The True Life Story of Farooq Ali - Part 3 - Forced marriage stress..

The forced marriage issue - Many have been scarred by this issue. A promise to someones child with your own child. A way to build bond, closer ties, access to land and money etc. Is it really worth the sacrifice of a life? 

When this topic crept up in Farooq's life. He defended the rights of a panda 🐼 & an oglibear. A right that was never returned when he yearned for help with his mental disability.

He fought for their education, their freedom and took on the stress from daily arguments, immense pressure and extreme stress. Why did he do that? Because Farooq had a belief that everyone had a right to an education. Farooq believed the right thing should be done in any situation. Isn't that the way it should be? 

He even got in between 2 people fighting, one of which was a professional fighter (more on that later though). Sentimental. Marrying someone and becoming a full time home-maker would have permanently taken any chances in life away for the Panda & the Oglibear - thinking now would they have been better off? 

At one point Farooq mentioned to me, things got so bad that he & the 🐼 & the Ogli locked themselves in the attic and were delivered food by others or he would sneak down at night and hoard some. This was infuriating for the patriarch as the unity of Farooq was unable to be broken given the immense pressure on him. You cannot imagine how it was. 

He told me he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he had let something like that happen to his family. He believed in the Ogli. 

Unfortunately, whilst Farooq was strong, whilst studying at Imperial College, taking on an extra part time job at a call centre to pay off a 🙊 Grammar school fees (more on that later - including the story of the IT nonsense) was clearly too much.

He never called out for help. He had what seemed like the whole weight of the world on his shoulders. Something he should have never had to take on by himself. I always think now, if only I was older then I would have reacted to it differently. 

As with any high stress situation, individuals can turn to things that help destress themselves. For example; people turn to drugs, depression, suicide, drink etc. Farooq turned to some things himself, things that helped him feel good temporarily (more on that later).