'Thun thun thun' came the sound of the banging of a patila (silver vessel) with a spoon of steel.

Hania who turned 12 a few days ago irritatedly woke up from her deep sleep "Kaun hai samne aao, meri neend ke dushman". (Who's it? Confront me, my sleep's enemy)

As soon as she sat upright to see who it was, Amir dropped the spoon while running from behind the Takht (wooden single bed).

Amir was Hania's 9yr old notorious little brother. The fights between these two were endless. She also had another brother, 4yr old Alyan. He was the sweetest. He did whatever Hania asked him to do.

Hania picked up the spoon and threw it in his direction but this time it didn't fly over his head as usual and hit him on the back of his head. She had a very bad throw. But this time it hit the target, maybe because she was sleepy.

Amir screamed like a cat that got stepped on and cried loudly.

"Bas karo, itni bhi nahi lagi" she tried to stop him from crying before their mother found out. He cried louder so she could hear.

Mamma came angrily out of the kitchen "Subah subah ladna shuru hogayi dono?"(You've started fighting in the morning?)

"Mamma" cried Amir, "You asked me to wake her up and I did, and she hit me here *rubs his head* with this" *shows the spoon*

"Kyun Marti rehti ho mere pyare bache ko?" She pinched Hania's arm and she shrank back. (Why do you keep hitting my lovely son?)

"But mama, you heard the sound he woke me up with. He could simply shake me" Hania replied angrily "Never ask him to wake me up".

Mama pinched her arm again. "That doesn't justify your hitting. You're grown up. Stop being childish."

That was just one of the fights. Every day a new fight would come up and her mom and dad scolded and sometimes hit Hania for being childish.

Her aggression grew over time. She was tired of always being the one blamed. Being the eldest child was no fun. She was sure that her parents loved her siblings and not her.

One day they went shopping in a mall to buy home decor. After an hour of accompanying their parents, Hania and Amir saw a toy shop and they both entered it. It was filled with colorful toys for all ages. Dolls, instruments, cars, everything hung from the ceiling or was placed on the overstuffed shelves.

Hania and Amir loved almost everything there.

Running her fingers over the toys displayed, Hania stopped by a piano and admired it. She checked for the price and it was Rs.3050. She loved playing the piano at her neighbor's place. She wanted one for herself. Her heart pounded with excitement. This could be hers!

Hania turned to look for her parents, but before she could go to her parents and tell them she wanted that piano, her brother already called them to show a bicycle that he wanted.

Hania requested them "Baba, Mamma, please mujhe ye piano chahiye"

"But I asked them first," said Amir.

"First, huh." He thinks being first is something good, Hania sniffled. He is usually the first in starting an argument, snatching a snack and making fun of her.

Her parents approved of his statement and asked her "What's the price?"

"It's 3050 only," She replied. Her eyes caught the price of the bicycle and it was Rs. 4599, she hoped they would agree on the Piano.

They both said "It's too costly. We can't buy both of you whatever you want. Either buy a bicycle or a piano".

She thought the piano would be something they both could play with. While they spoke to each other for making a decision, Amir and Hania argued. Alyan stood there quietly touching the bicycle.

"We think we should buy a bicycle because you both could play with it," they said and Hania was taken aback.

"But he had bicycles before. I never had a piano, we all could play with a piano, not bicycle."

Amir denied his will of playing the piano as he didn't know how to play it and then said "Jhoot, meri cycle aap hamesha chalate ho aangan me".

They decided on buying the bicycle. Hania hated the fact that they chosen a costlier thing just for her brother. After coming home when she threw a temper tantrum they said "Naach gana bada hi pasand aata hai tumhe".

"They hate me," she thought, sitting near her bed, her head on her knees.

In frustration, she grabbed a stack of 20rupees notes that evening and went outside to a shop nearby. She sat there under a tree eating kulfi icecream. She enjoyed her time alone.

She returned home after her anger had wilted away. Nobody had asked where she was except Alyan. She handed him a Cadbury saying she was near the kirana store. Alyan was the only one who could lift up Hania's mood.

Later that year, they planned for Hajj (Pilgrimage).

All of them peacefully completed Ziyarat in Madina then Tawaf in Makkah and headed for Mina. When they reached Mina, hundreds of busses and uncountable tents peppered the previously empty land.

The driver asked everyone to stay near the bus until he found the tent and completed the procedure. That could take a couple of hours. Sensing the long wait, Hania's family and many others took off their Chadar (bedsheet) from the bags to sit outside the bus.

After lunch, Hania and Amir were asked to go on the other side of the wall and find a tap to wash their hands. They did go together but while returning, Amir came running back to the exact place and Hania did her Wudu before she started to look for her bus. Since there were many busses she got confused.

She reached the wrong bus and then another and then she got lost in the middle of millions of people.

A police officer asked her "Fayn mama baba?"

She pointed in the opposite direction.

After walking for a long time, they walked to the busses. She started crying after an hour had passed. Hania missed her family. She missed her mother, her father, and her annoying brothers. The Officer bought her juice but that didn't stop her from crying for another hour.

Hania looked around, seeing thousands of pilgrims praying, their eyes streaming with tears. She remembered something that her mother had said, 'Allah always accepts prayers made by children.'

Thinking back to those words, Hania squeezed her eyes shut and prayed to Allah. She prayed that she would be a good girl. That she would take care of her brothers and love them no matter what. That she would be a responsible and obedient daughter.

Just as she opened her eyes from the prayer, she glimpsed her dad frantically searching for her. Relief and gratitude flooded her veins. She ran and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, conveying his love through that gesture. Hania swept her tears away and told him everything, sniffling throughout her story.

They went back to their bus where she saw her mom holding an extra pair of her slippers and crying her eyes out. She had been constantly praying to Allah for Hania. Amir, stood nearby, his face worried and drenched in sweat from running all the time in the heat, desperately searching for her.

The other family members around them were joyous upon seeing her family reunite with her. Hania hugged her family and said she was fine. Her brothers clung to her, thankful for their sister's return. That had been the toughest hour for them.

Hania had missed her family and now knew how much they loved her. She knew that not buying her toys and being scolded did not mean that her family did not love her. Love was beyond material things. The love between a parent and a child was an eternal feeling, a bond that could not be broken by anything. Hania understood that now. Hania loved her family whole-heartedly since then and never doubted their love.