Part 234 – The Mehndi (Part2)- Masters Of Disguise

————WARNING!!!———————-

1. This post is NOT for sensitive readers (as if that will stop you anyway;) ). If you cannot control your laughter, you are reading this post at your own risk.

2. Once you are a few minutes into the post, I suggest that you find a suitable place to sit, or rest against. You will see why later

3. It is imperative that you read the last post from Diary of Confessions, if you would like some insight on an inside joke that starts halfway through this post.( https://diaryofconfessions.wordpress.com )

4. This is a joint post by EIGHT authors…yep..you read right, and we have tried to simplify it to the best of our abilities…so read slowly;)

5. Please make sure that the people around you are okay with you laughing like a lunatic

6. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy! (because we definitely did!)

7. Oh and the person who says “next post please”…lol…no problem, it’s more than halfway done anyway, but you will have to come type it out for me;) and brace yourself and your fingers because this post is 7171 words in total!

———————————————————————————————-
As narrated by Maariah:

Pink, purple, and orange was the color of the night…Purple drapes covered the inside of the tent, orange and pink lanterns lined the garden walkways….The tables and chairs, the cutlery, the serviettes…All completed each other in perfect unison.

It felt as though we had walked into a very colourful dream! And it most certainly was too good to be true, because the best part was – there were no men!

The food was out of this world! Mouthwatering paan, bhel puri, paani puri, sweetmeats, lassi, coconut water, bombay crush, delectable desserts..and ofcourse the hearty main courses that varied from Pakistani, Indian to Chinese and Kashmiri dishes. It was a royal treat for sure..and especially for Aara, who seemed to be walking faster by the day with her crutch, as she made a beeline for the paani puri stall along with Zoheb’s cousin’s Haaj and Sakeena. She was gelling really well with his family so far, in fact we all were, and they reciprocated with the same affection and kindness. I for one, had sleep deprivation issues….lol…the wedding week had taken its toll on me, and we still had two more weddings coming up!

“I just want to sit back and get my mehndi done…and feel like an Indian princess”, Laeeka smiled, taking a seat next to me

“The mehndi lady is here but apparently her assistants aren’t so until they come I guess we have to just join the waiting line”

“I heard Fati screaming blue murder at someone over the phone”, Laeeka chuckled, “total shocker I tell you because we know her as being as cool as an icecube”

“Wedding stress”, Farzana said, looking up from her phone, “it can raise the red flag on the most calmest of people” . Farzana is Zainab’s cousin from Jhb, and she had been helping Zainab’s mum every single day with all of the nitty gritty that adds up in a wedding house.

“I’m so glad that I had a small wedding “, I found myself saying for the second time tonight

“Welllll tell us all about it!” , Sameera (also a cousin of Zainab’s) said, clapping her hands together and bringing her chair to our table

“How do you just abandon people at your table Sam???”, Laeeka laughed

“Because your convo is more interesting than theirs!”, Sam winked , while Amierah who had been sitting at the table in question, threw a rafaello at her

“Alright…here it goes”

——————————————————————————————————————-

As narrated by Zainab:

All the ladies seemed to be having SUCH a good time and it gave me that over-the-moon feeling! I sighed softly, trying to force the butterflies in my tummy to go away already, as I thought of one thing and one thing only…..I’m getting married tomorrow!! Make no mistake, I wasn’t having any second thoughts about it, oh no, and if Arshad had any second thoughts then I had my unique way of removing it too;) There was a sense of finality to this feeling, a milestone of sorts. The end of a 24 year old journey, and the beginning of a new one. Marriage definitely is a new beginning, because it’s a whole new world of experiences. A whole new treasure chest of undiscovered feelings and aspirations, and as much as I was nervous…I was so excited too!!!!

Tayyaba and Zaakira, our friends from work, were grinning at me like I had just lost my marbles!

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything…”, Tayyaba grinned

“Nor did I”, Zaakira chimed in

And my smile became broader and broader, to the point of almost looking mad!

“I can’t wait!!!”, I admitted excitedly, finally giving into their satisfaction

At that, Zaakira took her camera from under the table and clicked!

“Because these are totally natural, not choreographed and they show your real emotions”, Zaakira smiled . From the second that I had met her, I wanted to wanted be just as good as her behind the camera, and maybe one day I will. Zaakira and Tayyaba worked with Aara, and I met them while Aara took me under her wing when Arshad had bought me my first professional camera. These two worked hand in hand in the Art &Graphic Department and they were a mountain of knowledge despite their young age.

