In this story i'll be dealing with serious matters and meant no offense to anybody 😊
Here u go !
First Shot :
On a fine Tuesday morning in Bhopal, a scarred young woman sat by dozens of other women listening to a lecture over self-confidence.
Zoya hadn't always been this way, she used to be a breathtaking young little girl. In fact, she had been so beautiful that she had been punished unfairly for her beauty.
Three years ago, on her way back from college, Zoya had been approached by some goons. When they understood that their efforts were in vein, their egos couldn't take it and one of the good had thrown acid over her face. Thankfully, she had had the reflex of holding a book to her face but that didn't stop the damage being done to the right side of her face.
Now three years later, here she was, in one of the centers called 'Apne', of Acid Survivors Foundation India (ASFI), a NGO that fought for the rights and treatments of those people who had had the misfortune of going through this phase.
But unlike what people think, this is not just a phase, this becomes your life and not because you chose it because society chooses it for you. Just because the physical appearance has changed, you become a pity to people. Just because you are scarred, your family is embarrassed to be seen with you. Just because you are different, you become an outcast in the society. Just because you are a woman and you are scarred, you are hopeless. But honestly, did anybody ever asked to be this way ? Why is physical appearance so important ?
Those were Zoya's thoughts during this class. A month after her accident, Zoya had gone silent, she wouldn't talk anymore, she had gone back into her shell and who wouldn't after going through such a traumatic incident ? However, her parents hadn't even tried to understand her situation. Being from a middle-class family with two daughters and the elder getting scarred, guaranteed her to never find a husband and making her younger sister Najma, not easy to find a match either.
Hence they sent her to this center, now this was her home, with people like her, people that understood her, people going through the same things as her. On their way to getting back on their feet.
However, they visits had become fewer and fewer over the months and then they stopped contacting her altogether over the years. She won't lie, it hurt, but she had learned to live with it.
Mrs. Sharma was currently explaining that they couldn't just stop living because of what happened to them, they had to get back on their feet and show the world that they did it. Although Zoya respected Mrs. Sharma a lot, that didn't meant she liked being told these kind of things, that too from a beautiful woman with no scars. She wasn't the one who got looked at as if she was a freak or even some kind of animal in a zoo.
It had been three years and Zoya had grown to accept that this was her life now and she was really quite happy here. The other girls were nice, they laughed and joked together, the teachers and the people in-charge were like parents to them. They were just like a big family.
********
In a week, a program was organized because some big industrialist was coming to make a huge donation that would open hundreds of other centers like 'Apne'. Zoya couldn't hide her shock when she had heard about this donation.
She couldn't understand why some fancy-pants would come to make a donation for a cause such as this one. Undoubtedly for publicity, she gritted her teeth in disgust.
When she had asked, Mrs. Gupta, the head of Apne Center, she had answered, "Mr. Asad Ahmed Khan hasn't always been what he is today, he went from rags-to-riches. Mr. Khan was only ten when his parents passed away, leaving him with his little sister Nikhat of six. Not having any other family, they were sent to an orphanage, but when a family decided to adopt Mr. Khan, he refused to be adopted without Nikhat, but being a family from middle-class, they couldn't afford it. That night, Mr. Khan ran away with Nikhat and found some shelter somehow, the next day, Mr. Khan looked for a job to get them fed. He dropped out for a while, worked hard to get his little sister in school, with books along with a full stomach. Then the old man for whom he was working at a tailor shop decided to take their responsability, Mr. Khan started going to school again. But a few years later, Nikhat was attacked with acid by some goons and then a few months later, she committed suicide... Mr. Khan had been devastated, but he worked his butt off and became one of the top ten industrialist in India, giving him the means and the ability to get his sister avenged by law."
Zoya regretted being so judgemental, maybe that's why he was so dedicated to the cause, by personal experience. Unknowingly, Mr. Khan now stood on a pedestal in her mind. He hadn't given up even after his sister had died, he still was helping thousands of women and children by donating this much of money.
Everybody took part into the organization of the event, Zoya was responsible of the posters. When asked for the paint, she was told that it would be in the store room. But after looking around, she saw it on top of a huge chest. After jumping around like a monkey, she couldn't reach it so she started looking around for something over which she could climb to get the paint.
She dragged a chair to the chest but what she didn't know was that the chair wasn't stable and one of its leg had already been half broken before climbed over it. Although she bridged the gap a little, she didn't do it completely. So she got onto her tiptoes and tried.
**********
Unknowingly, the noise had attracted the attention of someone who was passing by the store room.
Asad Ahmed Khan sure was a busy man but not busy enough to just throw money away, he knew that some NGO ate more than half the donations being done for the people in need and he had learned to place his money wisely. So here he was today, wearing a simple white shirt and blue pants, inspecting Apne Center as a common man. He had introduced himself as Ayaan Sheikh and looking for a center for a family friend, and was now looking around the Center after hanging up a call with his secretary.
What he saw till now had impressed him, very good living conditions, only a few fans being out of order, dedicated staff and shy yet happy scarred women.
