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