Since Meh'r-Bano was reprimanded by Shahgul and Malaikah, she was cautious about the activities she involved the children. Only three weeks in, it wasn't the right time to speak up and rock the boat. She had to fit and adhere to the rules of the haveli. There were twelve days until the inauguration, until then she had to blend in and follow the orders of the noble household.
"Well done Harris." She kneeled next to his desk and ruffled his hair and kissed him on the forehead. Harris began to write letters in a neat line in his exercise book. The telling off had helped him to remain attentive and he feared being told off by his grandmother.
"Meh'r-Bano!" Called Shamim scuttling into the door.
Meh'r-Bano stood up and draped her dupatta over her head.
"Choudhrani Malikah is calling you."
Meh'r-Bano swallowed the lump in her throat. "Me?"
What has she done wrong now? Shamim smirked and shrugged her shoulders.
"Who else?" She made her way room into the room.
"I will take care of the children." She folded her arms. Maybe today Choudhrani will throw her out?

Nervously, Meh'r-Bano made her way up the staircase taking slow languid steps. Her mind heavy in thought holding her back. When she approached the door, she knocked waiting for an answer. Silence ensued. She knocked again and opened the door. Inside, designer bags were piled on the bed and on the floor. Malaikah took out the clothes and spread them on the bed.
"Come in. Close the door." She beckoned her.
Meh'r-Bano edged deeper into the room where the sound of crinkly packets evoked memories she'd laid to rest.
"There you are." Said Malaikah plucking a tiny thread of white off the packet.
Meh'r-Bano tugged and rubbed her right earlobe. She swallowed hard into her dry throat. The dresses were richly decorated with bright tones and motifs. The piping detail on the neckline lavished with lace boasted of the latest trends.
"These-this.." Meh'r-Bano's chocked unable to string a sentence together.
"Yes?"
"Go, try this on." Malaikah piled two suits into Meh'r-Bano's arms and pointed her behind a wooden trellis screen.
"Jaldi!" She hurried her behind the screen.
Meh'r-Bano looked at the door. Why was Malaikah burying her expensive suits? How could she politely refuse her? Surely, she could have bought something cheaper and simple?

Whilst Meh'r-Bano changed into the new suit, Malaikah sat on the bed with her leg bouncing in anticipation. She stood up and ran her hands through her hair. When Meh'r-Bano stepped from behind the screen, she held her large black chador like a veil concealing her new dress. Malaikah snatched it off her like a curse gazing at her figure flattering spring pastel kameez. The richly decorated print with deep pleats accentuated slender waist and bought out her shapely bosoms. Malaikah couldn't take her eyes off Meh'r-Bano pursing her lips to conceal her smile. How did Meh'r-Bano manage to hide her delicious figure? Malaikah bought her out into the room ushering her to turn around and walk in the room like a catwalk. The lively print with bold lace detail lavished with ruffles on the arm left  Malaikah in wonderment.
"You'll fit in well now." Malaikah smiled with satisfaction.
"I can't." Meh'r-Bano replied splaying her hands over her shapely breasts feeling naked. She promised herself the day she entered Jahanpur to leave her old world behind and settle into the life of Chiragpur. She'd become accustomed to the shapeless clothes that concealed her curves and waist, comfortable in the ill-fitting material. Malaikah gazed at her slender swan like long neck, her eyes pinned on her collar bone and felt something was missing. She went through her dressing table and took out an emerald green pendant that sparkled just like her eyes. Quickly, she tip-toed behind Meh'r-Bano and sat the emerald green pendant between her collar bone and clipped it.
"Look up." Malaikah instructed the demure teacher. The pendant was perfect bringing out her sparkling eyes, setting a focal point to her rounded breasts accentuated by her slender waist.
'She will distract your brother.' Her mother's words rang over in her mind. Now she knew what her mother meant. In the right attire, Meh'r-Bano was stunning. The fact she was not aware of the power she posessed in her wares added an essential appeal. There was something remarkable about her innocence and modesty. She couldn't take her eyes off her.
"I can't wear this." Meh'r-Bano broke the loud silence.
"This is tight." She pinched under the arm. "Shafiq won't allow me." He wasn't the primary reason, but at this moment he was the best excuse she could find. Nervously, she inspected her fingernail.

