The eyes underneath…

On a recent trip to Turkey as I waited to check in at MAN, I encountered a large party of Muslim people also on the same flight. I have nothing against the Muslim faith, but I was absolutely fascinated with the women in the party. They were dressed head to toe in black burkhas. Now I have seen women in burkhas before, but not ones where there is also a veil over the eyes so there is no part of the woman visible – from black gloves to shapeless head to toe and the veil, there was nothing visible.

At first it was curiosity – how do the airline staff check that these women are who they say they are? This question was answered as they would merely lift their veils up for the female staff member. Then I noticed that not all the women wore the face veils, some had their eyes visible. These are the most common ones that I have seen. There was one lady in particular I noticed as she seemed much younger than the other women. She also had a floral trim to her head scarf and veil and her eyes were framed with black kohl liner and were extremely expressive.

It reminded me of the time as a student I worked as shop assistant. I served 2 Muslim girls whilst on the shoe department and they had ordered some in their size and had come in to try them on. Their faces were uncovered and they were younger, probably the same age as myself at the time. They tried the shoes on but were unsure as they couldn’t see the shoes on as their burkhas covered their ankles. I had suggested they have a look in the ladies changing room. I remember wondering to myself then what her life was like.

She was my age and she had had mentioned that she had just given birth not long ago. They did not look traditional Muslim, she had very light brown hair and very pale skin. At that time in my life, I wore bras under mesh tops to go clubbing and smoked and drank a lot, flirted with boys and even ‘lived’ in sin with my boyfriend! Maybe to them the kind of life that I led was wrong, something they would never experience or consider. For me, their life of marriage (maybe even arranged marriage) and then a life of hiding yourself from the outside world and keeping yourself only for your husband.

Recently I read ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ and this again is about Muslim women, this is set in Afghanistan just before the recent war. I remember thinking easily I could have been born into such a world where freedom is not a given right. It made me feel lucky, blessed to have what I have to marry who I choose, to dress the way I want.

Anyway, back tot he lady on her way to Turkey with the kohl-rimmed eyes. I could tell she was beautiful – was she sad, happy or was she irritated by the woman that could do nothing but stare at her as she walked past? I don’t know, my fascination is based on a ‘what if’ theory. What if I was her and she was me, would I be happy, would she be? Would we have known any different and would we our paths crossed on that flight to Turkey?