Zoya knew the police. She had grown up in Pakistan amongst politicians and police personnel and knew that when the police decided that you were the enemy it was nigh impossible to win them over. In Pakistan, however, she wasn’t afraid of the long arm of the law because her father was a politician and her grandfather, a celebrity.
Although she wasn’t entirely taken by surprise, she wasn’t prepared for this situation just as yet. A police officer went through the routine formalities and noted down her details.
‘Zoya Malik?’ the police officer said, squinting at her driving licence.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Pakistani?’ the inspector asked.
‘Yes, sir,’ Zoya replied and looked into his eyes.
‘Sir, can we drop this, please?’ said Kabeer.
‘Oh, are you Zoya?’ a policeman asked.
‘No, sir,’ Kabeer said, quietly.
‘Do not interfere in matters of the nation, Mr Kabeer. She’s a Pakistani.’
‘So? She’s a human being, like an Indian.’
‘Sarabjit was human too. Did you see what happened to him?’ he snapped. ‘Where’s your passport?’ the officer turned to Zoya.
‘In my hotel.’
‘What’s it doing there? Planting a bomb?’ he asked.
‘If any one of you could accompany me, I’ll be happy to show you my passport.’
‘We’re not your travel agents, miss,’ interjected a constable.
‘But if it’s a concern of national security—,’ Zoya replied politely.
‘Rao, you’ll go to the hotel and check the necessary documents, visa and passport,’ the inspector said. ‘And madam, we’re letting you go this time, but in the future, try and respect the rules of the country you’re in.
Zoya was ordered to get into the jeep and as before, Kabeer followed her in his car to the hotel. He could see the hurt and humiliation in her eyes. This wasn’t the love he promised and he thumped the steering wheel in frustration. As the jeep sped up after the signal turned green, he noticed a media van following them and someone with a camera held to his face was leaning out, clicking as many pictures as he could. He recognized the man immediately.
When he saw Zoya in tears, Kabeer swerved and positioned his car between the police jeep and the media vehicle. To avoid a collision with an oncoming van, Sharma’s van braked sharply. Kabeer and the police jeep crossed the next signal while it was still green, but the light had turned red by the time Sharma arrived at the junction. Kabeer and Zoya managed to get to the hotel in record time and complete the passport verification.
‘Please carry your passport always,’ Rao said as Kabeer quietly palmed into the cop’s greasy fist 500-rupee note.
As soon as Rao left, Zoya crumpled down to the floor, sobbing. Kabeer ran towards her and hugged her.
‘I don’t understand what’s happening, Kabeer!’ she wept.
‘I don’t either,’ he replied.
‘My Naanu jaan always told me that it’s politics that is ruining the relationships between our countries,’ said Zoya bitterly, ‘but that the people still love each other. I’m not sure that holds true any more.’
‘That’s not true, Zoya.’
‘See what happened to you in Pakistan and what’s happening to me in India.’
‘Zoya, there are good and kind people here and in Pakistan, but there are bad elements in both countries as well. That shouldn’t change our perception.
‘I have been insulted for being a Pakistani. How do you expect me to not change my perception?’
‘I’ve almost been murdered twice in Pakistan and that didn’t change my faith in humanity, be it in Pakistan or elsewhere,’ Kabeer replied, putting his arms around her.
‘Do you know why I never gave up in Pakistan? Because I knew you’d be there for me no matter what happened and you wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me. You were my biggest support there and I want to be your biggest support here.’ Kabeer said, as he wiped her tears. ‘No matter what happens, I will be by your side, always. I wouldn’t let this hate impinge upon our love. We love each other for a reason. Don’t forget that we decided to be the reason people believe in love.’
Zoya smiled through her tears.
‘We take bullets for each other and that’s the way we are, OK?’ Kabeer remarked as he kissed her forehead. ‘We have come incredibly far in our relationship and we face fear and all the good times together from here. Do you understand me?’ Zoya nodded.
‘Also, I’ve punctured the tyre of the police jeep,’ Kabeer grinned.
Zoya laughed and lifted her face to kiss him. The tension melted, to be replaced by passion.
