-alice shot her question the monet he stopped what kind of problem was being found happening there,
-first of money was being spent like flowing water and where was it going was not clear
-secondly all types of people were gathering there all the time and who were they was not clear, they are neither staff nor inmates nor patients, on sunday feast table a champaign cocktail is served and alice will know more in detail because it seems every other native is dying there of cough
-she declared flatly all men were selfish and she was being sent to a TB sanitarium , she got a note from him , she gave it to john , he consoled her , sanitariums were not bad places , people were there for their treatment and got well, he also visited his cousin staying there sometimes
-john smiled and added alice was the best of them all and perhaps most qualified and capable to handle files and accounts, something was not right in the sanitarium and as she had always said he who can handle accounts well can mage better anything in this world ,
-so she had a chance to prove herself and he hoped she alone can do it
-she had not seen her boss"s face for past six days, he was last seen rushing out kissing her one sunrise out of her flat promising to see her soon , since then he had disappeared, she narrated the happening to her close friend john, who patiently hearing her story pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket , handing it to her waited for her to wipe her face and clean her nose
-the sage remarked surprised what was she saying, bibi had arrived asking him questions regarding , asking him to give her details of the charm taken from him to use as talisman , she was ready to pay whatever he asked for but he mus tell the truth , because it was very important , the sage had given it to the woman who would mix it and make the victim swallow it
-people would react negatively to her presence and believe she was misfortune caster and shun her out of their lives
-this is amazingly what had happened with saira, fazila was listening to nasim , who was suggesting she must take revenge from her bhabhi who had brought them under her harmful spell
-the siblings were identical twins born same time same day but the age was different , the boy was fifty plus and the sister still stuck at twenty five
-the girl informed her fiance he was so fortunate to be getting married to her and after their marriage the world"s best chef will be cooking their meals, the groom pleasantly surprised remarked he was not aware of her culinary skills and her kitchen interest,
-the girl explained in detail her mother was coming to stay with her for life
-fehed was ready and he called out to mahim , when he came to see who was she speaking so freely laughing he was stunned to find rahat was there, who made him emotional , how big had rahat become, and how old at thirty five with salt and pepper hair fehed had become, did he not remember his family back home, of course he did, he missed them , but he died every minute and lived every moment only for them , life was treating them so unkindly
-he woke her up it was her birthday and she was so put off and in bad mood, who does not like to be happy on his own birthday, mahim was surprised he had not forgotten her birthday, how could he ever forget it because it was one day beore ujala:s birthday, the argument began, he remembered ujala all the time, he could not forget her birthday and it was because he linked their dates together, their house was filled with ujala's pictures only , where were their own pictures on the walls? he must now dump her there and then and go back to ujala
-fehed wanted to be left alone for a while, he wanted to spend sometime alone by himself with his coffee refreshing his home and family memories in his mind , he remembered one incident he was told by his friend, once he reached home to find aunt fazila and the woman from the next door nasim talking about how fehed had left them all missing him now must have given his mother the same pain she had given fazila whose daughter was dead because of her, nasim was rather provoking because she wanted fazila to also scheme with her help and make rahat also leave home forever,
-but the twist of fate was stopping fazila to act here because she could not see her first daughter happy but her second daughter was going steady with rahat and for her sake , for her future she had to hold herself back
mahim asked fehed why did he take his father so seriously , for eight long years they lived alone in that foreign land and not returning home,
-he had once rang up home and his father picked up the phone and instructed him if he ever again called back he would kill himself ,
-but he kept on getting information regarding their where abouts and well being from a mutual friend, about ammi, rahat and ujala,
-but then the friend moved out to dubai and his contact was lost, he has survived such long eight years without them and got accustomed to their absence, so must they too have got themselves adjusted and forgotten him to move on smoothly in life, pain and memories do not allow one to grow, now eat your cake and go to sleep
