Shafak's Tequila Leila : A story of endurance and companionship
10 minutes and 38 seconds in this strange world by Elif Shafak , yesterday when I turned the last page I was left with an uneasiness I couldn't pinpoint. As hidden as the protagonist is in my world, the uneasiness equalled that. The unseen, the unnamed, the ones who carry the burden of sins for the so-called honourable. The ones who have seen more ugliness than words can write have seen society naked the righteous and pious stripped to their wickedness. The ignored and the non-existent. Like the ghosts lingering at the back of our minds, they do too. But we accept ghosts, we acknowledge them. We as a society outcast these women for the immorality of men. The seller of human flesh, the bidder of sex, marketing the obscenity, the mistress of the night, are called by many names. Dancing girls, prostitutes, call girls, Tawaif. They are the harsh reality we try to sweep into the darkness of night, by restricting them to red light areas, by snatching their right to respect. Because thos...