Ravi the Unknown Prince (11 page)

We all stayed on until the sunset prayers, and then we left for the restaurant together.

Abdullah had booked two tables for a party of twelve, six on each table.

The tables were covered over with white table cloth, and had napkins, side plates, knives, forks, and spoons.

When we walked in Abdullah showed Harun where to sit with Ali in the middle and me at the end, all of us facing the entrance.

On the next table he sat with Uncle Ismael and Musa facing the same direction.

When the girls arrived all dressed in long skirts and shirts I was quite impressed with Hannah’s choice of colours.

She wore a floral purple skirt with a plain top and a plain scarf wrapped around her neck.

We greeted the girls, and Hannah sat opposite me, Zainab sat in the middle opposite Ali and Fatimah in front of Harun.

Harun spoke in Arabic and asked me, what he should say to this girl with piercing green eyes.

I myself was unsure, through nervousness I laughed then all the girls began to laugh.

The girl in the middle said, “You two brothers seems very close, us sisters always argue.”

“What do you argue about?” I asked.

“Oh, things like borrowing each other make-up, shoes, and jumpers, that sort of thing,” she answered.

Then Harun finally started a conversation with Fatimah, and I asked Hannah, what age group of children she taught in school. She was well spoken and smiled a lot.

The girls had already ordered everything we were going to eat for that evening but a menu was given to each one of us.

Hannah told me to ignore it as they had already ordered by phone. Drinks were brought in, followed by the starter, and then the main course, which was meat Biryani, salad and various sauces.

Hannah and I continued to chat, she asked me what type of food I usually eat in Egypt, and that she would love to travel to the Middle East, and learn Arabic.

By now I was hypnotize by this beautiful young woman sitting in front of me and looking at me as I spoke.

She was trying her best to answer some of the questions I put to her and I was thinking that I would teach her Arabic myself if we were destined to be together.

If all went well in this match-making process, I would like to meet up with her again for another chat before I left London.

Ali who was listening to our conversation remarked, “You heard what dad said that none of you are going to live abroad.”

“Shut up Ali and mind your own business,” Hannah remarked. Ali had now let slip what we were not expecting with his comments.

If Harun and I were interested in these two sisters, we would have to live in England, which I was not prepared to do right now.

I was thinking to move to Kuwait for a better job and pay to bring up a family.

Now I was not going to push my luck, and let destiny take over. Hannah told me that she needed some religious guidance; we all continued to talk, laugh and joke among ourselves.

They seemed comfortable with us and told us that they would like to take us sight-seeing in London before we left.

Fatimah turned to Ali and said, “You are not invited.”

“Dad would not allow it if I am not there,” he answered.

She looked at me and Harun and whispered, “He is our dad’s ears and eyes. Wait till his turn comes, we are going to do the same to him.”

We were all laughing and Ali got vexed, “Girls, he hissed, they all pick on me.”

I felt sorry for him and wanted to give him a hug, but his father was looking at us.

Harun then said according to Islam Ali is right, he should accompany his sisters, it’s called Mehram, until they are married, then their husbands would fill that gap.

Hannah remarked, “We do not have any knowledge of Islam, our dad did not teach us.”

The girls were sociable than we had expected. When the third course was brought in as ordered the three sisters wanted to have a taste from our bowl of ice-cream.

Hannah asked me if she could, when I said it’s alright, the three of them dipped their spoons into my dish.

The same was happening to Harun, and they let us have a taste from their dishes.

The sisters were over-powering. It seemed like a done deal to them, that they had caught two small fish to put in their expensive pond.

I was curious to find out whether the girls over here behaved in this manner like these three sisters.

Harun and I never went out with girls before, [Islamic code of conduct] and it seemed odd to watch these sisters so relaxed with us total strangers.

Before we left the restaurant, Fatimah in a whispering voice said, that they would pick us up the next day for a tour of London.

“Please check with your parents first,” I told her.

“Ali is coming, it should be alright,” she answered.

I was beginning to think that these girls had done this sort of thing before and doubts began to creep into my mind. No one is perfect, but I was still inquisitive to find out.

When we left the restaurant and came outside, Liz took her children home in her black BMW.

Abdullah drove the women and uncle Ismael, and uncle Musa took me and Harun with him.

My first question to uncle Musa was, how come the girls chose who they were interested in, and not us.

He said that the girls and their mother were at the Airport when I arrived and saw me and Harun together.

They picked who they wanted to get married to, he was innocent of all that and only found out when they came out of the Mosque and Ali blurted it out.

Harun asked if those girls saw any other men before us. He replied, he did not know and asked why.

Harun remarked, “The girls were not shy, they were eating from our plate like we were already married.”

“We saw that,” he replied, “Abdullah was kissing his teeth, and shaking his head with embarrassment.”

Uncle Musa asked if both of us were happy with our choice. “I like Hannah,” I replied “But I could see that there were lots of barriers to break down where Abdullah was concerned, he does not want to let go of his daughters.”

“What about you, Harun?” he enquired.

“Undecided, uncle,” he answered.

When we got indoors, nothing was said we all prayed our Salah and went to bed.

Next morning at breakfast, Maymun said, “There were some amusing antics on your table last night Harun, what were you and Hasan saying to those girls?” she enquired.

“Nothing mum, they ordered something they did not like, so they ate from our plate,” he replied. “I think they did that deliberately.”

Uncle Ismael said, Abdullah told him on their way home last night, that the two brothers could find work over here, until he was ready to get his daughters married after Fatimah finished her training in eighteen months time.

“What does he take us for?” uncle Ismael remarked. “Is he trying to cut some deal with me because he is rich?