Malaikah stepped away from Meh'r-Bano. She rubbed her face and sighed deeply looking out of the window. In twelve days time, her brother would return from his adventures in the city, his love affairs, his endless nights sleeping with thwaifs and take the respectable throne of Jahanpur. Just like that his affairs would be forgotten. It wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair in Jahanpur. Whereas she fell in love with a man who was not from their clan, nor their social standing but he was never accepted. Force to elope and marry, Malikah was hunted down and dragged back to Jahanpur with her two children. What happened to Qasim? Did they kill him for marrying her? Was he alive? Till this day she lived with the fear of not knowing. Now she was living under a cloud of shame and humiliation for loving and marrying him. Her children cast aside like outsiders. Her father refused to speak to her. Why was it one rule for men and another rule for the women of Jahanpur?
Rage swept through her. Rage for the injustice, the patriarchal system. Her voice muted. Her hands tied. Her status downgraded. Oppressed and angry. But today, dressing up the teacher she revealed her secret weapon Meh'r-Bano's innocence and her beauty. A stunning and intelligent married woman of Chiragpur. Adding a handsome, powerful and young bachelor Choudhary to the recipe for an explosive revenge would feed her satisfaction. Revenge on her father for ruining her life. For tearing away the love of her life. For depriving her children from a stable and loving home. Revenge on her mother who would do anything to ensure her son's crystal-clear reputation.

Meh'r-Bano changed into her beige loose-fitting dress and folded the dress into the packet. She resigned that she couldn't wear such clothes and Shafiq would prohibit her. She placed the dress into the bags.
"What are you doing?"
"Choudhrani-"
"Enough!" She snapped. "I have had enough of your excuses. First, I called you to the haveli and you refused to come. Wajahat Ali had to drag you here-"
"Please, I'm sorry-"
"Then you allow my children to play in the garden with filth. My mother slapped me due to your irresponsibility." She yelled.
Meh'r-Bano resigned in silence.
"Now, I have gone out of my way-lied to my mother I was shopping for my children. I bought you these clothes, so you fit in and don't look like a beggar, but your arrogance and pride are stopping you from wearing them?"
Meh'r-Bano shook her head.
"Who do you think you are?" Malaikah flicked Meh'r-Bano chin forcing her to face her.
"You are no one! You obey us!" She yelled. "You will take these clothes home. The next time I see you in this haveli, will be in these clothes. If I ever-ever see you dressed in these rags-" She tugged her beige dress.
"-entering the courtyard, so help me Allah, I will get Wajahat Ali to beat you in front of all the villagers for your blatant disobedience."
Obediently, Meh'r-Bano grabbed the bags and rushed out of the room.

Malaikah shivered with rage. She tossed her hair aside, her face was red. What was happening to her? Why was she venting her rage on the teacher? She looked at the mirror and couldn't recognise the reflection. What had she become? She grabbed the perfume bottle and smashed the mirror. She smashed her sprays and threw the creams and bottles smashing onto the marble floor. Shamim rushed to her door and asked if she was well.
"Get out! Leave me alone!" She yelled. "Let me alone."
Malaikah curled in a corner and sobbed. She hated the way her brain was skewed and distorted. Her world was bitter and ugly. Everything she looked at and touched she wanted to burn. She stood up and looked through the window.
"Choudhary Dilawar-Baksh. You snatched my husband from my life. I will punish you and humiliate you in the way you humiliated me. I will snatch the final hope of Jahanpur. You will be punished!"
There were twelve days until the inauguration and every day Malaikah's revenge burned fiercer