“We’ll make you something memorable Zai”, Tayyaba said squeezing my hand and taking out her own camera , “Zaaks come one, let’s get clicking”

And the two of them were off to take pictures of the mehndi from their eyes..which reminds me…” #arshadzainabwedding ” , I typed as I uploaded another picture on Instagram, and the familiar android whistle tone resonated around me, and confirmed that everyone had seen it;)

——————————————————————————————————————-
As narrated by Muhammed (Momo):

It was great seeing everyone again, along with many new faces too. A part of me couldn’t believe that I was here at Arshad and Zainab’s mehndi function, after all these years of hardly being in contact…the perks of social media I guess. The ladies were all at Zainab’s, and the guys and basically all the males from both the families, were at Arshad’s house having a very hearty supper.

After meeting and greeting whoever I knew, and making some new friends, Immy, Zoheb, Yazeed, Uzair, Zaeem were all such genuine guys…I walked over to the table where Nemo was sitting alone, his hands over his mouth while he tapped away at the floor with the tip of his shoe.

Nemo was reluctant at first, but soon enough he opened up and told me everything. About his addiction, his rehabilitation his love for Aara and finally his confrontation with Saajidah.

“So that’s it”, Nemo said halfheartedly, as he slumped into his chair

I was overwhelmed, but not to the point of judging him. I would never do that, no, I had also had my fair share of life’s “downs”.

“I won’t lie to you Nemo, you got into some crazy stuff..but you’re trying to fix what went wrong, you’re trying to rectify the mistakes that you made. Does that not make you happy?”

“It doesn’t make me happy bro…it just makes things seem a little less worse. The price one pays for a little salvation”, he sighed

“Why? Because you’re not getting the responses that you desire? Dude we can try to change ourselves but that doesn’t mean that others are going to be acceptable of our change and it certainly doesn’t mean that we have failed..in every defeat lies its own victory”

“I hear you Momo”, Nemo smiled, “you sound just like Aara right now”

“That’s a compliment “, I chuckled, “Miss Ismail was always this dynamic person”

Nemo just smiled to himself….

“Saajidah kicked you out, that doesn’t mean that you failed. it hurts now, I know it does but you can do something about ti! Share your experiences with others..dude do you know how your story can save so many kids out there who are going through what you went through”

“I never thought about that”, Nemo said, looking up at me, “that’s actually the best thing that I’ve heard for a while!”

“You are a lawyer, you can help so many women who go through what Saajidah went through”, I continued

“In training, but yeah i hear you..maybe everything that happened today, happened or a reason, maybe she didn’t forgive me for a reason, maybe I didn’t get Aara for a reason, maybe I need to love myself first and prioritize my life”, he said with a sudden excitement in his voice

” All that you can do is try your best, you can’t force the response that you want. Allah knows best and He will guide you…and as for Aara, bro she’s an amazing friend I’m sure but maybe it didn’t work because uptil now you were living for her, it’s time to live for yourself , for your happiness and for your success. There’s wisdom in Allah’s decision trust me bro”

“Since when did you become so wise?”, Nemo grinned

“What can I say, life, love , destiny teaches us lessons bro, I laughed, ” Although I’m still the same clown who kicks tables when Man United loses”

And Nemo laughed! “you STILL do that???”

“Do you blame me? I’m sick of Van Gaal’s talk about process and philosophy, even a saint would lose his mind watching the rubbish we playing man..I mean come one, we just sneaked a draw against Palace, like Palace of all teams!”, I said dramatically

“Eat sleep breathe soccer”, Nemo said raising his eyebrow at me, “some things don’t change”

“Back to you..you’ve come a long way because the Nemo that I knew would give Sebastian from Cruel Intentions a run for his money and Zoheb would have been institutionalized by now!”

Both of us broke out into a fit of laughter!

“On a serious note, grab a copy of the Seerah by Abu Bakr Sirajuddin and the English Qur’aan, it will make all the difference”

” I will Momo…and thank you, I already feel a whole lot lighter”

“Hello are you coming or what?’, Ziyaad asked loudly

“Mehndi….you guys are going through with it?”

“Yep why not? Come on Momo, that means you too”

“You guys carry on, I’ve got alot of catching up to do here with so many campus friends under one roof after so many years”

“Ok then..”, Nemo said side hugging me, “We will see you in a bit”

——————————————————————————————————————-
As narrated by Ziyaad :

Ladies only function. Our beautiful better halves getting mehndi on their hands. Lots of delicious food. Men NOT allowed.

I laughed out aloud!

Since when did WE follow instructions!?!

All the guys had eagerly followed me here, but the looks on their faces were priceless when they realized that the only way that they were going in….was not as themselves!

“Dude, I’m the groom, I can’t wear this!” ,Arshad said with a horrified look on his face

“Then go home” , I laughed. “Guys haven’t you noticed! All the waitresses are dressed like this (Holding up an Indian skirt and top) , and all the I don’t know what you call them but the ones behind the food stalls are wearing this (Holding up an white kurti top and a lungi pants as well as a huge colourful turban), so if anyone has any better ideas then I’m all ears ”

There was a brief moment of silence and then one by one…everyone chose their outfit.

