The old man and the house

                  It was a fine winter morning. Ahmad was enjoying the sunlight sitting on a chair in the backyard of his house. He had a big and beautiful house. His father had the house built when he was about 20 years old and was studying in college. Now he was about eighty years old. During this long period, a lot happened in the house, society, and the nation. Despite all of the ups and downs in the life of the members of the house, the house and the old man Ahmad stood firmly in the hope that something good would happen for the members of the house and the generations to come. 

        Ahmad had a lot of memories of times spent in the house with his parents and then with his children and even with his grandchildren. Despite having a big family, he was alone and the memories were his only companions. He walked down memory lane. He remembered how happy his father and mother were at the time of the inauguration of the house. Their biggest dream had come true. He was so happy having a big and beautiful house.  His father used to say that the house was so strong that the next two or three generations could live in it without any trouble. His father was true. Ahmad and his sons were living in the house along with their families. And the house was still so strong that their next generation could live in it. Ahmad was the only son of his father. Ahmad became a lawyer after completing his college. When Ahmad began to earn sufficient money, his father got him married to a girl from a reputed family. 

        Ahmad was immersed in memories of his past, the happy and peaceful past when he was young. "Grandpa, have breakfast," said, his granddaughter Shaheen putting a plate of breakfast on the table in front of him. Ahmad looked a the plate. Biscuits, an omelet, and a cup of tea.

            Shaheen was about twenty years old and studying in college.  She was a modern girl having a little faith in old traditions. She was the daughter of Ahmad's elder son Vaseem. Ahmad was worried about her. Ahmad was not in favor of letting her take admission to college. But Shaheen was the only child of his elder son Vaseem and the center of her parents' all hopes. Vaseem wanted her to build a career as a teacher or an officer. After giving Ahmad breakfast, Shaheen began to water the plants in the garden. Ahmad began to look at her. She was fond of gardening like his father. Just then Shaheen's mother Ameena came and sat on a chair and began to sip tea. Ameena was a traditional woman always respectful to Ahmad. Ahmad always praised her. She seemed to him worried. He asked, "You are looking worried,  what is the matter?"

Ameena replied, "I am worried about Shaheen. She has come of age. She is not much interested in studies.  It's better to get her married to any good man."

Ahmad said, "You are right, I, too, think so, but Vaseem insists on her making a career."

"But she is not interested in studies so I am thinking of her marriage." 

"I will talk to Vaseem about this matter,  Saying so Ahmad finished his tea. The sun was now hot. He went to his room to take a nap. 

          In the evening, Naseem, Ahmad's younger son brought good news for the family. Especially for Ahmad. He sold the crops from their small farm for Rs two lakhs. It was a handsome amount. Ahmad knew that his younger son always shared the income from the farm with Vaseem. Children in the family were particularly happy because their parents now had money to fulfill their demands.

 Naseem was a teacher in a school and gave tuition to earn extra money. He was famous among students. He has a son named Shahid and a daughter named Meena studying in high school. His wife Nahida was a housewife. Naseem believed in live and let others live. He managed the farm from sowing to selling the harvest.

At night when all were having dinner together, Shaheen asked Ahmad to buy her a moped. Hearing her demand, Ahmad looked at Vaseem. Vaseem was not in favour of buying her a moped. He said to her, "I didn't have any money to buy you a moped. You can ask for something else." Nahida who was quite against her idea of buying a moped, asked Shaheen, "And what about your studies, madam?"

Shaheen replied, "Studies are going on." 

Nahida retorted, "Concentrate on your studies before asking for a moped."

Shaheen got silent. Ameena was feeling sorry. Ahmad was silent. After dinner, Ahmad went to his room. Lying in bed, he began to think about the present and the future of his family. He was unsatisfied with the present and uncertain about the future. Sleep was far away from his eyes. He began to recall the good times from his past when his father was a judge. People used to give them respect. But the respect was given to the post, not to the person. 

