Azkia Aftab“Saleem!” Ami called from the kitchen. “Your friends are almost here. Quickly go and grab a dozen eggs from the barn”. I swiftly hurried down the clay stairs, absorbing their coolness as I went through the blazing morning sun that kept donating its heat to my body regardless of the baggy kurta I wore.
The wheat crops swayed their heads as the warm breeze brushed against them, spreading its grain on the path I walked towards the barn. But as I opened the barn door, my brother jumped at me with a gigantic cranky rooster. I fell to the ground, bruised. The weight of disappointment that my family and friends scared me all the time was too much. I quickly gathered the bunch of eggs in a basket and returned to my clay house.
My Ami made a delicious breakfast of an omelette and a crispy, oily paratha for my friends and me. Today was the first day of the farming classes that my father had organised himself. My friends and I walked a long way through the cornfields until we reached the place.
My father was nowhere to be found. So, until he came back, my friends planned on playing a game which required a person to hide an object and provide hints on where the thing was located for others to search. The game began after my friend Amir hid the object, which was a whistle. Amir said, “The object is hidden at a height, with sweet scents all around”. I couldn’t imagine why nobody could solve such an easy riddle. It was so apparent as the lone thing with a height and sweet scent was the only mango tree that spread its roots on the ground around us. I quickly climbed up the mango tree and crawled along a bark from which a whistle dangled. I grabbed the whistle and blew it in the joy of my victory. No noise of whistling came from the whistle except for the squeaking sound. Soon, I realised that the whistle I was holding was a dog whistle when a pack of dogs gathered under me and started to bark. I panicked and pushed my way back down, but I accidentally hit the bee hive with my feet, and in a matter of seconds, the swarm of bees attacked me. I could see nothing as the bees and their stings filled my face. I could hear my friends laughing as the tree bark broke, and I fell on the dusty floor, and soon darkness spread along my eyes……
The cool sensation on my forehead broke the spell cast on my eyes to keep them shut, and I opened them. My father was scolding my friends, who stood in the blazing sun with their backs stuck to the wall and their faces holding remorseful expressions. My father came to me as my mother, sitting by me, exclaimed that I had woken up. “How are you feeling? Better?” my father asked. Words could barely come out of my mouth through my swollen lips, which I could imagine would only sound like mumbling, so I decided to shake my head instead.
The swarm of bees had stung all over my body. The bee stings took a few weeks to heal while I saw my friends, who looked miniature from the distance of my house to the farm, working on the fields, trying to put their efforts into learning the steps and methods my father taught them in their regular session of learning farming. Every day after the class ended, all of them visited me and told me about the troubles they had faced in learning to farm professionally. Weeks passed as I watched my friends work in the fields while the bee stings healed.
My room was located at the top of my house. It had one big glass window that showed me the view of the beautiful rice, wheat, sugarcane, mango, and banana fields so accurately planted by my father and uncle that they seemed as perfect-coloured squares had been placed on a sheet of brown paper. Another day passed, looking at my friend’s work on the field from my window, and now the sun was diving into the wheat fields, its intensity breaking away as the wheat stalk hid it in the ground. A warm breeze hit my face, leaving a delicious smell of pakoras. I slightly bend down the window to take a whiff of some more of the mouth-watering aroma. My stomach could wait no more. I hurried down to the kitchen with my nose filled with the scent of pakoras. In the kitchen, a big pot filled with oil was there, bellow which fire roared fiercely. In the pot, the pakoras swam in the oil, bubbles erupting from below, trying to make them float.
Besides the steaming pot sat my mother, in a green and orange sari, from time to time stirring the pakoras in the pot with a giant spoon. Then, when the pakoras were ready, she scooped them into a plate filled with even more pakoras. Seeing so many pakoras on one dish, my body pulled me towards them. I reached out to grab the one that lay on top, from which steam emitted. My hand backed away swiftly when my mother slapped on top of it.
Oww! What was that for? Can anyone not have a pakora peacefully in this house?” I said. “You will have to wait if you want a pakora. These are not for you. These are for your Jamshed uncle and his family. You can have them when I serve them to them”, said Ami.”….but….” I looked at Ami, trying to make my eyes look like the eyes of a puppy. “Alright! Alright! Enough of these puppy eyes.
“Take one, but just one”. Once again, I reached out, but my hand was not knocked away this time, and I picked up one pakora from the top of the pile. Chewing through the hot pakora, I asked, “So when are they coming?”. “In about five to ten minutes. Now, hurry and go wash your face”, replied Ami. Stuffing the pakora in my mouth, I hurried out the back door.
Dusk had drained away, leaving the sky dark. The stars in the sky glittered happily in the presence of their master, the moon that illuminated the sky and made them more appealing. The moonlight spread all over the view that lay before me. The eyes of the goats in the fence sparkled in the moonlight. I quickly made my way towards the well and dropped the bucket that sat on its circumference, which was tied to the horizontal pole above, into it (the well). When I heard the bucket splash into the water, I pulled the bucket up to the surface with a lonely rope that dangled lazily. I then drained some water from the bucket into my hands and splashed it on my face. The warmth of the water drained away all the tiredness from my face. I quickly walked back into the house when I heard a roar of laughter coming from inside.
The thought of the arrival of my uncle made me excited. The living room seemed to have shrunk as numerous people had occupied it. As I entered, all the eyes in the living room were on me. On one part of the room sat my uncle Jamshed his wife Farkhunda, their son Hamza and their daughter Shakeela. On one end sat my parents and elder brother Mehmad. Moving towards them, I felt as if everyone was examining my every move. “Hi, how are you all?”. Suddenly, the smile on Farkhunda aunty’s face grew more expansive, and she hurdled towards me without noticing that she stepped on Hamza’s feet, whose pain was visible on his face, and he hit his fist on his knees and let out a quick sign to keep his pain from bursting out loud.
It was just a matter of time before I realised what she was about to do, but it was too late. She swiftly grabbed my face, pulled it towards her, and kissed my cheek, leaving a permanent mark of embarrassment. Mehmad, Hamza, and Shakeela giggled. Pulling my cheeks, Farkhunda aunty exclaimed,” You are so big. Look how much you have grown over the month. But you still haven’t lost your cuteness”. All I could do was smile away in embarrassment. As she turned away, I rubbed my cheek with my palm, soothing it with the heat. “Come with me”. She said, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards her seat. She pulled me down to sit in between her and uncle Jamshed. Everyone sat quietly until uncle Jamshed broke the silence, “well, Junaid and I have been thinking of taking a break from work. You know, going on a vacation”. Mom said, “But Jamshed Bhai, how could you and Junaid take a break from work? Isn’t this the peak time for harvesting? “.
Uncle Jamshed replied,” Yes, Salma, but both of us have worked out everything. Don’t you worry? “Alright then”, Mom said passing a smile. Aunty Farkhunda also joined the conversation, “So, where are we going to?” Are we seeing some town nearby?” said Hamza. Abu replied.” Hold your horses! No, we are not going to see any town nearby. We are going to visit a valley of Ginga, and we may also go fishing on the way back. Sounds good?” The whole room fell silent as though a bear had entered the room.
“Sounds good? Sounds amazing”, Hamza exclaimed. “The valley of Ginga, wow but it is so far away”, said Shakeela. Uncle Jamshed said, “not to worry Shakeela, we have booked a high roof for the way”. Mehmad Bhai asked,” A high what? Is it safe? Would we all fit in it?”. Uncle Jamshed said,” Yes, a HIGH ROOF, and yes, it is very safe indeed. I have talked to the driver he says we will have to book two”. “So, when are we leaving?” I asked.
“Next week”, my dad and uncle Jamshed replied together. Mom and aunty Farkhunda went to the kitchen and brought out a plate full of pakoras and big bowls filled with multicoloured blocks, which were soaked in an orange syrup resembling a fruit chat. Ami told me to fetch the clay bowls and spoons from the cupboard quickly. I handed the bowls and spoons out, and then after everyone had filled their bowls, I ushered myself to the dish of the pakoras and put a handful in my bowl. I carried my bowl and sat beside Hamza on the Charpai. Time seemed to have slowed as my excitement for the trip grew daily. Half the week had passed. Farkhunda aunty’s visits had increased so much in a day that it seemed as though she spent the entire day at my home with Ami, making snacks and packing them for the trip.
One day Farkhunda aunty visited with Hamza and Shakeela.
