by Pran Kishore
Bilal took both his mother’s hands in his and said, ‘You are great, Mummy, bravest of all.’
‘Do you know where I am drawing this courage from? You and those books you get for me from the library. You should not worry about me. You just watch how I start a new life now.’ Zeb’s face was glowing like fire.
At Goa airport, Reeny stood waiting to see if Ghulam Ahmed would come out with Zeb and Bilal. But when all the passengers came into the lounge, she sank in the nearest chair. Ghulam Qadir came, his eyes brimming with tears. Reeny looked at him, ‘What happened?’
Ghulam Qadir took her hand and said, ‘I have lost, Reeny.’
The talk about Qadir’s going back to Goa in such unpleasant circumstances grew stale in Srinagar. But no matter how old the news became, it still stayed fresh in the minds of Ghulam Ahmed, Malla Khaliq and Aziz Dyad. Ghulam Ahmed felt all his plans had been washed away. As for Malla Khaliq and Aziz Dyad, there was a cindering brazier before them in the form of Zeb.
Ghulam Ahmed was advised by his wife to lie low for some time.
Seeing Aziz’s condition, Malla Khaliq said to Noor Mohammad, ‘You go and tell Narayan Joo all that has happened here. He might give us some advice.’
‘Abba, Lala Sahib is in Kolahoi with tourists.’
‘Then whom can we consult?’
Aziz Dyad whispered to her husband, ‘What is there now to consult about? We must first of all settle the issue of Zeb. She has been confined to her room all these days.’
‘Amma is right,’ Noor Mohammad seconded his mother. ‘We can consult Lala Sahib later on, for we must first see to Zeb. Who knows what condition she is in?’
This enraged Malla Khaliq. ‘Do you think your father was waiting to comply with your orders? I already went to her room. She deserves praise for the way she is bravely handling this situation. Instead of me consoling her, she was comforting me! “Abba, forgive him,”’ she said to me. She has somehow made Bilal also accept the reality. He is still angry but not as furious as he was.’
‘That is fine, but this young girl has a long life ahead of her. How can your comforting words do her any good?’ Aziz Dyad asked.
It was finally decided that they would go together to Zeb’s room. When Zeb saw her family walking towards her room, she got scared. She quickly went to the inner chamber where Bilal was studying. She said to him in panic, ‘Bilal, something has happened. Everyone is coming here. I am afraid if your father—’
Bilal did not wait for her to complete her sentence and went out. Malla Khaliq, Aziz Dyad and Noor Mohammad entered her room. Bilal asked his grandfather, ‘Abba, is all well?’
‘Yes, all is well. Where is my daughter, Zeb?’
Zeb came out and said salaam to Malla Khaliq.
‘Let’s sit down, my daughter.’
All four of them sat down on the floor. Zoon and Mukhta also came to see what was happening. Ghulam Ahmed had no more courage to interfere in any way. There was complete silence in the room and everyone waited for Malla Khaliq to begin. It was Aziz Dyad who broke the silence.
‘My dear daughter, this Abba of yours has been restless like a live fish in a frying pan for the last few days. He is worried about how you are going to spend your life all alone.’
‘I have reached the conclusion that I will get you divorced from our worthless son so that you can start a new life.’ Malla Khaliq tried to shorten the conversation. Noor Mohammad continued with his father’s suggestion. ‘And our jurisprudence also grants this.’
Zeb bowed her head. Silence filled the room as everyone waited to hear what she would say. She finally said to her son Bilal, ‘Do you understand what Abba and Amma are suggesting?’
Bilal nodded.
‘And what do you say?’
‘What could I say? Only you must take the decision.’
‘That means you also want me to leave this house?’ she asked Bilal. Malla Khaliq and Aziz Dyad felt hurt by her words.
‘My daughter, who would ever think like that over here? We are all concerned about your well-being as we are of Parveen’s. I need your consent to give you freedom from that trickster. I will see your palanquin off from this house as we did that of Parveen.’
‘Please remember, Abba, that it will not be my palanquin leaving this house but my coffin. It will be my final farewell and it will arrive only after I have seen all your grandchildren grown up to my heart’s content. This is my final word. But in case I am a burden to anyone in this house, I will arrange for my own departure. Abba, you have taught my Bilal to stand on his own feet, and he in turn has taught me the same. You need not worry about me. I will engage myself in such work that will bring you a good name.’
