WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!
‘Akhri Station’ has been creating a lot of buzz since their first episode last week, and this week’s episode lives up to the hype. Episode 2 goes over how terrorism, misogyny and a vain saas ruin a young girls life. This week, the story follows the lives of Gulmina and Yusuf, a young couple who are from Waziristan, expecting their first child.
Their happiness is cut short as terrorists take over the area, forcing families to move out towards refugee camps. The sudden move and the tension caused by it makes Gulmina increasingly uncomfortable to the point where she begins to feel incredibly ill. At this point of the drama, the flashbacks between life in Waziristan and the refugee camp gets a bit confusing, however, after a few minutes, it does clear out.
Yusuf’s mom, Amma Gul, is severely against the idea of Gulmina going to a doctor, especially at the camp, however, with the support of his father and brother, Yusuf takes his wife to a ‘lady doctor’ in the shehr. The mom may have lost the battle with Yusuf, however, she convinces the rest of her family to move out of the refugee camp, and we don’t hear about them till later. The character of Amma Gul is really fleshed out. She asserts herself as the matriarch, even the father can’t have his way with her. You’re both in awe of this incredibly powerful woman, but also deeply despise her for her extremely backward thinking.
While on the way there, on a ghora gaari, Gulmina’s condition worsens which forces the driver to take the couple to his place. The man’s wife helps with the delivery, and a baby boy is born.
The show then forwards to 7 weeks ahead, and the couple still haven’t located Yusuf’s ghar walay, and Gulmina refuses to name the baby on their own.
This is where the show takes a very sudden turn. One night, right before fajr namaz, Yusuf suddenly had a heart attack and passed away. Now, as the audience, we aren’t really sure on how Yusuf’s family is finally contacted but the next scene right after his passing is with his father and brother taking Gulmina and her baby back home. Right before they leave they name the baby Rustam Khan. It is at this point that it’s revealed to us that after the refugee camp, the family moved to Sarwat, which is part of the larger district of Rawalpindi.
Life after this is not easy for Gulmina. Amma Gul blames her for her son’s death and keeps nagging her husband to kick her out; the usual ‘ye rahay gi ya phir mein’.
It’s evident in the dialogue that Amma Gul keeps plotting on how to get rid of her, and she comes up with an amazing plan- marry her off to the elderly neighbor, Zahoor Ahmad. Gulmina’s only condition to this marriage is that she’s allowed to take Rustam with her.
We’re immediately taken to the scene of the nikkah, after which Amma Gul takes her to the Zahoor’s house, with a crying Rustam in her arms. Zahoor blatantly says ‘mein kisi aur ka bacha apne ghar mein nahin laon ga’. Clearly Amma Gul knew this would happen, and she takes this moment to take Rustam from Gulmina, effectively keeping her pota with herself and kicking out her nuisance bahu out of the family. We all knew she was sly and plotting, but this was her crowning moment as a conniving bitch.
Life with Zahoor is terribly suppressed, and Gulmina is constantly told by her new husband that she’s just a servant for him and his kids. The home is not a home of love. Obviously, she’s constantly fraught with memories and worries for her child, and often is lost in her thoughts.
It is in this moment that we find out that Amma Gul and the family have moved to Karachi.
Life under Zahoor becomes unbearable. Sometimes he asks her to forget about her previous life and at others, he says to her ‘agar itni asaani se apna bacha meray loye chor diya, kya pata aik din mera saath chor de gi.’
This happens to her on a daily basis, until one day she picks up her measly belongings and RUNS AWAY, thus she finds herself in the train cart this drama revolves around. Zahoor’s dialogues are amazing, and so is the person who plays him. You genuinely feel rage towards the man and hate the way he’s treating her.
As the audience, we’ve followed Gulmina’s journey, and the incredible thing is that we feel for her. We feel sorry for her, and we also feel helpless for her. That is a mark of a good story. What did you think of the second episode?