Page 48 - Seniorstoday March 2024 Issue

each other’s hearts. They often went out happy about it and asked Huma about it.
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
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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