Light Upon Light
Assalamualaikum beautiful people! Yes I'm back with an update. And yes, it's the much awaited sailing of our beloved Shiqra. Frankly speaking I feel like this is rushed and not well written and that I have not done justice to the wedding. But, I wanted to get this out. Enjoy!#49 The Shiqra Wedding Special
All too soon it was time for Shoaib Bhai's wedding. It may seem like a negative statement when I speak so, but how time did fly. We were hardly out of the hangover of Di's wedding and we got right back into the whole setup for Bhai. I was both extremely happy and indescribably sad. To think it had been seven months since I shifted to Salimabad and all the events that happened in such a short while. I feel like I've lived for two years here instead of seven months. The fabulous thing about a wedding is that it brings family together again. Di was staying for a whopping two weeks which is like twelve days more than the time she came to stay right after her wedding. And so much more than her meagre visits. I mean I can't really complain because she's hardly been married for a month. Abrar Jiju is a darling though. He brings her to visit every time she feels like coming and he has taken us cousins for a day out many times in the past few weeks. I love visiting Khushnuma with Samar as well. Alia is awesome and Wazim is such a funny guy.Samar and Zaid don't find him as hilarious as I do. Zaid had once tagged along with us for a day out in the park. Except for the time he and Samar beat Wazim and Shoaib Bhai in a match of badminton, he was being a grouch. I was fascinated by the sight. I mean I've never seen the guy sulk. But Wazim is funny. He finds my jokes funny, that's proof enough for his humour sense. So Ashiana is all decked up again, the house is fuller than ever. Bhai's wedding doesn't have that tint of sadness that came with Di's however. It was a full on happy event. But somehow I felt a foreboding sense of sadness take over my soul. I never knew why. At least not until the end of Bhai's wedding. Murshida Bi was called in again to design Iqra Di's wedding dress. Chachi chose a cherry red colour velvet fabric for the blouse and a chiffon for the skirt. On it she had Murshida Bi work in little roses in golden zari interspersed with tiny pearls. It was an exquisite affair. The dupatta had a pearl fringe and golden sequences scattered about. Chachi bought a matching ruby and pearl set for Iqra Di. She was so excited about her bahu, her daughter-in-law, finally coming home. We didn't do a dress code like the last time, but Di and I got our clothes stitched in the same pattern. It was a floor length gown with box pleats in the skirt and floral embroidery in the bodice. Hers was a nice shade of lavender while mine was in purple. Since the house was already polished, primed and perfected before Di's wedding, none of that drama was there. However the adults were almost always out. It was mostly Dadi and us cousins in the house.Samar and I had Sports and Annual days at school. As promised Jade won the overall house cup. Samar sulked for a couple of days of course. On Annual Day, I was a spectator. I chose not to perform anything. Samar and his classmates including Zaid had put on a short skit hearing about Marwa. It was funny, even Rahma ma'am was laughing despite being satirised. There was a Qur'an recital by Zaid at the start of the function and it was my favourite out of the whole program. This time I recorded his rendition of the last two verses of Surah-al-Baqarah. His pronunciation of Arabic had fascinated me from the start, and his recitation had won my heart on the cultural festival itself. I was in love with it. I did not listen to it every night before going to sleep. That's just so creepy. Junaina Javed Ali doesn't do creepy. So Samar and I were quite occupied till about a week before Bhai's wedding. And just when we thought we would be free, model exams were announced for both of us, soon after Bhai's wedding. So we were sitting in the living hall downstairs where the heating was best and groaning in despair together. 'You are both being very silly. It's just models you know,' Ayesha Di reasoned as she set a plate of steaming hot momos in front of us. Ever since she found out that Abrar Jiju loved Chinese cuisine, we've become guinea pigs for her experiments. At first it was a nice change from our usual meals, but then after a week of noodles and fried rice and chow mein it was starting to get a bit tiresome.'Di, can you please not go to the kitchen for the rest of the week?' I asked as she fixed her big brown eyes on me in a hopeful stare. I'm not having any more, not even if I'm held on gun point. My gastrointestinal tract is in protest. 