by Pran Kishore
On hearing this, Parveen put her arms round her father and said, ‘Abba, am I now so much an unwanted burden that you consider me a guest?’
‘Never, my darling child. You will always remain in my heart. Now go in and change. Nisar is probably waiting for you. He wanted to take you to the market and assist you with buying all the items for your trousseau.’
‘I am not going to get married. At least not so soon.’
Malla Khaliq comforted her by saying that it was very difficult to get such a good boy and such a good family.
Razaq secretly watched the whole scene from the window of his shed. He felt helpless. He hit his forehead, saying, ‘Oh my God! Why did you send me to this world? What sin have I committed? I see my world being ransacked like this and yet I am not able to do anything to stop it!’ He moaned, ‘Parveen! I really am a coward, a gutless fellow. I tried to clasp air in my arms. What a fool I am! Please forgive me.’
Gul Beg was haggling with the smugglers on his porch. His eyes were focused on the gates for he had phoned Ghulam Qadir to make sure he reached Zakoor before noon. Yet there was no trace of him. Satar Shah finally said to him, ‘They have to be at the airport. Besides, they hardly have anything to do with Ghulam Qadir, all their dealings are with you.’
‘No. I want them to meet him one more time. It is ultimately he who will carry the consignment to them.’
‘What do you say, Gul Sahib?’ one of the two smugglers asked. ‘I told you that it would be better that you talk to Ghulam Qadir directly.’
‘We have nothing to say to him. He will get us the consignment and we will send you the money.’
‘Do you trust him?’ Satar Shah asked in order to make things clear.
‘If I did not have trust in him, why would I make him a partner? Look here, my brother, he will be carrying the consignment for the first time and so will not arouse any suspicion. You need not worry.’
‘He is a little irascible and that worries me.’
The smugglers bade farewell to Gul Beg saying, ‘So, Gul Sahib, let us leave. You send us the freight and we will send you the cash through Ghulam Qadir.’
Gul Beg stood gazing at them until the taxi drove out of the gate. Then he climbed up the stairs and dialled Ghulam Qadir’s number. But no one answered the call. Qadir had already left to see him. In the meantime an auto stopped outside the gate. The gate opened and the dog, tethered to its peg, started growling. Ghulam Qadir dashed to meet Gul Beg who was fuming with anger.
‘What is the point of coming now? They waited for two hours to see you. I think you are not fit for this kind of business,’ Gul Beg said to him.
‘It is very difficult for me to leave the house. Parveen’s wedding is next week. If I do not stay in my house, Abba is sure to interrogate me. Besides, there was hardly any serious reason for me to be here with the guests. Everything has already been decided,’ Qadir explained.
‘Look here, Ghulam Qadir, we cannot have complete trust in anyone in the trade that we have chosen. Nevertheless, I told them that once you are free from your sister’s wedding, you will deliver the freight to them.’
‘Did they agree to wait till then?’
‘They agreed after much persuasion.’
Ghulam Qadir felt relieved and sat down. Gul Beg took out his golden cigarette case and passed a cigarette to him. He lit the cigarette, drew a long puff and said, ‘How much did they pay in advance?’
‘Fifty thousand. This was why I was so eager to see you in their presence so there was no scope for any doubt.’
‘Do you think I don’t trust you? Look here, this Ghulam Qadir has so much faith in you that he does not even have in himself.’
‘Yes. If we don’t trust each other, the whole trade will end after a single deal.’
‘Now please get up and bring me a soothing glass of beer.’
‘You ask for beer? I will let you swim in wine. But make sure that this first freight reaches its destination.’
‘Consider it done, brother.’
With every passing day, Parveen’s wedding drew nearer, and Razaq grew increasingly morose and aloof. He was seen busy tidying the houseboats earlier than usual and then remain confined in his shed.
He sat brooding in his room when he heard the splatter of water from the tap in the compound. He peeped through the window. It was Parveen cleaning fish. Hidden behind the windowpane, Razaq observed her.
