Where Do You Go When There's Nowhere Left?

It’s meant to be the happiest day in a girl’s life when she finds her prince charming. The one she falls in love with, marries and has the perfect life. But what if you never had that chance? In South Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and East Asia 90% of the marriages are arranged, and 60% of all marriages in the world are arranged. Yes, that’s right. Teens and even pre-teens are forced into a union where they either are too young to understand or too depressed to think of the consequences. These girls will get married to their cousin, or their uncle or maybe some strange man 90 miles away from them. Some may call it desperation, some may call it pathetic, but for the 8 out 10 girls forced into marriage, they have no words. How do you decide to marry someone you've never met, seen or had the chance to talk to? Well, you don’t. That’s not your choice. The divorce rate has increased by 15% in Southeast Asia among those who get an arranged marriage. To some it may seem incongruous, however it doesn't change the fact that 2 out of every 5 girls forced to get married commit suicide, runaway, or fall into depression. Who am I to be telling you this? I’m a girl, from one of these cultures, who will join the 90 percentile of girls getting an arranged marriage. I’ll forever be stuck with a man I've never met, seen or had the chance to ever talk to. For the girls who are forced into such a horrible bond, the only love they’ll ever experience is the ones shown in the movies. Guy meets girl. Guy falls in love with the girl, meets her secretly, brings her flowers, and dances to a couple of lovey-dovey songs; they get married and live happily ever after. But this is the reality for an arranged marriage. There is no happily ever after. The wedding day is set, whether the girl accepts it or not, she’ll get married in front of her family and her new family in-law, to a man she never desired. But that’s not the end of her story; she’ll probably be beaten like the 34% who aren't given a genuine place in the family or her new husbands’ heart. She may runaway. Or she may give up on life. But who cares? Whether the bride is here or not, whether she’s dead or alive, whether she’s bruised up, whether it’s me or you. Your freewill was taken away the moment marriage came up, you don’t have freedom. Don’t be silly, this isn't your choice. You take your life, or you let it be. You take a stand or you set yourself free. But it’s all just a tad too late. You’re married to man you've never felt attracted to, wishing you could take a step back. But you took a step, and you stepped in concrete. It’s permanent.

500 words total.  

Sources: 

• http://www.indiatribune.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3714:pros-and-cons-of-arranged-marriages&catid=99:column&Itemid=462
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA6jjumSM1s
• http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/03/04/sabatina-james-why-my-mother-wants-me-dead.html

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Have You Ever Felt So Afraid And Alone, Even In A Crowded Room?

How would it feel to be a 12 year old girl, watching all the other little boys and girls rush toschool, knowing that you’ll never have the opportunity to be as worry-free andhappy as them? Today is your wedding day. It’s time to get ready. Everyone youloved is suddenly far away, remote, distant; you no longer understand whatthey’re talking about and they’ve suddenly stopped listening to you. Keep yourclothes clean; straighten your back, don’t slouch. Make sure you smile, butdon’t smile with your teeth. Keep your eyes natural; do not blankly stare atanyone. Pretend you’re happy. They’re going to tell you what you’ll wear, whatyou’ll do, and what you’ll be. They’ve forced you into this silly bond with aman triple your age. He is a complete stranger, and strange is correct. Butthey, who you once believed to have a beautiful and precious bond with, havedecided that this is now your present and your future. They’ve planned out yourentire life here, and they do not care about your innocence nor your nativity.Where is your opinion in this entire process? It’s unseen, unheard, andunspoken. You’re their puppet and they are the master. They control the shownow, whether you like it or not.

