Sadika's Way by Hina Haq

Author:Hina Haq
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2004-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

twenty-two

EVEN THOUGH THE royal treatment of Zafary ceased after she came home from the hospital, there was a subtle change in her standing in the family. She had become one of them. It was now Sadika who was the only outsider—the only person not connected to the Hassan household by a solid male bloodline.

Sadika did not feel alienated only from the Hassans—she was discovering huge cultural differences between herself and the rest of America. Some were only differences in social conventions, but others were differences in attitude, perspective, pace of life and standard of beauty. In matters of social custom, for instance, it was not considered impolite to refuse food if one did not want it; just as it was not rude or gluttonish to accept a dish the first time it was offered. One was not considered a bad host for taking no for an answer, nor was a guest looked upon as discourteous for refusing something even if the hostess had cooked it herself for the occasion.

Overhearing conversations of well-wishers who had come to see the baby, Sadika became convinced that Americans felt they were slothful unless they turned into machines that got up early and did not quit till bedtime. From workplace to gym to church meetings, they always seemed to be headed somewhere in a hurry. And they were as serious about play as they were about work, meticulously planning what they would eat, where they would go, even how they would look when they were on vacation. Elizabeth, the wife of one of Aarif Hassan’s colleagues, had refused to taste delicious samosas, ground beef wrapped in pastry, because she needed to lose weight before her Caribbean vacation, two months away. And what were they going to do on that vacation? Relax, play, and enjoy their meals. “If only I was built like you, Sadika,” Elizabeth had commented wistfully, while refusing homemade batter-fried potatoes.

Sadika could hardly believe that the boyish figure that had caused her to be called “a dry rotten stick” in Gulmushk Mohalla, now made her an object of envy. The same lack of curves that had once tempted her to stuff fabric scraps into her bra, now made her fashionable when she wore clothes she had altered that had been discarded by Ashfaaq Beebee, Ishrat, and even Zafary.

She could vividly remember the first time her aunt and Ishrat had seen her in her navy blue pants suit, salvaged from Ashfaaq Beebee’s shapeless navy dress and Ishrat’s baggy pants, intended for the Salvation Army. All Ashfaaq Beebee could say was, “You’re lucky we buy expensive clothes and think of poor people the way we do. No one else I know gives away such good stuff.”

Since Sadika was no longer in school, her creativity had found a new outlet, much to the surprise of her aunt and cousins. Haroon was still reeling from the sight of the black-and-red pants suit she had worn on the occasion of Baby Zahid’s first party, while Ashfaaq Beebee and Ishrat were annoyed about the positive response to the clothes from the other guests.

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