After cleaning the fish, she started cutting them into pieces. Lost in thought, she was looking towards the lake, when she accidentally cut a finger. Razaq shuddered at this sight. Parveen put the fish in a pail and kept her bruised finger under running water. But this did not stop the flow of blood. Seeing this, Razaq dashed out. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket, tore it into two pieces, and held Parveen’s hand in his own. Parveen drew her hand back. ‘Leave my hand. Let all the blood flow out from my body. Why are you concerned? Leave me be.’
‘Am I so wicked that you hate me so much?’
‘I say, leave me!’
But Razaq did not leave her hand and started bandaging it. ‘You tell me what I can do. Tell me, please.’
‘They will take me away after three or four days. And then you can stay here all alone.’
Razaq stared at her face. Tears washed his face. But he controlled himself and put a knot on the bandage. He bent towards her, and she cast a loving glance at him. He took the knife from Parveen and started cutting the fish. Parveen moved closer. Razaq looked all around. Ghulam Qadir’s window was ajar. Zeb was probably there. Parveen said, ‘Why are you so frightened? Look at me.’
Razaq looked up at Parveen.
‘If you really want me,’ said Parveen, ‘there is still time for you to stop me from going away.’
‘Do you really mean that? Can I stop you? Can I?’
‘Yes. If you can talk to Abba, the marriage can be stopped. You are so dear to him.’
‘What will I talk about?’
‘Whatever is pent up in your heart.’
‘No, no. I cannot do that.’
Parveen took hold of the basket of fish and stood up. ‘Then remain mourning over your destiny and that of mine like a loser!’ With an angry yank, she strode towards the kitchen.
Zeb witnessed the scene from behind the windowpane. She heaved a deep sigh and sat down against the wall.
Parveen kept the basket of cleaned fish in the kitchen and nestled close to her mother. Aziz Dyad screamed when she saw the bandage on Parveen’s hand. ‘Oh my God! What have you done to your hand?
‘It’s nothing. Just a minor cut.’
‘Who asked you to clean the fish?’
‘You. Who else?’ said Parveen with a laugh.
Aziz Dyad started cursing herself. ‘I have really lost my wits. When a bride is getting ready for her wedding, she shouldn’t handle even a blade of grass.’
‘It’s okay. I will not even wash my own plate henceforth. Happy? Now show me your right hand.’
‘Why?’ asked Aziz Dyad.
‘Just do as I say!’
Aziz Dyad smiled and shot out her right hand from the sleeve of her phiran. Parveen held her hand. ‘Now close your eyes.’
Aziz Dyad shut her eyes and laughed.
‘Stay like this, I will show you a magic trick.’
She took out the diamond ring the rani had given her from her pocket and wore it on her middle finger. Aziz Dyad could not bear the suspense any longer and she opened her eyes.
‘Where did you get this ring from? I remember seeing a similar one on Rani Sahiba. Did she drop it before leaving?’
‘No. I stole it from her bag.’
Aziz Dyad screamed. ‘What? No! Tell me the truth!’
Parveen narrated the whole event. Parveen slipped the ring on to Aziz Dyad’s finger and said, ‘See how beautiful it looks on your hand.’
‘It has such a big stone!’
Parveen laughed at her mother’s innocence. ‘It is not a stone, it is a real diamond.’
Aziz Dyad could hardly believe her ears that Rani Sahiba had gifted such an expensive ring to her daughter. ‘Who knows how much she might have spent on it.’
‘What do you have to with that? You just see how it suits your hand.’
Heaving a long sigh, Aziz Dyad said, ‘What hands can it suit? These hands have become stone-hard from scrubbing utensils for the last forty years. There was a time when these hands of mine were as fair as yours. Do you know when your Abba held my little delicate hand in his brawny and tough hands the first time, it almost disappeared in his fat fingers.’
While she was lost in reminiscence, Malla Khaliq came in. Aziz Dyad immediately hid her hand behind her. Malla Khaliq asked Parveen, ‘Is all well? Why does she hide her hand from me? Has she hurt it?’
Parveen laughed and said to him, ‘No, Abba. There is nothing to worry about. In fact, she is wearing a ring.’ Then she said to her mother, ‘Show your hand to Abba.’ Saying this, she took her mother’s hand in hers and said to her father, ‘Look, Abba, how this ring suits her hand!’