His father earned a lot of money. His father believed in a simple life. They had never faced a money problem. When he had passed the school, his father gifted him a bicycle. Having a bicycle was a big matter in those days, but nowadays everyone has a bike or a car. Ahmad thought that either he would become poor or people would become rich. His sons had humble income not sufficient to live comfortably Ahmad had to contribute money from his bank deposits. 

The next morning, Ahmad looked over the walls of the building while sipping tea and found that the house was still strong. He felt some relief and satisfaction. His sons and grandchildren need not worried about a house to live in.

Ahmad could not earn more than he needed despite all his efforts in his life. But now his family was facing a money problem. Requirements of humans change with time and money is needed to meet the requirements. 

He was worried about the future of the family. In the noon he tired to focus on the book but worries did not let him to focus. He began to think about Shaheen. He tried to convince himself that Shaheen would get a good job after completing her college. And he was also convinced about Naseem's children. 

        The next day Shaheen was very happy. Her grandfather was going to buy a moped for her. "god bless you. Concentrate on your studies and try to fulfill your parents' dreams." Ahmad said to Shaheen while giving her the key to the moped. 

All the children in the home were happy about the moped. Ameena said to Shaheen, "You should share the moped with all." 

        Days were passing in this way. Each one in the family was living with their ambitions and with a hope.  Shaheen completed his graduation and was in search of good employment. Naseem's son Shahid after completing graduation joined a private firm as a salesman. Meena took admission in a college for graduation. Naseem was managing the small farm. Despite being with all the members of the family, Ahmad was alone with his memories and worried about the future of the family. The house was getting dilapidated day by day. No one had the time and money to get it repaired and whitewashed.

"There is a great problem of employment nowadays, " Naseem replied when Ahmad asked Him, "Why doesn't Shahid do any other good job?" Ahmad did not like Shahid's job as a salesman. Naseem paused for a little while. He got sad and said, "At least he began to earn money and took his responsibility. "

                Ahmad began to think about his past. He had to face the great difficulty in establishing himself as a lawyer and he could never be a successful lawyer. Despite having a good knowledge of the laws, he could not get fame and money but he did not have a complaint with life. 

       That day, when Ahmad was reading a book in his room,  he heard the sounds coming from the Shaheen's room. Ameena was rebuking her daughter Shaheen. He tried to avoid it. He did not want to interfere in their matter. But when he heard Ameena calling Shaheen bad names, he had to go and interfere. When he entered the room, he found Ameena slapping Shaheen. Seeing Ahmad, Ameena stopped and left the room in anger.  Shaheen, too, immediately left the room. 

In the evening, when Ahmad asked, she told him, "She has a friendship with a lesbian girl."  Ahmad was shocked to hear this. 

Vaseem, when he heard about Shaheen's misdeed, said, "This is the result of giving her too much freedom."

Now Shaheen was prevented from going out of the house and Vaseem began to search for a groom for her.

Ameena said, "Shaheen ruined her life. It is difficult to find a suitable groom for her." 

The entire family was sad over this matter.  All were trying to make Shaheen understand but she was not ready to understand anything. For the first time, Ahmad felt that his dreams about the family were going to shatter. His hopes were fading. 

The next morning, when Ahmad was returning home from his morning walk, he watched his house from the other side of the road and he found the house old and weak like him.

Shahid had to leave the job because he failed to fulfill the target. He was now jobless and began to spend his time with his friends.

Here Vaseem found a boy for Shaheen. The boy had a small grocery shop and sufficient income, but Shaheen refused to marry him. She said to Ameena, "She will live with her friend."

At this, Ameena slapped her. The next day Shaheen eloped with her friend. Vaseem wanted to report the matter to the police but Ameena stopped him from doing so because she did not want the matter to come into light. After two days, Shahid caught Shaheen and her friend in an inn and brought her home. After this shameful act by Shaheen, Ahmad found himself broken. He stopped to talk and began to stay in his room reading books or indulging in memories of the past. Days were passing and the house was getting old, and broken like Ahmad. 

