Daryeel Magazine
Asli is in her early twenties, she goes work early in the morning and afternoon she goes university which she is in her final year. During her work period she attends some training projects twice a year.
Actually Asli has very high ambition of being successful in education, she took most of her time in studying and working harder. She was patient to keep working hard for long period of time, she lost so many friends when they gave up education, but Asli never took a chance to quit studying. She believed that her long journey will end up an enormous success and that she would get better job with good salary “You would work day and night, and will be full of money” she thought.
Asli believed that working hard and never taking rest brings development, fulfillment and pleasure. She completely banded the traditional jobs which Somali women normally do like cooking, cleaning, tiding up the house and looking after the children. She supposed as a male for herself, every time when her family tell her to do something she always says “Do I know how to perform it?” She doesn’t even properly know anything about home duties because she is too busy in her little world of revising, researching and even going over her lessons more than twice a day, plus her daily outdoors job.
Asli reached the age of marriage, but she planned nothing for it. Her mother told her to get married but never listened, her ambition is more valuable than anything in the world. Her future has nothing to do with family, children and whatsoever. O’ doesn’t she know that “I need men in the battle field and women in the bed of marriage”?
After three years of her graduation from University, her dreams miraculously came true. She work constantly, morning and afternoon, she became Chief Executive officer of one of the best business companies. She changes the cars week by week, and I think the money chases her. But she needs to make her mother’s dreams true as well, and get marry. But you may ask yourself, didn’t she hate marriage? Yes she still does! But her mother forced her. She made her satisfied and persuaded to get marry. Asli’s father and mother were the arranging everything for her, trying to move things forward in order to see their grandchildren.
As the things started Asli and her cousin were arranged for engagement, her cousin Ali came from Canada. Ali studied his university in Canada and worked for a while, but he decided to go back to his homeland and get marry in there. Ali was looking for his partner for long time “Well behaved woman, pious, culturally do not go out of her house, taking care of the children, and look after her husband….” he was looking for this kind of woman, but when he is told that he will marry his cousin, he said nothing about her. He didn’t refuse or tried to get an excuse to safe himself, O’ could he do that? No way, otherwise he would be humiliated. So he had no choice.
Surprisingly, does he know that this woman would be out of home same as him the whole day? Does he know that she is senior officer who her telephone does not stop ringing every moment? Does he know that she know nothing about the home duties, and she cannot do any basics for example cooking? Does she know that all her dreams are based on money and challenging with her male friends? Does he know that she was not completely happy about the marriage and never being satisfied, and know nothing about the couple rights?
O’, men how would little innocent Diaspora boy know all those staff, he never predicted that local girls would be same as those who live in Canada. Is that the reason brought him back to those girls who grew up in his motherland? That is properly far away from than he thought, but he is in charge to take her, without any doubt.
First few months neither Asli nor Ali shared their proper attitudes due to the freshness on each other. When they need to talk to each other they mainly used euphemism, both of them used respectful and tolerance words. Ali let Asli to keep her work while she is not pregnant and instead of being bored at home, till she will get a baby to play with.
Currently when Asli is off from the job, she goes in the kitchen and watches her servant, because she can’t cook anything. She just sits there and does nothing. Ali was over the moon every time when she brings his diet on time, he was authentically impressed about his wife.
Finally one year later after their wedding day, they’ve got their first baby boy and he is two months old, but the behavior variation was about to be revealed by both sides. He was bit upset when she started her job again after she became a mother. She leaves her son at home and the servant looks after the baby, and Ali was disappointed about those unacceptable attitudes. The worst moments happened the servant visited her family and gone. Asli’s weakness of cooking revealed and she told Ali that he may be better cooker than her. When the servant was away from the family, Asli get her daily food from restaurant. Ali told Asli that he is not impressed the things that she was doing nowadays, but she never listened to him and curiously she told him that she was not happy about their marriage.
As Ali told his father and mother about what he has seen about his wife. His father had to fallow and respect the relationship between him and his brother, but Ali’s mother was so upset and worrying about the future of the family. She constantly blamed Asli’s parents because they didn’t tell her how their daughter does behave, but at this stage they would like their son to divorce this woman. After long period of conflict both Ali and Asli agreed to divorce and that they cannot be together anymore.
Early in the morning they came the court together and divorced, the little baby was given to his mother. However we knew that she know nothing about caring children and the judge ordered that Ali has to financially support the child and has to pay certain amount of money. After that separation the two extended families became brutally enemies, they do not help each other and the little child has been looked after by his grandmother. His mother is still working hard as usual and his father went back to Canada with disappointed heart!
By: Muna Ahmed Omar
Hargeisa, Somaliland
Muna_gafaneh@hotmail.com
Translated by: Sayid Mohamed Balayah
London, UK
rashiidbalayah02@hotmail.com
