The third episode of ‘Akhri Station’ commences with Gulmeena acting desperate to see her child just one time. She is certain that her mother in law, Amma Gul has taken the child to her sister in Karachi. While listening to Gulmeena, Tehmeena gets a flashback of a girl jumping from a building while another girl is busy drawing.
The train stops at Sahiwal station and Tehmeena asks the tea vendor to give five cups. Another woman gets on the train from Sahiwal station and comes to their compartment. When the ticket collector comes in for the ticket checking, Yasmin goes to another place. The ticket collector then turns to Yasmin and she says that she doesn’t have money to buy a ticket. A woman standing nearby asks Yasmin to go, ask her husband to get her a ticket, to which she replies, “I left my husband because he used to beat me.” The ticket collector, played by the legendary, Irfan Khoosat, endorses her decision saying, “Cruelty should never be tolerated.”
Other women in the nearby compartment start singing a song which stated,
Khushi Da Sawera Hona Si,
Ghaman Di Raat Chahi hai,
Na Dil Nu Chein Ounda Hai,
Te Gham Zindagi Nu Khanda Hai,
Ke Dil Dian Dil Wich Reh Gaian,
Rabba Qismat Ki Banai…
The song is interrupted by Farzana who asks them to shut up. She apologizes and says that the song has made her remember bad decisions and regrets. Tehmeena stands up and asks her the reason as to why the song has made her feel so uncomfortable.
Her story starts with an entire family sitting together. All of them seem pretty happy from Farzana. On the flipside, Farzana ‘s husband can be seen cursing his own family. Farzana’s husband has been shown as an insecure man who has gotten jealous of her wife just because of the good treatment of her at the hands of his in-laws. “I want to leave this house,” he says. On the smallest of things, he was seen taunting Farzana saying, “No, don’t worry about me, take care of your image in front of your in-laws only.”
However, things now only get worse. Farzana and her husband shift to a new home and her husband’s taunt turn into demeaning statements to make Farzana feel worthless saying that, “All the women have been wanting to marry me but I have chosen you despite the wheatish color and average look.” Later, he tells Farzana that he has invited his friends for dinner at his place. Farzana prepares meals for them which they loved but that makes him feel so weird that he fakes a bone hurting his gum in the minced meat. He humiliates Farzana in front of his friends and their family saying, “You should have learned how to cook from your mother’s home.” She apologizes for the sin she has not committed and in response, he starts teaching her how to make minced meat because according to him, her mom’s recipe is not that good.
One day he asks her to take a veil over her head to the school she is teaching in, “You might want to get praised by the onlookers but cover yourself when you go to school.” Farzana obliges.
Farzana gets pregnant. She waits for him to come home so she can tell him. Upon knowing of her pregnancy, instead of being happy, he taunts her saying that he has compromised on her looks but he would not compromise on the looks of his child. Farzana stands on the terrace, eating a guava. He comes and says that guava is a fruit of poor people and shoves a coconut piece in her mouth instead.
Six months later, after her delivery, her in-laws and parents sit together. Her parents had performed Hajj and brought gifts for the baby, ‘Bunty’. He takes their child from her and blames her for not knowing how to hold a child. “If the baby is not held properly, mental growth might be affected,” he added. Upon his return from office, he sees Farzana sitting with her friend showing her all the clothes and gifts. He trashes the whole suitcase carrying all the gifts saying that her mother doesn’t know what to gift. He starts scolding their maid for folding baby’s clothes inappropriately even though she has been folding it correctly. He asks the maid to check whether Farzana looks after the kid or not.
He says that he regrets the moment he had given her the permission to work because she is not taking care of the kid like she should. He asks her to try coming from the school earlier and says, “A working woman can never keep a house happy.” Farzana was in a meeting and her husband comes home. He calls her but due to the meeting, she couldn’t attend it. Out of curiosity, he goes to her school, drags her from her shoulder, says, “You are a characterless woman and you come here to fool the principal with your friend’s help to extract money out of his pockets.”
On their return home, he says, “We were okay in my salary. You are doing the job for your own purposes.” Due to constant criticism and blame games, Farzana finally blows up losing her cool and arrogantly replies, “You know your salary and you know who spends money, where. I have continued my job because of your wish to leave your parents’ home. Why do you think I would opt for another man? Do you have any deficiency in you? If you do, consider it a blessing that despite constant emotional and mental torture, I’m still living with you.” In response, her husband drags her to the room, shuts the door and starts beating her while their daughter cries outside.
Insecurity is the root cause of abundant of domestic devastations in our society. A person who is insecure can never be able to trust any person, be it his wife, children, parents or siblings because he does not trust himself in the first place. This episode has highlighted a mainstream crisis many households go through. Due to certain incidents that have happened in the past or just void uncertainties result in misunderstandings and subsequently, extreme aftermaths.
In case if you missed the episode. You can watch it here.
What are your reviews on the episode? Tell us in the comments below.