Both mother and daughter entered the kitchen with a sense of purpose and dare we say ...a little bit of swagger. Zainab went straight for the fridge, taking out water, sugar and lemons. Whereas Mrs.Tahir took out the utensils two big jugs, a stack of paper cups and some spoons for stirring. Zainab stopped squeezing lemons mid-way and looked towards her mother
"mom .....How do we make the lemonade? ".
Mrs. Tahir looked up from the sugar she was measuring and said with a determined look on her face
" make it like the Prime Minister's going to drink it" .
Hearing this Zainab started squeezing lemons with a newfound zeal . She was determined to squeeze out every ounce of life in them (sounds quite devilish doesn't it). Grandma Praveen saw them as she passed by the kitchen. It was like a warzone ,Mrs. Tahir , the commando, shouting orders and Zainab, the young foot soldier, who was eager to impress followed efficiently .Seeing this grandma nodded in satisfaction, just as it should be ,she thought ,for making lemonade was no laughing matter.
Within no time, they had set up a lemonade stall outside on the street. They made a chart that said "Drink Up!!!" the cheerful chart went a bit adjacent with the seller who looked like she'll eat anyone who'll come near her. Zainab was about to go inside because of the lack of customers when a girl with a shaved head came hopping towards her stall. She was dressed in flashy colors, red pants, black shirt, and to top it off pink spectacles (for Zainab who wore black all the time, it was a blinding array of colors). She had a file in hand, the title Zainab could not read for her hand covered half of it. She came near her stall and asked for a glass of lemonade.
"How much for a cup?" she asked holding the cup in her hand. Her bright-Sunday-morning-accent snapped Zainab out of her daze.
"oh-umm Rs.50 for one cup." she stammered.
"Sounds good, then" the girl exclaimed.
Zainab hurried and poured some lemonade into the glass, stirred it and finished her concoction by adding ice. The girl took the cup and handed her the money. She speculated Zainab with her mischievous eyes and asked,
" you look pretty gloomy, are you okay?''
The question caught Zainab by surprise but she managed to answer that she was fine. Curiosity was gnawing the insides of Zainab so she finally asked,
"pardon me but what is that file?".
Now it was the girls turn to be surprised.
"This" she pointed at the file "is a hospital file, I am diagnosed with blood cancer".
Zainab thought she didn't hear her right. Cancer? The girl had a lethal disease yet she looked like she just came from Disneyland.
"I'm Sarah, by the way" she said, extending her hand.
"Zainab" she answered, shaking it. Her words rushed from her mouth before she could stop them.
"Why aren't you depressed" Zainab asked.
Sarah looked at her as if amused and said" well it's because I have faith in Allah."
There it was,the ultimate answer, Zainab thought, religion.
