page 163

....from the scene of robbery  the bridge was some half a mile  away,  both of them  in a single line  started walking towards it with the stolen jersey cow,  so far so good  nobody  met them on the way,  this was a matter of satisfaction,  because it was  in their favor that nobody  saw them  with the cow or he could  testify  as a witness later  and then  afzal khan s  wrath would  destroy them , they were doing their best  to stay  unseen  and cross the bridge quickly with the  cow

Some hundred feet away from the bridge they both  were jolted to a halt, near the bridge  there stood a crowd,  both  robbers looked at each other   anxiously,  

Nawab Alam to shah ji it was  now a disconcerting  situation so many people  gathered  by the bridge 

Tahir was also worried,  the plan they made was foiled new problems  rose,  they couldn't get away  with the cow as the crowd stood there watching the bridge 

Tahir asked  the other to wait  in the thickets and he would  find out  what was going on,  the bride was broken  and the crowd was  waiting to repair it

page 162

....both of them were   hiding in different trees near the river,  there were  several  places though on the ground  from where they could  see bhashu tge zamindar  s man  but Tahir shah had  this suggestion  to  take safe position on a higher  tree to check not only on bhashu but anyone else following him , certain  that the  clever zamindar fazal khan would  never send his man alone  but  more men for his safety will follow him 

Tge river was  surrounded with trees   growing in the fields  spread out for miles  , no village  was around,  after a very long time  bhashu appeared   with his  cattle  on the scene,  both  hiding in their respective trees searchinly  scanned tge whole area , tgeir doubts were  apparently   wrong  , only some  workers were  doing their work in the fields in the distance  some of them were women 

Bhashu had reached the spot and was  crossing  from there with his cattle to reach the river  to  let his cattle   drink water m amidst the cattle were the usual  beasts cows goats and  two  jersey cows  the jerseys were they were after 

Bhashu  herded his cattle towards the same daily spot at the river where it was shallow,   Tahir shah and  nawab Alam  climbed down from their  hiding  , surveyed their surroundings and began moving towards the cattle drinking river water , they intended to reach bhashu without being seen,  o be on the safer side both of them had covered themselves  and also their faces with  bedsheets

page 28

....she had always believed  it there were  just two characters in every story,  one beauty and one  love, at the most a third character  sometimes that of a villain,  in her story there was no villain just sherazi ahjaz, she would often think  without him  her life wouldn't be the same,  she still would be  shuffling between the old campus and  the royal fort, , it was him  sherazi ahjaz who had   shown sympathy and given her suggestion   and made sure she did it After the papers were over  she like a mad woman  walked  from old campus to the fort and back,  round after round  when he bought her a ticket to Karachi,  

He wanted to stop her for any reason but  seeing her condition  ge was concerned about her well-being  , her roaming around alone aimlessly  was  distressing,  that town wasn't for her nor she was meant for that place,  she must go back to her own life  own family  own place where she belonged  , if she ever  needed him all she had to do was  just once  call him 

Tge grains she gave the pigeons wasn't  accepted,  the town of love had turned her down,  

page 26

....the tiny translucent  green leaves   covering the trees declared  it was  spring once again,  roses and jasmine  in lush thick abundance  filled the  floral beds, the air  was  excitingly intoxicating  , the soul  savored the nurturing  divine nature  around,  the red brick wall in the old campus  against which the girl  on whom  the  beauty  of the entire universe had descended  stood looking  at the people  crossing  before her , akhjaz sberazi emerged from the campus gate walking towards his car  pitifully looked at her,  all of them  were shocked to see the condition of her house,  unbelievable how she had   pretended to be poverty stricken,  , marble   stairs wise apart decorated with tidy rows of  flower  pots , walls arranged tastefully with  art work,  , carved furniture  arranged  casually,   the  porch full of  a wide range of vehicles  , every inch loudly  spoke of immense wealth,  the  decor and  presence  of  the house  was a severe testimony of a solid family background and   high quality life standards 

After she returned  Mehran and Zoya  remained cut off from her 

Accusing her of  not being truthful to her friends  had said danya

But she argued she never  had said she was poor,  but she was aware she had not been straightforward,  she didn't care what others thought of her,  she wasn't answerable to anyone 

page 161

....a chartered plane  on a new year holiday was carrying a doctor,  a lawyer  a priest  and a ten year old school boy aboard,  the turbulence  disrupted the flight and the pilot declared it was an emergency  the aircraft was  nosediving to  a crash ,  they must quickly put on their parachutes  and jump out to save themselves  but the problem was there were only four parachutes,   taking one the pilot jumped out leaving them to quickly decide  who can use the left over three pieces,  the doctor explained he was worth living  his life could save  several patients,  he took one parachute and jumped out,  the lawyer  explained he deserved to be alive and  live to  fight cases , he too jumped out with a parachute,  the priest looked at the ten year old and asked him to put on the parachute and save himself,  tge boy cheerfully said they had two parachutes left for both of them because the  man before them had grabbed the schoolbag  and jumped out 

page 159

....they were both  childhood friends,  lived in the same town,  during  their childhood  like any other normal  innocent children they also   played  silly pranks,  now grown-ups they were  professional  robbers,  their names were not so blackened  , perhaps it was because they weren't quite bold and daring,  they were spared because  to become a terror of a  dangerous  person  risks  must be taken,  one of them was Tahir shah the other nawab Alam, they were similar in many ways,  both had lost their fathers,  both had completed their schooling till matric,  both were unemployed,  both were unable to get any job,  both did not have any business experience,  , to get a job qualification is needed  or a political push,  and to start a business  money and hardwork  both of them lacked  these , both   were the eldest sons  who had to shoulder the family burden,  both were not married  , responsible for their mothers and younger siblings  to take care of 

But life was moving on,  they had to  feed themselves and their loved ones,  worried and left with  expenses  they both became robbers 

In a small town like theirs  far far  away from the city weren't many opportunities  of making wealth from robbing the poor  villagers,  maximum  they could  get to steal a goat from the adjoining  village,  letting it loose  to let it disappear  , other options were to carry cement bags from somewhere or other building materials,  once they even dared to  get away with a motorbike 

to remember

....even the mightiest have their limitations 

....every newborn  is a declaration of nature s will

...hate  sin  not the sinner

...life is an open book  nobody likes to read

...a father can raise seven boys but seven boys won't  take care of him 

...once  a moth sees the flame it never goes back to the life of darkness,  ants never leave  the  sweet  honey and  

.prefer to due in it, the good spiritual people in the same way once having tasted the taste of divine  never change 

..never  take instructions from  females  to stay happy

..God loves you with all your faults and still provides you  your daily bread 

...tge greedy hunt with the hounds and  run with the hare and  eat with the  hunters and  cry with the  mourners 

..time changes   , the life changes 

...man is stupid to make profit in the world and lose all of his afterworld

...if the soul could  make a noise The world would be the deafening world 

...there are some billionaires  who have  unlimited wealth but they have a beggar s mentality 

...we all are passing with time