A Blossom in the desert

Simmering Reality

Leisurely sitting in the lounge, Feroz was watching the highlights of India-England cricket match on the television when a ten year old Emaan came to him crying ,seeing his daughter crying Feroz  immediately lifted her in his lap and rubbing off her tears asked ,

" What happened to my Princess Emmi? Why is she crying?

Listening to him,Emaan looked at him with her tearful doe eyes and said between her sobs,

" Abbu , Atif bhai is very bad ....Bade Abbu unhe hospital se kyu khareed kar laye..?".( Why did uncle bought him from hospital )

Slightly smiling at her daughter's cuteness, Feroz lovingly cupped Emaan's cheeks and asked in a fake angry voice ,

" What did he do to my princess?"

" I was playing doctor doctor with Safa and Marwa when he came and said that I cannot be a doctor because I am a sattu" Emaan said pouting .

Feroz furrowed his eyebrows in confusion ,and asked,

" Sattu?"

Emaan head palmed herself and then looking at her father said ,

" Offo Abbu ...you don't know what sattu means ....it means who is not brave ,who is a scaredy cat ....and Atif bhai called me that ...I am not a sattu"

As Feroz finally realised what his daughter meant, he suppressed his erupting laughter as not wanting to upset his little kitten more,and rubbing off her fresh tears said,

"My Emmi ....in your life there will be many like your Atif bhai who will demotivate you ,who will speak not so good words ,who will doubt you and your capabilities but you should not pay heed to their words and only remember to pay heed to the words of Allah SWT who says ' Call upon me ,I will respond to you ' . So Emaan never be afraid to dream...rather have big dreams but also remember to pray for those dreams and work hard towards them ,then you will see how beautifully Allah will respond to your prayers and fulfill your dreams. So if you want to become a doctor pray to Allah and work hard towards it and see how will your prayers will get answered. And I am fully sure my Emmi will become an amazing doctor in sha Allah......and don't you worry about this Atif bhai I will teach him a lesson for making my princess cry".

Feroz ended with a wink making Emaan giggle .Giving her father a sloppy kiss ,Emaan hugged him. At that moment, Nabilah came and standing at the door asked Feroz,

" Sune ,can you please bring sattu from the general store Ammi wants to drink sattu sherbet "
(Listen)

Before Feroz could reply ,Emaan looked horrified at her mother as she said ,

" Haww Ammi how Dadi will drink a person ,  won't it will stuck in her throat "
(Dadi - Grandmother)

Listening to Emaan ,Feroz couldn't control any longer & burst out laughing while Nabilah looked perplexed  .It is after controlling his laughter when Feroz had explained that Emaan had interchanged the word  'fattu' ( coward) with sattu ( roasted gram flour),Nabilah had understood and ended up laughing along with Feroz while Emaan sheepishly grinned hiding her face in her father's embrace .

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" Assalamualaikum Sunny !I have finally sent the pictures of my Aleppo excursion.. Did you see them yet? " Emaan asked  after leisurely lying on the bed after her hectic day at hospital.

Sana wrinkled her nose listening to the nickname Emaan had given her as she answered ,

" Walaikumassalam ,yeah I have seen them...and will you stop calling me by this stupid name "