The Ahmed Trilogy Book One
Can be read as a stand-alone
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Zayn feels lost, devoid of his sense of purpose in this world. He feels restless, as if he is subconsciously awaiting something, o...
Zayn sat on the settee that Zaina had put much effort in decorating, receiving congratulations from family for his engagement. The wedding functions had begun; today was his mangni. Syra sat in the room next to him. They decided to do it segregated, so the ladies could wear their fancy clothes, take off their hijabs and enjoy the event. And also because they were not yet married; he'd see her pictures after. Towards the end they planned to put Syra in her hijab so she could come in and they could exchange rings.
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They weren't initially planning an engagement. It had no significance in their religion, and in their culture there were tons of other wedding functions: mendhi, dholki, haldi, sangeet, maiyoon, barat, nikkah, walima etc. They had planned a mendhi, haldi and nikkah - the barat and walima were to come after. The engagement was planned by his extended family, for the day they had planned to have a big get together. Syra's paternal aunts family had come over too; her other family members were all the way in Sydney. They planned to come to England when Syra and Zayn moved in together and held the barat and walima.
Zayn was exhausted; his black embroidered kurta's collar was suffocating him now, the trousers uncomfortable. His Dadi (dad's mum) had come and insisted he swipe his eyes with surma, a black powdered kohl which both men and women wore across regions like South, Central and West Asia, some parts of Africa. He badly wanted to rub his eyes but he didn't want to end up looking like a jinn.
Seeing the room was mostly empty, he quickly opened his phone camera and wiped the surma away as much as he could. He failed - it smeared everywhere instead. Stubborn bitch, he thought in annoyance.
"Oh my god, Bhaiya! Why did you rub your eyes?" exclaimed Zaina.
Zayn just huffed, too irritated to explain. Zaina just shook her head, her earrings and tika swinging. She produces a makeup wipe out of nowhere and ordered him to look up and she carefully wiped under his eyes, then told him to look down as she wiped on his eyelid. She stepped back, nodding with satisfaction, wiping her fingers of the surma, chudiyan clinking.
"Done. It's almost gone. Just a thin line lining your eyes. It looks better, tho. Also, moved to the end of the settee, Syra Bhabi is coming," He smiled upon hearing Zaina call Syra her sister in law. It felt surreal.
He leaned back, trying to be patient. Time was passing by so quickly yet so agonisingly slow. He found it hard to believe it was his wedding and he was getting married to the girl he loved.
The door opened and in walked Syra with her mother, who had told him to start calling her Amma. She wore a long black dress with gold accents to match him, her signature black hijab and a matching dupatta hanging at her elbows behind her back; she looked so elegant.
