Technically, this story is set in Pakistan instead of neighboring India. However, it was written at the same time as the stories in the Forbidden India series and I think it makes a good addition to the overall exotic / forbidden theme.
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Neglected In Pakistan
Melancholy was a good word to describe Anum. The Pakistani woman felt this way often, especially when her husband left town for days on end. He hardly called when he was gone, and as of late, he hardly paid any attention to her when he was home. Anum suspected her husband would sleep with other women when he was on his business trips. She tried to tell herself that she was only being paranoid, but there was that time when she cornered her husband's partner.
"Does my husband have other lovers?" She asked, point blank.
"Oh, of course not." The man had quickly replied. "You're only imagining things."
It was a reasonable response, except Anum had seen the man's eyes shift when he spoke the words. Anum remained quiet about what she had seen, but her husband once had a row with that man.
"He will not look me directly in the eye when he tells a fib." Her husband said that time. "This is how I know he has been lying to me!"
Anum did not like the idea of living in a loveless marriage. Certainly, she owned items that would make her the envy of most women. Her husband had come from humble origins, but through his and his brothers' efforts they had become wealthy men. They employed many local Pakistani to work in their vast wheat and cotton fields. Through careful planning and execution, the brothers had created a supply route to take their harvests from the fields in eastern Pakistan, down the River Indus and all the way to Karachi, the biggest port city in the country.
Her husband bought Anum expensive, showy things such as clothing and jewelry, which were very nice things to have. But then he forbade her to wear them unless she was standing in his presence. Anum felt as if she were merely another one of her husband's expensive trinkets. She felt gaudy, meaningless.
Anum's husband was a full decade older than her twenty-five years. He was a strict man, following the Koran's teachings as closely as most other Pakistani men did. This could be troublesome for Anum. Before she married, she could wear her thigh-length shirts and loose trousers out in public. After they were wed, Anum was forced to don her burka whenever she left their estate, covering her entire form with black fabric except for the thin line around her eyes. Like many Muslim men, her husband grew insanely jealous if another man dared to look upon her.
Anum never understood that. She was an attractive woman, fair of skin and with long black hair. Brown eyes and thick lips were the highlights of her pretty face. Her shape was womanly, with a heavy bosom and a pleasing waist. Her hips were thick but not fat. Wearing a burka to cover her entire body made her feel less of a woman. She could grow jealous as well, whenever she saw female newscasters on the television or women on the street who were permitted to show their faces.
Due to her husband being out of town, Anum was prohibited from leaving their estate. The good thing about this was that the estate was a large enough place for her to forget her problems. They had a house with two floors and many rooms. The electricity and plumbing worked well most days, but there were occasions when the services were interrupted. The irrigation from the nearby fields stretched onto the property, keeping it fresh and grassy for much of the year. Her husband had a stable large enough for six horses, although at present he only owned two.
Early in their marriage, her husband had often taken her sightseeing to places where he and his brothers owned fields, or out to the most expensive restaurants in town. That had all ended when something or other had happened with the wife of one of her husband's brothers. What that woman had done or been accused of was unknown. The result was that her husband started keeping her confined to his house from that point on. Never mind that Anum had been guilty of nothing. The little she had left as consolation was the satellite installed to harness television programs.
"Lady Anum!"
She heard her name being called from downstairs. The caller's voice belonged to the servant named Danial. In all, her husband had four servants working on the grounds, with one tending to the landscape, the cars and the horses, and the two maids who cooked and cleaned. The last of the servants was Danial who ran errands for her and drove her to town on occasion.
"Lady Anum!" Danial repeated, his call coming from another end of the house this time.
If Anum were bored, she might stay silent and let the servant find her. Because she had sent him on an errand and she hoped he had accomplished his task, the woman went to the guardrail of the stairs and announced where she was.
Dutifully, Danial was soon seen trotting up the stairs. Anum grew hopeful when she saw the servant carrying a wide, thin package in his hand.
There was a reason why a husband as jealous as hers would allow a male servant to cater to Anum. This was because Danial was not an attractive young man. He was long-limbed and gangly, with sleepy eyes and ears that were too large for his head. Her husband and the other servants called him 'boy,' but the truth was that Danial was only two years younger than she was.
"What do you have in your hand, Danial?" Anum asked.
He held the skinny package out to her. "They weren't easy to find. They came from the estate of an old British couple."
Intrigued, Anum took the parcel and opened up the end. Inside were three records for phonographs. This excited Anum immensely, as an associate of her husband's had presented him with an old phonograph recently. Having no need for such an item, her husband had passed the strange device over to her. She didn't know what to do with the phonograph either, as it was only a misshapen wooden box with a very large horn coming out of it. When she understood that it was meant to play music, she requested to Danial that he go out and find some for her.
"What sort of music is on these?" Anum asked, gazing onto the cardboard record covers. On the covers were black and white pictures of smiling couples. She saw the lettering on the album covers as well, but while she could speak and understand English, she was not well versed in reading it.
"I was told the music was very old. It was once very popular dancing music."
"Very popular?" She asked. "Put this on the phonograph for me."
Danial was a bit put off to hear this, as he had as much knowledge on how to work an old phonograph as she did. Still, the young man knew his place. He turned and started down the stairs to where the record player was located, with Anum descending close at his heels.
They went into the social room, where her husband and his many friends would sit and talk about current business deals or expensive cars or future business deals. That's all they spoke of, really.
Danial went to study the old record player. "If I remember this correctly, I turn this button to give it current." He saw the record pad starting to turn. "I think it is working. Now, I must set the record down on that spinning circle."
"No, Danial." Anum recalled. "You put the record first and start the spinning after."
Danial shut the player off, waiting until the rotation slowed and slowed to a stop. He pulled the first album from the package and withdrew the black disc from its inside. "Here is the record."
Anum watched him set the record onto the player. Danial turned the phonograph back on, allowing them both to watch it spin.
