The First Rain

It was perhaps, the rumbling of the wheels of the aeroplane on the runway that awakened me from my half-asleep condition. The aeroplane had landed at London's Heathrow Airport and was now slowly moving on the runway towards the parking area. According to the announcement of the air hostess, it was six O' clock in the morning in London. The city of London was engulfed in the darkness resembling the twilight. It appeared as if it had been raining throughout the previous night and the small drops of the light spray of rain could be seen quivering on the wind screen of my seat. Rains are indeed a strange phenomenon of nature. Sometimes, heavy rains continue to fall throughout the life, but still, the inside of man remains dry as ever, while at other times, only a few drops are quite sufficient to make us thoroughly wet although those who are around us, remain utterly unaware of our condition. This first rain of London was also of a similar nature. It made me wet from outside but my inside aridity was still piercing into my throat like sharp thorns. The aeroplane had now been joined to its scheduled tube on the parking stand and one after the other, the yawning passengers were descending on the terminal by means of the tube. By the time I reached the lounge, the dim whiteness of the morning had become slightly visible on the horizon. But on account of the dark thick clouds and continuous drizzling, pale yellowish darkness, similar to that of a sad evening, could still be seen outside the glass wall of the lounge. I am Hammad Amjad, the offspring of an illustrious traders' family of Pakistan. My ancestors have always held highly important government posts before and after the creation of Pakistan . Since long, trade has been the favourite occupation of my family and top ranking government officials of the country have always regarded it as an honour to be invited by us to evening tea. The same Hammad Amjad stood alone and dejected in the Arrival Lounge of London's Heathrow Airport on that cold and wet morning. Apparently, I had come to London with the intention of getting a twoyear degree from the Economics Department of Kingston University but I knew very well that it was only a pretext and a means of seeking escape from myself. I had made up my mind to get involved in the hustle and bustle of London to such an extent that I might not be able to find even a single moment to spend in my own company. I had a strange state of mind at that time. I was ready to cope with the unpleasant existence of others but was quite unwilling to face myself even for a single moment. By all means and standards, man is a helpless creature. He may shatter into bits all the mirrors that he finds in the outside world around him, but he will have to face his inside mirror all the time whether he likes it or not. By the time I went out of the terminal after getting clearance from the Customs officials and passing through other routine procedures, a few star-like flakes of snow have got mixed up in the cold air blowing outside. As I took the first step into the open atmosphere, a severe cold wave had a shivering and chilling impact on my whole body and quite spontaneously my hands rushed towards my overcoat collars and I properly covered my whole body. However severe and intense the cold may be, its first wave always creates a sense of freshness in you. This gust of cold wind also awakened all of my inner sensations. I began looking around in search of Kamran who had been my bosom friend since childhood but as I was already expecting, as far as I could see, I could find no sign of him anywhere. At first, I thought of taking a taxi and going to his flat myself. I had already visited London several times and it was by no means an unknown or new city for me. But later on, thinking something else, I picked up my single suitcase from the airport terminal and began dragging it towards a distant piece of land having some dried grass on it. There was a row of beautiful wooden benches placed at some distance from one another. I decided to sit there and wait for Kamran. The mixture of snow flakes in the air had increased steadily and by the time I reached my selected bench, snowfall had started. I can still remember those childhood days when in the evening, Kamran and I used to see the typical white milky snow clouds in the sky and spent the whole night lying inour beds, praying for the snow to fall. The next morning, we used to be overwhelmed with joy on seeing the star-like snow flakes falling on the ground and the whole city covered with the white blanket of snow. We would immediately rush outside and become busy throwing snowballs at strangers and passersby in a secretive manner, while the members of our family were searching for us everywhere. I wonder why those blissful winter months of childhood fly away in the twinkling of an eye while the scorching heat of youth continues to overshadow us for centuries without the slightest respite. The piece of land where I was sitting was somewhat elevated from the ground and I could, therefore, quite easily catch the glimpses of tall old buildings of London in the distance. Within a short time, the whole city was completely covered with snow and some distant on-looker might have considered me as well to be a statue made of snow. There was no news of Kamran as yet, but he had been the same type of careless chap