138
is the sound. And the projectors been malfunctioning recently. Maybe your mother is right. Maybe you can think of another
present, Mariam jo. Aneh ,Nana said. You see? Your father agrees.
Becoming self- destructive
But he wasnt fast enough. Mariam saw. A gust of wind blew and parted the drooping branches of the weeping willow like
a curtain, and Mariam caught a glimpse of what was beneath the tree: the straight backed chair, overturned. The rope
dropping from a high branch. Nana dangling at the end of it. 35-365
2. Laila’s and Mariam’s Struggles against Gender Discrimination
No. Category
Sub-Category Quotation
PageChapter 1.
Influencing factors
Gettting education But Mariams favorite, other than Jalil of course, was Mullah
Faizullah, the elderly village Koran tutor, its akhund He came by once or twice a week from Gul Daman to teach Mariam the
five daily namaz prayers and tutor her in Koran recitation, just as he had taught Nana when shed been a little girl. It was
Mullah Faizullah who had taught Mariam to read, who had patiently looked over her shoulder as her lips worked the
words soundlessly, her index finger lingering beneath each word, pressing until the nail bed went white, as though she
could squeeze the meaning out of the symbols. It was Mullah Faizullah who had held her hand, guided the pencil in it
along the rise of each alef, the curve of each
beh, the three dots of each
seh.
15-163
Gettting education The teachers name was Shanzai, but, behind her back, the 11116
1. Nana’s Acceptance towards Gender Discrimination
139
students called her Khala Rangmaal, Auntie Painter, referring to the motion she favored when she slapped
students palm, then back of the hand, back and forth, like a painter working a brush.
Khala Rangmaal was a sharp faced young woman with heavy eyebrows. On the first day of school,
she had proudly told the class that she was the daughter of a poor peasant from Khost. She stood straight, and wore her jet black
hair pulled tightly back and tied in a bun so that, when Khala Rangmaal turned around, Laila could see the dark bristles on her
neck. Khala Rangmaal did not wear makeup or jewelry. She did not cover and forbade the female students from doing it. She
said women and men were equal in every way and there was no reason women should cover if men didnt. Laila
Gettting education, I know youre still young, but I want you to understand and learn
this now, he said. Marriage can wait, education cannot Youre a very, very bright girl. Truly, you are. You can be anything you
want, Laila I know this about you. And I also know that when this war is over, Afghanistan is going to need you as much as
its men, maybe even more. Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated, Laila No chance.
11416
Having consciousness,
But Laila didnt tell Hasina that Babi had said these things, or how glad she was to have a father like him, or how proud
she was of his regard for her, or how determined she was to pursue her education just as he had his.
For the last two years, Laila had received the awal numra certificate, given yearly to the
top ranked student in each grade. She said nothing of these things to Hasina, though, whose own father was an ill-tempered taxi
driver who in two or three years would almost certainly give her 11416
2. Laila’s and Mariam’s Struggles against Gender Discrimination
140
away. Hasina had told Laila, in one of her infrequent serious moments, that it had already been decided that she would marry a
first cousin who was twenty years older than her and owned an auto shop in Lahore. Ive seen him twice, Hasina had said. Both
times he ate with his mouth open.
Getting education Women have always had it hard in this country, Laila, but theyre
probably more free now, under the communists, and have more rights than theyve ever had before, Babi said, always lowering
his voice, aware of how intolerant Mammy was of even remotely positive talk of the communists. But its true, Babi said, its a
good time to be a woman in Afghanistan. And you can take advantage of that, Laila Of course, womens freedom here, he
shook his head ruefully
is also one of the reasons people out there took up arms in the first place.
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Getting education He took over the teaching duties himself. Laila went into his
study every day after sundown, and, as Hekmatyar launched his rockets at Massoud from the southern outskirts of the
city, Babi and she discussed the ghazals of Hafez and the works of the beloved Afghan poet Ustad Khalilullah Khalili.
Babi taught her to derive the quadratic equation, showed her how to factor polynomials and plot parametric curves.
When he was teaching, Babi was transformed. In his element, amid his
books, he looked taller to Laila. His voice seemed to rise from a calmer, deeper place, and he didnt blink nearly as much. Laila
pictured him as he must have been once, erasing his blackboard with graceful swipes, looking over a students shoulder, fatherly
and attentive. 17424
Being Bond in Its your doing. I know it is, he snarled, advancing on her.
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2. Laila’s and Mariam’s Struggles against Gender Discrimination
