Ishq

Tum bohot pyaari ho|11

Mahjabeen sat in her room, looking through the window, her eyes on the birds, and the little girls playing in the street. She couldn't help but feel reminiscent of her childhood, when she was younger, she had so many friends. They would play hide and seek, roll in the mud and street cricket, break windows and hide before the neighbours came to scold them. It was fun until she reached the age thirteen and her friends were no longer interested in games. Her friends grew up, but she remained the same. The young girl grew in size, but the childishness remained, her friends left and she remained on the playground playing all by herself.

It was difficult for her to mix up with people, she had no friends. Making sand castles, letting paperboats float in the puddles of water or hanging by the tree was almost natural for her. But after one point she was denied entry, and Bakhtiyar Farooqui realised his daughter was lonely and might go back to her quite self so he bought her a TV. Her socialising skill got better with time, she learned dialogues, would use it time to time.

It was funny at the start, she would say the most random thing in the middle of nowhere, "minus!!!" She once exclaimed when Sameena tried to make pancakes, Adam gave her a look, "Kya bhaijaan mitti jaisa taste hai".

Her mother picked up the plate, "Haan haan beta yaha toh plate pe sajakar khaana miljata haina isliye aise bolri, jab sasural mai saas roti belne bolegi tabhi ye mitti yaad aayegi tujhe".

Her honesty got her in trouble many times, but her brother came for her rescue everytime. And today Murtasim came to her rescue, after the incident with Rania she thought she was alone. But her heart was filled with happiness, she felt an excitement for her upcoming valimah. It was early morning and Murtasim sat in the hall with his mother and Asif Khan.

The summer heat was making her sweat, the fans and AC were cool, but Murtasim was sweating. The scorching sunlight, the humidity was making her thirsty, she went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water when the maid came rushing to her. "Choti begum aapko kuch chahiye?"

Mahjabeen turned to her, "phirse bolna", the respectful title made her happy, those two words gave her another identity and she was up for it.

"Choti begum?"

"Haan, aise bulaya karo accha lagta hai", the maid smiled, "Waise aapka naam kya hai?"

"Saima", she said, Mahjabeen told her, "Kaafi pyaara naam hai, mera naam Mahjabeen hai magar tum mujhe Choti Begum bulaogi toh mujhe zyaada accha lagega".

"Ji choti begum".

The maid went back to her work, and Mahjabeen looked at cold water in the jug. And at the blazing sun, "Murtasim ko nimbu sharbat bohot pasand hai".

But she had no idea how to make lemon water, then something struck her, "Chai jaise banti hogi na, phir fridge mai daaldete hongey"

She tied her hair in a bun, and picked a saucepan pouring two glasses of water, she squeezed lemon making sure the seeds didn't remain in the pot. She let it cook for half an hour till the kitched started smelling sour, Saima at the back eyed her but didn't say anything, thinking that maybe Mahjabeen was making a rich people's dish.

She took a jug and put the yellow liquid in it, letting it rest for half an hour in the fridge while she looked outside the window. She really wanted to play outside on the swing, it was empty.

"Thoda jhul leti", she went outside and started swinging, her hair flowing behind her, catching the sunlight in its strands as she moved gracefully on the swing. The gentle breeze caressed her cheeks, bringing a rosy hue to them. Mahjabeen's laughter tinkled in the air, echoing the innocence of her heart. As Murtasim noticed her from the balcony, his heart skipped a beat at the sight of her radiant beauty.