Beyond Destiny: Volume 3

By Khaleda L Billa

Beyond Destiny is a book that depicts a young girl grew up in village of Bangladesh and became tangled in situation and married early to young man who was graduate of University of Calcutta (India).

Later she was following her husband to Dh

• Language: English
• Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
• Release date: Jan 18, 2024
• ISBN: 9781684865956

Khaleda L Billa

Khaleda Billah, MD, was born in East Pakistan and grew up in the capital Dhaka. She studied at Dhaka Medical College and graduated from there during liberation period of Bangladesh.She was married that time and eventually immigrated to USA. She published many articles in journals and Weekly Bangladeshi newspaper for many years.She Lives permanently in New York from 1976 and she is a practicing Radiologist.Her two Son grew up to become an attorney and the other much younger one, a physician, working in Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.Her husband, a dentist practicing in New York too ..Author has many well wishers in USA and in. Bangladesh; as well as friends from Canada, England and Australia keeps in touch specially in Facebook.

Book preview

Chapter 1

It was summer evening. The evening breeze was filling the small room of the nursing home where Sahida Begum was spending her day.

She was sitting on her wheelchair; a bright colored blanket was covering her polka dot pajama and her top. She was waiting for her grandson who used to come at least once a week to visit her; She was looking anxiously towards the door to see her grand son and her daughter.Her daughter Lila visited her every day.

Sahida was feeling a little drowsy.

She started to daydream.

She was always daydreaming. She was dreaming of a time as a little girl while walking on the lawn with her brother Nazrul. They used to play with dolls. Both of them had dolls. Her doll was made of white porcelain. Nazrul was carrying a doll made up with stuffed cotton.

Marigold flowers were blooming all around the fences, she bended to pick up a few flowers. It was their ritual to play with dolls, and find the largest marigolds for their dollhouse. The doll house was made of a wooden box. The doll house had no roof.

Both of them placed their doll inside the box which was left under the mango tree.

Shahida was wearing a violet colored printed cotton dress.

She carried those flowers in the front of her dress. She was holding the front of the dress as a basket.

Nazrul was only two years younger than his sister. Instead with playing with tennis ball he indulged to play with his sister with dolls. After playing house with the dolls suddenly they changed their mind. They headed towards their uncle’s house next door where their other cousins were waiting to play hide and seek.

Saheda was nine year old, quite full grown for her age, her fair complexion and healthy growth made her parent proud of her.

In Bangladesh (East Pakistan) fair skinned girls were most demanding for wedding. Frequent marriage proposals were made for those girls.

Being a daughter of a police inspector, Saheda was considered a best choice for bride.

She was not allowed to meet any outsider.

Saheda and Nazrul went to see their cousin and found out that a ceremony was taking place in their cousin’s house.

Their cousin Belli was being introduced to her would be in laws for wedding purposes. She was dressed in a pink silk Shari.

Her head was covered with shari and her face was down.

She was brought to the special room for revealing herself; her eldest sister was holding her shoulder.

The match maker was doing all the talk.

Father of Belle and her uncle and aunt were present.

This time only the uncles of the groom made the decision for choosing the bride.

Groom was supposed to be silent and had to accept the decision made by his relatives. The groom, a young man in his early twenties was sitting and holding a handcarchief to cover his face.

Saheda and her brother went to take a peek at this gathering.

Shahida pushed her way into the small crowd of that room. Nazrul was behind her.

Those groom’s people who came from another village saw her and asked Belle’s uncle who she was. Her uncle said She is the daughter of the police inspector, the younger brother of the bride’s father. At this moment the groom’s relatives changed their minds and and said ‘we want to talk to father of the girl we just saw. We prefer to propose for her for our nepheu.

Saheda and her brother ran back to their house after what they heard. Saheda was gasping for breath. When her mother found out about the event, she scolded her saying saheda. why did you go to the ceremony of Belli’s proposal? you are a big girl you should know better than that..

Belli was darker in color and much older 16-17 years old and her age was proper for the marriage. Saheda was under age for having a marriage proposal. But it was a custom in their society that if someone proposes for a marriage it was an insult to refuse the proposal.

