 Farah and Simran
Friendship never dies
By Wazhma Frogh
December 12, 200
The Iranian
KABUL -- Life is like an ocean and every sorrow and
every bit of happiness is deep within it. But when life moves
on, memories never die.
Simran, a 17-year-old girl, who was a first-year
college student. She lived in her own world. When everyone gathered
around each other, Simran would sit under the pine tree reading
her Urdu book. She would think about her father,
Omer Hyatt, and his
wine bottle.
Whenever she would ask him for her allowance, he would hit
her on the head with the bottle.
Everyone called Simran "Bird Nest"
because she would sit in one place and get lost in her thoughts. She
was beautiful enough but never showed her beauty. She was in her
father's angry, tight grip and couldn't imagine ever getting out
of it.
Since her mother's death, she was
entirely paranoid by the prospect of being alone and poor. Her
mother had died of cancer three years before. Simran still remembers
when she was 14 and her father would come home drunk late at night
and beat her mother. Simran would stare at
those heartbreaking moments and shed tears, in silence.
As Simran was thinking about her life and walking
towards the library, she heard someone crying.
It was Farah, the daughter
of Sultan Ahmad, a local rich man whose only concern was
money.
Simran put her hand on Farah's
shoulder and asked why she was crying.
"Who are you
and why do you want to know? Go and take care of your own business,"
Farah said.
Simran stood hopelessly for a moment as tears
made a chain of pearls. She decided to move on and not bother.
But as she took two steps forward, she heard Farah call her back.
Simran
turned her face and glanced at Farah: She saw the face of a friend.
"Will you be my friend; my best friend? Would
we share our joy and sorrows?" Farah
asked.
Simran didn't think even for a moment. They cried
and cuddled each other.
"My mother died in a car accident last
year and today is the anniversary," Farah said. "I don't know where
my father
is. Probably busy
in a business meeting somewhere. Since my mother
died I understand life is very ugly but it shows
its ugliness in a very beautiful
way."
"Yes, but I haven't seen its beauty
yet," Simran said. "When I opened my eyes in this world I got
lost in the fights between my parents. And since my mother's
death,
I've been stumbling along a road that is dark and lonely."
They talked about their troubles as they reached
the main gate of the college.
"It's true that
our destination is different
but our
path is the same. As best friends we will
prove to the world that life is really beautiful," Farah said.
Farah asked how Simran got home. Simran
said by bus. Farah insisted to take her in her car
and Simran
couldn't
say no.
They drove passed grand buildings and got
closer to neighborhoods that smelled of wine, poverty,
fear, and hopelessness.
The car stopped in front of a small house made
of raw bricks on a tiny street. Farah knew
how ashamed
Simran
felt but
Farah
said
nothing. Simran's father saw his daughter
getting out of the car;
as
usual he was ready to torture her.
When Simran opened the door she found Omer
Hyatt looking like a mountain of sorrow.
"Who
was she?" he asked in a tough voice.
"My friend!" Simran answered
as she entered the house.
The word
"my friend" surprised her father.
It was unthinkable
that Simran
had found a friend. But day by day
Simran and Farah's friendship got deeper and and deeper until it
transformed into love.
Is that so strange?
Love is not
just between the opposite
sex. You can love anyone anywhere. Love is
a color that glazes over everyone.
As time
passed, Omer felt
sorry for his behavior. He
understood that his
daughter was like a
glowing candle that could lighten
up the world. She wanted to follow her dreams.
Farah and Simran completed their degrees
together. By then, Simran didn't need to
suffer her father's
cruelty; she was working
part time for a newspaper.
She wrote stories that touched people's heart.
Farah became an architect and designed buildings
for several large companies.
One day Farah was offered to do a project in America.
She didn't want to go but Simran insisted. Farah didn't
come back until 10 years later. During this time they were in contact
but
a
month before her return,
Farah didn't call
Simran. She wanted to
surprise her friend.
When Farah arrived, the first thing she did was
to go to Simran's house .She knocked on the door and after
a while Omer opened
the door .When
he saw Farah,
he started
to cry like he was burning in regret.
Farah thought maybe he was crying because of all the cruel things
he
had done, so she
didn't
say anything.
She asked about Simran.
"Let's go see her," he said.
After a long drive they reached
a graveyard.
Farah was trembling
in fear.
She felt like a dead body standing in front of the
graves. She found herself in front of a
grave that had a green flag above
it with the words "Friendship
never dies". Farah
screamed and lost
herself in her
own voice.
Simran
had
died of cancer.
In her memory, Farah built a cancer hospital
and named it after Simran.
Farah
continued her successful
career. I have
reached the
peak and feel
the fragrance of Simran's
love and friendship in my
success, she thought. She lived alone and
knew she could spend her
life
under the shade of Simran's
memories.
Author
Wazhma Frogh is an Afghan woman working in Kabul
for women's development projects. Writingn is her hobby.
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Farah and Simran