The Black Rainbow

by Hussain Zaidi

  “What about his family?”

  “He comes of a middle class family. His father is a journalist, his mother teaches in a college. They are a nice family.”

  “Oh I hate these nice middle class people!”

  “I too but he’s our best bet in these circumstances.”

  “But is he willing to marry you and in these circumstances?”

  “I have never talked to him about that or even dropped a hint. But I feel it in my bones that he would agree,” Sara replied.

  “And his family?” Nisar asked. “These middle class people can’t take any major decision without the consent of their elders.”

  “Well, I have met his parents and I believe they’ll have no objection.”

  “Ok, but I need some time to think.”

  “Papa we are racing against time. In normal circumstances, I would hardly have chosen Ali as he’s no match for me but in the present situation he is the best available option. Should we have dinner now?”

  At dinner Seth Nisar kept asking Sara about Ali and his family. She told him whatever she knew about them. Sara noticed that her father was now visibly relieved. And that was enough for her to feel that she had made the right decision.

  “One thing: We’ll have to tell Ali’s family why we want this marriage to take place in such haste,” Nisar said.

  “I think we should tell them the truth but not the whole truth,” Sara opined.

  “But should we make the connection between me and Zia known?”

  “They already know this,” Sara disclosed and then narrated to her father how she had shared that with Ali and his father.

  “I’m sorry papa but I had to do that.”

  “It’s all right. One last question: would Ali consent to live with us?”

  “I think we shouldn’t make this an issue. If he agrees, well and good. If he doesn’t, I’ll move to his apartment and then return after some time.”

  Seth Nisar retired to his room. Sara rang up Ali and said to him straightaway, “Ali, would you marry me? If your answer is in the affirmative, then tomorrow instead of going to the university, come to my place. Before Ali could respond, Sara rang him off and shut down the cell phone.

  Sara’s call took Ali by surprise. Although marrying Sara was his most cherished dream, the same would come true so suddenly and so early was beyond his wildest of imaginations. For a moment, he thought that was also a dream but then realized it was a fact.

  “But how has my dream come true? Maybe it is the result of my trust in God. As the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu says: ‘Leave yourself to the will of God and everything will be done for you’. Yes, God has rewarded me with the best that I can have.”

  But shortly his skepticism started overpowering him. “Why Sara, who has never made any profession of love to me, has offered me marriage and in such a strange manner? Does she have the consent of her father? And what about my parents? I need to take them on board and they will ask me similar questions. I think I had better give Sara a call and seek an explanation. What if she is just kidding with me? No, I know her too well. She is not that sort of a person. She wouldn’t make such a proposal if she didn’t mean it.”

  Ali tried to contact Sara but couldn’t reach her. “Probably she knew I would pose her such questions and she wants to ascertain whether I truly love her; for if I truly love her, I’ll just jump at the proposal without going into whys and what’s. Since I’m in love with Sara, I should only accept her proposal without probing its possible reasons,” Ali concluded.

  “I know you would come,” Sara said to Ali as he called on her.

  She was looking pretty in blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Before Ali could speak, she softly pressed his hand and said in a sweet voice, “I know you have many questions and I’ll answer each of them but first I want you to meet my father.”

  Ali could see a lot of love in her eyes for him. That was enough to convince him that he had made the right decision.

  Sara introduced Ali to Seth Nisar, who cast a long glance at the young man.

  “Nice to see you,” Nisar said in a rather cold voice as he held his hand out to Ali.

  The two talked for a few minutes mostly about Ali’s family.

  “I believe you’ll keep my daughter happy and give us no cause for regretting our decision,” Seth Nisar winded up the conversation. “I’m afraid, I have to leave for the office.”

  After Seth Nisar had gone, Sara took Ali to her bed-room. It was large and delicately furnished. On the walls hanged several of Sara’s photographs from her childhood to the present. On the bedside table was placed a photograph of a beautiful woman, in her late 30s, with sharp features. Ali at once noticed a striking resemblance between that woman and Sara.

  “This is my mother; two years before she passed away,” Sara told Ali.

  “She’s just like you,” Ali remarked. “But it’s unfortunate she died so young.”

  “Yes, papa says I take after mama. She died of cancer.”

  “Oh I’m sorry.”

  “Let’s forget the past and talk about the present and of course the future,” Sara said and took Ali in her arms. “Oh Ali how deeply I love you!” she exclaimed.

  At that moment Ali found himself in the seventh heaven. He seemed to have forgotten everything except Sara. All his doubts and questions left him and he was in a state of perfect ecstasy.

