from previous...

.....sheher bano asked   Marie  what was her opinion about  ahtasham  , Marie who was  setting  her luggage had her  attachécase open by her side,  for a moment her hands  stopped  working,,  she lifted her eyes to look at her mother for a while and shrugged before going back to arranging her stuff, there on sheher bano s face  appeared somewhat  unpleasant expressions 

She persuaded  her daughter to answer  her question properly in an acid tone,  catching  her mother's  mood  she fully attentively  turned to face mother  and explained  she had  nothing  to say   on the subject,  because it was father's  choice so he must be good  , finishing the whole matter in one say

Marie,  how was your  dating  experience  with him, 

Daughter  pointed out  what mattered her opinion  in the matter , she was quite serious  now 

She didn't like grandma living all alone by herself there and dad  didn't feel comfortable  leaving his dear daughter  there with her so this marriage  condition was   put up 

yar e dildar...

....they all five  after the dinner was over  relishing the green native  tea kahwa  made by anas, the wind blowing in through the main door and the windows  seemed quite pleasant,  ahsan s mind  was bent on playing mischief,  

Dear anas your wife will always  give  us all  heartfelt  blessings commented  Ahsan sipping  at his  kahwa 

But how and why asked  anas doubting  himself for marrying some preacher,  he fluttered his eye lids  in mock innocence 

Explanation  from Ahsan followed  removing his fears  that they all had made him an expert tea maker that's why  he will prove a perfect  house husband 

from previous....

....for breakfast  in the morning  brown eggs  with parathas butter and Lassi was served, tabir had never  before  had such a wonderful  breakfast  for  hers was breakfast a routine affair  based on bread only with  butter  , sge ate heartily  , 

She was invited to join otgers for a walk  in the fields,  the  girl  who was last night  talking in sleep Nadya had  explained  was mamuna was by her side speaking to tabir informally 

Tabir accompanied  other girls,  the fields were  lush green surrounded with greens,  the scenery was breathtaking,  suddenly she wished sge was one of the native  women  born and brought up there, sge would have  carried  water in vessels on her head home, izwan a stranger stopped her and asked for  a drink , she would have poured  out water for him certainly 

Mamuna waved her hand  before  her dreaming eyes , where was sge lost she asked tabir

Mamuna s waving hand brought her back  to reality  from the world of her romantic  imagination 

She recalled  something from her memory and asked who was ashram   the question  turned  Mamuna red 

page 74....

.....Izwan along with his wife  tabir and infant  zeb took ten days off from his work  to  attend the wedding of amjad in the village  where  they were  promptly and warmly welcomed  by the entire host family,  the  house was full  with  a variety of guests noisily buzzing around,  tabir s head began spinning  seeing the huge  massive  house  and such activities,  she realized  the house wasn't that big after all  but was crowded  tightly accommodating  too many 

She asked where were they to stay,  her voice  and tone sounded  rather nervous,,she was explained by the family  perhaps the house wasn't too big but their hearts were  very big and she would be staying   with them all with  a promising note she amjad explained  she will not find it uncomfortable  and face no problem,  , amjad had reached there  and was assuring  her, tabir  was embarrassed  because she was asking her husband  to clarify the situation, 

Tabir who initially was feeling  an outsider  quickly relaxed  as she was enveloped in the sincere warmth  of the women folk of the family 

from previous....

....what is my doll doing  asked pazwan tickling  zeb who was in her cot  and began  gurgling  seeing her father  , tabir welcomed him home  enquiring  about his return from work  and if he wanted his tea  and left for the kitchen to make his tea,  he enjoyed  spending his time  after  a long  day  with his little zeb who was his life  and she too  adored him completely,  tabur felt  zeb spent  whole day with tabir taking care of her but the moment  father arrived  zeb changed  party   he recalled  how an argument had struck  on zeb s birth  to give her a name  of their choice,  thankfully  during the heated  argument  that day the lady doctor  appeared on the scene and  kept  tge new born  s name  zeb that stuck , the doctor had explained the name  zeb was the heroine of the novel  mere hi rehna...stay mine forever 

gunjaish...