-today the groom was with his family arriving to see saira as a custom is, that is why he was getting ready, baba had instructed him it was his responsibility to welcome the guests , he was dressed in grey three piece suit, he heard saira standing right behind him tell him the guests had come,
-it was an opportune time to ask her if she was willing for this proposal, she knew shaqab so well , in the university she had come to know him, wss she ready before he made a decision
-she simply spoke her self, she went to the university to study and not make friends , as far as happiness was concerned she was happy if they all were happy for her with this aliance
-the house was decorated, the lights shone everywhere, the celebration feel was in the air,, huge wonderful cake was also seen placed on a table,but the one who was supposed to cut the cake was missing,
-she said fehed five years have passed and for last five years this is the way we celebrate the day every time decorating the house and cutting the cake and eating it ourselves, if someone saw us now how crazy we might appear to them
-but who else should we invite
-is it not odd , she said she was all alone in this world with no other relative and him , he had a large clan , his family, his own people and still he was also so alone
-she stepped into the room and her gaze directly fell on fahed sleeping still , she drew the curtains aside, the sunshine gushed in with all its warm rays making a spotlight on fehed"s face who opened his eyes and looking at her exclaimed with mock horror declared she mahim was a daring wicked witch , ribbing his eyes he continued she rather relished all kinds of tricks she played on others that made them feel so terrible
-the rhythmic ticking sound of the wall clock sounded so frightening, the large sized afshani was staring at them, the shuffling of the feet announced the entry of the afghani inside, zaman was the name pronounced, the girl also was ushered in,, he was asked to get the girl and he had done so
-seen so many faces around
-but none like yours was seen
-when mirror was shattered and scattered
-all saw only their own broken image
-lost sight of all things existing
ever since your image is etched in mind
-from where did this emerge is mystery
-when the veil dropped the face was seen
-like a dream of wonderful imaginary
-amazing face was before my sight
-pretty faces seen around
-pretty looking beauties turn around
-but the most beautiful of all
-the first one i saw
-is the lovely adorable face of my mother
-she rudely excused herself and hurried tried to leave, the girls explained they knew how she felt and had come to collect her in their vehicle, because they were sure she could not have managed to contact her driver, moon was shocked , surprisingly this was true, the driver was not answering ,
-the girls introduced themselves because apparently she had failed to recognise them, they were the management team of the camp
-moon had planned to reach the police station directly , what was asad doing there, she had come to believe it that only he was responsible for all the unpleasant happenings , he must have decided to take risk and done something to make her meet him, but later some other incident followed and he was also dragged in and now she was to meet him first in the police station, it was hinted by the police to her on the phone
-lenny asked roshi to get help from her influential uncle in the police force to find the vehicle , the number of which was with her, roshi quickly gave her uncle details and the route where the vehicle could be driving,
-mahparo was their group leader unofficially, she had taken full control of all the things , she took decisions for them all,
-the only thing now they could do was wait for moon to return from her shooting , they would contact her in the morning and see what happens , by then uncle also will definitely tell them some useful latest update
-lenny was worried, she felt kashan was taken hostage on his way from his home to the camp, moon was informed of it and she rang up , but if they tried to contact her she will not pick up the phone, so they called on her home phone , the maid answered hesitantly then revealed as the conversation cleverly was manoeuvered that kashan was missing
-the four friends decided to do something, not knowing exactly from where to start
-it was not that desires were not waken in heart at all
-but the world of wishes was never built
-desiring light in eyes they turned blind
-when the sun was never glanced in all its majestic fierceness
-wanted to give you a handful of stars
-but they remained out of reach beyond my grasp
-thinking of her, thinking of her, thinking only her
-nothing wrongful in thinking of her
-how a word of complain appeared on your lips
-when i never pointed my finger towards you
-the destructive clouds arrived flattening mountains behind
-never anyone in life history heard of it before
-beauty of her simplicity was of such purity
-no traces found of arrogance, nor ego nor selfishness
-
-roshi proudly announced she had a solution, it was her idea originally and she had planned it all about in detail, her father had bought her a house as a wedding gift, but there was no wedding happening quickly in near future so she would ask her father to let them use it for a constructive purpose , they would get space and no rent and it solves all their problems, their eyes sparkled with delight
