Yesterday's story, continued

Of Equal Status?

And what happened to the man you asked. The man who raped a cousin the same age as his son.


He was found guilty of conducting an illicit relationship too. Even imams know that a girl cannot quite force herself of a man against his will.

The fatwa ordered that she be given 101 lashes, delivered swiftly and publicly. He was sentenced to 201. She collapsed after 70, was taken to hospital and died a week later.

After a few lashes he managed to escape.

Managed to escape, or allowed to escape? He is a man. Need you even ask?
 
_____

A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Raped, then stoned to death!

Fourteen year old Hena's innocence caught the eye of her cousin, Mahbub Khan. She studied in the same class as his son; that didn't stop him from harassing her. Her father complained. Mahbub Khan was asked to pay a fine. The matter was buried.


Many months later, Mahbub Khan abducted her and raped her. His wife heard Hena's cries for help. She accused Hena of having an illicit relationship.

Hena was found guilty and sentenced to be whipped. She died.

He escaped.


If it were fiction, you would say it was unrealistic. Unfortunately, it happened. And we can do nothing.
_____

News story
A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Out of Control

Every night, I go to bed telling myself that I have got my life in control. Every morning, I wake up determined to find time for everything I want to do. Every afternoon, I realize my life is still spiraling out of control. Every evening, I acknowledge that the day did not go quite the way I wanted but that tomorrow would be just fine.

The cycle continues.

Maybe it is time to prioritize; to take a blog-break, so that is one less thing left undone.

What does it say that on first attempt, this post is exactly 100 words?
_____

A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Give it your 100%

I was to run the last leg of a 4x5 kilometer relay. While waiting for the baton, six teams came thundering in to finish. It took a special kind of, dare I say, courage to run when you knew the race was over before you even started it.

"I really love your attitude", someone later told me on facebook. "You gave it your 100%."
"Life is too short to waste on anything unless you give it your 100%", I retorted.
He put that on his facebook wall.

How weird is it when something you say is read back to you!
_____

A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Connecting instentaneously

Not often do you meet people with whom you are chatting like old friends within minutes of shaking hands with them. Not often do you run into people who don't ask you how old you are, or where you work, or what you do. Not often do you come across people who make you laugh as much as I did today.
I am blessed to have two such sets of people- my online blogging community, and my running fraternity. I guess when you share a passion, externalities don't really matter too much.
And I wish the world could realize that.

_____

A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Plumeria Blossoms

I just don't feel inspired to churn out a post today. So am cheating by just posting two photograph of my plumeria blossoms.
Four years back, I had acquired two plants- I nursed them through several illnesses, and one rewarded me with flowers two summers back. It is the turn of the other one to grace my garden with flowers now.

The first of the lot, reaching for the Sun

Close-up, don't they almost look like they are made of porcelain? 

The Invisible Victims

While I may want to believe that commercial sex workers choose to ply their trade, the reality is that most of them don't have a choice. Even today, families sell girls into the sex trade for as little as a couple of hundred dollars, and the girls are expected to remain till their earnings pay off the cost at which they were acquired.

The girls already sold into the sex trade, perhaps, have no option but to remain till AIDS or old age claims them, but must the daughters born to them have to follow them into slavery?

Hopefully not!

Their smiles hide the horrors they have witnessed!

Do check out my blog post on the Invisible Victims of Sex Trafficking, and help spread the word if you can.
_____

A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.