Later, as they lay intertwined in each other’s arms that night, she asked, ‘What happened to our flat-hunting?’
‘You live with me. Now and forever,’ Kabeer replied.
CHAPTER 34
October ’16
They decided that Zoya would shift to his Mumbai apartment the very next day.
After checking out, they walked down to the hotel’s parking lot where Kabeer had parked his car the previous evening. A shocking sight met their eyes, his car window had been smashed. Kabeer opened the door to reveal shards of glass on the driver’s seat. He cleared it away silently and wrapped up the glass in the orange dusting cloth from the glove compartment. Zoya helped him. Wordlessly, he placed Zoya’s luggage in the boot and they drove away.
Although Zoya didn’t say anything, her silence spoke volumes. During the journey, Zoya thought of all the possible outcomes of her decision to remain in India. It would impact her career greatly. She didn’t want to admit her misgivings to Kabeer.
‘Surprise.’ Everyone yelled, jumping out of their hiding places when Kabeer entered his home, but were taken aback on seeing Zoya. His family had been waiting eagerly for him, but were confused when they saw that he had brought Zoya along.
Karan broke the ice, ‘Can I have your autograph, please?’ he asked excitedly and insisted on clicking a selfie with her.
‘Offer them greetings,’ Kabeer whispered into Zoya’s ears.
‘What’s—?’ Zoya was about to blurt out in her nervousness but Kabeer immediately stopped her.
‘They’re my parents. Not your friends.’
‘As-Salamu-Alaykum,’ Zoya smiled at Kabeer’s parents.
‘Jai Shri Krishna,’ replied Kabeer’s mother, her palms together in greeting.
‘This is Zoya Malik, right?’ she asked her younger son, who gave an affirmative nod.
‘My birthday was several days ago,’ Kabeer said, ‘so what’s with the celebration?’
‘It’s our anniversary today, Kabeer, how could you forget?’ his father chided him. Kabeer touched his parents’ feet as was his customary greeting.
‘Ooops, I forgot. I am so sorry.’
His grandfather walked in looked grumpy and then stopped dead upon seeing Zoya.
‘We need to talk,’ he growled at Kabeer and walked away. Kabeer’s mother was not happy about this situation either, but she did her best to make Zoya feel welcome in their home.
Zoya was delighted with the guest bedroom that had been allocated to her. She was aware that there were undercurrents about her presence here with Kabeer and hoped with all her heart that time, the great healer, would eventually sort things out.
‘Beta, what’s going on with you two?’ Kabeer’s mother whispered as Zoya put her luggage aside.
‘They’re dating, Ma. It’s all over the news,’ Karan said with a smile on his face. He was the only one who looked happy.
‘Shut up! Kabeer, tell me?’
‘No, Ma. It’ nothing like that.’ The moment Kabeer said it, Zoya glared at him.
‘I mean, she loves me,’ Kabeer blurted. His mother gasped in shock.
‘And I love her too,’ Kabeer said. His mother started tearing up.
‘I am going back home. My son loves a Pakistani girl. I can’t live any more!’ she wailed and rushed inside.
�
�At least listen to him once,’ Kabeer’s father called out to her as he went inside to calm his wife down.
‘Mom is just a little shocked but she’ll come around, don’t worry,’ said Karan, bustling in with her suitcases. ‘Do you have a sister or friend as beautiful as you?’ he asked.
Zoya couldn’t help laughing.
Kabeer went inside to placate his mother. ‘Why can’t you be nice to the person who has just met you? Why do you have to judge her based on where she is from?’
‘Why can’t you be nice to the person who has given birth to you, without judging her for judging a Pakistani?’
‘Because that’s not what I’ve been taught by you. You always taught me to love people, and I love her.’ At this, his mother started crying even more hysterically. Kabeer exchanged a look with his father. They knew what she was doing. Whenever something did not go according to her, she would start crying and pretending to lose her breath. She had always been good at it.
‘You couldn’t find anyone else to fall in love with?’ she screamed.
