Editor’s note: “Mahram” is the word used for a man who guards a woman from the world outside her home.
Dear Mahram,
I hope my letter finds you very well. It took me a very long time to write this letter.
I am happy to write you now, and I am able to talk about the previously censored, hidden, sad stories of my life as I followed behind you under my burqa.
I wish I could change some of the things that existed before I was born as an Afghan woman in this world. I wish I had been born in a country different from mine. I wish you didn’t have a legal law against me in your hands. I wish I hadn’t signed the contract of slavery with you.
Life started inside four walls for me. Most of the time, it was only me—and the walls. You were always happy and proud to say that neither the Sun nor the Moon has ever seen me.
Pari
The images in this letter are chilling — a woman not allowed to see sun or moon — but my worry is calmed by the fact that this is a letter — so “Mahram” must be far away now. A fine line between a guardian and a captor.
this is greet!