  “This is the happiest moment of my life,” Sara remarked and tightened her embrace. Ali had similar feelings but he was speechless. Several times before he had fanaticized himself to be in such a situation and now that his fantasy had become an actuality, he was beside himself. He wanted to go ahead and kiss Sara but his natural shyness prevented him from doing so.

  After some time Sara withdrew herself and took a few steps back. Silence ensued for a while during which Ali stood motionless with his eyes cast down, while Sara kept smiling.

  “You’re shier than I had supposed,” she remarked coquettishly, “but don’t worry I’ll help you get over your inhibitions. However, for now we had better get down to business. You must be wondering why I made that proposal in such odd a manner. Here I’m to explain that and answer any questions that you may have. But first let me hear your reply.”

  “I would only say that you have done me a great honor by choosing me to be your life partner,” Ali conveyed his consent.

  “Thanks a lot. And you have the consent of your parents?” a tickled pink Sara queried.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t talk to them. They even don’t know I’m here. But don’t worry I’ll speak to them today and solicit their consent,” Ali assured her. “One thing I want to say is that it’s enough for me that you have proposed to me. Why you have proposed is not that important for me. However, my parents may want to know the reasons.”

  “Yes, I can understand and it’s equally important for you as well. We are going to start a new life and it’s important there are no secrets between us. Transparency is the key to trust.”

  Sara paused for a moment and then resumed, “I must say it all happened all of a sudden. We are friends. In fact, you’re the only friend that I have had. But I don’t know when that friendship graduated into love. I have read somewhere that sometimes there’s a lag between being in love and being aware that you’re in love. The same has happened to me. I don’t know since when I’m in love with you but it’s of late that I began to realize that. I wanted to share that feeling with you but I was waiting for an opportune time. But luckily I didn’t have to wait long.

  “Only a few days back,” Sara continued, “papa told me that he wanted me to get married. You’ll laugh but my father is a bit superstitious. He has strong faith in astrology and has taken most important decisions of his life on the advice of his astrologer. When superstitions work, as in case of papa, they become sacrosanct and it’s hard to get rid of them. His astrologer has told him that I should get married and do so soon. Papa conveyed to me the astrologer’s advice with the request that
I should honor the same. I myself don’t believe in such things but it’s important for me that papa does and I respect his views. If papa had ordered me to get married, I wouldn’t have done so. But the fact is that he implored me and then it wasn’t possible for me to refuse him. So I agreed to honor his wish but on the condition that I’ll marry the man of my choice, the man I love, who of course is you. So this sweetheart is the story,” Sara concluded and got closer to Ali.

  Ali, who was patiently hearing Sara’s account, remained silent for a few seconds perhaps trying to understand it and then asked Sara, “And how much time has your father’s astrologer given for the marriage?”

  “Don’t be upset. It’s only a week from today.”

  “Oh really! It’s a very short time.”

  “I’m afraid it is. But it’s all that we have,” Sara replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

  “But Sara how is this possible? I mean we’re still students. We’re still to enter into practical life and make a living. If we get married now, how are we going to attend to our studies and how we are to pull ourselves together?” Ali put some logical questions.

  “What you have pointed out is correct,” Sara said looking deep into Ali. “I’ll not dispute it. If I had my way, I wouldn’t get married until we were settled. But sometimes, we have to say good-bye to our plans and enter an un-chartered territory, which of course is difficult. But if we’re together and have faith in each other, there’s no problem that we cannot surmount,” Sara said and pressed Ali’s hand warmly.

  “Your hand is cold as ice. Are you ok?” she asked.

  “Yes I’m,” Ali replied in a feeble voice.

  “No, you’re shivering. I fetch coffee for you.”

  In a few minutes, Sara returned with coffee and sandwiches. “Please relax,” she advised Ali.

  Sara remained silent until Ali finished his coffee.

  “How are you feeling now?” she asked Ali.

  “I feel better now.”

  “Look dear, I don’t want to force my will on you. If you can’t bring yourself to marrying me in such short a period, I’ll respect your decision and we’ll remain friends as now,” Sara told Ali.

  “No it’s not that. Marrying you will be the best decision of my life and I’m willing to marry you whenever and wherever you want,” Ali made a categorical reply.

  “That’s nice,” Sara said and kissed Ali gently. “But we should leave it to our parents to decide the exact date. Could you request your parents to meet papa at dinner this evening? I trust you’ll be able to persuade them.”

  Ali had a hard task convincing his parents. They weren’t opposed to his marrying Sara but they had reservations that the marriage should take place immediately. However, eventually they gave in and agreed to meet Seth Nisar to finalize marriage matters.