“Oh and with the turban outfits there are obviously no scarves, so I got us fake mustaches and these short belly dancer veils to make it look a little originally different..besides the veils kind of sticks to the mustache so it won’t fall out easily…”, I said nervously, hoping that this wouldn’t change their minds.

“I look ridiculous , Zoheb said as he straightened his turban

“I think I rock this”, Zaeem said as he put the skirt on over his clothes

Yazeed just stared at the turban shoved in his hand in horror “The things we have to do!”

“Uzair you up for this?”, Arshad asked

“If I don’t do it I’ll be missing out so come on!Let’s so this before I change my mind”, Uzair laughed

“I never thought I’d see the day that Uzair Bobat wears a skirt and a top!”, Zoheb grinned, “but…in the name of love and fun right”

“I have the body for this…this…thing “, Uzair said as he lifted his skirt a little, “Might as well flaunt it if I got it”

“Err…guys, I’m the only one with crutches. Don’t you think I’m going to blow my cover?”, Ayaaz said as he eyed the garments at arms length

“Ayaaz I’ve got you covered bro, you’re handling the paan stall so all you gotta do is sit and make paan” , I grinned

“Paan?!?!?”, Ayaaz said in horror, “Dude I don’t even eat paan!” , but he was left with no choice as he was helped into his lungi by Zoheb

“By the way, we know about you and Rezana so…make it count”, Immy winked as he tied the back strings of Nemo’s blouse

“I don’t think making paan is going to help me with Reez” , Ayaaz said with his famous smirk plastered across his face

“I still gotta meet this babe of yours who you talk about non stop!”, Yazeed chuckled

“You don’t win her with paan! But don’t worry, we’re here , right Zaeem?”, Nemo laughed

“Yes my darling!”, Zaeem grinned, linking his arm in Nemo’s

“Call her BABE again and you won’t meet anyone for the rest of your life “, Ayaaz said with a serious face

“Woah…relax bro, I’m calling her YOUR babe not mine”, Yazeed said with his hands up in the air, causing his lungi to fall yet again

“You’re going to get yourself killed bro! “, Zoheb said, patting Yazeed on the back ,” and besides, you have Mangashika to worry about”

“That Mangashika has a mouth on her, damn never seen that much attitude!”, Yazeed laughed

Everyone laughed knowingly..while Yazeed was still kept in the dark about Nasley’s aka Mangashika’s real name

“Well Rezana and Mangashika, here we come”, Riza winked, pulling the long scarf over his face

‘How are you going to see???”

“Beard remember?”, he said, “unless girls from India grow beards?”

“Wait, something isn’t right “, I exclaimed, standing back and examining them

“What now?”, Arshad moaned

“We need oranges or apples or something…you know..to…”, I said as I moved my hands upwards

”To…?”, Yazeed asked with a confused as hell look on his face

“To what?”, Ayaaz asked with a horrified look on his face, “Please don’t tell me there’s more to this outfit?”

“There’s more to this???”, Nemo asked…and then as realization hit him..”UHUHUHUHUH!” and he tried to push his way out

“I’m with you, Nemo”, Ayaaz said, lifting his crutch to hit anyone who dared to block their way

“You use the oranges and apples and whatever else you want to shove into your blouse dude”, Immy laughed , “But I ain’t doing it”

Zaeem smirked and came towards me , “Can’t be that bad Zee, I’m with you!…didn’t peg you for the wuss type Nemo”

Nemo rolled his eyes at Zaeem and the look on Yazeed’s face when he started speaking literally broke me..”Zaeem why does it feel like you’ve done this before?”

“You never know brother..you never know”, Zaeem winked

—————————————————————————————-
As narrated by Riza:

And so we entered through the front door as Ziyaad had promised! It was harder than I thought it would be to walk in this heavy skirt, I don’t know how ladies do it! We split up as agreed, and in any case, there was so many ladies here that we would easily blend in. We managed to get Ayaaz to the paan stall without attracting any attention and Zoheb, Yazeed and I made ourselves comfortable at the pani puri stall right next to him.

“I can’t believe that I’m doing this”, Ayaaz mumbled

“Make me a masala paan”, a stout, angry looking lady said to Ayaaz

“Uh…okay!”, Ayaaz said quickly, clearly frightened by this aunty’s stature. The three of us were killed! He just started shoving whatever was on the paan tray into a leaf, and made a failed attempt of a triangle! All in all, he passed the woman a green leaf that dripped with red syrup into her hand as he passed it to her!

She looked at him completely bewildered! “I’m going to complain about this!” , she said as she stomped off angrily

“This dude ain’t going to last long!”, Zaeem whispered to Ziyaad

“You want to help him out?”, Zee laughed

“Hell no!, I would be worse than him!”, Zaeem chuckled, neatening his scarf which seemed to be going all over the place

While we were handing out already prepared pani puri to some ladies who came to our stall, the sound of a familiar voice startled us…

“Hey…can I have a sweet paan please?”

