Scribbleriana

  The day for Azhar’s family to visit came around very quickly.   Kalsuma’s sisters and mother were thrown into a frenzy of cooking and cleaning.   Her family had long discussions about the dishes that they should prepare, the type and number of dishes and how they would cater to Azhar’s veganism.   Her mother’s house was turned upside down.   Every corner dusted and every sofa and cupboard moved. The laminate flooring underneath was wiped down. The vases were replenished with fresh flowers, the day to day cushion covers removed and the special covers taken out from storage. The wall coverings were washed and rehung on the wall, the crochet pieces made by her mother many years ago were brought out and placed on the coffee tables and on the dining room table.   All the bedrooms were tidied and made presentable.   The bedspreads from Bangladesh taken out and stylised.   The small bedroom was vacuumed voraciously because the carpet in there was stu...

Mrs Nasrin Banu picked up her phone and frantically rang her neighbour in excitement. “Oh Mrs Ajmal have you heard what happened to the daughter of the Jalal's? The marriage didn't last a day! That dreamlike wedding they had, in such a beautiful setting and oh the groom was sooo fair. Fair as pure white milk. I wonder what happened?” “You are late to the news Nasrin! I thought you had heard everything by now!” “No this is the first l heard of the situation.   I thought they were happily married living in Edgeware. The boy was from a wealthy family too. I never did understand how the Jalal's made such a good match for their daughter. It seemed too good to be true.” “Oh you say that!” scoffed Mrs Ajmal, “ but you won’t believe what truly took place.” “No indeed! Please do tell me!” Mrs Ajmal was beaming on the other end of the phone. For once Mrs Nasrin the town gossip and woman who knew everything about everyone was not aware of one piece of scandal that she had k...

Bangla Bazaar Sunday morning 11am Firuz Miah, Abdul Moin and Shorif Ullah sat in their respective chairs staring at the groceries in boredom. They were not getting as many customers as they usually would. As soon as lock down started in the UK people seemed to prefer to go to the well-known big brand supermarkets like Lidl and Tesco. Firuz Miah, the owner of Bangla Bazaar was worried his store wasn't as busy anymore. "People go around the corner and queue for one hour, but they don't have the sense to come here!" scoffed Abdul Moin, who stacked shelves at the Bangla Bazaar. "They think the Tesco and Lidls are better sanitised, that's the problem. They don't think we are clean enough", Firuz Miah said, sat at the till. "Yes but there are crowds and queues there.  All those people coughing and sneezing and pushing each other around, fighting for toilet tissue, when they could walk around the corner and get all the tissue they want from here!"...

Carol was the best.  She was already a manager and by the end of the year she was going to be a senior manager.  She knew it would happen. She was brilliant at her job, kind to her staff, smart, funny, charismatic. An all round alpha.  Nothing was going to stop her from reaching the top. She put on a second layer of red lipstick, swept up her long blond stresses into a bun and walked into the office. She might be obviously confident and outgoing but she was careful to act a little unsure at times, so that she could fit in with the rest of them and she was especially careful to be sweet. None of them, the others in the office, could know what she really thought.  It would break the spell.  They loved her. They all clambered around to please her and each one thought she was their favorite. That was how she made people feel. Carol gave each of her colleagues such special attention, be that guidance on love, career, finances or advice on dealing with delicate issu...

If Kalsuma had had any doubts about Azhar’s interest in her and why he had opted for an arranged marriage they were removed on one particular day. Kalsuma had felt Azhar’s interest was indeed serious and genuine when he sent her a message that day panicking that he could no longer see her on his Whatsapp messenger.  Kalsuma had no idea why she wasn’t showing up. Even if she had blocked him he would still be able to see her name appear, while her picture would be removed. These were the joys of modern communication.  You could block someone on a messenger application to show them that you no longer wanted to speak to them.  You didn’t need to write this out, let alone verbally communicate the message to them.  As the number of people you might speak to was increasing with globalised technologies, the methods of removing someone from your life was also easier. You could unfriend, unfollow or block someone if you had the mind to.   However, in this case Kalsum...

The rain poured over their umbrellas as Bushra and Carmella hugged and smiled. They were meeting after many days. Many days later after that first meeting when they had discovered each other and had decided to become friends. Bushra snapped shut her umbrella, making the raindrops sprinkle around her. The girls walked into the restaurant giggling and cheerful, ready to unburden their heavy hearts.  The girls met from time to time and behaved like good friends. A passer by would think they were soul sisters.  though secretly they were keeping an eye on each other and making sure neither one went back to him. ‘How have you been?' Bushra asked Carmella. ‘I haven’t been doing very well at all’, Carmella said almost tearfully. Carmella was a mess. She had lost her job and she was back home living with her brother again. The loss of Gilbert had devastated her.  She had thought he was bringing hope into her life. A new start after her divorce. Bushra watched Carmella with pity. T...