A "Friend"
Gulzar Ahmad, son of a rich fruit grower who worked hard to earn money and worried little. A young man of medium height, square faced dense hair, thin side burns and a thick mustache. Everyday, even on Fridays when most of the people will wear Pathani suits, he was seen wearing a check shirt and formal trousers. He was always joking and laughing with his elders and people of his age but always maintained a stern face when around the younger folk. He never indulged in any affair with any girl of his villages or neighboring villages. Even though he himself smoked cheap cigarettes but younger boys hid the ones they were smoking if they saw him from far. He would strictly deal with girls if he saw them talking unnecessarily with boys of other villages. They didn’t mind it, infact most appreciated it as elderly love. Gulzar thought of whole world to be his village that he will joke around with whoever he wanted and that boys anywhere will hide their cigarettes and girls will cover their heads on seeing him. He felt he will be treated same everywhere as his village treated him. He was least bothered by changes around him. Wherever he went he felt he was in the volleyball court of his village.
Gulzar got married to a distant relative. She was beautiful and looked even more beautiful in gold embroidered phirans. She was plump and covered her head in a way deliberately keeping her gold earrings visible. She didn’t talk much ,rarely laughed and that too only at Gulzar’s jokes. Gulzar showered her with presents and affection but whenever situation demanded Gulzar will show his other side. He will get angry and shout at her, which she silently tolerated. Gulzar missed her as soon as they parted for their daily chores. He will quicly finish his work to be with her.
It was the time of the year when fruit had to be taken to markets far away in the other province of the state. Fruits will be delivered, money received and tea, rice, spices, clothes etc will be bought. Gulzar didn’t rely on middle-men. He went along the fruit trucks. This time he decided to take along his beautiful wife to show her the world beyond the confines of their village. He wasn’t literate neither his wife. He didn’t know any language other than his native language. Speaking a mixture of Urdu and Punjabi he still successfully managed to carry on business all by himself. He had even made some friends in this place and he will meet them every time he came to sell his produce.
He had decided to stay for a week this time. They were staying in a hotel near a bridge and Shaheen wondered where the river underneath had gone. She thought had the river not dried up it would have been easier to cross than now with the non-stop flow of these cars and buses. But Gulzar was with her and he never let go off her hand especially when crossing the road. He took Saheena to cinema which she liked even though she understood nothing. He showed her the famous fort of the city. She was excited to see so many monkeys there. Next they went to the zoo. At home she wasn’t willing to accompany him but he wouldn’t listen. Now she was glad she had come. She wanted to stay longer infact she did not want this tour to end.
One evening she was alone in the hotel room waiting for him, He had went out to buy some things. He returned along with one of his local friends. The room wasn’t very big so Shaheena sat in a corner as far as she could. They joked and laughed for a long time. Shaheena sat there silently with her head down clearly bored. After sometime Gulzar opened the bottle of whiskey he had bought in a brown paper bag along with some eatables. Shaheena was surprised but did not show any change in expressions. Gulzar fished out two disposable glasses and soda water from the bag and dictatorially ordered her to slice a cucumber and serve it to them. She obeyed without a word.
They drank. Gulzar was talking non stop but his friend showed a lot of composure. Shaheena didn’t understand anything of what Gulzar was saying but it wasn’t difficult at all to understand that he was making a fool out of himself. His friend being a habitual drinker was more resistant to the effects of liquor. But Gulzar didn’t keep up for long. He soon passed out. As his friend saw him pass out instead of leaving like a gentleman he lingered on. Shaheena began to grow more uncomfortable than she already was. He smiled at her. She smiled back. He slowly and carefully inched towards her and when he was close enough to her he gently put his hand on her hand.
Gulzar woke up hearing some commotion. He couldn’t sense what was going on. All he could make out was a blurry vision of man with an angry expression shaking him violently, another one was smiling. There were others in the room about half a dozen. It took him sometime to understand where he was. He had completely forgotten about his wife until the one shaking him asked, “Where is your wife”. He looked scared and started looking around the room but couldn’t see her. His expression changed, it looked like he will burst into tears. “Your friend ran off with your wife”, said someone with a mocking tone. He just lay there not knowing what to do but his heart beating fast. He wanted to go look for her outside. He barely took a step and fell down.
Shortly, even though it was felt like a long duration to Gulzar, someone fell pity on him and helped him to the adjacent room. There she was silent as always but visibly shaken and tired. It was clear from her eyes she had cried a lot.
While they were drinking his friend was continuously stealing glances at his wife. He smiled at her and she returned the smile thinking it was a goodbye and he will leave. How else could she, a person who had never left her village, rarely spoke even her own language, politely tell her husband`s “friend” to leave. Encouraged by her smile his friend was too fast in making the next move. As he placed his hand on hers, she instinctively started shouting for help. It was a time when hotels were overcrowded with people from her part of the state. On hearing her cries for help they had broken the door and came to her rescue. The friend got so scared that he jumped out of a window to escape beating. Some ladies led her into the adjacent room till she recovered from shock.
Gulzar was too ashamed to look at her. She got up and helped him back to their room. The tour was cut short. The whole journey back home passed silently except a yes or a no. It took Gulzar a lot of time to look directly into her eyes.
