PukhtunWomen

with permission of Samar Minallah

Samar's deeply touching and beautifully choreographed video is a tribute not only to our Pukhtun women but to all women in general, to those who live out their lives serving others.

The lyrics are sung to the beautiful tune of the folk song of the same name. Bibi Shireenay has always been a romantic song but hearing the beautiful and haunting words of Zaitoon Bano and Samar sung by Gulzar Alam has the effect of making many cry when they watch it for the first time.

It reminds us of the women in our lives who have selflessly given all, soul and body, to keep the rest of us going.

Produced by the Aurat Foundation and funded by GTZ, the concept for the video is one of Samar’s best. She directed the video and also shot all the footage. Edited by Tariq Pirzada and Studio Inn, the music was the combined effort of Farrukh Zeb Nowshervi, with Mohabat Khan playing the rabab, Nawaz YAr Khan the tabla, Ghulam Abbas on the auto drums, and Bacha Yar playing the harmonium.

In a society that values honor above all else, the honor of the family rests at the feet of the women who through their upstanding and commendable behavior let the men walk tall and proud. Secure and confident with the knowledge that their female kin will give them no reason not to, they proudly raise their heads high.

Yet at the same time we have to remember that these women wake at the break of dawn to ensure that their households run smoothly and without a glitch. From starting the morning fires to getting breakfast ready on time and to feeding the animals they hurry around doing other chores in between. Caring for their small ones, being a hostess to the many people who will pass through the doors of her house that day she never fails to smile despite the toils of her day.

She does not go unrewarded for this work so when all her chores finally come knocking to extract a toll, (due to the scarcity of available health care) she resorts to going to shrines and ties useless amulets and charms around her neck and arms in the hope that she will feel better soon.
Worn out and tired she still doesn’t complain and when her brother shows up at her door trying to convince her that he has more need for that tiny piece of land that her father left her she quietly asks where to put her thumb print. She never once questions how he expects her to survive when he has taken that last little hope that she had kept. Left empty handed she still doesn’t complain.

After all she is the honor of her family and clan, her virtue and humbleness lets her father and brother walk tall with their pagray tied high and tight.