Moving To A Fertile Marriage - Shehnila Khurram & Ali Haider

I remember the day when he divorced me. My ex-husband’s fierce eyes showed anger and pure hate for me. I was unable to reproduce and that made him and the entire family my enemy. Being called “baanjh” and other horrible names by my in-laws and treated as a slave, I was living in hell each day. But still, I kept quiet and did not say a word to them because I had to save my Shadi. Back where I was from, saving a Shadi was more important than life itself and I stuck to that rule. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to, my ex-husband decided to divorce me. It was a sweaty afternoon when he had returned from work. After a comfortable lunch, he entered the room and started questioning me about having a kid. I looked down, unable to answer his blames and he just abused me with all types of words. This was not new for me. I had been hearing it for years now and was kind of used to this form of depression. But all of a sudden, he said the words “talaq” three times and it was over. In seconds, I had become a stranger to him and the household. I packed some things and hired a cab to my home. As I entered my home, I tried to keep myself calm and composed. But it was not easy. My mother and sisters welcomed me with hugs and kisses. My tears watered down my cheeks and my mother could tell something was wrong. I tried to hide my sorrow from them but it was too late. Finally, I shared the news they would not want to hear any day. Their faces of joy were now full of sadness. Baba was not home and we were all worried about him. He already had two bypasses and such a piece of news could trigger a third one. My mom assured me to not worry. When baba arrived, we all acted normal and cheery. Baba did not notice anything and the day passed by. The next morning, Baba came into my room and without a word hugged me, weeping like a baby. I could not hold back and we both were joined by my mother, who tried to comfort us both. I remember my father saying he was more worried about finding another Rishta for him than he was for the divorce. He was right! All the Rishta aunties and families we spoke to showed no interest in an unfertile divorced woman. My life was mysterious those days. I had no direction and nothing to be happy about. My family tried to cheer me up but we all knew it was not possible. I shared the news with a best friend of mine. She was shocked and asked me to go to court against my ex-husband. I decided not to go back to that place or meet those people. So, I got a job and started to focus on my career. One evening, I got a phone call from my best friend. She asked me to check my Whatsapp. When I opened it, there were some pictures of a man with his details. I asked her what this was about. She told me that she had made a profile on a matchmaking website and after weeks of talking with the man and his family, they were interested in my Rishta. I was shocked. At first, I got angry at my best friend for doing this without my consent but when I shared the news with my mother, she showed signs of happiness and told me to arrange a meeting. Later in the evening, baba also agreed with my mother and I told my best friend to arrange a meeting with the man and his family. The meeting was a success and we shared the news of infertility with them from the start. The man had two kids already from a previous marriage and he was fine with it. We set the dates and the Shadi took place. It has been 8 years now and my husband and I have raised the children together, providing them with quality education. I could not have been happier because the family I am in is super loving and acceptable. Thank you Pakistani Rishtey for making this happen.