Minaal came to her parents' room accompanied by Faiz. Nervousness, fear and everything else related to the possibility of being disowned was scaring her to the core. But she had made up her mind. She was not going to marry Usman. Not when she knows she will get nothing but more misery than she already experiences. Shahnawaaz had watched the two enter carefully while Zahra just silently watched what was to unfold.
"Baba Jaan meine aap se kuch kehna hai."
"Kaho."
"Mein Usman se shaadi nahi karoongi."
Six words and that's it. She announced her decision not knowing what sort of consequence she would be faced with, but she had said it. Zahra looked her way and then towards Shahnawaz and then switched her eyes to Faiz who was calm as the sea. He assured his mother with his eyes as if he was confident that Minaal would manage the situation really well.
With a thudding heart, she watched her father and the stern and enraged look on his face. Her fear of losing everything was still there but she was human too. For how long she would suffer like this and allow her life to be dictated and controlled. There is only so much you can do. And there is always a limit to one's patience. When it's pushed to its limit, one can no longer submit to what's presented to them.
"Shaadi toh tumhe wahan hi karni hai. Tumhare paas koi aur raasta nai hai."
"Raasta khuda dikhata hai Baba Jaan. Insaan ki kia majal. Aur is shaadi ke ilawa aur buhat se raastey hain ju khul sakte hain."
Shahnawaz had felt someone stripped him off all his power without him realising. He felt he was emasculated just by one defiant word of his own daughter whom he never believed would challenge him like this.
"Yeh baaghi ravaiyah tumhe kahin ka nahi chorega! Mere ghar rehna hai toh meri marzi se chalna hoga. Aur mein apni marzi baar baar nai duhrata."
"Meine bhi apni marzi bata di hai, Baba jaan. Mein bhi baar baar ek hi baat repeat nai karungi."
Fury had taken over Shahnawaaz in all its peak. Faiz had began to sense that this showdown wouldn't end well but he knew his father was wrong, so he was not going to stop Minaal from protesting over something which is her basic right.
"Toh agar aisa hai toh aisa hi sahi. Tumhari is ghar mein koi jagah nahi hai. Chali jao yahan se, tumhare paas sirf ek ghanta hai. Mein aisi nafarman aulad ko apne ghar bardasht nai karunga. Marr gai ho tum mere liye."
Zahra panicked hearing to everything he was saying. With tears in her eyes, she tried to explain to Minaal to ask for Shahnawaz's forgiveness but just as she was explaining, Faiz stopped her.
"Maa nahi. Woh theek kar rahi hai. Agar aj bhi na boli toh sari zindagi qaid katay gi."
Zahra just shook her head in denial while Shahnawaz's eyes flared with even more anger. His son was against his father too. He was also challenging his power and authority in the house. This was even worse.
"Toh tumne dimagh kharab kia hai iska! Warna yeh toh mere agay bolne ki jurrat nai karti thi. Aj mere samne aa khari hui hai."
"Yeh ek jeeti jaagti insaan hai. Jiska dimagh aur dil chalta hai, Baba Jaan. Sari zindagi apki marzi ke mutabiq guzar di isney aur aj agar woh aap k eek faisle ko radd kar rai hai toh aap usey bedakhal kar rae hain. Agar Minaal yahan nahi reh sakti toh mein bhi yahan nai rahunga. Le jaounga apni behen ko apne sath. Sambhal loonga usey. Jis jis cheez se apne isey mehroom rakha hai, mein apni behen woh sab doonga."
"Toh phir jao tum bhi chale jao. Mein aur mere ghar ke asool nai badleinge, jisey jana hai jaye!"
He had said screaming on the top of his voice and had emphasised at Minaal through his eyes full of anger.
Faiz did nothing but held Minaal from her arm and brought her out of the room. Zahra just watched them retreat who was now being faced by her husband.
"Faisla karlo Zahra begum! Agar tumne yahan rehna hai toh meri marzi se rehna hoga. Warna chali jao tum bhi."
"Mujhe maaf karein ab! Sari zindagi apki ghulami karke bhi agar ap khush nai hue toh apko apki aisi zindagi mubarak ho. Mein yehin theek hun. Apni ghaltiyon ka paharr mujh per matt torein."
Seeing her children in a painful circumstance, her frustration and anger came out on Shahnawaz. Zahra went out of the room in rage to find Minaal and Faiz leaving Shahnawaz alone. But for the first time in their lives, he didn't retaliate with even more anger. Instead looked away because she made him speechless and had hit the right target of his mind to tell him to stop with his injustice and cruelty.
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Aariz's entire focus was on the road ahead while Harris just looked at him. He was in a distressed mood since that dinner at the restaurant and he hadn't spilled the beans to his best friend yet. He knew there was something really troubling his friend but Harris was also not the one to pester Aariz over things he wouldn't prefer to share. But this time it was different. He had gone quiet and had lost interest in the preparations for starting his new job as well. Harris had found a job at the same firm but Aariz was so lost in something that he didn't even show the happiness that he would originally show.
"Aariz?"
"Hun?"
"Kia masla hai?"
"Gari chala raha hoon yaar. Masla kia hona hai?"
"Topic mat badlo. Tumhe pata hai kia puch raha hoon mein. What's up?"
Aariz had gone quiet suddenly and focused back on the road.
"Woh buhat takleef mein thi. Usey aise deikh ke pata nai kyun mujhe buhat bura laga."
"Kisay?"
Aariz realised he had blurted this out without even thinking it through. Now that he had, he knew Harris wouldn't spare him and he would have to tell everything. And that's exactly what happened. Harris asked again.
"Aariz? We are best friends. Not a day goes by us talking about what pleases us and what dampens our mood. And it has been two days, but you haven't said anything. Talk it out!"
