Love and God (Khuda aur Mohabbat)

Description

I was satisfied with the thought that till then, Iman had not been engaged to someone. However, it was quite obvious that something had to be done most urgently because that paragon of beauty must have been the sweetheart and favourite choice for a large number of other suitors. But at the same time, I was fully aware of the possible reaction of the members of my family. How could the most influential and richest family of the city agree to my marriage with the daughter of a poor Maulvi? Of course, everyone would describe it as something below the dignity and prestige of our family. But I had to talk to the members of my family, because, I was left with no other choice. In order to gain access to the Maulvi’s family, I needed the identity of my family, because till then, I had no identity of my own. Then, whatever I had anticipated, actually took place. It seemed as if the whole family had been hit by a massive earthquake. Mother was the first to cry out, “What! What the hell do you mean by all this nonsense! Are you out of your mind! Mr. Siddiqi had another scrutinizing look at me as if he did not believe in what I had said about my education. But he seemed to be an experienced man and did not have any further argumentation with me on this issue. But there was no improvement in the foggy condition of my mind. I only stared at the faces, attempted to recognize them but failed. Everything seemed to be happening in a dream. Maulvi, Alim, Abdullah, Shakir, Khairu, Ghafura and many other people might have been coming to see me in the hospital and I might have been looking at their faces as if all of them were strangers to me. Although, my body was positively responding to the medicines being given to me by the doctors, my mind was still showing no response to them. In view of my improved physical condition, the doctors permitted Mr. Siddiqi to shift me to his home but at the same time, they advised him to take full care of me. It was perhaps my last evening in the hospital, because I was going to be shifted to Mr. Siddiqi’s home the next morning. All of a sudden, there was a stir in the corridors of the hospital. Sitting on my wheel chair beside the window, I was looking outside with vacant eyes. A few moments ago, I had seen two large Mercedes cars entering the hospital compound. In a short while, all the noise that had suddenly erupted in the corridors of the hospital ended up near the door of my room. As the door opened, a woman with a somewhat familiar face was seen entering the room. In a state of shock, she watched me for a few moments and then suddenly, it seemed as if something happened to her. With a loud cry, she ran towards me and held me in her arms most passionately. After her, a ripe aged honourable and dignified man elegantly dressed entered the room, followed by two boys. One of the boys, who looked one or two years younger than I, also started weeping like the woman and began touching my hair and face. I did not like their actions. After a while, the doctor entered the room and said something to the dignified man who came forward with heavy steps and told the woman to keep quiet. They stayed in my room till late at night and when I became sleepy, I was taken to bed by one of the helpers present with the nurse. But before I could sleep, a strange thing happened. The honourable man came to me and lovingly caressed my cheek. I suddenly recalled something. At times during my childhood, while I was going to sleep, someone used to caress my cheeks in the same manner. When I woke up the next morning, all preparations had been made to shift me to Mr. Siddiqi’s home. All those people who had come to my room during the previous evening were also present on that occasion. The man and the woman were discussing something with the doctor who was perhaps, trying to make them understand something. Perhaps, they were insisting that they should be permitted to take me with them while the doctor was telling them that it would be better for me to stay with Mr. Siddiqi till my complete recovery. To be very honest, I myself did not want to go with them, because whenever I saw them, I felt a strange kind of burden on my mind. At last, on seeing the signs of dislike for them on my face, they also decided to act in accordance with the doctor’s advice. However, they accompanied me in their cars to Mr. Siddiqi’s home. Afterwards, they began coming there quite regularly and watching me while I was sitting on my wheel chair in the veranda or the garden and looking at some flower or wall. Another strange thing happened a few days later. A man dressed as a driver arrived there with a young girl. Both of them seemed quite familiar and for some unknown reason, the girl burst into tears, as soon as she saw me. With a great deal of difficulty, the uniformed driver and Mr. Siddiqi made her silent. When the girl asked Mr. Siddiqi about my clothes and other things, he brought from somewhere a shirt and a uniform worn by the coolies. As the girl was looking into the pockets of the uniform and the shirt, two pearls fell down on the ground from some pocket. The moment they tossed on the floor, quite involuntarily, my hands advanced towards them to pick them up, as if they were a valuable possession of mine which I did not wish to lose at any cost. With the sound of the falling pearls, something crashed inside me. After falling on the floor, they again tossed in the air and there was another crash inside me. It seemed to me that a movie was being shown in slow motion. Before the pearls could come down on the ground for the third time, I could feel thunder like explosions taking place in my mind. My befogged mind and benumbed sensibilities were suddenly jolted and I remembered that the pearls had been given to me by Iman. Yes of course, these were the same pearls but how did they reach here? I realized that the girl standing before me was Nighat who had come there with her father Shakir and the other man standing with them was Mr. Siddiqi. Afterwards, I gradually recalled all the events that had taken place since that dark ominous night and recognized all the faces that I had seen during the past few days in the hospital and in Mr. Siddiqi’s home. Shakir was accompanied by none other than the Commissioner, my mother and the rest of the members of my family. Iman had gone but what a shameful thing it was that I was still alive. My head was gripped by a severe pain. I was later on informed by the doctors that I had temporarily lost my mental equilibrium due to the sudden shock of that night. In medical terms, it is perhaps known as temporary amnesia. I had seen several such events in the movies on the cinema screen without knowing that I was also destined to pass through the same experience. The events that took place afterwards can be described in a few words. The Commissioner, and my mother repeatedly came to Mr. Siddiqi’s home in the hope of taking me back with them. Mr. Siddiqi also had the same opinion but I frankly told all of them that I could shift to any other place but would not like to return home. On hearing my refusal, they no more insisted on my going with them. All the members of my family including the Commissioner, my mother, my brother Sajjad and his wife were extremely ashamed of their behaviour but now I had no concern with them. The girl for whom I had been living and for whose sake I had forsaken everyone and everything no longer remained in the world and now, it did not matter where and how I would spend the rest of my life. Ibad however daily came to meet me at the station. By now, all the employees at the station had become aware of my identity. But Khairu, Ghafura and other workers at the station were still my friends and always took care of me. However, even after regaining my consciousness, I could not get back my words. For hours and hours, I used to sit at the same place, staring in the sky, without saying anything to anyone. Till then, I had not been able to reconcile myself with the idea that Iman had died. I was fed up with the whole world and was full of hatred and disdain for religion which had grabbed away my Iman from me. The innocent girl had been fatally caught up and ruthlessly crushed in the war of love and religion. Her tender heart and simple mind could not stand up to the pressure of this brutal war and eventually, she lost the battle of her life.