***
That evening Meh'r-Bano sat in the back of the SUV surrounded by unwanted lavish dresses and driven home by Nadeem. Once upon a time she coveted for such clothes and labels, now they were alien to her. Today, when she pulled the dress over her skin, the softness like goose feathers reminded her of a world she left behind. Maybe entering the haveli was a bad idea? Every day something new occurred pulling her deeper into the web of the haveli. The driver dropped her off before the alley and she gathered the bags making her way through the winding narrow alleys. Children ran around her chasing the stray cat they found in the fields. Making her way into Tasneem's humble mud baked house, she pushed open the broken wooden door and entered the rectangle shaped courtyard. Hens propped their feathers and strutted around the courtyard. The rooster screamed from the bottom of his lungs a loud cock-o-doodle doo. Meh'r-Bano threw the bags on the ramshackle kat and sat beside the bags. Meh'r-Bano couldn't go home with the clothes. Her mother in law would ask a million questions. Tasneem's nineteen-year-old daughter made her way towards Meh'r-Bano drying her wet hands on her kameez after washing the afternoon's ceramic pots.
"What's all this Baji?" Gulshan asked.
"Get me some water, please." Meh'r-Bano asked.
Tasneem emerged from the terrace after placing branches on the stairs to stop her hens from involuntary suicide after climbing onto the terrace. The branches were thick and covered the staircase which stopped them in their tracks. She'd already lost a good egg laying hen after she climbed the terrace roof and stepped off the roof and fell to its painful death. Tasneem looked at Meh'r-Bano's face and knew something was wrong. She pulled up small wooden stool and perched upon it. Gulshan offered Meh'r-Bano a steel glass of water she poured from the cooler. Eager to peer in the bags, Gulshan took out the suits, her eyes widen with excitement.
"Uff Allah! These are gorgeous. Where did you get them? Can I try them?" Without waiting for an answer, Gulshan ran inside with two dresses.
"Where have you been, Meh'r-Bano?"
"It's my new uniform, Tasneem." Meh'r-Bano replied with weight bearing upon her.
"What's wrong?" Tasneem went through the bags and stroked the soft silk. She'd never felt such exquisite material.
"If Shafiq sees them and finds out. He will get angry."
"He can't do much, Meh'r-Bano. The noble household requested you to. Remember the last time you ignored their order. They sent the bully Wajahat Ali round."
Meh'r-Bano rubbed her face. Gulshan emerged from the room dancing with the new dress. "Ammi look it's so pretty. Look at the colours. They must be designer. Oh baji, they are lovely." She buzzed with excitement and grabbed two more rushing to try them on.
"Come here in the morning, change before you go. When you leave, come here to change. You know my door is open to you any time." Tasneem assured her. "Is it the clothes that are upsetting you?"
Meh'r-Bano watched the hen cluck and strut around the courtyard, looking for grains in the courtyard.
"Maybe I was wrong. I shouldn't have entered the haveli. It's causing problems between me and Shafiq. When he finds the clothes-"
Tasneem sat beside her best friend. She knew how hard it was for Meh'r-Bano to settle into Chiragpur when she married Shafiq.  At the age of twenty four, richly educated she must have had dreams, opportunities, but due to her circumstances she settled for Shafiq.

"I know it's not Shafiq that's troubling you. You can get around Shafiq. He will agree to anything for you."
Meh'r-Bano agreed. Shafiq was there for her when her father was ill. He took hold of her hand when her father passed away and kept his word. He paid for the final year of her degree and waited for her, patiently, and then married her.
"My abbu told me to be content with what I have. He told me to be happy Tasneem. So, I must be."
Tasneem reached out and held her hand.
"So, what's troubling you? These are just clothes. Material goods You are destined for bigger and better things."

