from previous....

.....the investigating officer asked mushtaq and khalida to tell him whole truth  or he would not be able to find their daughter,  he observed them stealing  glances before answering they were not hiding anything from him,  the officer asked if parveen was having an affair, both parents  cried out denying the fact, so it was  now clear and settled that parveen was missing, he sent the terrorized agonized parents home to take some rest , he promised to find the girl quickly,  he had noted down the  points,  later he called  hyder ali constable who also lived in the same village chamanabad as mushtaq to find out more details during the evening and report early morning on  duty

Next morning hyder ali reported khalida and Rashida spent an hour at the local shrine but the girl was not with them nor anywhere around,  so the girl was definitely not in the village but he had a friend  sayad the barber who saw parveen standing at the ĢT road  around mid day, officer asked him to explain,  his friend was passing from the road  on his bicycle when a casual glance on the girl standing on the road side made him think it was parveen but he couldn't swear on it one hundred percent, adding hyder ali said he had asked his barber friend to keep his eyes and ears open for more information and let him know of it as soon as possible,  the officer, s praising eyes looked at hyder ali admiringly 

from previous....

.......the investigating officer asked mushtaq the father of the missing girl to tell where could  his daughter be,  mushtaq explained if he knew he would have looked for her there himself and  why bother to come at all to the police station to file  report,  

Mushtaq was in a state of shock,  he loved his daughter parveen,  wife grumbled  he never scolded her  and always took  parveen s  side, supporting her and going against  khalida, parveen had become  strongly stubborn and did not want to listen to them giving her instructions 

Father had this tendency of praising  his girl  , she knew all about religion,  all about everything,  she was just eighteen,  officer realized  if khalida stayed there she would not  let her husband speak,  the two neighbors saraj and sidiq had politely accompanied the couple,  so the officer asked the three of them to wait outside until they were called 

He then turning his full attention to mushtaq asked what did he mean by saying his girl knew exactly everything 

Mushtaq explained last night  like every day  as was their  routine  they sat talking  after dinner , suddenly she became upset and said  they both were talking tonight  and next time one of them will be missing 

page 66....

......the station officer asked if their daughter parveen was missing since early morning why didn't they come earlier,  it was dusk when they reached him , he was about to leave  his office,  Khalida the mother began crying,  her girl was so youthful and  innocent  , they were trying to locate her inside their village  but she was not found so  they decided to  report  her  disappearance,  mushtaq explained parveen was just eighteen , they were just three of them in the family,  parveen was extremely religious,  it was only mid day when they realized she was not there,  khalida went visiting  shah ji ,s  shrine  with Rashida   on returning from the shrine  she found her girl was missing,  she asked mushtaq  and he too showed his  ignorance ,  the officer looking directly into the missing girl's father's  eyes asked what kind of work  he did,   when wife was gone to the shrine  where was he,  mushtaq was  in his shop  which is  right  in front of their house 

fun e zalikha....

.....lockdown recipes became very popular during this shutdown of entire world,  war like situation  for weeks months  and now it seems ages,  everyone including men women and children at their personal level looked for a release from their  situation  by searching   youtube  do it yourself  ideas, majority of  them liked to go in for  trial cooking,  it kept them busy and satisfied 

Fun e zalikha is  a skill development  page for cooks and  good eating  at home 

I got this may 2020 issue not in march --april but in September  when lockdown began to lift

All the following dishes are must try ....

1 chutney  stuffed kebabs

2  chiicken stew

3  bahari kheema 

4  baked gola kebabs 

5  besan dahi bada

6  chicken samosa

7 palak pakoda

8  grilled burger

9  chana kabuli

10  sweet n sour drumsticks 

11  lemonade 

13  orange sherbet

13  strawberry apple  slush

14  khajoor shake 

page 31....

....fahim as was his  habit of grumbling  repeated he gad so many times tried to convince  khala  to arrange  the function at home instead of marriage hall, right outside the house near the door were being fixed  tents with a  special  welcome  gate for the arriving guests,,  all arrangements were  completed and  perfect,  tables chairs dr8nk8ng water and water for  washing hands with soap and clean towels  all were in their place,  

Zaya looking around at all the surroundings asked fahim to get ready, fah8m left for his home  to freshen up and change  as zaya stayed back  to see what else was left to be done,  he was supervising  and his presence was most necessary or workers get confused,  he sat down on a near by chair  and relaxed his head against the back of the chair,  he was so tired,  suddenly he heard  tge voice he had been missing  for so long,  manna was standing  behind the wall asking for fahim,  she must have come looking for her brother,  in a second  zaya was standing opposite her, all his tiredness vanished in a second,  he saw how sweet adorable manna was, her aura and presence  filled him with a  positive  energy,  ever since her van drriver was back zaya missed seeing her, missed picking her up and  dropping her  ather college , he many a times  got ready to leave  his office  to reach her college just to remember  she was niw on her own,  but he missed  seeing her ,

belagham....

