Contours of Love

The Rizvi and Ali families were longstanding friends having schooled together in Azamgarh and subsequently moving to Mumbai in search of greener pastures and opportunities. It proved to be a propitious move for them and reflected in their personal and business wellbeing. 

Hasina and Abdul Rizvi had been classmates as were Salma and Sohail Ali. They were close knit and formed a cozy foursome whilst schooling in Azamgarh and subsequently at college in Mumbai. They came from a conservative back ground, the Rizvi family was Shia while the Ali family was Sunni. But, over a period of time, they had adopted and adapted to the changing times and societal evolution and dropped their conservatism significantly without sacrificing their core values.   While Hasina Rizvi took up a job in a large Indian manufacturing company, Salma Ali had set up a counselling centre, aided by her clinical psychology specialisation. Abdul Rizvi and Sohail Ali had joined their respective family businesses of exports of engineering goods and textiles respectively.  

The Rizvi couple had two daughters, the elder one named Huma and the younger, Sara while the Ali couple had twins, a son named Salman and a daughter named Soha. The four children went to the same school and subsequently got admission into the same college as their parents. They too were close knit as their parents. The families stayed in the same neighbourhood and bonded further as a result, with frequent visits to each other’s homes and celebrations of festivals and special occasions. Huma and Soha were particularly close right from the beginning and had a special place in each other’s hearts. They often went out together to films and outings, being of similar age and having similar interests. Their extraordinary closeness was seen as a strong friendship and their respective parents were happier because of that. Sara, the youngest in the foursome, had taken a liking for Salman and paid special attention to him though it was not reciprocated in anyway by Salman. Quite simply, Salman had developed a latent liking for Huma, but never expressed it. Otherwise, it was a normal growing up for the youngsters and they blossomed into well grounded and educated youths and soon found their respective calling. Huma and Sara joined their family business while both Salman and Soha went on to make a career in the corporate world. Hasina and Abdul were very fond of Salman and Soha as were Salma and Sohail of Huma and Sara.

It was a matter of time before the subject of marriage came up. Salman expressed his inner feelings for Huma to his parents. His parents had been unprepared for this since they had set the ball rolling to find a suitable match for Salman. As for Soha, she had clearly told her parents that she is not interested in marrying and would like to concentrate on her career. Salma and Sohail were happy to hear about Salman’s feelings for Huma and they soon spoke to Hasina and Abdul about it. They too were equally happy about it and asked Huma about it. Huma, a quiet person that she was, could not express her inner most feeling to her parents and kept quiet. Hasina and Abdul took it as coyness given Huma’s reserved nature. Given the closeness of the families and the never ending conversations about the positives of the match, Huma and Salman were soon married off by their families in a well-attended nikah function. The Rizvi and Ali families had nothing but the best of intentions for Salman and Huma and did what they thought was good for them.  After all, they had grown up together. 

After about six months into the marriage, more often than not, Huma would visit Hasina and Abdul alone. Salman too would visit them alone. Salma and Sohail had a similar experience with Huma and Salman visiting them solo often and rarely together. Soon Hasina and Abdul found it odd and would often talk to Salma and Sohail about it. They felt it must be some normal arguments or fights at home that any married couple would have and did not give it a second thought. In fact, like most parents would do, they would wonder when the stork would arrive at their doorsteps. They let the situation be with the hope that things will get back to normal soon between Huma and Salman. While concerned as parents, they thought it best to leave it to the maturity of their children to sort out issues between them.

Covertly, the marriage had been a subdued beginning for Huma and Salman. Evidently, Huma was not mentally prepared for it while Salman was more than eager to start his marital journey. Conjugal overtures from Salman were resisted by Huma for one reason or the other and the marriage was not consummated even after months. Salman had thought it best to give it some time and be patient since he knew Huma from childhood days and was protective of her and longing for her. But he was burning from inside at not being able to have conjugal bliss. Huma too was sulking and feeling miserable with her lot. But she too knew Salman from childhood for the good person that he was and kept her amiability with him otherwise. Both Huma and Salman put up a cordial front, but those close to them could feel the undercurrents of tension. Huma and Salman would rarely go anywhere together except to meet Sara and Soha. During these moments, which were getting to be frequent, Huma and Soha would be chatting and laughing away to glory like in the past while Sara and Salman would have engaging conversations, very often foraying into personal territory,  unlike the past.  As a foursome, it was all bubbly while as a twosome, it was all simmering. Each of the four, while sensing deep within what was happening to the other , wondered how long the façade can continue. Each of them had the happiness of the other in mind and decided to do something about. None wanted the others to be miserable, given their close relationship and friendship.

Huma and Sara and Salman and Soha organized an intimate family trip along with their parents to the salubrious climes of Kanha Reserve in Madhya Pradesh to soak in the dense greens of the forest, for the sighting of the tiger and the wild and hearing the soothing chirping of the avian, amid the rich biodiversity on offer. It would be a first time and a different experience for all of them and would be a memorable family visit for more reasons than one. What could be a better setting for a heart to heart chat amongst the family members.

Image courtesy: https://tourism.webindia123.com

On their return from the two safaris into the wild and fortunate sighting of two striped carnivores at close quarters, the excited octet was sitting around a crackling bonfire, all snug and soft, under a canopy of stars, all alight and bright.  

The foursome of children took to the stage. The foursome of parents were all audience and ears. It was not an act for the cast to play, but a reality of the hearts to express loud and clear. Huma goes first to say she wants to divorce Salman. Soha goes second to say she loves Huma. Sara goes next to say she loves Salman. Salman goes last to say that he accepts the wishes of Huma and Sara. The engrossed audience of loving parents was speechless. For they had never before heard the silent voices of their children. Hasina and Abdul and Salma and Sohail saw the One in their foursome and blessed them. For, what say can mortals have in matters of heart and contours of love.