SHAKIRAH!!!

“Well this should be fun”, Yazeed whispered

“Make that three please”, she continued

Ayaaz picked up 3 leaves and filled it with heaped spoons of colourful sweets…trying to figure out how to close the overfilled leaf, he took another and covered it, then passed one each to her…with all the sweets spilling out the sides in the process!

“Err sorry! The leaves are small this year”, he said very unconvincingly

“Uuuh…are you sure it still can’t close ?”, Shakirah asked, looking intently at Ayaaz

“This is not paan, this is a joke!”, Nasley said, looking weirdly at the paan with its syrup drooping all over the place

“Why don’t you try again, I’m quite sure, I mean come one you ARE the paan maker”, Shakirah persisted, looking at Ayaaz even more suspiciously…and then she ‘whispered’ to Nasley, but we all heard , “Why does this seem so odd, or am I just seeing things?”

Ayaaz heard it too and he panicked, so he quickly filled another leaf with less sweets, rolled it up like a cigar and passed it to her. ”Here’s an extra one, now go away, you’re causing traffic”

“Woah…we’re going we’re going”, Shakirah said, walking away…”This is strange beyond words!”

———————————————————————-

As narrated by Nemo:

Meanwhile, Immy,Zaeem , Uzair, Riza and I began to walk around with trays of lassi, bombay crush and coconut water. We were already getting weird stares from so many ladies because there was so many of us huddled around the sweetmeat table..and besides we wanted to see what what happening all over.

“These girls in restaurants make it look so easy, moving their hips at the same time too!”, Zaeem said, trying to balance the trays in hands

“I know right”, I nodded in agreement as I downed my fourth glass of lassi

“This thing is good!”, Riza said through his own slurps

“Hey I think that we should mix all of these together, it will make a greater taste for them…well…after we’re done drinking half of it that is!”, Zaeem laughed with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes

I started laughing! This guy was just too similar to me! And while laughing, one of the coconuts from my tray…began to roll towards the very end of my tray…I tried to grab it and closed my eyes when I was certain that I missed….for it had landed on someone’s head! Someone who had been sitting on one of those low couches…someone who clearly was an easy target!

“Watch it!!”, she shouted while holding her head, “First that stupid paan person now this useless waitress!”

“Sorry aunty sorry “, Zaeem said in a squeaky tone, “have this special drink as an apology”

And when he passed that glass to her….I knew that he had stuck to his guns and mixed all three drinks together!

“What is this…it’s got such an unusually delightful taste”, she said as she finished off the glass

Zaeem, barely able to contain his laughter, turned around and pretended as though he was talking on his phone!

“It’s called a….a…lassicrushnut shake”, Riza said, holding back his own laughter

“Feroza…”, the lady called out, ”you have to try this lassicrushnut shake it’s heavenly! Must be something new, you know how these people like showing off”

“Coming right up”, I said as I bit my lip

And within minutes, we were serving our new concoction to almost all the ladies there!

Hey Uzzi here try this, it’s something new I’ve made’, Zaeem said handing him a glass full of the special concoction

” Is it meant to be that colour?” , Uzair asked as he eyed the glass suspiciously

“Something new I’ve made”, Immy laughed, imitating Zaeem

“I think I’ll pass..I don’t want to be spilling my insides tonight bro, rather be safe than sorry”

“I’m sorry what is this again?”, Aara asked as she turned towards me

“Lassicrushnut”, I said, trying to sound like a girl

‘Las what…?”, she asked with a growing smile on her face

“Can’t be so bad if everyone is trying it”, Nasley said as she joined Aara

And they reached for a glass!!!!

Zaeem turned to look in my direction, when he realised that it’s the one and only Mangashika right in front of us and ran to tell Yazeed

lol! I couldn’t wait to see this!

——————————————————————
As narrated by Yazeed:

“Pssshhht Yazeed!”, Zaeem whispered to me, “I found Mangashika!”

From where I was standing, I watched Nemo hand her a glass of something..and then she did the wackiest thing! She took a sip and then spat it out!

I grinned to myself…snap, crackle, pop babe…here I come!

“What is this?”, she asked Nemo

“Try some, it’s wery yummy “, I said in a fake but oh so pronto Indian accent

“I was here earlier and tasted all the different lassies with Sabi but none of them had this taste or this silly name!”, she said as she looked at us suspiciously

Damn she talks alot!

“Well it’s unusual just like your name”, Nemo said from under his scarf

“And how would you know what’s my name?”, she asked, raising her eyebrows at him

“In our gaams we guess people’s names just by looking at them”, Nemo said and I knew he probably had this huge grin on his face!

