jungle

....before him  lay the scene , it was real , a fact, such a bitter reality  , a fire of hatered and rage rose inside him , his head  was filled with overwhelming strong feelings , he looked into farha s eyes, , her eyes were devoid of fear devoid of shame  and completely devoid of any joy, the eyes were absolutely blank of any emotion , asad  speculated what all she was going through , he suddenly realised why shaista was scared , that specific moment could  change the whole situation on his involvement , triggering unexpected reactions, , an idea cropped up into his mind  once long ago  he had heard from a senior  that a woman and sword belong to the man using them , so clearly farha was not hers , this situation appeared  because  of someone else and farha s agreement , the fire burning within him was put off , he stood a long while   there before turning  to sit down he was tired of travelling , so much time had passed , shaista came to sit down by his side, 

Are you alright

Asad was fine   though his voice suggested otherwise his tone was defeated

He wanted to explain what was  happening 

A voice from behind his back rose

Let me explain shaista it was farha  who was there to explain her version

gazal

...every time our ryes met

Old memorues kindled

.

Faces expressed clearly  emotions

Hidden and carried deep in the hearts

.

.excellence in expressing  eloquence

Increased with each experience if hurt feelings

.

.never be in love with the kinds

Whose very nature is faithlessness

.

.temoting and ellusive this world is

Slipping out of catch  unobtainable far  beyond

.

.heart  feels heavy in gatherinfs 

Almighty , orayers to you i offer

.

.why speak  blaming of strangers  

Nazim  our souls are badly bruised by our own

deewangi

...  that  crazy lover  who has lost hus mind is usually seen sitting by a couple of graves in the  main city cemetery mumbling to himself , once upon a time he was a famius doctor , a reputed surgical specialist , owner of a  massive  private hospital , then one day what happened  was   everything  ended , now he like a spirit  of misfortune   roams the streets and crossings of the town  speaking to himself, his filthy apoearance   old rags dirty face  contradict he ever was a rich  doctor 

page 183

...located  amidst the vast blues of tge skies  the brightly shining sun casted its  white rays directly  on the ground bathing it in its divine light  , the ground was full of all sorts of people 

 Lush green  trees  and adjoining  roofs of cottages surrounded  the church  with its sloping roof and architecture that stood there befire him  in its full majestic form

Sir vatese church  absolutely fantastic , was a treasurehouse of heritage and renarkable history lineage built one thousand years ago  in german architecture  during the ekeventh century  contained ferman streak  explained serena  in her cool voice, sir vetese was a preacher fearless enough to promote christianity , he was buried  underneath  , king henry then  turned  the building into a chapel , serena was speaking in englush all this long but zaran s expression was clearly  uninterested in historic facts  of the building 

page 71

....sheru,  spoke wasi , i have lost my new pair of shoes, , their merry laughter escaped from their mouths , perhaps it was an episode of the stolen shoes , intense fear of ammi jan.  settled on  him bringing hot tears to his eyes

Next stop was at the boat swing 

Depositing the money they. All  climbed up to settled themselves on the wooden planks , they were unstoppable at their mischief  making , a woman sat near by , wasi s elbow hit her bloated stomach  , the expectant mother  gave him two hot slaps on his face,  screaming are you blind  cant you see i am expecting , it was quite embarrassing scene realised wasi

So what  me too , i too have a stomach to take care of 

She looked  at him with surprise  

 Meantime the swing had started  , the excited noise erupted from the criwd, as the speed incread, increased the volume and  crazy shrieks  drowning the screams if this group of boys , wasi dug his teeth in the expecting woman s arm, whose shrieks rose  drowning his  and theirs were sunk together in the rising cresendo , finally their heads began spinning and the swing was stopped mid air, no refund , and extra payment to the victim woman they got down  , he was still walking bare feet , fear of ammi jan  doubled his troubles,  sheru declared he would help and procurred folded pair of  thin handnade pair of leather  provincial shies out of his pocket , he had been hiding them all this time, 

They reached nanu s boundary wall scared to death murmuring is there somebody there

Nobody there, because somebody is here came the angry vouce if nanu from behind the wall

phir uss rah guzrein

...november 21  2005

Time  dusk rapudly descending darkness

To my dear friend adi

I am  constantly praying  life  may shower  on  you  all the wonderful  blessings  from all sides  and you stay forever carefree   happy  as i left you  when i died, i write this letter  addressing only you instead of others  because several uncounted years have passed  but i still remember quite clearly it was only you who always was interested in being the head  of  us all 

You are not jyst my brother  but more than that  like a mother   affectionate and sincere in your love fir me , you were ever ready to protect me and overly cautiious  , this courage to protect  comes naturally to mothers , we were four of us adi, now also we are four of us , because i am certainly present amidst you

yunhi rstey mein

....she was simply  taking one step after another walking forward without thinking unaware of the surrounding world

Mikal is quite nice , dear he will definitely take  wonderful care of you , on her mental screen the morning breakfast scebe replayed like a film scene 

But daddy i dont want to get married  just niw  , she refysed the proposal at her level , either sides of  the  walkway were  lined up with colourful flowers but sge did not see them 

Why  wont you marry him , its a million dollar contract , they are the top  industrial group ready to  partner with us, spoje her stepmom rina 

Still engrossed in her own worrying thoughts  turned the corner on the street

Your mother is right dear , they are willing to transfer several factories on your name 

She had looked into her fsther s eyes where she realised  rina had successfully   managed to register her own thoughts 

No way daddy, i am not agreeing to any of your business  deals 

She wanted desoarately to lose herself in that crowd forever so that she will never be found again