Kahi Ankahi

Chapter 29

Hussain's p.o.v.

I drove to the nearby park. This place was so simple but so important to us, all four of us. Its so close to our hearts.
We reached the main gate and I parked my car just outside it. We got out of the car and walked inside the park. We walked straight to our spot; the bench where we always sit and sat there.

"Tumhe yaad hai hum chaaron mere 10th ke exams ke waqt yahan kitna aaya karte thay?" She asked, recalling those days.

"Kaise bhool sakta hoon woh din? Mera dimagh pak gaya tha tumhe Math parhaate parhaate." I replied, going back in time. She chuckled.

"Remember Shehry, the Shakespeare?" We both said at the same time and burst into laughter. We recalled how Shehry used to enact the characters of the play.

"Ache khaase romantic play ko comedy bana diya tha usne." Qirat said, laughing. Her laugh was the prettiest sound I'd ever heard.

"Allah tumhe hamesha yun hi hasta muskuraate rakhe, aameen." I said, smiling and she smiled back. She repeated 'aameen'.

"Yaar woh yaad hai? Kya naam tha uska..." She paused, thinking for a moment. "Ihteshaam?" She made it sound like a question.

"Tumhara aur Iqra ka aashiq." I laughed, recalling that idiot.

"Eww!" She made a disgusted face.

We continued talking about our college days. Although we were never in the same class, we all shared everything with each other and so now all four of us remember each others' college and school days as if we used to go to college and school together.

After talking for about an hour, we decided to walk to the little ice cream shop from where we always used to buy ice cream and snacks whenever we'd come here. The shop was run by an old man, Saleem and we called him 'Saleem chacha'. It had been quite a while since we last had ice cream from his shop. We were walking towards the shop and Saleem chacha saw us from a distance. A wide smile spread across his face. We smiled back and walked towards the little counter.

"Assalam Alaikum Saleem chacha." We greeted him.

"Walaikum assalam baccho." He replied, smiling. "Itne dino baad aaye ho.." he added.

"Jee bas kaam ki masroofiat." I replied him and he nodded.

"Qirat ke liye double chocolate chip ice cream dark chocolate ke saath aur Hussain ke liye chocolate ice cream mixed fruit ke saath." He named the ice creams that we always have at his ice cream corner.

"Aap kabhi nahi bhoolte." Qirat spoke, smiling.

"Apne bachon ki pasand kaise bhool sakta hoon?" He said and placed his hand on our heads. "Khush raho." He added.

He told us to take a seat while he prepared the ice creams. I paid for our order and we walked outside the shop. We sat on the chairs that were placed outside. Soon one of his workers brought us our ice creams.

We both started eating our ice cream.

"Qirat, what's your definition of love?" I asked her out of the blue. She looked confused at once but then she spoke.

"Love means a lot of things. It sometimes means happiness, joy, peace... but its not always 'happily ever after', is it? Love can sometimes also mean sacrifice and with that sacrifice comes pain and sadness." She spoke as if she understood each and every word she spoke.. as if she knew what love felt like.

"tumhe kabhi kisi se pyaar hua hai?" I asked her. Her face expressions changed.

"Tum konsi film dekh ke aarahe ho?" She asked me back, chuckling, making me smile. I shook my head.

"Koi nahi." I replied.

Qirat's p.o.v.

"Love means a lot of things. It sometimes means happiness, joy, peace... but its not always 'happily ever after', is it? Love can sometimes also mean sacrifice and with that sacrifice comes pain and sadness." I spoke my heart out.

"Tumhe kabhi kisi se pyaar hua hai?" Hussain asked. Haan, tumse.

Realising that I probably spoke a bit too much, I brushed off the feeling. Trying to sound as casual as I could, I spoke.

"Tum konsi film dekh ke aarahe ho?" I asked him, chuckling lightly. The frown on his face turned into a smile and he spoke.

"Koi nahi." He replied.

"Tum batao." I changed the topic.

Hussain's p.o.v.

"Tum batao." She said.

"Kya?" I asked.

"Yehi ke pichle kuch dino se tumhare itne mood swings kyun horahe hain? What is it that's bothering you?" She asked.

"Kuch nahi hai yaar." I said as casually as I could.

"Tumne mujhse jhoot bolna kyun shuru kardia hai, Hussain?" She asked. Kaash mere andar itni himmat hoti ke main tumhe sab sach bata sakta.

"Main tumse koi jhoot nahi bolraha hoon." I lied yet again.

"Phir batao yeh mood swings ki wajah kya hai?" She asked. "Like one moment you're all happy and stuff and the other, you're completely different." She added. I didn't reply.

"Hussain?" She called my name out.

"Hmmm." Was my short reply.

"Hussain kya hogaya hai tumhe?" She asked, looking straight into my eyes. Kaise jhoot boloon?

"Pyaar." I spoke the truth. She frowned deeply, making me realise that I probably said something wrong.

"Pyaar?" She repeated the word. I wanted to say yes but agar woh chamaat maar ke chali gayi toh? So I did the thing I was best at; acting. I faked a laugh and she still looked at me with a frown on her face.

"Paagal, mazaaq kar raha hoon." I told her. The lines on her forehead eased out.

"Ab batao, tum konsi film dekh ke aarahi ho?" I asked her sounding as casual as I could. She hit my arm lightly and I chuckled.

We finished our ice creams and then headed back home.

Kaash maine aaj tumhe bata diya hota ke main tumse kitni mohabbat karta hoon, Qirat.