ALIF - A story of love and spirituality

 I had recently watched Alif, a Pakistani drama, which makes me wonder about innumerous things. This is a story of our 2 protagonists, Momina and Momin, their life, their past, their families and their faith in god at different stages of life. 

As I witnessed the tale of Momin's parents - Taha and Husn-e-Jahan, I realised that love is never enough to get married. Taha comes from a family of calligraphists who paint the words of god, as they say, while Husn-e-Jahan comes from the world of glamour, as they say again. The couple fall in love at the very first sight and are then deeply impressed by each others' beauty and talents. They abandon their families for their love of one week, and does their relationship withstand the test of time? It doesn't. Taha loses his art of calligraphy, is estranged from his father, is poor and is unhappy. He grows insecure, blames his wife, questions her loyalty and eventually ends up confessing his regret of marrying her. On the other hand, Husn-e-jahan who has left all her comforts of life, her fame, her money to be with this man, still loves him dearly, but is deeply hurt for being blamed for her husband's downfall. Of course, towards the end of the drama, Momin considers that him questioning their poverty and being a demanding son was the reason for their lives to be the way they are.  

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This makes me question a lot of things, a lot.

Does god really want legacy calligraphists to not fall in love, not paint anything else and not have any other career alternate? 

I know its just a drama, but it give me peace to believe that god is above all humans, free from greed and narcissism. It gives me peace to believe that he wants people to be happy, to love and support each other. I don't believe that Taha was punished for painting the woman he loved or for falling in love. In general, do lives of people from certain households not have a choice like others do?

How good it is to blame a kid for the failure of a marriage of two grown up individuals?

Momin was a kid and just like other kids of his age, he wanted toys, chocolates, cookies. He was also a victim of bullying because of his family background. I believe that childhood is fundamental to what kind of individual one grows up to be, adult Taha makes sense. But how convenient is it to blame a naive kid and his small desires for the family to break? Is it really the kid and not their hastiness and ego?

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Momina is a struggling actress who comes from a very poor household. Her brother dies as her family was not able to afford his kidney transplant. Following this, her parents are always sad and in the grief of death of Jahangir.

Is it okay to be consumed so much in the grief of a dead one that one fails to value the living?

Momina works hard, day in and out. She choses acting out of compulsion and not passion. She worked to pay her ill brother's bills and later to clear off her family's debts. She does so much for he family and yet her parents are always sad and do not bother about Momina's feelings. She, if not more, is at least as sad as her parents. The least they can do is care for her, rather than only being concerned about getting her married off.

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God forgives, but humans don't

```  Allah maaf karta hai, hum insan maaf nahi karte hai  ```

Momin's grandfather quotes it. While Dadaji wants to forgive his son, he somehow couldn't get himself to. This is also a dialogue in ``Yakeen ka Safari``, another of Sajal Aly's iconic dramas. This makes me want to reiterate how greatly I want to imagine god, over and above everything, with the power to forgive and with a goodwill for people to move on. 

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Why does everyone love Husn-e-Jahan so much?

Taha - her husband, Sultan - her makeup artist and dear friend, Master Ibrahim - her second husband, Sultan's wife, Dadajaan also makes it to the list later on. Why do they all love her so much? Even Momina asks her father this question. Is love blind or I am not mature enough to understand it? Momina falls for the guy she despised the most and considered to be the reason for her brother's demise. Sultan's wife loves him way too much, that she also cares for Husn-e-jahan, the other women her husband loves. It's a concept I never understood, fortunate are the ones that do. 

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The story of Faith

Momin, an atheist, had fame, power, money, but was never happy. Nor had he had peace. Momina, a believer in god, had none of the above and was unhappy as well. She was in a void and hardly felt anything. But we witness their journey, from this chaos to peace,

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Momina and Momin don't have a happy ending despite their confession.

Is it because they don't want them to end up like Taha and Husn-e-Jahan? Or is it because Momina thinks she might also become the reason for Momin to lose his art of calligraphy? 

When he said  ```Aitram Kartha hu aapka main, aur aitram mohobbat paida karthi hai ```, it was beautiful character arc for Momin. 

When she said  ```Main aur tum kisi aur jagah milenge. Sahi aur galat ki had se pare```, I felt a surge of pain. 

~ Wonder Writes