Faasle-new ff (interfaith LS) pt 2

New fan fic: Faasle

This story is about a Muslim girl, Tehzeeb and a Hindu boy, Angad.

Before I start the story, I just wanted to make it clear that please take this story as a love story between 2 individuals and not a conflict between two religions or cultures. I have no intention of hurting anyone's personal/religious sentiments. If there are any discrepancies or disagreements about anything, please let me know or pm me as this is my first attempt at writing an interfaith love story.

PART 1:

TEHZEEB's 21 st BIRTHDAY:

Tehzeeb is excited about finally turning 21 this year. Her friends have organized a big birthday bash for her at the Four Season's hotel banquet hall in New York City. Tehzeeb is the only child of a rich Investment banker, Mr Javed Khan (imagine Dilip from KYPH), whose heart beats in harmony with the ups and downs of the New York stock exchange. Javed Khan is a self made man. He immigrated to the US 14 years ago after a major disagreement with his parents in India. Soon after immigration, his wife of 10 years passed away under mysterious circumstances. People speculated that she might have committed suicide. Javed Khan never talked about his deceased wife. Tehzeeb had fond memories of her mother, Salma from when they had lived in India, but after moving to the US, she remembered her mother would just spend her time alone, locked in her room. Her mother barely interacted with anyone during her last few months.

Tehzeeb had spent most of her school years under the care of a nanny, Begum (imagine Nishant's bua from KYPH). Begum had been a faithful housekeeper cum nanny to Javed and Salma since they lived in India. She was their only link to the past now. Tehzeeb was very close to Begum, especially after her mother's demise. Javed Khan spent most of his time on Wall Street. He had a Midas touch; he could make money for anyone and anybody with his financial acumen. He barely spent time with his daughter, but made sure Tehzeeb was brought up properly with good Islamic values. Tehzeeb was not allowed to stay out late, party with friends, wear revealing western outfits, and go out on dates with anyone. Drinking and smoking were of course out of the question. Tehzeeb had attended the local Islamic school in their nearby mosque every friday since she was a child. She tried to say her namaaz everyday, but could not understand why she had to pray so many times in the day. Occasionally she would lie to her dad that she had prayed five times; Begum was always there to defend her in such situations. Tehzeeb had always tried to obey her father, but lately had started questioning his strict rules.

She was in college now and craved to hang out with her friends and be able to see the world like everyone else. She had an inclination for arts and music, but her dad insisted she join the undergraduate business program at Columbia University, so she could follow his footsteps. She hated math and crunching numbers, but felt obliged to follow her dad's wishes.

Tehzeeb got dressed in a long black skirt and full sleeves red top for her party. Javed had promised that he would join her at the party and surprise her with a special 21 st birthday present.

Tehzeeb had a great time at her party. Her friends were aware of Tehzeeb's religious and cultural background. They made sure that there was no booze/smoking/close dancing at the party. They ordered her favorite chocolate cake from her favorite bakery and favorite dishes from the hotel's kitchen.

Javed walked in towards the end of the party and hugged his daughter. He kissed her forehead and said, "beti…aaj main bahut khush hoon….tumhari 21 st birthday par main tumhey ek surprise dena chahta hoon…..yeh dekho….in se milo….yeh hain Aamir Baig (imagine Prithvi from KYPH)!"

"Hello!" Tehzeeb said politely to a young man in his mid-twenties.

"Aadaab!" he said shyly.

"Beti…Aamir mere puraane dost ka beta hai…he is the new blood in our company! He is very bright…he just graduated from Wharton business school with high honors!. Tum dono ek doosrey ko jaan lo…..main chahta hoon tum dono jaldi nikaah kar lo!…Kyon kaisa lagaa mera birthday gift?" Javed said proudly.

The color from Tehzeeb's rosy cheeks faded. She was stunned and shocked.

"Abbu! Main…abhi shaadi ke liye tayyar nahin hoon…." She hesitated, unable to look at her dad in the eye.

"TEHZEEB! Yeh faisla mujh par chhod do….tum ab 21 saal ki ho gayi ho….Aamir se behtar shauhar tumhey kahin nahin milega….jao beta Aamir….Tehzeeb ke saath thoda waqt guzaar lo….mujhey ek meeting mein jaana hai…," as usual Javed left Tehzeeb with someone else, expecting his daughter to obey his command as she had always done.

