Prince from Paradise | ✔

Q+A Session

What happened to Rabiya's cousins, aunts, and uncles?

Let me start by saying the immigration process is stingy. In fact, it took Rabiya more than a decade to bring her parents and brother to the US. That's because there's a long processing time even with family. It's a lot faster to bring your wife and kids over than your parents or siblings.

However, bringing cousins to the US is a lot more difficult. Rabiya herself wouldn't be able to file for their immigration. Her parents, more specifically, her mother would have to file for her siblings to come overseas, which is another ten year process and even that has limitations.

An example would be that by the time Rabiya's mother applied and got her other sisters' visas approved, her older cousin Shakeel would be past the minor age for him to come with his parents overseas, so his parents would have to file separately for him when they arrive.

I know, this hurts my brain too.

Back to the plot. Her cousins do not come to America partly because of this process and because they made a better life for themselves overseas. There's obviously loopholes to get into the US or other countries, so you can assume that they found a way to escape the village.

Remember, no one in Rabiya's family wanted her grandfather's property. They had already established themselves and only came back to support the uncle's kids. When the property burned, they were upset because it held emotional meaning to them. It was a part of their legacy.

In reality, that property did not financially affect them as much as it affected her uncle's family. His kids were supposed to inherit all that, and his wife basically ruined it by not understanding that Rabiya's family didn't need that money. They would freely give it to the kids no questions asked.

So, her family overseas is well off, they have money, they live comfortably, and they are safe from the village drama. One day they might decide to immigrate to other countries and make their way to the US or they might decide to keep their lives as is.

More specifically, what happened to her uncle's kids, Zaina and Karim?

Because of the fact that Aunt Tania severed ties with Rabiya and her family, caused this massive destruction to the property, and failed to understand how generous Rabiya's family truly is, the kids ended up living life as villagers, poor, bitter, and filled with resentment.

Rabiya alluded to this before they left Bangladesh that one day the kids would know the truth from other people, and she was right. The kids may have listened to their mother while they were young, but that type of trauma and hurt doesn't go away.

When they got older, they found out the truth from people in nearby villages about a home that was burned in flames because of the actions spurred by a woman. That home used to be theirs, and that woman was their mother.

Due to how uncouth the village is, it's not surprising that the kids hated their mother for what she did. The memories they have of Rabiya and her family are enough of a reason for them to be upset at what was taken from them.

Did Adar's family ever feel anything when they read his letters? Do they really not care?

Oh, boy. The truth is no. They didn't feel anything. To them, Adar was a son that betrayed them by choosing his wife over his parents. The only times they valued Adar was when they got personal gain from it like money.

From the way his sisters are in the beginning (degrading themselves for the benefit of men), it's shown that his parents really don't care if their kids are put in dangerous situations. They don't care if a man abuses or hurts their daughters as long as the man would benefit the family.