'Yeah that's why you have a husband you know, so he can eat up all your little trials,' Samar said nodding.'The power of those momos, uniting India Pakistan!' Shaoib Bhai chipped in as he plopped on the couch next to Samar. Di was bristling in indignation. 'You ungrateful lot, all I'm asking is for you to review my cooking!''Which is Abrar Jiju's job,' Samar responded.'Did someone take my name?' said the man himself as he walked into the hall and took a seat next to Samir. The latter was busy texting to take part in the fray. 'Speak of the devil and he arrives!' Bhai grinned, Di threw a cushion at him. 'Look Abrar, she's getting angry when I called you the devil!' As everyone laughed and teased Di, she had an eyelock moment with Jiju. You know the one where the two of them gaze deeply into each others eyes and lots of feelings get exchanged? That's the one. ' Aww look at them being cute!' I cooed, clasping my hands. Di's cheeks heated up and she averted her gaze, staring at her hands as she fidgeted with the tassels of her dupatta. She ran away when Bhai suggested she could continue getting mushy with Abrar later. While it was lame on Bhai's part, we were saved from having to eat the momos. Samar generously offered them to Jiju. He happily hogged the whole plate. Too cute!Shoaib Bhai was teasing his friend even more. It was great to have Bhai back at his best. To think sometime back he was completely devoid of hope and depressed about not getting married to Iqra Di, and now he's sitting here cracking jokes and being the attention grabbing dulhe raja he is.'You know Shoaib, I'll be paying you back for all this taang khichai in a few days time right? Then it will be you and Iqra blushing instead of Ayesha and I,' Jiju mused with a wink. We've discovered that Abrar Jiju isn't as innocent as he initially appeared. He has his moments, and they are usually spot on. He would say his piece and then wait for the effects. Of course we'd all burst out laughing like hyenas, because we are the clan that loves poking fun at each other and cackling at each other's expense. Thankfully so far only Bhai and Samar have been Jiju's targets. Bhai spluttered and tried to come up with a nice retort and failed miserably and threw a cushion at Jiju, which was also a classic strategy of our family. As is running away when people who make our hearts go weird turn up. Which is exactly what I did when I saw Zaid approaching us. Ever since that day in Dadi's room, I've been avoiding him like the plague. Not that I didn't do it before, but I had amped up my level of avoidance. Whenever I could I made Samir my driver to and from school. At school I either stayed in class with my friends as we did group study or we spent time by the lake. And thankfully since it was his sister's wedding, he was immersed in preparations as well.
But, despite all my efforts, seeing him at least once a day was becoming inevitable. Not that it wasn't so before, but ah, even trying to come up with explanations is becoming difficult. With Zaid Hashim, everything becomes difficult for Junaina Javed Ali. I was even scared of sitting with Dadi for a few days, wondering when she'd call me out for harbouring feelings. My worst fear was that she would send me away. And I kept being a fidgety, scared little kitten until Dadi told me that she was kidding that day. The relief that came with her statement was like the ocean, boundless. However, I took a resolution to not be seen with Zaid, and I've been working hard to keep it. Three days before the wedding Mom came home. I spent a whole day with her. Two days before the wedding we went to Baithun Noor to attend Iqra Di's Maanjha. We made sure she was completely turned into a yellow mess. The boys were doing the same to Bhai. One day before the wedding we went to Baithun Noor again. This time it was to present Iqra Di with the dress she would wear for her Walima. On the day of the Nikkah we went to Baithun Noor yet again, to attend the Nikkah as Iqra Di's friends. She was a stunning vision in coral. She wore a simple salwar suit instead of a lehenga. But she looked every bit a beautiful bride in her outfit. Sidra was beaming as she next to her sister. She was so excited for the Nikkah, I felt the entire force of her excitement as she pulled me into a bear hug. The Mahr was a necklace with strings of tiny pearls, Iqra Bhabhi loved pearls according to her very reliable best friend. When