“You are Mangashika no beti?’, I squeaked

“Why would you think my name is Mangashake????”, she asked wide eyed

Aara, who had been observing this whole interaction, burst out laughing…and I couldn’t help but laugh with her even though it was completely out of character!

‘Wait hang on…what’s my name?”, Aara asked

“Roohishama, I soud sink”, Zaeem said, copying my Indian accent

“Roshi waaaaaaaat????”, she said as she laughed harder

Sabeeha, clearly amused and not one to be left behind either, asked through her laughter, “Do I get a name too?”

“Hmmm…bachu..you vould be Safanta”, I said…because for some reason, at that moment I was thinking of Fanta!

“Okayyyy then what is your name aunty?? “, Mangashika asked Zaeem, “Because you look familiar, did you help Sabi and I earlier?”

“She’s Muthuyilley”, Riza said, nudging Zaeem

And that sent me off into a coughing fit trying not to laugh!

“Uh guys…what are you talking about?”, Farah asked as she too joined us

‘Getting new names apparently”, Aara winked, ‘So what’s her name then Muthu?”

“I soud sink…Wuhanba!”, Zaeem said immediately

Farah looked at us suspiciously too as we laughed at Zaeem’s name for her….and then we shut up.

‘Aisha, do you need a new name…because these aunties have some very unique ideas”, Farah said to Aisha, who had also joined us

Now ALL our eyes were on Uzair! This was going to be so much fun!

“Hmmm…why don’t you pick a name for me…”, Aisha said to Yazeed

“Ah the beautiful white girl…your name is Zuraashay!”

I have no idea where that came from!

“See, very unique “, Farah laughed

“It does sound quite unique” , Aisha said in agreement

“What’s so unique, I wanna know too?”, Shakirah said as she made her way towards us with cake and coke in her hands

“My new name”, Aisha laughed, “Zee zuu…how do you say it?”

“As in that thing that you own, but people use it more than you?”, Shakirah laughed

“Well atleast your name is better than mine Aisha…I don’t know where the heck Mangashika came from”, Mangashika sighed, “to be honest these waitresses are way too weird”

I wanted to just grab this Mangashika already! She was so annoying but so so cute!! I was staring at her, and it seemed that I had gone completely deaf for the the duration of that stare and only snapped back into reality when my brother gave me a hard shove from behind…only to realise that there was a “fight” going on between us and them!

“No no I insist that you try the drink!”, Uzair said politely, in his squeakiest best

“Why would we want to drink something that tastes like sweat?”, Mangashika asked as she rolled her eyes at Uzair, “Why don’t you drink it?”

LOL!

“Sorry..I’m allergic”, Uzair said cheekily

“Why? What’s in here that’s allergy worthy?”

“She’s not going to give me a break “, Uzair said under his breath, “Errr Nuts!”, He said turning to Mangashika

“Nuts…right. There’s something wrong with you waitresses”, Mangashika muttered

Ooh lala…fiesty aren’t we…

“Are you insulting my profession?”, Uzair persisted, taking his squeak to a whole new pitch

“I’m with you there Nas..bonkers…they are really gone bonkers!”, Sabeeha said with a very raised eyebrow

“Sorry…aunty, she didn’t mean to..”, Shakirah said, trying to salvage this weird situation

“She didn’t?”, Sabeeha smirked

And all HELL broke loose….

“No no I understand, you fancy rich people don’t have to wait on anyone but you know what a tough life we have!!!”, Uzair said dramatically

“Maybe if you carried out your “professionalism” a little more professionally, I wouldn’t have a problem”, Mangashika said with a tight smile on her face

“We have to live our whole lives serving rich people like you and this is the respect we get! Shame on you!”, Zaeem said as he too caught on what was going on

Nemo and Riza however..had made an escape. Maybe they knew Mangashika was a loose cannon?

“You want to switch, come come..chi chi chi you people!”, Uzair said, walking forward and almost tripping over his skirt

“I think we should show these rich rich people what happens when they insult us!” , Zaeem said as he helped Uzair to get his balance back, “Shall we?” he whispered

“Show them how we deal with disrespect in the village!”, Uzair said

“There really are little villages here?”, Aisha asked, wide eyed

“You shoo”, Uzair said to her, trying not to laugh

“Aunties please calm yourselves and do what you get paid to do…and we didn’t mean any disrepect”, Mangashika said calmly

And then more words were exchanged, because the looks were daggers boss!

I don’t know what Zaeem and Uzair were doing behind me all of a sudden, but I didn’t hear what they were saying…for I was lost yet again. Mangashika was starting to walk away and took a tiny piece of my heart with her as she did, when it happened again. I didn’t even know when these guys put a glass of their concoction in my hands..all I know was that one of them gave me a hard push and I went flying in the direction of Mangashika!

