There was a good chance that Shiraz was going to grow up to be mentally "off". After all, his parents were first cousins. Not just that: it wasn't unusual in his extended family for cousins to marry. No one seemed to remember where this started. Maybe it was because they were a small community of muslims bunched together near Mohammad Ali road in Bombay.
The elders didn't know too many people outside their immediate geographic area. It was convenient to find a suitable match from the extended family itself.
Shiraz wasn't the first in his family to exhibit strange mental traits. Karim, his grandmother's brother on his mother's side, drank chai and whisky with soda side-by-side. Surreptitiously of course, for no good muslim would openly drink alcohol. Qadir, Shiraz's father, learned of this much later, otherwise he would never have married Karim's daughter, Salma, particularly once he came to appreciate a good Indian whisky. Or maybe he would have. It wasn't like he had a lot of choices. It was all these close marriages that led to the wackiness in the family.
When Shiraz was two years old it became apparent that something was off. If he didn't get a piece of candy that was promised to him he would have a tantrum. Not like a regular two-year old's tantrum. His favorite way to show displeasure was to run to the nearest wall and bang his head hard on the wall several times crying loudly all the while until he got his way.
First Qadir and Salma thought that was strange but just a phase that would pass. It didn't. The only person who could calm Shiraz down was his chacha-jan (father's brother) Salim. Salim was a big handsome man with considerable wealth. Built it all from scratch. He had two shops on Mohammad Ali Road, a small cafe and an attar shop.
Salim lived close to Qadir and Salma's house and the shops were five minutes away. As Shiraz's tantrums got more frequent and violent, Salma would yell to one of the neighborhood kids to fetch Salim.
Salim's arrival had a tranquil effect on Shiraz. Was it his size? Or his calm but authoritative voice? Or the way he carried himself? Salim would take Shiraz to his cafe and have his boys serve him a generous helping of firni.
Now, this was no ordinary firni. There were several cafes on Mohammad Ali Road that served firni with saffron and nuts, but only Salim's had one that had just a touch of rose. After a meal of spicy kebabs and naan, this was just the thing to cool your stomach down. Then Salim take him to his attar shop. The exotic aromas in the attar shop never failed to soothe Shiraz. Salim would tell Shiraz stories about how this attar or that was acquired in some far away exotic land from a mountain flower that bloomed "only three particular days of the year". Most of it was made up of course, but who cared, least of all Qadir and Salma, as long as the boy who returned home was smiling and happy.
As Shiraz grew, his behavior got more violent. Once in sixth grade he was playing soccer on the school's soccer field. It was a friendly inter-school match. One of the defensive players on his team passed the ball to the forward, bypassing Shiraz who was a mid-fielder. That set him off. He confronted the defensive player who was much bigger. Size is an advantage. Not in this case though. Although the big kid was strong, Shiraz was fast. Speed beats size.
Before they knew it, the two boys were wrestling each other on the barren field. Punching, kicking and swearing. In no time, Shiraz had him bleeding from the nose, his hair full of the red dry mud, and the jersey torn. Both teams had their hands full peeling Shiraz off the now sobbing defender. Of course the Principal called Qadir and Salma to school and warned them that next time Shiraz would be expelled.
In due course, Salma gave birth to a baby girl Saaeda. Whatever you might say about Shiraz, he was very protective of his little sister. If she cried because she was hungry or her nappies were wet Shiraz was the first to run and fetch Salma from the kitchen. He would play with her and make funny sounds or faces just to see her giggle with delight. But, once in a while, something would set Shiraz off. Salim's theory was that Shiraz's episodes were related to the lunar cycle, particularly close to new-moon nights. When Salim would say this, all the elders in the family would nod in agreement.
The first time it occurred was the day after the new-moon night. Saaeda had flowered into a lovely teenager. Shiraz was in the first year of college. In Bombay's colleges, classroom space was scarce. Classes for senior-college students were held early morning to noon and for the junior-college students in the afternoon. Shiraz was hanging out at home reading the daily when Saaeda yelled to her mother, "I want to go for a bath but I can't find any panties!"
