Ab har subah ek fikr say shroo honay lagi thi kay aaj abu ka din kaisa guzra hoga. Qarz lenay walon nay phir tang kia ho ga. Mera woh baap jis nay saari zindagi sufaid poshi may guzar di, ab kis tarah is zalim duniya kay sakht alfaz ka samna kar raha ho ga. Abu say poochta to kehtay thay un may say kuch log to cheekhtay bhi, gaaliyan bhi nikaltay thay. Yeh sab meray baap ko kiyoun jheelna parr raha tha.. Beech dil may main jaanta tha wajah. Yeh saari wajah mujh say hi to shroo hui thi. Dekha dekhi chotay bhai bhi isi rastay per chalay. Maan to maan thi, yeh bhala ho sakta tha ek ko ziada day aur doosray ko kum. Sab ko ek jaisa denay kay chakkar may yeh kia kar baithi ammi tu. Bahut kosta tha apnay aap ko.
Kulthum say ab us tarah baat nahi ho pati thi aur us ka dil bhi parhai say uthta ja raha tha kiyoun kay woh assignments may bahut peechay reh gayee thi. Exam bhi diye per mushkil say paas hui thi. Mujh say kuch poochna bhi chahti ho gi to may jhirak deta hoonga. Meray apnay dimagh per itni tension thi kay yeh aakhri saal kaisay complete karoonga.
Mera ek saal rehta tha, faisal kay 2, gul kay 2. Phir hum nay sir jora kay koi chance nahi hay abu say paisay mangnay ka. Kisi tarah hum jis kaam kay liye aaye thay us ko poora karna hay. Bahut dimagh laraya to ek tarkeeb nikali. Gul aur faisal dono agla semester drop karaingay aur koi kaam karaingay. Woh meri fees pay karaingay, mujhay har soorat achay number kay saath semester khatm karna tha.Saath may main tuition barha doonga, math department say kahoonga kay mujhay marker ki job chahye (yeh may pehlay bhi karta tha, is may paisay kum miltay thay). Math department kay head hamaray pakistani Dr. Ejaz thay. Un ko ja kar request ki… halaat batai… woh achay insan thay pakistani students ka khayal rakhtay thay. Unhon nay mujhay 3 math kay courses ki marking dilwa deen. Saath may meri 3,4 tuitions, full course load, labs, final year project. Bus na poocho.. Poora gadha ban chuka tha. Ek min ki fursat nahi thi. Raat ko Kulthum say bhi baat karta tha chat per. Kai dafa to may chat kartay kartay so jata tha. Woh intezar karti rehti thi meray jawab ka aur jab meri aankh khulti thi to woh ja chuki hoti thi. Dil to bahut dukhta tha per may karta bhi to kia karta… is say ziada nahi hota tha mujh say.
Plan kay mutabiq saara semester guzara. Gul aur faisal nay convenience store per raat ki shift may kaam kar kay itnay paisay banai kay aglay semester ki meri fees, faisal ki fees banai. Meri income say mainay akhri semester ki kuch fees jama ki, baqi rehnay ka kharcha, aur khana peena. Woh char maheenay hamara rozana khana daal chawal hota tha… is say sasta khana nahi tha. Beech may kulthum ko bhi kuch paisay bhaijay jo is dafa bhaijay hi isi niyyat say thay kay us nay kharch karnay hain to karday khud say wada kia kay us per ghussa nahi karoonga. Kulthum ki parhai ka kharcha us ki bari behn uthati thi. Allah Allah kar kay agla semester aaya, meri aur faisal ki fees pay hui, to gul nay kaha kay woh ek aur semester off lay ga taakay woh apnay aglay semester kay liye kuch jama kar sakay. Aakhri semester may main bilkul extra kaam nahi kar saka. Final year project ki wajah say saara saara din lab may guzarta. Raat gaye farigh hota.. Kabhi kabhi to bus subah kay khanay per hi guzara kar raha hota. Semester kay final exam qareeb aa rahay thay… bhaiyon nay kaha kay ab tu nay koi gand nahi karni, you have to pass all courses or else we would be in trouble. Exams diye, Final year project defend kia, aur finally completed everything and graduated in Electronics Engineering. I won a medal for Consistent Performance. Alhamdulillah, I was able to complete it. But even at the end of all this, halaat qabu may nahi aa rahay thay. For my convocation they wanted a registration fee, us kay paisay bhi nahi thay… graduation pictures kay paisay nahi thay (yeh compulsory expenses thay jo har ek ko denay thay). Dost say paisay maang kar diye.
Ab baith kar phir sochnay lagay kay aagay kia karna hay. May to forun pakistan jana chahta tha per bhaiyon ki degrees to abhi rehti theen aur unko akaila chor kar kaisay jaata. So it was decided that now I can do full time job and pay for their studies. Lekin un dinon may yahan work permit kay rules bahut sakht thay. Although I graduated and had the degree in my hand, govt would not give me work permit. Their condition was that I must find a job that is in the field of my studies and had to be done in 90 days from graduation. I started to send resumes but I was not getting much response. I was working at the convenience store in the meantime and kept applying. I want to say that working at the convenience store was not a legal job. For legal jobs we needed a work permit.
In those days I used to chat with kulthum regularly and I was trying my best to get her back into track for her studies. Basically, I was now doing her assignments again and was hoping she would pass. Gul had gone back to his university, Faisal was in his last year. On the second last day, one day before my deadline, I got a job in a telecom company. Yeh bahut surprising tha aur may nay Allah ka shukr ada kia keh kuch umeed nazar aai. Us raat abu ko phone kar kay bataya to Abu bhi bahut khush huay. Kaha kay shukranay ki namaz parho. Kulthum to bahut khush thi, shayad bahut arsay baad us say hans kay baat ki thi. Yeh job milnay ka matlab tha kay ab may bhaiyon ki fees day sakta hoon, ammi ka karza utaar sakta hoon kiyoun kay job mujhay saal kay $46,000 pay kar rahi thi.
Job start hotay hi mainay pooray interest say kaam kia aur bhaiyon ki fees pay ki. Faisal nay BBA complete kia aur phir MBA ka dakhla lay liya. Gul ka abhi ek saal rehta tha.. Computer Science kar raha tha. Kam say kam ab fees ki tension to nahi thi. Abu ko mainay paisay bhaijnay shroo kiye taakay ammi kay loans utarna shroo karain. Aahista aahista woh bhi utarnay shroo ho gaye.
