fun e zaiqa

....on the menu are recipes  for all the home  lovers and who love eating and cooking good food 

Fish stew

Sweet and sour chicken 

Ruhi machhli

Kadahi prawn masala

Handi saag chicken 

Alu methi palak

Kheer khas

Anda curry 

Dry fruit salad

 Bon appetite 

page 47

...she was to  come to the hospital  for her mother's check up frequently  where he was   working  , this fact was  overwhelming and  she already  felt  exhausted and weak,  she prayed silently  ammi and the doctor never would meet each other again,  usually it didn't take so much time in the hospital  but today  turned out to be  an exceptional day  and several hours were   delayed,  minor accident  and  ahad alkhaliq left his office quickly to reach the hospital , , saiba would take hajra to hospital only when hajra was  in that condition  or saiba let her father  handle the situation,  the three of them  had  had their meal together  , followed by giving hajra her medicine,  they hardly managed to read just four  texts at zahar and  slept  ,  her medicine was affecting her nanaz , mental health was not good,  , sometimes she recited and repeated her namaz a couple of more times on other times she  stubbornly  refused to read  the namaz  when her daughter and husband  reminded her gently,  sometimes she would,  ahad alkhaliq  then left for his office,  hajra would forget everything  when she woke up,, not remembering  what all had happened before she went to bed,  it was feared perhaps today she might be able to recall  everything because  someone had  said he was her son,  shutting the bedroom door she came to the hall,  it was going to be  a sleepless evening when hajra  was expected to wake up, she  sat down on the floor  leaning against the wall and stretched out her legs

wo jo peechhey rh gye

....she just for a minute left hahra s hand she held to get her money  out  after paying the   fare she turned  she wasn't there,  she  looked around left and right  , quickly moving forward  sge checked the  entrance door of the building  but  she wasn't anywhere 

The hospital area is always  crowded and  vehicles   constantly  bring patients,  she  fast paced began searching  for ama, she looked worried and nervous,  she even caught two women who looked like hajra in l structure height and  shape  to  carefully check them and their faces,  apologizing  the strangers for her mistake,  leaving them gaping  after her not bothering to explain  to rush  in other direction,  scared out of her wits sge forgot hajra was  wearing a blue sari,  losing  her common sense  she began stopping every woman,  her heart sinking with every heartbeat,  her limbs became lifeless and limp, , her veil covering her head slipped to settle on her shoulders,  she spent   it seemed  a lot of time  looking  here and there and everywhere  , her etes filled with tears  , her entire body shaking  voice trembling she phoned ahead alkhaliq

The moment her phone was answered she broke into tearful  conversation with abbu , ammi was  missing,  she couldn't find her,  she gadvto pay the rickshaw  driver and left  her hold on ammi  s hand and she turned to  find her nowhere 

Dear, don't you worry,  she must be around,  he had immediately become worried but had to give his daughter  moral strength,  he was coming  , his voice was  strong 

page 229

....tashu was  then  resting in a grand  room on a  grand bed , she was extremely happy,   for  all her  plans were   failing  in the past  but now suddenly the time was hers ,  success belonged to her, luck favored her and  it was right  time  to  checkmate  , she wanted to celebrate this   but first she  needed to take a proper  rest 

She  put her head on the soft  feather pillow   and her  phone  hissed , the phone was kept on silent mode that's why it was vibrating,  she picked up the phone to check the screen,  instead of any name  it read goat, she smiled,  this was  palm square owner s call

Pushing the button  she  spoke a icy  hello followed by a question  why did he phone her when she had  assured him he would get his  parcel  delivered by the   late  evening 

Madam  , something has gone wrong the nervous voice  on  the  line alerted her

What happened 

Even I was  informed just now,  just after you left   some  unknown persons reached there  behaving  as if they had  definite  specific  information,  they were stopped by the staff but they  got the location of the  lift  extracted from the control rom

You fool,  weren't you prepared for that situation,  she growled 

Of course  all your  instructions were carefully followed,    lift camera was turned off but they found out from other  outside  cameras

page 225

....how  ungrateful  man is, the things he accepts and receives  as his birthright  and enjoys them all his life  he doesn't even care to show his gratitude for that,  , he remains indifferent to them, , how important  they are to him  become apparent when they are taken away from him,  she thought 