My sons are not coming to live over here and be pushed around by him, and I don’t like the behaviour of his daughters last night, call me old fashioned if you like.”

I said, “Uncle, the girls told us that they were going to take us out sight-seeing today. Ali is coming with us, what we should do.?” I asked.

Uncle Musa replied, “If they already arranged this, then both of you should go.”

He looked at uncle Ismael and said, “Brother Ismael, if you are not happy with all this, don’t say anything to Abdullah. Leave quietly and go back to New York.

Back home there are plenty of girls, your brother Yunus has got two daughters.”

Harun looked at me and smiled.

“What should I tell Abdullah?” he questioned. “Tell him you would like to discuss it with your sons. It is a big decision and you would let me and Nazmoon know what was decided,” he answered.

In the afternoon, two cars arrived with all the family except Abdullah.

Liz took the two women and uncle Ismael, with her youngest daughter.

Fatimah drove her father’s Mercedes, Hannah sat in front, Harun, Ali, and I sat at the back.

Hannah and Ali were our tour guides, as Fatimah drove around London. We were given some history of famous places along the route.

We all got together at Regents Park where there was a Mosque, and a beautiful park on the other side.

We went for a walk in the park, and Harun and I bought ice-cream for everyone.

As we sat on the park bench eating, Hannah said that her father was annoyed with them for eating from our dishes the previous night, and that they were sorry.

The four of us sat on one bench Ali sat opposite us on another bench with the walk way in the middle where he could observe us.

The girls told us that their father wanted Fatimah to complete her training first, and then take a year off before settling down.

And that he made all the decisions and rules in the house, and no one could make him changed his mind.

I came here with an open-mind but I was not prepared to wait another two years and six months or perhaps three years for this girl.

I think that Abdullah thought we were not good enough for his multi-millionaire family.

There are many hurdles in life. I fell over some and jumped over others, but I would not let this rejection affect me.

The week that followed, we all went to visit the Cotswolds, where Musa and Nazmoon’s two sons and their family lived and worked.

It was the most beautiful panoramic scenery I had ever seen since I left home. There were rolling hills, valleys and meadows, and in some parts towering mountains.

The green pastures with grazing animals, cows and sheep added beauty to the landscape.

There were fields with crops ready to harvests in some stretches along the motorway, and heaps of hay rolled up in other sections in various fields.

The air was fresh and clean. I did not know such places existed in England although I read many books on this topic.

We spend most days on tour visiting various places of interest, and a seaside town, as well as Somerset, Bristol, and Bath.

When we return to London it was time for all of us to leave. On the eve of our departure Abdullah and his wife Liz came to say farewell, but we never saw the girls again.

When they had gone uncle Musa told us, that Abdullah said, he was not interested in me and Harun to married his daughters.

We were poor with no home or money and he does not think that we could give his daughters a comfortable life style.

I admired him for his straight answer and honest opinion and wish him and his daughters well.

Uncle Ismael said he had never felt so insulted in all his life, and he wished he had never wasted our time, but it was a good experience.

Next day we packed our suitcases and headed for the Airport, I was going to Cairo and was flying on Egyptian Air, and the others were going on to New York.

When I arrived at my destination and apartment I was jet lagged and went to sleep.

I woke up the following morning to check my mail and there was a letter from Miss Price.

She told me she gave my message to Muna and that she was still single, and was looking forward for my return.

That was a tremendous load off my mind, and at the same time I was accepted for my new post in Kuwait City, to which I must acknowledge a date to commence.

I was so excited I rang Harun to give him my good news as both of us were now preparing to go back home to get married.

After my contract ended with the University, I stayed on for another month, to learn Fiqh and Arabic, before I went back to New York.

During that time I received a wedding invitation with a telephone number from my friend Ahmad in South Africa.

He was going to India to visit some family out there and do some shopping for his sister’s wedding.

Ahmad and I were descended from Hindus in India but later on his parents changed their faith but kept the Patel surname.

It was my chance to travel with Ahmad to see India and to look for my ancestors or at least see where they came from.

After making a few phone calls, we planned to meet up in Mumbai I cut short my Arabic class and flew out to join him.

He was there when I arrived and we booked into a hotel, we decided to stay together in one double room with two single beds.

Although we both spoke Hindi we were being cautious of the people and the entire surroundings.

We started our journey travelling with other tourist on coaches, taxis and in rickshaw from one province to another.

India is a vast subcontinent in Southern Asia with people of different colours and many languages.

Ahmad managed to find some of his people in Gujarat State and we stopped over with them for one night only.

We found a few Latchman Singh who were Sikhs in Central India, we came across many Palaces but nowhere or no one knew a Princess whose name was Sita or she could have used that name as a decoy.

We travelled on to the blue city of Jodhpur and then to the pink city of Jaipur and on to Delhi.

Ahmad invited me back to his home in Durban in South Africa to his sister’s wedding and to meet his parents, wife and two children.

After the wedding ceremony was over I flew back to Cairo and then on to New York.

When I got home that evening I told Uncle Ismael and Maymun about Muna, and they were happy that she was someone I knew and went to school with.

The month that followed, the four of us left for the West Coast of Berbice, six years and three months after I departed.

We arrived in the monsoon season the down pour of rain and high winds looked more like a mini hurricane.

The roads were much better to drive on and we had no problem getting to our destination.

This rainy weather lasted for three days and night, before we saw the sun again.

The day that followed all of us men from the house-hold and Maymun went to meet with the parents of Muna we soon found out that her father had passed away two years earlier.

Her mother was surprised to find out that I was now a Muslim; she gave her consent without any hesitation for Muna and me to get married.

On the other side uncle Yunus was happy that Ayesha had finally agreed to get married.