After few days groom and his elders were invited to see the new bride Saheda. The groom recently graduated from the University of Calcutta, he was about 25 years old. The groom was shy and ready to abide by the choice made by his uncles.

In few weeks another ceremony took place iat saheda’s parent’s house.

Saheda was asked to put on shari instead of a dress. and go infront of those people from groom’s side. They asked her few question and was satisfied.

Within a few weeks the final engagement was completed. Saheda was in disbelief that she had to go away from her home to new home without her family.

The wedding arrangement was finally prepared. Her elder brothers were very happy for this occasion, only Nazrul was sad because he thought he would not be able to play with her anymore.

The wedding ceremony, was quite elaborate .The entire village people were invited for the occasion.

Canopies were made at the front yard (not backyard like in America) to celebrate the wedding and the feast.,Many chefs and cooks were ordered to cook for several days.

The food was constantly cooked and served to the village people. Cows, goat and chicken were killed. Meats and Biriyani was cooked in huge pots. Sweets and Yogurts (Dai) were ordered in large batches from special sweet shops.

Sometime Saheda came out with Nazrul to see the preparation of the food for the ceremony.

On the day of the wedding, after the gae halood ceremony she was dressed in red and gold Banarashi Shari, the Shari was very long for her she was all wrapped in it. That Shari was embroidered with gold threads which was especially hand made by women of Benaros of India .Thus the name of those Shari was Banarashi. Those sharies were very expensive and made of fine silk materials. Both father of bride and groom brought different banaroshi sharies.

The groom brought gold ornaments for bride as per tradition of muslim wedding.

The gold ornaments were decorating Shahida’s body .She was wearing gold earing, necklace. bangles and a head piece called Tikli. Her nose was pierced for a nose piece.

Red color (Alta) was painted to her feet and hand.

A special kind of music was played by the musicians called shanai, which was only played in wedding places. It had a sad melodious tune. It means that the bride would leave her father’s house for her new husband’s house and that would create a sense of melancholy.

When groom arrived he was given a special seat under the canopy.

Bride was waiting at a different location.

After the religious oath made by both husband and wife as a part of ceremony the bride was brought by her elders and let her sit next to the groom.

It was time for groom to look at beautiful bride from close distance. Young women were surrounding them and making jokes and laughs about the groom.

Invited guests and relatives became busy with feast and whole atmosphere became filled with joy.

Finally it was time for the bride to go to the husband’s house.

Her father told the groom’s relatives My daughter Saheda’ will not go alone, her brother (Nazrul) and her grandmother will accompany her in the husband’s home.

Shahida’s husband’s home was only a couple of miles away, a decorative horse carriage was used to transport the bride and groom to the In-law’s house. Nazrul brought all of their dolls and dollhouse with him.

Saheda’s husband, who was 15 years older than she was, felt sympathy for her. He told herYou can go to your parent’s house whenever you like.. Saheda rarely talked to her husband. She would look to find an excuse to get away from her husband. After a few weeks of travelling back and forth to her in-law’s house she became acquainted with her new relatives.

The wife of the elder brother in-law was quite high tempered; she always ordered others for her house keeping. She was always in bad mood. She had thyroid problem. There was no treatment for that ailment at that time.

Zahra was the sister of her husband was quite talkative and friendly. But Saheda tried to keep her association to a limit; eventually she stopped playing dollhouse with her brother. Nazrul had to go back to school.

Soon Saheda’s husband left for a job in Calcutta so Saheda came back to her father’s house. She started to play with her friends and brothers as usual; she almost forgot that she was married.

There was a persimmon tree on the side of their father’s property it was called Gab Gas local people said that this tree had ghosts, no one dared to go near the tree at night or at dark. People used to leave food under the tree for good luck and to get relief from illness. Nazrul and Saheda made a plan.

Nazrul and Saheda didn’t like her aunt Ayesha because she was always bossing them around.