Did she ever show her gratitude for the air she breathes,s he answered  her own question in no before hanging her head in shame,  this realization had  dawned on her just today when she was balancing  on the verge of life and death in the middle  of the  corridor inside  the suspended lift, it was then impossible for her to breathe,  with her lungs tearing out she was unable to take a proper breath,  her throat was swelling up painfully  by each passing moment as the poison gas filled up inside the suspended lift in which she was trapped,  her nostrils  downwards  felt  were burning,  eyes began burning,  tears flooded  as if she was   amidst  tear gas spray,  thirst  covered  ger parched lips with a layer of dry crust, she coughed  constantly,  she rubbed her eyes and  looked at the locked exit  that refused to budge open 

She sat down in one corner,  her mind played fast-forward  her past  memories on her mental canvas,  her life,  her father  mother  brothers  friends  her native village  m those  deadly days she was trying to  flee from  to save  herself  to live her life to find herself  embraced in complete silence  watching her life  slip  out if her grip, she saw herself running  along the train  , then  the faces of baba and Ali and  Kareem,  baba was certainly her entire world,  ali a friend and Kareem..thinking of Kareem  sge closed her eyes  , she could still see his  face with her closed eyes,  her eyes flew open,  whole  scene  turned misty  and foggy, sometimes   we see more clearly with eyes shut 

page 20

....mani who was hiding  in the attic   came down  when the  guests had gone away,  the wedding day was fixed and Nadya happily picked her up and  gave her a spin

Mani thought  nada had gone crazy  without reason, then came asta bhabhi who stuffed a whole  gulabjamun into her mouth before  informing  her marriage was fixed,  tge gulab jamun stuck in her throat  and it was hard to swallow it, , her eyes filled with  fat tears that spilled down  complaining  as she turned to look at her entire family  sitting  there  on the sofa,  pushing  bada aside she walked  away to her own room 

Zeenat beghum glared at nada , there was no need to tell her about it, she herself would have told ber later  , this came as a shock to mani

Nada  didn't know  mani would react like this usually girls get thrilled  when their marriage is finalized,  nada herself would have danced with joy  in this situation  it was so unexpected and  filming,  now nada was lost practically in her own world of romantic imagination,  amma   beghum  s  shoe hit her like  missile  to bring her instantly  back to life,  amma was  good at throwing her shoe 

Come on amma beghum,  who is so ruthless,  nada scowled painfully  rubbing her arm  and decided to escape  before the second missile hit her

Elder brother  worriedly  expressed his fears perhaps they were  doing wrong  by force fixing  maliha s marriage  and pushing her into this unwanted  alliance 

shalazan

....the lift was going down  rapidly,  she could scream  what was all this happening  and before she could realize it the lift had  stopped,  absolute silence surrounded them,  not  a trace of a whisper  was heard,  she felt she was  suspended  and isolated from the rest of the world 

Hello,  is there someone outside,  can someone please hear me, she stood  by the lift door  screaming her lungs out,  please someone save me,  help me  out, I am stranded inside the lift 

All her pleas were unanswered,  she  got tired  and  backed off,  her head began spinning,  perhaps the  gas released inside  the  lift  was affecting her,  she was stuck,  she praised the almighty  for  giving her strength  and  courage and stami, she  wasn't vulnerable to small troubles, she also recovered and healed faster than the others  but this was  an absolutely  different predicament,  she was  caged and trapped from all sides confined to the lift,  there wasn't any other option and  impossible situation she found it impossible to escape  and the gas leakage  making it more difficult to breathe,  she had been only a few minutes in that  lift,  her throat began swelling,  she prayed  ali and  Kareem had got her message,  what if their meeting  extended for a couple of more hours..., the  idea  gave her goosebumps,  if they failed to reach her in time...her  train of thoughts  crushed her positivity,  she stared at her mobile certain  she was untraceable and out if range and  not connected,  was her device  tempered with or  was  some special  system was blocking her in this location 

zalim khushi

...he was a senior advocate,  practicing for over twenty years,  a residence and car quite costly  earned from his profession,   for  some of the cases  he got nothing  and his services were free,  he wanted to narrate one  such case here,  it was about a father who killed his only daughter,  police said it was character and reputation  related case but the advocate saw the age of the girl and other factors  suggested  it wasn't  as it appeared 

According to the f I r her name was pari chandyo, her mother was killed five years ago,  who was a school teacher and married to a well off man,  her postmortem  report  she was molested,  postmortem was conducted two weeks after the body was  found,  so it wasn't   much of an  issue,  , because  postmortem done after a long time isn't   that strong  impact,  , pari was the only daughter of that murdered woman and the  father of the girl was the accused,  he was arrested when he himself  surrendered and confessed  before the police,  he wasn't asked the motive nor did he  explain his objective of this murder,  he was  taken  in for fourteen days on police remand with a story attached  

