Part 165- Season Finale (Final Part)- Footsteps

As narrated by Riza:

Close your eyes. Imagine the first steps of a little baby. A baby whose hands are held firmly but gently as he takes small, wobbly steps forward. And as he grows, his steps become less clumsy and eventually…perfect. And each step forward becomes a new milestone.

So too in life, each step forward even as adults is a milestone…just because we’ve learnt how to walk doesn’t make it any less important.

Actually and literally…we leave our imprint not just on the ground that we walk upon but also on the routes that we take. Because one day, just maybe, someone may say “I would like to follow in his footsteps”.

We are taught from a young age that every moment of ours is recorded, so shouldn’t every moment be worth recording? Shouldn’t every moment be a reflection of the goodness of our hearts? Yes, we are human and we make mistakes and our Creator is most forgiving, most merciful. But to make the same mistake over and over again isn’t called learning- it’s called stupidity.

A year ago when I was in London, I had met a friend of mine, a good friend. And we reconnected immediately. Strangely, the minute I saw Zoheb all I could think about was Aara. But it isn’t like I planned for him to move back, I may have pushed them together in the initial tasks of the first road trip but I didn’t plan on them falling in love with each other. I may have introduced them to each other but I didn’t plan on their souls speaking to each other. Which brings us back to footsteps….through the little things that they did and didn’t do, they were already walking into each others hearts. It’s not planning…it’s destiny.

Arshad and Zainab…as different as real prawns and soya prawns…lol sorry couldn’t resist that! As different as hot and cold, as different as day and night…they had fallen in love with each other, embracing each others imperfections, seeing beyond the hurt of their pasts. Arshad learnt to look beneath the surface, that perception is not always reality and Zainab…she had learnt to trust. Even though they had known each other for a while, they were at each others throats and now look at them…and back to footsteps…the tiny little footsteps that Arshad took towards helping her find her calling…started a new story…their story.

When it comes to choosing a life partner, we always hold onto the notion that we need to be together before getting married. Call it a societal norm or a western belief that is so ingrained into our minds that it leads us to believe that arranged marriages or marriage happening after knowing someone for a short while is unbelievable and to a point, ridiculous. I too, am guilty as charged as I had the very same belief…until Imraan set his heart upon marrying Maariah. I shook my head in disbelief at this man who barely knew her and was so keen on marrying her! But he was right, and he wanted to do things the right way. I felt guilty for not marrying Laeeka sooner. In the pursuit of our careers and youth, we continuously indulged in zinaah. Not the fact that I was with her for so long but the fact that I waited for so long will remain the biggest regret of my life.

Imraan didn’t take baby steps…no he took a giant leap without hesitation, call it a leap of faith as well because he had that much of faith in his Creator that what he was doing was not wrong at all. I salute you Immy. You are a great example for all of us.

Footsteps into the unknown, adventuring to where you know you shouldn’t go, but you do it anyway just to “see”…eventually has you hooked. As the addiction of the wrong life consumes you, causing you to lose what is most precious to you. Engulfed in this world that is fake and temporary, you lose sight of everything…including yourself. Nemo. He had paid the biggest price for his curiosity. A curiosity that dragged him through the dungeons of despair and threw him behind the locked gates of rejection and embarrassment. And when life gave up on him…she whispered… try one more time. Proving that with the will of Allah, we can trace back those footsteps and walk proudly down the road that led us here in the first place. Redemption, understanding, forgiveness is always there and Allah also answers the silent duas of our hearts. Who He sends and why He sends them…we sometimes won’t understand. But He sends them and He sends them with the willpower and the ability to help us back onto our feet again.
My heart believes that Aara was sent ,despite being broken herself, to help Nemo…and she did.

But I always wondered, that down this long road of change and trials…would they be able to trace their footsteps back to each other or were their paths that were once joined…meant to be separated forever?

At different junctures of our lives, some of us have had our differences with each other. Some justified, some unjustified. But we moved on, with each other, despite everything and whatever happened, we would always be together.

We had bashed Aadil together and with good reason, so the shock on our faces when we saw Zoheb and Nemo the next morning was definitely justified. Nemo had a bruised jaw and Zoheb had a bruise above his left eye. I won’t go into detail about the other smaller marks on their faces. They had apparently gone out for a final walk on the beach and ended up fighting off some muggers. I think everyone was still tired so no one really bothered looking into it, and they seemed to be enjoying the attention that they were getting from Aara’s mother and Aara so it couldn’t have been too serious.

Or so we thought….

To this day,no one knew exactly what had happened that night. But whatever happened, eventually changed a lot of things. It eventually led to a lot of heartbreak and a lot of disappointment.

None of us knew then as we bid Ziyaad,Ebie, Sahal and Aara’s parents goodbye…as we smiled and laughed on our way back to Jo’burg…that as a group, this would be our last road trip together.

Laeeka: (calling out to me) babe…how many times are you going to read that journal?

I smiled back at her as I closed the journal…

” Whenever I miss them…whenever I think about them…this journal is my footsteps back to them”

______________________END OF SEASON THREE___________________________

Author’s Note:

Dear Readers,

Once again, it has been an absolute pleasure and I thank you for your loyal support through this almost 1 year of LLD. Unbelievable for me, as I never expected this blog to run for so long:)

13 December marks the one year anniversary for LLD and thanks to Haaj for her cute idea….13 December is now officially National Dhaiwara Day…lol! You read right:-p So on 13 Dec, let’s all make some dhaiwaras and send me your pictures of them via Twitter( @lifeluvdestiny) or Email(lifelovedestinyblog@gmail.com). Each and every picture will be uploaded Insha Allah. The Nemo-Zoheb post will also be posted on that day.

I’m not certain as to when I will be returning, as this season stretched by an extra 15 episodes, but I will let you know as soon as I know.

In the meantime, please remember to vote for LLD http://website.sablogawards.com/2014/vote/voteforme/41

Much Love,

Shazia