.....usually when progeny  grows up indiciplined  and spoiled  the mother is blamed  for  her wrong  style of raising them , for always  taking their side and pampering them into spoilt brats

Whether uncontrolled horses  or unleashed humans  both are dangerous to others,  they lose focus  and use force to reach nowhere, 

It was one winter february  dry evening when the officer in charge decided it was time to pack  up that three men and a woman arrived , the officer invited them to sit inside the cabin,  mushtaq was one of them a fifty year old man,  the woman  was   khalida  his wife  , she was ordinary looking forty five years, the other two accompanying them were their next door neighbors 

The station  officer asked what was the matter and why they had come 

Mushtaq in his gruff voice  expressed himself they were not there without reason,  who wanted to to visit police stations for casual fun

from previous....,

.....she explained everyone knew her husband was a busy doctor and had no time to take her out shopping,  he always was found in his clinic, the manager heard the catch in her voice and therefore  changed the topic saying she was Mrs humdan8 and every time she visited their showroom she selected the best and choicest of   jewelry pieces,, offering his full attentive  service  he speculated  she must have come to buy the  necklace she had selected yesterday,  , she smiled at tge manager who was asking and answering his own queries,  she  had come to buy it she said, she praised his sensibility,  a salesman  appeared holding a cold drink from the  manager  after some mild refusals she accepted the soft drink, before her now was presented  the rare necklace  she had selected tge previous day and it was the only piece  in the whole show room , tge manager after a few minutes of more discussion asked her if she had finalized the diamond necklace he will make tbe bill she could pay,  her dry  smile  was expressive,  she didn't carry such a big amount on her,  if the shop would send the diamond necklace with a salesman  she would show it to her husband in the clinic and also  pay safely,  soon a man was assigned to assist her 

funkar.....

.....a woman  dressed to kill in dazzlers entered a jewelry shop, a  salesnan approached and asked her how could he help her, he gestured towards a seat for her to take,, she walked in style to  occupy a chair,

She asked the manager be called  she was a regular  customer,   tge manager knew her very well,  she would speak only with the manager,  , the sales man nodding turned to step into a  cabin, 

This was one of the top most jewelry stores in town,  there were several  best pieces  available,  a commoner could never  even think about  being in the store,  a grand looking nan dressed up in fine clothing  appeared from the cabin with a professional  smile,  exclaiming  she had again  come all alone,  his and his staff, s desire  to meet  Mr hamdani was left unfulfilled 

page 32....

.....latif explained to taimur  he was now in sarkhab dada,s haveli,  Dada  if once decided to help someone he would then go to any lengths,  so patting him he left instructing him to tell all that happened in detail to dada on his arrival,  

taimur was feeling very low, remembering  how for the child hamad he had sacrificed  his soul mate amir and his family , left them to face the enemy  and saved himself as he managed to escape with little Hamid 

The heavy curtain on tbe door was moved aside and then stepped in a man dressed as a woman,  his face was powdered and lips painted red like a woman's,  this  fake woman lowered his eye lashes but his stance and manner was aggressive, taimur  found himself thinking of this new weird situation when the heavy curtains were lifted second time and another fake woman  entered  who picked up a chair from one corner to place it near taimur  and to stand leaning against the wall looking at his own painted nails 

A minute later the door opened and one more strong man dressed like a woman entered, this was dada, he took his seat on the chair kept  by taimur,  this man's voice was harsh and masculine but his mannerisms were so effeminate,  rolling the paan in his mouth he swore to the woman with painted nails to get him a  sink to spit in, looking around for  some thing  to spit in

page 30....

.....tide of time took a pleasant  turn,  these days  good news was  received  every day,, news of fauzya getting engaged, a ripple of joy  ran through the family,,  simple plain curiosity  rolled round asking when was the wedding day,  manna was happily relishing  tge tranquility  and contentment settled into her parents , a deep sense of security  oozing from their decisions  made her very confident, 

Just next month's  first Friday was fixed and final  for the wedding, because  the groom,s mother was not alive  and his father wanted  both his children  were  married  on the same occasion,   a  marriageable daughter and son both explained khala 

Manna could not  stop her curiosity and asked if they would  find a vacant marriage hall, then observing all eyes turned to stare  at ger she became  extremely shy 

Khala took over the control of the conversation , there were not many berates and therefore no need to arrange any marriage hall, one plain regular  tent outside the house was enough to accommodate guests

page 29...

