"Aa zamane, aazmale ruthta nahi,
Faslose hausla ye tutta nahi.
Na hai wo bewafa aur na mai hu bewafa. Wo meri aadato ki tarah Chutta nahi..."

(Come Oh world, test me, won't get angry,
with distance, this courage won't break.
She isn't disloyal, nor am I,
Just like my addictions, she doesn't leave.)
-Song Bekhayali, movie- Kabir Singh.

***

"Shit, shit, shit!" Sabil whispers and Zaala starts crying.

"Stop crying, they are coming here. Look we need to face them bravely. Enough of this hide and seek. We are husband and wife now and they need to know this." Sabil tells Zaala but seeing her mom and aunt coming she runs towards the road. Sabil has no other choice than to follow her in order to stop her.

Zaala doesn't stop when he calls her so he runs faster than her and lifts her up in his arms but she promises that she won't run away so he places her back on the ground but suddenly her mom and aunt comes from their front side and they see a car coming from their backside. Zaala goes towards her left side and tries to hide near the field between the crops but Sabil remains standing on the side of the road for the car to pass by.

Maybe luck isn't in their favour today as the car stops near Sabil. Zaala's uncle gets down from his car. His son gets down from the other side and quickly removes the key from Sabil's bike which is parked nearby. Sabil curses himself for not removing the key earlier. He calls Zaala to come out. Zaala comes out and her uncle tells her to sit inside the car. Her mom along with her aunt and Zaala sits on the backseat. Her uncle sits on the driving seat and tells Sabil to sit on the passenger seat. They then go to a secluded area.

After they stop the car Zaala's aunt says, "beta (child) is this what we taught you since your childhood? You were such a good girl that I used to present you as an example in front of other girls so that they'll try to become like you and see how you broke my trust." She then turns towards Sabil and asks, "don't you have a mother or sisters at your home? How dare you tried to run away with our daughter?"

"No aunty I just came to meet her, we never planned to run away. She got scared and was running towards the road and I was only following her to stop her." Sabil defends himself.

"See the boy you choose, he's such a coward that after getting caught he's putting the whole blame on you." Aunt Khulus taunts.

"Zaala stop crying for God's sake and tell them the truth. They are assuming the wrong thing." He tells Zaala who is a crying mess right now.

"We weren't running away. Why will I do that? We only wanted to meet and talk right now." Zaala finally replies.

"And who's he to you that you were so desperate to meet him?" Her uncle asks.

"We love each other and we marr..." Before Sabil could complete his sentence Zaala's uncle cuts him in the middle, "shut up and call your father." He then turns towards Zaala and says, "Do you know how humiliating your actions are? This is a village, things like this are seen as a big crime and taboo here, unlike your city. You know I got a call from that grocery shopkeeper that a boy was asking my address and I headed towards my house right away thinking that a guest has arrived but on my way home I got a call from Khulus that you are missing and upon seeing both of you running my brain finally put the pieces together. Now I need to talk to his father."

Sabil calls his elder brother and says, "assalamalaikum abba (dad)." His elder brother sense something in Sabil's tone and asks, "Is everything all right?"

Sabil replies, "no abba there's a girl whom I love and today her family caught us together and they want to talk to you abba." He then hands over the mobile to Zaala's uncle who goes outside his car and then talks.

Sabil's eyes lands on his bike's key which is placed on the headboard. He immediately grabs it and keeps it inside his pocket.

"Why Zaala why you did this? You lowered my head in shame today. You were my pride which you yourself broke today. Didn't I teach you good manners? Didn't I teach you that girls are family's honour? Didn't you for once thought about your father before committing this sin?" Zarq asks her daughter angrily.

"Aunty listen to us..." Sabil is again cut off by Khulus, "how dare you to interrupt, we are talking with our daughter."

"Why mom why? Why it's always us doing the sacrifice? Did dad ever think before cheating you? Did he ask my permission before doing my engagement? No, he didn't, so I did what I thought is right for me." Zaala replies angrily.

"But you could have told us about him. It's not the right thing to run away and that too from someone else's house." Khulus tells Zaala.

"For God sake believe it, we weren't running away. I got panic and began to run. He was only following me to stop me." Zaala replies.

Then her uncle enters the car and says, "listen, you boy, get out and go home straight. Next time before visiting my place this way remember I have a gun at home and I'll surely shoot you next time. I hope you took your bike's key from here. I also talked to your dad and he assured that he'll soon send your proposal at her house. So make sure you do it soon and makes Mr Faruqi agree because I don't think he'll approve for someone like you."

"Will he be able to take care of our daughter like us? Will he be able to fulfil all her demands? Will he give her a comforting life which she is used to living?" Khulus asks to no one in particular.

"I won't say those common impressive lines or any filmy dialogue but I can assure you one thing that I'll care for her more than my own life," Sabil says and leaves.

That night Zaala cries herself to sleep, empty stomach listening to various types of taunts and blames on her character. She doubts if she took the right decision or the wrong one. Is it so wrong to go away from an unwanted relation and to form a loving one? She wonders how everyone is blaming her now but if she would have married her fiance then they would have pitied her later on. Nobody will understand her as honour and family pride is important than her happiness.

She decides to support Sabil as he's the one who supported her in her bad time and now she won't ever leave him, she promises herself. She is more hurt as her younger sister Zaya isn't ready to talk to her.

***

Next day Khulus's husband drops Zarq and her daughters at their home. Zaala requests him to hide this incidence from her father but he tells her it won't be right to hide it from Mr Faruqi because if he comes to know from some outsider then in his anger he may stop Zarq from having any relationship with Khulus. He also assures her that he'll try to convince her dad to accept Sabil and her relation.

Zaala reluctantly agrees as she too needs to tell her dad about Sabil and her if not today than tomorrow. She knew it's a golden opportunity for her as her uncle will also try to convince her dad.

They reach her house in the evening. Zaala falls asleep before dinner. Her uncle informs her dad about everything that happened last night after dinner and leaves.

Next day when Zaala wakes up she finds a storm named Mr Faruqi waiting for her. She takes a bath and then eats her breakfast. As soon as she finishes having her breakfast he calls her angrily. When she goes inside her parent's room he says, "sit down now." Seeing her father getting this much angry she sits down without arguing.

"When, when did this happen? How did you manage to talk to him, to meet him under my observation?" He angrily asks.

"Dad I only talk to him. We don't..." She is cut off in the middle, "no you not only talk with him, but you also meet him. How humiliated I felt when I came to know about your deeds from your uncle. Everyone used to tell me but I never confirmed it from you and see what you did. Instead of your engagement, I should have done your marriage. You disgusting girl." Saying so he slapped her but on her forehead.

"How you might be roaming in the city behind my back sitting on his bike." Saying so he again punched her on her forehead. She shouted that she never sat on his bike and it's hurting her but her cries fell on deaf ears. He kept on hitting her. In her painful state, she remembers Sabil's words, 'if he hurts you more than you can bear just come to my house." And She plans to do that.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So finally their relation is disclosed in front of everyone...

Well we can't really say who's at fault because Mr Faruki's friend whom he trusts has blindfolded him against the truth and having a traditional mentality he regards love as a taboo and on top of it he wants a very rich family for his daughter so that she can live a lavish lifestyle after her marriage. It can be understood that all he wants is to see his daughter living a happy life just like the life he gave her...

Zaala too isn't wrong in her place. Like who'll want to marry a boy who's living in a live-in relationship with some other girl and beside this she doesn't have many other options than marrying Sabil...

No matter how modern we become love marriages are still regarded as a taboo in the middle-class society and sometimes lack of conversation creates a great misunderstanding which can ruin many lives...