Lines of Destiny: Samina's Journey to Self-Discovery

She was an innocent girl. Born in a family where the birth of girls was prohibited while boys were given importance and daughters were considered as shoes for their feet, due to such discriminatory treatment by the family, she became a victim of inferiority complex and weak-minded. All the children were busy playing, but she would sit in a corner. Since the family could not understand Samina properly, she would be scolded and scolded, while instead of understanding them, she would start crying. Her condition was such that she would become afraid of even her own children. She could not even go out of the house and play with them.

When she regained consciousness, she connected with pen and paper. She would now draw lines on paper all the time and then these lines automatically started coming to life. These meaningless diagonal lines became so lively that she started making regular pictures. She had perfect cleanliness in her hands. It was a God-given ability that this skill is called art. It was as if she was a born artist. She had only one friend named Maria and she lived in her neighborhood.

She would sit at home all the time and watch movies and work in reverse. Since Maria's family was educated and lively, she had an open environment and there were no restrictions. Maria was as cowardly as Samina was. Samina was jealous of how good Maria was living. In those days, Samina and Maria were in the same class. We often did schoolwork together. Soon I realized that Samina needed guidance and trust because she looked the same as Maria, but Samina was something else on the outside. Something else was inside. A rebellious spirit had been born in her.

For example, now she would do such a thing with great enthusiasm that others would stop her from doing. She was apparently quiet, but she was hiding a storm in her heart, and when she got angry, she would pick up a pen and paper and start drawing countless meaningless lines. She would create complete pictures only when she was completely calm. I soon noticed that Samina was very fond of walking.

Then one day, after talking to her mother, I took permission to go for a walk in the neighboring garden. With great difficulty, she gave permission, on the condition that we take the maid with us. I said, "Okay, what's wrong with taking her along?" Thus, we started going for a walk in the garden every day. Which had a very good effect on Samina's mood. The big advantage of this little freedom was that there was a pleasant change in Samina's mood.

She became cheerful and cheerful. She started talking and started meeting her classmates in a friendly manner at school. It was as if she was trying to come out of her shell and I thought that all this was possible because of me. If I had not understood and supported her, she would have suffocated and died inside. When I saw the pictures she had made, I would wake up in awe.

I really wanted her to take admission in an art school so that the artist inside her could shine and her art would become immortal, but that was not possible. Her family was not so liberal that they would have acknowledged her inner talent or accepted Samina's art. They were always against her. Mother, father, brother, everyone used to say, "Why is this useless girl born in our house? She has no work. She has no place in school, she can never take a position, she gets such low marks.

She just passes by dying. At the same time, she was threatened that the year you don't pass, we will take you out of school." When the results of the ninth standard came, Samina had very low marks, she had passed with difficulty. Then her mother said, "What are you doing all day? You don't even take interest in housework, you do useless work all day.

What good is taking pictures? It's better to study hard for a while than doing such useless work. You have to take the matriculation exam next and I want you to do at least a BA, but it seems that you will barely be able to pass matriculation." Such things from her mother used to make her extremely sad. Although she used to speak the truth, it is the difference in attitudes.

If your attitude is right, even a harsh word does not seem bad. If the tone is bitter, even a good word can become an arrow and hurt the heart. Unless a person realizes his own shortcomings, no one can do anything. The same thing happened to Samina. Her cousin Naz, who was two years older than her, was also admitted with us.

She was a very lively girl. She created a stir as soon as she came and became the center of everyone's attention with her sweet words. Samina was quiet. She did not like flirtatious girls, she felt like a sugar with them, but it was even bearable that a boy came into her life during those days. His name was Nihal. He was her maternal uncle's son and had studied from London.

When she and her parents came to visit Samina's house, Naz also met her with her mother that day and she liked Nihal, but Nihal liked the quiet and serious Samina. Then when she saw the pictures she had made, she was very impressed. He said that if this girl were in London, her art fans would have taken her to the sky.