Iqra Di saw it, she gave a Di a warm smile. Soon enough our handsome brother was upstairs along with our bunch of cousins and his brother-in-law Mr. Zaid Hashim, looking regal in his kurta. The struggle was real when it was time to get Bhai to leave his wife and go back home. He kept begging for five more minutes until Chachi dearest called him and asked him to come as our family was waiting for him. Back home in Ashiana there was a small banquet for all our relatives who were staying over. Because of Bhai's Romantics tardiness we reached home later than we were supposed to. Bhai paid the price for it as all the desi aunties gathered around him and teased him within an inch of his life. He was a stuttering, fumbling mess in their hands. Being the faithful sisters that we were, we recorded the whole deal and sent it to our Bhabhi. Abrar Jiju was particularly interested in shooting Bhai's various facial expressions. 'Abrar mere bhai, save me yaar,' Bhai called out as Jiju kept clicking pictures.'I told you, you'll have to go through all of this craziness when it's your turn. Enjoy my friend, you only get this treatment once in your life!' Jiju called out. And so Day one of functions came to an end like that. On Day two, I overslept. When Mom was shaking me awake, she was already fully dressed and looking fabulous in a sari. Mom rarely wore those and for a whole minute I was stunned by disbelief. Until she pulled out the big guns. 'Junaina Javed Ali! Wake up or I'm pulling a leaf out of Safwan's book and giving you a bath in your bed!' she yelled as she shook me to my senses.'No need Mom! I'm up! I'm up, the full name did it, blow drying takes forever you know,' I said as I jumped out of bed and rushed into the washroom. The perks of waking up late, I didn't have to wait for the long line outside my own bathroom. The cons, I had to rush through dressing and practically inhale the food that Mom was shoving into my face. So I almost got majorly embarrassed before Zaid of all people again, as I stepped out of the car in the parking lot of Noor auditorium. It was Samir who spotted that the zipper of my dress was not fully done up and that my unmentionables were close to being exposed. He pulled me to the side and did it up before I ran away in my haste to avoid Zaid. Because he was in the parking lot and stopped as he saw our car approach. Mommy dearest had bound him in conversation.My own Mom, being a hindrance to Mission Avoid Zaid Hashim At All Costs.
'Where is your focus Juni?' Samir asked as he fixed my dress and ensured it would stay that way. 'I was getting dressed and eating at once Samir, thanks though, it's not like to haven't embarrassed myself enough in front of Zaid right?' I chuckled nervously as Samir stepped around to face me. He gave me a curious look, before gesturing for me to walk with him to the hall. 'I have a surprise for you Juni,' Mom said as we entered the hall and took our place by our family. She got swamped up in her role as bahu of the Ali family and couldn't elaborate. I was both excited and vary of what Mom meant by surprise. I don't know why but there was a persistent sense of worry in my heart, that had no reason to be there.Di flicked my forehead as I joined her. ' You were sleeping so deeply Juni kii bachhi, I couldn't wake you at all. And then Mami told me to go get dressed saying she'd wake you up.''Yeah, I know. Barak Allahu Feeha, Iqra Di looks marvellous,' I commented as I saw her up on the stage. Chachi was right next to her as was Sidra. Chachi was introducing her to our relatives one by one as they went up to meet. Chachi's happiness was blinding, she couldn't stop smiling, couldn't stop gushing over Iqra Bhabhi. She kept squeezing Bhabhi's hands and giving her little hugs. It was adorable. Haseena Aunty had tears of happiness in her eyes as she looked on at her daughter in the hands of her new mother. When it was time for Iqra Bhabhi's Rukhsati, Sidra was crying her eyes out. I held her close to me and comforted her, I knew the feeling after all, having bid good bye to my own Di only a month back. 'You can see your Di any time. It's unfair you know, my Di lives miles away and yours next door. You shouldn't even be crying so much you silly,' I said pinching her cheeks. She chuckled, 'You are so bad at this Juni, but you're right. We will be seeing each other more often too!' 'You are going to get sick of seeing me,' I laughed. Zaid did not hide away like his best friend did when Iqra Bhabhi bid him salaam. His eyes were moist with tears, he couldn't hold them back for long. They slipped down slowly one after the other as he held in her close. As he pulled away, she wiped his tears and gave him a watery smile. My heart broke as he mirrored her, biting his lips to stop crying and gave her his heart-stopping smile. It would be lying to say I was unaffected. My heart went out to him. Even though I knew he'd be spending more time than ever in our house, now that we are relatives. Avoiding him would become impossible, but it still made my eyes prick a bit, to see him be happy and sad at once. In Ashiana we welcomed our Bhabhi grandly. Songs were sung, the ladies danced and food and sweets and drinks were in plenty. Family photos were taken and Bhai and Bhabhi were the tail end of everyone's joke. Bhabhi received gifts from all of us. I had a hard time choosing something for her actually. It was Di who told me she was crazy about silver jewellery like me, so I gifted her a ring encrusted with a single pearl. At night we didn't let Bhai get into his room until he paid each of us a ransom of a two thousand rupees each. Eager to get some alone time with his wife finally, he paid us all and shut the door after him sooner than we could say goodnight. And so the second ship of mine set sail and all was merry. Until Mom revealed her surprise. ***Dun dun dun! What could it possibly be? Btw ... Can't believe that it's the 49th chapter. Two years back, when I first started writing this book, I thought it would probably have just 35 chapters, 40 at most. And now we are standing at 49th chapters and still lots more to be written about Junaina Javed Ali. So... The bad news is, a leap will soon come. The good news is LuL is going to get a part two. We will see a grown up Junaina and our most favourite ship of them all, Zaina, sailing away to happiness or sinking. Muahahahhahaa. I know pitch forks and death threats await me should Zaina sink... Bleh. Ending this long note.Love,Ann.
All too soon it was time for Shoaib Bhai's wedding. It may seem like a negative statement when I speak so, but how time did fly. We were hardly out of the hangover of Di's wedding and we got right back into the whole setup for Bhai. I was both extremely happy and indescribably sad. To think it had been seven months since I shifted to Salimabad and all the events that happened in such a short while. I feel like I've lived for two years here instead of seven months. The fabulous thing about a wedding is that it brings family together again. Di was staying for a whopping two weeks which is like twelve days more than the time she came to stay right after her wedding. And so much more than her meagre visits. I mean I can't really complain because she's hardly been married for a month. Abrar Jiju is a darling though. He brings her to visit every time she feels like coming and he has taken us cousins for a day out many times in the past few weeks. I love visiting Khushnuma with Samar as well. Alia is awesome and Wazim is such a funny guy.Samar and Zaid don't find him as hilarious as I do. Zaid had once tagged along with us for a day out in the park. Except for the time he and Samar beat Wazim and Shoaib Bhai in a match of badminton, he was being a grouch. I was fascinated by the sight. I mean I've never seen the guy sulk. But Wazim is funny. He finds my jokes funny, that's proof enough for his humour sense. So Ashiana is all decked up again, the house is fuller than ever. Bhai's wedding doesn't have that tint of sadness that came with Di's however. It was a full on happy event. But somehow I felt a foreboding sense of sadness take over my soul. I never knew why. At least not until the end of Bhai's wedding. Murshida Bi was called in again to design Iqra Di's wedding dress. Chachi chose a cherry red colour velvet fabric for the blouse and a chiffon for the skirt. On it she had Murshida Bi work in little roses in golden zari interspersed with tiny pearls. It was an exquisite affair. The dupatta had a pearl fringe and golden sequences scattered about. Chachi bought a matching ruby and pearl set for Iqra Di. She was so excited about her bahu, her daughter-in-law, finally coming home. We didn't do a dress code like the last time, but Di and I got our clothes stitched in the same pattern. It was a floor length gown with box pleats in the skirt and floral embroidery in the bodice. Hers was a nice shade of lavender while mine was in purple. Since the house was already polished, primed and perfected before Di's wedding, none of that drama was there. However the adults were almost always out. It was mostly Dadi and us cousins in the house.Samar