They did not care if she was listening to their remarks about her or not. They did not bother if she was getting hurt with that or not. They were having a great punch of time by making fun of her looks, of her words, of her talks, of her movements, of her expressions, of her clothes, of her mismatched pair of slippers, of her dying skin, of her hilarious replies to them. In short, they were making fun of "her" in every possible way.
And you know what? She actually did not know that she was being ridiculed.
They called her crazy, they called her mad. But I called her Fateh BiBi. Yes, Maasi Fateh BiBi.
Fateh BiBi belongs to a poor family who lives in a small town in District Khushab. She is married and she is a mother of four sons and one daughter, perhaps, if I am not misinformed. Her husband does not work because he has some physical deformity and so, she works for her husband, for her children and maybe for herself, too. After all, she is a human being too. She needs a lot for her survival like every other creature on the planet earth. But, I disagree here. She does not seem surviving. She just does not know if she is a human or if she also needs love and respect or maybe I guess, she does not know what love is and what respect is. She had lost her senses in an accident long back in time and that made her this way. She understands everything but in her own innocent ways which people think funny. And there she is, now.
Well, she works as a maid in different houses. She gets paid for working for them but she never gets paid for making them laugh.And one thing, she cannot work silently, she keeps speaking while working. Now, the question is, what does she speak? She speaks everything. Let me try to name it, she speaks everything in a very very serious way which looks funny and which sounds so so hilarious. This is what I concluded after observing the behavior of people with her. It was the funeral of someone where I met her.
Fateh BiBi does not get upset with the behavior of people. She laughs with them, at herself, not knowing that she is being laughed at. Her mind cannot tell the difference. She does not care either. Her head and heart don't work, perhaps. Because, why would she not react on the ridiculous behavior of people, if she be a normal human.
She worked, and worked and worked. I did not see her sitting, even for 5 minutes. No, 5 minutes are too much, perhaps. She did not sit for a minute even. She just kept doing what people there asked her to do.
I want to ask how can we be so merciless? Oh, I know the answer. The answer lies in another question and that is, why would not we be merciless to someone who is helpless? It is so easy to be ruthless and to be cruel to someone who is weaker and helpless. Not men but a crowd of women to "a woman" were being like this and that too, so proudly and happily.
But, I liked talking to her. I seriously liked it. I found her so innocent. I found her so pure and childlike. She is a super woman, for me at least. She faces people with such courage and strength. She does not stumble. She has a weaker mind but she has an incredible amount of patience. And see, she is raising a family.
And people, I take my words back which I uttered earlier that, "She just does not know if she is a human or if she also needs love and respect or maybe I guess, she does not know what love is and what respect is."
She does definitely know that she is a human and she also knows what love is and what respect is. She just does not say it. Not saying does not mean not knowing. Right? She speaks with love and softness, which means she knows of love and in knowing love, she knows of respect, too.
Maasi Fateh BiBi, you are not mad, you are not crazy either. It is us. It is the people who do not care for you. While talking to her, she made me a special cup of tea in which she added a pinch of salt too saying that it would double it's taste. Yes, that cup of tea was amazing. I don't know what doubled the taste? The pinch of salt or the innocence that I felt in her. She also said that she likes the warmth of sun and so, she likes to sit in it. She is, indeed a sunflower.
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