It's not clear, even to this day, what was it that set Shiraz off. He flung the newspaper down, strode to Saaeda and slapped her hard on her face. This was the first time it had ever happened and the first slap. Saaeda couldn't even process what had happened - she just stood there in complete silence while four red finger marks appeared on her face where she smarted. Slowly tears appeared in her big black eyes and she turned away from Shiraz. That just made Shiraz more angry. He hit her hard between her shoulder blades with his fist. So hard that she couldn't breathe in at all for a few seconds. When she recovered and started breathing, he slapped her hard twice. She finally screamed, "Maaaaaaaa!!!!!" and started to sob loudly. Salma rushed out of the kitchen and immediately saw what was happening and threw herself between the two. Shiraz was now breathing heavily through two flared nostrils. He slowly retreated to his chair but he got in a couple of more blows -- it wasn't clear whether they landed on Saaeda or Salma -- because they were hugging each other tightly and sobbing. All the commotion had attracted the neighbors' attention and one of them sent a kid to fetch Salim. Salim first made sure that Saaeda and Salma were comforted, then led Shiraz away to his cafe and attar shop.
After that day Shiraz went off on Saaeda every 3-4 months. It was usually around new-moon night. Every month new-moon night approached Salma would develop wrinkles on her forehead and her blood pressure would rise (she didn't know that though). Both women would engage at home with a heightened sense of awareness, particularly watching what they said in front of Shiraz. Still, something or another would set Shiraz off and Saaeda bore the brunt of his assaults. Most times these episodes occurred when Qadir was at work at the docks so it fell upon Salim to calm the situation down. In the evening when Qadir returned home, he would learn of the episode, hold Saaeda in his arms and just cry. Qadir, who loved his daughter immensely, was at his wits end.
Between Qadir, Salma, and Salim the only thing they could think of was to consult with the maulvi (a man of religion) at the local mosque. In those days, therapy and therapists were unheard of. And even if they were, who had the wisdom or the money to consult one? The maulvi came over one day, had a meal with the family and then sat down with Shiraz to talk reason to him. But, even Shiraz didn't understand why he behaved the way he did. "My parents will tell you I've always been like this. I can't bring myself to stop." Finally, in exasperation the maulvi shouted, "You fool! Do you know that when you hit your sister your hands will grow thorns?!" Being a religious, devout and superstitious family, this admonishment would deter Shiraz for a few more months than normal, but ultimately the violence would return.
A few years passed this way. In his fourth year in college Shiraz accidentally ran into a girl who happened to live in his neighborhood. She was in the first year of college. Petite. Big black eyes. Thick eyelashes. Long straight black hair. She always wore loose salwar-Kameezes, but if you looked carefully you could see that she had a plentiful bosom and when she walked (again, if you looked carefully) her hips were larger than her waist and swung lustily. What attracted Shiraz most, though, was that this dusky rose was completely unaware of her sexuality. Her name was Mumtaz and she was as beautiful as Shah Jahan's -- some would say even more beautiful. Shiraz met her because his neighbor Nafisa was tasked with walking with Mumtaz to and fro from college. Mumtaz's mother felt it was safer for the two girls this way and Nafisa's mother -- remembering how she had tasked an older girl to walk Nafisa when she was a first-year student -- readily agreed.
When Nafisa introduced her to Shiraz, Mumtaz blushed a little. Unless you really knew her you couldn't tell though, so subtle was the change. They hardly exchanged any words that time,, but Mumtaz did say to Shiraz, "Yes, I know you". This was taken as a casual comment by Shiraz, but only later when they got to know each other better did Mumtaz explain to Shiraz, that when he was the school's soccer team captain, she and her friends used to come to school just to watch him play. Since he was a midfielder he didn't have star power but it was clear that the soccer team was so
successful because of Shiraz's midfield leadership directing the ball and his players in a way that made their school the Inter-School Soccer Trophy champions. All her friends were in love with this handsome captain.