-the idea was liked , agreed it could possibly work , but they must advertise first and then find a suitable space, in their private lawns at home it was not possible, taking space on rent would cost more and investments will leave them depleted of their profit
-mahopara was the first to comment it was a flop idea, nobody will send their school children to such a short camp, because summer vacations are so long and the camps during long period prove more useful and successful,
-but roshi debated aggressively , women liked to have spare time to themselves, children got on their nerves and specially when there is an option and easy one out for them instead of sending kids to grandparents homes they could drop them in the camps for a few days , working mothers also have free time on hands
-uruj was an enthusiast and wanted that they all in this vacation do something different , they had entire year to themselves studying and dedicating it to their routine , roshi chipped in , she had a brilliant idea of someone would listen, uruj was the first to turn to her, why not they arrange a winter camp in the vacations, it would give them something positive to d, experience, adventure and some income
-titli was tanya the fourth one,who still slept with her mother till her mother rubbed her fingers in her hair to make her fall sleep, telling her stories and fairy tales and sharing small incidents and anecdotes , how she missed her mother and the warmth that comforted her , life becomes so empty without people you love so dearly
-the girls realised their mother had never let them feel the absence of friends or relatives, she was their whole world, always there for them, the grand mother must have been mean and ill treated others as her nature was , good thing that mother died peacefully, may she rest in peace, honey was rebuked for such thoughts not that father might hear them and feel disturbed but it was sin to celebrate the death of anyone , honey still argued because she believed stubbornly that dying is a better option for those who suffer in this world
-sana , honey titli she called because ranya was the eldest sister of them all,,dinner was served and it was getting late, they all knew father came home hungry and quickly finished his food and went to bed, he did not carry his lunch with him, since mother died the whole family and home was upset and sad, ranya embraced her little sister honey tight close to her , how she missed her mother all four of them but honey was just a kid
-he asked if she received the books and the cd,
-thanks for sending them, we are watching the cd now and trying to uselessly imitate the western style of rolling our tongues to pronounce words in english she giggled
-who are we
-me and tamanna
-together?
-apparently when we live together in one room we are together
-you both live in the same room?
-naturally when we arrived together we live together
-may i call on you
-what for
-to see how you both speak in english
-not today because first let us completely change over and become western
-what all do you share of each other
what do you mean
-for instance..clothes, shoes, make up and cell phone?
-i am elder and have full control on the phone
-by the way i understand what are you implying but we are here to study
-uruj took a bite from her burger and a with a sip of her cold drink she swallowed it down her throat, then she looked at her three friends her group eating the same where were they all planning to go this winter vacation starting soon,
-roshni replied she will do nothing except sleep late and eat and drink and stay home spending the eight to ten days like drug addicts lazily what else, that sounded exciting to roshni but boring to uruj
-when the father is a medical doctor he does not allow his children to sleep late , early to bed and early to rise is the motto followed religiously
-it is right if the father is a doctor but why should father of another girl who works in the home ministry known for corrupt practices is so strict and a disciplinarian that he also does not let his children sleep late mornings
-
one night when he was ready to go to bed he got a phone call from his close friend who congratulated him on his success and asked if he was not yet finished his full job, because the woman had got justice because of his efforts but her husband was still not free and his case was blocked , ,
-what woman the lawyer asked surprised, the friend could not conceal his irritation, how could he possibly have forgotten the case so fast, he was speaking of yasmin whose clever neighbour somehow managed to take control of the flat she lived in , before he could sell it off and throw her out the court intervened and yasmin was saved
-every person alive is a true story as long as he lives, his life is a different story from others, till his last breath when the final chapter is closed forever but the story remains behind him, his story gives birth to more short stories spinning in between, spin offs, sequels, series, new versions, editions modifications and interpretations but his main character is his real main theme, sometimes all stories get woven in a tight weave and we come across them as reference again and again and feel we already know this story so well , the narration that follows is one of this kind which was well narrated and repeated and known so well