In this matter a human rights n g o  contacted  gulag chandyo and got some papers signed and the narrator advocate  was given the case,  the advocate  asked the court  to let him see his client,  he was granted permission,  authorities were instructed to arrange a meeting  between the accused and  the advocate appointed by the human rights  n g o

They were allowed to meet alone inside the prison  and the first question he asked was if it was true  that he had killed his daughter 

Hearing the  question the accused smiled  he had already given his statement to the police regarding this 

But you  didn't explain the motive 

The  reason was so long  police had no time to listen 

The  f I r says bad character 

Gulag chandyo  explained he never said it, his daughter was  in fact so innocent and pure and  good hearted girl  that he could never have  thought of killing her 

from previous

...he was present in snow-covered  Valley,  surrounded with huge mountains  that were frightening,  he gazed at them in his mind s eye  opening and welcoming  , a strange feeling  urged him to capture them, his young  boiling blood  provoked him , he decided to move towards the mountains,  they seemed  impossible to defeat,  he  cautiously began climbing  up

The journey  commenced,  apparently the seemingly  easy  climb  hid several  difficulties inside it, one  step after other he kept on moving forward,  the distance  to the top began closing up, in that  expedition there were many elderly people  included,  interesting  point was this made the  climb  less horrifying,  the  mountain top felt very close  , a wave of joy   passed through his heart,  destination  was getting  nearer  unexpectedly  from behind a  mountain peak  sunrise became visible,, his eyes were blinded by the golden dazzle,  he thought of turning away from it but the  enchanting scene  gripped all of his attention  holding his gaze and  stood  watching it as the  sun moved upwards,  the golden rays changed their complexion to ecstasy,  he was mesmerized,  it felt the sun resided in it's heavenly abode atop mountains to rise from there 

page 178

...arif sat up startled in his  be, , rubbing his eyes he looked around him to check his  whereabouts,  , he was  in his own place,  he could see  in the  tiny flame of the mud lamp casting  light,   so was it all  a dream,  be patted his  feet  and legs,  he thanked  almighty for his  graciousness,  he took a deep breath  and sighed 

, what could be the  purpose of such a dream,  what exactly was it 

Arif massaged his forehead,  replaying the dream  again in his mind he felt the same feeling again,  shaking his head  emphatically he began preparing for the namaz leaving no  space for  any other thought 

Arif was a forty-five year old,  his ancestors were Iranians 

from previous

....an editor of a magazine asked the  woman sitting before him if she had  ever before written 

Of course sir, I've written my bad experiences that were sent to  famous magazine editor 

I believe they were returned assumed the editor 

No sir, there was four hundred  Iles distance  he quickly crossed to reach my house 

gazal

....constantly  the mole black  shone too much 

Their eyes lighted up too much 

He got  deep into the  heart of the sea 

Then he was  tossed about too much 

New harvest is ready of shayri 

The seeds of heart  felt  sentiments were too much 

He found  the light inside the  blind well

The river was  searched inside out 

Feet began moving towards the skies 

As he shook himself up free from the  murk and marsh

from previous

....two days later hashya and basat sat in a park on a corner  cement bench  isolated,  the air was dry,  the  evening  sun was  soothing to skin,  basat wore a hijab and hashya had covered herself in a full chaddar naqab and had her dark glasses on her face 

Basat was saying,  her relationship with  amir from day one  were not working,  as the days passed his  reality   began  showing,  he is a completely different type of a man,  , dear hashi continued  basat once if she remembered  she had told her all about him on the phone 

Sometimes he completely ignores her as if she didn't exist at all and wasn't his married wife 

Was he harassing you

No

But he wasn't nice 

That's the matter hashi he isn't bad at all in fact he's so nice 

So very nice  then what's all this happening,  I mean  separation and  divorce 

Sipping her juice  lost in thoughts she explained  he didn't want to marry her,  he is madly in love with someone else 

Hashya  sighed  , why did he  have to get married to you then 

Same  problems  spread all over our  society,  that woman  isn't  of his clan but  belongs to a different  clan, parents wouldn't agree  nor give them their consent,  mother even  fell ill so that it felt she was  dying,  he gave in to her wishes and married her 

Hashya  pursed her lips so he now wants to get rid of her 

No dear,  he says nothing  at all,  it's what I see and feel  that is so intolerable 

kanch mahal

....ever since hashya came back  seeing wasim  she was quite disturbed,  she wanted to speak to  basat but didn't have  the new number,  she was told  basat was  come from Karachi to Lahore,  this was a suitable opportunity,  hashya had  wajida beghum  mother of basat s number with her,  she contacted her, , after initial  exchange of social  polite  greetings hashya requested her to let her talk to basat, some hesitant resistance before  basat was  on line,  

