbar, by a river between Dasht and Kolaho, we encountered a seventy-year-old man on the way to a waterfall. He seemed confused about the routs. Sensing his need for help, we offered him a ride on our bike.

Silence prevailed initially, as we were strangers. Names were exchanged, and the old man soon started talking, relishing our company. The conversation was both challenging and heartwarming. At some point, he thanked us and reiterated the need for kindness: ” Thank you for your help. I know you are students. Always be kind to other human beings, now and even after your graduation as you have been to me.” His message still resonates.

As we approached the waterfall, he urged us to stop, warning us of the impending rain. “Pass this river quickly; there is no alternative. When it rains, this river flows with much water for hours,” he said. And he disappeared into the mists of time.

In the six years that have passed, I’ve come to understand the need for kindness, especially given the current times. As they say, the hands that help others are holier than the lips that pray. The old man sought to convey that kindness is a universal language. It enriches the behaviour of souls, bringing joy to the giver and solace to the receiver.

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Munaj Gul Muhammad writes for different national newspapers and has won Agahi Award (Pakistan’s biggest Journalism Awards) in the category of Human Rights in 2018. He can be reached at munaj1baloch@gmail.com. 

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Stories

Where Eagles Dare…

By Munaj Gul Muhammad

I, a young girl, yearn to study. I have dreamt of being an inspirational figure all my life, but literally, society wishes me a different fate. I always dream for a better future with full freedom. But most go against it. They believe girls deserve no freedom.

In reality, women are eagles born to fly very high, but society has broken their wings and made them susceptible. It always tries to cage them by taking their dreams away. Society makes them helpless. They speak in silence.

They want to chain women. For them, gender matters the most. They say women are born to be married off and should be only regarded as progenitors. But women are born to live free, to live by their own dreams. The world today recognises the right of every girl to have a say, to have an education and a better life. But in my society, most women stop studying when they are married off or when they pass their matriculation for many societal pressures. I spoke to some friends.

“As a female in Balochistan, I was compelled to relinquish my education when my parents married me off at a very young age. Very soon after our marriage, my husband started taking drugs. As a result of having drugs, he always beats me to give him money to buy more drugs. Being a woman (mainly his wife), I say nothing and bear it all. I embroider to earn a small sum of money to feed ourselves. It was too tough for me to say goodbye to my education, but I did. It ended my future dream of becoming a doctor,” bewails a 14-year-old friend who requested I leave her anonymous.

Society has already destroyed her dream. Another married friend, Sara, told me: “To become a lawyer was the foremost dream that I had all my life. The members of my family tried to stop me from getting an education and learning about my rights, including other women. They still want to annihilate my dream. They create difficulties in my path. I still wish to be a lawyer.”

It has been an uphill battle for married women to get an education. Their dream to get admission in a college or university to study like men remains unfulfilled. How will it be if they continue uneducated and unaware of their rights?

“With each passing night, I sit in a corner of my room and think about my existence. Sometimes, I laugh at myself, sometimes, I curse myself for being a girl. But sometimes, I feel proud as a peacock for being a very decisive young lady. I, too, laugh at the people around me.”  says Sara. 

Everyone has the right to freedom to choose their course in life. Balochistan possesses many creative women, but they are all in chains. Like me too. I would like to be free, to soar like an eagle and find my footing.

Then it happened.

An angel beamed into my dreams and gave me an idea to materialise my longings. Perhaps writing this will slowly be a move towards it – my voice will be heard somewhere, and the silence will be broken. Women and men will walk together in harmony, with equal rights to education.

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Munaj Gul Muhammad writes for different national newspapers and has won Agahi Award (Pakistan’s biggest Journalism Awards) in the category of Human Rights in 2018. He can be reached at munaj1baloch@gmail.com.

*This story is based on a report published by Munaj Gul Muhammad in Balochistan Voices.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL

Categories
Stories

Death will Come…

By Munaj Gul Baloch

 It was a quiet pleasant evening with an unending essence of hopelessness. Mahi was drained and unable to reply to her own self. It was about six in the evening. The breeze carried a soulful fragrance within its whispers. Mahi was sitting on the edge of Neheng River. The sparkle of the setting sun with the pleasing breeze solaced her and revived her, raising her out of her weariness. 

She remembered the sunset when she would sit a little distance away from Hasnain and stare at him. Hasnain was dispirited and was waiting to befriend death. So was death.

Hasnain’s tempting smiles and innocent face were forever visible within her tear-filled eyes. Mahi wandered why like a doomed soul he was unable to adjust himself to dwell in peace.

Mahi closed her eyes and scrutinised the jarring memories that wavered through her mind, remembering all those peaceful moments which were spent with him. The boy had died a year ago. His voice still haunted her. His image still drifted before her eyes. His grief was apparent in such visions and each of his words wafted back to her. 

 She was bound to suffer. She still heard the voice of his wretchedness as he screamed out loud.

 “Is there anyone to free me from this torture-cell? I am suffocated here. I no longer want to resist my own departure from myself. Neither have I had an existence nor a non-existence. I befriended nothingness.” 

These words of Hasnain made Mahi suffer till her last breath. She was dead silent after witnessing the misery and soreness of the blue boy as he tussled with death and lost himself.

It was the same day. It bound each life within death. Mahi was submerged with suffering, and she befriended death. So did death. 

The graveyard is proud to own deaths that had befriended lives and exposed souls.

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Munaj Gul Muhammed from Turbat, Balochistan, has been writing since 2017 on various educational, social and gender issues in different newspapers such as The Daily Times, Balochistan Voices, The Baloch News, Balochistan Point and other outlets. He has also won Agahi Award in the category of Human Rights in 2018.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL