Mehr-o-Mah (مہر و ماہ) -
The sun and the moon
A collection of short stories filled with love, spice, drama and a roller coaster of emotions and of course, a huge part of my imagination.
(The second generation of Ahd-e-Vafa)...
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Zaahira had expected anything but for the older woman to shower her with a welcoming love as though welcoming her own daughter after many days. Kulsum was her name and by age, she was in her early 60s. A sweet woman to say the least.
Zaahira felt all her worries dissipating when Kulsum ushered her to the nearest washroom. The older woman held a pair of clean clothes in her hand, a towel that looked as good as new, and a megawatt smile on her face that was so contagious that Zaahira found it tough to bring her lips back to a neutral position.
"Beta jaldi ja kar ghusl le lo. Yeh kadpe bhi naye hai aur yeh towel bhi, aaram se nahana aur kuch chahiye toh aawaz laga dena."
Saying that, she gave a gentle push to her back and Zaahira chuckled at her enthusiasm before closing the thick wooden door.
The washroom was small in size. The tiles decorated the surface, hiding the cement wall. Square marble tiles decorated the floor but were broken at some corners, showing the rough surface they were placed on.
The height of it was not too much either. If Zaahira were to try, she could touch the ceiling by standing on her toes and stretching her hand in the best way she could.
It had no luxury to offer but felt safe and cozy.
Not wanting to waste much of her time, she quickly removed the muddy clothes from her body, sighing when she saw the beige surface coated with dirty brown. It would take ages to clean that and Zaahira could already see the glare on her mom's face when she by chance presents this masterpiece to her.
"Not the time."
She kept the clothes aside and poured the slightly lukewarm water on herself. There was no shower head or something apart from a huge pale blue bucket and a same coloured mug.
Taking time to detangle her hair that looked like a mess, as entangled as the twigs in a bird's nest, she winced a few times when it tugged hard at her scalp. Her skin wasn't exactly baby smooth and after her embarking journey in the woods, she doubted whether the 's' of smoothness could be found on her slightly tan skin.
Small dots of dried mud were scattered like dirty stars on her hands and she had scrubbed a little hard to get them off.
Taking more than 15 minutes to finally feel clean in her skin, she put on the dress that was given to her by Kulsum. A blush graced her cheeks when she found the intimate wears hidden amongst the kurti, resting leisurely and waiting for her to pick them up and put them on.
Hurriedly covering herself up, she couldn't help but sigh at how soft the material of the clothes was. If she did have a doubt about their newness, then all of it was thrown out of the window due to the scent and the crispiness of the clothes under her touch.
It was a simple orange salwar, diamond pattern made with light and dark shade. A white kurti with a simple orange design on the neckline and at the elbows along with dark green borders. A thin green dupatta with orange borders was what lay in the end and Zaahira quickly draped it over her form, cringing slightly when she felt water seeping a little on her shoulders from her wet hair.