....gather grumbled  patting the little infant six month  zeb to sleep in her cozy lap    that they never  could go on a honeymoon,  infant was busy playing  games on his cell phone  sitting   in a sofa, he suggested  what was so  troubling her, she could  still go on a honeymoon leaving the little  zeb with h8m, on Iowan s statement  tabir looked  quite  puzzled  and asked  who  with  she  could go

All alone by herself  , who else, better to take  someone from  the neighborhood  along  for  company,  in fact she must go frequently  almost  every day

from previous...

...sawar was clad  in his  smart casuals with black trousers and white shirt,   buttoning up his  shirt he brushed his hair back airily, shadow of a beard on his intellectual face  lighted up his personality,  looking at his misty image  8n the  window glass  he emerged from the tea shop, mia ji smiled at him placing  a tea cup, last night  sawar had slept there,  Mia ji had spoken  to a friend  khan  regarding  his job,  sawar had a meeting fixed with  mushtaq bhai at nine,  mia ji had explained  mushtaq bhi had a sweet shop on the mall road,, but only god knows what kind of job was waiting for sawar

from previous...

.....amma  asked  dear kangan if she was ready ,  she quickly  moving her fingers rubbed the lotion  all over her face and hands saying she was ready and sge covered herself in the  shawl like veil amma added and what about diya dear and put on her burqa   and  balanced her lock and keys, she too was coming,  hanging her college bag on her shoulder  Kansan began checking and  locking the doors,  her college shoes were kept  in a corner in the veranda,  taking  off her casual home slippers she  changed  her footwear  and went out, it was a mixed weather today   sge thought,  sunshine   was ted to brightly brighten up but the clouds were  blocking  it , making a face  at the cloudy sky she thought it was still  fine,  she loved sunny days,  she actively  disliked  cloudy  dark skies,  the day before it had drizzled  season's  first  so  she was trying to adjust  but winter rains were extremely  terrible  and unlikable,  she looked  towards the backstreet,  diya s house was further down the street to the left, ,   diya always  used to appear  in sight  as Kansan locked her doors, if not seen  Kansan would  usher amma  climb up the  slight slope  to reach the main road  because  she gad to drop the keys at the hotel reception  where abbu worked,  diya seeing  tge locked house always followed her to the hotel  and caught up with her

from previous...

....there are  basically two types of thinkings  operating in man s minds, one  is  born out of desire  and second is   doubt created from fears , today  the coaster rider in murrie  wished to  have a life long   relationship with murrie  but the very next moment he doubted it for he must return  home the following day,  why do these  doubts pose self inflicting  obstacles  preventing one from  getting the enjoyment he wants,  that beautiful  day spent in murrie   ended in a heap of  disappointments,  the rider returned to the tea shop, each one present there had a different plan for himself for tge next day,  he was looking for a decent job and  wasted his whole day visiting hotels  restaurants and ordinary shops  but without any  positive response from anywhere,  there was a vacancy 8n a fast food  shop for a chef  but nobody needed  a room service  or waiters , when a glass of water was placed before him by fakhri he swallowed it whole in one  breath,  he had absolutely forgotten to drink water that day sawar ordered two rotisserie and some dal for himself  and it was served by fakhrri within hardly seven minutes 

page 54...

....Abraham  asked shamaya  for her permission to speak up his mind,   she also  came out from her deep  reverie  shaking it off, his point was simple enough  that  Islamabad  enjoyed  spending weekends in murrie  so it was evident  one day   the secret will be  public,  so it wasn't at all possible to keep  the matter  away from Bilal for long,,  shamaya asked if they should themselves tell Bilal of tge truth,  she sunk back deep down into ger worries as he stood smiling  there,  he explained she wasn't catching the point  was that Bilal was also there  still and once sge took over  complete control of the hotel  then it would not  matter at all because Bilal would not be able to  interfere 

page 53...

