There is a moment when you are randomly scrolling through your social media and come across a story that just shakes you. It sends a reminder to you that you always ignore, but is a part of the reality you are too afraid to admit.
The love of a mother is irreplaceable. In 2009, a woman’s son went missing. This woman belongs to Peshawar. The widow had recently wedded off her daughter in just two clothes and she is now back to her routine – to find her son who went missing years ago. Her son was a taxi driver who never returned from her ride from Mangal Bagh.
Here’s How the Story Follows:
Kudos to the minister for making this humane and compassionate gesture. Respect, but notice the old woman to the minister's left in white holding the picture of her son posing by his taxi. I recognise her from a chance encounter. I want to tell you her story. THREAD pic.twitter.com/L2ODFa4CD7
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
So sometime back I was in the Peshawar secretariat visiting a friend, an officer there, on an errand. I arrived there at 10am (still early by their standards) & my friend told me to wait in his office. 'Shal minata ki darlam'. But in secretariat 20 min can mean one or two hours.
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
So I decided to wait in his office. His staff let me in and I enter his office to find an old woman in white with a plastic bag already sitting there waiting for him. I say salam and sit down quietly. She seems nice. We strike up a conversation but it doesnt start well.
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
So I decided to wait in his office. His staff let me in and I enter his office to find an old woman in white with a plastic bag already sitting there waiting for him. I say salam and sit down quietly. She seems nice. We strike up a conversation but it doesnt start well.
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
She asks me where I've come from. I tell her, 'all the way from Swat'. For some reason she doesnt like Swat & tells me Swatyan are 'baykara darooghjan khalaq'- useless liars. Now,I can be a bit of a dick sometimes but I'm not the kind of guy who would be impolite to an old woman.
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
So I smile back at her sheepishly and tell her, 'teek di owail tror. Swatyan baykara di aksar'. She realises she should not have said that, and overcompensates for it with some motherly love. Cracks jokes, tells me stories about her life and childhood. I have time so I listen.
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
She then hands me her phone to call a lawyer & a judge, whose numbers she had on a piece of paper.But she is out of balance. So I try calling them from my phone but the office is in a basement so I do not get through.I do not know why she is calling them but obviously I dont ask
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
So my friend arrives & as soon as he steps in, she stands up & kisses him on both of his cheeks and hands- like a mother finding a long last son. 'Zoye rata rayaad ki ta zoya'-[u remind me of my son every time I see u'].
Now,this is not a standard interaction at a sarkari office
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
So at this point I still do not know who her son is or why I saw what i saw. My friend senses my confusion and tells me that her son has been missing since 2009.
So we switch to English and I ask, 'was he a Tal- er, miscreant?'.
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
My friend shots back,
'No, he was just a taxi driver who took a passenger to Mangal Bagh's Khyber agency in 2009 and never came back. Wrong place, wrong time'.
I pause.
'Is he alive?' I ask.
'No. He is dead'
'Are you sure? Has his body been recovered?'— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
No, but I have this from reliable sources. I am 99% sure'.
'Does she know?'
'I cant tell her that. But others have. She knows but she wont believe it though. Cant blame her. She's a mother'
'Oh, Khudaaya Paaka'There is a long awkward silence between the two of us.
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
Alright. So this was long. My apologies. But this is an old Pashtun woman who before her son's disappearance had probably never set a foot outside her house and is not familiar with our world. Cant speak Urdu. I figured I would tell her story.
Manana.
— Swat Swag (@NaPoha_) August 31, 2018
This is indeed a heartbreaking story, especially to see how a mother is looking everywhere and knocking every door to find closure. It breaks one heart to see the evil prevailing in this world. May this woman find what she is looking for and if it is not what she wanted, may she get the closure she fully deserves.
