| Hawaaon Ke Paighaam | Messages Of The Wind

| The Rotating Rooftop Restaurant |

Ik waari aaja door jaaney waaliye
Tenu haukan marda phiraan...

The hum of the powerful engines was a comforting blanket over the confines of Phoenix Air's Airbus A380. The atmosphere inside was relaxed. Dusk had begun to fall and the low ambiance lighting under the seats and lining the aisles encased the cabins in a soft, comforting glow. Meerab put the last of the dinner trays away and began preparing the tea and coffee requests.

"Meerab let's get these teas to the passengers and then start with the clean-up please. Have Tara help you do Premium Economy."

Maala, the senior flight attendant in charge and Meerab's supervisor spoke whilst locking up the tray cabinets.

Meerab nodded and loaded the beverages onto the trolley just as Karim, one of the first-class stewards, strolled in. Meerab nodded towards the trolley, asking him to help her distribute the drinks.

"Thanks Karim. That would've taken much longer if you hadn't helped."

Karim smiled in a way which was now familiar to Meerab. It was sheepish and cheeky at the same time, and Meerab had come to enjoy his company on her flights.

"How about you thank me properly. I've been dying to explore Doha. Let's go for dinner? Or even drinks! Or dessert? Whatever you like actually."

Meerab looked into her colleague's face, dull alarms pinging in her mind. She'd always taken Karim's enthusiasm and interest lightly because he'd never acted on them, and Meerab had always managed the situations with delicacy. Looking at him now, Meerab knew it was time to divert the situation without hurting his feelings or letting him know that she was aware of his interest in her.

"I've actually agreed to dinner with Saba and the girls. Maybe we can do dessert? Tanya has been going on about trying authentic Qatari desserts, so we can all go together?"

She had to hand it to him; his smile didn't waver as he nodded in agreement and murmured a 'sure'. Smiling, Meerab turned away and busied herself in the pre-landing clean up.

Murtasim Khan looked at the glittering landing markings on the ground as he aligned the plane towards the runway. Dropping to the suitable altitude, he commanded his First Officer to lower the landing gear and open the flaps on the wings of the plane. After that, it was like second nature; his hands moving in a subconscious routine, he prepared the plane for landing, his eyes looking at the runway ahead but his mind occupied with the recent events which had unfolded in Hyderabad.

"Tumhari pyaari biwi ko logo ki khidmat sirf hawa mai karna acha lagta hai. Yahan zameen par to Allah na karay, ghalti se bhi apne shohar ko ek chai ka cup bana ke de de."

His mother, as expected, had been on the defensive throughout their entire conversation. Murtasim had always known she'd never wanted Meerab as his wife, and she'd dropped enough hints for him to know exactly who she'd wanted. She had been adamantly against his choice in the beginning, had turned hesitant as things had progressed and had finally become somewhat bitter that he'd rejected the offer to marry into her family instead.

Of course, Meerab's un-Khaani-like attitude was infamous and also played a part in her hesitance, but he'd choose Meerab's spunk over any woman whose personality and attitude resembled a soaked doormat.

One Day Earlier

Khan Haveli, Hyderabad

From the moment he'd walked into his mother's personal drawing room and sat down, Murtasim, against his will, had had the picture of Meerab standing in his lounge looking so tragically resilient, her eyes cold with frozen betrayal, at the forefront of his mind. It made impartiality a slight challenge, but Murtasim strived for it nonetheless.