...nadim sahib  was announced,

 shanaya sleepily turned  her side,  did sonu go to school  or did he sulk and  created any trouble 

No madam 

Ok, ask nadim sahib to sit in  the  drawing room  and wait awhile 

! She sat upright 8n her bed and tied her long hain a bun, she threw a glance  at the  wall clock,  it was showing eleven  mid day, , her gaze shifted towards the calendar  that brought a smile to her lips, 

The comfortable lazy life was over she  spoke to herself so sgamaya  Ibrahim  get ready  for life is a battle 

from previous...

.....and that was his second smile after several hours,  tge smile had  casually  touched  the young man's  lips, he thought for a while and began  to climb down the slope, to reach the tiny shop  with bamboo    railings  and bamboo floored veranda  that was used as a store to keep  chairs  tables cots and benches for  serving,  there wasn't much of rush,  he extended his wrist to see the time     , it displayed   ten thirty  day time  yet somehow   breakfast time seemed  was over,  three  persons  sitting in the  tea shop looked at him  in sheer surprise   one of them was an elderly man   second was a young man of twenty two or thereabouts  tge third an eleven year old,  he asked if tea was available  looking at their faces one by one  who perhaps  thought  the approaching man  was going to ask about some address 

Of course,  why not , the elderly man stood up to welcome the customer,  a cour cot was dragged near for him to sit on

page 50...

....life is quite short  , half of it in your favor  the other half  against you,  the time  that is in your favor  don't  let success go to your head  and  when  life is going against you  keep patience,  

Standing  at the murrie  bus station  she opened her small  humble  purse  to pull out the only  five hundred rupee note tucked away  previously to put it  on the palm  that reminded  him of the saying  by hazrat ali  along with  rushing memories of ammi  and maji  because  it was maji who had   ages ago given this specific note on one eid, after maji was gone  ammi had  persuaded  never to spend that special note on ordinary  purpose because such  money  are meaningful and bring prosperity,  so it was tucked away  and there was no regret nor resistance  naturally  it was safe and without objection,  his pockets were always overwhelmingly overflowing with money,  so he quickly  obeyed ammi s command  rather  uncaringly,  and today he desperately needed that money,  today that was all he had 

page 49...

.....what happened 

You too promise me never to  hesitate to share in life  whatever  it takes,  diya s voice was gentle and soft,  right or wrong,  in your favor or against you always share your matters with me, inshalla  she will give her the best solutions 

Sanya had no doubt over  diya s integrity 

But diya laughing said perhaps  her brains and sensibility were doubted , they began walking   together holding hands,  sanya asked diya to explain if one in love  really  lost his mind and ability to think properly,  it was meant to tease her on purpose,  moving towards the  library   diya replied  that was  true 8n most cases,   , sanya was completely horrified and vowed never would she  ever  look at any man  to avoid falling in love and losing her  mind

But what if she found someone through chatting online,  this sounded more terrible and a great  matter of concern  , sanya became thoughtful  and silent,   she declared she never answered unknown numbers and forwarded  calls from  strangers  to her abbu

from previous...

....sanya was not at all ready to melt  just because her friend   diya  had already decided to do something and wanted  her support  at emotional gunpoint,  , diya needed assistance and assurance  to feel strong,  diya changed the subject  now fully aiming  at sanya  striking  a fresh debate  what would she do in her position,  who, me asked sanya turning her gaze from the chestnut tree to smile at diya explaining  if ammi were alive she certainly would have shared her matters with her but  her statement  silenced her completely  , diya loved talking  whole day regardless of  what sanya felt , not realizing  she invaded her solitude  with her nonstop constant chatters 

from previous...

....the rain had stopped, from the trees and foliage  and wet leaves  the remaining water was slowly  dropping   into the damp grass to mix  with it, though it was early March showers,  but the air  had increased the chill  because it was murrie  winter,  rain and wet  lawn  and  gangs of college girls  began  loafing about in the corridors and verandas  during the fifteen minute break  after which   the noisy hustle and bustle would  stop by itself,  

page 44...