Good morning, how wasyour sleep? What’s this? Your eyes are red and swollen from crying; your throatis parched from sobbing. You’re married now to this stranger, triple your age.You found out last night that he is not interested in petty childish games, he’sexperienced and mature. He is the least bit bothered by your words, and hetries to take advantage however he can. You get out of bed, and see the mess onthe floor. You take whatever is remaining of your wedding attire off, and youquickly take a shower, and think about your loved ones. Your husband knocks onthe door, and you are startled; he mumbles a few words and you know it’s timeto start the day as his 12-year-old wife. Run! To the kitchen, your husband ishungry and he is not happy when he’s hungry. Be careful now, since you have notlearned to cook as of yet. But don’t worry, there’s your mother-in-law, she’llhelp you. Ouch! You burned yourself huh? Well good thing it didn’t mess up yourinnocent beauty. That keeps your husband’s urges alive.

 He gets up forwork and wants a kiss goodbye but you find this strange because you’ve neverkissed anyone goodbye. Not even the loving family you once thought you had.You’re so shy and young, and you don’t know how to eat, how to speak, how toreact in the presence of other people. You’re scared and alone here now, yourlife crushed. Your loved ones have passed on the strings of the puppet intoyour husband’s hands. You are in his control, and this is your life now. He’lllove you and your innocent beauty. 

500 words total. 

            

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And That Single Moment Was Mine.

Samiha Julakha. 

That is the name written on my precious little birth certificate. However, I have many more names than it appears, but I'll just give you a little insight on SAMIHA JULAKHA. Two beautifully constructed complications. Yes, that is MY name. For a good whole half of my life, I hated my name. Why? Well almost no one could spell it, say it, or even try to pronounce it. I always wanted something that was simple but unique. A name like Samina or  Mirah. But no, I was given the name Samiha Julakha, pronounced saa-me-hah  joo-lake-ah. It's such a bother to have such a name. I'm the girl who screams out her name during attendance before the teacher even has a chance to pronounce it. I've been told all my life what a beautiful and unique name I have and a personality to match it. However, I've always been more irritated by my name than I am happy to have it. 

It has always been a tradition in my family and culture to have your child named after an Arabic word, thus my name was born. Samiha comes from the Arabic word "samih" which means generous, kind-hearted, and tolerant. After some time, I realized that for me, what could be more beautiful than Arabic? Drumroll please, for my last name, Julakha. This has a bit of a different story behind it than just finding a pretty Arabic word. . I was named after my dad's mother. My grandmother Julakha Khatin. The reason behind naming me Julakha was because I never got to meet her. She was my dad's pride & joy and he absolutely loved her more than anything. The funny part about my grandmother is that she was never too fond of girls. Ironic because she is a girl. However, she always felt that boys could do everything better than girls. Sadly, I never agreed with this. After her death my dad was shattered; and being so distanced from her, he had no way to be reminded of his mother Soon after, I came into the picture and my dad wanted his mother's name to live on, so he put a stamp on it and my name became Samiha Julakha. Instead of having the family last name, Sarwer,  I was given one that made me sound like I was some distant family member. 

I've gone through my whole life with many nicknames and many wrong pronunciation. But most of all, I always wanted a middle name, and maybe another name after that. My entire family has middle names. I wanted to be an insider with them, but instead I was stuck with just Samiha Julakha. Everyone in my family has a a first name, 3 or 4 middle names, a last name and at least one nickname. I have a bazillion nicknames, but always wanted to have a fancy little middle name. I have cousins with names like "Mohammad Faqrul Shams Ovi Uddin Islam," mouthful huh? I wanted to be able to be as fancy as Esteban from the Suite Life of Zack & Cody. It was always so entertaining to hear the name "Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramirez." Unfortunately, I was never given that fun of a name. But here I am, 16 years later with Samiha Julakha. Today, I am happy to have such a name because I know deep down there could never be another Samiha Julakha, and if there is. She could never be me. 

581 words total. 

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Forget The Judgments, And Set Yourself Aside.