The friendship between Mumtaz and Shiraz quickly blossomed into love. Mumtaz had a magical effect on Shiraz. He became calm. He had purpose in his life. The moon's lunatic pull was no match for Mumtaz's intense love and admiration for Shiraz. Qadir, Salma, and Saaeda saw the change that had come about in Shiraz. Although Qadir and Salma couldn't understand it, Nafisa and Saaeda used to talk about the blossoming love between the two. Before and after college classes, Shiraz used to work at his chacha-jan's cafe and attar shop and it quickly became apparent that he would inherit the businesses as Salim had no heirs. Thus, when Shiraz and Mumtaz approached their respective parents for marriage, there was little resistance.
They were married on a beautiful January day. Firni from chacha-jan's cafe was served to all the guests. Being a family wedding, chacham-jan has instructed his cooks to take special care to prepare the firm's special rose firni. The most authentic quawwali troupe from Lucknow performed at the wedding.
As is natural, in due course Mumtaz was pregnant with their first child. Being the tiny person she was, Shiraz teased her that she looked like an inflated soccer ball. He even found a grey and white checked salwar-kameez for her which she used to wear during her pregnancy just to amuse him even though she didn't like it.
Five weeks before her due date Mumtaz went into sudden labor. The premature baby girl was delivered safely but the doctors kept her in an incubator for three days. Mumtaz was well too. Shiraz would visit the hospital every day. He could see the tiny little girl in the incubator. She was the prettiest little baby he had ever seen in his life. Even the nurses fussed over this tiny miracle.
Finally, the day arrived when the baby was safe to be brought out of the incubator and be given to the parents. Shiraz wore his finest clothes that day, took his parents', chacha-jan's and the maulvi's blessings, stopped at the attar shop to apply a mild (he didn't want to take any chances that his baby would be irritated) but expensive attar and made his way to the hospital.
He was beaming from ear to ear when he arrived at the premature baby ward. The baby was being bathed by the nurse and it was clear that she loved the feel of the warm water over her body. When the nurse finished, she gently dried all the water off the baby's body in a soft towel, and before swaddling it, decided to hand it to Shiraz. Shiraz could already see the thick eyelashes and the big black eyes. When the baby passed from the nurse's hands to Shiraz it looked up at Shiraz and its expression changed just a tiny little bit to convey, "I know this man loves me and I feel safe." This was going to be the prettiest and most-loved child in the whole wide world. Here he was holding a miracle in his arms. He had hardly held her when she suddenly frowned and started bawling loudly. To his dismay he had to quickly hand the baby back to the nurse. Even the nurse couldn't fathom what had just occurred. But then, Shiraz glanced at his palms -- they were filled with hundreds of short sharp thorns! He screamed, "Yaaa Allaaaah!!!", as he realized he could never hold his baby or Mumtaz ever again!
 |
| Food stalls on Mohammad Ali Road in Bombay |
Shiraz wasn't the first in his family to exhibit strange mental traits. Karim, his grandmother's brother on his mother's side, drank chai and whisky with soda side-by-side. Surreptitiously of course, for no good muslim would openly drink alcohol. Qadir, Shiraz's father, learned of this much later, otherwise he would never have married Karim's daughter, Salma, particularly once he came to appreciate a good Indian whisky. Or maybe he would have. It wasn't like he had a lot of choices. It was all these close marriages that led to the wackiness in the family.
When Shiraz was two years old it became apparent that something was off. If he didn't get a piece of candy that was promised to him he would have a tantrum. Not like a regular two-year old's tantrum. His favorite way to show displeasure was to run to the nearest wall and bang his head hard on the wall several times crying loudly all the while until he got his way.
First Qadir and Salma thought that was strange but just a phase that would pass. It didn't. The only person who could calm Shiraz down was his chacha-jan (father's brother) Salim. Salim was a big handsome man with considerable wealth. Built it all from scratch. He had two shops on Mohammad Ali Road, a small cafe and an attar shop.
 |
| An "attar" shop on Mohammad Ali Road |
Salim's arrival had a tranquil effect on Shiraz. Was it his size? Or his calm but authoritative voice? Or the way he carried himself? Salim would take Shiraz to his cafe and have his boys serve him a generous helping of firni.