‘When he has already decided what’s good for him, who are we to interfere?’ his grandfather walked into the room and said. ‘There’s always a catch with you, isn’t there? You do make the most unexpected decisions and don’t even include us in them.’
‘She isn’t one of us, beta,’ said his mother. ‘I’ve heard of Pakistani girls luring Indian men to their doom.’
‘Ma, I assure you, she has no such hidden agenda.’
‘What do you even know about her?’
‘She’s the granddaughter of Amaan Ali Malik, the maestro, who loved India unconditionally even after the Partition,’ Kabeer said.
‘It’s can’t be that simple,’ said his mother who was feeling distraught.
‘It isn’t complicated, mom,’ replied Kabeer. ‘Believe me, I understand how you feel, but she protected me in her own country and she’s the reason I’m alive today. She makes me feel loved and wanted and no matter how hard I try, I’ll never be able to do what she did for me in Pakistan.’
‘We have to answer to this society, beta. They will never accept this union.’
‘You can either worry about their judgement or be happy that your son found love in a beautiful soul who left everything in Pakistan to be with him,’ Kabeer argued.
Zoya entered the room at that moment and looked timidly around at the stormy countenances in the room. She held the door open and the maid came in trundling the tea trolley.
‘I’ve heard that tea helps when people feel stressed out, so I fixed us all a pot of tea,’ Zoya smiled. Kabeer’s father gallantly stepped forward, led Zoya to the couch and gestured to the maid to wheel in the trolley to the table at the centre of the room. Zoya gracefully poured out the tea into the dainty cups she had found in the kitchen cupboard. Although Kabeer’s mother still looked mutinous, she was slightly mollified by Zoya’s peace offering. She put two spoons of sugar in every cup, except in Kabeer’s father’s one.
‘You won’t put sugar in my cup?’ his father asked.
‘No, you have sugar. I already put sugar-free in your tea,’ and with that everyone smiled, except for Kabeer’s mother.
Kabeer’s grandfather too continued to scowl ferociously and after a few minutes stormed out in a rage. Everybody went quiet in the room. Zoya bit her lip.
The sound of glass shattering broke the lull and was immediately followed by the old man’s howl of pain. Everybody ran towards the noise that had come from the conservatory behind the house and found Kabeer’s grandfather lying face down amidst shards of glass. His head was bleeding where the rock had struck him. The rock had smashed through the glass pane of the roof of the conservatory.
CHAPTER 35
October ’16
They were at the hospital, outside the observation ward, tensely awaiting the doctor’s verdict.
Zoya softly touched Kabeer’s arm. ‘Are we ever going to overcome all this, Kabeer?’ she asked.
His mother was standing at a distance, studiously ignoring both Kabeer and Zoya.
‘We’re fine, Zoya,’ he said softly, ‘these adversities will only make us stronger.’ He led Zoya to his mother and put an arm around each of them. His mother was stiff and resistant.
‘He’ll be fine, Ma’ said Kabeer, and the older woman bent her head and wiped her eyes with the edge of her sari. Kabeer’s father came over and hugged her comfortingly. He looked over his wife’s head and saw Zoya’s worried face. He gave her an encouraging smile.
A doctor emerged from the observation room. ‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ he said. ‘He’s fine. There has been some blood loss, but he’s good. I’ve given him something so he’s sleeping now. You can take him home in a day or two and we’ll send someone over to remove the sutures.’
Kabeer’s grandfather seemed to have undergone a change of heart during his incarceration at the hospital because when he regained consciousness, the old man hugged Zoya apologizing to her for behaving like a bear with a sore head.
Two days later, Kabeer’s grandfather received a hero’s welcome upon his return home.
Kabeer’s mother also seemed to have reconciled to the idea of a Muslim daughter-in-law. For the first time, Zoya spent quality time with Kabeer’s family.
Unfortunately, their persecution persisted unabated. Although some political leaders released statements time and again in attempts to harass Kabeer and Zoya, the extra police protection ensured that they weren’t physically harmed.
Kabeer’s family was targeted and heckled by their neighbours and acquaintances and Karan was bullied by some unsavoury elements in his college. However, the family as a whole valiantly weathered these storms.