As she entered the living room, where Mehmad Bhai and I sat, she called out, “Mehmad! Saleem! Salma! Hurry up, come on, we have to go”. “Hold on, Farkhunda aunty, what are you talking about? Where do we have to go?” said Mehmad Bhai. Ami rushed into the room as the room behind her was on fire and said, “What happened?”. “Salma, hurry up, and go get changed and boys, you as well, we have got a sale to catch. Hasn’t anyone noticed that we would need winter clothes for the valley of Ginga as it is freezing there. I am sure that you all would not be having winter clothes just like us because the temperature around here never goes so low that you would need warm clothes,” replied Farkhunda aunty to the stack of questions that had been collected. I, Ami, and Mehmad Bhai changed quickly and came out to the porch to find Farkhunda aunty, Hamza, and Shakeela standing by a large rickshaw. I took my seat in the back, which I preferred more as Farkhunda aunty sat in front, and of course, sitting with her meant being humiliated in front of everyone once more. The entire way, the rickshaw vibrated as its tires came in contact with the stones on the sandy ground. After about 10 minutes of continuous vibration, we reached our destination. Everyone got off the rickshaw. The rickshaw drove away after Farkhunda aunty paid for it. The entrance of the Sunday Bazar had a large gateway, on top of which a banner hung saying “Sunday Bazar” and another one below it said “the best sale of the year, hurry up and enter”, with a big arrow pointing inwards. The other sides were fenced with bamboo. “Everyone hold a hand, or else you will be lost in the crowd”, said Farkhunda aunty. She was right because a wave of people went through us as we entered, pushing us apart. Seeing this, Hamza, Mehmad Bhai and I grabbed each other’s hand while Ami, Farkhunda aunty, and Shakeela held hands. From the outside, the Bazar didn’t seem to be so big, but from the inside, it was enormous. It had countless shops, some laid on the floor on clean and coloured mats, and some contained products lined on tables.
There were no season-specific shops in the Bazar as it contained shops with thick woollen, leather jackets, and coats, and on the other hand, it also had thin floral saris that suited perfectly for the weather. I soon found myself in front of a jacket shop, with Hamza and Mehmad on my side, looking at them with a wolverine look in their eye.
Hamza exclaimed, “Salma aunty can we have these? “pointing towards the jackets that hung on hangers, on a rope, which dangled above the jackets that lay below. Ami, Farkhunda aunty, and Shakeela were behind us, taking deep breaths. Finally, Shakeela murmured, “can you please slow down!”. Everyone, especially the ladies, were exhausted, so we decided to make this shop our last stop. On the way out of the Bazar, we came across a sugar cane juice stall that extracted pure sugar cane juice in front of us. The juice was served in a plastic bag with a straw and a rubber band to secure the top. As the morning the heat died, the Bazar grew in size, so each of us bought a juice pack. The iced juice broke the intensity of the heat as it poured down my throat, and looking at others, it looked the same as my condition. Finally, the day we had all been waiting for was almost here.
We just had to wait for the sun to surrender to the dark sky. The high roof had arrived, and Ami Abu was busy looking the luggage into the back of the vehicle while the driver leaned into the centre of the car, which had a large hole, emanating several swollen chairs. I could barely understand how we would go in such a small area. Hamza Bhai and I sat on the bench on the porch while Ami and Abu locked the house and hid the keys underneath a pot by the door. “Let’s go! All ready?” asked Abu, looking toward Bhai and me. We both nodded and raced to the high roof. I quickly got in to occupy the window seat. The seat under me was the softest seat I had ever sat on. It felt like I was sitting on a cloud. While I was lost in my thoughts, the engine roared, and the car accelerated. On the bumpy way out of the village, uncle Jamsheed and his family joined us, who were under the same high roof as ours.
I had never been outside the town, and neither did any of the family members until now. I could tell that we had left the village because the road was now smooth, and the farms were now appearing far away from the window. Abu had told us that our first destination would be the valley of Ginga, and we would reach our goal by afternoon. Examining the beautiful shades of the sun rays in the light blue sky, my eyes closed, and I fell into a bright white room. My eyes took a while to settle into the brightness. The room had no boundary, and its vastness was endless. In front of me sat a little girl dressed in black attire. The girl’s face was wet with tears, and she was frowning. She seemed creepy, but I had to act, so I said, “Hi . Are you okay?”. Hearing my words, the girl started to cry more intensely. I bent down on my knees before the girl and held her face in my hands. I wiped the tear with my hands and gave her a wide smile. Unexpectedly the girl’s frown turned upside down. Sometimes, words are not enough to soothe someone’s pain, but only a smile can change the scenario. She opened her arms to hug me, but then the girl turned to smoke and disappeared. Bright light from the world outside shone over my eyelids, blurring away the happiness of making the little girl feel better. I opened my eyes to a flash of white before me that kept turning on and off with a click. I covered my eyes with my hands and moved away to find Mehmad Bhai holding a black, straw-like cylinder, which one end gave out light. I inquired,” What are you doing? What is that thing?” Bhai replied, “oh, this is a torch, uncle Jamshed gave it to me for emergency use, but I decided to test it on you first.” He let out a laugh and hurdled out of the car. Everything happened so quickly that now I noticed that the car had stopped and there was no one in it except me. I came out of the car to see a petrol station beside which, tables and chairs were lined below a roof, to protect against the rays of the blazing sun. I made my way towards the table where my and Jamshed uncles family sat. Abu said, “you’re up!”, come and have some sandwiches”. I picked up a sandwich from the plastic bag on the table and started nibbling on it before reaching my seat. After I had munched on a few more sandwiches, I asked, “Abu, how much more time is left until we reach the valley of Ginga?” Just an hour more,” replied Abu. Hearing this, Mehmad Bhai mumbled, “oh no! Not another hour more with Saleem drooling all over in his sleep.” Abu did not listen to him; still, Ami did and said,” everyone is handed adversity in life. No one’s journey is easy. It’s how you handle it that makes you unique.” Mehmad Bhai nodded.