Hashya introduced herself and asked her how was she,  voice was absolutely  emotionless  , why did basat  so secretively changed her number and not tell her

Just the day before she was  back from her  in laws,  she was planning today to contact  hashya  , she just couldn't  muster enough courage,  hashya  s condition had made her sad,, it seemed both of them  were born unfortunate 

Perhaps this is life,  small little joys come in life  like borrowed loans to be  returned  in installments  on high interest in sorrows,  pay back with the borrowed joys

Anyway  drop this topic for the time being and do tell all about Karachi,  how are you  

She stammered  she was  leading a normal life,  but she was very unhappy for hashya,  uncle sajid was infamous  for his bad tempered nature  but it was unexpected  things will change  suddenly  , life and death are controlled by almighty but  aunty jan  s untimely death  certainly was  the result of his  excessive  anger 

We shall talk  more on this matter later on meeting and now tell me if someone is around you 

Yes , there is, her answer was brisk 

Hashya guessed correctly  aunty must be  revolving around basat  eavesdropping and as her habit was 

So let's talk during the night,  call me  on this same number 

Ok

Around what time 

Midnight 

page 18

....what have you done without thinking,  thoughtlessly  fixed the marriage,  ever since Adil had returned he was sulking,  fariha and nazhat had come back with  invisible ties if love and happiness,  praising  mani and  all her family members,  Adil couldn't  tolerate it more 

Of course they had gone to see the girl  prospective bride,  how could they reject her when they liked her so much,  nazhat didn't like his exploding  like this,  she argued at least they could have  asked for more time before finalizing the proposal,  in fact  she found that girl maliha  rather  weird,  this last statement  put Adil off 

Why, what was so weird about her,  her eyes ears hands all were fine  apparently,  nazgat beghum challenged her son to give an explanation 

Mother please,  he  pleaded  , it wasn't at all about her etes ears and  hands, it was her attitude,  they visited her family to see her and ask for her hand,  didn't you notice how  in her  domestic  apparel she appeared before the  guests,  she stood at the  door  as if ready to flee, mother you even placed  some token money in her palm, she stared at the money as if it was burning her hand,  Adil poured out all his  resentment  bitterly,  he paused  for a second to take a breath,  fariha who was silently sitting  quickly cut in , mother  for God's sake  look at him,  he was just gazing at his hands there with a lowered head but his  mind was fixed on maliha like several cctv cameras,  that's why she was so nervous,  poor girl 

page 126

...though the police station was new  yet the  job done was the same,  seeing  and meeting a variety of criminals murderers,  robbers cheats from morning to  the end of the day,  catching them,  running after them,  chasing them,  tough investigation,  prisons and handcuffs 

Winters were  pleasantly warm,  days  brightly sunlit,  after dusk  silky comfortable cosy  beds,  the month of October  is such a pleasure,  one fine morning he sat in his  office working,  when a group of villagers from nearby arrived to see him,  with them  an odd unusual sensational information was presented,  he quickly invited them inside his office,  they were three of them and came from  mauza faridabad a mile away from the police station,  from their faces  deep stress oozed,  sitting upright he in a strong voice demanded what was the matter,  what made them look so white,  had they seen a ghost,  they exchanged glances amongst themselves before asking him  in surprised awe if he  was  already aware of it,  now it was his turn to look surprised,  what was it

The  ghost ..one of them began was seen and they came to  report the incident 

What rubbish you talk

Sir , come with us to  check it for yourself,  the newly married groom  was devoured by the ghost 

from previous

...walim said he visited the mysterious haveli  last night  and  recited  specific text , he was once again  sitting before the Spencer family,  he asked them to  get  together in a room for he had  something to tell them 

What is this useless boy up to  , irritated all of them  herded to form a group to listen to him carefully,  they all looked at each other  with  utter disbelief and surprise,  walim had a bandages  wrapped up on his hand and eyes outrageously red,  indifferent to their opinion walim was  speaking constantly,  he declared according to him it was absolutely impossible to break in from the four sides  and the locks were  very strong,  a wall was  cut open for  a man to get across,  the moment he got inside he could hear a strange noise  and  strange voices,  he felt he was being pushed outside  by some invisible force  but he kept on reciting his spiritual text and kept moving forward,  in one place he was pushed and he fell down,  he got  injured by a fallen brick ,  his  spiritual knowledge  says to get rid of the unwanted invisible forces in the haveli   on one of the four entrances  a special ritual had to be performed 