Tehzeeb exchanged a few words with Aamir and then politely excused herself.

After reaching home, she ran to her room and buried her face in her pillow, "nahin…main aisa kabhi nahin kar sakthi…..abbu aakhir kaun hote hain mere saare faisle karne waale?….main is shaadi ke liye tayyar nahin hoon…."

Begum realized that Tehzeeb was upset. She went to her room, "kya baat hai beti? Mujhey tho bataa sakti hai…"

Tehzeeb got up and hugged Begum, "Daijaan….main abhi shaadi nahin karna chahti…" she poured her heart out to Begum.

"theek hai beti…main tere abbu se baat karoongi….tu ab so jaa…bahut raat ho gayi hai…."

Next day, Begum tried to reason with Javed, but he was adamant about his decision, "BEGUM! Apni haisiyat mein raho….main Tehzeeb ka baap hoon aur uskie liye kya theek hai aur kya nahin…iska faisla sirf main kar sakta hoon….bas ab tumhara kaam hai usey samjhaana….yeh mat bhoolo tum sirf ek aaya ho….maalkin nahin!"

Tehzeeb overheard the conversation and the dejected look on Begum's face told her that Javed would not change his decision.

Later that night, Tehzeeb tip-toed into her dad's room and took out an old box from his closet. She had seen this box several times in her parent's closet, but knew never to ask any questions about it. She took out a photograph and an envelope addressed to her father. There was a return address on the envelope from a place in Istanbul, turkey.

She tip-toed out with the photograph and the address and thought, "Aapi…main aapke paas aa rahi hoon….."

…..to be continued

PART 2:

"Aapi….main aa rahi hoon…" Tehzeeb said to herself as she hid the photograph and envelope in her blouse.

She rushed to her room and packed her bags. She stayed up all night, pacing up and down in her room wondering whether she was doing the right thing, "haan…mujhey is ghar se bhaag jaana chahiye….yahan Abbu sirf apney baarey mein sochthey hain….kabhie meri khushi ke baare mein nahin sochtey…..meri Aapi hi bas mujhey samajh sakti hain….mujhey koyi pyaar nahin karta…..," she cried silently.

Aapi…..her paternal grandmother! Tehzeeb had fond memories of her grandmother from her early childhood. She had spent her first seven years of her life in India under her "aapi's" shelter. Both her parents worked to make ends meet, but her grandparents stayed home with her all day. She was particularly close to her grandmother, as her grandfather usually spent time with his newspapers and radio. Aapi would let Tehzeeb indulge in anything she wanted. She would even sleep with her on most nights.

Then one day, Tehzeeb remembered her dad had a major argument with his parents and before anyone realized, they were on a plane to New York along with a distant relative, Begum. Since then Tehzeeb had not seen her grandparents or heard from them. She had discovered the secret box in her parent's closet when she was about 12 or 13 and had discovered an envelope inside the box. There was a letter written in urdu, which Tehzeeb could not read. She recognized her grandparents in the photograph enclosed with the letter. She figured out that her grandparents had moved to Istanbul a few years ago.

Next day, she quietly slipped out of the house with her bag and headed for the bank. She had left a note for daijaan…. "please meri chinta mat kariye….main ghar se jaa rahi hoon…Abbu se kehna meri fikr na karein….Love you daijaan…"

Tehzeeb's dad had given her a credit card on her 18th birthday, but she also had a bank account, which she was eligible to access after her 21 st birthday. Using a credit card would leave a paper trail behind her, so she decided to withdraw hard cash from her account. Her dad had been generous and she was pleasantly surprised to see a million dollars in her account! She withdrew $100,000.00, as she would not know how to carry any more cash!

She stuffed the money in her bag and purse and headed for the airport.

She was unable to find a direct connection to Istanbul. She decided to fly to Barcelona, Spain. Tehzeeb felt like a free bird…..she had never before taken such a bold step in her life. All her decisions were taken by her dad or her daijaan….whether it was her education, her choice of friends, her clothes……everything!