Then everything started happening in slow motion…the glass tilted…the contents flew like a splash of sticky green slime…straight onto and into the back of her dress!!!

—————————————————————————————————————————-

As narrated by Shakirah:

I could not believe what had just happened!! And these aunties had the audacity to say that one of them tripped and the juice fell on her accidentally! Poor Nasley, she was almost in tears…

Aisha had sought Maariah’s help, and took Nasley into the house to either clean her up or wear something from Zainab’s collection

‘Is it just me or do those aunties have a very man like laughter?”, Farah asked

“And they are completely manner less too…look at what they did to Nas! And one of them was actually following me around earlier!”, Laeeka shuddered

” I would love to say that it’s just you Farah but they do have a really manly laughter!” , Sabeeha said, “Like too manly coming from a lady”

“Mum’s looking for the mehndi ladies who were supposed to help Azmina, I can’t seem to find them though”, Zainab, said as she stopped at our table

And Farah and Sabeeha went off to help Zainab look for the mehndi ladies, Aara and Laeeka were engrossed in another conversation….but me….I just couldn’t shake this feeling that something was up..Disgusting paan, concocted drinks,man liek laughter, so says the ladies…Need I say more? I think not 😉 and I was definitely going to find out! This function is different to what we have in th UK and to say that I’m not enjoying myself, would be a dead lie.

—————————————————————————————-
As narrated by Zoheb:

“I’m not doing this!”, I whispered, shaking my head

I didn’t know the first thing about mehndi, how was I going to put mehndi for so many ladies! I’ll probably end up getting beaten with sandals here!

Immy had been spying on the girls and rushed to tell us about them being unable to find the mehdni aunties…who by the way, Ziyaad found and told them to go into Zainab’s house and rest, he would tell them when the ladies were ready to put mehndi!

After a few minutes of deciding and denying, here we were, sitting in the specially designated mehndi area, with the super talented mehndi artist Azmina. Yazeed, Uzair, Ayaaz and I were “chosen” for this task. Ayaaz well…lol…he was attracting way too much attention to him with his haphazard paan so we decided that it was safer for him to sit with us.

We could hear Shakirah and Sabeeha talking about how awful the paan was and how the taste was still lingering in their mouths!

A girl came up to me to put mehndi for her, but I shooed her away saying that my mehndi wasn’t ready yet….because I was waiting for Aara. Even though I didn’t know how to put mehndi, I wanted to be the one putting it for her.

But Arshoo was classic! He stood silently in his disguise and took pictures of Zainab getting her mehndi done, and the only time that he had come near her was to feed her some water and a piece of cake. Poor Zainab, she had no idea that her hubby was so romantic! She probably thought that it was just a waitress doing her job! Immy was busy capturing these moments on his camera for them to see later, and we posed against each other while Azmina stared at us weirdly;)

——————————————————————————-
As narrated by Ayaaz:

The girls walked into the mehndi area, and Reez sat infront of me to get her hands done, whist Nasley say in front of Yazeed and Aara in front of Zoheb. Well, they didn’t magically sit down infront of us like that, it was very mixed up but once they were seated Zoheb and Yazeed made some excuse or the other and had them switch places so that it would look exactly like the way it did now. Thanks Guys:)

I took a deep breath in as Reez placed her hands on the towel on my lap, waiting to be adorned with henna.

“What pattern you want, ma?”, I squeaked

‘Khaleeji pattern”, Sabeeha said from behind

I was mortified! Why would she want a kaleji pattern on her hands?? I didn’t know much about our native languages , but I knew what kaleji meant alright! Kaleji is liver !!!

I could feel Zoheb’s eyes on me, and I was right, he was shocked too!

I was about to say something when…

“I just want a nice pattern with flowers and make fine patterns please, no gaps in between”, Reez said sweetly

I nodded my head from left to right, in typical India style and carried on

Silence filled between us as I tried my best to make a flower with the cone. I could feel her eyes on me and I didn’t want to mess up her hands…

“Make one heart there”, Zoheb squeaked to me

“I can put boyfriends name?”, I asked sneakily and still squeaking

‘No boyfriend”, Reez giggled..”No names needed”

“No boyfriend?”, I asked her again, just to make sure that I had heard correctly

Over the moon and completely elated, I managed to create a few more flowers, filling the gaps with twirls and swirls, and the occasional triangle…and then just as she looked away for a second, I discreetly drew an “A” in the centre of the heart that i had drawn on her palm….

“Do it nicely”, Zoheb squeaked again

“I’m sure that she knows what she’s doing…the question is, do you know what you’re doing?”, Aara asked Zoheb, as she stared at the circle he had drawn on her palm

“Aaaara did you…”, Shakirah asked but then stopped midway looking at what looked like a cabbage on Aara’s palm!..”what is that??”

