CORNERS

MARYAM SERIES :Chapter 11

Lockdown had led to the imposition of restrictive time allotment of grocery shopping in the morning for the people. So as soon as Yusuf had offered Ishraq salah he marched outside towards his car, followed by Madiha whiffing duas at him .Smiling and saying Salam to Madiha, Yusuf glided into the car and drove away. Lockdown had taught Yusuf importance of many things and one of them was driving his beloved car. The car which was his first gift to himself from his hard earned halal money. With Madiha being not by his side and the clear road with no traffic looked quite tempting to Yusuf making him want to press the accelerator and have his own fast &furious fun .Playing Surah AR RAHMAN on the player and Yusuf was all ready to enjoy some speed and wind as the road ahead was a straight lane but as he came on the straight lane to his surprise and much disappointment, the lane was packed with cars.

He groaned and mentally thought 'Why can't things for once happen the way he wants' .When his car boomed with words 'Fabiaiyi aalai rabbikuma tukazibaan' ( So which of the favours of your LORD would you deny).He looked shockingly at the player & at that moment Yusuf felt as if he was some student standing in the line but unknowingly got out of way and ALLAH SWT like a teacher brought him back to line with one verse. Muttering Astaghfar,Yusuf looked at the sky enarmoured by his AR RAHMAN SWT graciousness and smiling mumbled to himself ’Fa inni Qareeb’f(ALLAH is near).Since then it had been over an half hour but car in straight lane seems to be obstructed by something which was causing delay. As Yusuf was turning his steering to the right to exist the lane he finally saw what was the reason of traffic on the straight lane.

Yusuf saw that a man was stopping every car passing by him and as he looked closer he also saw a pregnant woman sitting on the footpath in deep anguish .And without giving a second thought Yusuf turned to his car towards them .Even before Yusuf could open his car door the man who was drenched in sweat even at such cool morning came running towards him pleading Yusuf to help him. Yusuf nodded at him and went to open the back door as the man went to pick his wife meanwhile telling him he called the helpline allotted to aid pregnant ladies during Iockdown but even after whole hour they haven't turn up  thus he had been standing here with his wife trying to persuade people to give him lift but no one...saying this his eyes teared up as he made his wife to sit inside the car .Yusuf felt disgusted at the people's lost empathy and humanity. Yusuf started the car as soon as the man had settled down in the car,he pushed the accelerator hard. Never had he imagined that his earlier wish to drive fast would be fulfilled by ALLAH SWT in a such manner.

Hospital buildings had always produced uncanny feelings inside Yusuf but as he stood in front of City Hospital ,he could easily say he had been never more grotesque of a hospital building than this .This feeling turned out to be a premonition as even after much persuasion the hospital staff refused to admit the woman. They wanted to check her temperature and go through blood test before she could even enter the hospital. And even after that they weren't sure they could admit her as they had no beds left. Yusuf felt that his every bit of patience was dissolving and he was finding it difficult to control his anger towards the inconsiderate hospital staff. But a young lady doctor eager to help asked him to let her use his car for delivery . The man was shocked that Yusuf instantly agreed with the doctor without any hesitation. Covering outside and inside of car with a cloth ,the lady doctor immediately began the procedure to deliver the baby with the help of some nurses.

It had been one hour since then but still there was no news of baby. Yusuf looked over to the man whom he in one hour had came to know was named Prakash and sold flowers outside temple for his living .And having no child in his nine years of marriage his doctor suggested him for artificial insemination. The cost was high for the procedure for which he worked hard for 8 months doing miscellaneous jobs and finally his wife got pregnant through lVF. But now he was tensed and scared about his wife and child .Yusuf felt disheartened and looked at the sky praying for Prakash .It was as if baby was waiting for Yusuf to make dua as the cries of child was heard. Yusuf congratulated him as Prakash beamed at him. Soon the nurse came with the child announcing that baby was a boy & handed him to Prakash .That scene zoomed Yusuf into the gallery of memories as he found himself reminiscing the moment when he holded Maryam and Hannaan for the first time .