LIFE IS LIKE A BED OF ROSES

LIFE IS LIKE A BED OF ROSES

"Why has Allah made our life so difficult and I have to struggle so much for my studies? Unlike rich people why do poor people have to struggle so much just to get money and meet their basic needs? If not rich, Allah should have made me a boy instead of a girl, so that I could help my family", wrote Kashaf, sitting on her study desk having a cup of tea.

Kashaf was a middle class girl who lived with her mother and two sisters. Her father married another woman as he wanted to have a son, however Kashaf did not have any brother. This was the reason her father left her mother with three daughters and did not like them. He was against them and always criticized them for getting higher education. Therefore, Kashaf hated her father very much and thought that every man in this world is like her father.

After striving so hard for a place in university, she finally got admitted to one of the elite universities in the city of Karachi.

Kashaf's mother who used to teach in a college, really wanted her daughters to receive higher education. She was the biggest source of encouragement for Kashaf. As Kashaf was the elder sister and the first one to step into the university, everyone was extremely happy for her.

"Today I am standing at the turning point of my life where I have to work even harder in order to make my dream come true. How about those classmates of mine who don't have to work as hard as me and my mother but still live a very luxurious life? Compare to them I am nothing but just a middle class girl who has to face challenges in every step of her life, be it education or earning money.”

After that she started studying days and nights just to make her dream come true. She tried her very best to compete with her classmates and finally in her final year exams she got the 18th position in Pakistan – she came first in her university. After knowing her result she was really amazed and she couldn’t believe in her luck.

Her teachers and her family were so proud of her achievement as she was the first from her family to graduate with very good results. Her father was also now impressed by her result as everyone in the town was praising her. He was really ashamed and he came to ask for forgiveness from his daughters and wife. But Kashaf refused to accept her father’s apology. She said, “Where were you when we and our mother were facing difficult times? Now we don’t need you anymore as we are old enough to support our mother.” After he left, she thought, “Everyone in this world is like him.”

She then started to apply for jobs, and she got a high-paying job in a decent company. Since then, her living condition improved and it was a new and happy turn of her life. It took her some time to get used to her new life, but a new tension had risen when she received many proposals from young men. But Kashaf was unwilling to get married because of what her mother had faced and also because she was pessimistic about her life.

One day her mother tried to talk to her and explained, “Just like our five fingers which are not equal, not every man in this world is the same. I would not force you but I would just say that you are mature and independent enough to make your own choices.” Although it was really difficult for her to make any decision, she still tried to think about it and reluctantly accepted a proposal from one of her suitors.

After she got married, she found that it was easy for her to adapt to a life living with her husband Zaroon and he was not like what she had imagined about man, for example her father. He was really caring and loving, and she lived happily with him.

”People always complain to Allah about the bad things which happen to them but they never thank Allah for many other blessings which He has blessed them with. I was also one of those people who used to complain to Allah but I never thanked Allah for the beautiful things in my life like the most caring and beloved mother in the world, who supported me all the time. Life has not changed and I might still have to face many challenges in my life however, one thing which I always used to write in my diary has changed – I will not complain to Allah again,” Kashaf wrote on her diary.

“Life is beautiful like a bed of roses, just like my husband Zaroon says,” she smiled.