“Looks like a big laddu to me Shaku”, Aara said, shaking her head

“I think that puts laddu to shame even”, Shakirah said, looking straight into Zoheb’s eyes

Zoheb looked down nervously, but his dark grey eyes were a dead giveaway!

“Good luck”….Shakirah said, but not before giving Zoheb a knowing look…and she walked away

That girl is too inquisitive!!

“Listen, just stop it okay this pattern or whatever it is, looks terrible!”, Aara said, yanking her hand away

Zoheb pulled her hand back and hummed “mehndi laga ke rakhna” for her

She pulled her hand back in frustration again…and a mini tussle ensued, resulting in the “Laddu” being rubbed all across Zoheb’s lungi!

“Last chance?”, he squeaked

And when she finally relented, he wrote his name on her palm…

Aara looked at him and then began to smile from ear to ear…and then she looked at me and winked. I nodded in return…and now our attention was tuned to Uzair and Aisha and the forever fighting Yazeed and Nasley….oh sorry…Mangashika!!

——————————————
As narrated by Uzair:

“What you putting for zat beeyootifool white gal?”, Yazeed asked me in his new accent

Mangashika was infront of him, so he probably forgot the tongue lashing that she gave him after the “spilling the juice incident”…this one’s really got it bad. I guess it also helped that she didn’t know that it was him or that it was “her” who dropped the juice on her, since the voices didn’t match if you know what I mean.

“Nothing! Her hands are staying bare!”, I squeaked

“My hands are staying bare?…And who are you to tell me what I want and don’t want?”, Aisha asked me irritatedly

“I’m Your…”, and I stopped…”I’m your mehndi lady”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I heard Yazeed whisper to Ayaaz that I nearly blew it!

“Good! So get to work already mehndi lady!” , Aisha smiled

I deliberately rolled my eyes and took a hold of a mehndi cone given to me by one of the guys…I have no idea how to use this thing, nor can I handle the smell…

“Sister put wery nice dejign for white girl, see has to sow her phamily”, Yazeed squeezed in that thick accent and I promise you, everything inside me was laughing out aloud!

“You better put it nicely!”, Aisha said nicely, suddenly motivated by Yazeed’s advice to me

“Honestly, I don’t trust any of them especially this aunty here” , Mangashika whispered, indicating to Yazeed obviously

And she had changed her dress, I noticed.

“But but seeee I am doing sooo nice vork on your hands bachuuuu”, Yazeed said enthusiastically

‘But I trust this one…”, Aisha smiled lovingly, looking up at me, “I trust this one with my life”

“What’s gotten into Aisha???”, I heard Sabeeha say

I looked to my left, and my cousin was busy smiling lovingly at Zoheb. I shook my head. Aisha and Aara had caught on hadn’t they?

“Aunties from the village are my favourite”, Aisha whispered

“Do I have to?”, I asked, trying to suppress my smile

“Yes!”, Aisha said

And instead of writing I Heart U on her hand…I feigned ignorance and wrote A Heart U on her hand…

“I think you’re spelling it incorrectly”, Aisha teased

“Nauh this is the way we spell it in our village”, I winked

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
As narrated by Yazeed:

“Bachu vat pattern you vant?”

“uhm I want an Arabic pattern please, some delicate roses on one hand and a dream catcher on the other”, Mangashika replied as she put both her hands out

“okay bachu, wery wery eajy “I said, shaking my head indian style

“errr…aunty, are you sure you can do it? Because I can ask someone else”, she said, indicating at Ayaaz

I quickly started making a few lines here and there, and small roses, well I thought they looked like roses…

“Aunty stop please! What is that? It’s like a 2 year old’s scribble! I thought that you’ve been doing mehndi since you were like 16!”

“Bachu dis wery nice dejign, i tell you let me phinish and you will see wery wery hawt hawt”, I said, pulling her hand back

Mangashika gulped, looked at Aara and Rezana and then started making conversation. Ladies I tell you!

“So aunty, what’s your name?’

What’s my name???? Think think think…but for whatever reason, only the word aquarium is coming to mind!!!

I tried harder to draw better flowers with stems coming off her fingers, I shaded all the stems, and put big dots all around. Hah got it! “Bachu…my naam is Amaraque, I got wery ispecial naam”

Zoheb burst out laughing!

“Uhhmmm Amaraque…what does it mean?”, she asked

I tried hard not to laugh, this Mangashika’s mouth!

