Young hearts, run free...
Lubna had a secret. It was the kind of secret that one tried their utmost to keep from their parents. Lubna hated keeping secrets. In fact, Lubna was a frightening gossip. However, this morning, when she borrowed her younger sister’s mobile phone to make an urgent call, she stumbled upon this juicy revelation.
Lubna is twenty-eight years old. She’s pretty and, still, single. Her sister (the mobile phone owner - Nora) is twelve years younger. She too is pretty and, as of this morning, because of Lubna’s discovery, is not single!
The boy on the phone was very forward and was not awfully rattled when he realised it was not his girl that answered the phone. He even, unwittingly, insulted Lubna by asking her if she was his beloved’s mother!
Now Lubna was sat in her room with her sister’s mobile phone in hand and she was, as befits the duty of a big sister, rummaging through the younger sister’s (Nora) text messages. The ill-mannered boy’s nickname was Max! He seems to send Nora at least ten text messages per day. This, Lubna quickly concluded, means that the love is at its early stages. She quickly tried to think of ways that will help her put an end to this affair.
As she sat there thinking, an image flashed through her mind. She immediately softened up and wistfully sighed to herself. Once upon a time, Lubna too was sixteen and had her own admirers. Though she’s single now, she was not short of experience and (mostly) heartache when it came to relationships.
Lubna remembered her first ever crush. Unlike other girls, it was not with the Indian guy in the corner store. It was not with one of her brother’s handsome friends. It was not with some famous actor on TV either. Lubna’s first crush was with the silent caller.
The first time she ‘met’ him, she was fourteen years old and home alone. Her family lived in a flat in Dubai throughout the eighties and early nineties. Lubna was not supposed to talk to, mix with or have anything to do with boys. She went to an all girl school and only ever mixed with her brothers and male cousins. But, on that magical day Nasser phoned her! When the phone rang and she casually answered it, she did not expect the call to be anything special. However, after the first casual ‘hello’ didn’t elicit any response and the second cautious ‘hello’ didn’t draw out any reply, Lubna realised this was a special phone call and something mischievous within her told her this is going to be an exciting phone call.
She carefully held the receiver close to her ear and asked ‘is anyone there?’ She got no reply! She again whispered the word ‘hello’. She got no reply. She quickly hung up and stood staring at the phone for a few seconds. The phone rang again! Lubna skipped a beat. She quickly picked it up and spat out a hurried hello. There was no reply! She asked if anyone was there but there was no reply. She went silent and waited for whoever was on the other side to speak. He finally spoke. It was a boy’s voice!
Lubna asked him who he was and what he wanted. He didn’t reply. She hung up. He phoned again and blurted the magic words ‘I love you’. Lubna’s heart skipped several beats. This was the first time a boy told her he loved her!
Her girlfriends told her that when a man confesses his love a girl has to play hard to get and feign indifference. Lubna, in her attempt to act aloof and uninterested blew a half raspberry and sweetly asked him what makes him love her! He told her that her voice made him love her. She failed to suppress a giggle as she asked him what else made him fall in love with her. He told her it was the way she spoke and giggled. She tittered some more and asked him if he liked her looks. He seemed to struggle for an answer but quickly recovered and told her that though he has not seen her yet, in his mind’s eye, he was sure she was the prettiest girl alive. Lubna was disappointed and was silent for almost ten full seconds. Nasser panicked and begged her to speak to him and say anything. In a very sombre and serious voice, Lubna asked him what he wanted from her. Nasser told her that he fell in love with her voice and personality. He told her that he was not into the superficial love of faces and looks. He told her he loved the inner her and that he can’t imagine life without hearing her sweet voice. Though he could not see it, Lubna was softening up and even had a smile on her face as she listened to him.
He stopped talking and asked her if she was there. She said ‘yes’. He asked her if she hated him. She said ‘no’. He asked if she loved him. She said ‘not sure’. He asked her if she could ever love him. She sniggered and said ‘don’t know’.
Lubna heard the front door open and quickly told Nasser that her parents are home and that she had to go. He asked her when should he phone her again. She said ‘tomorrow, same time’. As she hung up the phone, she heard him whisper ‘I love you’!
Nasser did not phone the next day. He did not phone the day after that or the one after. He did not phone her for a full four weeks! Lubna was disappointed and heartbroken, for with every passing day, she grew convinced that she too was in love with Nasser!
Lubna got up and went to look through her old dairies. She found the diary she wanted. It was dated February 1991. In it, in cryptic language, she had written about the four weeks that Nasser was absent and the pain she felt back then. The page was full of bleeding hearts with broken arrows. It had bits of poems on the side and famous sayings about absence, love and the meaning of life. Twenty-eight-year-old Lubna smiled to herself as she read her own innocent scribbling and youthful thoughts.
