Noor e Mehtab ||MOONLIGHT||

• Dwelling Misery •

What khandaan? What respect and what pagri?

Were they more important, more precious than someone's life?

The fist resting on his thigh tightened as the bluish green veins visibly popped out,
"Wo jeeti jagti insan hai dado, koi bejaan gurya nahi k kahin bhi pakar ker dedo, Kuch bhi kerlo".

"Shahmeer"!
His father tried to stop him, to reprimand him at the cold tone he was using on his grandfather but Rehmat Chaudhary simply raised his hand in air stopping his son who simply let out a deep sigh turning his gaze elsewhere.

Rehmat Chaudhary lowered his hand placing it on the armrest as he gazed back at Shahmeer,
"If you think I'd ever compromise on this khandaan's reputation, than you are so wrong. Is khandaan ki rawayaat ko ab tak agar tum nahi samjhay tou afsos hai tum per mujhe".

Shahmeer's jaw clenched ever so tightly as the thick curl of his lashes swept past the air landing on the arrogance laced features of the elderly figure,
His tone came out low but unwavering,
"No matter what the traditions or values of this khandaan are, they'd never be this cruel to bring the innocents under the knife and ruin their lives. Why should their lives be sacrificed? Why should their future be ruined"?

Rehmat Chaudhary let out a deep sigh as he turned the ring around his thumb speaking in a lazy and dismissive tone,
"You'd never understand".

Shahmeer tried hard to not lose his calm self at those words as he spoke trying hard to keep his voice low and not appear disrespectful,
"Dada jaan, what is there to understand? Everything is as clear as it could be. It's us who have turned a blind eye to it for the sake of this so called khandani izzat"!

Rehmat Chaudhary threw him an unforgiving glare,
"Apni hud mat phalango Shahmeer! You'd never understand elder's decisions no matter how much you fret your mind over them".

Shahmeer raised his chin holding the elderly man's glare,
"I don't even want to understand them. Because dada jaan, the thing that needs to be understood is that nobody has the right to decide for others especially their lives. How can we sacrifice the women just to satisfy our egos"?!

"Shahmeer! Hud main raho apni"!
His father growled in an enraged tone.

Shahmeer gritted his teeth turning his unforgiving scalding gaze towards his father,
"Main tou hud main reh lu ga baba jaan, lekan un hadon ka kiya jo phalang ker zindagi barbad ki gayee aik masoom ki"?

Waqar Chaudhary snorted,
"Wah, Kiya tarbiyat ki hai tum nay iski Saud? He isn't even ashamed of talking back to his grandfather and father".

Saud Chaudhary simply gritted his teeth glaring at his son who simply ignored everyone and turned his enraged and disappointed orbs towards his dada jaan,
"Everything aside, when there were so many ways to solve this issue, why did you only opted for this one? Why ruin someone's life like this dado"?

He asked helplessly trying hard to not lose his calm, to not become disrespectful and to not do something he'd regret later.

Rehmat Chaudhary simply threw him an infuriated glare,
"I did the thing that was best for everyone, and you Shahmeer Chaudhary,
you don't have the right to question my dealings neither am I answerable to you"!