The Shah Gharana

||Tabahi [destruction ]||

After a long day finally, the whole haveli went silent.

Except for two very worried and nervous individuals, everyone seemed to be at peace. Especially elders.

They liked the family and the guy too, everything seemed absolutely perfect. And if there was any kind of doubt in their mind,it was erased by this meeting.

On the other hand, Saman was yet again anxious. She was sure of one thing now, she did not wish to be married to this guy. Yes, he was nice, his family was perfect...by whichever angle it was seen, this was great.  But, she did not want it. For the very first time in her life she had come to a conclusion, all by herself. She knew what to do but doing it would be a big hassle for her.

She had an inkling of the elders' opinion.

"Ya Allah help!" She whispered and rubbed her hands again. She was currently waiting for Ahad's message.  It was quite late in the night so Ahad had asked her to wait as he went to check where the elders were.

"Bolo kya kehna hai?(what do you want to say?)" Dada jaan asked as soon as Saman came downstairs to his room. All of her uncles and her father were there, Fahad, Zeeshan too. Saman looked at Ahad, making him nod slightly. It was finally the time.

"Dada jaan Saman wants to say something about this proposal." He started." She does not want to go forward with this." There it was, the cat was out of the bag.

"What nonsense is this?" Ihsan spoke with exasperation." Is this one of your pranks?" He asked with fury. If it was, he wasn't going to entertain them on this topic. On the other hand Mazhar carefully watched the two kids and he knew, they weren't pulling a prank.

"What are you trying to say Ahad?" Mazhar asked, making Ahad gulp nervously.

"Abbu, Saman wants to say no to this proposal." He spoke and gestured  Saman to speak only for her to shake her head. She looked scared, and on the verge of panic.

"Saman beta, is this true?" Mazhar asked. Saman again looked at Ahad making him nod, assuring her to speak.

"Yes bade abbu." She whispered. And then hell broke loose. Ihsan wasn't pleased after hearing this, he was furious to say the least. While his brothers tried to calm him down, Dada jaan was observing Saman and Ahad. Those two looked horrified.

"Calm down Ihsan." He spoke in a loud yet calm voice.

"But abbu jaan-" Ihsan started only to stop by the glare his father sent his way.

"Let the children speak first and try not to act like a child. Control yourself."

"Saman beta, can I know why you are denying?" Dada jaan asked.

Saman felt like a mountain was dropped on her head, she was questioning everything now. This was worse than she had imagined...especially her father's reaction.

"Dada jaan, I..I got to know that ...he lives abroad and...and I don't want-" she stopped talking. It was hard enough for her to even utter these words.

"Are you serious Saman, for such a small reason you want to say no?" Ihsan yelled.

"Papa...I can't imagine living so far from my family." She spoke in a low voice. Looking at her father hopefully, that maybe now he would understand her plight.