page 25--

-waqar   sat  down to  play  a  game  of  cards, and  lost  his  fifty  thousand  salary  gambling, shafiq  sab  wanted  him to  play  more  but  he  had  no  money  left  on him , for  fuel  also, he  got  up  nervously, what  will he  do  for  the  rations, his  father  in law  could  arrange   thankfully  fo  this  month  but  he  had  forgotten to  reach the  air port  on time,  they  did  not  have PTCL  , only  cell phones, he  had  the  numner   to  contact  and  he  called  his  father  in law  whose  phone  was  not  answering, his  wife  must  have  given him instructions  to  reach  home  ,  so  now  the  only  thing  left  to  solve  was  what  excuse  can he  invent  to  explain how  he  lost  his  salary, shahara  faisal  was  busy, there  was  no  traffic  jam but it  was  rush  hour,  he  headed  towards  the  airport,  sonia  had  once  given him a  fantastic  idea  of  always  keep five  hundred   rupee  note  hidden inside  his  coat  pocket  for unexpected  emergencies  and  he   felt  relieved 

page 134--

--komal  was  newly  married  bride  who  finds  her  husband  zwar very  nice  but  his  mother  behaved  rather  rudely  she  was  hurt  by  every  action and  word  from her,  as  if  she  believed  the  bride  would  entice  zwar  into leaving  the  family  so  a  new  house  was  built  for  the  younger  couple  , she  would  herself  decide  what  was  not  said, not  done  , not  intended  , giving  her  reactions to  others   imagined  behaviour  towards  her, if  the  neighbourly  woman shared  her  family  problems  with  the  senior  woman  she  would  imagine  it  was  happening  or  could  happen to  her  also  because  she  had  a  new  bride  in the  house, though the new  bride  had  so  far  not  defied  her  in any way, soon enough komal  exploded  , her  pent  up  feelings   poured  out  like  vlocano  ash  , she  was  not  leaving  or  going  anywhere  she  was  there  to  stay  and  her  husband  also  was  staying  there , if  he  moved  out  se  also  was  expected  to  move  out  with him so  everything  that  related  to  zwar  also  was  a  matter  of  concern to  her  whther  she  was  given permission or  not  to  join in the  conversation , ultimately  it  affected  her  life  and  she  was  not  on anyone"s  say  leaving  the  house  for  good, that  was  final, but  she  had  to  yet  discover  what  was  it  that  was troubling  her  mother  in law  into  believing  she  was  like  other   shallow   women

page 240--

--the  doctor  was  handed  a  cap  of  a  north korean soldier,  looking  at  it  inside  out and  finding  no names  he  put  it  on a  table,  what  else  was  found  he  wanted  to know,   a  charm  with  a  string attached, to  ward  off evil , fallen out  from one  of  the  attackers  on a  wooden platform while  loading  their  boats,  yong  asked  for  permission to  quickly   take  dang  to  search  for  hong in beijing  not  a  small place  , the  nurse  must  be  found  , dang could  help  because  a  native  knows  the  lay  of  the  land  , one  thousand  american dollars  and  an  equal  amount  in chinese  currency  was  sanctioned  to  yong , dang  said  they  were  going  with  the  charm  which frightened  hing to  see  a  scholar  astrologer  

page 25-

--he  forgot  he  had  to  receive  his  father  in law  at  the  airport, on his  way  to  the  air  port  he  sat  down  to  gamble  , where  shafiq, naved  and fahad  were  already  wating  for  him with his  salary,  the  cards  were  distributed, he  was  very  excited  to  see  the  three  aces  in hand, he  could  never  lose  this  game, he  began doubling  , others  played  blind  and  threw  their  cards  , shafiq   was  going  stady  blind, finally  only  that  much  amount  was  left  with  which he  could  either   ask  shafiq  to  show  or  double  the  game  but  the  pile  of  around two  lakhs  and  more  was  inviting  and  he  asked  shafiq  to  show,  throwing  his  three  aces  as  he  began to  gather  the  pile, but  shafiq  stopped  him because  he  had  a  trail of  jokers

nakam fateh--

--hong  was  the  main security  in  charge  of  the  camp,  he  got  a  call  from the  camp  gauard  that  two  korean  teams  had  attacked  their  base  camp  on the  china  north korea  border  near  the  eucalyptus  forest ,  stolen  micro wave, computers  and radio  and  abducted  the  nurse,  hong  who  slept  in his  uniform reached with  fur  cap  and  an over  coat  at the  camp  in a  moment  to  see  the  north korean  uniforms  fading  away  in distance  , he  instructed  the  vehicles  to  follow  them quickly  and began  moving  in the  same  direction, he  had  almost   reached  the  outer   line  of  the  forest  when he  heard  the  jeep  approaching  in the  back, turning  he  saw  dang  at  the  driving  seat  , hong's  trusted  man  asking  him to  jump  into  the  passenger   seat  , he  had   been in the  camp  only  six  months , he  had  to  deal  mostly  with bar girls, meanial  workers  who  did  the  washing , cooking  and  cleaning  in the  camp  for  the  army , he  had  to  pick up  the  spoken chinese  and  now  both  dang  and  hong  conversed  in broken  dialects  and  understood  each other  quite  well

page 132--

--after  the  weddng  function is  over  and  guests  leave  , the  emptiness  and  silence  remind  one  of  noisy  celebrations  the had  enjoyed, the  bride  was  alone  , the  disturbances  emotional  and  outer  were  settling  down,  elder  sister  in law  was also  returning  to kenya  that  night, the  other  two  younger  ones  were  happily  gone  to  their  husbands  homes  with  gifts  and  gifts and  more  gifts   that  brought  smiles  to  their  faces  and  that  of  their  children, the  bride   came  down  to  breakfast , ammi  was  already  there  present  arranging  the  dishes  on the  dining  table  where  zwar  already  was  attacking  his  food  plate  hungrily  excited  to  have  good  food  in his  plate, he  asked  why  so  many  dishes  were  served  just  for  the  three  of  them,  ammi  in a  tone  that  cut  the  bride  in many  pieces   explained   it  was  very  important  to  serve  extra  dishes    to  the  new  bride, zwar  still  busy  eating  did  not  bother  to  lift  his head  but  remarked  when the  bride  turned  to  leave  them alone  , not  to  go  to  the  room, she  mus  sit  there  and  ea  because  ammi  was  not  well and  was  to  eat  alone  in her  room in private  , to  which ammi  added  again in the  same  cutting  to  pieces  tone  that  she  was  to  eat  in  her  room and  they  must  have  their  meal  happily  together   there  in her  absence

from previous--

-in the  office  the  manager  was  shaking  with fear, he  had  found  a  pineapple  sized  and  shaped  hand  grenade  in his  office  drawer, the  man  who  was  there  found  out  it  was  a  plastic  toy  a  lookalike  of  a  bomb  but  was  lighter  than a  fire  cracker,  it  was  empty  inside,  no  explosive  material  , no  chemicals ,  assured  of  his  own brilliant  role  he  begins  investigating  the  case,  
-who  saw  the  bomb  first
-who  all followed  the  first  man in the  office
-who  was  under  doubt
-what  was  written in the  note  found  under  the  bomb
--it  was  addressed  to  the  manager  asking  for  a  loan of  five  lakhs  if  not  arranged  within a  certain  time  period  he  would  regret  the  consequences -still  not  revealing  that  the  bomb was  not  real  he  continued   to  question the  guard