Till the end of time

Rabia sat on a rock, facing the Arabian Sea, with the Marine drive promenade behind her. She picked up a string of marigold flowers strung together to form a garland and began to pluck its petals distractedly. Meanwhile, the sun was setting into the Arabian Sea. She liked the silence at this hour. Nobody had turned up at the beach again today. While she sat on the rock listening to the sea waves and watching the birds fly back to their nests, she remembered that she had to go back home, too. Rahman would come home soon and she had to make chicken for dinner, since it was Friday. She had only started to get up, when an unfamiliar hand touched her shoulder. She turned back to look at a man. His face looked familiar but she could not remember why.

Rabia woke up from sleep in haste. The man in her dreams was the one that she'd seen in a Spanish webseries the previous day. A pang of guilt engulfed her. It was a sin to even think of haram things. She decided to pray two nafl rakats to ask for forgiveness from Allah. This reminded her that she hadn't heard her alarm for fajr, the morning prayer. Rabia picked up her phone to check the time. She found five missed calls from an unknown number, the same one as yesterday. She cleared her notifications and looked at the time. It was still only 5:20 A.M. The alarm had been set for 5:30 A.M. She had plenty of time. She turned to the other side of the bed she shared with her husband. Rahman was missing. 'He must be working again tonight', she thought.

Ever since Rabia was eight, her mother had woken her up at dawn to offer the morning prayers. Her abba and Imtiaz, her brother were never woken up. Eight year old Rabia never understood why. But, the subsequent years indelibly etched in her mind the unsaid rules of the society in which she lived. Apart from regular household chores, men were also exempted from all prayers, except the jummah and Eid prayers. The financial support they provided to their wife, kids and often parents, was enough to ensure them a spot in jannah. Women, however, were required to give up any kind of vanity, greed or libido to ensure the same for themselves as well as their kith and kin.

When Rabia turned 22, she was married off to Rahman, an engineer, eight years older than Rabia. Rabia's parents were extremely happy. They had found the best groom that they could for her. Soon, the couple moved from the small town of Bhagalpur to Mumbai. Their new home was a two bedroom flat, one of which was used as a bedroom and the other as an office space by Rahman. Rahman would always bring his work home.

Rabia now got up from her bed, afraid that she might fall asleep again. She performed wudu and prayed the four rakats. She then got up from the praying mat and almost mechanically walked up to the kitchen to prepare some tea for Rahman. While she waited for the water to boil, she looked out the window. She could see the main road. A dozen trucks and cars whizzed past. She wondered where those people were headed to. Were they a bunch of friends on a college trip? Or perhaps a couple who was leaving early to reach Panchgani before noon! The water was now boiling. She went up to the fridge to get some milk, but then remembered that it had been two days since it had finished. She had reminded Rahman to bring some the day before but he had forgotten. She decided to use the milk powder instead.

Rabia put the prepared cup of tea on a tray and took it to Rahman's study. It was closed, as usual. She kept the tray on the floor and knocked the door, and then moved two steps back. Rahman had asked her never to enter his room. Once, she had, after forgetting his instruction. There he was, lounging on his chair, playing C-S Go. On another occasion, she had peeped in to find him watching porn. On both occasions, Rahman had glared at her until she left the room.

When the door did not open after two knocks, she opened it herself and peeped in. Rahman was hanging from the ceiling fan with a belt. His skin had started to darken now and after three days, the stench was hardly bearable. Rabia picked up the cup of chai and laid it inside the room.

She then went to her bedroom, where her mobile phone was ringing. The same unknown number was calling her. She put her phone on silent and got under the covers, ready to have a long sleep. It was Saturday today, which meant no office for Rahman. She could sleep in late today.