from previous...

.....anyhow  amma,  nazish  and ajar left for multan,  azm shifted to a hotel  , two weeks later when he reached home h breathed  a sigh of satisfaction  , nazish who was for ages was  an outsider  was amidst them  a most  reliable and dependable   family member,   bonding between  nazish and  amma was   strengthening  rapidly,  , amma  was  showering  her sincere   warm affections  on  nazish  regretting her past behavior,  nazish  was also  attached to her mother in law  treating her like her own mother,  azm  found this new development  to his satisfaction,  , nazish  for sure  belonged  to the  family  but  azm wanted ajar should also  get equal importance  during her stay  there,  for no apparent reason  he had  become so concerned for  ajar  recently,  , he even instructed roshni to take care of ajar, who obediently  followed  her  brother's  wishes to make him happy,  , slowly  and steadily  their relationship improved,  they became more  informal and friendly,  , if this aspect  of their family life  improved  aaz8m on the other side  was getting himself  on less solid  ground  and more unbalanced,  , the first jolt shook him when  he reached  the shops to collect the rentals  and  savar sahib  said he  had  already deposited the entire amount in the account of nazish as she had instructed him on the phone 

page 129....

....the  reactions of all the family members was exactly as expected,  seeing amma with azm   nazish became  nervous,  ajar was surprised  and aazim  was  more  irritated and  worried  than  happy 

For a couple  of days  amma  silently observed the  whole  scenario,  habits and daily  routine of the entire family  and then  disclosed  the reason of her coming,  roshni  was soon getting married,  her in laws  several times  spoke  of elder son aazim and his wife nazish not  being there  ,  uncaring as they are amma decided to come herself  to inform them and invite  her elder  son  and his wife  herself  before  aazim  elder brother to the bride  roshni  chose to arrive  as a guest  on special appearance  without  bringing nazish with him 

Aazim argued  there was still  lots of time  for the wedding and he certainly was coming  after all  wasn't roshni his  little sister his tones complexion  was rude

Amma  showed her pleasure on the talent of nazish  who was a good seamstress,  amma deliberately  ignored  his comments  to highlight  his wife's  skills of sewing,  directing her statement  to nazish  amma  carried on  wasn't it her wifely duty  to support  amma in getting her daughter married  and to help the bride  too , her tone was warm informal and  accusing,  nazish  quickly  agreed  to reach multan  whenever amma  wanted her  , her wish was her command,  amma still looking   lovingly annoyed  said  nazish had  not  come for years  to multan  and  how could  amma believe her, azm suggested  to take  bhabhi home with her  to which  aazim gave him  a  furiously bruised  look 

page 127...

.... his stay was  lengthened,  he had expected to finish his job and  soon after  return to  multan , he   headed home wards  one weekend,  he had visited  Nasir bhai  a friend of  aazim before  telephoning  and  updating  amma  on the  life  aazim  lived in Lahore,  Nasir was the  friend  on whose  suggestion   aazim had  shifted to Lahore,  Nasir also  worked  in Lahore,  azm visited him to add his number on his contacts,  luckily  Nasir was at home,  he was also on leave,  , he met and  welcomed  azm very warmly,  , quick exchange of greetings  followed  by azm asking him  about  aaz8m  s activities 

They still were working  8n the  same place,  but aazim had changed his friend circle,  his new friends were not  good,  they were bad company  and  aazim was under their  spell,  not ready to listen to anyone else,  , aazim had  bluntly  snubbed  Nasir  for trying to interfere in his  choice of life 

from previous...

