The Bangali Murgi [Chapter One]

Dania could not believe her ears.
Rehana and Saleem stood at the door, with the court order in their hands.

Dania's parents had nothing to say. Dania was not sure whether to cry or run away. At the age of 15 she had found out that her parents were not her parents. Her parents were Rehana and Saleem, who lived in Bangladesh and now here they were with the court order to take Dania back in their custody.

The fact that Dania was a Bangladeshi and not a Pakistani was not sinking in her mind.
Rehana and Saleem had given away Dania to a Pakistani couple when she was only 3 months. Saleem and Rehana already had 3 daughters and they did not want a fourth, because they were extremely poor. They gave her away without any official documents of adoption to the couple who were visiting Bangladesh at that time. But now Rehana and Saleem had accumulated a lot of money and were now a well to do family in Chittagong, living in a posh area. They lost their 3 daughters in a car accident and now they wanted Dania back. They went to Pakistan, filed for custody, put grease money where they had to and got custody easily. Dania's unreal parents did not stand a chance against them as they weren't as rich as Saleem and Rehana now.

By law, Dania could not decide whether she wanted to stay or go as she was not yet 18. Only after 18 she would be able to come back to Pakistan to her unreal parents. But now she had to go with her biological parents within 15 days.

From a Pakistani to a Bangladeshi. Ughhhh!

Bangladeshis have always been looked down upon by Pakistanis. For 2 reasons, one because of their looks,  they are dark and short. And second, because a lot of maids in Pakistan come from Bangladesh.

Dania was dark.  But there was nothing Bangladeshi about her. She was gorgeous and tall.

The next 15 days went by with a lot of noise. She kept hearing things from her friends, neighbors, unreal cousins.


Isn't Bangladesh where maids come from.
Now all you will eat is rice.
Learn some Bengali and you will look like a great 'Bangalan'.
One thing I can tell you what about Bangladeshis, they give ear punishments a lot.
Eeewwww!

One of her friend pulled her by the ear just for fun, and Dania did not like it a bit.
My poor small ears. My innocent ears. Each time she thought about it, her ears felt funny.

Once her friend told her that the Molvi Sahab who came to teach her was from Bangladesh and he gave her a lot of ear punishments like uthak baithak and ear holding. To her brother he mostly gave murga punishment. Just imagine if in Pakistan they are doing this how much would they do it in Bangladesh. I am sure girls in Bangladesh schools are made murga.
I am sure they aren't, Dania replied. Dania was sure this was a little too extreme.
A very loathing and disgusting, but at the same time very intimate thought came to her mind. If she is made murga in Bangladesh, she will become a "Bangali Murgi". All her friends were teasing her of being a Bangalan, but now her mind was teasing her of being a Bangali murgi. Great!

Dania mostly wore cap-sleeves as she liked to expose her silky smooth arms. Now the idea of having these glorious arms holding her ears was a bit unsettling.

When it was her last day in Pakistan, she stood in front of the mirror just looking at herself. Looking at who she was. A Bangali. A strange thought came to her and she slowly raised her arms up and started reaching for her ears. Her fingers had not yet reached her ear lobes, when disgust, adrenaline and fear ran through her all at once. She stopped her hands just below the ears and put them down again. Her heart was beating fast. I will be made to do this in front of other people now, for a Bangali murgi that I am. I cannot even hold my ears in front of me, how can I do it in front of others, and let alone do uthak baithak holding them. Maybe after becoming a complete Bangali it wouldn't be a problem.

The thought of Bangali Murgi gave her another idea. She took off all her clothes and stood in front of the full body mirror. She looked at her body for a while. All this time I had thought this body is Pakistani, but now this body is Bangladeshi. A Bangali Murgi. What things will this body go through now? Please no murga, even uthak baithak and ear pulling sounds overwhelming.

She sat on the plane with her new parents and she wasn't sad but felt more insecure about the life that awaited her.

[Chapter two, coming soon]