While the Light Lasts…

“You knew Benazir?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me about her.”

“There is not much to tell. It’s not like we were personal friends!”

“You had classes together?”

“Yes, some.”

“Was she studious?”

“She wasn’t the one to always be found inside a library – if that answers your question.”

“So what did she do?”

“She was holding the best parties there. Driving a sports-car! Stuff like that.”

“Did she do a lot of politics?”

“Hardly!”

“She was not a good politician?”

“She was a lousy politician!”

“What did she want to become?”

“A diplomat!”

“But she must have some political savvies. I mean, she got elected to the Oxford Union debating club, didn’t she?! That must have made her happy?!”

“Only for a short time.”

“And then…?”

“Well, she changed.”

“You mean something changed her?”

“Her dad getting ousted – then getting hanged – it brought about a fundamental change. From then on, she was different – as if she were on a mission!”

“As if she realized that her real calling was to be a politician?”

“Perhaps so. But not so much of a politician in private!”

“How WAS she in private?”

“Kind, generous, concerned…”

“And…”

“Fiery, fun …”

“So that’s how she was?”

“Mostly… she was a happy girl, who enjoyed life while she could!”

“What did she think of death?”

“She said that life and death are in God’s hands – that her time would come when it would come.”