In memory of Seema...

It’s been a while since I have written anything, partly for lack of time, partly for fear of being redundant and partly because I am usually only able to write when something affects me in a profound manner.  And while there have been too many profound incidents that we have gone through politically since my last post that should have been “bloggable” I guess I was too busy or too clueless to write.

However, nothing since then has reached so far into the deep ends of my soul as the sorry demise of our dear sister Seema Al Bastaki.  It might have been that I met her twice- however briefly; it might be because I can relate to her and empathize with her family and especially her little boy and unborn child.  Somehow her story has reached the core of my being and I am unable to rest until I’ve written something in her honor… even though I don’t really know her.

But this is what I have been reading all day on Twitter on the 19th of March 2012.  Twitter was all about Seema and Bahrain was either donating blood or praying for Seema until the sad news hit us all like that unexpected accident where a car came out of nowhere and we weren’t wearing our seatbelts.  Like the pothole you do not see on the road and all of a sudden you trip and fall and scrape your knee.  Like a freak accident that you would not think can happen in a million years that makes you lose a limb… Seema didn’t make it.

We didn’t know Seema alive but we all know her now in our own little way…

To me Seema is the one that united Bahrain- even if for an instance- she brought back the spirit of true Bahrainis who would not hesitate for a moment to reach out and lend a helping hand to a complete stranger.

To me Seema is every mother and every daughter that I will encounter and appreciate a little more now that I know life is but a short transit to an unknown permanent destination.

To me Seema is a symbol of how life could have been lived and what legacy one could leave… and she has left a legacy…

To me she is a reminder of how someone you love can be there one day and with a blink of an eye may no longer be.

Seema will always remind me that worrying about the weather, my hair, where will I go for dinner over the weekend and what brand bag I will buy are shallow thoughts that make a small person out of me.

To me Seema is an awakening…

So no I did not know Seema alive… I met her only twice briefly and I loved her both times. I just didn’t know that until the 19th of March 2012 because she reminded me of what I am, and what I could be, and what a loss of this magnitude could mean for the people around me. And even though I have no power over how long I can be with the people I love, I can do my best to honor them by being the best person I could be to Allah, to them and to my country…

RIP Seema