....early morning  six  is the time  when  the system of the world  life begins to slowly  rise up to  lazily at snail's  pace speed up later on to catch up with  life , passengers  are  are regularly  carried off from bus stations but   at this early hour the stations have a  vacant   feel  ,  come March and  finish hyper activity  at the crack of dawn becomes visible,  the reason  at six such a hustle and bustle  appeared,  crowded noisy honking horns disturbing yet drawing attention  of the waiting passengers, conductors  feeling inadequate  to get proper importance  that honking should be  making  were screaming  on top of their   voices  to catch  the attention of passengers,  even if these  off beat voices were  strangled   the smell  mixed of cigarette smoke and burning diesel  was present  strongly  in fact so strong was the smell  filled  up in the air  distant  roads could easily  find the location of the bus station,  sounds resonating  a variety of different  coloqial  , passengers  running around  in confusion  to reach their desired destination  on time  tried to catch the right  bus

page 23...

....the eldest  daughter in law  and that too so obedient   polite and  who was a great cook  ,  always ready to  make  choicest of delicious  dishes on demand,   her parents were conservative and  raised her with time tested leasson  passed down from generation  to generation  that  a perfect wife  must win over her husband and others  with good food,  she regularly  on routine  sent off her husband to work but not without his breakfast fed and packed lunch,  followed by giving food to her four unmarried  brothers in law and each one  was  handed his  lunch box to go with him to office  returning to the kitchen to serve her dadi  and parents in law their  breakfast 

Over with  morning  schedule  mud day  meal  time  started,  she would  keep  herself busy  for the next meal and in between and  snacks and tea and run around  seeing  nobody went hungry,   evenings she kept exclusively for herself,  looking great fresh and nice she waited for her husband to welcome him back home,  going out together  and spending a couple of hours  alone,  tabanda was always sought after  by everyone in the family 

page 21....

....she  entered  the  house   and what followed was a huge  earthquake shaking experience,  she was shocked to see the entire place in a chaos, didn't  she bring with her any help  to get tge things settled  and  arranged in proper   condition,   and pat came her response   that  she gad thought  all  by now  must be already  done,   she  rearranged  her chicken  wrap around her, , she surveyed  the scenario  keenly,  the bedroom,  lounge,  drawing room everywhere  clutter was scattered 

Manuza was gripped in high fever  so sge advised her to  join them later   by then they will themselves  help  themselves,  self help is the best  of all after all,  hamra spoke pecking at her chips

Wicked girl  was spinning  tales and  how could anyone believe it so readily,   a person  like her who wasn't any use  and couldn't make  a cup of tea  how possibly could  do far more  Arabic was annoyed at ganea who was clearly  overclever  but also helpful  and sge quickly  with  barira   arranged the  room settings starting  from  the wardrobe,  putting  tge shoes, clothes handbags and bedsheets  , pillows cushions  covers  curtains   towels  all placed in their proper places  neatly as te cluttered area tidied up

page 19...

.....boy,,,.questioned  hamra , Barbara  needed to get her eyes checked  , the man in the morning who paid for their tea wasn't any boy but mature mustached  man and  mustache  added  respectability  to a man's personality  increasing his maturity  looks,  hanra disagreed  with  Barbara  s statement,  

Now it was Barbara  s turn to  get irritated  for the boy had no mustache   and was cleanshave,  

Oh how could she deny the fact because in the morning he had  nice  mustache,   for some unknown reason hamra felt  sad for not having mustache  on the boy s face,  

He looked exactly like zen

Who looked like zen asked Barbara  in a lost voice 

Hamra explained zen asif Raza  of  tanhaiya and looked sadly at her niece   on  her lack of knowledge 

Ooh that one father if Raza mir

Phuphu was an ardent  fan of old drama and watched them all  because she was so fond of them,  she had introduced  these  old dramas in her niece  s life, who preferred  New dramas  both aunt and the niece  began defending their  heroes  they  admired

from previous...

