If this was doll’s play, then where was her groom doll? Was she going to be a singular bride doll sitting on this sofa all evening? She twitched irritably....
COVER STORY
Hina thought that the scene of her engagement was like a doll’s tea party. Her mother took Hina out of her dollhouse, dressed her up in pretty clothes, and stuck her at the place of importance on one of the bigger sofas in their living room. It hardly resembled the living room she was used to seeing on a day-to-day basis, as it was decorated, lit up and filled with people. Amani and Gohar, who had dealt with her pre-event jitters from the beginning, had finished the process of bringing her safely from her room into the living room, and were now seated around her, talking excitedly.
Sometimes Gohar would pull on Hina’s hand, and she would feel it as if it were from far away, and she would resurface from her trance long enough to hear the end of Gohar’s sentence. Amani was obsessed with taking selfies, and would tap Hina’s shoulder every few minutes to take another one. The old feeling that she was supposed to be happier about her engagement beyond the thrill of wearing expensive clothes and jewellery came back. Another thought came sliding right on top of it. If this was doll’s play, then where was her groom doll? Was she going to be a singular bride doll sitting on this sofa all evening? She twitched irritably.
Amani immediately pounced. “Don’t do that, you’ll spoil your makeup,” she said. She took out her compact and patted the corners of Hina’s mouth with a powder puff.
The lights made Hina feel hot. The number of people buzzing around made her head swim. She turned to catch the end of Gohar’s sentence yet another time.
“It’s like watching a movie of your life in front of your eyes, isn’t it?” Gohar had asked, but Hina, hearing only the “isn’t it?”, merely nodded. It so happened that Hina had been thinking the very same thing, imagining herself to be the only member of an audience watching the scene before her on a cinema screen. She shook herself, but it didn’t snap her out of it.
Someone slid into the empty sofa space next to her. It was strange, seeing someone pop out of the imaginary movie screen and appear next to her as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Hina squirmed in her seat. Who was this person? Another female doll? Why were there so many female dolls in this dollhouse?
The person patted Hina’s shoulder firmly. Hina came back to reality and looked into the woman’s face.
“My girl, my darling girl, you look radiant,” said the woman. “Now, here, show me your hand.” She took Hina’s left hand and slipped a sparkling item onto Hina’s ring finger. This made Hina freeze. Why was this doll giving her the ring? That was all she could think about as the room erupted in applause and jokes, smiles and laughter. She felt two pairs of hands clench her body, one around her shoulders, and the other her arms. One felt like Ray’s, and the other felt like Ammi’s. It was the only solid land for her to hold onto in the middle of a buzz of congratulations and tears.
“Dear, don’t cry,” came Ammi’s voice, then she added to the crowd, “She’s just nervous, poor child.” She turned to Gohar and Amani. “Look after her, I must see to the guests,” she said, and she was gone.
Hina saw the ring catch the light and sparkle through a haze of tears as different family members congratulated her. Some held up her ring finger hand and squeezed it with both hands and eyes as if it would relay concealed information. No hidden secrets appeared and soon everyone was finished with their due of greetings and congratulations. The ring still didn’t come into focus as the tears swept what was left of her makeup down her face.
“That’s it.” The pair of hands at her shoulders squeezed her. “You two need to take her back upstairs and get her cleaned up,” Ray said to Gohar and Amani. They nodded. The walk upstairs was far less of a thrill than the walk downstairs had been. This was mostly because the walk downstairs was an approach to a party where Hina sought after the rest of the happiness about getting engaged. She thought she would find it there, when she got the ring. Now the ring sparkled in floating bits and pieces in her gaze. When Hina reached her own room, dried her eyes and got a good look at the ring, she felt her heart rise with emotion. It was a lovely ring, but it did not bridge the gap like she had thought it would. She was happy about clothes, now wrinkled, jewellery, now returned to its box, makeup, now cleaned up, and her engagement ring, now sparkling on her finger. Yet her reaction to sum it all up was, “That’s it?” She said as much to Amani and Gohar.
“What else do you want?” Gohar asked.
Amani glared at Gohar while Hina interrupted all further reactions by slamming her accelerator before she had time to think about it. “I wanted to see Sameer!” she said. Amani and Gohar were silenced. It was the first time she had taken his name.
To be continued...