-this world is a strange place, man appears in different aspects and manifests according to his inner true nature , strange are the ways of this world, whatever man does good or bad comes before him, he can never escape from his own deeds, it is mysterious yet practical and the rule applies on one and all, like waves of repercussion the deeds with their result swallow him up
-the same happened that he had feared,, land mafia had played their move well, the news in the morning paper showed the trailer, the management and authorities had decided to shift the bus station from its original position out of town on the highway, his name with others and transporters were mentioned,, a small box on the side also caught his attention and he was shocked to read it
-he remembered the lines of a filmi song-
-how much sorrow is in the world
-my own is sorrow lessened
-seeing the sorrows weighing others
-i forgot my own heaviness
-one in thousands is remarkable if happy at all
-asking for wishes fulfilled
-fulfilling others dreams
-every house holds a mourning of desires
-mine in comparison is no sorrow
-smiles appear sometimes
-tears shed other times
-mix of emotions in life
-your sorrow is unmattered
-seeing others in sorrow
-i forgot all my sorrows
-he said his wife liked writing short stories and used to in her earlier youth tried her hand at writing but after marriage she shrink only to writing her daily diary and she was marvelously regular ,
-the entry went on to describe the day as rainy, farhana chose to spend the day with a friend and return with the driver in car later,
-the wife came home and after dinner goes to the kitchen to make tea for herself and feels she heard footsteps walking in the direction of the kitchen, chandi the maid also had suddenly gone on leave that day,
-the watchman was on his guard duty at the main gate and without contacting on the inter com nobody was allowed to come in
-she was certain the mysterious happening was repeating itself in a matter of two days, , she had placed her tea mug on the central table , she picked it up and felt someone was right behind her
-there was a gap after the previous entry in the diary, he went on to read further -
the new event was added with a headliner-today"s new happening
-two days later the same mysterious happening has reoccurred ,
-details-
-usually khuda baksh the driver sees off rana bashir but today the wife decided to drive him to the air port herself, farahana their daughter also jumped in because she wanted to be dropped at her friends place , the mother instructed her to be quick because they must go back together,
-first time zanira spoke handing the blue covered diary placed next to her purse to him to read the book marked page, he extended his hand disinterested and held the diary opening the bookmarked page and began reading
-wednesday, 7 , 11 pm
-the sky was overcast since morning and light drizzle is constantly pouring down,, rana bashir has left for his very important business meeting after mid day for lahore , his flight was in the morning, farhana and she returned just now to watch their favourite tele serial drama in our rooms after having dinner
-it was so unfortunate that an innocent man like ahmed hasin could not be saved from the noose, he was hanged for the crime he never committed, but how did he gather this information , was it from the police or some investigator or other source that ahmed hasin was not guilty,that the killer of rafat khanam was not him , the man looked at his farhana who had found her dead mother"s diary
-she rang up kabir asking him where was he, he had started his return journey and was delayed because baba had some work , but if she wanted a computer he would speak to mushtaq and he could arrange a meeting with her and they could go out shopping together, she agreed and asked for mushtaq"s number which she would save or she will never pick up unsaved strange number
-the call was cut and soon from kabir"s number she got a message with mushtaq "s number she saved it now it was no longer inknown, she punched him a call and a place was fixed, she was new to lahore and did not much about its locations ,
-she caught a taxi and told him where her destinaionwas, the friver knew every inch of lahore and took her from here and there because of bad conditions of the roads and diversions and repairs and finally they reached the appointed spot
-she stood up and addressed them in english, she had come from america, her family was not poor, her father had restaurant running good business and he was also owner of grocery store, but the condition of university was so that only politicians and corrupt business men who did not pay their taxes sent their children to american universities because they could easily afford to. she added truthfully the reason she was there was to study because her father was honest and his business was not corrupt
-the auditorium was house full by the time she reached there, as if the whole university had managed to squeeze in that moment under one roof , she was being ushered and a few seats were vacant and became visible , they quickly occupied the first two,