This evening when she dressed in the soft chiffon dress, it made her feel young, confident like the Neelam Valley Meh'r-Bano she lost in her four years of marriage. She missed her father, the life he carved out for her and the dreams he weaved into her imagination.
"Laali, one day you will be a college professor. You will fulfil my dreams." He'd whisper each night allowing her to dream and reach the stars. Meh'r-Bano observed Gulshan basking with joy in the clothes and it reminded her of her younger teenage self when her father bought her a surprise dress for a concert in college. Her friends had the trendiest dresses to wear, they were matching their clothes with their handbags and she hadn't anything good to wear to the event.
Her friends shopped with their mothers for clothes, beauty products, underwear and discussed their first period with their mother. Meh'r-Bano had a void throughout her life and times. It was
21st January. She cried all night knowing she wasn't going to be able to go. She threw all her clothes into a bag and wanted to set them alight. In the morning her father asked why she wasn't ready for college. Meh'r-Bano cried and yelled that she wasn't going. But there in the lounge, he'd bought an exquisite lavender dress. It was long flowing and designed with beads around the neckline. Meh'r-Bano's eyes moisten with tears recalling one of the best night in her life that her father made come true. She brushed away her tears.
Tasneem poured fresh full fat cow's milk into the boiling tea brewing on the open choolah.
"Why did ammi and abu have to die Tasneem? Why was I destined to come to Jahanpur? Why-" Meh'r-Bano stopped. Jahanur was Tasneem's home. Jahanpur was all she knew, and she didn't want to sound arrogant.
"Ignore me. I'm babbling. I need to go." Meh'r-Bano left the choolah and made her way towards the gate. Tasneem stopped her.
"I know. I see it in your eyes. You're being tested. But you are strong, you will be victorious. I believe in you."
Leaving her dresses and the cup of freshly brewed cinnamon tea behind, she dragged her feet through the winding alleys,  back home dressed in her loose-fitting beige linen clothes. Her long black chador traipsing behind her, Meh'r-Bano made her way through the bleating goats and greeted her neighbour making her way home. She stood at the doorstep and pressed her forehead against the metal gate with a deep mournful sigh.
"You're late." Announced her mother in law, Kaneez.
Meh'r-Bano ignored her and made her way to the her father in law who mumbled with a gummy grin, waving his good arm. She kissed his forehead.
"Has he eaten anything?" She asked her mother in law.
"I've been busy with the washing, cleaning. Now you're wasting time at the big haveli all the chores are piled onto me. I don't have time for a piss!  I'm going out to bring the manji back home. Clean up the barn and refresh the water for it. You're not a madam yet."
Obediently, Meh'r-Bano folded her shawl and put it on the kat. She tied her dupatta around her forehead and behind her back. It was time to get to work. Firstly, she made some porridge for her father in law. He could only consume pureed food with two remaining teeth. He enjoyed porridge with a dash of pure honey and mashed with bananas. She cleaned his face with a flannel and changed his sweat soaked clothes.
"What's wrong?" He mumbled incoherently. Meh'r-Bano read his eyes. They were wide with concern.
"I'm fine, Babu." She kissed his hand.
In the barn, she scraped the manure from the ground and collected it in a bucket. She brushed the hay and replenished the water tray. There was no dinner cooked for tonight. So she scooped a plate of split red lentils into a tray and began picking out the tiny stones, one by one. Once she was sure it was clear from stones, she boiled the dhaal. She searched for pure desi ghee in the pots in the dark dreary kitchen. Hidden behind two tall containers, was a handful off ghee in a glass jar. Meh'r Bano smiled when she opened the pot. Tonight, she wanted to cook a chapatti for babu smeared in desi ghee and mashed with dhaal. Her mother in law hid the desi ghee and didn't share an iota. It was like gold dust.
When Kaneez returned with the bulky black cow on a skimpy rope and led her into the barn. There she slurped the tray of fresh water. Kaneez closed the door making her way to the water cooler. The muezzin called from the tower of the minarets as the sun set in the golden orange blue skies. Babu fell asleep on the kat and she covered him with a grey blanket. She smiled watching him snore softly. Today he would be in for a treat, desi ghee with dhaal.
"Have you made the aandi?" Kaneez asked making her way to the choolah and lifted the lid of the boiled and now cooled dhaal. Outside the gate Shafiq's bicycle trilled announcing his arrival. He pushed his bicycle into the courtyard dressed in a grubby navy blue jumpsuit he wore at the garage. A long metal milk container containing fresh cow's milk swayed as it hung on the handlebars.
"Salaam." He greeted Meh'r-Bano giving her the metal milk container.
"Can you make some kheer?" He requested her hand made delicious almond decorated rice pudding. Shafiq sensed tension in Meh'r-Bano's countenance. Something had upset her, or someone. He looked over at his mother who sat on the stool near the choolah. He hoped it wasn't an argument. He could never win an argument with his mother.

Later that evening, after folding the prayer mat she placed two hot ghee smeared chapattis in embroidered decorated colourful chakoree. She covered it with a vibrantly decorated daji, a large fabric napkin that kept the chapattis warm. The dhaal was garnished with tarka, a blend of spices, garlic, ginger and sprinkled with fresh coriander. She plated fresh kheer into two plates, one for her father in law and one for her husband. Shafiq enjoyed eating his dinner in the privacy of his room.
"Azim came today." Kaneez complained. "He wants the money for the kametee." The kametee was a saving pot where all the villagers contributed a small amount every week collecting a larger sum at the end of the term. It could last up to three months, six months or even years depending on the amount. Villagers who required a large sum to pay for a wedding, or buying a motorcycle would join a kametee. Shafiq joined a kametee to pay of a loan he took from the Choudhary. 
"When will it finish? We've been paying him for eternity." His mother complained. "I need help in the house. Your wife swans off to the haveli and I'm struggling alone."
"Yes ammi. I will deal with it." He made his way into the comfort of his cosy room closing the door behind him. This room was his private haven when he closed the door. Inside the dimly lit room, the oil lamp flickered. Meh'r Bano undid her plait and shook her hair. A beautiful melancholy glow spread upon her face.
"You food's getting cold Shafiq." She reminded him of the table she prepared. Shafiq made his way towards his wife and sat on the bed leaving the dinner table behind. His stomach grumbled but his heart yearned for her. He held her hands in his chapped hands. The grease outlined his nails, it didn't matter how much he scrubbed, he could never get his nails clean. "What happened? You argued with ammi?" He asked.
Meh'r-Bano shook her head. Tears tiptoed on the edge of her eyes ready to fall.
"Hey-" He lifted her chin so he could gaze into her stunning eyes. They glimmered under the dim light. She looked amazing.
"Talk to me, my rani. Who upset you?"
Meh'r-Bano drew back her hands. One more word and she was certain she would sob. She cleared her throat but Shafiq was insistent.
"Tell me. Or else I won't eat."
Silence hovered.
"I never felt so worthless, so low Shafiq." Tears ran down her cheeks. She sniffed drying with the back of her hand.
He lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles. "Why?"
"Choudhrani Malikah-" She sniffed back her tears. "She said some things to me and it made me feel-"
"What did she say?"
"She said....she looked down at me. She said I looked like a beggar in my clothes. Her servants dressed better."
Shafiq met her worried eyes. "So?" He straightened his back. "Surely you gave her attitude, like you give ammi?"
She shook her head. "She was angry and made me feel worthless."
"So? Why don't you answer her back, Meh'r-Bano? Tell her to buy you better clothes if she is worried."
"She did! She did!" Meh'r-Bano stood up.
"Good! Where are they?" He looked around the room.
"I took them to Tasneem's. I thought you'd be angry."