Zoya was surprised and delighted with the love and acceptance that she received from Kabeer’s family and she stayed with them for a whole month; a month that filled her with a sense of belonging. When his family returned to Pune, they bid her a fond farewell and apologized for any hurt or pain they may have inadvertently caused her.
Later that night, as Zoya packed her bags for another hectic tour, Kabeer asked petulantly, ‘Why do you have to stay in a hotel when your concert is in Mumbai?’
‘It’s not just getting back to work, I also need to get used to staying in hotels for days on end. Furthermore, when the sponsors are sparing no expense on these stays, why shouldn’t I let them pamper me?’
‘At the cost of staying away from me?’ Kabeer asked.
Zoya smiled at him and unzipped one of the bags. He was delighted to see his clothes in it, tidily folded and stacked.
Zoya teased him, ‘You have no choice, Mr Kabeer, but to accompany me for the entire tour. You have a month off from the nets and I couldn’t think of a better idea than this.’
Kabeer kissed her lingeringly and whispered, ‘I love you.’ Zoya giggled as he kissed every inch of her and punctuated each kiss with a fervent ‘I love you’.
Moments where everything is beautiful and real, every kiss has its own meaning. Sometimes it takes us into a different world and sometimes it makes our existing world full of beauty.
Zoya kissed him back, ‘I can’t live without you, Kabeer.’
CHAPTER 36
October ’16
There’s a special place in this world where nobody is judged for who they are. They are simply allowed to live and grow. That place is called love.
Kabeer and Zoya were on an endless quest for this place both in Pakistan and in India. After a two-hour-long flight, following a hugely successful concert in Mumbai, they landed in Bangalore. They checked into a hotel of their own choice, ditching the arrangements made by the concert organizers.
Room number 1002 was a luxury suite with a stunning view outside and cozy and clean inside.
‘Do you have such good hotels in Pakistan?’
‘Yes, we do, though I haven’t got many chances to stay in such hotels in Pakistan until recently,’ said Zoya beaming from ear to ear after inspecting the splendid bathroom.
Kabeer scratched his chin thoughtfully, ‘If we remove the hatred that Indians and Pakistanis have for each other, you’ll always find Pakistan and I’ll always find India better. My point is, we strive to show our hospitality to each other’s people more than our own, because we want them to think that we are better. And probably that’s why I would never receive the kind of warmth I get here, in Pakistan.’
‘We’re in the right place then and I can feel less homesick,’ Zoya smiled into his eyes, ‘because there’s only one person whom I love more than any country, and that is you.’
Kabeer could see the glow of her sculpted body in the black sleeveless top as she switched off the lights one by one. She left one light on and slipped into bed beside him. As Zoya tied up her hair in a ponytail, Kabeer caught a glimpse of her hairless and perfectly smooth underarms, which turned him on. She was too hard to resist at that moment.
‘This night is going to be full of memories and I don’t want you to forget the face of the person who made it memorable for you,’ she said in a soft, silky voice.
‘That’s something,’ Kabeer murmured as he cupped her face and kissed her luscious lips with increasing fervency until they tore off their clothes violently in a frenzy of passion. Zoya expected Kabeer to kiss her lips again but he lowered his mouth to kiss her other beauty. Zoya dug her nails into his back and clutched at his silky hair. She had never been loved like this before. Kabeer’s tongue continued circling enticingly until Zoya, unable to control herself any longer, let herself go in orgasmic surrender as their bodies and souls became one. Kabeer and Zoya’s lovemaking lasted late into the wee hours.
After they were fully sated with their love, they went to a bar called Toit Brewpub for a drink and then decided to take a romantic late-night stroll to enjoy what was left of the night.
They were in the elevator heading to their suite when Zoya received an upsetting message that her Bangalore concert had been called off. Apparently Pakistani militants had breached the border and had wounded an Indian soldier a few hours ago. Zoya put her phone away and ruminated crossly upon the ease with which Indians linked terrorism with Pakistan.
Love Knows No LoC Page 12