The Broken Wings- A Review
By: Wish Maker
He was only a youth of eighteen when love opened his eyes with its magic rays and touched his soul with its fiery fingers. Selma karamy, the Lebanese beauty was the lady who awakened his soul with her ultimate beauty. With smiles on their faces, drinking from each other’s eyes the wine of high affection, holding each other’s hands, they walked through the garden of love where every day passed like a dream and every night like a wedding night.

They had decided never to part but destiny had other plans for them. The guy belonged to a lower middle class family and the girl was the only daughter of a wealthy old man. In this story, unlike many Bollywood movies, the father of the girl Farris Karamy directly did not become a wall between the boy and the girl but his wealth and weak conviction to stand against the existing religio-social pressure did. The story is set in wake of the early 20th century when church was very strong in Christian communities.

Farris Karamy was one of those people who come in this world and leave it without hurting anybody. But such people are the most miserable people in this world for they are likely to be exploited by crooks. Sometimes, the wealth of the parents proves fatal for their children as it happened in case of Selma Karamy. It became the sole reason of her lifelong misery- the misery of losing her beloved. The one who was a part of her spirit. The one who had loved her like a school boy.

The wealth and high social status of Farris Karamy made the Bishop of the church to send the marriage proposal of his nephew. The Bishop had an eye on the riches and property of Farris karamy. He knew well that the old man would expire soon and what else could have been proved a short cut to grab all the possessions of the old man than to get his nephew married with old man’s daughter. Thus, old Farris was called for at the Bishop’s mansion but only to fix the marriage date of Selma and Bishop’s nephew!

In spite of the naked fact that Bishop and his nephew were filthy, degenerated, greedy and shameless drinkers but they had hidden themselves in the shadow of religion. In spite of the cruel reality that Mansur Bay the Bishop’s nephew, was a serial rapist and never a good match for Selama- the pure virgin and manifestation of divine beauty. Farris Karamy could do nothing but only to marry her daughter off with Mansur Bay. Though, Farris Karamy knew very well that her daughter love someone else yet he could not do anything to make her happy.

The old man was too weak to carry the burden of pains and sufferings of her daughter. He died soon after the marriage. The Bishop took control of all the possessions of Farris Karamy and thus got what he wanted. We are told in this very personal auto-biography that though Selma got married to a man not of her choice yet she kept on meeting with her first and last love- Khalil Gibran. However, she died five years after her marriage.

For the answers to the questions like did the actual lover of the girl take a stand against this injustice inflicted by the Bishop and why did Farris karamy the father of the girl not refuse to give the hand of her daughter to the Bishop when he was a man of wealth and repute. He could have easily done it. And above all, what made these love birds (Gibran & Selma) not to fly to some other country to escape from the cage of Bishop ,you have to read this classic on your own.

In the end, I would say that the story is real and very simple. Read it for Gibran’s beautiful description as he speaks to hearts more than to brains. It’s indeed a feast for reader guys. The best thing about it is that it’s very short about 35 pages so one can read it in one sitting. The more you read, the more you love it. It’s just awesome. And yes, it has no substitute if you are looking for a gift for your girl friend. I have tried it. You can try it too but on your own risk. Lols! Have a great read!