As Shiraz grew, his behavior got more violent. Once in sixth grade he was playing soccer on the school's soccer field. It was a friendly inter-school match. One of the defensive players on his team passed the ball to the forward, bypassing Shiraz who was a mid-fielder. That set him off. He confronted the defensive player who was much bigger. Size is an advantage. Not in this case though. Although the big kid was strong, Shiraz was fast. Speed beats size.
Before they knew it, the two boys were wrestling each other on the barren field. Punching, kicking and swearing. In no time, Shiraz had him bleeding from the nose, his hair full of the red dry mud, and the jersey torn. Both teams had their hands full peeling Shiraz off the now sobbing defender. Of course the Principal called Qadir and Salma to school and warned them that next time Shiraz would be expelled.
In due course, Salma gave birth to a baby girl Saaeda. Whatever you might say about Shiraz, he was very protective of his little sister. If she cried because she was hungry or her nappies were wet Shiraz was the first to run and fetch Salma from the kitchen. He would play with her and make funny sounds or faces just to see her giggle with delight. But, once in a while, something would set Shiraz off. Salim's theory was that Shiraz's episodes were related to the lunar cycle, particularly close to new-moon nights. When Salim would say this, all the elders in the family would nod in agreement.
The first time it occurred was the day after the new-moon night. Saaeda had flowered into a lovely teenager. Shiraz was in the first year of college. In Bombay's colleges, classroom space was scarce. Classes for senior-college students were held early morning to noon and for the junior-college students in the afternoon. Shiraz was hanging out at home reading the daily when Saaeda yelled to her mother, "I want to go for a bath but I can't find any panties!"
It's not clear, even to this day, what was it that set Shiraz off. He flung the newspaper down, strode to Saaeda and slapped her hard on her face. This was the first time it had ever happened and the first slap. Saaeda couldn't even process what had happened - she just stood there in complete silence while four red finger marks appeared on her face where she smarted. Slowly tears appeared in her big black eyes and she turned away from Shiraz. That just made Shiraz more angry. He hit her hard between her shoulder blades with his fist. So hard that she couldn't breathe in at all for a few seconds. When she recovered and started breathing, he slapped her hard twice. She finally screamed, "Maaaaaaaa!!!!!" and started to sob loudly. Salma rushed out of the kitchen and immediately saw what was happening and threw herself between the two. Shiraz was now breathing heavily through two flared nostrils. He slowly retreated to his chair but he got in a couple of more blows -- it wasn't clear whether they landed on Saaeda or Salma -- because they were hugging each other tightly and sobbing. All the commotion had attracted the neighbors' attention and one of them sent a kid to fetch Salim. Salim first made sure that Saaeda and Salma were comforted, then led Shiraz away to his cafe and attar shop.
After that day Shiraz went off on Saaeda every 3-4 months. It was usually around new-moon night. Every month new-moon night approached Salma would develop wrinkles on her forehead and her blood pressure would rise (she didn't know that though). Both women would engage at home with a heightened sense of awareness, particularly watching what they said in front of Shiraz. Still, something or another would set Shiraz off and Saaeda bore the brunt of his assaults. Most times these episodes occurred when Qadir was at work at the docks so it fell upon Salim to calm the situation down. In the evening when Qadir returned home, he would learn of the episode, hold Saaeda in his arms and just cry. Qadir, who loved his daughter immensely, was at his wits end.
Between Qadir, Salma, and Salim the only thing they could think of was to consult with the maulvi (a man of religion) at the local mosque. In those days, therapy and therapists were unheard of. And even if they were, who had the wisdom or the money to consult one? The maulvi came over one day, had a meal with the family and then sat down with Shiraz to talk reason to him. But, even Shiraz didn't understand why he behaved the way he did. "My parents will tell you I've always been like this. I can't bring myself to stop." Finally, in exasperation the maulvi shouted, "You fool! Do you know that when you hit your sister your hands will grow thorns?!" Being a religious, devout and superstitious family, this admonishment would deter Shiraz for a few more months than normal, but ultimately the violence would return.