As she flicked through the pages, she remembered the day Nasser returned. On that second occasion, their conversation was more serious and they both pledged their undying love. Nasser confessed that the reason he did not call was because he forgot her phone number and was waiting for the monthly-itemised phone bill to arrive. He told her how ill, livid and sad he felt when he could not hear her voice for those long four weeks. He however agreed with her when she told him that those four weeks apart were necessary and that without them she wouldn’t have realised that she loved him!
Nasser and Lubna spoke on the phone daily for a whole year. She found out he was a year older than her. He told her all about his family and friends and hobbies. Within months, there was nothing that Lubna did not know about Nasser or Nasser about Lubna. He sent his photos to her local corner shop for her to pick up. She sent her photo to his local corner shop for him to pick up. The planned to get married in ten years time when Lubna was 24!
Lubna remembered how all her school friends were in awe of her and Nasser. She recalled how a dozen of her friends would turn up each evening and try to listen on to her phone conversations with Nasser. She remembered how some of them were themselves secretly in love with Nasser!
Lubna couldn’t remember why or how her relationship with Nasser ended. She nervously flicked through the pages of the dairy to see if she can find any clues that would remind her what went wrong. The date it took place was the 14th of March 1992. The entry in her diary in that day had the usual bleeding hearts and arrows but the poetry was darker. The words were about treachery, hatred and respect! There was even a pathetic attempt at writing her own poetry there. She spoke about when lovers and friends float away in deceitful boats, and the love story ends while a best friend gloats!
Lubna quickly turned the page to see if there were any more clues to explain the end of that distant affair. She came across a happy page with smiley faces, kisses and happy hearts filling the page! Was the Nasser story back on, she wondered! As she read through the page and deciphered the usual poetry, she remembered that this was not at all about Nasser. This was about her second love!
His name was Kamal and she first met him while she was out shopping with her mother. Kamal was a bald and daring man. He had the cheek to slip her his phone number while her mother was haggling with the shop owner over some garments. All her friends told her that her relationship with Kamal was the expected rebound from the Nasser affair, but she wouldn’t listen. Her love affair with Kamal didn’t last long of course.
As she thought about Nasser, Kamal and the three or four love affairs that followed them, she remembered Nora and Max! Should she spill the beans and tell mother about this affair? Should she, like in her case with Nasser, let young love run its true course?
Nora came into the room and asked for her mobile phone back. Lubna had no time to hide the text message she was reading. She quickly apologised and told Nora that ‘her secret’ is safe. Nora giggled and said ‘you think I’m in love with Max? Max is an idiot, my dear, an idiot that’s been pestering me for months’.
Lubna sighed wistfully and started writing something into her dairy...
Lubna is twenty-eight years old. She’s pretty and, still, single. Her sister (the mobile phone owner - Nora) is twelve years younger. She too is pretty and, as of this morning, because of Lubna’s discovery, is not single!
The boy on the phone was very forward and was not awfully rattled when he realised it was not his girl that answered the phone. He even, unwittingly, insulted Lubna by asking her if she was his beloved’s mother!
Now Lubna was sat in her room with her sister’s mobile phone in hand and she was, as befits the duty of a big sister, rummaging through the younger sister’s (Nora) text messages. The ill-mannered boy’s nickname was Max! He seems to send Nora at least ten text messages per day. This, Lubna quickly concluded, means that the love is at its early stages. She quickly tried to think of ways that will help her put an end to this affair.
As she sat there thinking, an image flashed through her mind. She immediately softened up and wistfully sighed to herself. Once upon a time, Lubna too was sixteen and had her own admirers. Though she’s single now, she was not short of experience and (mostly) heartache when it came to relationships.
Lubna remembered her first ever crush. Unlike other girls, it was not with the Indian guy in the corner store. It was not with one of her brother’s handsome friends. It was not with some famous actor on TV either. Lubna’s first crush was with the silent caller.
The first time she ‘met’ him, she was fourteen years old and home alone. Her family lived in a flat in Dubai throughout the eighties and early nineties. Lubna was not supposed to talk to, mix with or have anything to do with boys. She went to an all girl school and only ever mixed with her brothers and male cousins. But, on that magical day Nasser phoned her! When the phone rang and she casually answered it, she did not expect the call to be anything special. However, after the first casual ‘hello’ didn’t elicit any response and the second cautious ‘hello’ didn’t draw out any reply, Lubna realised this was a special phone call and something mischievous within her told her this is going to be an exciting phone call.
She carefully held the receiver close to her ear and asked ‘is anyone there?’ She got no reply! She again whispered the word ‘hello’. She got no reply. She quickly hung up and stood staring at the phone for a few seconds. The phone rang again! Lubna skipped a beat. She quickly picked it up and spat out a hurried hello. There was no reply! She asked if anyone was there but there was no reply. She went silent and waited for whoever was on the other side to speak. He finally spoke. It was a boy’s voice!