purisrar haveli

...it was getting dark,  walim stood leaning against a tree  watching very carefully at the haveli,  the  setting sun casted  mysterious light on the haveli making it look even more  mysterious,  walim was thinking how the haveli  scared away others but his heart  wanted to find out  all it's secrets  and attractions,  it was a vintage haveli  with doors on all it'sides , the haveli was   vacant and nobody lived there,   ever since he could remember  he had heard strange stories about it and always  seen it was not lived in,  though there wasn't much population around but  there wasn't any housing  for miles around the haveli,  it stood  isolated,  practically nobody lives near  frightening things,  it's so scary after all,  it was considered to be half a century old at least,  , it was sold several times  till recently  a rich man of the  area had bought it, Anthony was childless m his elder brother and his wife were dead,  they were just the two  of them brothers,  Anthony  along with his wife and four nephews, nik, David, Bruce and lev  resided in their family  mansion  Spencer house,  Anthony decided to  give this mysterious haveli to his nephews,  he got some changes done  to the haveli,  mainly four entrances for his four nephews,  after  buying the haveli hus wife died, and  strange happenings began to happen in the haveli,  someone was heard crying or laughing in the,  sometimes fire  was seen or the  radio played full volume,  the passersby  experienced  unexplained  things happen and  told about it to others, one time Anthony took his maid there and the moment he stepped into the room an invisible hand slapped him hard on his face,  both of them couldn't find who had hit him,  they simply fled  blindly from there to reach home,  meanwhile his family heirloom  necklace  fell broken  there,  the maid got scared and  grabbed him from the  collar pulling him out of the haveli to run when it was dropped,  everyone who heard of this incident became  troubled and scared,  his face  carried  the  mark of the mysterious slap,  from that point onwards nobody   went near it and it remained uninhabited 

from previous

....anyway you are stressed 

She  was ready to talk frankly  , her worries were being misunderstood,  she was  bothered  not that he had disappeared but  worried what if he came back 

An expression of surprise rose on the face of the subinspector,  she had something odd, weren't they happy together 

Not even for a day  sgabana answered in a cold voice 

, she  came to know  of his  real nature the morning after they were married,  what a cheat 

In that case  how were they married 

Because she was  giving official statement she would  tell him all said shabana thoughtfully , her father was  a well off man happy to be with his second wife who was quite young and controlled by her dancing on her tunes,  she married him for his wealth and to enjoy  life of luxury 

What about your mother,  his first wife 

She is dead,  shabana s voice  became hoarse with emotions,  because of firewall she was  put into this condition of mis marriage,  furoza was her father's second wife 

How was so 

She wanted to remove her from her life  so she could take full control of the house and she  planned a bad marriage for her 

Didn't your father  say anything in this matter 

He also was deceived 

from previous

....nazish was stunned to see a stranger sitting  in her house watching television  comfortably,  could that be the serial killer,  her feet became heavy  and unable to lift,  her mind  filled with  danger  signals,  her fertile imagination  was killing her, , she frozen on the last step of the staircase,  a chilling  shiver ran down her  spine,  her eardrum  was beating loudly,  before  a scream could escape her lips the man turned to look towards her saying it was her Mrs Azar if he wasn't mistaken he looked questioningly at nazish 

What matters who am I to you , suddenly she found herself     gaining strength of courage  , who was he, her voice  firm, what was he doing in her house 

He was  a man in mid forties,  dusky complexioned,  rather tallish,  an old cut  scar on his chin , clad in brown trousers,  blue  shirt and a jacket he looked  well  built 

He said he was  waris mir, he politely stood up, , he introduced himself was a well wished of her husband Azar, wasn't she nazish 

Waris mir s cultured  tone , nice countenance and  polite demeanor impressed her and she  was forced to  lower her guard and said  gently he was right she was  nazish,  in fact she was apologetic for her behavior because she had never seen him before,  it was  puzzling her how exactly did he manage to enter her house when she had herself  locked the main  gate 

He explained  he had come to see Azar on a most serious matter  he had  pressed the door bell  when the power cut started,  disappointed he thought of knocking  at the door,  because he had to see Azar or he would have lost a huge business  deal  so he  banged  the gate and  it was then that he  felt  an odd feeling 

What feeling  asked nazish  in a flow

He gestured towards a sofa before him  and asked her to relax before he  explained everything, 

