Life is beautiful (A muslim story )

Chapter-21-Nothing to lose.

Dunya will beg you to fall in love, and then as soon as you do will break your heart - Yasmin Mogahed.

SANAM'S POV

I didn't understand why at that moment I felt a stab in my heart.A pain deep down when I said yes.The only thing that acted like an anesthetic was mom's merry face and her bear hug with lots of blessings.I had agreed to marry Dr.Younus only after I complete my medical education which meant two more years of waiting before he gets me.For me it would be like two more years of freedom,family days and preparing myself mentally for this big life changing event.Dr.Yasser Abdullah was unhappy initially but he accepted when Aunt Umaima intervened.

It was decided that there would be a small engagement ceremony held today at our residence.I didn't wanted it to be big affair and so did mom.We invited only a few friends of the Abdullah family like Dr.Ahmer with his wife, Dr.Zoya and the guy,his father and aunt.Our personal guests included mom's close friends as we hardly had any family here.Dad's only brother was no more and his cousins lived in Pakistan.Mom has no siblings and her only aunt lives in Muscat.The best person on our guest list was Mrs.Uzma Haroon.

Last week when mom conveyed my approval for this proposal,Dr.Younus wished to meet me personally.Mom gave me the permission to meet him in my medical school cafeteria but he insisted on meeting outside.I accepted it hesitatingly but I took Mikael along to chaperone us.I didn't wanted to indulge in any kind of haraam before marriage be it going out alone for a coffee.He didn't expect me to get Mikael and was pretty shocked.Apart from a few questions about my hobbies and medical school he didn't talk much.I thought he wanted to say something but was hesitant cause of Mikael.I remember how his face fell when he saw me approaching his table with Mikael.I had silently cracked a wicked smile.

"Sanam? My goodness! You are still here? This flowers won't go anywhere but time is running; the guests would be here any moment." Mom pulled me by my hand as I was kneeling near the white rose plant which I had planted last month.I stood up holding the silver kettle used for watering my plants.She made sure that I walked straight to my room.

***

Mom was doing all the cooking herself though I insisted that we get a caterer.Cooking for thirty members ain't easy but mom handled it with much ease as she got some aid from our maid,Mrs.Rizwana.She knew Arabic dishes and mom prepared the desi ones.All these cooking and preparations did brighten our house like never before.It seemed like an illusion to me but a very realistic and beautiful one.

Mom says marriage is a blessed event and everyone celebrates it according to their own cultures.I have not been to many weddings though but I had a rough idea what weddings be like.Mine was going to be a typical Asian one due to my desi origin and in some tiny corner of my heart I was happy.When I was in primary school,I always dreamt of a fairytale wedding but in high school I never wanted to get married.I was literally bipolar with this wedding idea.

There was a not so peaceful environment at home.Urwa was running around trying to find a perfect dress for her. Mikael got up hours earlier today and he was making arrangements for the backyard where men would be eating.He was criss-crossing the house more than perhaps Superman on an urgent mission.

"Oh God! Sanam, your dress had been delivered an hour ago and you are still drying your hair?" Shaila scolded.My sisters were super excited about this whole engagement party.They wanted to get a professional makeup artist but I declined.I wanted to keep it as simple as possible as this was only symbolising the tie.The real event would be my nikaah for which I would become a perfect bride.

I got dressed in a golden gown and wore the hijab around my head.I didn't tie it tightly as I was going to be in all ladies room only.There would be no mixing up of ladies and gentlemen.Females were supposed to be in the big hall and males had the living room. I wanted Mikael to put the ring on Younus and his ring could be given to me by his aunt.I wanted everything the halaal way.