"UN-NORMAL"

Year 1986, a boy is born in Jibran’s family. Both Jibran and Gulshan are celebrating the birth of their legacy and praying for his bright future until there is a knock at their door. A bunch of eunuchs are standing outside. Thinking that someone from the neighbours have send them to celebrate the birth of their son he let them in. The eldest of them step forth and takes the baby from Gulshan’s arms and begin to look at him. He tells Hussain’s parents that they should give the baby to them because he belongs to them. Hearing this Jibran gets really angry and snatches the baby from them and pushes them towards the door and warns them to never show their faces again or else he will kill them all. Before leaving the eldest eunuch tells Gulshan who is still in shock that their boy isn’t a normal boy and one day he will return to them. On hearing noises Hussain’s grandmothers comes out of her room and listen to this conversation quietly. After they left Grandmother tells Hussain’s parents that she already knew that Hussain is not a normal boy and they should be thankful for the child that God has blessed them with. At that moment they decide that they will raise Hussain as a normal boy.

(Year 2000) After 13 years have passed Hussain it is now Hussain’s 14^th birthday everyone is happy and celebrating even though everyone knows that the days are coming when Hussain will start asking questions about his identity but right now they have concealed the dread of his curiosity with the happiness of his birthday. All of Hussain’s friends and close family members are ready to celebrate his birthday at his small but neat and tidy home. Jibran takes out a box of matchsticks from his pocket to light up the number 14 candle on Hussain’s birthday cake. Hussain is about to blow the candle when there is a loud bang on the door. Everyone is now looking at the door. Eunuchs are standing at the door seeing this Gulshan collapses but no one seems to notice her. The group of eunuch comes in and started telling everyone about the secret that Hussain’s parents have been keeping from everyone all these years. All of a sudden Jibran’s mother shouted that Gulshan is not conscious. Now everyone is gathering around Gulshan to see what has happened to her. She is lying unconscious on the floor. Jibran takes her head in his lap and started crying for help but in this confusion no one was even moving until Jibran’s friend pushing everyone on side comes out of the crowd and take them to the hospital in his auto rickshaw.

Poor Hussain is left behind in confusion. His grandmother embraces him into a hug and everyone is now leaving the house. The whispers could be heard saying what an unlucky child Hussain is. Around 3 am Jibran returns home with tears and sense of loss, once a bulky man is now a weak and broken man. His mother comes out of her room asking how was Gulshan to which Jibran broke in to tears saying she is no more with them. Both mother and son are now crying at their lost.

Next day people are coming to attend the funeral of Gulshan and again little Hussain is left in confusion. Why isn’t amma waking up? Why is everyone surrounding her? All these questions are floating in his mind. Until his father sat down next to him and told him that amma won’t be coming back. Hussain goes to sit next to his mother’s body. He gently creases her cheeks and started weeping saying I’m sorry amma, amma please forgive me. His grandmother hugged him tightly and after a few moments some men along with his father came in to take the body for janazah and burial, poor Hussain was not ready to leave his mother’s body but his grandmother hugged him and they took the body.

After a few months of his mother’s death he returned to his school only to find the bullies waiting for him. Over a few weeks the bulling became intense so his father had no choice but to send him to a boarding school where no one else knows about him. Despite of their financial condition he sent him to a really well disciplined boarding school away from their area. A couple of years in peace passed by and people seem to forget that Hussain exists. And he successfully graduated his college.

(2010) Having high hopes for bright future Hussain takes admission in a university and he is offered scholarship from the university. A first few semesters passes and he seems to get famous among his peers for being a kind hearted and highly intellectual person. But there were some people who started to get offended by his fame but at that point they had nothing in their hands to ruin Hussain’s life. In the spring of 2011, a new batch came to that university in that batch a kid from Hussain’s home town came who was Hussain’s friend and was present at his 14^th birthday. He started spreading the news that Hussain is an eunuch and he killed his mother in order to get quick and easy fame. This gave Hussain’s rivals a chance to ruin his life. They started harassing him in his dorm and throughout the university they won’t miss any chance to insult him. Then one day they took this harassment to another level and planned to rape Hussain to prove everyone that he is in fact a hermaphrodite so they hired some street boys and goons and at night they all attached Hussain and raped him while videotaping it as a proof. It shattered Hussain’s whole life and that wasn’t enough to kill Hussain they shared this video all around the university. Hussain had a very close friend in that university he reported the incident to the university authorities and to the police but the action taken by the university’s authority wasn’t enough and police simple refused to help him. Hussain spent several days at the local hospital. Disappointed, ashamed and depressed! When is returned to the university he now had to face a new wave of hate in his life. People who used to adore him now were making fun of him but he never clapped back or told his father about the harassments because he never wanted to disappoint his father or grandmother. Tired of his miserable life he decided to drop out of the university and decided to went back to home. On the way home a flash back of his 14^th birthday ran through his mind and he changed his route.

He stepped in an big old house, his heart was pounding and he wasn’t sure about the outcome of his this move. Then he decided to go back home, as he was about to leave the house a voice stopped him. It was the same old eunuch who had came to his house on the day of his birth many years ago. The eunuch told him that he knew Hussain was destined to be where he is standing now. Hussain told him that he doesn’t want to dance or sing he just want to have a life where everyone can accept him. The eunuch replied that he will be accepted here without any judgement. Hussain agreed to stay there; he didn’t even told his father about his location. Years passed and Hussain started teaching all the eunuchs who came to live there or had no place to go and used to dance at parties to earn. Back in the home people thought that he had died except his grandmother who was now about a hundred years old but she in her heart believed that Hussain is a fighter and he is somewhere, where he is changing the lives of others. One day a news came to Hussain that his grandmother has passed away he wanted to go to his home but he didn’t want to ruin her funeral. So he went to her grave after everyone had left and he cried his heart out. Telling him that there is now no one left to hug him during his hard times.

After a few months had passed Hussain went to a wedding function to perform his dance. As he entered he saw that he was at the wedding of the same guy who had exposed him at the university. Despite that he started performing when he was performing his eye caught an old weak man staring at him and tears are running through his cheeks. All he could say was “Baba”. He left the performance and ran outside his father followed him. At first his father looked at him in disbelieve but then he hugged him crying like a 5 years old boy they both cried their hearts out and then his father took him to their home. They talked about everything that had happened. His father told him to leave everything in the past and come back home to him, to which Hussain simply replied “I was born one of them and I am one of them. I am un-normal”. He promised him that he will come daily to meet him and also told him that eunuchs need him more. and then he went on to live there.