....go quickly  wash your face and  then  she promised to  tell all, Barbara making  faxes moaned  hamra was just  giving her instructions,  their  argument  had started comparing her to bhai han,  that barware exactly like him,  that she ought to have  become a lawyer like him,   by now  hamra  has lost her patience  pausing to   catch her breath  hamra sighed  before  telling  her  whole  episode of morning  experience 

Barbra  commented  just within  twenty four hours of them arriving  in a brand new place  hamra had already started a borrowed  account  in a tea shop, Barbra stood up and quickly  got herself ready when  hamra gave her fifty rupees  to pay off at the morning teashop,  Barbra again debated   it was hamra  who had enjoyed  the morning tea there  and only she was to make  the payment  , she already felt  her courage defeated   her,  hamra  explained  all she had to say keep the money  for the tea and no more lecture  was to be  given, she held the fifty rupee note speculative,   then she looked at her phuphu aunt and holding the money  in her hand  opened tge door and let  herself  exit  and she knocked at the opposite door to the flat  quickly handing the boy fifty rupees  who had opened the door,  she add keep the money  for the tea, the boy looked flabbergasted,  he looked at Barbra and looked thoughtful  and then  his face distorted,  he said it wasn't a reason nor was he  selling tea

page 18....

....tge stranger in the leather jacket  came to the same tea shop hamra was waiting for her tea, her scowls  were  daggers   he put his  hands up in the air  in mock  terror  and explained   to her  believe him,  he  religiously  gad to have tea in the morning  and in the evening because  he had newly shifted in tbe same block and  tge tea shop was close by, he accepted the tea from tge shopkeeper and handed it to her,  she thankfully  accepted the tea and sat down on a nearby chair,   there was another  vacant chair  opposite ger on which this  jogger sat down  holding his tea,  he asked her if he could believe him, hamra   naturally  shared his circumstances  , just shifted she was too facing similar  problems,  conversation  had started off and her gaze happened to  fall on the cup which was smaller in capacity than hers in which  tea  three times more  to that quantity  could be had

Her objection to the  small size of the  tea cup was right , he got  impressed  and  interested   in her for showing  her  liking for having  more tea,  he seemed  happy to  know   her 

from previous...

....he scowled  and commented he had  no desire  nor habit to stalk women,   now it was up to them to believe it or not,  hamra  snorted  looking at his back  or rather at the back of his  leather jacket,  she was briskly walking on her  jogging track,   the early morning breeze  that  had felt  quite chill  now didn't feel so cold,  people were  starting to enter the park,  hamra  came to sit down on a bench,  she was desperately longing  for a cup of hot tea,  , thinking of exiting  and  look  for somewhere to have tea she slowly  began to look  outside the park,  towards the right  some way ahead was located  a tea shop,  some  god fearing blessed man had  put a heavy  and huge   container  on the flame  to boil,  when she stood  there waiting for the tea that man arrived,  brown haired black leather jacket,  , watching her strict gaze  fixed on himself he  lifted his hands up

from previous....

......hamra  finished her  nanaz and was back  in the balcony but   not  before  putting on the hooded jacket , there was a park in the front  view across tge road,  thick  woods,  flower beds, busses green foliage  and green grass  spreading  throughout the huge  park,  the   chirping birds fluttered   around  filling up the morning  scene,  she sat admiring the  divine  scenery  dreamily for  some time  as the sunlight  lifted the yawning sleepy darkness away,   returning to the room  she once again tried to shake  Barbara up to wake up, who tossed and turned  on her side  grumbling  to let her sleep  at least  , it was already next day gamra firmly spoke up,  it was time to go for a walk,  lancet was pulled aside to uncover  her face,   Barbara  sleepily promised  to go for a walk  when  she us done  with her sleeping hamra realized  she was really  unconscious  slapped Barbara on her shoulder and turned towards the door,  she stepped out and that moment  someone from the opposite flat also came out,  indifferently hamra shut her own door after her, auto locking it, covered her head  properly with her shawl and  moved forward  towards the lift

page 16...