Malla Khaliq began to laugh. ‘What prompted you to wear your young daughter’s precious ring?’
‘I forced her to wear it,’ Parveen defended her mother.
Aziz Dyad handed it over to Parveen. ‘Keep it carefully.’
Malla Khaliq asked, ‘Where did you get it from?’
‘Rani Sahiba gifted the ring to her before leaving,’ Aziz Dyad replied on Parveen’s behalf.
Malla Khaliq assessed the ring.
‘A real diamond is studded in it, Abba. I did my best to resist, but she was insistent. She considers me her daughter. She said that she had a daughter of her own, but—’
Malla Khaliq said, ‘I know.’
‘How affectionate Rani Sahiba is!’
Malla Khaliq returned the ring to Parveen, and Aziz Dyad said to her, ‘This is how sometimes strangers become more supportive than your kith and kin, my daughter. I don’t know which city she belongs to, and see how within no time she became a member of our family.’
Malla Khaliq found a chance to lighten the burden on his mind. ‘This is the only thing my sons don’t understand. All these relations originate from these houseboats of ours. Don’t you see how many letters I receive? Letters come from far-off countries across the oceans, where I can never reach. Is there any corner of our own country where we don’t have acquaintances? All this is possible because of these houseboats, which your brothers want to sell.’
Aziz Dyad’s forehead wrinkled in displeasure. ‘See how he drags on a trivial issue! He can’t stop finding fault with his own sons.’
Malla Khaliq quickly changed the topic and said, ‘How foolish of me! I came here to see my daughter with a purpose and here I get caught in this unnecessary tête-à-tête.’
Sounding angry, Aziz Dyad said, ‘Now don’t you dare put any blame on me.’
Malla Khaliq cast a loving glance at her. ‘I am blaming myself only. I had come here to have a heart-to-heart with my darling Parveen.’ He squatted beside Parveen. ‘My daughter, I am to be blamed for the harm I have caused you. It was partly my ignorance and partly my inability that I could not provide you with better schooling. Yet I feel proud to have given you lessons in the Quran which is complete education in itself. You are going to enter a new phase in your life. You will be in a new house. Just one advice from me: never lend a ear to backbiting and never get hoodwinked by anyone. If you hear something evil, do not believe it unless you know it for certain. You should respect all the elders and serve them wholeheartedly. Be content with what God bestows on you. Be thankful to God through thick and thin. If you follow this advice, I am sure you will always find your path covered with flowers.’
Parveen held her father in a tight hug and started crying. Seeing this, Aziz Dyad reproached her husband, ‘Do you see how you have made my daughter cry?’
‘Let her shed some tears. Tears will wash away all her hidden fears and she will be ready to face her new life.’
Parveen held her father closer and a torrent of tears fell from her eyes. Malla Khaliq comforted his daughter by rubbing her back. Aziz Dyad finally rose and helped Parveen stand up. Wiping her tears with the corner of her headcloth, she said to her, ‘Go now, my darling. Spend some time with Zeb, she might be feeling lonely. Ghulam Qadir had to visit some friend and is not coming back tonight. Now go. My Dastagir will give you strength and brighten your destiny. You may sleep with Zeb tonight.’
Parveen thought if she sought Zeb’s company in this condition, she would have to face a volley of questions. She thought it better to go to her own room, wash her face, change her dress and then go to Zeb’s room. On entering her room, her own image in the mirror terrified her. She saw that all that weeping had turned her eyes as red as two dried apricots. She hurriedly entered the bathroom and came out after washing her hands and face. Then she sat down to brush her hair. Razaq’s face appeared and disappeared in the mirror. In her dejection and anger, she flung aside the comb and squatted still like a mud wall. She forgot about Zeb. She heard Ghulam Ahmed saying to the boatman, ‘Remember, you have to come here quite early, it is very difficult to get the bus later.’
Parveen shuddered; she lifted the comb again and hurriedly tied her hair. She went out to the isle.
