What's in a Name

 Friday

In the early hours of the day  outside the county collectorate office . A car stopped by , and a lady wearing a black overcoat came out of the car and went straight inside . She was greeted by an elderly lady at the enquiries counter , "Good morning Ma'am ,How can I help you ? ” Pulling out her gloves the lady in a hurried tone replied ,  “Good morning , I want to lodge a complaint.”

The old clerk in a curious manner asked , “ Ma'am complaint. Regarding what and that too in such early hours.”  The lady shot back, “ Yes , I intend to lodge a complaint regarding the sheer negligence shown by the administration in my name spelling.”

“ But ma'am we have an online system that looks into such matters. I'm sure they would solve your issue at the earliest .”

“Earliest , it's been 3 weeks since I filed my online application . And nothing has changed . I have run out of patience please provide me with a complaint form.”

The old lady hurriedly went inside and while looking for the complaints file folder fumingly said ", what's in a  bloody name. ”

She came back  with  a  complaint form and handed it over to the lady . The lady took it at once and started filling up the details . The old lady interrupted and said with a pause , “ But ma'am it's early hours and the complaints are looked into only post 1 PM.”

The lady in a state of disbelief , stopped for a moment and then went on with the form. After filling the details she handed over the form back to the lady and in a persuasive manner said “Ma'am please try to look into this matter , My name is not Aisha ,not Aisa , it's AIZA . The county officials have been very reckless in their job and I am suffering because of that .  I am headed back to India today with my daughter and would be returning  in another 20 days.”

The clerk meanwhile started checking on the room heater and replied back  , “Sure ma'am . We'll look into it . ”

The lady hurriedly started walking out of the office and grumbled .  “ Bloody ,  these people can never understand the importance of a name and all that is attached to it. ”

She remembered how her mother used to tell her of the days when her uncle who was a Mufti  had appropriated a date for her Name giving and after intense deliberation with his close friends  named her Aiza .

‘ It's always a  sense of nostalgia that lures us , when we are bound towards a familiar destination ’.

She came out of the office with a smiling face and entered the car . Her 7 year old baby girl was sitting alongside fidgeting with her Rubik's cube. She at once asked “ Amma , what took you so long ? ”   She said “ nothing sweetie ,  it's just paperwork.”  And they drove to the airport.  

While entering the airport , Zara in a jubilant mood told her mother . “ Amma I am really excited for this trip to India ,  all my friends in school would be celebrating Christmas ,  everyday they teased me with something or the other then one day I  shouted out loud  , I'm going to Inndiaaa in their ears ”. 

Aiza upon  hearing her daughter's sense of humour laughed and gave her a kiss.

It was a long 12 hour journey and the plane was due to land at around 9 AM.  Aiza was fast asleep , and was woken up as her daughter shook her hand hastily . “ Amma see I solved the Rubik's cube ” , Aiza said “congratulations darling  , now get ready we're about to reach Delhi ”. From the window Aiza looked outside and she could see The Humayun's Tomb she took Zara on her lap and in a hushed voice started telling her , “  you look at that dome structure ,  that's Humayun's Tomb . That's where your naana used to take me when I was your age and he  used to carry me on his back in circles in those lawns around the tomb ” . Zara looking at the monument , giggled "Amma you must have been a fat kid  in your childhood ” . 

Suddenly , the plane's engine emitted roaring sounds and  it started elevating . Few minutes later  the aircraft hit turbulence and everyone inside  panicked and  started looking around ,  the air hostesses  in a state of distress asked everyone to maintain calm and  keep wearing their seat belts  . Trying to stop the roaring noise of the engine Zara covered her ears and her Rubik's cube fell on the floor . 

The plane hit another heavy turbulence , and the flight lost its balance . 

With death staring in the face of all the passengers , they started crying and looking here and there for help . Some elderly passengers started reciting their prayer beads . Others shouted for help . Oxygen masks came down and after few minutes  , the International flight A4 6789 from London to New Delhi crashed in the outskirts of the national capital .

Aiza suddenly woke up to the sound of wailing all around the aircraft , her vision was blurry and she couldn't move  . Then she felt blood oozing  out from her stomach , a shrapnel had pierced through her body . She looked to her left and saw her baby girl Zara  lying on the floor , as if she was peacefully asleep . 

Passed on from this world like a feather  with no pain and damage .

In her last moments , Aiza could see her Father giving her a smile and walking towards her as in trying to indicate a last ride on his back , this  time all the way to the heavens.  

Sunday 8.30 AM , Old Delhi

Before opening the shop on weekends , Mahmood Alam would follow a rule of making his grandson read out the news from an  English Newspaper . As Mahmood  went on unlocking the shutter  his grandson started reading the front news .

"Yesterday , The International Flight A4 6789  crashed on the outskirts of the national capital . All  137 passengers on-board dead.  The identification of the dead bodies is underway as of now 6 passengers have been identified , namely James Hope , Karan , Siddharth , Jessica , Aiza Jameel and Zara Jameel . 

Mahmood at once stopped ,  his hands were shaking and he said  in a broken voice . " Say again the last two names " . The grandson replied " Aiza Jameel and Zara Jameel. "

Mahmood Alam collapsed on the floor and in a sobbing  tone told his grandson " Take me to Aiza's house in Chandni Chowk right now " . But how do you know her , asked his grandchild in a perplexed mood .  

I'm the one who named her so many years ago , his uncle was my colleague and my dear friend .

“ Aiza , My dear child , Aiza ”, the old man wailed in his grandchild's lap . 

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