“Na Khudda Hi Milaa…”

The marriage of 21-year-old Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of a British billionaire, the late James Goldsmith, with cricketer turned politician Imran Khan in 1995 had raised quite a few eyebrows. Considering the age difference of over twenty years and the cultural gap of quite a few centuries between the societies both lived in, not many would have put in their money on the longevity of this bizarre east –west matrimony.

Imran, the most eligible bachelor of the South Asia of the early eighties, had as if sworn not to get married till he had brought home the coveted Cricket World Cup. He won the prized trophy in 1992, much to the jubilation of the Pakistani nation. But another three years elapsed before he tied the nuptials with Jemima, a London socialite; who doted the well-heeled garish London crowd. Lady Diana was one of her close friends.

To worsen the prospects of a stable married life, Imran nurtured political dreams and floated his Tehreek-e-Insaaf Party (The Justice Party). To be a debonair sportsman is one thing and to succeed in the quick sands of the Pakistani politics is altogether a different ballgame. Jemima who had hastily converted to Islam, forsaking her ancestral Jewish faith could hardly adapt herself to a society where the medieval conservative mindset reigned supreme. How could a trend-setting hip London girl reconcile to a culture where the 'burqas' and 'purdah' are still a de rigueur for females? And to top it all; to be the better half of an ambitious politician, one has to carry a public face, no matter how archaic or restrictive, one may find its terms and conditions. Some how all these contradictions stared the couple in their face for quite sometime? Yet surprisingly, the marriage lasted long nine years. But then sitting on the other side of the barbed fence, we are not acquainted with other subtler aspects that could have played a role in their conjugal life. The couple had two children from the consummation of the wedlock - Sulaiman and Qassim. Both had moved to London last year with their mother, where she purportedly went to resume her studies from where she had left in 1995.

Just a few weeks ago Imran's former girlfriend Sita White died in Los Angeles, leaving an illegitimate daughter of Imran named Tyrian. Grapevine says that she has bequeathed her to the care of Imran's wife Jemima rather than to Imran. Perhaps, the women were close to each other's heart on some issues concerning Imran.

Jemima is back to her previous lifestyle of a billionaire daughter and is currently pursuing her Masters in African and Oriental Studies. Besides, she is said to be dating British actor Hugh Grant, the relationship, which according to Khan was the proverbial last straw on the camel's back. But as it is always, the last straw has to bear the blame whilst the back has already broken.

The future of Imran on both the personal and the political fronts seems to be quite uncertain. At 51, he is a single again and has a lone member in the Pakistan Legislative Assembly, even after a putting in a decade of hard work. Doesn't this unfortunate predicament of Imran echo the poet’s sentiment?