Rehaam watched the scenery passing by; it is wondrous how the scenery changes from mountains, to hills to plains. Pakistan is a beautiful country she thought. To see such geographical diversity in the USA one would need to travel from the North of the country right down to the South and even than not be among some of the tallest mountains on the planet or one of the largest desert in the world.
She stared outside, the sun was setting now; they were probably near Dorata station. She looked across the seat and Bua massi who was finally up from her long nap was busy crocheting a shawl. She cannot sit still, she thought fondly. Bua Massi was not really very old, having been widowed at a young age she had been with her family for as long as she could remember. She was not very tall, a wispy woman but a formidable woman; that much she had seen when she would accompany her to the Bazaars and ensure no man who ever whistled or made a catcall her way lived to tell the tale, one time she had thrown her slipper at a guy on a cycle who had dared to make a rude comment, she smiled at the image. Bua Massi looked at her and said;" Bismillah karan bachay, what are you smiling at?", "oh nothing special Masi, did you like your tea?sorry it was cold by the time you woke up". "Nahin Nahin bachay, its ok at the time having a cup of tea was a blessing in it self." replied Bua Massi.
Bua Massi looked at her charge, she had taken care of Rehaam since Rehaam had been 2. Having lost her husband at a young age and having no one to turn to Syed Sahib had been like an angel for her, her late husband had worked for Syed Sahib at his factory and after he died, Syed Sahib had bought her to his house and she had been serving his family as an ayah since. Rehaam had grown into a gorgeous young lady she thought; she had beautiful curly black hair and eyes the color of the sky on a clear day. She was not rail thin like the trend was these days, but was not chunky either. In Bua massi's eyes she was just right.
Rehaam thought about her khala's house it was in the Cantt area, her khaloo was a Colonel in the Pakistan army so they lived in a large house built in the style of the British Raj. They had big beautiful gardens which were tended by a team of gardeners. Every season bought with it a ton of fruit and Khala would have massive ice cream parties, where she would use the hand crank ice cream makers and produce lots of ice cream with the fresh fruits. Reham felt excited about her trip now, this meant a yummy mango party with lots of ice cream and fresh mangoes. Her thoughts drifted off to her Parents now; she hoped Baba was making a quick recovery, he had had some trouble with his pancreas and had needed to be hospitalized, Baba had worked very hard all his life during the time he was setting up his sugar mill in Rajan pur he had landed a very lucrative deal with a company in the USA; the company produced industrial machinery but was struggling, so Baba being the astute business man bought the company and had been able to turn it around. It had gone from a small struggling firm to a large business. Baba split his time between the US and Pakistan; although Rehaam and her siblings had gone to visit the US numerous times, her father felt it was best for them to live in Pakistan and be close to the family and the cultural heritage.
Night had fallen now, one could see the stars in the clear of the night, they came to a halt at Mahmud Kot station, it was amazing how much activity there was on the platforms even though it was night fall. There were people sleeping or trying to sleep on the benches, others were moving quickly to catch their trains while the kulis lugged the huge bags on their heads running to keep up.
Hisham came to their berth and said, "Assalamo Alikum, I was about to go and get some thing to eat as the dining cart is having some sort of problem and they are not able to serve any food, would you like to have something to eat as well."
Rehaam looked at him smiled and said," No no thank you; that is very kind of you but we have food with us, infact if you like you can join us we have a lot and Multan is only another hour or so from here. Bua Massi this is Hisham sahib he also lives in Multan and is studying at Nishtar Medical College, we got acquainted a few stations back." Reham told bua massi.
"Assalamo Alikum bua",Hisham said politely.
"Walikum Salam", Bua said, :haan haan beta do join us for some food. I made extra, do you like aloo kay paratha and we have achar also."
"Oh no no, I could not, i would never want to impose," Hisham said sheepishly.
"Nahin beta you are not imposing, we would love to have you for company", said bua
"Ok if that is the case why not; i have not had Aloo Parathas for quite a while now." Hisham said
" So beta, where do you live in Multan? " inquired Bua
"I live on Bosan Road jee." Replied Hisham
" What is it that you do?" asked Bua
" I am studying Medicine at Nishtar Medical College at the moment I am in my 3 rd year." Hisham said
"What does your father do Bua Massi inquired but before she could complete her sentence Rehaam interrupted her, "dont give him the 3rd degree Bua," Rehaam said embarrassed by this keen interest of her bua in their guest.
" I am only asking Beti to aquaint my self with this gentleman here." replied Bua defensively
Hisham laughed and said, "Oh its ok Rehaam dont worry about it, My father used to work for the government but he is retired now and is busy taking care of our ancestral lands"
"Oh really, that is nice," Rehaam exclaimed," What kind of crops do you grow on your lands?"
"We have Orange orchards and Mango orchards. We grow wheat, corn, and cotton mostly.... Wow, Bua jee these are delicious parathas, Hisham said
They were enjoying the food and conversation and before they knew it they were entering Multan Cantt station. They packed everything and got ready to get off.
Hisham said, "thank you so much for your hospitality I wish you a safe stay here."
Bua Massi said," it was our pleasure son. Khuda Hafiz."
