page 17

...humza was sick , down with  fever and  cold,  he  missed his mother badly,   in the recent past  in such cases she  used to  take care of him , she would refuse to budge  from his bedside,  mahim also  gave him full attention    ignoring  their  petty  disagreements and  made special coffee for him,  demise of both his mother and sister  brought  tears of warm emotions into his eyes 

When the evening shadows lengthened   arfan   came by to see him,  he had to pay the rent of the two shops 

How is bhai han feeling  , he asked humza ritualistically 

Humza helplessly  answered he was  right before him 

What do the doctors say 

What can they say,   all now depends on father's  strength  and  in that matter he is  so careless  humza was disappointed 

Arfan nodded    absent mindedly and then asked  what were his plans for his studies 

So far he had thought nothing about it,  everything was out of control and unmanageable,  his tone was defeated 

You have to manage,  hiw can it work otherwise,  he tried to encourage him to not give up hope 

Actually father's condition also wasn't allowing him to do things  he wanted to,  he confessed  he was   not able to cope with his circumstances