Moments

Wings are made to fly

"Don't let what they say...

Keep you up at night....

And they can't detain you....

Coz wings are made to fly...."

Wings, Little Mix

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35 years back

Sheesh Mahal, Lucknow

The royal Malik mansion stood in the middle of Lucknow city with all it's glory. The rulers of Lucknow, Rudrapratap Malik and his wife Subadra Malik had three children. Aravind Malik, the brilliant businessman. Avinash Malik, the drunkard and gambler. And Amaira Malik, the princess of Maliks.

The whole Lucknow was jealous of the 19 year old girl's beauty and various men had tried to win her heart, but in vain. For a girl who was born and brought in a conservative and orthodox family, Amaira had huge dreams – dreams which she knew she can never reach. There were days when she used to sit by her window and watch the flying birds wishing for wings so that she could fly around the world. She wanted to fly, fly out of the cage she was in, fly out to Scotland's Edinburgh University and pursue law. Her desire to fly grew harder when the application she had sent secretly to the university got accepted. Knowing that her family would never agree to it and would definitely force her into marrying the landlord's son, the forcing which was going on for the past four years, she decided to fly! The night her application was accepted, Amaira Malik got a loyal servant of Maliks to get her visa and passport. The day after that, she flew to Scotland leaving behind a letter for her family.

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Wrapping the fur coat she had purchased from Scotland using the money she had stolen from her father's locker, she walked through the gates of Edinburgh looking around the huge campus.

The sign boards helped her to get into the classes of Law and the 19 year old sat down on an empty chair. She looked around to find everyone in deep conversation with each other. She couldn't help but feel left out. Everyone around her were English, she could see that. She could even feel some glances thrown at her slightly dark tanned skin.

Professor walked into the class and greeted them. A few minutes were taken for introduction and every student introduced themselves before the class.

An hour passed and professor was talking about the subject when the door slammed open and a boy dashed in. "So sorry sir."

"Look at the time gentleman!" professor said pointing to the watch the boy was wearing.

"My bike punctured sir. I had a hard time fixing it!"

"Get in"

Amaira was looking down at her notebook until the boy plopped into the seat next to her. She looked at him and found the most handsome face she had ever met in her lifetime. His slightly long black hair was wet and dangling to his forehead and the denim jacket worn over the white t-shirt highlighted his tanned skin. Indian, his face was Indian. She saw him smiling at her and she smiled back.

The professor was talking and she turned her attention from him. She was listening to the class until she heard the handsome boy whispering, "Hey are you an Indian?"