•𝐀𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐚𝐳-𝐞-𝐈𝐬𝐡𝐪| ✓

باغی|Rebellious

It was a bright, quiet early morning with fluffy grey clouds drifting across the clear, grey sky. Birds of different breeds flew over the haveli that stood tall amongst the other houses beside it, and she sat in the inbuilt garden inside the very own haveli, enjoying the after-adhaan serenity in the atmosphere. The chirping of birds and the slow, almost unnoticeable voice of azhaan far away gave her a calming aura. Her mind raced with thoughts, jumbled up with many unnecessary voices.

She shivered as the cold air passed around her, hitting her softly on her uncovered arm, making her rub her palms on them. She smiled, looking up at the clear sky, dusted pink with blue – a perfect early morning in Quetta.

Ayesha sighed as she looked down at her lap, where the books of her new semester were placed. After failing in political science for two continuous semesters, she finally understood her mind wasn't made for the toxicity in politics. She opted for a different route. She had never been interested in studies, but after completing her intermediate, which she passed with difficulty, she had asked her mother not to get her admitted to a university. At that time, Noor-Ul-Ain wanted Ayesha to be perfect in everything.

At the age of 25, Ayesha proved to be the daughter of Noor-Ul-Ain when she went against one of the many orders of her mother, claiming she's old enough to understand everything around her. She was twenty-five and had a mind different from her mother in the aspect of her own life. She wanted to be a domestic woman! She had dreamt of being a good wife and running her own house. She wanted to be someone who was a perfect wife and a mother; she never wanted to ace her exams. She had all the qualities that a typical good wife has, yet her mother had a problem with it. Noor-Ul-Ain wanted her firstborn to be perfect; she wanted all her children to have a secure future, even if her children wanted something else. She would never marry them off before they had graduated at least. Ayesha sighed, remembering how her mother had strictly lectured her to focus on her studies, now it being the study of the mind. Psychology was what she chose again; she had decided to give her studies a try again after much thought.

Ayesha looked up at the sky, then at her phone, which showed the time to be 7:42 am, making her pout, realizing she has to be at the university at 8:30! Getting up from the grass-covered lawn in their backyard, she dusted her flare palazzo and tank top, which she mostly wore at night. She picked up her things and made her way inside from the back door.

Instantly, the smell of crisp parathas being fried filled her nose, and she bit her lips for it. She went towards the kitchen to see her youngest sister, Zartaaj, frying the parathas while their mother was standing on her head, looking at each and every movement of Zartaaj, judging her cooking.

Ayesha couldn't help but chuckle at them, making their attention shift to her. Upon seeing her eldest daughter, Noor-Ul-Ain gestured her to sit, and she did, not saying a word. Her mother was a stern woman, with features so hard and straight; her voice was what scared people. Ayesha remembered her friends being scared of her mother when she was a kid. Noor-Ul-Ain was the woman that had to be mature and strict with her kids while Sikandar gladly became the kid near them.

Noor-Ul-Ain didn't become the mother once Rubaab was. Instead, learning from the mistake, she raised her children in an environment where if one parent was being supportive, the other one had to be cautious! And that happened to be once-rebellious Noor-Ul-Ain.

But was it that? Did she think it was this easy to raise three adults? Certainly not, when Ayesha could feel herself being deprived of something – something that wouldn't be a strict demand, but it wouldn't be a request! She felt herself being tied with a rope of something; she wanted to be freed. She could voice it out, but she also wanted her both siblings to look up at her! How were they to look up at her if she was to leave her studies and think about becoming a baby-making machine – not her words? Certainly, she was sacrificing! Her happiness! Her dreams and her self-respect!