Once Saheda found two new white Shari next to the Sindhuk (A heavy metal box); She got an idea. She told Nazrul about the adventure. In the evening Saheda wrapped cloth around her and gave Nazrul another piece to do the same.

With the white cloth wrapped around Saheda and Nazrul they both went under the tree with there hand raised above their head, so they would look like tall bodies. Afterwards they hid behind the tree. Every evening Ayesha took that rout to go to their house. The narrow unpaved road passed by the Gab tree. When she came near the tree both of them raised their hands and made scary noises. Ayesha looked at them and screamed and ran away., afterwards both brother and sister giggled. They came out of the white sharies then they ate the homemade cookies which was left next to the tree inside a earthen pot by village people for good luck.

Eventually the family members discovered that Saheda and Nazrul scared Ayesha with the white cloths. They were both severely scolded for it.

Chitti, Chitti (Mail Mail) screamed Nazrul, it was the mail that was sent by Saheda’s husband from Calcutta. Saheda grabbed the mail out of Nazrul’s hand and ran away with the letter. There were only a few hiding places in her father’s house, but she decided to go in a small room behind a shelf. She hastily sat down and opened the letter.

The letter started with My dear Saheda, she blushed at the addressing.

All of the sudden her best friend Mariam appeared and asked to see the letter. Saheda was shy but she let Mariam share her secret letter, she didn’t even let her little brother Nazrul see it. Both of them sat down and read the letter, they then decided to send her own letter to her husband. Sahida brought her note book to write a letter to her husband.

Saheda had to ask her elder brother to mail the letter. She requested Nazrul to give the letter to her brother Amirul Islam.

Chapter 2

It was the winter of 1893 and Bengal was still under seize of British rule. Jamiders (local king) were still running the main power in villages; tax money were obtained from villagers by force. In Dilduar (a Village in East Pakistan) there were landlords other than Jamiders.

Jahiruddin Talukdar was one of them, his brother Raisuddin Talukdar was also in good standing.

Jahiruddin Talukdar had five sons; his oldest son became Deputy police inspector and built a mansion near his brothers building. Colorful mansions were a sight to see in those days. He participated in conducting the investigation for the Bhawal dynasty. He earned immense amounts of money and power at that time.

Jahiruddin Talukdar younger brother became a physician and was working for British lords; he built an enormous building with option for future development. The second floor was only partially constructed. He owned a lake with a panshir boat (a house boat) which was right in front of the building. He used to spent many happy hours in that boat. . He was a very happy and jolly person with lots of property and household. Servants and maids were always running errands for the household.

The third son of Jahiruddin Talukdar became a police inspector, although before this he went to Sirajganj and was appointed to work for a Jamider. He was a tall and good looking young man. His intelligence was proved easily to everyone he met.

Jamiders third daughter Huron Begum was grown into a beautiful young women. Her parent were looking for a good person to become her husband,

One day, her father decided that the young man Al Fazuddin Talukdar should marry his daughter.

Within a short notice she was married to Al Fazuddin Talukdar the wedding ceremony took place in Sirajganj. After the wedding the daughter Huron Begum was brought to Dilduar by the Talukdar family.

At first the father of the bride thought the groom’s house would be a palace. Soon the misunderstanding was clear but the father of the bride became very angry He decided to keep no relation with his son in law and never came to visit his daughter.

Huron Begum and Al Fazuddin Talukdar started a new life in Dilduar.

He became a police inspector, He and his wife lead a good life. All the servants and maids were serving them well. Huron Begum became pregnant and gave birth to many children. She never saw the faces of her parent or relatives for about 20 years.

Saheda was the first daughter of Al Fazuddin Talukdar. He was so happy after she was born that he celebrated an occasion by inviting many people.

When she was only five years old she used to go to her fathers work place. She followed him almost everywhere. Her brothers were jealous of her. They felt the partiality of their father towards Saheda.

Saheda used to go to court and places with her father and became accustomed with newer surroundings.