A few minutes later, we all got into our cars and drove away from the petrol station. The sky was occupied by a few bunches of clouds that seemed like giant cauliflowers that hung with transparent ropes. Some clouds had taken the shapes of very fluffy sheep, and some transformed into a massive tractors. It was not long before the flat land below us started climbing upwards. As the height grew, the cold also grew. The vegetation was dense, and numerous cubical houses made with unbaked bricks were visible. The people walking up and down the hill looked like locals as their skin was fresh and pink, just like Abu had told that people living in such areas have these characteristics. They watched each car pass by and smiled at the people in them, as a smile is a universal welcome.
Soon we accelerated to the valley of Ginga. Situated high above the beautiful mountain of Ginga lies the valley of Ginga. The valley was surrounded by High Mountains that resembled each other. They protected the valley from all sides as a mother holding her child from the cold winds entering the valley. The driver parked the car on top of one of the small hills by the river, near which more cars were parked. All of us got off the car, but none of our eyes could see the stunning view of the valley. The beautiful black mountains and brown hills were covered in snow, which shone as rays of the sun peeking through the fluffy clouds hit them, fooling whoever saw it into believing it was covered in a massive sheet of crystals. The chinks of sunlight hitting the ice managed to melt some of it down the mountain. The water from the mountains and hills rushed swiftly down the slopes and curves, meeting each other in a large depression, forming a pressurised river that flowed between the bright green coloured grass. I could not believe that the things in front of me were real. I said, “WOW!”, still analysing the surrounding. Mehmad Bhai said,” Come on, let’s go near the water?”. Abu replied,” Yes, you can go but take Saleem with you and don’t go too near the water, okay?”. Bhai nodded and started walking towards the river. It was good that we were wearing thick leather jackets against the cold weather. The grass we walked on spread like a mat on the surface of the flat land. Its beauty was enhanced by numerous, tiny, tall, and multicoloured flowers that stood on its surface and swayed with the cold wind: the nearer we got to the river, the chillier the wind got. Now the river was only a few steps away. I nearly slipped on the small patch of snow, which would have carried me off to the crystal-clear river that flowed ahead.
Mehmad Bhai was ahead of me and bent down to touch the water. Instantly he jumped back and said, “Oh! The water is cold.” “Oh no! Bhai what’s coming out of your mouth?” I said, looking at the smoke emanating from his mouth as he spoke, “Bhai! Is your mouth on fire? What’s going on in there?” I inquired. “What happened to your mouth?” asked Bhai.” Is it smoking too?” I asked. “I think we have eaten something wrong, that’s why this is happening. Come on let’s go tell Ami and Abu”, replied Bhai, and quickly made his way towards the vehicle. “Where are they?” said Mehmad Bhai. Ami, and Abu were no longer by the car, which was the last place we had seen them, and neither was uncle Jamshed and his family, whose car was right beside ours. Regardless of the cold winds that strode past me, my body suddenly became numb but returned to normal when Mehmad Bhai screamed that he had found Ami and Abu. They were standing by a small hut up the hill. We started to walk towards them as quickly as possible, but the distance was more than it seemed. We were almost halfway, and our breath was rising, so we slowed down. The strange smoke was still coming from our mouths..
The scenic beauty attracted many tourists, some of whom had laid their camps by the foot of the mountains, which reflected in the pellucid water of the river. When we were close to the hut Bhai, I called out to Ami and Abu and waved our hands as they waved theirs.
