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The snow and the scarf

I am currently reading, rather very slowly, a book titled Snow authored by the Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk. Haven't read much of it - only the first hundred odd pages.

The book narrates the experience of a poet who goes to the distressed town of Kars, Turkey to report on the prevalent suicide epidemic among the young girls there. The primary reason being - the modernist and secular Turkish society bans the girls from wearing head scarves lest their names are struck off the roles. The head scarf has always been a symbol of the girl's dignity and her love for Islam. She considers the innocuous act of removing the head scarf demeaning to the Almighty. Stuck between the dilemma of being allowed to lead a normal life without her head scarf and being considered as a social outcast with her head scarf, most of them took the easy route of taking their lives themselves.

Given the uninteresting nature of our classes, it is always advised to carry some reading material to keep oneself occupied while the professors blabber away to glory. Snow has been my reading accompaniment for the last few days.

As I was walking the corridors of my college the other day with nothing but this book in my hand, I spot a beautiful petite female Muslim student strolling around dressed in a traditional salwar kameez with the head scarf on. For a moment, I was standing still wondering at the coincidence.

Pretty co-incidental and I am proud, albeit for a moment, about the liberalized education system that I reside in. Please for a moment, allow me to forget the Rajs and Nandus.