She felt that now that she was 21, she had to see the world for herself and not do everything her father insisted on. She was excited and nervous at the same time. What if she never found Aapi in Istanbul? What if she ran out of cash? Should she go back?….she pondered as she looked out of the window of the airplane still parked at the gate. Something inside her urged her to leave….it was now or never! She thought that if things did not workout, she could always come back!


MUMBAI: A FEW DAYS AGO-

A handsome naval officer, Angad Khanna was bidding goodbye to his mother, Naina Khanna and sister, Mishti at the airport.

"Mama….main bas do hafte ke liye jaa raha hoon….aap apni dawaa time se leti rehna…." Angad touched his mother's feet and hugged her.

"Angad…tum pareshaan mat ho…..main mama ka poora dhyaan rakhoongi…tum jao….yeh experience accha rahega tumharey liye…." Mishti reassured him.

"Jaanta hoon Mishti…tum mama ka dhyaan dogi…tabhi tho befikr ho kar jaa raha hoon…" Angad hugged his twin sister.

Angad was on leave from his duties as a naval officer in the Indian Navy. Naina had been recently diagnosed with Leukemia (blood cancer) and was undergoing aggressive treatment at a cancer hospital in Mumbai. Her best chance of cure was a bone marrow transplant. That was an expensive treatment and Angad's meager salary from the Navy was not sufficient for the treatment. Their father was deceased and Mishti was a school teacher. Angad was lucky to find a temporary job as a cruise ship officer for the next two weeks while he was on vacation from the Navy. The cruise was a 12 day Mediterranean cruise which started from Barcelona, Spain. They were going to pay him well for the next two weeks. Angad had told Mishti his real reason for taking up the job, but reassured Naina that he was just taking up this job just for more experience.

BARCELONA AIRPORT:

Tehzeeb had not traveled beyond the US since she had moved to New York at the age of 7. Spain was very different from New York. The airport was more crowded with most of the signs in Spanish. "Thank God, I had taken Spanish in high school…" she sighed. She decided to spend a day in Barcelona before taking a flight to Istanbul. She hailed a cab and decided to check in at the nearest hotel. Barcelona was a very beautiful city; it was an old city as was evident by the buildings and architecture of the city. There were more people on the streets than she was used to seeing, cars and homes were much smaller than one saw in the US. At a distance, she saw the harbor with a number of large ships docked at the port.

She asked the cab driver in her broken Spanish to divert the cab to the harbor.

As they came closer to a large ship at the seaport, Tehzeeb had a brain wave.

"Queen of the Mediterranean- Spain to Turkey" was the name of the cruise line docked at the harbor.

She took her bag and went to the ticket counter.

"Yes…we still have some tickets madam," the person at the ticket counter informed her politely.

Tehzeeb presented her passport and paid for a luxurious suite in the cruise ship. The ship was about to sail in a few hours.

Tehzeeb entered the large ship and was surprised to see a beautiful lobby at the entrance. It seemed like she was inside a five star hotel rather than a boat!

A number of uniformed men were greeting the passengers as they checked their tickets and passports in the lobby of the ship.

Tehzeeb greeted the handsome men in white uniforms.

She suddenly heard her name pronounced in a familiar accent, "Tehzeeb? Kahan ke rehney waali hain?"

Tehzeeb looked up and saw a handsome south Asian man staring at her with a friendly smile.

"New York," her American accent gave away that she was a NRI.

"nice to meet you Ms Khan…..I am officer Angad Khanna from India….aapka cabin 5 th floor par hai……I hope you have a pleasant stay on our ship…."

She looked up again, as their eyes met each other's gaze, "th…thanks officer…." She walked away towards the elevator.

What was so familiar about that stranger?…..mujhey aisa kyon laga ki main usey jaanti hoon……ho sakta hai ki doosrey Indian ko dekh kar aisa lag raha hai…..

……..to be continued………..

wow, so lng😆
its very interesting.
keep it up 😊

Originally posted by: *4rom heaven*

wow, so lng😆
its very interesting.
keep it up 😊

Thanks 😊

wow....it was so wonderful
it's very different n plz do continue soon
can't wait

woww!!... i love the fact that u gah all the thingz that muslim parents make u do in foreign nationz..lol..Great story.. n i love the name "Tehzeeb"... i wanna go to spain too..lol.. Impressive!!! 😊

intense-ish....keep it up, its nice.