and I had Sports and Annual days at school. As promised Jade won the overall house cup. Samar sulked for a couple of days of course. On Annual Day, I was a spectator. I chose not to perform anything. Samar and his classmates including Zaid had put on a short skit hearing about Marwa. It was funny, even Rahma ma'am was laughing despite being satirised. There was a Qur'an recital by Zaid at the start of the function and it was my favourite out of the whole program. This time I recorded his rendition of the last two verses of Surah-al-Baqarah. His pronunciation of Arabic had fascinated me from the start, and his recitation had won my heart on the cultural festival itself. I was in love with it. I did not listen to it every night before going to sleep. That's just so creepy. Junaina Javed Ali doesn't do creepy. So Samar and I were quite occupied till about a week before Bhai's wedding. And just when we thought we would be free, model exams were announced for both of us, soon after Bhai's wedding. So we were sitting in the living hall downstairs where the heating was best and groaning in despair together. 'You are both being very silly. It's just models you know,' Ayesha Di reasoned as she set a plate of steaming hot momos in front of us. Ever since she found out that Abrar Jiju loved Chinese cuisine, we've become guinea pigs for her experiments. At first it was a nice change from our usual meals, but then after a week of noodles and fried rice and chow mein it was starting to get a bit tiresome.'Di, can you please not go to the kitchen for the rest of the week?' I asked as she fixed her big brown eyes on me in a hopeful stare. I'm not having any more, not even if I'm held on gun point. My gastrointestinal tract is in protest. 'Yeah that's why you have a husband you know, so he can eat up all your little trials,' Samar said nodding.'The power of those momos, uniting India Pakistan!' Shaoib Bhai chipped in as he plopped on the couch next to Samar. Di was bristling in indignation. 'You ungrateful lot, all I'm asking is for you to review my cooking!''Which is Abrar Jiju's job,' Samar responded.'Did someone take my name?' said the man himself as he walked into the hall and took a seat next to Samir. The latter was busy texting to take part in the fray. 'Speak of the devil and he arrives!' Bhai grinned, Di threw a cushion at him. 'Look Abrar, she's getting angry when I called you the devil!' As everyone laughed and teased Di, she had an eyelock moment with Jiju. You know the one where the two of them gaze deeply into each others eyes and lots of feelings get exchanged? That's the one. ' Aww look at them being cute!' I cooed, clasping my hands. Di's cheeks heated up and she averted her gaze, staring at her hands as she fidgeted with the tassels of her dupatta. She ran away when Bhai suggested she could continue getting mushy with Abrar later. While it was lame on Bhai's part, we were saved from having to eat the momos. Samar generously offered them to Jiju. He happily hogged the whole plate. Too cute!Shoaib Bhai was teasing his friend even more. It was great to have Bhai back at his best. To think sometime back he was completely devoid of hope and depressed about not getting married to Iqra Di, and now he's sitting here cracking jokes and being the attention grabbing dulhe raja he is.'You know Shoaib, I'll be paying you back for all this taang khichai in a few days time right? Then it will be you and Iqra blushing instead of Ayesha and I,' Jiju mused with a wink. We've discovered that Abrar Jiju isn't as innocent as he initially appeared. He has his moments, and they are usually spot on. He would say his piece and then wait for the effects. Of course we'd all burst out laughing like hyenas, because we are the clan that loves poking fun at each other and cackling at each other's expense. Thankfully so far only Bhai and Samar have been Jiju's targets. Bhai spluttered and tried to come up with a nice retort and failed miserably and threw a cushion at Jiju, which was also a classic strategy of our family. As is running away when people who make our hearts go weird turn up. Which is exactly what I did when I saw Zaid approaching us. Ever since that day in Dadi's room, I've been avoiding him like the plague. Not that I didn't do it before, but I had amped up my level of avoidance. Whenever I could I made Samir my driver to and from school. At school I either stayed in class with my friends as we did group study or we spent time by the lake. And thankfully since it was his sister's wedding, he was immersed in preparations as well.