Lubna asked him who he was and what he wanted. He didn’t reply. She hung up. He phoned again and blurted the magic words ‘I love you’. Lubna’s heart skipped several beats. This was the first time a boy told her he loved her!
Her girlfriends told her that when a man confesses his love a girl has to play hard to get and feign indifference. Lubna, in her attempt to act aloof and uninterested blew a half raspberry and sweetly asked him what makes him love her! He told her that her voice made him love her. She failed to suppress a giggle as she asked him what else made him fall in love with her. He told her it was the way she spoke and giggled. She tittered some more and asked him if he liked her looks. He seemed to struggle for an answer but quickly recovered and told her that though he has not seen her yet, in his mind’s eye, he was sure she was the prettiest girl alive. Lubna was disappointed and was silent for almost ten full seconds. Nasser panicked and begged her to speak to him and say anything. In a very sombre and serious voice, Lubna asked him what he wanted from her. Nasser told her that he fell in love with her voice and personality. He told her that he was not into the superficial love of faces and looks. He told her he loved the inner her and that he can’t imagine life without hearing her sweet voice. Though he could not see it, Lubna was softening up and even had a smile on her face as she listened to him.
He stopped talking and asked her if she was there. She said ‘yes’. He asked her if she hated him. She said ‘no’. He asked if she loved him. She said ‘not sure’. He asked her if she could ever love him. She sniggered and said ‘don’t know’.
Lubna heard the front door open and quickly told Nasser that her parents are home and that she had to go. He asked her when should he phone her again. She said ‘tomorrow, same time’. As she hung up the phone, she heard him whisper ‘I love you’!
Nasser did not phone the next day. He did not phone the day after that or the one after. He did not phone her for a full four weeks! Lubna was disappointed and heartbroken, for with every passing day, she grew convinced that she too was in love with Nasser!
Lubna got up and went to look through her old dairies. She found the diary she wanted. It was dated February 1991. In it, in cryptic language, she had written about the four weeks that Nasser was absent and the pain she felt back then. The page was full of bleeding hearts with broken arrows. It had bits of poems on the side and famous sayings about absence, love and the meaning of life. Twenty-eight-year-old Lubna smiled to herself as she read her own innocent scribbling and youthful thoughts.
As she flicked through the pages, she remembered the day Nasser returned. On that second occasion, their conversation was more serious and they both pledged their undying love. Nasser confessed that the reason he did not call was because he forgot her phone number and was waiting for the monthly-itemised phone bill to arrive. He told her how ill, livid and sad he felt when he could not hear her voice for those long four weeks. He however agreed with her when she told him that those four weeks apart were necessary and that without them she wouldn’t have realised that she loved him!
Nasser and Lubna spoke on the phone daily for a whole year. She found out he was a year older than her. He told her all about his family and friends and hobbies. Within months, there was nothing that Lubna did not know about Nasser or Nasser about Lubna. He sent his photos to her local corner shop for her to pick up. She sent her photo to his local corner shop for him to pick up. The planned to get married in ten years time when Lubna was 24!
Lubna remembered how all her school friends were in awe of her and Nasser. She recalled how a dozen of her friends would turn up each evening and try to listen on to her phone conversations with Nasser. She remembered how some of them were themselves secretly in love with Nasser!
Lubna couldn’t remember why or how her relationship with Nasser ended. She nervously flicked through the pages of the dairy to see if she can find any clues that would remind her what went wrong. The date it took place was the 14th of March 1992. The entry in her diary in that day had the usual bleeding hearts and arrows but the poetry was darker. The words were about treachery, hatred and respect! There was even a pathetic attempt at writing her own poetry there. She spoke about when lovers and friends float away in deceitful boats, and the love story ends while a best friend gloats!
Lubna quickly turned the page to see if there were any more clues to explain the end of that distant affair. She came across a happy page with smiley faces, kisses and happy hearts filling the page! Was the Nasser story back on, she wondered! As she read through the page and deciphered the usual poetry, she remembered that this was not at all about Nasser. This was about her second love!
His name was Kamal and she first met him while she was out shopping with her mother. Kamal was a bald and daring man. He had the cheek to slip her his phone number while her mother was haggling with the shop owner over some garments. All her friends told her that her relationship with Kamal was the expected rebound from the Nasser affair, but she wouldn’t listen. Her love affair with Kamal didn’t last long of course.
As she thought about Nasser, Kamal and the three or four love affairs that followed them, she remembered Nora and Max! Should she spill the beans and tell mother about this affair? Should she, like in her case with Nasser, let young love run its true course?
Nora came into the room and asked for her mobile phone back. Lubna had no time to hide the text message she was reading. She quickly apologised and told Nora that ‘her secret’ is safe. Nora giggled and said ‘you think I’m in love with Max? Max is an idiot, my dear, an idiot that’s been pestering me for months’.
Lubna sighed wistfully and started writing something into her dairy...
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