A few years passed this way. In his fourth year in college Shiraz accidentally ran into a girl who happened to live in his neighborhood. She was in the first year of college. Petite. Big black eyes. Thick eyelashes. Long straight black hair. She always wore loose salwar-Kameezes, but if you looked carefully you could see that she had a plentiful bosom and when she walked (again, if you looked carefully) her hips were larger than her waist and swung lustily. What attracted Shiraz most, though, was that this dusky rose was completely unaware of her sexuality. Her name was Mumtaz and she was as beautiful as Shah Jahan's -- some would say even more beautiful. Shiraz met her because his neighbor Nafisa was tasked with walking with Mumtaz to and fro from college. Mumtaz's mother felt it was safer for the two girls this way and Nafisa's mother -- remembering how she had tasked an older girl to walk Nafisa when she was a first-year student -- readily agreed.
When Nafisa introduced her to Shiraz, Mumtaz blushed a little. Unless you really knew her you couldn't tell though, so subtle was the change. They hardly exchanged any words that time,, but Mumtaz did say to Shiraz, "Yes, I know you". This was taken as a casual comment by Shiraz, but only later when they got to know each other better did Mumtaz explain to Shiraz, that when he was the school's soccer team captain, she and her friends used to come to school just to watch him play. Since he was a midfielder he didn't have star power but it was clear that the soccer team was so
successful because of Shiraz's midfield leadership directing the ball and his players in a way that made their school the Inter-School Soccer Trophy champions. All her friends were in love with this handsome captain.
The friendship between Mumtaz and Shiraz quickly blossomed into love. Mumtaz had a magical effect on Shiraz. He became calm. He had purpose in his life. The moon's lunatic pull was no match for Mumtaz's intense love and admiration for Shiraz. Qadir, Salma, and Saaeda saw the change that had come about in Shiraz. Although Qadir and Salma couldn't understand it, Nafisa and Saaeda used to talk about the blossoming love between the two. Before and after college classes, Shiraz used to work at his chacha-jan's cafe and attar shop and it quickly became apparent that he would inherit the businesses as Salim had no heirs. Thus, when Shiraz and Mumtaz approached their respective parents for marriage, there was little resistance.
As is natural, in due course Mumtaz was pregnant with their first child. Being the tiny person she was, Shiraz teased her that she looked like an inflated soccer ball. He even found a grey and white checked salwar-kameez for her which she used to wear during her pregnancy just to amuse him even though she didn't like it.
Five weeks before her due date Mumtaz went into sudden labor. The premature baby girl was delivered safely but the doctors kept her in an incubator for three days. Mumtaz was well too. Shiraz would visit the hospital every day. He could see the tiny little girl in the incubator. She was the prettiest little baby he had ever seen in his life. Even the nurses fussed over this tiny miracle.
Finally, the day arrived when the baby was safe to be brought out of the incubator and be given to the parents. Shiraz wore his finest clothes that day, took his parents', chacha-jan's and the maulvi's blessings, stopped at the attar shop to apply a mild (he didn't want to take any chances that his baby would be irritated) but expensive attar and made his way to the hospital.
He was beaming from ear to ear when he arrived at the premature baby ward. The baby was being bathed by the nurse and it was clear that she loved the feel of the warm water over her body. When the nurse finished, she gently dried all the water off the baby's body in a soft towel, and before swaddling it, decided to hand it to Shiraz. Shiraz could already see the thick eyelashes and the big black eyes. When the baby passed from the nurse's hands to Shiraz it looked up at Shiraz and its expression changed just a tiny little bit to convey, "I know this man loves me and I feel safe." This was going to be the prettiest and most-loved child in the whole wide world. Here he was holding a miracle in his arms. He had hardly held her when she suddenly frowned and started bawling loudly. To his dismay he had to quickly hand the baby back to the nurse. Even the nurse couldn't fathom what had just occurred. But then, Shiraz glanced at his palms -- they were filled with hundreds of short sharp thorns! He screamed, "Yaaa Allaaaah!!!", as he realized he could never hold his baby or Mumtaz ever again!