But, despite all my efforts, seeing him at least once a day was becoming inevitable. Not that it wasn't so before, but ah, even trying to come up with explanations is becoming difficult. With Zaid Hashim, everything becomes difficult for Junaina Javed Ali. I was even scared of sitting with Dadi for a few days, wondering when she'd call me out for harbouring feelings. My worst fear was that she would send me away. And I kept being a fidgety, scared little kitten until Dadi told me that she was kidding that day. The relief that came with her statement was like the ocean, boundless. However, I took a resolution to not be seen with Zaid, and I've been working hard to keep it. Three days before the wedding Mom came home. I spent a whole day with her. Two days before the wedding we went to Baithun Noor to attend Iqra Di's Maanjha. We made sure she was completely turned into a yellow mess. The boys were doing the same to Bhai. One day before the wedding we went to Baithun Noor again. This time it was to present Iqra Di with the dress she would wear for her Walima. On the day of the Nikkah we went to Baithun Noor yet again, to attend the Nikkah as Iqra Di's friends. She was a stunning vision in coral. She wore a simple salwar suit instead of a lehenga. But she looked every bit a beautiful bride in her outfit. Sidra was beaming as she next to her sister. She was so excited for the Nikkah, I felt the entire force of her excitement as she pulled me into a bear hug. The Mahr was a necklace with strings of tiny pearls, Iqra Bhabhi loved pearls according to her very reliable best friend. When Iqra Di saw it, she gave a Di a warm smile. Soon enough our handsome brother was upstairs along with our bunch of cousins and his brother-in-law Mr. Zaid Hashim, looking regal in his kurta. The struggle was real when it was time to get Bhai to leave his wife and go back home. He kept begging for five more minutes until Chachi dearest called him and asked him to come as our family was waiting for him. Back home in Ashiana there was a small banquet for all our relatives who were staying over. Because of Bhai's Romantics tardiness we reached home later than we were supposed to. Bhai paid the price for it as all the desi aunties gathered around him and teased him within an inch of his life. He was a stuttering, fumbling mess in their hands. Being the faithful sisters that we were, we recorded the whole deal and sent it to our Bhabhi. Abrar Jiju was particularly interested in shooting Bhai's various facial expressions. 'Abrar mere bhai, save me yaar,' Bhai called out as Jiju kept clicking pictures.'I told you, you'll have to go through all of this craziness when it's your turn. Enjoy my friend, you only get this treatment once in your life!' Jiju called out. And so Day one of functions came to an end like that. On Day two, I overslept. When Mom was shaking me awake, she was already fully dressed and looking fabulous in a sari. Mom rarely wore those and for a whole minute I was stunned by disbelief. Until she pulled out the big guns. 'Junaina Javed Ali! Wake up or I'm pulling a leaf out of Safwan's book and giving you a bath in your bed!' she yelled as she shook me to my senses.'No need Mom! I'm up! I'm up, the full name did it, blow drying takes forever you know,' I said as I jumped out of bed and rushed into the washroom. The perks of waking up late, I didn't have to wait for the long line outside my own bathroom. The cons, I had to rush through dressing and practically inhale the food that Mom was shoving into my face. So I almost got majorly embarrassed before Zaid of all people again, as I stepped out of the car in the parking lot of Noor auditorium. It was Samir who spotted that the zipper of my dress was not fully done up and that my unmentionables were close to being exposed. He pulled me to the side and did it up before I ran away in my haste to avoid Zaid. Because he was in the parking lot and stopped as he saw our car approach. Mommy dearest had bound him in conversation.My own Mom, being a hindrance to Mission Avoid Zaid Hashim At All Costs.