She is a perfect artist. I will definitely take her to London. Mamani also liked her and asked for a relationship for her son. Samina's parents were very happy that their daughter's fate had opened up, but when her maternal uncle saw her result, the marks in the result card were very low. They said that if she was talented, she would be good. She would get good marks. She would never be able to perform well in life. These words hit Samina like an arrow.

Now she realized why she didn't work hard, why didn't she get good marks. If she had worked hard, she could have gotten good marks, but she had never taken much interest in studies.Naz was a very bright student. She was two years ahead of her in age, her results were always excellent. She was also the daughter of Nihal's maternal aunt. So, knowing her to be unworthy, he left Samina's relationship and chose Naz.

She was not only eloquent, but also so playful that no one could ignore her. This quality suited him. While Samina's quiet nature broke down in four days. Her dream was taken away. Nihal's parents asked Naz for their son's hand and left. Samina stopped talking to Naz, so one day Naz said. Why are you angry with me, overcome the shortcomings in you. If you want to study, study with all your heart, otherwise quit your studies.

Why are you wasting your parents' money and wasting your life? These words also hit her like a dagger. She cried a lot, then I explained. Samina… Not everyone is wrong, you change your attitude. If everyone says to focus on studies, they are not wrong. My words had a deep impact on her. Actually, she was very sad about her rejection, then forgetting everything, she started focusing on studies seriously. She studied day and night and lost herself in course books. If someone works hard like this, they will eventually succeed.

The same thing happened to her and she started getting positions. It was very surprising. No one believed that how could a girl who passes after dying get a position? What does not happen in the world, Allah has given every human being the ability to achieve if he is determined and works hard. Anyway, time was passing. Samina had forgotten Nihal and she wanted to reach some place. Our BA papers were done and now the results were eagerly awaited. I was getting bored sitting at home, my heart was also tired of books.

There was a private school in the area next to us. To kill time, I started teaching in it and told Samina to come with me too. We will both have a good time and after the results are out, we will think about doing something else. Samina mentioned this at home, her family refused but then after much persuasion, they agreed. I was happy that both of us would spend the whole day in school with the teachers. Samina was also happy then I used to say that I didn’t explain that come with me, the time will pass well –

One day when we both left the house, I saw a boy leaving. He was in school uniform and was a student of the same school where we were teaching. In his white uniform, he looked so handsome as if the moon of the fourteenth grade was shining in the night. He was taller than his age. He was probably between sixteen and seventeen years old, but due to his good health, he looked eighteen or nineteen. His beautiful eyes and long eyelashes enhanced his face.

When I reached school, I saw that he had gone to the matriculation class, so I realized that he was a tenth-grade student. When I was looking at this boy, I noticed that Samina was also looking at him intently. I asked him what he was looking at, and he said, "I am looking at this boy, Masha Allah, how beautiful he is." He is truly a masterpiece of nature. It seems as if Allah Almighty has made him with his own hands. His appearance has stimulated my imagination. I had given up drawing for a long time.

Today, I want to draw a picture and put him in front of me and draw his appearance on paper. Some faces are masterpieces; the artist's brush starts moving automatically after seeing them. However, I am happy that he is a child of our school. This would have been done, but the next day I was shocked when I saw that Samina went to the school headmistress and requested her to give me the tenth class. She was teaching the ninth class first, since she was a position holder, so the madam happily gave her two periods of the tenth class, one of Islamic studies and the other of art. Samina started teaching the tenth.

She told me that the boy whose name is Khawar is a very talented and polite child. Now she used to praise him every day and never tired of praising him, so one day I said sarcastically. Samina, you are a strange kind of teacher who sings qasidas to her student. Why don't we sing? I need a picture of him that I have drawn. Someday I will make him sit in front of me and draw his portrait. Then you will see the perfection of my brush, so draw it.

What is the delay? The delay is such that his annual exams are about to take place and I don't want to waste his time. After the exams, if I have time, I will call him home and take a portrait. The weather was very nice that day. I was in the eighth grade when someone suddenly asked permission to come in, as I was checking the children's copies. Without looking, I said, "Come in." I thought it must be a boy from our school, but when he came in and I looked up, he was a strange young man. What! I asked. I want to talk to Khawar. I am his elder brother. Khawar...? I repeated in a questioning manner. Yes, he studies in the tenth grade here. Only then did I force my mind to say, "Okay... that Khawar... that class in front of you, go away.