  Chapter 28

  On the insistence of Seth Nisar, the wedding was held in a simple manner. Though he had given his consent to the marriage, the seth had serious doubts whether it would work. For one thing, he didn’t like Ali and his family for their middle class background. He had an inherent dislike of the middle class, which he thought was untrustworthy, greedy and malicious. The quick way in which Ali’s family had acceded to the proposal strengthened his suspicion that they were interested in his wealth. If he had his way, he would have married Sara in a compatible family.

  However, more than that Seth Nisar was apprehensive of the possible reaction of Maulvi Zia. He didn’t share his daughter’s optimism that the maulvi would reconcile to her marriage. He had also requested Sara to go abroad immediately after the wedding with Ali on honeymoon as it was customary for wealthy people. But he failed to get Sara’s assent, who insisted that she would stay at home and face the consequences of her decision. “One can’t escape one’s choices; so one had better face them,” Sara told him.

  Contrary to what she had professed to Ali, Sara had no love for him. She looked upon him at best as a friend. Being a matter of fact, she was free from any romantic notions about friendship. Hence, the marriage with Ali was thus no more than a marriage of convenience for her. She knew it wouldn’t be a permanent relationship and would work only as long as she needed it.

  Sara had also decided that she wouldn’t bear Ali any child, because that might become an obstacle in case she decided to ditch him. It’s not that she disliked Ali. He was gentle, well mannered, well bread and well read — the virtues which Sara appreciated. She knew he wasn’t greedy at all and had accepted her hand only out of love for her. But she also knew he was greatly impressed by her wealth, beauty and style and would always remain in thrall of her. Most of the women would like to have such husbands. But Sara wasn’t an ordinary folk. She wanted to marry a person who could match her wealth, fortune and way of life. And Ali of course was well short on those virtues.

  For Ali, things were happening all too quickly to understand them. He was naïve enough to blindly believe what Sara had told him. Though otherwise prone to questioning and analysis, it never occurred to him to ponder why a girl like Sara was so keen to marry him. Though not a romantic by temperament, who had rejected Farzana’s advances, he had meekly capitulated to the charms of Sara.

  Ali was a person who had always serious thoughts of the morrow. He was always concerned about his future and career. He had decided not to get married or even fall in the trap of a woman until he was well established. But in case of Sara, all his concerns seemed to have withered away.

  Mr Naqvi was not at ease in the whole episode. “There’s something wrong somewhere,” he had told his wife and son. He had seen cases in which couples belonging to different classes had got married. His own marriage was a case in point, as his wife had married him in the face of opposition from her parents. Therefore, he saw no problem in an enormously wealthy girl marrying his son. But he was uncomfortable that everything was happening in such a haste and in such a hush-hush manner.

  At any rate, he wasn’t willing to buy the story that all that was being done on the advice of Seth Nisar’s astrologer. “How can a man in Seth Nisar’s position be so much in thrall of a soothsayer that he had agreed to marry his only daughter in a week time?” Mr Naqvi had asked his wife and Ali.

  Mr Naqvi was also aware of the connection between Seth Nisar and Maulvi Zia. But despite that he couldn’t even remotely guess that the maulvi was the cause of Sara’s hasty marriage.

  Mrs Naqvi also shared her husband’s skepticism but like him she failed to come up with a plausible explanation. She knew Ali was in love with Sara and she also knew well the power of love. Therefore, she persuaded her husband to give his consent to Ali’s wish as she had felt that her son would marry in spite of their opposition, as she had done some twenty-five years ago. “Let’s not make the same mistake that my father made,” she had advised her husband.

  The person who was most upset at the Ali-Sara marriage was that poor girl named Farzana. Despite Ali’s coldness and at times arrogance, she had retained indubitable faith in the power of love and had always believed that one day he would reciprocate her feelings. But when Mrs Naqvi broke her the news of Ali’s marriage, she was simply shocked and shaken.

  On the day Sara’s wedding took place, the security forces raided the Jamia Islamia and the farm house of Maulvi Zia to arrest him. But Zia had been tipped off well in time by his friends and well wishers in high places. So he slipped and went into hiding.

  It was also decided by the government to raid the White Mosque on the suspicion that its premises had become a safe haven for foreign militants. However, at the eleventh hour, the decision was withdrawn and this was done for two reasons: It was feared that the security forces storming a mosque would cause commotion in the country. However, the major reason was the reports that the militants had vacated the mosque. So in any event, it was considered useless to raid the mosque.