Mehr-o-Mah (مہر و ماہ) -
The sun and the moon
A collection of short stories filled with love, spice, drama and a roller coaster of emotions and of course, a huge part of my imagination.
(The second generation of Ahd-e-Vafa)...
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Tears streamed down her face, not knowing when to stop. The bustle of the ladies around and the fussing of the old woman went unnoticed as Zaahira kept pleading to her Lord to make it all a dream- a nightmare to be precise.
Out of all the circumstances that she had imagined her nikah to be done in, the way it was happening was far from any of those.
A forced bond.
A stranger for a to-be husband.
A small town and its never ending conspiracies.
Everything felt too much.
Shortly after Mushtak's announcement, Ruqayyah had no choice but to take the young woman to the room upstairs to prepare her in an attire of that of a bride but not the same feelings.
"Zaahira, beta pata hai hume ki yeh sab na insafi se kam nahi hai, lekin bharosa rakho hum par, aakhir mein sab theek ho jayega."
The old woman's coaxing fell on deaf ears. Zaahira pretended to be numb to everything they did. The traditional bridal wear that she had been forced into didn't do much to bring emotions like one would expect from a dulhan. Rather than having a merry blush on her face, her skin tone was nothing but pale, void of colour and emotions apart from the tears.
Ruqayyah stepped aside to give more space to the younger girls who were now trying to tie Zaahira's hair.
"Yeh baal itne chote kyu hai, aap tel nahi lagati kya?"
Zaahira ignored the words like they were never spoken. Ruqqayyah glared at the lady who upon sensing her slip of tongue bowed in apology and quietly made a french braid weaving beautifully from either side of the parted hair and pinned them in the end since tying them didn't seem like a good option. A bun would need hair longer than that and a pony would ruin the traditional look.
"Madam ji, sab ho gaya hai."
Another lady spoke after a few minutes. Ruqayyah nodded at them and one by one, they politely took their leave and the once chatter-filled environment was now dead silent.
"Beta?"
Ruqayyah placed a gentle hand on Zaahira's shoulder who hadn't looked up from her lap even once nor had she spoken since they had come to the room. Ruqayyah couldn't fathom what she was going through because a part of her didn't want the guilt within her to increase more than it already had.