...dusk  descended  and turned to night  then to midnight  and then to the last hours of late night  and  it was then  hamra who had gone to bed  early evening  woke up with her eyes wide open  not quite  aware  where was she,   it wasn't her familiar bed nor pillow  but a sofa strange to her , the room was faintly lit, , she turned her mobile on to check the time,  , there was some time  to Fajardo, , hamra looked around,  , her memory recovered  seeing the scattered around  clutter,  she remembered they had moved into their new flat  , she had eaten  double  for supper and fell to unconscious sleeping  ,  only God knows what was mixed in her food she ate that made her sleep  long hours unconscious,  hamra covered  babli  with a blanket who was shivering  and shrunk  with cold it seemed  it was exhaustion,  she yawned and  stepped into the balcony,  where she was welcomed by chilling  air and darkness,  distant street lights were  on, trembling with  cold  hamra quickly  returned to the room,  , she had no sweater nor warm shawl  on her,  just clad in a simple cotton  suit and  dupatta which failed to protect her from  icy winds blowing  outside  on the  sixth floor  balcony 

from previous...

....finding  lost things is the main responsibility  of wife , said tge older wiser man, the junior thought  on the contrary  it was better to buy a new kit than getting a bride to find his shaving kit, he removed the entire clutter scattered  on the mattress  and tgen collapsed on it, but the senior was ruthlessly adamant  that he must get married  so tge wife could keep all his things in proper order moreover  tge uncle will  not have to take care of him and he will happily  give up cooking  for them both 

page 15...

...he was getting himself worried  how was he to shave  the  next morning,  all he could do was to look  for  his shaving kit , more than half if the clutter was thrown out,  perhaps  his kit was still  somewhere  between  and beneath  something  somewhere,  to find  what he wanted he must  scatter the clutter around,  nephew and material uncle both were equally  sarcastic in their tone t talking to each other,   junior was updated  by his  senior  to watch his tone fir tge seniors  were to be respected  rightfully 

He rubbed his hand over his head,  before shifting to the  new house  he had been given a haircut,  he appeared  younger and more  good looking  in his dashing  moustache  and thick eyebrows with that nice  new haircut 

me tum se kya puchhun...

....the mid day was sliding down,  all that  Barbara knew was her each and every  joint was rickety and paining,  there were  just  three members  but the  weight of   groceries  in the  bags she carried felt  were  meant to feed  a dozen  people   and their clan, , every  item was separately packed is different cartoon  and neatly  taped, , list was made,  all things counted more  tgat twelve  including the furniture  scattered around the new flat  in  various rooms  and the lounge   , Barbara was lying somewhere  amidst  the clutter with closed eyes and open mouth with wagging tongue 

Is the pizza ordered,  hunger was killing her, , will her food arrive when she is dead  on some function to feed the invited guests mourning over her body

hazrat ali ne farmaya....

....there is no wealth  equal to  brains 

And nothing  worse  than stupidity 

Nothing better than courtesy 

No other  help  above  practical  suggestion 

The Hazrat  advises to stay away from two  things 

The first is desire

The second longing  unendingly 

Because desires stop one  from  the  rights

And longings   misguide from achieving  correct  goals 

page 136...

.....it was the second time that zavyar gad phoned her and both the times  akram was witness,   perhaps  it was  destiny  that wanted  akram should know  all about  her past and  specially  zavyar  s presence  in her life  and if it's destined  who was sge to change it, , she loosely tied up her brown  hair  in a casual bun before   going towards the washroom 

It was six in the morning,  she showered  and chose a peach  colored  garment , all ready and dressed  and  emerged,  unexpectedly  in the lounge  on a sofa  leaning comfortably  his back  against  the side with his head  tilted backwards  sat akram  there,  darmaknoon  s forward  steps  stopped   not wanting to disturb  him if he was sleeping 

Did he spend  the  whole night  there