SOUL OUT OF CAGE -3!

SOUL OUT OF CAGE 1

SOUL OUT OF CAGE 2

(Cont...)


I flew, oblivious to where I was headed. It was as if it's very conventional for a soul to wander away. There were these invisible roots which pulled me to their forest of souls. I felt so native despite the unusuality. There were souls of different ages, from different places. All they have in common was that they are all from female cages like me. Some kind of ritual was going on and I stood there watching. The souls were wandering in the streets filled with mirrors, blind to the presence of others. They were stopping by some mirrors which were inscribed with a name, looking into them for a long time, involuntarily letting an emotion skip their stoned faces for less than a millisecond and then advancing on their path.

I was not sure what was happening until a young soul, after stopping by a few mirrors, flew to a mirror with no inscription. Her face was impassive. She spoke to it for a long time. I could not hear what she was saying but I saw her smile. That perky smile turned into hesitation within seconds and then into tears which did not stop for a while. When she was done with the words, she stood there, got back to her original deadpanned state and flew away. I went to the mirror she spoke to and saw that it was inscribed with her name, Urus Kasymbay. Suddenly the reflection of the girl flashed in the mirror. I turned back to see her but she was not there. The mirror started reshowing what the girl spoke a few minutes ago.

"My name is Urus Kasymbay and I remained 19 years old since 2012. My cage was born (and lived till I decided to leave it) in Kyrgyzstan, where almost two thirds of all marriages are thought to be the result of ala kachuu ('grab and run'), or bride kidnapping. Around 15,000 women a year are thought to be the target of abductions by their suitors. I was studying journalism and had a boyfriend. We vowed to marry each other." She smiled but then hesitated to continue. Even the reflection could speak of the anguish in her eyes. "I thought I was lucky and dreamed of bright future until one day a 34 year old stranger decided to marry me. He just Kidnapped me and took me to his home where his parents were waiting to put a white scarf on my head as a symbol my capitulation to his demands. I won't argue that it's their fault as it is the tradition, though illegal since 1994, everyone still follows. I resisted and was finally freed by my family after two days. But no one was happy as once I entered my kidnapper’s home I am considered to be no longer pure, making it shameful for me to return home. So the next day I hanged myself in the backyard of my home." she cried and slowly gained the strength to go on.

"I have sisters in few other areas of the world who succumbed to their fate and agreed to live with their kidnappers. No one would say that all of them are happy but when it comes to their sons, they would do very less to stop him. You would think that these things happen only in some rural areas but I can show you many other cases. In most of these cases kidnappers are almost strangers, they may be many years older than the girl they choose to marry. Girl has to resist not only the man but his whole family and relatives who would grab her and try to wrap the white scarf on her head. There are cases where girls stop resisting after few hours and there are cases where few days pass after which the girls will be sent to their homes. Guardians of the girl would try to get her back home but then it would make her disgraceful. There is a friend of mine who loved a man and he promised her a proper marriage after she gets settled in her life. But in the end he kidnapped her to prove his manhood. She refused for two hours after which there was a white scarf tied stiffly on her head." Her face turned stony and the reflection disappeared.

I finally understood what the place was. But didn't had the strength to go to an empty mirror. So I lingered in those streets and listened to other souls. The forest was like a diary to female cages around the world, every crumbled soul filling a page of it with its story for others to unveil. There are souls like me, whose cages are alive and who would return to their cages someday. I thought of mine, I could still feel her pain and her tears of betrayal. I would return too, Someday!

Happy Women's Day !

(A documentary on Bride Kidnapping)