"Ajab Sale Ki Ghazab Kahani"

Hi Everyone,

Today I got something in the mail that brought back a few memories for me. It was a flyer from Macy's announcing their upcoming sale and a few coupons to lure people in. I have become immune to their sale gimmicks now but there was a time not long ago when I was the prime target for their marketing department.

I remember getting a similar flyer in my mailbox about fifteen years ago. I had prepared a "mental shopping list" as I already had booked a seat on "freakin' PIA" to go visit my family. The sale was starting in 42 hours and 19 minutes to be exact. By the next evening I was successfully done with all my household chores and grocery shopping as well. I did five loads of laundry, cooked four dishes, cleaned the upstairs, downstairs and even the fridge, (which by the way I only cleaned as a ritual whenever there was a moon eclipse).

I was very excited and did not want anything to come between me and my sale. You have to understand, I was only in my 30's then. Since I was going to Pakistan in a few weeks, this sale's timing was perfect. I thought Allah All Mighty was being good to me so I started doing extra nafals with every namaaz. I must have believed that God somehow had orchestrated this sale event just to accommodate me as he had nothing better to do.

I asked my neighbor Loraine to pick up my kids from the bus stop the next day in case I got late. The season's "biggest" event was scheduled to start at 8 a.m. I dumped all my kids, some at the bus stop, some at school earlier than usual, and successfully made it outside the Macy's door at 7:55 a.m. Some lunatics had already beaten me to it, since 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. there were "extra" savings so "extra" crazies wanted to get there "extra" early. Oh god, I just remember it was called the "early bird special". I have come up with a better name for it since, but sorry, I can't share it.......

First I LANDED at the ladies department and started searching for cashmere

cardigans as it was everyones favorite back home. I found a couple of them and started to look for more sizes because I needed 11 of them. Please don't laugh, and don't act like you have never purchased 11 cardigans for your family. I spotted similar ones at a table a few feet away. I started walking towards it but an Indian lady (who I assume had already booked a seat on Air India) tried to beat me to it. As I was much taller and my arms and hands were twice the size of hers, she had no chance. She gave me a vicious look, and to this day I don't know what overcame me (maybe patriotism) that I grabbed the whole pile with my two arms and "stood tall" in front of her.

I was quite mild mannered and sometimes even accused of taking too much nonsense from others, but was not gonna take anything from that Indian. I thought she was an Indian and I was a Pakistani soldier. Being quite young at the time, the agony and pain that I did not feel fully during the wars of 1965 and 1971, I felt at that moment. I felt the loss of sons, the loss of brothers, and the loss of fathers.

To make this story short, I bought all those God forsaken cardigans, and was quite excited about the "loot". Today as I look back, I am ashamed of what I did that day, but NOT how I felt. Now as a middle aged woman who has seen enough destruction in the world around her, it is safe to say that no matter who WINS the war, mothers, sisters and daughters from both sides are destined to face the loss of sons, brothers and fathers.

Over the years I have made quite a few good friends whose friendships I cherish.

Some of them just happen to be from India!!!!!!!!!!!

Much love,

Shehla