Nazish who had become  so nervous to see  someone never seen before sitting in her house listening to him speak   changed her mind,  she sat down some distance away from him,  both could watch television set in front of them,  the news Channel was  on and he took no time to switch to a business channel 

page 17

Amma,  said she  , she was agreeing to the  alliance,  if Amma permits she wanted to give some  token  shagun in her daughter's hands , about Adil  already  was  known,  but if she wanted more information she could  have it, but  for them  the matrimonial proposal was final,  Nazhat beghum opened her purse 

Adil  quickly  shook his head  at fariha looking at him to stop mother but as luck would have it mani at that very moment lifted her head to look up  to see Adil  asking his sister wordlessly to refuse  , her eyes  filled with  tears and heart with fumes , she too didn't want to get married,  but she had succumbed to amma s wishes,  she  could have broken into  tears,  nazhat beghum  pushed  two notes of five thousand in her hands and  embraced her declaring maliha was from that moment her daughter 

Grandma also had liked the family for her mani,  amma got up and herself  picked up a piece of sweet from the plate  on the center table  to stuff Adil  s mouth with it, so both the families were agreed for  Adil maliha marriage 

Mani some time later got up to reach her room to throw away the folded notes in her hands  on the floor  before  sitting down beside them to openly and loudly  scream and cry,  when her family returned to the lounge having  seen off Adil and his family mani  came to stand near them to tell them she wasn't ready for this marriage,  they all were doing wrong to her,  her face red with rage , her  sharp nose  tip  from crying and rubbing was turned red too, her elder brother  Naim bhai  coaxed her to change her mind,  she  pleaded he must understand her point,  she was asked to calm down and tell them what was the matter with her 

radd e aml

... lights were  suddenly turned off,  they lived in a cooperative society,  zero load shedding zone  it was  that  not even for a second could wink off , definitely it must be a technical issue,  in such cases the power cut ended within half hour,  but that uncomfortable half hour seemed  to go on endlessly,  nazish was scared of the darkness and that night she was all alone by herself,  her husband  Azar was gone out of station  on a business tour to be back home the next morning,  she had been watching  a  news Channel on her TV before the unexpected power cut,  the anchor was giving out the details of a serial killer at large,  beautiful attractive women were  targeted,  he a master disguise  changed into a different  get up before going hunting, the news reader said the serial killer was a  psychopath 

Nazish quickly turned her mobile light on, but the result was long ghostly ghastly  shadows casted into the  room from the tiny  cell phone light,  her mind obsessed with the  news she was  scared to be alone,  there was also a portable emergency light kept 8n the house  but nazish couldn't remember where was it kept and when was it used last,  it was  a zero load shedding zone,  a specific drawer  was  used for storing candles,  she thought of calling Azar and got busy with the phone,  he answered and she  nervously informed him there was a power cut, he was  not surprised but concerned  about her fear showing in her voice,  she explained she was disturbed by the news,  he actually got annoyed at her for imaging  too much,  he tried to laugh it off saying it was  a  news Channel  drama to get more ratings 

page 39

....child what's your name 

The boy had so far  not spoken at all,  he was  hesitant and  nervous not confident,  emroz  he told his name 

Emroz what if all this had happened to you,  Pringle directly asked him,  in that case you would have  gone  looking for the  lady,  to meet all her close friends and enquired about her , you would have returned here the following day to check on any developments but this girl is completely weird  , her behavior towards her father is also  inconsiderate,  what do you say about her

That I know her for quite long  he answered on a serious note,  till sometime before she was absolutely normal,  she turned  crazy after ber husband's death,  she now thinks  on a different pattern on all matters 

Emroz  s statement  shook up his mind and asked if her husband was dead 

Yes, he nodded  , this happened some six months ago,  afterwards she became  irritable shirt tempered and strange,  she now doubts everyone,  he finished hi little speech with a shrug

Emroz was somewhere between twelve and fifteen years old  but he talked like a mature twenty five  or thirty year old 

Pringle  turned to  look  back  unexpectedly,  feeling the girl must be watching him 

Pringle spoke to himself  what did he do for her to make her interested in him, no favors done,  no gratitude shown

from previous

....the girl   like a detective  dog sniffed around  the flat  , each and every corner  , every thing inside,  after some minutes disappointed sge turned to ask her father  where was her mother 

The old man looked at Pringle before answering straightforwardly he had told all he knew  and closed his eyes,  it was up to them to believe him or not, the girl emphasized  mother didn't go anywhere,  she stayed in the flat all the time  besides  visiting the daughter 