....manna suddenly shrieked joyfully,  unexpectedly it had begun raining,  she stretched out her hand to feel the raindrops falling on her palm,,  in the beginning  it was  mild  pitter patter then lightning and roaring thunder  changed the mood of the  weather  , flashes of terrifying  storm made manna run to take shelter,  she hud herself against her mother,  her father always found it rather annoying,  she was a grown up and  must learn to behave,  fahim adored his sister and liked her  in all ger  strength and weaknesses,  but zaya hated  the sudden storm,  if only it was not so terrible,  not so frightening,  manna would be chirping around  him and he would have liked it so much 

page 28...

......manna was eating her ice cream and her tongue was also working overtime,  she asked she was already forgotten and what more will happen when the bride comes home,  ammi and Fahim  came to  sit with her noticing  aunt had gone back home, manna was happy to know of her brother's  job and the reason of his sudden disappearance,  she felt bad she was the last to know of what was happening,  Fahim laughed at manna  that she will make a typical sister in law,  but she was right because without sharing  and without a word  Fahim had visited  aunt phuphu,s house, he even  forgot to  distribute sweets to celebrate,  but he quickly covered up his mistake by  declaring it was a night of feasting  and they all were invited, ammi cheerfully  joined him seconding  the feast  as a family get together  they had skipped  for a long time   she asked what would they want to have for dinner,  in one voice all said she will not cook , it was fahim,s  party and so only he  will arrange  it

page 31....

.....taimur leaned against  several pillows on the  ciarse cotton cot , it was a massive old fashioned  cot, he was covered with a simple sheet  and leaving his wounds  on the lower legs  exposed, his legs were  bandaged,  tge bullet was extracted out of his body, he had list lots of blood and his condition was quite serious, but he was alive still,  life was flickering  and kept him going, the room was very spacious   the walls were plastered with mud, the yellow  lime colour was  painted on them, besides  his cot a few chairs and tables were arranged,   the doors and windows were  covered with heavy  curtains,  nit a sound  could be heard from outside,   latif sahib lifting tge doir curtain to a side  entered the room asking him how he was feeling,  taimur quickly asked him where was hamad, Latifah explained hamad was safe and so was taimur 

from previous....

.....in Germany  the educationist is the highest paid job, once a protest was raised against the policy  by professionals including doctors engineers and others who were demanding equal pay for them,  the mayor was  called to make a special appearance and  give a speech,  he explained there was no scope of  equal  rights of salaries because today they all enjoyed  a high social  position  and status  just because of their  dedicated teachers 

page 75....

.....there are two most difficult things in this world to do

The first is to get your ideas across  into someone else's mind 

Second is to get other people's money out from their pockets and transfer them into one’s own 

...those who succeed in the first are called teachers 

Those who succeed in the second are known as businesses man

Those who manage to get both done successfully  are called housewives 

page 29....

.....someone shouted  to Rashid and Salim to stop asking them to  see who just now ran past them,  the silence in the street was shattered by the running echoing  feet, the same race  began again  of chasing and escaping,  the first round of which had ended in samanabad, hamad  again broke into  wild  sobs,  and taimur holding the crying  child into a bundle in his arms was on the run,   the air exploded with the first  shot  being fired,  it was just then  that taimur turned the corner, but the bullet brushed past him  hissing,   he was the target  and tge enemy was weaving patterns around him, they gad in samanabad also fired several times on him, apparently they were desperate to kill him to get hold of neena, s child,  they already had killed meena and hajra

page 27....

......ammi, s idea  was correct,   she took her time,  Annie didn't let her go without having lunch,  for tge sake of her daughter  phuphu aunty was also   acting a perfect hostess,  after so much  insistence it was not n8ce to get up and leave,  ,manna  became extremely annoyed on seeing  the closed door, , she asked her aunty for tge keys to tge locked door  but aunty sweetly  rebuked her sending her away to wash her hands and freshen up  before sitting down to eat, she was to recite in the empty  house,   her nanner brought a smile on nanna,s  face, when she returned freshened up aunty was  frying parathas on the  pan,  looking at her she  explained  she gad  cooked ladyfingers on  zaya,s  demand  and now sge remembered  nanna didn't eat ladyfingers, so she  made kebab fry and paratha for her

page 25...

.....fauzya obediently waited for her mother to find a suitable match for her though her plans were to get a job after her bsc, mother was stubbornly insisting her on getting married  and there was no  scope for her refusal,  she lowered her head in consent  now all she did was waiting for a good proposal,  mother was aware of her daughters  s well as her own financial condition, therefore the first daughter was married off to not a good looking man but a decent man,  it was a simple  function and  she was married off,today she is happily settled,   mother planned similar  thing for her second daughter,  no dowry , no demands,  simple  family,  but their helplessness and father's  condition  repelled many  suitors and they expected a strong  well off match  who would accept their daughter unconditionally and give her dignity and security 

page 27....

