by Jean Sasson
Since Veena’s family all lived together in one room, she had occasion to observe her father and mother in sexual acts; therefore, she knew the meaning of the women’s words. Understanding that she would have no say in her future, though, Veena remained silent.
Soon Veena’s beauty was noticed by a man who walked around the city streets observing young female beggars. He sought out Veena’s mother and told her that assuming her daughter was still a virgin, there was an opportunity for the family to make a large sum off their daughter’s purity. Fearful of contracting AIDS, and other venereal diseases, many wealthy men were looking for young untouched girls. The man offered a small sum as a down payment, promising that if Veena were sold to a rich man, he would return with additional money.
Veena’s mother quickly ran to her husband’s cobbler station to discuss the man’s offer. After returning with her husband, the three adults agreed upon a price for the hapless Veena.
Veena did recall that her parents both seemed saddened at her departure, but she understood that the money she brought into the family would ensure a year of living well for eleven other people.
Veena asked for time to say goodbye to her siblings, but the man said he had other transactions to complete, and if Veena did not go with him immediately, that he would cancel the arrangement with her parents.
Veena left with the stranger. Her heart was fluttering in terror, but she steeled herself for the benefit of her younger sisters and brothers.
For over a month, Veena was kept with ten other girls in a small house in Lahore. She was pleased at the opportunity to take frequent baths, and to wear decent clothes. For the first time in her life, she received ample food. Veena thought she might like to stay in that house forever. But that was not to be, for various rich men, most of them foreigners, regularly visited the house to look over the available stock of young girls. It was every girl’s wish was to be purchased by an old man—for it was known that their sexual demands would be less than that of a younger man.
One by one, the other young girls were purchased and taken away. Veena then watched sadly as a number of unhappy girls not chosen by individual clients were transported to brothels in the city. Veena actually felt herself lucky when she was told that she had been purchased for the pleasure of only one man, a rich man from the Middle East, a man by the name of Shadi.
Veena had never met Shadi, as he had selected her from a book of photographs. He was staying at the home of one of his Pakistani partners, and he had not wanted that man or his family to know that, while in their country, he had purchased a young virgin.
Veena finally came face-to-face with Shadi several days before leaving Lahore. The seller of young girls had taken her to a coffee shop where Shadi could give final approval of his purchase. The meeting was so fleeting that Veena did not exchange a word with her new owner. She was disappointed to see that, indeed, he was a young, strong man. She remembered what the other girls had said about the sexual appetites of young men, and she was frightened. But Veena had no say in her future. And, too soon, the day arrived that Veena was to forever depart from her country.
On the plane ride from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia, Shadi’s male servants had sat with Veena in coach-class, while Shadi remained in first-class. Within two hours of their plane landing in Riyadh, Shadi had left for the desert to visit with his parents and other family members. He had taken Veena and several other servants along on the trip with him. Veena claimed that Shadi never once spoke to her on the trip, although she saw him staring at her on several occasions.
Waiting until after the family retired, Shadi had taken his two cousins into Veena’s quarters. He had told his two cousins, “Here is that whore I bought in Pakistan.”
Although Veena had prepared herself to have sex with a man she did not know, she had never imagined that her first sexual experience would be a brutal assault by three strange men.
After being roughly stripped of her clothing, she had been raped first by Shadi. Veena wept as she declared that she had never known such pain! After all, her mother had never screamed during the sexual act with her father. She had no idea that a man’s sexual organ was so big, and would hurt so much.
When she had begun to cry and plead for them to stop, the men had merely laughed and covered her mouth. When the third man climbed on her, Veena truly believed that she was going to die from the assault. And then, miraculously, she was saved. But what was to become of her now?
While my sisters and I wished for nothing more than to send Veena back to her parents, we realized that her family’s poverty might once again drive them to sell Veena.
I was the one chosen to tell Veena that it had been decided that she would live in Sara’s home, to help my sister care for her younger children. My sisters and I knew that no one in our family would dare take any action against Sara, for this sister is greatly loved by everyone.
The joy I saw reflected on Veena’s face at this news justified every moment of fear and anger I had undergone to free this young woman. Still, my sisters and I were brokenhearted to hear Veena’s story, for we knew too well that there were many thousands of similar stories. We sat together for many hours discussing what we might do to stop this ongoing and senseless abuse of innocent women and girls.
