Raihana | Sequel to Negina

Sins

Chapter Dedicated To Afghan-girl thank you for all your support ilysm 💖

Chapter 11

-Raihana Malik-

It is different in every province, but in most cities life for boys is the same as girls: they do not select a bride; they follow the rules and when the father selects the girl and the family, the boy should agree. If not, the dad says, "You are not my son anymore."

I am not allowed to meet Anwar's family or even ask questions about the boy, such as where he is from or how old he is. It is shameful for me to ask such questions; if I ask or appear in front of the boy's family, people will call me *Cheshem Safed.

(*Cheshem Safed: white eye, greedy eyed)

The family can make a marriage proposal to the mother of the girl on the second visit, but it usually takes four or five or more visits. A few weeks have passed since the Ayaan incident. At first, I thought that Khala Samira just proposed to calm my mom. But as days passed, they showed that their interests in me are serious.

The marriage proposal is made, I didn't personally attend the marriage proposal. Amin and Saiid told me what happened. Anwar's mother, sister, and close female relatives started by telling what is good and best in their son. They exaggerated.

Then Khala changed the tone of her voice and said, "Please accept our son as your servant!" Aleena told me that after marriage, when Anwar is my husband, people will use this to excuse any kind of violence Anwar might do to me. They'll say, "But on the first day, his mother did ask, 'Please accept him as your servant.' "

After the proposal, my mother told my father, and then my father and brothers decide whether to accept it. They think about whether Anwar is educated, polite, comes from a good family, and can take care of my future life.

In the last step of Khastegari, the men from the boy's family go to the girl's house, the families meet, and the girl's family accepts the engagement.

I choked on my spit as my dad sat there smugly and told them what is best about his daughter. He also exaggerates. One thing he said was, "My daughter can cook all kinds of the foods in the world."

There is no peace for my heart. I am told to sit in a separate room with my closest of girl friends surrounding me. Aleena sits next to the door, listening to their conversation in the living room.

My family has accepted the proposal, soon the day of the engagement arrived. They give Anwar's family a dismal and Khimcha as a statement of yes. This occasion where my family show their willingness and say yes to the proposal is called as "Shirini" in local language. The wordy meaning of Shirini is sweets.

It's a green decorated piece of cloth that signifies the arrival of a new member in their family.

Khimcha is a tray filled with sweets and toffees, decorated with flowers and ribbons. The sweets in the Khimcha is distributed to all the family members to let the people know that the bond has been made.

During the party, I could hear the singing of the *diyra, the girls sat in a separate room from the men and sing Afghan folk songs.