Alnihayya

||L i e s||

F i f t e e n

I'd rather get insulted for being covered than being whistled at for being
half naked.

☆

Mashal

Pakistani people are very lucky.

Not only Pakistani, but all the people who live in muslim countries and get to hear the azan five times a day are all very lucky.

And since I was in Pakistan for some time, I was also one of those lucky people. I didn't have to put two alarms by my side to wake me up for fajr. Instead, the muezzin became my alarm clock.

It was difficult for me to wake up for fajr, I was still half asleep but somehow managed to make wudu using cold water, which immediately woke me up. (This life hack always works!)

After praying, I slept again until our host, whose name I found out to be Mrs Shamim, woke me up for breakfast.

As I was going downstairs with her to the dining room, I lazily put on my veil.

"You can take it off. He's gone out." Mrs Shamim informed, when she saw me doing that.

Zeyara went out? He said it's the first time he came here. He doesn't even know the language. Where would he go?

Confused, I asked her, "Where?"

She shrugged and gave a happy reply, "He didn't want to make it difficult for you so he asked if he could have breakfast in a restaurant or something. I told him about the dhaba in the next street so he went there."

"Dhaba?" I asked incredulously, remembering that dhaba is a roadside foodstall. The food is tasty but clearly not hygienic.

Mrs Shamim looked at me knowingly and laughed. "I know dear. I told him we have a McDonald's here but he said he wanted it cheap."

Okay....there's something fishy about this. How did Zeyara communicate with Mrs Shamim when he doesn't even know urdu? Hmm. ...probably by sign language.

I shook my head in disbelief as we reached the dining table. "He's gonna be sick. He could've stayed here you know...it wouldn't have made a difference."

Mrs Shamim sat down on the table and motioned for me to do the same.
I quickly sat down with the aroma of fresh halwa hitting my nose. It is a dense confection which is common for breakfasts in Pakistan.

I was always a bit too greedy when it came to halwa. This time too, I just dived straight in, taking my veil off in a hurry and ignoring the fact that I was a guest.

Mrs Shamim chuckled as I hungrily stuffed the food into my mouth. "If he had stayed here, you wouldn't have been able to do this." She said, inspecting me.

My cheeks turned red in embarrassment but I did my best to hide it. She was right. If Zeyara was here, I would've never done that.
That was so sweet of him to leave the house just for my comfort.

He finally came back home around zuhr time when we were sitting in the living room worried that he might have lost his way.