9. Nazim's Marriage amidst curfew
The curfew was now restricted to the
nights alone. Amidst all this chaos, Nazim’s father-in-law Mansoor
Saheb of Shahganj, kept reminding of the rukhsati as the Nikah was already
done. It was explained to them that things had not yet settled down, but he
threatened to send the girl to our place in whatever dress she was wearing. In
a state of helplessness a date in the next week was fixed for rukhsati. All the
clothes that were stitched for the occasion were brought from Dhawalpura. Men
in the family went with the bari and zewar and retuned before evening after
having lunch there. Only I and Mumani Amman stayed back. There were no guests
and not rasm except the conventional “Ru-numai” when the bride arrived. It
didn’t look like a marriage ceremony at all. In the morning when curfew was
lifted, after the breakfast, the men could reach there again and we all came
back with the bride. She was brought to our house in Bihari Lane. When the
bride was taken inside, she was found to be having high temperature.
The fever was on since a week. She was thin and weak. I felt sorry for her.
Just as her mother had passed away, the father’s perspective had changed.
When it came to the partition of India, Bhaiya and Bhabhi along with her
relatives migrated to Pakistan. He was only son of Amman. I cannot even imagine
how she must have felt. Lots of other people also decided to leave for Pakistan.
Doctor Saheb was quite disturbed with these developments as he was not in favor
of the partition and firmly believed that this will weaken the country. Those
who were not affluent, migrated towards the East Pakistan. Amidst this turmoil,
all the servants that were with us, including Makhdooman Bua, they all ran
away. There was a huge family including my four young kids, to look after.
Amman had gone to perform Haj. Mumani Amman and Nazim’s wife were not in good
health. Hassoo was all too weak to do any major household work. It all came on
me. Neyaz was still an infant and in the process got neglected and eventually
it was reflected in his poor health. Neyaz was still an infant.
* * * * *
BACK TO PATNA AS HASSOO GETS MARRIED
Doctor Saheb had taken leave for two months. Towards the end, his transfer
orders came for Blood-bank Patna. Asim had completed his high school
(matriculation) and decided to go to Aligarh for admission to I.Sc. Jhabboo
Bhai was engaged in the publishing of the daily newspaper which was the only
paper in Urdu during the days of partition and the riots. It gained a good
popularity in those days and its circulation and business improved many times.
Jhabboo Bhai himself was practicing law in the Patna High Court. During those
days as he remained in close contact with us, he was perceived to be a good
match for Hassoo. I am not able to recall which side took the initiative. When
they all went back to Dhawalpura, in November 1948, Jhabboo Bhai and Hassoo got
married.
Jhabboo Bhai didn’t create any fuss for any of the wedding rituals and
performed obediently as was asked for. He was elder to doctor Saheb and thus
like a Jeth to me. I used to avoid going in front of him; though earlier,
during the days of turmoil, we had come across each other a number of times.
The Rukhsati took place the next day. Most of the ladies came from the groom’s
side including Sayyada Aapa, Hajjoo Aapa, Kajjoo Aapa, as they were all a part
of a big joint family.
Shafi Bhai, the elder brother of Jhabboo Bhai, died leaving behind Sayyada
Aapa and four sons. It was Jhabboo Bhai (Nazir Haider), who absorbed all of
them in his own family. All of them were brought up like his own children. In
fact, he was very fond of Sami whose job was arranged in Calcutta and whose
marriage was considered the first marriage of the next generation in the
family. He was always very polite with me.
“You were the right match for me”. Occasionally he would jovially quip
“The proposal never came from your side”. I would retort.
From Patna, Doctor Saheb was transferred to Madhubani which was a village
near Darbhanga. There was no electricity. For the first time when Doctor Saheb
took us to this place, the train arrived at Madhubani at mid night. There was
just one lantern alight on the entire platform. Other local passengers soon
disappeared to nearby places and just the Station Master remained there at the
station. The children were there with us but there was no servant to help us.
He told us that as only horse driven tonga will be available here it would be
better if he goes home and get the car for us. How could I stay back all alone
with the kids; so I insisted we all go together in the tonga. If he could ride
a tonga why couldn’t we? He helped me and the children to board the tonga
and took another one for himself to carry the luggage. Thus we
reached the quarter inside the hospital. The servant was there inside and the
beds were all made. I went off to sleep.