Perhaps she went out shopping suggested Pringle,  after all he was experienced cop, he ought to be patrolling on Northampton square  that very moment but got himself  entangled in a useless talk by the girl,  he got irritable when her annoyed voice  spoke to him explaining she did all her mother's shopping,  her father  chipped in the girl was absolutely right,  his wife seldom went out, his eyes appeared larger than normal and tearful behind his glasses,  Pringle was asked if he wanted to have tea,  the father questioningly looked at Pringle,  explaining he could at least offer him some tea,  Pringle saw him going to the kitchen without waiting for him to say yes or no, next  he could hear the sounds of cabinets being opened and shut,  of water falling in the sink, , the sound of kettle  going on the stove followed by more sounds of different things and tasks , because it was a small  flat  sounds rising in any corner echoed  everywhere,  meantime  the girl and Pringle didn't speak at all 

samandar

......the setting sun presented a most enchanting scene yet it was saddening,  the golden rays of the sinking sun hitting the coastal  buildings turned the  air sorrowful and heavy,  he was  ready to leave for his work on one of such  sad evening,  his name was  Collin Pringle, he was part of the Scotland yard murder squad,  he was kept for his good work  but now he stayed out of violence and aggressive active  duties,  he was given less horrifying  easy tasks  because he was soon retiring,   he felt  empathy watching tge fishermen  returning homeward at the end of the day  and he would speak to himself  , constable Pringle  now it's time for you too to retire, this Scotland yard job never allowed you to think about yourself,  just a few more weeks time  before you will be a free man  with lots of spare time,  you can  fulfill all your dreams then 

He left for his job  engrossed in his own  world of imagination,  he was  on the patrolling duty,  he was  allotted a specific area the Northampton square,  when he was still two blocks away from the Northampton square  a girl  suddenly appeared before him  from the close by red brick building with dark glass windows 

Constable, thank God you arrived she addressed him , she explained she had sent for him,  she had  sent a boy to call him but the boy wasn't anywhere around 

Pringle hadn't seen any boy around and  spoke it truthfully,  perhaps he had gone  away on a different route 

The  girl in distress was quite young he thought just twenty,  she was ordinary looking,  she had buck teeth not letting her lips close properly,  her eyes seemed vacant and as if she had seen a ghost 

page 15

...mani you have been sitting there so long,  bua khala  phoned  they have  left and be reaching soon here,  zenab  looked at mani crouched nervously  in the corner of the sofa slapped her own forehead 

Mani wasn't herself  looking very  depressed,  mother called mani  to get ready,  sge lifted her head from her knees and asked her why was she doing this to her,  she wasn't ready to marry,  mani repeated herself  once again  

Dear this is a custom of yore , girls are always given away  , she goes to live with her husband one day,  zenab  beghum  s voice turned emotional  

Ammi  sge argued,  she didn't want to go anywhere,  she was scared of people and the world around her,  all she wanted was to remain forever with zenab,  mani got up to run to  her ammi to hug her

Ammi advised mani not to  think of the world or others it would only make her unhappy,  be grateful for what you have and be satisfied  , now quickly get up,  khala bua  and her group has left from their place and are expected to be here any moment,  rubbing her back ammi coaxied her to get up and properly get dressed,  , it was another thing  ammi  s words had no affect on her, the moment zenab turned to leave  mani wiped  her face of tears and was back  in the sofa corner  tightly fitted 

The food was eaten in really excellent mood,  the round of tea had started when  dadi gestured to nada to bring  mani in, nazhat beghum  apologetically  said  they had  overdone  the  feasting  formality,  both farha and  Adil  agreed with her wholeheartedly 

Marriages are made in heaven  and hospitality is meant for all the guests,  guests are welcome  in this house  , they are blessings in disguise,  what was destined fir you  was served before you 

from previous

...we would have  stayed longer but tickets for tomorrow are booked  and zaid has already informed his office  we are reaching tomorrow,  I promise to send you gifts from there 

Barrington  said it was so kind of her, give your  cellular number  , it would be nice to say hello hi sometimes 

Naushab had kept  some visiting cards in her purse  since she had been  on the old job, she gave one of them to Barrington 

Zaid grumbling asked  her to get going  and stood up , the other three also had to stand up, Barrington gave naushab  his own card and laughing said won't she need his address to send him gifts,  by the way  did you get married 

Twice 

What do you mean 

, more than once  marriage here is not allowed 

Got married  second time after giving  divorce to the first 

But  couldn't get along anyway,  first divorce  took place in the first marriage within eight months,  in the second  before six months,  both women  had some  problems from me but we  chose to part without  arguing no hassles,  now I live all alone said he