Shafiq stood up and stood beside her. "Why would I be angry Meh'r-Bano? I am upset when people are horrid to you. I am upset when you hide things from me. Don't hold back your sadness." He wrapped her arms around her and held her in his arms. He drew back and lifted her chin with his forefinger.
"Since working at the haveli, you've stopped going to the quarry and that rests my worried heart. I don't like the Choudhary and their rules, but working there has tamed you. You are content teaching the children. But I can't-I don't understand why you are so upset. She is nothing, nobody."
"Ever since she spoke to me like that, when she gave the clothes it's unsettled me Shafiq. The way she looks down at me, the way they all do. I've lived here in Chiragpur for four years and I haven't been judged like that. It's hard." She turned away. Shafiq rotated her from her shoulders.
"You listen to me Meh'r-Bano. You are the most beautiful and clever woman I ever met. Clever than me! The day your father entrusted your hand in my hand, I was the most luckiest man in the world. You bring those clothes home Meh'r-Bano, you wear them with confidence and pride. You are better than them. You are my Meh'r-Bano. My valley girl."

"But Shafiq-I wasn't able to make my father proud. I didn't fulfil his dreams." Tears collected in her eyes recalling her father who'd dreamed of her pursuing a career in teaching and becoming a college professor just like him. The dreams unfulfilled and her father passed away bestowing her care in Shafiq's hands.
"Your father's dream was to complete your graduation. I made that come true. He will be proud of you. Look, you are teaching those spoilt kids. You have found our purpose."
It wasn't enough. Teaching privileged children wasn't what she dreamed of, she wanted change , change for the better. She couldn't tell Shafiq, it'd upset him. He was tired and hungry.

After he'd eaten, Meh'r-Bano poured warm water from  the jug over his hands in the courtyard.
"I know the clothes reminded you of your past, your home. You miss it."
Meh'r-Bano handed him the towel. "Why don't we pack up for the day on Friday and go to the valley?"
In the darkness, the whites of Meh'r-Bano's eyes expanded with excitement. "Seriously?" Joy gushed through her veins.
"What about the washing? The cleaning?" She jumped to her feet dropping the plastic jug to the ground.
"What's going on out there?" Kaneez called from inside.
Meh'r-Bano kneeled to pick up the jug. Shafiq kneeled beside her and held her hand.
"I'll deal with that." He whispered. You get ready. I'll borrow a car and we can spend the day."
"Can we go to my parent's grave?"
"Yes, and then we can go to that pastry shop you love for fresh coffee."
"What will you say to ammi?" She knew Kaneez would disapprove.
"I'll deal with her. My job is to make you happy."
Creeping behind the barn, she hugged her husband and held him tight collecting the temporary happiness he promised. Meh'r-Bano's body charged with joy with the thought of visiting her city, her home, and praying beside her parent's grave after four years. She sobbed silently.

This wasMalaikah's first step to spread anarchy in her household using Meh'r Bano as snare. The meagre step unsettled Meh'r-Bano, evoking her traumatic past and father's unfulfilled dreams. Once her brother was inaugurated and moved into Central Sang e mar mar haveli, her disingenuous plan would bring them face to face. Forcing Meh'r-Bano to appraise her fragile life and turn her world upside down.