Sentence Limitation 

“Have you ever wondered to yourself why it is that all people like me seem to have learned from you is how to imprison and murder each other, how to govern badly, and how to take the wealth of our country and place it in Swiss bank accounts? Have you ever wondered why it is that all we seem to have learned from you is how to corrupt our societies and how to be tyrants? You will have to accept that this is mostly your fault. Let me just show you how you looked at us. You came. You took things that were not yours, and you did not even, for appearances' sake, ask first. You could have said, "May I have this, please?" and even thought it would have been clear to everybody that a yes or no from us would have been of no consequence you might have looked so much better. Believe me, it would have gone a long way. I would have had to admit that at least you were polite. You murdered people. You imprisoned people. You robbed people. You opened your own banks and you put our money in them. The account were in your name. The banks were in your name. There must have been some good people among you, but they stayed home. And that is the point. That this is why they are good. They stayed home." - (By: Jamaica Kincaid pages 34-25 A Small Place)

~ Have you ever taken a good look around and wondered why people seem to be so scared and annoyed because of someone who is dressed differently than them when we have learned from this country about our freedom and how to be courageous, how to stick up for ourselves, and how to take the good and bad and give it equal importance? Have you ever noticed why it is that people are so scared of a lady with a head scarf or a man with a beard when they too have learned to be courageous from this society? You have to accept the fact that not everyone is going to live up to your standards. Lets just take a moment to look at the way we treat other people. We see them. We take what we see and don't take a further glance to see that there's more, a good personality perhaps, not even for a second look, we never look back. We could have made a difference in today's society and said, "lets be open minded, alright?" and possibly seen that we are all just human beings regardless of who dresses different or who appears to be different. Believe me, it would be much easier to have pushed ourselves away from passing judgment. I would have been able to say we are much bigger than that. We judge people. We hate people. We destroy people. We opened up the land of freedom for people and we should be able to open up our minds too. No human is perfect. Nor are we all the same. There is nothing wrong with being different, yet we judge like we know what's perfection.  And we have no limitations. That is the only thing we are best at. Judging each other. - Samiha Julakha 

AP LC - Sentence Limitation Exercise. 

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Lets Step Into Imperfections... Ready, Set, Go.

Culture: 

• A woman can do just as much as a man can, there's no reason to restrict her from the world. 
• Save the dried fish for the motherland, the entire neighborhood can smell it. It isn't the most pleasant smell either. 
• Marriage can wait, let me at least finish school first! I'm too young for that bro. 
• can we not judge a person as soon as we get one look at them? maybe they're not as bad as you're saying they are.
• Gossip circles. let's just back away slowly from that one, shall we?
• Just because i dont wear traditional dresses doesn't mean i'm not proud of my culture; nor does it mean that i'm completely americanized. 

General "Irks": 

• I saw you drop that waterbottle out of the car window, pick it up. now. 
• Please don't tell me the ending of the movie, I'm actually excited to watch the movie. 
• Say another word during the movie and I promise to shoot you with a nerf gun. Don't be such a embarrassment, especially not in public. 
• Uh...no thanks, I'm not very interested in "see-food," kindly close your mouth while you chew. 
• There's a reason there's a "watch for pedestrians" sign. I'd appreciate it if you didn't  try to run me over with your car/bike/motorcycle. 
• I hate when people judge a person by their looks. Where did personality go? 
• There's no need to blast your music so loud the entire highway can hear it. 
• Can we get less commercials and longer shows on TV?
• You're and Your, they're different. Learn the difference. 
• Just because you heard it from the TV, computer or another person doesn't mean the news is written in stone. 

Religion: 

• Yes, that lady is wearing a head scarf. No she's not a terrorist. I hate people who make these kinds of assumption because of someone's religious beliefs.
• How exactly are you half of two religions? Half Muslim, Half Christian... wait what? 
• Freedom of Religion, then shouldn't all of us have equal rights over what we should and shouldn't worship. The coin saying "in God we Trust," fades away from freedom of religion.
• I wish people would be open minded when it comes to religion, what media portrays and what we've heard aren't always true. 

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