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I guess you didn’t care, and I guess I liked that- I knew you were trouble. It was Jalal who had informed Ajabdeh about Pratap’s breakup, and for the entire evening, she found it hard to concentrate on her studies. As she moved from her place for the umpteenth time, making Heer frown at her disapprovingly for distracting her, Ajabdeh got up from her seat and silently walked up to the window. Rain clouds had gathered on the horizon, almost hiding the setting sun, and she could hear them roar in the distance. Her eyes travelled from the horizon to the rustling of leaves in the old royal poinciana tree that stood right beside her window and finally further left to the edge of the pool, which was barely visible from her angle. She spotted his silhouette in the light of the dusk, as he seemed to sit on the edge of the pool, hugging his knees, his eyes fixed on the water. At that moment, Ajabdeh wished he didn’t know about her feelings so that she could approach him with some words of consol...
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“Time slows down whenever you are around.” - Today was a fairytale. Ajabdeh adjusted the guitar strings and looked around at the backstage mayhem. There was Shakti, who just participated in the last dance competition for school. He was now in a pair of baggy pants and an oversized t-shirt, talking to Heer about her upcoming dance performance. It was an interest her sister shared with him. He was performing a Western freestyle while she was a Kathak dancer. They glanced over at Ajabdeh sitting in her corner, and she mouthed the words “Best of luck” and showed her thumb up to her sister, who smiled faintly with a nod showing her the same. She went back to her strings again. “Stop fidgeting, you will be fine.” She looked up at Rukaiya’s words as she smiled at her. Ajabdeh put her guitar down and hugged Rukaiya. “Thank you for coming.” She spoke with a smile, “I doubted Aunty would let you.” “Jalal convinced her, I came with him. Ya Allah, Ajabdeh, you are shivering. Calm down.” “It is my ...
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And all the pages are just slipping through my hands - Bye bye Baby. It had been years since school and college were over, and yet Rukaiya found it hard to exist in their world. Humayun had convinced her mother that once she finished her degree and joined their business, he would find a suitable groom for her. A groom who would bring with him the pedigree of a dynasty and the wealth and contacts of a reputed industry, as Sultanam reminded her daughter. Rukaiya had been sceptical about the idea. She had never experienced love. The little she got closer to it when she found herself smiling at Shakti’s messages and wanting to be around him to soothe her anxiety. Before she could even process the feeling further, Rukaiya realised how they sought different things. Shakti was childish, overprotected, and often didn’t even know what he wanted. Rukaiya wanted to be the daughter her father wanted her to be. It meant marrying a man her elders chose for her and living a life of a quiet housewife...
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Did I say something way too honest, made you run and hide? ~ Forever and Always Meera Bai International School, Delhi, gave equal importance to their extracurricular activities as to its academics. Every student had to either pick up sports, a musical instrument or an art form of their liking for their extracurriculars. Clubs were formed, and leaders were picked for various competitions throughout the year. Pratap was captain of the school cricket team, Shakti took western dance lessons, Heer had a liking for classical dance, Ajabdeh was head of the debate team and a singer, Jalal was the lead vocalist of the school band and played the guitar, and amidst all these, Rukaiya, even in her academic brilliance, was finding it hard to cope. The only people she had managed to befriend, probably because they knew her cousin, were Shakti and Ajabdeh. Their inside jokes bothered her, and she felt homesick. When the principal had called her to the chambers and reminded her that she needed to pick...
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Last updated: February 4, 2026.