So when do you plan your third wedding asked zaid rather sarcastically 

If Barrington had  felt the sarcastic undertones he didn't show  it and spoke laughing he for some time  wanted to  be free and  spend a couple of years  with nobody in his life 

Naushab looked now at the card he had given her and commented he had  risen   so much in professional life,  he was on the board of directors of one of the top most companies 

Zaid  came closer to her to see it for himself,  Naushab gave  him Barrington s visiting card 

sangin khatma

....a casino in France  was  playing very slow music  haltingly,  Faisal had wanted to see it for himself,  he was  the  only son of naushab and zaid, who was to turn six in a few days but  his understanding and grasp was equal to a nine year old,  he had seen  men and women dancing in english movies  , mostly such dancing was  done in hotels and he had  expressed his wish to see  a  hotel  dancing floor 

Zaid had promised him  he was busy and a day before returning to their  country  from France  they would visit a dance floor,  Faisal was  now  visiting a dance floor  with his parents,  naushab and Zaid were married seven years,  both were  associated with journalism,  working for the top  most  newspaper  in their country,  they had  net each other on the job and   got romantically  connected and git married,  naushab  left the job  with  Faisal  s birth to be a full time care taker

Zaid remained on the job and  progressed  rapidly  showing his  extraordinary  skills,  in his first year  his hard work and  unusual  reporting  established him as the investigating  reporter,  he maintained his  good work and  his salary was  increased,  it was  very  clear  his work was selling and increasing the sales of the newspaper 

tum se achha kaun hy

...as it's customary  people were coming to see mani,  so each and every  member in the family was busy doing something important  for the occasion 

Amma, where are the almonds kept for the firni asked  asya  bhabhi craning  her head  from the kitchen in a busy manner from amma who was leaning against a long cushion  in ber cot in the lounge relishing her  paan  , amma instead of shutting off her paan box  pushed the  steel cup  towards  her  and looked at Zenab beghum   whose  face was turning pale 

Amma declared that's what she didn't like about them,  at least they must  trust the almighty  for  doing good  , it is  His will working  overtime always, amma s tone  was slightly  complaining 

Amma, said zenab  she really had faith in almighty  but her statement was   cut off by noorin who had then entered the scene from the kitchen holding  a plastic bowl in her right hand  and a big tray in her other hand  to stand  near amma asking her to quickly check the spicy masala for the kebabs cooking , she extended the bowl  containing  a mixture  durectly before  amma  s face 

Asta arrived  asking her to  check  the  sweetness and texture of  firni, so she could  start   preparing  the salad

Listen,  wait, what kind of dishes are you all making,  one  bahu wants my attention for firni the other  drawing me to check  masala for kebabs,  girls like you and  mothers in law who brought you into the family are responsible  for  arranging things  , amma was by now quite flared up

By now  zenab and Asta had themed up and amma checked the pudding  , it was alright,  Asta turned to leave   , amma s  voice  stopped her, listen girlie,  the almonds you took away from here  did you add them to the   boiling  pudding  on the stove 

Amma suddenly had stopped asya expecting her to do something sloppy as always,  asya explained  assuring her she had not added the almonds to the pudding  cooking on the stove but tge almonds were kept for the garnishing 

 

khush akhlaq

....it is true man is not  taller than the tallest and higher than mountains,  but if he learns to be pleasant and polite  he can  equip himself with a most wonderful weapon that can  turn his foes to   loyal friends 

waris

...., it was followed  for years ,  Murad shah alias  shah sain  would  go touring through his area  every month,  two of his regular companions  went with him,  who would  solve  the problems of  people on the spot,  giving out instructions to be followed  assuring them, though  he  had no power no position  but he was trusted  by the  residents of Shahpura that  he would definitely   improve their lives 

The insignificant small village Shahpura had just by sain s  efforts turned to a growing flourishing  township,  schools  for boys and girls were  built,  roads  , facilities for the villagers,  clean drinking water cooking gas and  electricity were   given,  sain was  a  loving father figure to the villagers,  women  respected him for their safe secure lives,  he was a strict  disciplinarian,  the village was upgraded and prospering,  , they all were integrated into a large family,  everyone cared for everything,  they all took  care of each other but one day  an evil eye  destroyed it all and  disaster descended over shahpura, one night  unidentified enemy  ruthlessly  killed  sain , his  dead body was taken away by the authorities for the postmortem and  investigation  and  the son returning  from the  city died in an accident,  a famous lady doctor and a staffnurse  traveling with him also  lost their lives,  in a shock each and every soul personally felt defeated,  the youth  heated up in rage and sorrow waiting for their masters,  it was generally believed it was a political murder