In a small school in Kashmir, with a face smeared with dust and the soiled shirt telling a tale of childhood lost in the wilderness of frolic and fun, Tabeer was busy getting himself soaked in mud as he tried hard to score a goal in the football match which he and his friends were having after their day at school came to an end.
“Tabeer, get out of the field instantly or else I ll smash the hell out of you” screamed an enraged lady and when Tabeer turned to see where was all the yelling coming from, he saw Afreen, his mother. A middle-aged lady with a fair complexion dressed in a salwar kameez she stood with her eyes agape at Tabeer. She looked furious as it was one hour since school had come to a halt and Tabeer didn’t return home. Tabeer came running towards Afreen and gave a small peck on her cheeks, held his ears and uttered “Sorry” in his innocent voice, the innocence a eight year old must have. All the anger slyly vanished from Afreen’s face as she held Tabeer’s tiny little hands and took him home.
In the short walk from school to home Tabeer informs Afreen of his report card that was issued to him by his teacher. Afreen instantly takes it out of Tabeer’s small blue bag and a drop of tear falls through her cheek as she finds out that Tabeer has secured the Second Position in his class academics.
With eyes filled with glee Afreen looks at Tabeer and asks him what does he want as a gift for his victorious win.
“It’s been long since I had biriyani. Ruhan got biriyani for lunch in his lunchbox today and it smelled really sumptuous. Will you cook biriyani for me, Ammi?”
Clouds of gloom started appearing over Afreen as she had a flashback of the day when Abrar, Tabeer’s father was beheaded by a group of terrorists three years back and since then she faced the hardships of the society and grew Tabeer up. She took up work at a local restaurant where she used to do dishes and floor to support Tabeer’s schooling.
“Sorry Beta, We do not have the ingredients to cook Biriyani hence I won’t be able to cook Biriyani for you” said Afreen with a heavy heart.
“Please Ammi, my friends have brand new cycles, they go to foreign countries for vacation, they get tasty food everyday and I just asked for Biriyani. Whats the big deal?”
“Shut up and go to sleep, You’ve been behaving way too stubborn these days” said Afreen faking her anger as it was the only way she could have lulled Tabeer away.
All through the night she couldn’t sleep with the mere thought that she couldn’t provide her son with Biriyani. Numerous thoughts crossed her head as she slept on the knoll staring at the tattered walls of her house and in between this game of thoughts and regrets, the sun shone bright as the dawn crept in.
Afreen woke Tabeer up. He got ready for school all by himself for the very first time and didn’t utter a single word. In an attempt to show his anger he didn’t even take breakfast and left for school. This bothered Afreen a lot. She couldn’t control herself anymore. She took out her marriage ring and decided to sell it and get some money. She went to the local jeweler and did the necessary and in return got 3000INR. Overwhelmed with joy she went to the grocery shop and bought all the necessary items, then she went to the butcher and specifically instructed him to clean the meat twice. Now that she has all the ingredients she came back home.
She turned on her old radio and started cooking with a smile on her face. All she thought while cooking was how surprised and happy would Tabeer be after seeing the Biriyani served in front of him once he comes back from school. Occasionally she would sing the song that was playing on the radio and go look at the door for Tabeer to come. The cooking was done and she put the Biriyani to “dum”.
“Terrorists armed with weapons plunged into DM Public School, Kashmir and started firing mercilessly. 123 Kids have been killed in the incident and……” the Radio announced.
Everything went silent for Afreen. She couldn’t believe her ears. She put her dupatta around her neck and decided to go to Tabeer’s school. She opened the door to find one of her neighbour holding Tabeer’s body in his arms. The innocence in his eyes was still resplendent. But his forehead has a deep hole out of which blood oozed out incessantly.
Afreen fell to the ground and sat there numb.
As an awkward smell pervaded its way out of Afreen’s house, Tahira went in to check. Afreen had left the gas on. The biriyani was overcooked that day.