Bilal hugged his mother and said, ‘You are really great, Mummy!’
Aziz Dyad and Zoon stood dumbfounded. Malla Khaliq sat in front of Zeb and Bilal. ‘Nobody will talk about this any more.’
Narayan Joo came to know about Qadir when he returned from the Kolahoi glaciers after four days along with a party from Sweden. When Malla Khaliq narrated his woes to him, his heart grew heavy. He held his friend’s hand tight and said, ‘But this marriage was no promise to the Mother of the Universe! I will go tomorrow to Goa and set him free from that witch!’
Noor Mohammad said, ‘When our own blood is bad, how can we blame others?’
This emboldened Ghulam Ahmed to speak up. He said, ‘It isn’t Reeny’s fault. Qadir never told her that he was already married.’
Any word from Ghulam Ahmed was unbearable for Malla Khaliq. ‘Who asked you to interfere in this matter?’
‘Maybe what Ahmed says is true,’ Narayan Joo said.
‘Even if I am very evil, God is always watchful. She is very righteous and gentle.’
This enraged Malla Khaliq further. ‘Don’t you hear me? I am telling you to keep quiet. I know why you are pleading her case. You might have an eye on her wealth.’
Ghulam Ahmed stood up in fury and said before leaving, ‘Will you ever trust me?’
Narayan Joo tried to pacify Malla Khaliq. ‘You are taking out all your frustration on him when the focus of the problem lies somewhere else. Please be calm and listen to me. If you allow me, I can take Noor Mohammad along and go to Goa to verify the truth.’
‘No, not at all. He is dead to me now.’
‘But, my dear friend, think of poor Zeb.’
‘I will take care of that.’
Reeny’s behaviour was changing. She had become irritable and rebuked her employees over small things. All of them were amazed to see this change in her. Then one day when she was rude with the general manager of the hotel, Qadir entered her office, slammed the door and made his displeasure known for the first time. ‘If you are angry with me, which you have every right to be, please take it out on me. Why are you being so cruel to these poor chaps? They might leave us one by one.’
‘Let them go to hell. And don’t teach me how to deal with my staff.’
‘Reeny, please, have mercy on me. I have been abandoned by the whole world, just for one mistake. Oh God, grant me a release from this world! Reeny, I did all this only for you, for your future.’
‘Yes, yes. You cared so much for me that you did not tell me about your past. Who knows how many more secrets you have kept hidden from me?’
‘Please trust me. I have told you everything. I swear by the Almighty, that except for Zeb and Bilal, I have given you an account of every second of my life. Now you have not even given me a chance to say what happened in Kashmir.’
‘Do you think I should have laid my head at your feet? Qadir, tell me how did your family treat you?’
‘When they came to know that I had married a second time, they simply threw me out of the house at midnight. My son Bilal hurled all the gifts in my face which you had bought for all of them. Now, I am a forlorn, dejected and broken person who has come back to you. Don’t cast me away, Reeny. If you also kick me out, where will I go?’
‘This house, this hotel, and the whole es
tate belong to you. How can I force you to leave when I myself am a hapless woman?’ She held the corner of the table for support. Her hands shivered. She somehow managed to sit down on the sofa, and started crying. Qadir gathered courage and sat beside her. He tried to hold her hand but Reeny withdrew. ‘Don’t touch me.’
‘All right, if I have lost even the right to touch your hand, I am finished.’
Reeny muttered while crying, ‘How can he understand that I was eagerly waiting for him to bring his wife and son here. I have been waiting and praying desperately for good news from his family. The two brothers might have made their parents believe that Reeny is a wicked woman. But she is not a home-breaker. She is blameless in all that happened. How do I tell this double-dealer now that I am going to be the mother of his child? What is the point of telling him? All my dreams have been shattered.’
Ghulam Qadir froze. For a long time he could not decide whether to go crazy with joy or lament over his destiny.
Reeny continued wailing. ‘This stone-hearted person only wants to know where he can go if I kick him out. Now the forces of the Universe have left me in such a fix that I cannot sever relations with him, even if I wanted to.’
