Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 60
‘I am so distressed,’ Dr Meena told me. ‘Listen, please allow me to read a few bits of this article to you, Princess.’
‘Yes, please do,’ I told her. ‘I have heard something about these protests.’ Truthfully, I had read all the reporting that I could find, as I have the keenest interest in our Crown Prince and the various moves he is making in our country.
‘Listen to this. Here it says that during his high-profile meeting with Queen Elizabeth, there were protests over his human-rights record. Listen to this, Princess, there was discord even in the British Parliament. How dare they?’ she muttered angrily.
I grunted slightly but said nothing. I had been in England when Crown Prince Muhammad was there and I had watched these events on my hotel television. I said nothing, for Kareem did not want me to tell others that I had been out of the country and at many of the same places our Crown Prince’s travels had taken him.
‘And now, listen to this, Princess. “Demonstrators gathered outside [Prime Minister] May’s office amid a heavy police presence to protest at both countries’ role in Yemen, where war has killed around 10,000 people. A Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily in Yemen in 2014 and critics say that Riyadh has been using British-supplied weapons in devastating strikes.”’
‘I guess the world wants us to sit still while Yemen fills up with the Iran-allied Houthi terrorists,’ I puffed. ‘Once they have killed all who oppose them in Yemen, those Houthis will cross the border and try to kill us.’ There was a trace of disbelief in my voice. Few people in the world really know the tangled complications that make up the political scene in Yemen. But the current group of power-hungry Houthis are killing more Yemenis than the bombs falling from the Saudi-led coalition.
My thoughts were interrupted by Dr Meena’s continuing outrage. ‘Princess, listen to this! A man threw an egg at our prince!’ She was provoked by the image in her mind of anyone daring to throw something at our Crown Prince. ‘But they arrested that criminal,’ she said with satisfaction.
‘Now, Princess, listen to this!’
I lightly interrupted. ‘Dr Meena, please save that article and bring it over. I wonder if you are free this evening. If so, please do come for dinner so that we can discuss the humanitarian issues in Saudi Arabia that have caught the attention of the world press. Is that possible?’
‘Of course, Princess. In fact, I already had an urge to discuss that very topic with you.’
* * *
Suddenly, I was glad that my entire family was unavailable, as I felt a strong urge to confide in a friend. I took a second nap prior to Dr Meena’s arrival and was fresh and rested when she appeared for a quiet dinner prepared for just the two of us.
I have a small dining room adjacent to my living quarters and that is where our meal was served. Although Dr Meena is a woman who has always watched her health carefully, she does enjoy a tender and juicy steak on occasion, so I had some Australian fillets prepared along with baked potatoes and a delicious vegetable stew. Thankfully, Dr Meena does not drink alcohol, not even wine. Having given it up myself ten years ago, I prefer not to see or even smell alcohol, as it had created many problems between Kareem and me. Once when my personal life was troubled, I became addicted to alcohol, but thankfully with the help of my husband that phase of my life ended quickly. Now I cannot imagine how I ever felt pleasure drinking a substance that caused me to lose control of my senses. I learned through my own mistake that addiction is a very powerful enemy!
‘Dr Meena, we are living in interesting times,’ I said.
‘Yes, Princess. As difficult as life was for me as a child, I would not trade being a Saudi woman for any other life. I have never known a dull moment. Have you?’ she asked, with a wide smile.
Never had I considered such a question, but suddenly I knew Dr Meena was correct. Although we Saudi women have faced far too many challenges, our lives are not uninteresting – at least not the Saudi women of our age.
‘Well, no. I have never known a dull moment,’ I said with a hint of surprise in my voice. ‘I am sure that life for some Saudi women in the past was incredibly so. Think about the women kept in purdah, when they were not allowed to leave the interior of their homes even to go to the market. But you are so right, Dr Meena, life for women currently alive in Saudi Arabia is never dull, although much of our excitement comes from doing battle to achieve even the most basic human rights. But I see what you mean, to live in a time where one must push for freedom is actually quite interesting.’
‘See. I knew you would agree with me. Being a Saudi woman is much more challenging than, say, being a woman from Canada, where everything necessary for life appears to work so well. I wonder what excites those women in Canada,’ she said jokingly. ‘As for me, every day of my life I have the ability to help someone in need. In fact, my life is filled with people who need me. That is never dull. Every day of my life I have the