Every family member was clutching a bowl of hot soup, from which smoke erupted. Abu said, “Right on time. Come on hurry up and get yourselves some soup. The line just got smaller.” He handed us some money, and we were off to the soup stall in the hut. The hut was made up of large brown bricks, which were left unpainted. Inside the hut stood a man and a boy, the boy handed the bowls and spoons to the man, while the man stood before a large pot of soup with a ladle, poured the soup out, handed it to the customer, and took money from the customers. After the people in front of us had taken their meal, Mehmad Bhai told the boy to give us two soup bowls. The boy handed the two bowls one by one to the man, who poured the luscious soup into the bowls with a ladle and let out a sigh of exhaustion when the ladle had completely emptied all of its goodness into the bowls. He put the soup bowls on the counter and his hand out to receive the money. I held the money toward the man but didn’t let go of it. Looking at the money, the man grabbed it and pulled it, but when I didn’t let go, he looked at me. I gave him an encouraging smile and let go of the money. He smiled back at me in pleasure. This made me affirmative that, “Smile. It is the key that fits as the lock of everybody’s heart”. The mouth-watering smell of the soup which rose up my nose could not keep me from drinking it, so I started having it before we got to the sitting area. The intensity of the cold was broken when the delicious traditional soup entered my mouth. While we enjoyed the hot soup, the goats grazed on the fresh grass. Numerous jeeps stopped to enjoy the peace and greenery of the area, while some stopped to capture the memory of the beautiful scenery with their family. Some mountains far away were covered in a massive amount of snow, which glistened as the sun’s rays spread on it. Soon the sun drowned in the collection of mountains and hills. With the sun, we also egressed the valley. On our way, our night had fallen, and the stars in the sky danced with the bright moon. The path we had crossed upon coming up the valley now had become dark. The only light on the path came from the shops by the road and the moon. Almost everyone in the car slept except for the driver and me. The car soon stopped in front of a brightly lit building, beside which stood more buildings resembling each other. The driver called everyone to wake up as we reached our destination. The drivers’ voices made no difference to the car’s passengers as they were lost in a deep sleep. I shook Ami, Abu, and Mehmad Bhai. They slowly opened their eyes. Abu said, “Are we there?”. The driver replied, “Yes, sir”. “OkOkay, everyone. We are going to spend the night in this hotel, and tomorrow we will be off to the fishing center of Qualia”, said Abu, fixing his hair. We all got out of the car. My eyes were glued to the beautiful floor I had stepped on. The floor shone as the light from the ceiling hit it, and I could see my face on the floor but slightly blurred. The floor was covered in brown and black patches, which camouflaged my dark brown shoes. Abu handed me my bag and told me, Ami, and Bhai to go forward. I was about to smack right into transparent glass but was saved when I saw the metal door handle, which looked suspended in midair. The man standing by the counter smiled at us, and in return, I smiled back as my grandma used to say that ‘making one person smile can change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world’. After a few minutes of standing by the counter, Abu arrived with the rest of our bags, took the keys to our previously booked room, and proceeded towards the stairs. Ami said, ‘Junaid, why have not Jamshed Bhai and Farkhanda arrived yet?’. Abu replied, “They were half away with us but then the tire of their car punctured, so they had to stop by the mechanic. They will be here in about half an hour”. We were so sleepy that everyone occupied a bed and slept as we got into our huge room. The knock on the door woke me up. I opened the door to find Jamshed uncle standing in front of me with exuberance. “Saleem! Did you just wake up? Is everyone up?” he asked. I said, “No uncle”. He said, “What! Go wake everyone up and tell them to come down to the mezzanine floor to have breakfast because we have to leave or we will be late”. I stood there absorbing his words. Uncle said, “why are you still standing here? Go! “. He pushed me inside and closed the door behind me. I woke everyone up and dictated what Jamshed uncle had told me. We quickly dressed up, and after joining uncle Jamshed and his family for breakfast, we started our leftover trip to Qualia for fishing. In an hour and a half, we reached the fishing centre. After Abu and Jamshed uncle had talked to the centre in charge, the center’s helpers provided us with life vests and fishing rods. Then they led us to where the boats lined the seawater. My family occupied one of the boats and the other by uncle Jamshed. Each of the boats was accompanied by a professional. When all of my family was on the boat, we left the port while the professional demonstrated how to attach worms to our fishing string, and throw it into the water. The thought of the depth of the water scared me, and my vibes must have reached Mehmad Bhai, who was now telling me what would happen if I fell in. The sun was hitting its rays on me since we had sat on the boat, and now I started feeling hot, so I took off my life vest and put it aside without letting anyone notice. While Bhai was busy scaring me, he accidentally pushed me from my seat, and I jolted into the water. The pressure of the water pulled me down into its depth. I had no track of time when a black figure dove towards me and pulled me out. The wind brushed my hair as I hurdled out of the waves of the salty water. When I opened my eyes, I saw my mother on the boat, her eyes pouring tears. I could not see her like that, so I smiled at her, and she smiled back, as a smile can hide so many feelings. Fear, sadness, and heartbreak…… but it also shows one other thing, strength. I give the other hope and set everything straight, which can surely not be bought with money.