“I will hawe to ask my aprents neh bachu, zey gaav me naam, but now zey also..” And I started fake crying! ..”v vat to say..z..zey is gone now”

“Gone? Gone where? On holiday?”, Mangashika persisted

“You’re going to make the Aunty cry!”, Rezana whispered

“Uhm…I think she means passed away..not gone for holiday”, Farah said under her breath

“Bachuuuuuuu zey is gone uup, zey are no more!” , I said letting out a loud cry

“Oh crap! I am so sorry! “, Mangashika said, trying to pat me with her other hand, “Don’t worry aunty, you’ll see them soo…I mean uhhhhh” And she looked to Rezana for help

“See them soon! Girlfriend I can’t even help you there!”, Rezana said, as she and Ayaaz burst out laughing

I looked at her and cried even harder, “Bachuuuu!!! You vant to kill me now also! I put such nice mehendi for you and you vant to kill me! Dese sildren of today! Hawe no respect at all, how see vant to kill me!!”

“uh no Aunty..I just uhhh maaf…please stop crying, you shaking my mehndi”, Mangashika said worriedly

And now I had it!

I put a big blob of mehndi on her hand and said “see vant to insult ma and my parents, now see says I am saking ze mehendi! Zis vat you vill get now, how!”

And Mangashika went ballistic! Well with a name like that, who wouldn’t!

” What in the name of mehndi??!!!Aunty are you mad???”

I cry even harder and try not laugh! ” Even after see insult me like dis I put so nice mehendi and see vanna sout at me!! I zont like zis girl!”

“Maaf aunty…I didn’t mean to shout but you ruined my mehndi..What am I going to do now?”, she said, almost in tears

“You guys…really now?”, Shakirah says as she comes back yet again. And I see she has Nemo, Zaeem, Riza and Immy in tow…

“What are you guys doing here?”, Laeeka asked from behind us

” Oh not just them..because they didn’t come alone”, Shakirah grinned…”Here’s another one over here…tell me you didn’t recognise this face!”, she said as she pulled Zoheb’s veil off his face

“And one over here”, she said as she stood infront of me, and before I could react, she yanked my veil and my fake moustache off my face

“Geez girl!…Slowly, this face is fragile!”, I said holding my face

“You!!! YOU!!!!!! The same egotistical clown that bumped into me! “, Mangashika said angrily

“are you crazy maybe..fragile?? really??”, Shakirah laughed

“Only for Mangashika here”, I grinned and blew her a kiss

But Mangashika being Mangashika, caught my imaginary kiss, “threw” it on the floor, and “crushed” it with her pretty sandal.

Ouch!

“Look what you did to my hand! It looks like…it looks like…I don’t even know what it looks like!”

“But Mangashika, it looks so bayooootifool, just like you darling”, I smirked

“Hello…there’s one more…”, Shakirah said as she turned to Ayaaz

Shoot…we’re trying to fix his love story but this aunty is going to blow it!

Ayaaz, trying not to get exposed by Shakirah, hops up and tries to run away! But without his crutches, his slow movement and Shakirah’s eager fingers to pull off his disguise has him exposed, tripping over his feet…and landing him on….

———————————————-
As narrated by Rezana:

Looking at all the commotion, with Yazeed, I burst out laughing..But someone else was laughing with me…and the sound of his laughter caught my attention as the squeakiness in that voice suddenly disappeard…the voice….the voice…

And then, everything started happening way too quickly…disguises were being pulled off…our boys had officially broken in and came as ladies…And then my mehndi lady woke up to run away as Shakirah pulled her disguise off…and in all that I couldn’t see who it was…until suddenly she came tumbling onto me. I screamed and shut my eyes….

And when I slowly opened my eyes, with no feeling of anybody having landed on me, there he was, his hands on either side of me, as he balanced himself so as to not touch me, was Ayaaz….with the softest smile and something sparkling in his eyes….that I had never seen there before.

————————-
Authors Note :

Written by 8 authors in total!!!💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃

In no particular order :

Diary Of Confessions (https://diaryofconfessions.wordpress.com)
Diary Of A Dubain (https://diaryofadubain.wordpress.com)
Journey To Changes (https://journeytochanges.wordpress.com)
Life Through My Eyes (https://amyi3.wordpress.com)
Surti Diaries (https://surtidiaries.wordpress.com)
Taking My Life As It Comes (https://takingmylifeasitcomes.wordpress.com)
Bad Boy Billionaire (https://troublesfindme.wordpress.com)

You guys rocked it! Love you to the moon and back;) And yes, we’re still probably going to be laughing after reading this AGAIN *hide*

And now…

Welcome Azmina, Tayyaba, Zaakira and Muhammed to the LLD Wedding Special! Enjoy ladies:)

A special shout out to Momo, an ardent LLD (and die hard Nemo ) fan for co writing with me, I think that it’s the first time that I’ve co-written with a non-author reader and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Momo you were awesome! Can all the LLD male readers (because you know that you are there) show Momo some support as he totally nailed this! #TeamMomo

Enjoy the pics on the Mehndi (Part2) In Pictures..especially if you love food;)

Have a rocking Sunday!

Much Love,

Shazia

Yazeed and Mangashika :-p