15. Muzaffarpur - Fruit City.
One of the benefits of staying in Patna was that Reyaz was able to be
admitted to the Patna Medical College. He was admitted to the hostel and we
left for Muzaffarpur. A huge quarter was offered to him but it was too far away
from the office so he preferred to stay in the same campus where his office was
though it consist of a few room only in the same building. Nuzhat got admitted
to Darbhanga Medical College. Nawab Bhai’s house was just like her own house.
She had to take nothing other than clothes. Nawab Bhai’s daughter’s name was
also Nuzhat who had passed out Medical college. They shared the same room.
Menhdi Nawab had also completed his studies. Thus she got all the
text books required. Nuzhat was always good in studies. As she stayed in
Darbhanga she also became expert in knitting sweaters.
During those days Amman fell ill. She had angina for the last two years
and also suffered from gastritis. Doctor Saheb was going on a tour to
Darbhanga. As all the children were insisting, he was taking them
along. At the last moment Aasma Bua who was cooking for us also expressed her
desire to go along. As the fate could have it, I was all alone when Amman got
the heart attack. To me it appeared that her last moment had come. Dr.Mansoor
who was the closest to our house was called for. She regained consciousness
after two hours. For the rest of the night, she kept vomiting blood as ulcer
had got perforated. It was a state of utter helplessness. Trunk call was made
to Darbhanga but as it was late in the night, he could leave there only early
in the morning. Amman could survive for one more day then passed away.
We hardly knew anybody there in Muzaffarpur. Few local Muslim families
helped us in the funeral rituals. She was buried in a nearby graveyard close
by. Only after she passed away did the realisation dwelled upon me that, as a
mother, the prominent status that should have been given to her, was not given
by me. The realisation came in a bit too late and now nothing much could be
done. By evening I had sort of a nervous breakdown and was put on sedatives.
Nawab Bhai’s wife and all had come with the meals and stayed overnight and went
back next morning. Reyaz had his exams in Patna so he was not informed. There
was hardly any relative of my own whom I could expect to come forward to offer
any condolence. I was constantly being reminded that Amman was the only one who
was my own and now even she was not there. He would console “ you have your own
children to look after”. I got into severe phase of depression.
Tranquilizers were prescribed for me the dose of which was gradually increasing
as I got addicted. I would not let him go on tour. Good sense, however,
prevailed and one day I threw away the bottle of medicine down the drain. I
made up my mind to live without this opium. The condition remained pitiable for
three more days but I did overcome the temptation.
One of those days I met my childhood friend Hamda who lived in
Muzaffarpur. When one of her daughters were appearing for the matriculation
exams, she also decided to appear simultaneously. We often used to meet as I
found her company entertaining. Later she witnessed rough weather but she had tremendous
power to stand the hardship. I heard that she later went to Pakistan and
married her daughters there. Eventually they migrated to America where her
husband became a Yoga teacher and minted money to become a multi-millionaire.
Talat was expecting Khalid and had come to Muzaffarpur. A week
before the D-day, I took her to Darbhanga. The children, however stayed back
with him but arrived well in time. Khalid was born. Doctor Saheb was still so
popular in Darbhanga that a few medicine shops remained opened at night to meet
any exigency. All the acquaintances came to meet us except Mahboob
Driver, whom we had brought from Patna and who was put on a government job
here. Sohail had also arrived before the child birth. All of us were staying in
the house of Nawab Bhai. When Talat was discharged from the hospital, Bhabhi
had arranged for all the clothes for her and the child and completed all the
necessary formalities as was done in a Muslim family. She has done so much for
us that it is difficult for other to believe that such a selfless person ever
existed.
Khalid was the first child of the next generation. He was the beloved of everyone as he was real cute.
Sohail’s
Bhaiya chose the name Khalid Sohail for him. During those days the
Prime minister of Indonesia was visiting India whose name was Tinku Abdur
Rahman. Doctor Saheb gave him the pet name Tinku, which is still
prevalent. Tinku spend most part of his early childhood with us.
Only when it came to going to the school, he was admitted in Jamalpur.
While in Muzaffarpur, one day,
Mumani Amman expressed her desire to go to the grave of Amman for fatiha. As we
were returning from there, on the way was a dargah of Rajender Shah who was
converted to Islam and had become a saint. The dargah was in a large campus
which was like a garden. I found the place very peaceful. When I asked Mumani
Amman to come along for the fatiha, she refused after being told he was
initially a Hindu. Manjhli Dulhan and I went inside and offered fatiha and came
back but she did not go with us. Same day in the middle of night I woke up to
find that she was vomiting blood. We kept awake the whole night. Next day
morning she was taken on an ambulance to the hospital for the X-ray. But
nothing came out in the report. The physicians who checked her also could not
diagnose the cause. I then recited the incident of Rajender Shah. As she was
too ill, I went again to his dargah and asked for forgiveness on
account of ignorance. So it happened that the next day the bleeding
stopped . She recovered and went back to Patna.
Nuzhat had completed three academic years in Darbhanga. He was expecting a
transfer back to Patna. Neyaz and Shahnaz had completed the intermediate stage
and were to be admitted to college. When he went to Patna in search of a house,
Hassoo told him that Haseeb Saheb who was a tenant on the first floor, was
vacating the flat on transfer. The search for the house ended there.
During those days a new maid was kept for cooking as Asma Bua was not
there. As we were about to leave Muzaffarpur, a day before the departure all
the household items were packed and kept in a separate room. This room had a
real big skylight window near the roof. At the back of our house was an orchard
of mango and lichi. The thieves entered through this skylight opening. Probably
the new maid had given them the direction tips. They took away what ever
thought was valuable. When the girls first noticed the burglar and raised an
alarm, Neyaz was the first one to get up and break the glass door that was locked
by the burglars. Though the loss was not substantial, the incident in itself
was quite shocking. By all counts it was the new maid who was an accomplice in
the burglary but when the police asked us of for any suspect, he did not
mention the her name.
When I go back to the days of Muzaffarpur, it will be unfair if I do not
mention the fruits of Muzaffarpur. That is the place for the best
quality lichi. The price those days was Rs.2/- for a hundred lichis.
We had two large size lichi trees within the house campus. Even
before the lichi turned fully red, the children would start having them. The
compound of our house was enormous and had all variety of fruits. It is not
possible to imagine the abundance and variety of fruits, ever again.
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Chapter
INDEX.------------------------------------
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