right from his childhood. In our childhood, both of us had been extremely reluctant to get up early in the morning and as I still remember, even during annual examinations, we hardly managed to reach the examination hall after the distribution of question papers. Childhood was spent in the same delightful and take-it-easy manner but then, all of a sudden, the family circumstances of Kamran took a tragic turn when his parents passed away in a traffic accident. Kamran was left alone in the house because her only elder sister had already got married and gone to her in-laws. After his father's death, it was revealed to Kamran that he had inherited a huge burden of unpaid debts from his father. As the demands of the creditors increased, Kamran was left with no option but to sell his native home and remaining property and shift to London. He opened a small restaurant in London with the little bit of money he had after the payment of all the dents. With the passage of time, life became easier for him and he fully adapted himself to the life of London. In fact, he had always been very fond of London and same was the case with me. Perhaps, both of us had a conservative spirit and conservativism and melancholy are the typical characteristics of London. Every city has its own peculiar temperament and characteristics. I had never like to live in howling, screaming and noisy cities, which are hot, humid and suffocating and where one is always haunted by the fear of losing something. I have always been impressed by people and cities having calm and cool temperament. Cities like London are capable of absorbing the pains and sorrows of people eager to lead a calm and quiet life. As I looked around, I saw a smiling young couple passing from in front of me. The girl had a closer look at me. Her cheeks were becoming fiery red due to cold and her eyes had a constant smile. As she saw me, she smiled and after wishing me good morning, they went to a bench placed at some distance, sat there and became busy in their amorous exchanges. It was quite evident from their dress that they had come out in this biting cold for the sake of jogging. I smiled while thinking about the severity of weather and the romantic activities of such young romantic lovers. Weather has different impacts on different people. I can still recall those snowy winters which I spent in my native city of Quetta. I used to observe that when snow fell throughout the night, the poor labourers and workers would come out early next morning along with the members of their families and got busy in removing snow from in front of their doors and from their rooftops with the help of shovels and large wooden boards. The reason was that if this snow was allowed to stay on the roofs of their unpaved houses for a long time, it could create damaging holes in the roofs. All through the winter, they kept on praying to the Almighty God to protect them from such severe snowfall. But here in London, the scene was quite the opposite. Undaunted by the heavy snowfall, these two young lovers had come out of their homes in the hope of enjoying the weather. Weather is the same but its impacts are not the same for all the people. Suddenly, the chain of my thoughts was abruptly disrupted when I found someone violently shaking my shoulders and saying, "Wake up sir, Narowal Junction has come." In astonishment, as I looked up, I saw Kamran's face because the rest of his body was completely wrapped in warm clothes. With all his evils, he was smiling and looking towards me. Both of us were locked in a warm embrace.

"Excuse me my dear Medi, I'm a bit late. But what are you doing here, sitting in this snow? I've ransacked the whole terminal in search of you while you are sitting here?" It was my first meeting with Kamran after two years. Two years ago, he had come to the same Heathrow Airport to bid farewell to me. Till that time, life was full of beauty and charm; and I had come to London only for the purpose of roaming about and for listening to the futile fuss of Kamran. True friends of childhood are just like tall shady trees which provide immense calm, comfort and relief to those who sit under their shade. For a moment, while I was embracing Kamran, I too had forgotten my burning wounds. Suddenly, he detached me from himself, had a closer look at me and remarked, "Medi dear, why are you looking so weak?" Giving him the handle of my suitcase I replied, "I wish I could give a similar opinion about you." Kamran laughed and boldly remarked, "Well my dear friend, you know very well that right from my childhood, whatever I eat, has a rapid and positive impact on my health. Now, do you plant to stand here and freeze to death, or do you wish to accompany me to my home?" As Kamran stepped forward, I noticed that on the nearby bench, the English couple was still engrossed in each other under the cover of snow, quite indifferent to the whole world. Seeing the boy, Kamran heaved a long sigh and mumbled to himself, "I wonder why the standards of London blonds have gone so low these days." Taking long strides, Kamran was moving forward on the carpet of snow spread on the earth and was leaving behind his foot marks on the snow. Like an enchanted soul, I was simply walking behind him and following his footsteps. Kamran's Morris Car was parked at a nearby place. My luggage was packed into the dickie and we left for Kamran's flat.