.....another knock was heard on the door,  who could that be this time of night,  Hajraa whispered frightened,  amma was gone away to tge village,  taimur asked if there was an escape route,  if he reached the op of tge house  he could make it by jumping off the roofs  , holding the  child in his arms tightly he climbed up the stairs from tge courtyard leading to the roof , someone shouted from outside that taimur was inside,  they must have seen through  the chink  , loud banging was  heard on tge door  as it was pushed, shots were fired in the air , he turned to look Habra, s dead body falling  down from tbe higher stairs  on the ground,  clutching the child he ran for life,  hanad was half awake  bundle in his arms  moaning,  all tge roofs were joined  but it was not at all easy to run as fast as he wanted to on the old buildings 

from previous....

.....Hamad,  innocent  little  soul unaware of life dangers  was gathered in taimur,,  s  arms,  on the little face there was a strong resemblance of meena  giving him an impression of  neena was back in his arms in this new form, all was clear  about meena  and the same dangers now lurked around them, tge enemy group was back,  they must have found out about taimur  but it was certain their location  was not revealed to them

page 25.....

......the khwaja watched the little boy crying  in tge  faded golden light casted from tge yellow bulb, some half hour later the crying of the boy lessened,  perhaps he got tired and breathless,  he began hiccuping,  he slowly lay down  on the same  spot where he was  sitting,  both chaniya and  chambeli sat silent  not touching him for he  shook off their  touch, finally he was asleep  and Tanana asked  what species was this so unpredictable  she was scared of his every move 

gazal

.....don't let my dear know of my sorrowful  chosen life

......let me check carefully  its all safe on the way

.....I am willing companion  if you  take care of me 

.....but there is a condition let not my foes of it  know 

....its a matter  of different issues besides life as well 

....they who ignore and forget what can one do 

....you are merely ignorant unknown to the dangers of world 

....if you obey almighty, nothing can harm you 

.....the only wish  is my only desire 

....grow a garden of love without thorns of hate

from previous....

.......sultan alam  was a married man,  his wife was  the  daughter of an x minister,  she was merely  a social ladder for him  to reach the top   in politics,  sge was a bold woman  whose father was a minister  and husband politically active and aspiring,  therefore  a man like sultan alam himself  stayed low  in profile,  though childless  he couldn't remarry,  scared of his terrible wife and powerful  father in law  sultan discovered a new way to satiate his   extramarital  affairs by getting  contract marriages to poor young girls whose families were handsomely paid , after tge contracts were over silence money was given and documents  destroyed,  there remained no proof of his contracts and girls never bore his children 

from previous...

....her aunt and uncle were not at all interested  and bothered about meena , she was merely another maid in the house who had a low profile and no status,, she was amidst her four sisters  like a beauteous  glowing  full moon is amidst a dark starry night sky outshining them all with its magical presence,  it was  very clear to her  in her sixteenth year  she won't get to get  more education  after her tenth,  she would be definitely  be married off , when  her sisters  looked at her beauty inherited from her mother she was more  badly treated,  it was a miracle that the town, s wealthiest man sent his marriage proposal  for meena , suddenly she found her aunt and uncle became extremely  sweet to her

page 19....

.....taimur answered  the phone  a female voice spoke in a  hurried nervous tone to listen to her because she had some thing very important to tell him,  she was  finding it impossible to contact him, first thing was he was under surveillance  and second  she had  something  that belonged to meena to give him, she dictated the address and time to  eet  her but he must be extremely careful  and ensure  it that he was not being followed,  the phone was shut off

from previous....

.....taimur was unconscious  for very long time,  slowly he was coming back to his normal  , he tried to open his eyes painfully,  he saw things were upside down,  then he realized he was hanging upside down,  the blood gad rushed to his head and he began  moaning,  a huge  black man  ruthlessly  began  beating him like a dusty carpet  roll is  with a thick strong  stick, hitting him till taimur felt sick and vomited,  the man was asking him to tell  him tge whereabouts of someone,  who was someone taimur didn't know,  the man again asked him to tell where was  meena, s son hiding,  the surprise on taimur, s face  confused the man,  taimur did not  know  meena, s past life, that she had a son , 

page 16....

.....the house was surrounded with  noisy talking  crowds,  the police was present inside the house,  and  meena was in her bedroom  inside the house,  dead and in a pool of blood,  someone was telling  ali the milk man in the morning  as his daily routine  pressed the door bell, but the silence  that followed was not normal,  he patted the door and it was  open,  he took a peek inside to see the  guard was tied up with ropes injured and unconscious  in his chair in a corner,  the milkman  called tge neighbor's  watchman  who informed the police