You have come to the eighth grade." Saying sorry, the young man left the class. His appearance and appearance were so similar to Khawar that I was convinced that he was her elder brother. Khawar appeared during the break, called her and asked if she had spoken to her brother? Yes, Miss. He said slowly. His gentle tone was very nice. Samina was right that he was a very distinguished and polite boy. Samina was looking very happy today. I asked if Khawar's brother had come to your class.

She said yes. What did he come to your class for? I jokingly told him to tease her. He should have talked to his brother. God forbid, he shouldn't have talked to you. Such jokes keep happening, but there was another joke in the joke. That young man started coming to the school gate on a motorcycle every day.

He would come during the break and take Khawar with him. This is how we would meet him. I was noticing that Samina looked at both these brothers with great attention and interest and as long as they were present at the gate, she would not take her eyes off him. God willing, my friend has fallen in love with someone after a while and this brother of Khawar whose name I did not know yet. He was no less handsome than Khawar.

One day I groped Samina and she said. Yes, I like it. What should I do? It is a matter of the heart and no one has any control over the heart when it is crazy. Then my heart is the heart of an artist. It is a lover of beauty. Everything beautiful attracts it. What is wrong with that? This young man must be a little younger than us.

This is one and a half years and that is not much difference. Not one and a half years, at least five or six years. She said, still she could not understand who she was talking about. She understood that she was talking about Khawar's brother. Samina was now lost in some thought all the time. Someone had come to her mind whose shadow was always with her. I asked who it was. She said, whoever it is, all her heart wants is to be with me all the time.

I said one day. Samina, if you are thinking about Khalid, then it is right, but if you are thinking about Khawar, then it is wrong because it is not right from a moral point of view either. You and him have a teacher-student relationship and it is a very sacred relationship. Hey brother, what is the threat to the sanctity of this relationship when I am impressed by his beauty and want to make his portrait. This is the demand of the artist in me and that is all… other than that, is it a sin to even think about making someone’s portrait? No, absolutely not.

I replied and kept quiet. The exams were over. Samina had promised Khawar that he would come home when the exams were over so that she could make his portrait. When Khawar came home, he became friends with Samina’s brother. Samina was very happy about this because now it was easy for Khawar to come to her house and she could talk to him. She could make his portrait.

Finally, she convinced Khawar. He took the paint and brush and got busy making his portrait. It was not a day’s work. Every day, Khawar used to sit in front of her like an idol for some time. Khawar used to get up very early and pray. After that, he would come to Samina’s house and sit on a chair in the lawn, and Samina would bring paint and a brush and start painting his picture. One day, after finishing her prayers and supplications, she came out of her gate and walked to Samina’s gate. I thought that she would be painting the picture sitting in the lawn as usual, but I was surprised to see that she was sitting alone on a chair and crying.

What happened, Samina… I said. Are you okay? Is Khawar’s picture finished? Nothing happened, she started crying even more. Something happened, my friend, won’t you tell me. When I insisted, she said, “You were right, it was my mistake.” Khawar has no fault in this. This was two days ago. When the picture was finished, it was so beautiful that I, helplessly in my emotions, took Khawar’s face in my hands and kissed her forehead. He was frightened by my action. Maybe he misunderstood. He said. Please teacher, stop following me. This does not suit you. Saying this, he started crying with sobs. Miss… you are my teacher. I respect you from the bottom of my heart.

I never thought that you would be like this. If your honor as a teacher had not been high, I wonder what would have happened to you. Saying this, he ran away like a child and left the gate.

I am very saddened by his thought, Shahnaz. How sad, what can I say. I was being fooled by the artist within me. I was flowing with the flow of my imagination and he thought that I was a wrong woman and had wrong feelings for her. The next moment, he tore the beautiful picture of Khawar that he had made into pieces with his hands. I think that teachers should care a lot about their students and be careful. Lest the sacred concept of a teacher be distorted, because at this age, boys are very ignorant.