The sun had already set and it was getting dark. The electric lamps in the houseboats on the lake looked like dim candles in the mist.
A lamp was shining in Razaq’s shed too. The door was ajar. She longed to be there, in Razaq’s tight embrace, and ask him why he had come to her house to ensnare her in his love. But she hurried towards Zeb’s room.
Razaq sat behind his windowpane. He had placed the doll that Parveen had given him on his trunk. He gazed at it, thinking about how within three days a grandly decked palanquin would come to carry Parveen away and all that would remain with him would be this doll. He felt as if the doll were laughing at his helplessness now. Even after shutting his eyes firmly, the doll danced behind his closed lids. It seemed to be growing in size to assume the form of Parveen. He remembered how she had snatched away the basket of fish from him, calling him a coward venomously. He was drenched in a cold sweat. Taking the doll in his hands, he asked it, ‘What could I possibly do? Tell me, what should I do?’ He felt that the doll was also jeering at him – ‘You are nothing but a coward!’ Razaq flung himself down and started moaning, ‘Oh my God! What should I do?’
‘Where have you been? Amma had asked you to be here a long time ago!’ Zeb called out to her sister-in-law.
‘I was in my room, changing,’ Parveen told her indolently.
‘Now come have dinner. It would have gone cold by now.’ Zeb filled two bowls with rice. While eating, she noticed the bandage on Parveen’s hand. ‘Have you injured your hand?’
‘It’s a small bruise. I got it while cleaning the fish.’
‘And who has put this bandage on your hand?’ Zeb asked, casting a penetrating look at her. ‘See it has come loose. I’ll tighten it a little.’
Parveen tried to pull her hand away, saying, ‘Let it be as it is, it is only a scratch.’
‘No, I can tell that it is very deep and will take a long time to heal. This poor Razaq will not change; he is a yokel even after staying in the city. He doesn’t even know how to cover a wound.’
Parveen’s heart thumped fast in her chest. She tried to brush aside the mention of Razaq and said, ‘When is Bhaijaan expected here tomorrow?’
Zeb held her gaze. ‘You crazy girl, I was shocked to see you so sad even after having received such a good proposal. Only now do I see why. I saw how the knife ran through your hand and how Razaq came running to bandage your finger.’
Parveen could hardly look up.
‘Look here, Parveen. I have never considered you my sister-in-law. I am your friend. Don’t hide anything from me.’
Feeling a little comforted, Parveen replied, ‘No, Bhabi, it’s nothing serious.’
‘It is serious. Okay, tell me this.
Do you like Razaq?’
‘If you approve of Razaq, then please help us. Please talk to Abba. I will die otherwise.’
‘No one dies. All this is idle talk.’
‘No, I am serious.’
‘Even if destiny helps you marry the man of your choice, there is no guarantee that you will be happy. I liked your brother. Ignoring all norms of modesty, I told my parents that if at all I had to get married, I would marry no one other than Ghulam Qadir; I would otherwise remain celibate all my life. My parents gave in. But look what’s become of me now.’
‘No, Bhabi, Razaq is not of that sort. Please do me this favour. You tell Abba. I am ready to face whatever happens afterwards.’
‘Are you crazy? Qadir belonged to our own fraternity, yet there was such a hue and cry. My father was shocked to hear that his daughter had decided to marry of her own will, so much so that he gave up food and water. Your case is more complex: Razaq neither belongs to our fraternity, nor is he an equal to us in any way.’
‘But does he lack anything?’
‘He is after all a servant in our house. If anyone comes to know about this, we will be excommunicated.’
‘My Bhabi, I nursed only one hope, that you would come to my help.’
‘Why are you behaving like a toddler? Why don’t you understand that you are going to ruin your life? I saw you two together, and kept the secret, but imagine what would have happened if any of your brothers saw you with Razaq, think what a catastrophe would have befallen both Razaq and Abba.’
A shudder ran through Parveen’s body. Zeb held her close and said, ‘Don’t cry. Nothing can come of it. Now you leave everything to God. He alone will show you the right path. I too have finally entrusted myself to Him.’