He sighed, if only he had realized the depth of Nikhat's pain, he could have sent her in one of these Center and she might have been alive today. Asad closed his eyes, it had been seven years now, but that didn't lessened the pain.
A noise made him come out of his thoughts, he followed the noise and reached a door to a storeroom. He smiled at the sight in front of him, a tiny woman was trying to jump up to reach a pot but when she understood that she wouldn't be able to, she looked around for something and then dragged a what seemed like an old chair to the chest and then climbed over it.
Seeing the chair, Asad knew that it was about to give up so he started to move forward, seeing her getting on the tip of her toes to reach the pot and when she was about to get it, the chair gave up but before anything could happen, Asad grabbed her by the waist and they both fell on the floor, slamming into the chest, making the pot of red paint fall over Asad and Zoya's head.
"Allah Miyan, what's wrong with you ?!" Zoya exclaimed angrily with red paint all over her face, looking at a face-painted man on top of her.
Asad moved away from her and got up, holding down a hand to her, which she ignored. Once she got up, Asad spoke for the first time, "You are welcome."
Zoya who had busied herself trying to wipe the paint from her face, froze and then narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips, "Do you seriously expect me to thank you for making me fall and tipping a pot of paint all over my face ?!" She exclaimed angrily.
"Aap aisa keh rahi hain jaise ke mere chehre ko kuch hua hi nahi hai !" Asad spoke in his usually stern voice.
His tone only provoked Zoya, "Toh kya maine personal invitation diya tha mujhe girane ke liye ?!"
Asad rolled his eyes and silently pointed to the now broken seat of the old chair, and Zoya let out an "Oh..."
"Yes 'Oh.' I have no interest making people fall, i just didn't want you to get hurt." He said while wiping his face by a handkerchief and handing another to Zoya, who left with no choice, took it.
Asad realized that they were both paint covered so they couldn't see each others' faces but he wanted to see this firecracker's. He could see that she had beautiful eyes and full lips and a cute nose which wasn't too big or too small. He had the sudden urge to wipe all the paint from her face.
However Zoya could see his face, he had managed to wipe most of it, there was only a residual pink all over but except for that she could clearly see his face. And what a face that was. Standing before was the most handsome man she had ever seen, a chiselled jaw, a straight nose, high cheekbones, and warm brown eyes.
All of a sudden, seeing his beauty made Zoya self-couscious and she tried to hide the right side of her face by turning so that all he could see was her profile.
Asad noticed immediately the change of the mood and frowned, seconds ago she was hell bent onto arguing with him. He wondered what happened.
"Thank you." She mumbled and tried to get away but he stopped her.
"Wait !" Asad called out and for a minute she wanted to stop and wanted to be looked as if she was beautiful.
Like any other ordinary girl, Zoya was also a romantic, she wanted to have someone who loved her so much that she would forget everybody else. Someone who wouldn't be ashamed in taking her hand in his in public. Someone who would support her at every turn. Someone who would grow old with her, holding hands in rocking chairs.
She wanted all that.
But Zoya wasn't stupid, she had seen the light in his eyes when he had seen a glimpse of her face. He thought she was beautiful. But it was a delusion, he hadn't seen her face in its entirety. She wasn't what he would want. She wasn't beautiful. Her life wasn't the same, what he saw now wasn't the truth, this red paint was makeup compared to her scarred face. He was better off without seeing her face. For the first time in years, she had seen this look on somebody's face while looking at her. First and and unfortunately last time. At least now she could cherish that look even if it was in her imagination. After it was all she had left.
**********
Asad didn't understand her reaction at first, one second he was talking to her and the next second she was running away. But what the girl didn't notice was that in her attempts to get away, a book had fallen from her bag.
Asad frowned and picked it up but something fell from it, he bent down to get to it. What he saw made him stare, it was a picture of a beautiful girl with her family, she had a huge smile on her face and holding up two fingers behind what he thought must have been her little sister while the mother was frowning at the beautiful girl and the father throwing his head back and laughing.
Perfect family. At least that's what he thought. He recognized those almond shaped eyes and those pouty lips, it was her.
And what he thought to be a book was actually a diary. He knew it was wrong to invade somebody's privacy this way, but he couldn't help it, he wanted a name, her name. He opened it and on the first page, he read it, he read a poem. A poem that would change his whole life.
'When the world turned away I stood my ground as my heart knew I had you
My eyes never watered my heart never sank I believe that all I needed was you
The day you came and lowered your gaze I felt what I had never felt before
It wasn't hate and it wasn't betrayal
It was fear
The fear of losing you
In that one moment when you stepped away my existence ceased to exist
No matter how hard I tried I couldn't breath
No matter how hard I pleaded the darkness invaded
My shattered heart my broken soul is all I have left to show
To show what is left of my world
A world that once was filled with colour and love now stands barren and I'm all alone
And all because I dared to dream'
**
A/N : so ? so ? so? kaisa lage ? jaldi se batao !! i wanna how u found it to be 😳
i'll try to finish thi story by the end of the weeek, i am already at the half of the second part so please do let me know kaisa laga...
Edited by Miss-Appy - 8 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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