-they were asked to in a authoritative voice instructed to go to the last seats in the end so to make it easier for the late comers, the voice was either of their class fellow self declared monitor or belonged to a senior but without any further argument they moved further to leave their seats vacant for the following students,
-with your image held in eyes-
-she began to think what kind of pathway it was so slippery and dangerous, she must catch hold of the one walking by her, but there it was so dark and nothing could be seen, she turned to look but there was just pitch darkness filled around her, she called out desperately if he was still there around but only silence was heard for an answer, she became frightened , she was all alone and the pathway was absolutely new to her , the secure feeling that he was with her protecting her was neither now seen nor heard,
-aniq roughly translated the lines for him-
-
-we must live fully
-unafraid facing them all
-pledged we have
-to enter the battle
-the enemy who stole smiles of our children
-the foe who made our lives hell
-we must fight him
-to the last breath,to the end
-chasing him to his grave
-till the end of the last trace of darkness
-ready and prepared to our last throbbing heart beat
-till our new dawn
-he turned and with all his might screamed on top of his voice to alert kontina, but the guards had held him tight and aqa kept his firm hand on his mouth and stifled his voice , his screams had already drowned in the noise of the motorcycles and hooters.he did not hae so much strength left in his captivated body but in those crucial moments he suddenly felt his body filling with extra energy , he saw kontina"s car and his protocol passing by in a long chain just twenty five feet away, at the end of which on aqa jan's signal his close loyal guard hit him with his rifle butt twice on the head, the first hit he felt on his eardrum and he lost all his fighting spirit , partially fainting
-the horse got unattached from the horse cart and stood in the middle of the bridge looking around surprised because he could see the burning cart that had blocked the movement on the bridge , he suddenly realised checking for his rifle that it was missing, he must have dropped it somewhere in all the commotion, his corduroys were empty of the magazines that must have drowned in the water, somewhere, he ran for his life , it was so important to run and reach as quickly as possible to see someone responsible and right person
-her body covered in the sheet had stained the whole sheet red with her blood, she was dying and said if shahzeb called anyone for help he would miss the chance to escape and there was no hope to rescue her, her grip on his hand tightened , she was in pain and he wanted to help , she to console him kept a towel on her wound pressing it against it to stop the wound from bleeding, speaking to express herself she never wanted to go to kerachi , actually she had not other programme to go anywhere from there
-this is the map of the building, this is the point of entrance and in the entrance iron rods and heavy fencing is fixed that guards the entrance, on the right of the gate is the office where the in charge sits , the windows of the whole building are covered with heavy iron grills, but if the windows are from inside open then from the school room the view inside the office is clearly visible the two buildings are separated by a road running between them forty feet wide
-then he heard someone speak from somewhere he could not realise from which direction the man following him left the professor there and turned to go back, seconds later the door opened by itself, the voice again instructed him to enter the gate, without any hesitation he stepped forward and the door shut behind him
-it was a large room with so many file cabinets standing in rows full of files, the walls were decorated with paintings, there just in the middle was a glass top office table occupying quite some room behind which on a revolving chair sat a large man
-the two storeyed building was built beautifully in white stone that stood alone outside the populated township in some seclusion, surrounded with green lawns specially maintained and taken care of, though the boundary wall was only three feet high made of bricks yet on the walls were fixed wire railings raised so high that it was invincible , the main gate also was made in the same style of wire and iron railings matching with the fence, just inside the gate was a small attached cabin
-he recalled his early childhood days when he was known as the green eyes tom, he had taken the green eyes from his father who had made his mother pregnant and left her with him as his parting gift to raise alone in this harsh cruel world as he himself found someone else to make another world for himself around him,
-soon another man discovered the beauty of his mother and he turned out to be even worse than his father , tom became feelingless and drained of all emotions and human kindness ,
-when his mother died tom joined his step father "s gang and like them was an equal partner in all their heinous crimes
-grown up he became notorious as tom with the gun
