Daily Times

Keenagi sold his load of dates for 80 rupees. He put them in a handkerchief and went to the market to buy groceries for home. There weren’t good groceries sold at his own village’s market, so he went to the village’s market nearby. Whatever he bought from there, he tied them to his camel and started his way back to his own village. It was beginning to get dark. He stopped his journey to catch a moment of fresh air. All alone, he started wondering; his mind traced back to old moments of happiness. Those memories took him to a small paradise, but it didn’t last long. He put his thoughts on the stars in the night sky above. “In this dark night, look at how the stars are twinkling,” he thought to himself. “No one remembers the birth of the stars? These stars may remember many words which they can never forget! Why are they so shiny?”

Deep in his thoughts, he heard the sound of a man sharing sad poetry out loud. After a while, a group of camels appeared in front of him. A man on a camel was sharing some sad verses, drenched in pain:

“Come, your memories won’t depart,

Girls come in large numbers for water,

Like the cold air of morning,

No one gives me your briefings,

Come, your memories won’t depart”

His piece of poetry made Keenagi listen to a voice that came from inside him: “Reveal the pain of your heart! The long dark ways won’t finish so quickly.” Keenagi shifted his attention towards the man on the camel, his sad olds days started appearing in front of him. He replied:

“Eloquent pigeon of the gardens,

Spend your days with silence,

This world is not loyal,

Come, your memories won’t depart.”

After listening to Keenagi’s verses, the man on the camel looked at him and said, “Who do you belong to?”

” Kahda Shahsawar,” Keenagi replied.

“Are you coming from Bandan?”

“Yes.”

He asked the prices of the dates he was carrying. “A camel load is of 80 rupees,” Keenagi replied. They exchanged fish and dates and were off towards their own destinations.

Keenagi was missing Mahan, his neighbor in his childhood days. They played together, and with the passage of time started to feel love for each other. But the elders separated them by wedding Mahan to a stranger just two years earlier. Her new village was on Keenagi’s way. Time and again, his heart kept pushing him to visit her, but he didn’t listen. However, there came a point when he finally decided to go there.

He went to his village the next noon and asked for her address from someone from the village. As he arrived to her place, he saw Mahan (his old love) milking the cows. Mahan saw that there was someone at the door; she welcomed Keenagi and made him sit under the shed. She served him milk and dates. Keenagi was looking at Mahan’s eyes, as he tried to explore something on her face. She was staring at the ground below. At one point, Mahan looked above, and both their eyes met. Keenagi maintained his conscience and asked her, “Do you recognize me?” Mahan was startled and looked at Keenagi, trying to remember who he was. “No,” she replied. This was not the answer he expected from her. Before coming to the village he had thought that Mahan was still in love with him the same way as before. It felt as if someone had pushed a sharp knife through his heart. He managed himself and started to shuffle from there. “Won’t you stay for lunch? It’s almost ready. Wait for some time, and have your lunch. My husband will come in a while from the mountains. Sit in the shadow, as it is hot.”

“A strange shadow is not worth more than a hot sunshine which is my own. Your shadow can’t make Keenagi feel better now,” he replied. Keenagi took his camel and started moving from there. He was very tired. His feet were moving but his soul was searching for his old love. He kept walking and moaning.

This an English version of a Balochi story written by Murad Sahir

Published in Daily Times, December 30th 2017.