page 19

....what's going on  friend  , asked  shayan  in a tired  voice   from Walid who was busy working on his laptop 

Why are you so dull , Walid threw a sidelong glance  turning away from the screen   to go back on  his  work

Because of my sister's condition I am so disturbed,  with  the passing  time  her condition is deteriorating,  panic attacks are increasing,  all night  she was kept under observation,  her b p was shot up,  at fajar she was  brought home,  now she is  given tranquilizers,  m it feels  she will never recover,  he really was   disturbed 

Almighty is merciful  friend  don't you worry at all 

In these circumstances  stay  sensible and strong , only you have to take care of yourself and your family  spoke Walid sympathetically 

page 17

....darling,  whatever for are you making such an issue of this insignificant  matter 

Insignificant  for you,  she was  hurt by the  uncaring words of wasif

Come on  dear we are  to be life partners  and it is not a matter  at all  of importance 

What was to happen after signing a piece of paper had happened before that  so it's not a big thing  he was self confident and uninterested 

Of course it's a  matter of debate because after all it happened without my consent  she slowly growled 

It was all your own fault,  you were openly inviting temptation  drunk and  available  

Bags of gold are temptation to robbers , no decent man ever will have any of it

She was   not  liking  wasif s attitude  and  slapped his right cheek  quite hard

He wasn't used to listening to nonsense,  he lost his temper , he had become a warm friend and she forgot her own status,  , his pitch  and tone changed completely,  what if he tried to take advantage of her, what if he tried to take over her life and her control   , 

She screamed  he had hit her,  she she hit him back  both  became  aggressive 

nahin Boley to suntey nahi

...where are you,  are you hiding,  why aren't you visible,  her head and feet thickly hena ed  watching  the television   sitting  right before tge screen , sulking mangoes  raqya  nervously jumped up on hearing  kalshum mian s voice m the mango was half eaten and the rest slipped out of her grip to  land in a sticky mess on the belly laid carpet 

Oh God, she was about to stand up scared  just to remember in time the hena was plastered on the soles of her feet and    that saved the carpet  from becoming more dirty thankfully  , she decided to remain  sitting 

But her etes were glued  to the fallen pulpy  mango  on the carpet 

For heaven's sake  why are you  sitting there  so still like  meditating  gautam budha not moving  at all

I have been calling you for some time  have you gone deaf

At last safdar pasha  had reached  her and his voice had sounded rather sharp 

from previous

.....wedding  functions were over  and the holy month of rampant began ,aima for a few days was  gone visiting her previous family   where  one if her Taya and one cgacha lived with their families  phuphi lived near by  grandparents were  dead   but aima was  given a warm  welcome and  v I p treatment  and  accepted spontaneously 

Though nit so wealthy  nor  exceptionally prosperous  yet nobody was  poor  or mean , all of them were decently progressive,  aima  was having a super  fun  vacation  amongst her cousins,  she  almost knew everyone  before  reaching them,  , recent  wedding  functions  had  brought them  closer emotionally 

Basically  aima was  a full of life  generous  and happy go lucky type of a person,  she liked people and  was easy going  friendly  young woman m her nature was likeable  because she was very amiable and comfortable to be with 

page 19

....who are you 

Who am I  with a straight face sge blurted out

Dear rani go inside and rest  m phuphi s voice  was  inserted with hidden annoyance 

It's your daughter  exactly like you  she spoke rather mindlessly 

Alright wait here  till we meet again,  I will send sgeraz, phuphi  gathered her heavyweight  personality  from the sofa to get up ,  she also shook rani s   shoulder  , tgey both also stood up 

Abbu  senior , aima looked at  them  m they  wanted to stay longer  talking to rani, , her etes were glued on ber but vacant of all expressions 

We will  come again  said  senior abbu  including sgeraz and aima 

After that  wedding  function  , long hours spent  in the company of cousins  and noisy celebrations   amidst them all aima   couldn't  forget the pair of beautiful etes  her heart and mind revolved around that  golden pair of eyes , whatever she did those etes  would   emerge  in her mind  and pull her 

Where are you lost  asked sgano repeating  herself  three times   before  she heard her 

Listen shano, can you tell me something about  rani aunty,  senior abbu was telling   she is a psycho patient 

Who  are you talking about ,  not that corner  one 

But of course  same

I have never met her , just  sen glimpses of her in my childhood days

 But why are you so much interested in her 

from previous

....I am  so  happy with your performance  zai you never  let me down  you never disappointed me  you always  fully measure on my parameters,  that mysterious voice  was  intoxicating  going straight to the mind  captivating but  the corner from where it was  spoken was in complete dark  and nobody visible,  she could  feel someone's presence but  but sge couldn't  see who was there 

I never get disappointed,  you have fulfilled all my wishes,  my life is enriched with  new experiences  that I am left with nothing to wish for,  I am glad I don't belong to the  group of fools  who  are forced to compromise   and leas a life of deprivation   , their wishes never fulfilled,  these fools turn to faith to receive all that they couldn't  afterlife 

Absolutely true,   you shall always have  what you want in future  too because  you always   completed the tasks given,  your hardwork and efforts  proved fruitful to us, you have brought us unlimited profits  and you shall be rewarded for that 

from previous

....the hall was brightly illuminated    shining  and dazzling,  ear  splitting  noisy loud music  playing  shook everything  present in the hall  but the  the couples remained  absolutely  unaffected m drinking  colorful  drinks  they stayed engrossed in their  enjoyable   moments of gossip  and  merrily  kept on talking,  welcome  to our free  and beautiful world   of joys,  ,, here nobody criticizes  anyone  nor  any personal questions are asked   , this new world is created by us to live  life fully without  any fear,  you too can join us and  live your life your way,  these  words were uttered in her ears by wasif  junjua  who had just entered the hall with sheela, he was madly crazy happy with his one arm around  sheela s waist  completely unaware  sgeela was totally confused  in this mind-boggling  atmosphere , she lost her balance and learned  on wasif for support,  this was a different  type of world  I was not familiar with  , I also hope this  exotic experience will  bring me all the happiness I long for,  wasif s support  gave her the strength she wanted  and  shirking off all doubts  she opted  for life  she chose life