Re: Online Saga
.... continued from posts #1, 8, 17, 46, 68, 88, 128, 159, 175, 193, 210, 223, 237, 257, 288, 323, 368, 416, 447, 491
Next morning, on Ali’s wedding day, there was another quarrel between Ali and his parents. Ali got quite upset and pleaded his parents to spare him from those issues for God sake. Barraat was to proceed in the evening, for that, Ali got dressed in a designer suite and was looking quite sharp. He was somehow not feeling very happy from inside. Barraat proceeded to the reception hall in the late evening. An army band was arranged to play traditional tunes upon his entry into the reception hall. Ali entered the hall with mixed feelings while he was greeted by Lubna’s family and friends. This was a very special day of his life and quite unique feeling to go through the traditional wedding ceremony. He was going through all wedding rituals to include offering of milk upon arrival in exchange of hefty price, hiding his shoe to demand even bigger reward for the return and tying his knee to ask a lot of money for its release. Ali’s friends backed him in negotiation and exchanged comic statements with the girls from Lubna’s side. Ali was so much amused when he heard a timely response from one of his friend towards the demand of two thousand dollars for his goadda (knee) to be released. His friend laughed and said to girls “Two thousand dollars for a goadda? You can keep it. We can easily get it replaced with a Suzuki’s goadda for mere five hundred rupees”. At the end all the girls were rewarded with more than they had asked for and got quite excited. At very late at night, wedding was concluded and Ali returned to his home with his bride. The feeling to be with one’s wife for the first time after the marriage is quite magical for every man. And it’s generally very nervous feeling for the bride after she leaves all her family behind and is not sure about the future awaiting for her. She comes with a dream to spend her life like a princess at her new castle with her prince who is supposed to protect her from the evils of this world and take care of her happiness for the rest of her life. It is only time that tells what her fate has to offer her.
Next day was Ali’s Valima arranged at a local banquet hall. A large number of guests were invited to offer their wishes for the happiness of the newly wed couple. Ali had three friends who came from the US to attend his wedding. They were quite involved in all phases of the wedding and were witnessing a traditional Pakistani wedding. They mingled with Ali’s friends from Pakistan and were hosted by them while Ali was busy with other tasks. Ali chose Kaghan Valley for his honeymoon and went there for one-week trip. This was once again a very memorable trip for Ali and Lubna. Ali’s friends from US were escorted by his Pakistani friends to Lahore, Islamabad and Nathiya Gali area. They were taken to all major historical and tourists attraction during their stay in Pakistan. They enjoyed ethnic food of all sorts and the special hospitality by Ali’s family and friends. Ali’s daughter called him on his cell phone on regular basis and expressed how much she was missing him. One time, Irrum called Ali and started yelling at him. She told him how difficult it was for her to deal with Ayesha who was miserably missing him and was quite cranky. She expressed how difficult it was for her while she demanded her daddy all the time while he was gone to Pakistan. Ali talked to Ayesha and told her how much he was missing her too and was going to come back soon.
Lubna wasn’t too happy after the marriage and once opened up with Ali about her concerns. She told him how she paid a heavy toll for her marriage in terms of her parents insult by his parents. She loved her parents as much as everybody else did and did not like how they might have felt. She said she wasn’t sure if this marriage was worth for the price she paid. Ali assured her that he would make sure that her parents were happy with the results of that marriage. He went to her home few times and had good talks with her parents. He apologized them on his parents’ behavior and assured them that he would take very good care of Lubna. That made them very happy and gave them a good sense of satisfaction. They had full confidence in Ali and were satisfied that he gave them his promise. The month was over so fast and it was time for Ali and Lubna to leave for the US. Lubna had now gotten used to him and was happy to go to US with him but at the sane time was feeling sad with the thought of leaving her family behind. They went to visit her family the day before leaving for the US. Her parents once again expressed their concern to Ali in terms of his parents getting along with Lubna. Ali assured them not to worry about it as he was going to protect her. Ali and Lubna left for US while they had a two days stop at Singapore. They enjoyed their short stay at Singapore and then finally reached the US. Ali’s parents were to follow them to US after a couple of months.
[RIGHT]..... to be continued[/RIGHT]