Tera Mera Pyaar

| Roshan Nagar |

Panchhi banoo udti phiroon mast gagan mein

Aaj main azad hoon duniya ke chaman mein

The morning was bright, the sun warm and the breeze fresh and crisp as Meerab opened her little window. The rusty hinges creaked as the window opened and allowed the cool air to enter her room and refresh her senses. The smell of damp grass from the morning dew and the scent of fresh flowers filled her nostrils as she deeply inhaled.

Hurriedly, she completed her simple morning routine which consisted of washing her face and brushing her teeth before tying her long raven hair in a half up half down style and grabbing her dupatta before running out into the seemingly endless fields that surrounded her little cottage.

Running among the wild grass, she let her hands skim throw the sunflowers and grabbed whatever she could. A familiar shriek and the sound of wings flapping filed her ears before a pair of dainty black claws rested on her shoulder.

"Good morning Mirchi Khan" Meerab chimed as the parrot gracefully folded its blue and yellow wings and sat on her shoulder.

"Good morning" Mirchi Khan, the talking parrot squeaked out in his extremely high pitched voice.

"Aaj kya khabar laye hou?" Meerab asked, casually running her fingers through the sunflower petals as she made her way back home.

"Gaon mei tayariyaan horahi hai, Nawab ne koi jashan rakha hai agle hafte apne bete ki saal girah ke liye" he informed, nipping at a strand of her silky hair as Meerab pushed open the door to the little cottage she called him and made her way to the small wooden dining table in the center of the room. Taking out the dead roses from the vase, she discarded them before filling it up with fresh water and placing the fresh sunflowers in it.

"Apne bete ke liye?" She asked.

Mirchi Khan only cooed, finding Meerab's hair very interesting until she opened the squeaky door to her very old fridge and pulled out a small red chilli from the vegetable drawer. She held it infront of Mirchi Khan's mouth and he instantly devoured it, squeaking in delight as he savoured the spicy fruit.

"Eik aur dou na" he squeaked just as Meerab turned towards the stove to prepare tea for her father who would be down soon. She looked at the bird on her shoulder with a judgmental look before rolling her eyes and sighing as she got another red chilli out of the fridge and fed it to him.

"Kisi din itni mirchein khaa khaa ke marjaoge" she mumbled as Mirchi Khan held the chilli from its stem with one of his feet while he balanced himself on her shoulder with the other.

"Mai tou tota houn, mai toh mirchein hi khaata houn" he shot back, "isiliye tou tum ne mera naam Mirchi Khan rakha tha" he reminded her as Meerab filled a pot with water, setting it on the stove to boil.

"Acha acha, ziada hoshiyaar na banou. Totei hou, totei hi rahou" Meerab smiled sarcastically, taking out the flour and other necessary ingredients to prepare a paratha for her father to enjoy with his morning tea.

"Tota houn, hoshiyaar tou mai paidaishi houn" Mirchi Khan quipped just as Meerab rolled some of the prepared dough between her hands into a perfect ball shape.

"Acha ye batao, Nawabzaada tou apne mahal se kabhi nikalta hi nahi, tou jashan mei aayega?" Meerab asked, ignoring her parrot's quips as she rolled the dough into a flat paratha before placing it on the hot tawwa she had put in the stove earlier. As the paratha cooked, she hurriedly grabbed some milk and poured it into the boiling water before allowing it to boil and adding the tea leaves to it.