his play by Meesam Naqvi is springing surprises in every episode and has garnered a huge fan following. The TRPs are shooting through the roof. 20+ episodes have been aired till date and what initially promised to be another tear-jerker, has proved much more.

Zeba is no longer the long-suffering wife and mother willing to do whatever it takes to make her marriage work for fear of the stigma attached to divorce. The play fast forwarded a couple of decades after the first few episodes. From being a young wife and mother about to file for divorce, Zeba has become a mother of four children, who has made peace with her circumstances.

She works as a teacher. The family has shifted into a flat of their own. However, Jami has not changed at all. Earlier, he was only making his wife’s life miserable; now four more individuals have entered the equation and are suffering due to his wayward and irresponsible ways.

The play examines how, when marriages are dragged on for the sake of children and society, the long-term ramifications are also experienced by the offspring. Not content with sponging off his wife and her family, he has no qualms about stealing his children’s money, whenever possible.

There is a common belief in the society that wives are the best rehabilitation for badly raised men. This production challenges and shatters quite a few stereotypes. Jami, now a father of four, remains the same. In fact, he has deteriorated and now sponges off his children also, who in an effort to assist with the household expenses, do odd jobs to help their mother.

He was and remains a parasite. Marriage and fatherhood have not changed that. Possibly, nothing can ever change him. This play is a laudable endeavour that showcases how marriage, considered as the panacea for physical, psychological and emotional issues, can sometimes exacerbate and intensify problems, as more people enter the equation. Jami is not only hell-bent on destroying his life, but is also wrecking the lives of those associated with him. He is portrayed as a self-centred and avaricious individual incapable of loving anyone but himself.

This play examines how when marriages are dragged on for the sake of children and society the long-term ramifications are also experienced by the offspring.

His girlfriend, who was madly in love with him and regaled Zeba with the stories of their romance when she was newly married, has had a lucky escape as her father refused to marry her off to Jami. However, although she has married and settled abroad, they keep in touch and meet up whenever she is in town. The double standards prevalent in certain sections of society have been highlighted here as it is deemed acceptable for the male to carry on with an old flame. Had it been the woman, she would have been disgraced and ostracised by the society.

Another issue highlighted in the play is that even though the flat has been bought with both Jami’s and Zeba’s share of their inherited wealth, the property is in his name and she has no legal right to it. When she decides to leave, she has nowhere to go, despite the fact that the flat they have been living in has been furnished and maintained with her and her children’s hard-earned money. Her children are studying on scholarship and working on the side to make some money.

Zeba refused earlier to leave her husband because she wanted to secure her children’s future. Once Jami’s reputation begins to affect their future prospects, she makes up her mind to file for divorce. This time, there is no turning back. She might have sacrificed some of the best years of her life to avoid the stigma of divorce, but now that her children’s future is at stake, she decides to leave him and moves to a rented place with them.

An unhappy and toxic marriage is like slow poison for the offspring as the tense and strained environment impacts the children. The father, rather than being a support, leeches off his wife, in-laws and even his children. Zeba eventually musters up the courage to bid him adieu. It was different when she alone was suffering, now that her children are also being impacted, she can take it no longer.

Umera deserves brownie points for penning such an amazing script and Meesam for breathing life into it. Keep watching Kafeel every week to follow the journey of an extremely strong and courageous woman, who sacrifices and endures everything for her family. Once, she makes up her mind, she does not look back.

Will she manage to settle well with all her children or will she regret taking the bold step? Keep watching to find out.

The writer is an educationist. She can be reached at [email protected].