The Rebels

The Rebels

We had run away from home. Her willingness to elope reflected the magnitude of trust and confidence she placed in me. She had left behind the comforts of her home, and even the love and affection of her parents in the hope of finding the same security and satisfaction in my company. I salute her for this, this is what is called love --- she loved me.

Her love was never professedly declared --- it was implied and understood in whatever she did. Her deeds reflected her thoughts; she was thinking of me, I’m sure, as she sat kneeling on the floor near the window after the morning namaaz. She tried to capture whatever shreds of light and hope she could. The sun gradually gained power over a cold, gloomy and dark night.

Parental dissent and conflict similar to that between the Montagues and Capulets was the driving force behind our decision to rebel. The contention had assumed such enormous proportions that there didn’t seem to be a chance of our union. It was a night without end.

There has to be a way out, I thought. There is always an end to the night. The night can be very long, dark and cold, but it does have an end. But the night would never have ended had we not made a conscious effort to terminate it. So, we ran away from home.

She was a bit skeptical about it in the beginning, she doubted if she could find happiness after causing the displeasure of those who had cared for her since she was born, she had a dissonance for the novelty life would put before her, it would mean the end of the road for some of her dreams, and while many would still tread on, the most important dream of her life would come true. She had dared to see the dream with her eyes open.

Daylight was breaking into the room as she knelt on the floor. The sunlight gradually became so intense that she had to close her eyes. The closed eyelids concealed the eyes, but the dream still loved on in the eyes. I hope I can make the dream behind the eyelids, and many more dreams the eyes would see, come true.

I wanted the eyes to be the lighthouse of my life showing the way through the world. I wanted her hands to be the rudder of the ship of my life guiding me to success. She had left behind her world to be all this and more to me.

I too looked out of the window as she knelt before it. The night had been conquered by the day: the worst was over: things would get better now.