Light Upon Light

#3 The Confrontation

Assalamualaikum!

Here's another chapter of Juni's life. Have fun reading, after all your prayers and work are done of course.

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Chapter 3

The Confrontation

Chachu took my bags and led me to my room which was upstairs. Thank God for that. I slowly climbed up the spiral stairs and looked around my dad's home.

Ashiana was still the same, grand and impressive. The ginormous halls had huge windows with colored glass panels, polished to perfection. All the furnitures were antique, brought from my Dada ji's ancestral home in Hyderabad. According to him, his ancestors were important members in the courts of the Nawabs of the past.

The  entrance hall opened to a courtyard whose ceiling was the dome with glass panels that sent rays of sunlight in. On either side of the courtyard were to halls. The courtyard ended in a corridor that I liked to call the 'mirror passage'. It had mirrors next to all three doors it opened to. One of those was Dadi's room. The other two belonged to Chachu and Raziya Phuppi as I recall from the last time I stayed here. The end of the mirror passage opened to another corridor. This one led to the kitchen and the servants quarters.

Ashiana has three floors. Four floors including the huge terrace. From up there you could see most of South Salimabad with all the impressive estates and a bit of the East and Central area as well. I frequented the terrace whenever I visited, enjoying the peace and loneliness it offered.

My room was on the second floor.

The second floor and third floor were identical. Both had two staircases. The first the spiral marble one from the courtyard which led to the drawing rooms of the upper floors. The second which was at the end of a passage from these drawing rooms. It led to the passage to the kitchen. Both the floors had four rooms each. Dadi had my male cousins dominating the third floor and the girls in the second.

So my room and Ayesha Di's room were on the second floor along with that of our parents'. There were two passages from the drawing rooms in the upper floors. Each passage led to two rooms and the Western one had the staircase to the back at its end.

My room was the second one along the eastern passage. Chachu left me alone to get refreshed. My room like all other rooms in this mansion could fit in the majority of my flat back in Dubai. It had two sections to it. The first part housed a huge antique canopy bed right in the middle. It looked very very inviting to me in my tired state. There were coloured glass lamps on all four walls along with a mini golden chandelier which hung from a decorated ceiling. There was also a divan and a pair of low seated sofas with intricate floral carvings on the wood set against another wall. The walls were painted a pale peach color which I admit, I loved. A shelf and study graced the third wall. An Iranian carpet was spread on the floor which matched the whole vintage vibe of the room.

The bedroom also had two windows with the colored glass panneling. They nearly reached the floor. They had extended window seats to them, where a couple of colorful brocade cushions were stacked. Perfect for stargazing and reading and some alone time. Double doors were nestled between the windows which led out into a small balcony. The balcony was furnished with a pair of comfy chairs and a small coffee table. The balcony looked out at our green and lovely garden, trees standing taller than the high wall that surrounded Ashiana. I stood by the railing for a bit, taking in the view.

The second section had its entry next to the bookshelf. It was half the size of the bedroom and still not small. One wall was lined with two huge vintage wardrobes having colored glass handles and floral etchings which were painted gold. A wall mount clothes rack was fitted next to these. There was also a laundry basket, a floor length mirror with an accompanying shelf and stool and a door which led to the spacious bathroom.