 Days, and months passed, Meena the daughter of Naseem came of age. Unlike Ameena, Nahida is a practical woman and she found a suitable boy for Meena as a groom. Meena was an obedient girl and agreed to marry that boy. The marriage brought happiness to the house. Ahmad was feeling happy and was taking an interest in the preparation of the marriage. Vaseem and Naseem both worked together to decorate the house for the marriage. After whitewashing and decoration,  the house appeared like a new one. After years something good was happening in the house. Ameena was feeling sorry for her daughter. 

Months passed and the house was still standing giving shelter and cover to its members. Shahid was still jobless and Shaheen was still not ready to mend her ways. But Ahmad still had hope that everything would be well. 

      And then the worst came, Shaheen left her home and began to live with her friend. "She is dead to me. Try to forget her," Vaseem replied when Ahmad asked him to bring her back.  Ahmad's all a dream shattered. 

Now he began to stay the home in his room. He was sad and alone. Time was passing by and everything was changing with the time. The house and Ahmad were getting older and weaker. Shahid was still jobless. 

Vaseem was frustrated due to the disrepute brought by Shaheen. His friends and people asked him about Shaheen and he had nothing good to tell them about her. It was a very hard time for the entire family. 

"Where is he? I will beat him," Naseem shouted with anger when he heard from Nahida that Shahid had taken to drink. "Cool down, he is not a child, he is now a young man. Beating him would only worsen the situation,   " Nahida said to him. She paused for a little while and then said, "Why don't you set him up in shopkeeping".

  Naseem said, "I will talk to Vaseem."

When Ahmad heard about Shahid's habit of drinking, he was shocked and said to Naseem, "No one  from my grandfather to you, has ever touched the wine so far. Wine is sin. And this fool boy drinks wine. He will certainly go to dogs one day."

Then he murmured, "What more would I have to see?" 

Naseem said with a heavy heart, "Our children are destroying us." The next day, he decided to talk to Vaseem about the condition of the family. Both the brother discussed and arguged on the situation and reached a decision of selling the house.

"What are you saying! How can we sell the house? Where will we live after selling the house," Ahmad asked with anger when Vaseem put forth the idea of selling the house.

Vaseem replied, "We will get a handsome amount by selling this house and we will divide this money into three equal parts. One for you, one for me and the third part for father." 

"So you are going to separate from the family," Ahmad said to him. He was not happy with his son's plan.

"It is beneficial for all of us. Naseem will get money for setting up a shop for Shahid and I will get so much money that I will not need to work for the rest of your life." 

 After a lot of arguments and discussion, Ahmad got ready to sell the house. He was unhappy. With a heavy heart, the house was sold.

After getting his share, Naseem decided to shift to a nearby city where his father-in-law lived. And Vaseem  decided to shift to the village where their farm was and decided to set up a dairy.  

 Ahmad was sad after losing the house. He began to remain oblivious of what the other members of the family were doing. One day, Ahmad asked Vaseem to take him to the house. Thought it was an absurd idea, but Vaseem took him to the old building.  The building was being demolished. The new owner had a plan to build a shopping mall there.  Seeing this, tears came to Ahmad's eyes. He began to look at the house with sadness. Tears came into his eyes. Vaseem, too, was feeling sad. Ahmad wiped his tears after a while and said to Vaseem, "This was God's will. Let's go." Vaseem looked into the eyes of his father and found sadness.

Father and son both remaind silent all the way to their new home. 

One day when Naseem came to meet Ahmad, he found Ahmad sad and silent. "What happened to father? Why is he so sad and silent?" He asked Vaseem.

   "He is sad at the breaking of home," Vaseem replied. "But we had no other option," Naseem said. Naseem was feeling guilty. He wanted to take father with him but father refused to go with him.

 And after some days, Ahmad fell ill.  Vaseem took him to the hospital. On the way to hospital, Ahmad said to Vaseem, "It is of no use to take me to the hospital. My time is over. Please, take me to the old house where once I lived with my entire family." Vaseem looked at his father and found tears falling from his eyes. Vaseem took him to the old house. When they reached the house, they found the house was demolished completely and the rubble was being removed to pave the way for new structure. Ahmad with tears in the eye saw that for a while and then fell down all of a sudden. He passed away with his unfulfilled dreams. He and the house could not bear the brunt of the time.