Ehteshamuddin Arshad (Ehtesham Arshad Nezami) is a permanent columnist, living in Chicago, USA. Previously his column “MERI SUBSAYE PIYARI BETI” was published in Urdu which was appreciated by readers. On requests of many readers, South Asia Pulse is publishing it in English which was translated by a prominent writer and poet Jamil Usman of New Jersey.
Today when I heard your sweet voice on the phone, I was overwhelmed and my eyes filled with tears. These were tears of joy as well as sorrow. I am happy because my beloved daughter has turned three and grieved because I am in America, thousands of miles away from you. Today I feel for those unknown number of people who are living thousands of miles away from their loved ones for years and years. I will come back to you shortly, but my dear, there are innumerable people from within our society who are bound by circumstances to live away from their families for their entire lives, with only the flickering remembrance of their near and dear ones. And after a long time, when they return, most of them find that the world they had left had changed completely. When they come home they get nothing. Children would have grown and settled separately with their families, elderly would have passed away and they themselves would have little time left to live.
Dear Saleha, I am writing this letter in August 1997 from Ocala, Florida, where I have come to visit my cousin. I know that you can’t read this letter now, but I am sure when you grow up your mama will give you this letter. I want you to know my feelings today that will teach you how to lead your life, although with times changing, you might as well learn a lot yourself.
Honey, three years ago, when a nurse emerged from the operation theatre of Hill Park General Hospital, Karachi and informed me and my family that God had given me a daughter, my eyes had filled with tears at that time, too. Those were the tears of joy only, because I had prayed to God that my first child be a daughter. I don’t know why, but from the very beginning I had wished for a daughter. Perhaps because the one personality that gave me immense love and affection was my mother and because I had read in my childhood how much our Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) loved his daughter Fatima Zehra. A true Muslim is known from the way he follows the path of the Prophet (Peace be upon him). Well, to cut the long story short, a couple of years back, when I left Karachi for America, you were only a year old. You and your mom were with me. On our way to the USA, we had stopped at Makkah to perform Umrah and it was there that you had started walking perfectly. You had made the pilgrimage to the House of God, kissed the black stone in Kaaba and visited the Prophet’s mosque at the age of one. Please dear, don’t let down the House of God. Never abandon the five times prayers, be chaste, modest and bashful. I know the world would have changed when you would reach adulthood, but sweetheart, don’t abandon your family values, acquire religious education at par with modern education.
When we reached America, the three of us toured New York, Chicago, Houston, California, Arizona, Las Vegas, Connecticut and Washington DC. Before this, I had traveled alone to Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, and Saudi Arabia several times. But this was the first time I was traveling with my family. Perhaps I will never forget this pleasant trip. This time i.e. in 1997 my travel to USA without you two is pathetic.
Before coming to Florida, I had traveled from New York to Toronto, Canada. Canada looks very much like America. They have the same long roads and highways, the same weather, same type of houses and the same culture. There is little difference between America and Canada. Both were British colonies. After independence, the United States walked away from Britain in complete opposite direction. The Americans adopted ways in complete contrast to the British ones. In Britain the traffic runs from the left side of the road, the Americans made it run at the right side, in Britain the steering wheel is at the right of the car, the Americans made it at the left, in Britain they turn on the lights by pressing the switch downwards, here they press it upwards, in Britain they call the game they play with their feet “football,” in America they play it with all their four hands and feet and call it football, whereas the game they play with their feet is called soccer. In all the fields of life they did just opposite of what the British did. In Canada, they give all the respect to the Queen even after independence and she is considered as a symbol of respect even today. The Canadian currency bills have the Queen’s picture on them.