Constantinople blues

  It had been a weird week full of plumb grey skies and little talk to anyone.Aysa had heard the usual rumours and gossips about the sultan, his wives and the other servants of the harem. He seemed to be in a constant bad mood  and had even beaten some of the girls and his concubines, which was not his habit. She had almost lost hope of sleeping with him. She had arrived ten years ago. She had been literally kidnapped from her village when she was only 12. Apparently she had caught the Bey's eyes while she was strolling, like she did every afternoon, after the evening prayer.Her family had received some compensation for taking her away, most of which had been that of the family pride and honour. However she had only seen them once again, after her father's death.
  She had been moping floors, peeling potatoes, washing and ironing clothes for so long ! Of course she had also been taught music and some dancing skills, and told some amazing stories,  should they come in handy in the unlikely event of a private meeting with Sultan Abdul.Today however  Aysa- she didn't have a surname yet-felt strangely excited. One of the black eunuchs had woken her up early and  had taken her to the biggest of the hammams of the Dolmabahce Palace where \she had been washed thoroughly . After that, she had been served a lavish breakfast and she had even had her hair trimmed and dyed.She liked the way it had been tied in a bun at the back.Then had come the make up and even the chief tailor had been extremely friendly to her. She felt like a bride in her wedding day.
  Something was definitely going on. Her heart was beating so fast ! If she had a son with the sultan her life would change dramatically.She could even be entitled to have her own apartment in the Palace.That, needless to say, would mean putting up with that sulky dull mother of his, but never mind!
    After a light lunch she was led to the Pink Room where,  to her dismay, she found another twenty girls in her same situation.All of them were wearing the same expensive make up, silk embroidered turquoise dresses and gave off the same musk pungent scent.She didn't see any of the Gozdes, the Sultan's official wives,  though.The sultan's Kahya Kadin entered the room briskly.She seemed not to have slept in days.Her hands were shaking and just a whisper came out of her mouth.She handed each of them a red envelope and uttered "You are all free to go.The sultanate has been abolished.The Sultan wishes to thank you all for your loyal services in all these years".

   It was 1922.A man, a hero in his country now, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had decided it was time to give the Turks a surname, to choose the Roman alphabet, to promote European clothes and lifestyle, to separate state and religion, but most of all, he had decided to grant women economic and social rights.It  was an important day for Turkish women and so was it for Aysa.