During this sad time, the world was shocked by the death of the lovely Diana, Princess of Wales. Princess Diana’s death momentarily took our minds away from Veena’s cruel life. Several of us had met this extraordinary woman during the years she toured the world as a royal princess. Although none of us could claim to be a close friend of Diana, we had all admired her. Now, we could not imagine such a young and vibrant woman on the way to her grave.
During the days before her funeral, watching the television coverage of her life, I learned much good about this Princess that I had not known before. Apparently, no person was too poor or too sick to attract this good woman’s attention. And, she was well-known for faithfully following up on her interests with continuing assistance and commitment. In her tremendous kindness, Princess Diana proved that one person can make a real difference. Every act of kindness generated by this one person resonated as a pebble dropped in water, as a ripple which then spread far beyond the original gesture.
This idea flowed so strongly into my mind that I finally began to understand what I might do to help other women.
I called my sisters together.
“I suddenly realize the only way we can help women, is to do what we have done with poor Veena.” I said. “Each time one of us hears of an individual mistreated woman, we will move together to help that one woman in any way we can.” I paused, “We’ll create a circle of support.”
Tahani smiled, “Yes, we will become known as Sultana’s circle.”
Haifa expressed her enthusiasm. “Together, we’ll be a great force.”
Sara nodded. “I have female friends that I can trust. They, too, must begin to seek out women with troubled destinies.”
Nura squeezed my hand. “Your circle will benefit many women, Sultana.”
Never have I felt more contented with my life, than at that moment.
Following the example of the gentle and loving Princess Diana, I know that this spiral of caring will expand from mother to daughter and down through the chain of life, even reaching through the centuries ahead.
My hope is that every woman will eventually join my circle, and that every woman in the world will now reach out to another woman in need.
And, I pray that the gracious and merciful Allah will bless every mission.
Jean Sasson’s critically acclaimed and only historical fiction title, ESTER’S CHILD, will be released as an e-book on October 1, 2011
ESTER’S CHILD
With Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Yassir Arafat linked by bloodshed yet again, it has become apparent that the violence in the Middle East never ends, but waits patiently, biding its time to come again, and again.
As the circle of
violence continues, Jewish relatives of victims mourn their dead while Palestinian mourners grieve over their dead.
What is the history of this circle of violence? What is daily life like for Jewish and Arabic inhabitants of Israel and Palestine?
Jean Sasson’s latest book, Ester’s Child, reveals the compelling truth of the lives lived by Jewish Holocaust survivors who fled the violence of Europe as well as the lives lived by Palestinian refugees who fled the violence of Palestine.
The prestigious Library Journal describes the book for readers:
“Sasson weaves a remarkable tale of three families, the Jewish Gales, the Palestinian Antouns, and the German gentile Kleists whose lives intertwine in mysterious ways for more than half a century. Interned in the Warsaw Ghetto, Joseph Gale briefly meets Friedrich Kleist, an SS officer who decries the horrors he witnesses. After the war, Joseph and his wife, Ester, among the few members of their extensive families to have survived the Holocaust, settle in Israel. Jump forward in time, and Demetrius Antoun is a Palestinian doctor who hates the Israelis for murdering his friends and family. Michel Gale, son of Joseph and Ester, is an Israeli officer who hates the Arabs for trying to deny him a Jewish homeland. His sister, Jordan, and Christine Kleist, a German nurse seeking to make amends for her father’s Nazi past by working in a Lebanese refugee camp, are caught in the middle. In light of the attack on the World Trade Center, Sasson’s story is keenly relevant, as it exposes the downward spiral of irrational hatred and the bitterseeds sown in its path...”
The Historical Novels Review says,
“...for anyone who ever wanted to know how Israel came into existence and why the Palestinians wish it hadn’t.”
Book List *starred review* says:
“Penned with compassion and set amid the war-torn backdrop of Europe and the unfolding military and political drama of the postwar Middle East, this absolutely riveting cross-cultural saga will have readers eagerly turning pages in order to reach a suitable stunning conclusion.”
In Ester’s Child, the international best-selling author of the Princess Trilogy shows that she is a brilliant storyteller. Her latest work of historical fiction reveals layers and varieties of hate and love seldom seen in popular fiction. Both plot and character driven, Ester’s Child is a passionate book with several love stories set amid the twentieth century’s most dramatic historical events, from World War II to the current conflicts in Israel and Palestine.
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