....azm on phone  spoke to amma and  shared his observations  he had made staying with his elder brother in Lahore  that aazim bhai  was  not  as true as his statements  which  were  false  and bazish was also   an ordinary woman  and that  both were  absolutely  incompatible and  didn't get along  together at all,   , it was a possibility  aazim  was  controlled  by her who definitely stopped him from  staying in touch with  his family back  home in multan,  he was deliberately  and systematically  made distant  from  his contacts,  bhai   was kept  away  from them all  , that  was  azm   s version  , he wasn't  naturally in any position to  tell him  and his wife  how to lead their life   , amma was confused, her elder son  aazim was so innocent  honest and loving  who  wasn't  aware  of the wickedness  of  women's nature  fell prey  to nazish  s scheming,  it was certain  nazish    laid  an emotional trap to catch him    poor  aazim couldn't  resist  her false charms , what a deep and sharp  that  odious woman  is,,  amma sunk in a  deep  depression  , it was difficult to make amma see  the situation  as it was through his detailed narrative,  he sighed pathetically,  amma was miles away  quite helpless unable  to rectify or reverse  the situation  and azm was powerless  to argue  with her telephonically,   but  tge matter was even  far more serious  in aazim bhai  s life  than he could think of,  azm walked towards  nazish s room to repair his shirt button  that was cracked,  he was about to lift his hand to knock at the door  when  he heard  rising voices  that gripped his  feet, it was ajar  speaking in a    tearful tone with her sister  asking  nazish to demand  a couple of thousands   from  aazim  it wouldn't  hurt him  , such a small amount 

from previous...

....next few days  were  exceptionally busy, he would leave after breakfast,  tge entire day was  spent  on office work  after office  late nights out with friends  became his  regular   routine,  his other colleagues who were with him for the training course  had no financial  responsibilities of any kind,  they were absolutely free from  all worries  and  thoroughly enjoyed themselves,  he had  enjoyed their  hospitality  8n expensive  hotels  for two nights and on the third occasion it was his turn to pay the bills  and azm paid the bill  for their  wholesome dinner  which was  double the amount   comparatively  from the previous two nights,  he wasn't a miser  but his domestic status  didn't allow him to  afford  such  lavish parties and enjoy  excessive luxuries,  he had been saving   regularly  for the unseen future,  he  spent meagerly just on the  necessities  no extras no wastage,  

Having paid  for the dinner  azm realized  he couldn't be one of the rich  friends  in the group  and  can't continue with that kind of lifestyle,  next day he directly returned home  from the office,  his friends tried to stop him  for the late night activities  but he comfortably  used a convenient  excuse  of  not being able to join them for his elder brother aazim  had lovingly scolded him for  being there in Lahore and not  showing up  whole day and  for that even at night   so azm was to be going around with family  from that point onwards 

page 121...

...aazim  returned home quite late in the evening  and azm observed he was more shocked than he had  expected him to be on seeing him,  something  told azm his brother wasn't really  pleased,  he asked  if he was there to stay for a month  , at least he ought to have informed him before  coming,  azm had  already explained  it was  impossible to contact him  yet  aazim repeated his  complaint,  younger brother  insisted  perhaps he had changed his sim and forgot to share the new number  he must now  give him it so azm would  save it, amma  for long   wanted to hear her son's  voice,  everyone missed him , he had  no come home  for  ages it seemed,  azm wasn't put off by elder brother  at  all  though nazish had  spontaneously  enquired after each and every one   , aazim as if had forgotten to ask about his mother and sisters,  azm himself began describing  their family life back 8n multan but aaz8m was apparently not showing any interest  and was  absent minded  ,

Aazim  had  a perfect  excuse  he had dropped his mobile somewhere and  sending his new number just slipped out of his mind,  tge lost number was blocked 

Azm  asked what made him change the number when he could have got the same number and  the family in multan  easily  could have stayed in touch with him   not getting so panicky 

page 119...

....azm would  keep a very  meager amount  and hand over  all his  salary  every month  to amma whose etes flooded with emotional storms  showering  lots of loving  blessings on him, azm had learnt to manage his  personal sentiments and kept his  thoughts to himself  and reached  his elder brother az8m s in laws  house,  his other two colleagues were staying in the hotel and insisted he too stayed with them but he had other plans,  the office was paying  handsomely,  he was saving the daily allowance for  roshni,  he consoled himself  as he stopped to knock at his brother's  door  that it was not  a matter of debate to stay there,  on the third count the door opened  , a girl stood there  silently  with  questioning  eyes, he asked if aazim bhai was home, her answer was as short as  his question that  at this time he was away 

He explained  he was younger brother of aazim come from  multan,  it was necessary to introduce himself hoping tge door would be  opened wide  but her face remained  blank and expressionless  as  before,  azim returned home after  seven  in the evening and she promised to inform azim about his  arrival then,  her attitude suggested he must leave now,  a sense  of defeat   ran through his entire  body,  , the  luggage he carried  clearly  defined he was a traveler