The Passive Voices

HUSSAIN SAQIB

When a writer grows old and runs out of ideas, he is only good for writing one thing; obituaries. This is also because of the fact that the number of his loved ones having passed away also grows. The only treasure that one keeps closer to the heart is the memories of those who preceded him to their heavenly abode.

This day signifies the departure of Begum Salma Inayat 10 years ago. If one can say she passed away in her bloom, it would not be an exaggeration. She was always in a hurry; so much so that she was prepared to even cross the red light at a traffic signal. One would often find it hard to drive with her in the passenger seat. Luckily, she never drove a car. She did exactly that in her life. She always broke the signals landing her in the trouble spots of health; hypertension, diabetes making her journey so fast that she breathed her last in her mid-60. The blessing was that she died a grandmother’s death, widely mourned by a battalion of her grandkids who even this day miss her and cry over her memories.

To me she was a mom-in-law but she was more of friend. We used to enjoy together common tastes, common music and classical poetry. She was living proof of the famous saying, ‘behind every successful man stands a woman….’ She was so full of life till she lost her husband, Inayatullah, but his death almost killed her and she had to follow him in a span of less than three years.

Sometimes I wonder if the technology could upload the picture in your heart to the cyberspace. If it could, I could let you see a graceful, yet a very happy lady from the heavens in these pages. But alas, technology has a lot to improve.

We all miss you, dear mom-in-law. May you rest in peace.