#20 Ramadan Ashiana Style

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Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

Alhamdulilah another blessed month of Ramadan has gone by, and so soon to. So it is back to updating Noor again, in my procrastinating way of course ;)

So for my dear readers here is a small chapter as Eidi :)

Eid Mubarak to all of you and your families.

Do tell me what you think of it.

***

#20 Ramadan Ashiana Style

I was one happy girl when we finally got back to Ashiana.

And maybe it was kind of obvious on my face.

"Chachu! Assalamualaikum! Junaina is finally back home!" I greeted happily.

"Wa alaikumasalaam! Look at you! Is this the same girl I picked up from Hyderabad a few months ago?" Chachu joked.

I paused in my celebration as he said that. In the meantime the rest of the family had assembled in the hall to welcome us. They had clearly heard the exchange between me and Chachu and they were all laughing. Except for one person of course.

Dadi was not laughing like the rest of them. But her thoughtful face was betrayed by the gleam of happiness in her eyes. It didnt take long for me to rush to her and greet her with a hug.

"I know right! I remember the grumpy face she had that day." Samar taunted further, expecting a reaction from me.

I merely rolled my eyes at him.

"Probably because it was you who received her. If it was her Shoaib bhai now…" bhai trailed off casing more laughter, this time at Samar's expense.

"She'd still have been grumpy. If your father couldn't cheer her up how could you?" Chachi mocked causing Shoaib bhai to pout like a baby.

Every one was in a good humor and it was not just because of our return. As we walked inside, I could see all the ayahs were busy packing something. The whole courtyard was filled with supplies that could last month's for the Ashiana family. It was as though we were preparing for a famine.

"What's going on here?" I asked Dadi.

The whole family had settled down in the living hall and Chachi and Di had gone to get tea and snacks for us all. I had taken little Jaad on my lap and started playing with him. He was so adorable with his chubby cheeks and big toothy grin.

"We always prepare kits for Ramadan and distribute them to those in need beta. It was a custom started by your Dada ji and we have continued it even after his passing." Dadi said smiling.

"Ohh! That is so cool!"

"What is cooler is that we boys actually get to go and distribute it to all those people. The smile on their faces when they get the stuff … I swear!" Samar remarked.

"You gotta take me with you bro," Faiz said and Samar nodded.

"Me too!" I chimed and they both looked at me as if I had grown two heads all of a sudden.

"I think I clearly mentioned it was a boys thing." Samar said and Faiz gave and him a high five.

These so called broad minded boys and their antics made my jaw drop. While Dadi took segregation seriously, she never made any distinction between boys and girls. Everything was equal in this house. And these idiots were joking about girls and how they whined and complained about everything. Samar thought the poor neighborhood would make my delicate girly heart faint. That was the last straw.

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