'Where is your focus Juni?' Samir asked as he fixed my dress and ensured it would stay that way. 'I was getting dressed and eating at once Samir, thanks though, it's not like to haven't embarrassed myself enough in front of Zaid right?' I chuckled nervously as Samir stepped around to face me. He gave me a curious look, before gesturing for me to walk with him to the hall. 'I have a surprise for you Juni,' Mom said as we entered the hall and took our place by our family. She got swamped up in her role as bahu of the Ali family and couldn't elaborate. I was both excited and vary of what Mom meant by surprise. I don't know why but there was a persistent sense of worry in my heart, that had no reason to be there.Di flicked my forehead as I joined her. ' You were sleeping so deeply Juni kii bachhi, I couldn't wake you at all. And then Mami told me to go get dressed saying she'd wake you up.''Yeah, I know. Barak Allahu Feeha, Iqra Di looks marvellous,' I commented as I saw her up on the stage. Chachi was right next to her as was Sidra. Chachi was introducing her to our relatives one by one as they went up to meet. Chachi's happiness was blinding, she couldn't stop smiling, couldn't stop gushing over Iqra Bhabhi. She kept squeezing Bhabhi's hands and giving her little hugs. It was adorable. Haseena Aunty had tears of happiness in her eyes as she looked on at her daughter in the hands of her new mother. When it was time for Iqra Bhabhi's Rukhsati, Sidra was crying her eyes out. I held her close to me and comforted her, I knew the feeling after all, having bid good bye to my own Di only a month back. 'You can see your Di any time. It's unfair you know, my Di lives miles away and yours next door. You shouldn't even be crying so much you silly,' I said pinching her cheeks. She chuckled, 'You are so bad at this Juni, but you're right. We will be seeing each other more often too!' 'You are going to get sick of seeing me,' I laughed. Zaid did not hide away like his best friend did when Iqra Bhabhi bid him salaam. His eyes were moist with tears, he couldn't hold them back for long. They slipped down slowly one after the other as he held in her close. As he pulled away, she wiped his tears and gave him a watery smile. My heart broke as he mirrored her, biting his lips to stop crying and gave her his heart-stopping smile. It would be lying to say I was unaffected. My heart went out to him. Even though I knew he'd be spending more time than ever in our house, now that we are relatives. Avoiding him would become impossible, but it still made my eyes prick a bit, to see him be happy and sad at once. In Ashiana we welcomed our Bhabhi grandly. Songs were sung, the ladies danced and food and sweets and drinks were in plenty. Family photos were taken and Bhai and Bhabhi were the tail end of everyone's joke. Bhabhi received gifts from all of us. I had a hard time choosing something for her actually. It was Di who told me she was crazy about silver jewellery like me, so I gifted her a ring encrusted with a single pearl. At night we didn't let Bhai get into his room until he paid each of us a ransom of a two thousand rupees each. Eager to get some alone time with his wife finally, he paid us all and shut the door after him sooner than we could say goodnight. And so the second ship of mine set sail and all was merry. Until Mom revealed her surprise. ***Dun dun dun! What could it possibly be? Btw ... Can't believe that it's the 49th chapter. Two years back, when I first started writing this book, I thought it would probably have just 35 chapters, 40 at most. And now we are standing at 49th chapters and still lots more to be written about Junaina Javed Ali. So... The bad news is, a leap will soon come. The good news is LuL is going to get a part two. We will see a grown up Junaina and our most favourite ship of them all, Zaina, sailing away to happiness or sinking. Muahahahhahaa. I know pitch forks and death threats await me should Zaina sink... Bleh. Ending this long note.Love,Ann.
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