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How
did 9-11almost ruin a full-blown love? By A.H.
Jaffor Ullah
Make
no mistake about it. This is a
real life story. A colleague of
mine conveyed the story to me right after 9-11 terrorist attack had happened
in America. In those days, our
chitchat used to be mostly centered on 9-11 incidents.
How many had died in the collapse of twin towers, were there any
survivors buried deep in the rubbles of falling building, were there any
survivors in the demolished Pentagon Building etc., used to dominate our
conversation. One
day, my colleague narrated to me an amazing story concerning the love affair
between two young people. In this
day of �Sex and the City,� it will be na�ve of me to think the other way
around. There is nothing amazing
about a boy meeting a girl and happening to fell in love head over hills with
her. However, the disconcerting
part of the story was how did 9-11 incident come to play a decisive role in
the story in which two lovers were about to be conjoined in a marriage.
The 9-11 incident wreaked havoc amongst many people.
Some were hit directly, while others were impacted indirectly. I�m sure the story, which I am about to narrate, is not a
unique one. Perhaps many other
lovebirds also had faced the same trial and tribulation.
Without much further ado, let me go into the heart of the story. An
elderly gentleman and his wife who are Americans are leading a retired life in
one of the suburbs of New Orleans. The old man used to be an oil executive who spent a big chunk
of his adult life in New Orleans. The
semi-tropical warm weather of this southern city has its charm on many folks.
The retired American couple thus had decided to live in New Orleans.
The grown up boys of the couple lives elsewhere.
One of their sons lives in Maine in the eastern seaboard 1600 miles
away from New Orleans. The story
revolves around the grandson of the retired New Orleanian couple who also
lives in Maine. This young man is
our hero. Why not let us call him
our Romeo. Our Juliet is not a
full-blooded American blonde or anything of that sort.
Believe it or not, she is a Bangladeshi expatriate young woman who is
very charming and attending the Wellesley College in neighboring
Massachusetts. Our Juliet�s
parents also live in the same town in Maine where Romeo�s parents live.
Members of both the families know one another. Our
Romeo has just finished his bachelor degree in Math and Computer Science from
Bates College, a private name brand College located at Lewiston, Maine in May
2001. The grandparents of Romeo,
our retired New Orleanian couple, had flown all the way to Maine to see his
son and then to accompany them to Lewiston to attend the graduation ceremony
of their grandson. There, they
met for the first time a Bangladeshi beauty, our permanently tanned Juliet and
her parents. It turns out that
these two young persons are terribly in love with one other and that is not
all. They had made plans to marry
very soon. All of these were news
to the grandparents. They were
liberal enough to say that they have their blessings in this forthcoming
marriage. After the graduation
ceremony was over, the parents and the grandparents of the Romeo were invited
to a tea party at the house of the fianc�e of the young man.
The grandparents loved the idea very much. Since these two families will be united anyway not too
further down the road, this informal chitchatting and get-together was a good
gesture. The Bangladeshi family
of our Juliet was very hospitable. Everyone
seems to have enjoyed this little extemporaneously arranged get-together.
The Romeo�s father had known the family of our Juliet over the years
because both the families live in the same town and our Romeo and Juliet have
known each other from their high school days. Everything
was all set to go for a winter wedding. But then, the terrible incident of
November 11 happened. Immediately
after the demolition of Twin Towers and a portion of the Pentagon Building
news were hitting the airwaves that these were the works of Muslim terrorists.
When this information came out, the parents and the grandparents of the
Romeo were alarmed. Even though
they have given their consent to this forthcoming wedding of their loving son
and grandson, this ominous news story of Muslims terrorists wreaking havoc in
America really shook the resolve of this sweet American family. There were some nervous telephone calls from Louisiana to
Maine back and forth. What should
they do? How are they going to
tell their relatives that this Bangladeshi girl even though she has Muslim
heritage has nothing to do with terrorism?
There were some anxious moments. The
Romeo was in a fix. His parents
were pressing him hard for more information on the background of the
Bangladeshi family. I can�t
even imagine how our Juliet had taken this entire ordeal!
Here
in New Orleans, the retired couple, the grandfather of the Romeo, asks
nervously my colleague, �Are Bangladeshi people fanatic Muslims?�
My colleague knew me for a long time.
Thus he knows that Bangladesh has many liberal families.
He told them not to worry. He
also assured them that the family must be a liberal one or else they would not
be willing to let their daughter marry a Christian.
That sounds like a good pointer to me.
The grandparents also understood the underlying strength of such logic.
A few eventless days went by. Then
came the good news from Maine. One
afternoon, the retired couple came over to my colleague�s house and knocked
at their door. Their happy
disposition meant that they brought some darn good news to tell my colleague.
It turns out that the Bangladeshi family in Maine is a half-Muslim and
half-Buddhist one. The father was
born in a Muslim family but the mother came from a Buddhist family.
Therefore, there were no reasons to be concerned.
The old couple heaved a great sigh of relief.
The wedding plan remained intact.
A would be everlasting love was saved at long last. When
my colleague told me about this unfolding story of our Juliet�s religious
identity, I knew then that her mother must be from Chittagong or Chittagong
Hill Tract area because most Buddhists in Bangladesh are from that region.
The other assumption is that Juliet�s own mother and father may have
fallen in love before they were married.
In our part of the world when two lovers from separate religions fell
in love and they want to tie a knot, the society do not condone such
inter-religious marriage. Our Juliet�s unique background has helped her in the first
place to fell in love head over heels with the Romeo. An archconservative Muslim family would fight tooth and nail
not to allow their daughter dating anyone.
Period. Marry a Christian
would not be in the cards. That
we all know darn well. From
the above story we could imagine how strenuous of a task it was for Juliet to
endure the probing of her fianc�e into her private life.
Also, we saw how nervous the New Orleanian grandparents became when
they first heard the news that our Juliet may be a Muslim because her parents
were from Bangladesh, a Muslim majority nation.
This question of whether our Juliet in the story is a Muslim woman or
not would not be raised had there been no 9-11 incident.
Our story had a happy ending, though.
But imagine what could have been the case if it turned out that
Juliet�s parents were both devout Muslims.
Well, some may argue that girls from a pucca Muslim family
won�t behave like our story�s Juliet.
But as you know, love makes people blind.
-------------------
A.H. Jaffor Ullah writes from New Orleans. His e-mail address is � [email protected] |
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