Ghulam Qadir could not hold his feelings back and he held Reeny close to his chest. She was shivering terribly. Then she became still. They hardly knew how long they remained there like that.
After staying in Goa for a fortnight, Reeny left for Daman to manage Hotel Solace.
Returning to Daman was an excuse to be away from Ghulam Qadir for some time. She wanted to ascertain if she still loved Ghulam Qadir as much as she had before the unravelling of his secret. But Ghulam Qadir was worried that Reeny might divorce him. This fear of being deserted by all his loved ones started breaking him bit by bit.
Malla Khaliq and his family were gradually coming out of their distress and their life was changing.
Zeb had got a new lease of life. She decided to complete her education that she had left halfway. Malla Khaliq encouraged her even more than Bilal.
Ghulam Ahmed alone remained brooding. On the one hand, he was harassed so much by Abdullah Shah for debts that he did not dare pass through Dalgate, and on the other hand, his own father-in-law persistently avoided him. Seeing the changes in the destinies of others, he felt tormented. He wished to go to Goa, prostrate at Ghulam Qadir’s feet and beg for his forgiveness. He was sure that he would forgive him and give him the showroom, decked with carpets. But he was at a loss for how to seek Malla Khaliq’s permission to go.
With every passing day, pressure from Abdullah Shah’s increased and finally one day he approached Malla Khaliq. With folded hands, he said to him, ‘No one can equal you in kindness, gentleness, and uprightness. Keeping this in view, I have come to entreat you to let Ghulam Ahmed go to Goa, settle all the accounts there and bring my carpets back.’
Malla Khaliq who was already furious with Ghulam Ahmed, was about yell at Abdullah Shah, but the latter was shrewd enough to interrupt him. ‘I know all about your family. But try to understand; Ghulam Ahmed also stands marooned in a storm. I pity him. If he did not have a cash crunch, why would he have gone to Goa?’
‘You know, Abdullah Shah, I am not interested in your personal problems. Who am I to stop Ghulam Ahmed from going anywhere? If he thinks it’s right for him to go to Goa, let him go.’
‘That is enough for me. I am not a dishonest businessman as you know, and I have never been dishonest particularly with Ghulam Ahmed. I was happy that because of Ghulam Qadir his boat too set sail in the right direction and by extension, my fortune as well. Nevertheless, it was not conceded by God, for it needs the luck of the person. So let me go. I will discuss the issue with Ghulam Ahmed.’ Having said all this, Abdullah Shah threw his shawl over his shoulder and left.
Malla Khaliq called Noor Mohammad in. ‘Abba, Ghulam Ahmed swears by the holy book,’ said Noor Mohammad, ‘that he knew nothing about Qadir’s second marriage until they were ready to return to Kashmir. He is really in a quandary as he has left behind some carpets belonging to Abdullah Shah in Goa for the showroom.’
Hearing this explanation, Malla Khaliq began to think that if he allowed Ghulam Ahmed to go to Goa that might help revive relations with Qadir.
It was finally decided that Ghulam Ahmed would be allowed to go to Goa. This could help him repay his debts to Abdullah Shah. But he was told not to have any association with Qadir.
After reaching Goa, Ghulam Ahmed stayed with an old friend. He opened his showroom in the morning and went back at the end of the day.
One day while Ghulam Ahmed was coming to open his showroom, he passed Ghulam Qadir in the new wing of the hotel. Ghulam Ahmed started to explain his position, but Ghulam Qadir stopped him saying, ‘Ama Lala, I have no grudge against you. Whatever you did was your duty. But why have you distanced yourself from me? I have allotted this showroom to you. Even Reeny is party to this decision. You may do whatever you want to do with it. You have severed all relations with me and that is my misfortune. But the relation I have with all of you shall abide until my death whether you believe it or not.’
He lowered his head and walked back towards his office.
Time does not wait for anyone. It was nearly a year since Ghulam Ahmed had returned from Kashmir. Around this time, Ghulam Qadir went to the bank and sent a draft of one lakh rupees for Zeb’s personal expenses, but he sent it in Noor Mohammad’s name for he did not dare send it to his father. When over a month had passed and there was no reply, he understood that they had finally forgiven him; otherwise they would have sent the draft back. He went again to the bank to send the second draft, but the bank manager informed him that his first draft had remained uncashed till date.