"That night in the restaurant, I saw a girl who was there with her family to meet a family who had sent a proposal for her. Her father seemed like a strict man. When I went to the toilet, on the way back I overheard the girl and the guy talking. He didn't seem like a nice man at all. He told her he didn't want to marry her and that she should refuse. But long story short, she was too scared and submissive to refuse for this, so she intends to marry him anyway and live an unhappy life. I talked to her, tried explaining to her but she wouldn't listen."
"And why is all this bothering you so much?"
"Kia matlab kyun? Koi bhi larki yeh deserve nai karti. Jaante hue k eek aadmi us se shaadi nai karna chahta balke usey pasand hi nai karta, woh kyun karey aise aadmi se shaadi? Kia uski khud ki koi self-respect nai hai?"
"Yeh uska personal matter hai."
"Jaanta hoon. Lekin bas mujhe acha nai laga. Jaise us larkey ne us se baat ki."
"Per tum uske liye kuch nai karsakte. Toh bhool jao."
"Pata hai Harris. Jab meine us sey baat ki, uski ankhon mein motay motay aansu thay. Dard tha. Woh tooti hui lag rai thi. Magar meri baad radd karne ke bawajood uski ankhon mein ek toofan barpa ho raha tha aur wo aisa toofaan tha jo sab kuch badal de. Uski zindagi ka har ghalat sahi karde. Uska har gham khushi mein badal dey."
Harris was left speechless with Aariz's words. He met this unknown girl just once and yet he was so invested in her. Not because he liked her, not because he found her pretty but because he saw and realised that she was not happy with whatever she was living with. And it was making Aariz unsettled. So unsettled that he had started to stay lost in his own life as well. So moved and touched that his own life took a back seat but only her thoughts and the prospect of whether she spoke up for herself or not became his only concern. He wasn't desperate to know whether she does refuse from marrying that guy but he was hoping and praying that she does. Because he knew she was not going to live a happy life with Usman. That much he knew.
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Minaal and Faiz were finished packing but Zahra had still not stopped trying from stopping them. Crying for what she was going through because of the clash between her children and husband, she felt the most helpless and out of place. She couldn't abandon her husband and leave with her children, but she was also fed up with the life that she had been living with Shahnawaz. Faiz didn't listen to his mother's insistence at all. Instead he tried to explain to her that in the long run, it will be beneficial for everyone. Even their father.
"Maa ap jaanti hain mein yeh kabhi na karta agar Baba itne sakht aur tang dil na hote. Aur aap hamare sath asakti hain, lekin mein apko kahunga nai ke ap ayein. Yeh apka apna faisla hoga. Meine kaha toh apke liye nai musibat khari hojaegi. Mein Minaal ki aise zindagi kharab nai kar sakta. Ap chahti hain ke sirf apne baap ki anaa ko sukoon dene ke liye mein apni behen ko barbaad kardun? Aisa nai karsakta mein. Ek waqt ayega jab Baba ko apni ghalti ka ehsas hoga. Ap deikhiyega. Bas dua karein tab tak buhat deir na hojae!"
Zahra just kept on crying while Minaal watched her with pain and guilt in her eyes. Seeing her mother so distorted was making her regret everything she had said and did just now. She became selfish. Coming close to her mother, she hugged her, and Zahra hugged her back caressing her hair. Deep down she knew Faiz was not wrong to take Minaal away. She would live a better life away from her father for what he has been doing to her. But she was still a mother. It was not easy for her.
"Bhai ka khayal rakhna aur sab se ziyada apna! Yeh waqt mushkil hai magar agay asaani hi asaani hai. Allah na kare tumhara naseeb mere jaisa ho!"
"Aap bhi apna khayal rakhna."
Minaal and Faiz hugged their mother and then silently made their way out of the house. They had no idea when they will return but for now what mattered was that they were leaving. For something better.
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Not long was left in the boarding of the flight to London. Minaal and Faiz were at the waiting area at the airport waiting for their boarding when Minaal turned to her brother with tears in her eyes.
"Kia hum sahi kar rae hain bhai?"
"Kyun? Tumhe nai lagta?"
"Pata nahi. Meine apne baap ki nafarmani ki hai. Aur yeh cheez theek nai."
"Meri pyaari, deikho, maa baap ki nafarmani karna beshak gunnah hai. Aur beshak hamare maa baap hamare liye faisle kar sakte hain. Magar faisla karne mein aur saza dene mein farq hota hai. Baba ne aj tak tumse apni baat manway aur aj ek baat ke khilaf tumne awaaz uthai aur woh yeh sab kar gae. Maa baap ka apni aulad ka haq pura karna bhi utna hi ehem hai jitna ke aulad ka unki baad ki izzat karne ka. Aur aj tak sirf tumne apna hissa nibhaya hai. Is sab ke barey mein sochna band karo. Lamba safar hai, dua karo and relax yourself. Better days are ahead!"
Minaal just nodded and mildly smiled meanwhile the announcement was made that boarding had begun. Grabbing their bags with a confident look on their faces, both brother and his sister departed for a journey they were hopeful for.
Life can work out. Sometimes all we have to do is, believe.
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Hello lovely readers,
I am sorry I unpublished this but now I am back. Will work on both stories together hopefully. Hope you enjoy the return of Believe in your library. Thankyou so much for all the support and love.
Here is a sneak peek to next chapters:
'Tum buhat badal gai ho. London ne buhat acha asar dala hai tum per.'
'Asar toh London anay se pehle hi kisi ki baat ka hogaya tha. Bas uskey baad cheezein achi hi hui hain.'
A kind smile had appeared on his lips. She was talking about him. She was talking about the meet in the restaurant and his rant and lecture that opened her eyes. She remembered him even after so many years. It was a good feeling knowing that someone knows you even after this long.