After Hisham left Rehaam waved a Khulli over and asked him to take the bags, they disembarked from the train and soon found their Khala and Khaloo waiting for them.....
Wait for Episode 3.
She stared outside, the sun was setting now; they were probably near Dorata station. She looked across the seat and Bua massi who was finally up from her long nap was busy crocheting a shawl. She cannot sit still, she thought fondly. Bua Massi was not really very old, having been widowed at a young age she had been with her family for as long as she could remember. She was not very tall, a wispy woman but a formidable woman; that much she had seen when she would accompany her to the Bazaars and ensure no man who ever whistled or made a catcall her way lived to tell the tale, one time she had thrown her slipper at a guy on a cycle who had dared to make a rude comment, she smiled at the image. Bua Massi looked at her and said;" Bismillah karan bachay, what are you smiling at?", "oh nothing special Masi, did you like your tea?sorry it was cold by the time you woke up". "Nahin Nahin bachay, its ok at the time having a cup of tea was a blessing in it self." replied Bua Massi.
Bua Massi looked at her charge, she had taken care of Rehaam since Rehaam had been 2. Having lost her husband at a young age and having no one to turn to Syed Sahib had been like an angel for her, her late husband had worked for Syed Sahib at his factory and after he died, Syed Sahib had bought her to his house and she had been serving his family as an ayah since. Rehaam had grown into a gorgeous young lady she thought; she had beautiful curly black hair and eyes the color of the sky on a clear day. She was not rail thin like the trend was these days, but was not chunky either. In Bua massi's eyes she was just right.
Rehaam thought about her khala's house it was in the Cantt area, her khaloo was a Colonel in the Pakistan army so they lived in a large house built in the style of the British Raj. They had big beautiful gardens which were tended by a team of gardeners. Every season bought with it a ton of fruit and Khala would have massive ice cream parties, where she would use the hand crank ice cream makers and produce lots of ice cream with the fresh fruits. Reham felt excited about her trip now, this meant a yummy mango party with lots of ice cream and fresh mangoes. Her thoughts drifted off to her Parents now; she hoped Baba was making a quick recovery, he had had some trouble with his pancreas and had needed to be hospitalized, Baba had worked very hard all his life during the time he was setting up his sugar mill in Rajan pur he had landed a very lucrative deal with a company in the USA; the company produced industrial machinery but was struggling, so Baba being the astute business man bought the company and had been able to turn it around. It had gone from a small struggling firm to a large business. Baba split his time between the US and Pakistan; although Rehaam and her siblings had gone to visit the US numerous times, her father felt it was best for them to live in Pakistan and be close to the family and the cultural heritage.
Night had fallen now, one could see the stars in the clear of the night, they came to a halt at Mahmud Kot station, it was amazing how much activity there was on the platforms even though it was night fall. There were people sleeping or trying to sleep on the benches, others were moving quickly to catch their trains while the kulis lugged the huge bags on their heads running to keep up.
Hisham came to their berth and said, "Assalamo Alikum, I was about to go and get some thing to eat as the dining cart is having some sort of problem and they are not able to serve any food, would you like to have something to eat as well."
Rehaam looked at him smiled and said," No no thank you; that is very kind of you but we have food with us, infact if you like you can join us we have a lot and Multan is only another hour or so from here. Bua Massi this is Hisham sahib he also lives in Multan and is studying at Nishtar Medical College, we got acquainted a few stations back." Reham told bua massi.
"Assalamo Alikum bua",Hisham said politely.
"Walikum Salam", Bua said, :haan haan beta do join us for some food. I made extra, do you like aloo kay paratha and we have achar also."
"Oh no no, I could not, i would never want to impose," Hisham said sheepishly.
"Nahin beta you are not imposing, we would love to have you for company", said bua
"Ok if that is the case why not; i have not had Aloo Parathas for quite a while now." Hisham said
" So beta, where do you live in Multan? " inquired Bua
"I live on Bosan Road jee." Replied Hisham
" What is it that you do?" asked Bua
" I am studying Medicine at Nishtar Medical College at the moment I am in my 3 rd year." Hisham said
"What does your father do Bua Massi inquired but before she could complete her sentence Rehaam interrupted her, "dont give him the 3rd degree Bua," Rehaam said embarrassed by this keen interest of her bua in their guest.
" I am only asking Beti to aquaint my self with this gentleman here." replied Bua defensively
Hisham laughed and said, "Oh its ok Rehaam dont worry about it, My father used to work for the government but he is retired now and is busy taking care of our ancestral lands"
"Oh really, that is nice," Rehaam exclaimed," What kind of crops do you grow on your lands?"
"We have Orange orchards and Mango orchards. We grow wheat, corn, and cotton mostly.... Wow, Bua jee these are delicious parathas, Hisham said
They were enjoying the food and conversation and before they knew it they were entering Multan Cantt station. They packed everything and got ready to get off.
Hisham said, "thank you so much for your hospitality I wish you a safe stay here."
Bua Massi said," it was our pleasure son. Khuda Hafiz."
After Hisham left Rehaam waved a Khulli over and asked him to take the bags, they disembarked from the train and soon found their Khala and Khaloo waiting for them.....
Wait for Episode 3.
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