Punishment was the only way of treating the prisoner’s crimes that was she taught by her father’s employees. She used to see brutality especially when prisoners were punished in front of her. She saw red hot iron needles to put under the toe nails of prisoners. They were beaten almost to death for getting information from their mouths

Her big eyes would become bigger depending on the viciousness of what would be seen. There was not any one who would prohibit her to view the violence. Even though Saheda was very brave she used to have quite a few nightmares.

After a few years of great company by her father she was married to the young man Ghiasuddin Ahmed. He was first to get a bachelor degree among many villages from Calcutta University. People from far and abroad used to come see him and meet him. He was not very talkative but very polite and kind hearted. He always helped others if he could.

While he was in Calcutta there was a riot broke off. Ghiasuddin Ahmad was in the middle of riot. He witnessed the violence caused by both Hindus and Muslims.

Even after long time he had nightmares about that riot.

He came back to East Pakistan after the independence and was appointed as an accounting officer in government postal office in Dhaka.

Chapter 3

A few years passed after the marriage and then Ghiasuddin Ahmad took Saheda to his own house at Dhaka (Capital of East Pakistan (Bangladesh ).

This was first time for Saheda to go away from home for a long time without her brother Nazrul. This was the–real marriage life for both of them.

Saheda stayed home alone while her husband was busy at office. He would not be back until six in the evening. In the beginning when she started to cook it was difficult for her because she had no help. But her husband would never complain about her cooking.

She learned how to cook rice and dal (a lentil soup).She did not like to touch raw meat or fish. So her husband would help her whenever they had chicken or fish by asking the neighbors maid to fix the food for cooking.

There were many monkeys in that area. Some of them were very big. Those gathered on the roof top, on the boundary wall and sometime even at the door of the house.

Saheda was afraid of them in the beginning later became friendly with them. She fed them bread, rice and vegetables.

Several time the servant of neighbors were attacked by them while they were carrying food from stores. The eldest monkey with a red streak on forehead would jump on the shoulder of them and pulled away the food packet from their hand and then ran away.

Saheda enjoyed watching the monkeys. Her husband told her don’t go too close to those monkeys, they could hurt you

Gradually she forgot her dollhouse and became interested in other things like sewing and spent time with neighbors young wife. She started to like her husband as only person she could depend on.

She waited for a sound (Cring, cring) sound of rickshaw. Her husband came back from office at the end of the day. He wold bring some food in a hand bag, most of the time he brought fruit or snacks. She would make some tea and they would enjoy the snacks with tea.

She would talk to him all about her day and he listened carefully.

A year passed by. Sahida went to see her parent and she found that her cousin Belle was getting married.

She was the cousin who was supposed to be married to Sahida’s husband.

There was a big gathering for the wedding. All their relatives came to celebrate the occasion. Belle’s eldest sister Chole came from her husband’s house. She was staying with Belle until the wedding was over.

Her husband would join the family on the day of wedding.

The wedding ceremony was completed uneventfully, However Chole’s husband did not arrive at the wedding.

Messenger was sent that he had important business to attend at home.

Morning after the wedding Sahida woke up early. There was lot of crying sound.

It was found out that Chole’s husband was murdered and the message came in the early morning.

The messenger was saying, Bara sahib was murdered with a blow of a Ram Dao (a scimitar), he was holding his head by hand and blood was flowing from his neck, he died instantly in his quarter.

A sudden gloom came over the Talukdar family.

Wedding music Shanai stopped suddenly.

Belle was taken to husband’s house without the music.

Wedding happiness and joy turned out to be melancholy sound of cry.

Saheda was sent back to her husband at Dhaka

Later she heard that Chole’s husband was murdered by one of his servant. But why? Details were very confusing. Some people said that there was a love triangle between the servant’s lover and Bara sahib.

Chapter 4

Momtazuddin Talukder uncle of Sahida was a Deputy Police Inspector. He was in charge of making judgment for Bhawal dynasty. The saga of Bhawal was wellknown to people of East Pakistan (Bangladesh).

Bhawal was a king and he was betrayed by his queen. She had affair with their private physician and planned the murder of the king Bhawal.

According to the legend a plot was made by the queen and her lover. King Bhawal was poisoned to death by his wife. He was