After a few days, he got a letter from Bilal in which he had attached Qadir’s latest draft as well as a draft for all the money he had sent to Zeb earlier. The letter was brief: ‘Haji Abdul Khaliq’s family has never lived off illicit money, and never will until he lives, and after him, I. Don’t repeat this again. Bilal Ahmed.’
This was so devastating a blow that Ghulam Qadir could not endure it. For days he remained despondent. He wanted solace and took to drinking. Whenever Reeny called him up from Daman, he sounded distant. The slight crack that appeared in their relationship gradually became bigger. With every passing day, he grew more and more bitter about being banished from home, his wife and only son. He felt that he had been dragged out of not only his home, but also his native land. The bitterness changed to unbearable restlessness. Many times he was driven to such extremes that he wished to end his life.
One night, when he was almost ready to drown himself in forgetfulness, Reeny called him up. ‘Sorry, Qadir, for disturbing you at this hour. I am going to the hospital tomorrow to get admitted. Come here after a few days to manage all the hotel work.’
‘Why are you getting admitted?’ Qadir had lost his wits.
‘Wake up, Qadir, don’t you understand? I am going to the hospital to give birth to your child. Idiot!’
Reeny then switched her phone off. The intoxication of alcohol had subsided. He entered the bathroom and placed his heavy head under the cold tap. When he had regained composure, he called his manager and asked him to immediately arrange for a speedboat for him to go to Daman.
Qadir went straight away to St Mary’s Hospital. Reeny was amazed to see him. She had not expected Qadir to come and that too so quickly. She broke down and began to shiver. Qadir sat beside her on the bed, and said, ‘Forgive me, Reeny. Please forgive me.’
Reeny hugged him. ‘You came so late in the night, battling the monsoon tides! That too for an arrogant girl like me! If anything had happened to you, where would I go?’
‘I have tormented you a lot. Please forgive me.’
‘Now you have come back to me, all my worries have left me. You leave now, the doctor might be coming. I am absolutely fine. The doctor says that I should go into labour by evening. There is still a lot of time. You please go to the hotel and come back
after having breakfast.’
Ghulam Qadir kissed Reeny’s forehead and went out.
Reeny forgot all her rancour. Her eyes were wet with the sweetness of happy tears.
She reclined against a pillow, shut her eyes and started talking to the baby. It moved in her womb. ‘Yes, he has come. Your Daddy has come back.’
From midnight to dawn, Reeny remained in labour, in the throes of birthing. Ghulam Qadir paced the corridor all night, and for the first time since his return from Kashmir, pleaded to Dastagir Sahib for Reeny’s health. It was Sunday, and the moment the church bell rang to summon people for Sunday mass, Reeny safely delivered a baby boy. The nurse came out to congratulate Ghulam Qadir who forgot all his pain and tried to enter the delivery room. The nurse stopped him with a smile and said, ‘Have a little patience, we will let you see him very soon. The baby is being washed. You keep a gift ready for me till then. Okay?’ She smiled and disappeared into the labour ward.
Ghulam Qadir stood eavesdropping near the door of the delivery room and heard the cries of the newborn baby. It all seemed like a dream to him, until the nurse led him into the room to see Reeny, with the baby by her side. She turned to Ghulam Qadir and said with a weak but radiant smile, ‘Now your bonds here are all the more difficult to break; you cannot escape. Why are you keeping this distance from me? Come closer. Don’t you want to have a good look at your child?’
Ghulam Qadir took the baby in his arms and held him close to his heart. Seeing this, tears sparkled in Reeny’s eyes. She said to him, ‘He is still very delicate; easy, easy, darling!’
The news of Ghulam Qadir’s becoming a father spread throughout Daman. A party was thrown in the hotel. The general manager of Hotel Sea Waves in Goa, in the meantime, had been eagerly waiting for the news, and when the manager of the Daman hotel called to break this news to him, he was beside himself with joy. He called all the employees and shared the good news with them.