| Hawaaon Ke Paighaam | Messages Of The Wind

| The Mental Mazes |

Note:

My dear readers, I have received countless dms, ngls and comments about your concerns about the last chapter, and I have read and understood all of them. I'll address them here as I don't want to leave you in a state of worry or doubt.

To clarify, I'll start with the fact that Murtasim never thought Meerab was cheating on him or of divorcing her. The words 'infidelity and divorce', both very serious notions, were added hypithetically to lend the appropriate gravity and realism to the situation, which it required.

The last few paragraphs are NOT Murtasim mentally blaming or condemning Meerab. The entire purpose of his tortured musings was to give you an insight into how his mind is coming at him with different and very unwanted thoughts, none of which he believes at that time, because he doesn't even understand his own response, let alone her actions which led him there.

It was also supposed to highlight, especially the part about infidelity and divorce, that those in general are what his principles are. That despite coming from the background that he does, he believed that *if* a woman was to have an interest in a man other than her husband, she was free to use divorce as an option to pursue that interest. Another thing he was clear about was that the husband didn't need to stick around and die a thousand deaths whilst watching or knowing about his wife's interest. These are the basic rights in any marriage. This was meant to be hypothetical and not in any way copied and pasted onto his own situation with Meerab, because if theres one we and Murtasim both know, it's that nothing is ever simple when it comes to Meerab in his life. She has always been an anomaly for him, therefore he could never view her with the same lens he would view others in the same situation.

Secondly, this practical and even seemingly hard line of thinking is exactly in line with Murtasim's arc. I have crafted this Murtasim to be very emotionally strong and rational, and it takes a lot for that to materialise in a person's nature. Murtasim has always been shown to think rationally even in the face of disaster and destruction, his livelihood depends on it, and this training which has his mind bringing forward every possible scenario so that it can do what Murtasim has trained it to do; protect him from ruin. His mind just doesn't know that it now may be playing second fiddle to his heart J

Thirdly, please realise that HkP Murtasim couldn't have gone through without having any insecurities. He'd had a good time so far in life, but if Meerab is truly as impactful in his life as we believe, then his reaction to this situation, and its explanation and aftermath as detailed in the chapter below, is exactly as it should be. If you felt like 'this couldn't be HkP Murtasim', then you felt right. Even HkP Murtasim doesn't understand what was happening to him. He would never let himself react so much if she meant even a little less to him. The fact that she does is the reason that he cannot seem to control his anger and mind.

Lastly, before writing this track, I had also prepared a scenario for the situation to be reversed exactly as they were, and Meerab's reaction was the same as Murtasim's. I do realise that we may have had much less problems with that, but if we think about it, it's the exact same it. just because Murtasim is doing it to Meerab and not vice versa, doesn't mean its worse. Their relationship, its fragility and lack of communication, plus most importantly, its beginning, which you will find out about soon, are all very valid reasons for both their minds to go a dark place. What is important is that they get themselves out of it, not their reactions in anger.

Murtasim's thoughts and actions will become clearer in this chapter, as will Meerab's, I hope.

Also, I'd like to clarify the reason behind this track. HkP has been rather irregular in terms of a TB novel/fic because it doesn't really conform to the usual plots of love, marriage, family etc. It's about physical attraction, passion and how that can lead to a connection between two people who are meant to be; something we don't see often in the Muslim culture due to the religious constraints. Hence, it had been structured in a way which I hope organically takes you through the lives of these two people who are going through the consequences of their association and attraction.