I hired a local maid and a cook there. He had taken
charge from Doctor Muzaffar. Shahnaz was expected then. It was peak of summer
and in the middle of the courtyard, there was a square earthen platform
structure which was my favorite place for sleeping. In the meanwhile I asked
Amman to come there and also the Ayah who had looked after Reyaz. Doctor Saheb
had to go to Darbhanga for some court witness. Next door house was that of a
lady Doctor with whom I used to get along very well. He was to return the next
day evening. During the day time itself, I was blessed with a daughter. Shahnaz
was born a healthy child.
Doctor Saheb was now transferred to Monghyr. Amnu Aapa and her husband
Majiduddin Advocate used to live. He was also very fond of us. Asim had become
disillusioned with his prospects in this country. Through correspondence he
managed to get admission to Textile Engineering course in Germany. Through
letters he kept us informed of the developments. The house in Monghyr was a
huge one with altogether 23 rooms. The men’s and ladies sections were totally
separate. In the evenings, there used to be a nice gathering of men there.
Amman, Mumani Amman, Nazim’s wife, and Nazim were with us there. Asim came to
meet all of us in Monghyr before he left for Germany.
A tutor was appointed to teach Urdu and Quran to Reyaz, Talat and Nuzhat.
His name was Samad Khan. Nuzhat was the youngest of the lot but Master Saheb
was fond of her and Reyaz was the eldest and real naughty. He was more
interested in fun and games rather than studies. His formal education started
only after he turned 7. One room was allotted with reading table and chair and
bed for his studies. Once he dropped the inkpot on the table and to clean that
mess, he got the bed sheet of Master Saheb, which was disposed off
surreptitiously in the backyard after the cleaning work was finished. When
Reyaz was still young, during Araria days, he will take away the expensive
Parker pen of his Abba and write on the wooden door frame playing
havoc on the nib of the pen. Any toy given to him could not remain intact for a
long. Doctor Saheb once got him a large battery operated toy car. Reyaz played
with it for a few days and eventually, hammered it to pieces with the help of a
brick. Doctor Saheb was against beating up of the children. For anything when I
used to censure Reyaz, the chances were he would do it again. One day when
Master Saheb was teaching the children, a tremor of earthquake was felt.
Monghyr had not forgotten the devastations of the 1946 quake. Master Saheb took
Nuzhat on his shoulder and the remaining two were pulled by hand to run away to
the open space. Master Saheb was very fond of Nuzhat for she was a sharp
student. Even after Nuzhat got married and settled down in Purnea, he would often
go to meet her there. In 1952 Nikhat was born in Monghyr itself was 3 years
younger than Shahnaz.
Monghyr had many tourist spots. There were two palaces of the erstwhile
Raja’s. close to our quarter was a large Yoga Ashram which later emerged as an
internationally known Yoga institute. Then there was Shivalay and an artificial
lake. There was a fort of the days of Mir Quasim. During the days of Aurangzeb
an underground passage was made which is said to reach Calcutta. Kastarni Ghat
was a beautiful Ghat on the bank of the Ganges where people used to sit in the
evenings. There was a hillock close by on top of which was the mazaar of famous
saint Pir Nafeh.
While we were in Monghyr, Bhabhi now in Karachi, was blessed with a son.
This came after 20 years of her marriage with Bhaiya. The news came that she
was coming to Patna with the new born son so that Amman could see them. It was
a happy occasion for the family as the propagation of the family, in our
society, is considered only through the son. When the telegram
reached us with the date of their arrival at Patna, Amman was with us and
Bihari Lane house was locked. She got restless and immediately left for Patna.
As she reached Patna, Bhabhi with her sister landed at Monghyr. Stayed there
for a few days before she left for Patna. The son was now one and a half year
old. Amman had suggested the name Khaja Mohammed Wali but he was
otherwise called as Shaheen. Before the birth of Shaheen, before leaving for
Karachi, Bhabhi had adopted the son of her elder sister Sharfoo Baji. He had
also come with them. He was elder to Nuzhat where as Shaheen was younger than
Nikhat. Both Bhaiya and Bhabhi always treated them alike without any
discrimination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter
INDEX.