A Night of Madness

Lady Jahangir laughed.

"She wears dark glasses because she has one eye missing."

"What?" Imran jumped up.

"And probably because of that, your family didn't approve of this match."

"You know her?" Imran asked.

"Very well! And these days, I see her with a very handsome man. Probably, he's a fool like you."

"Who is he? I'll break his neck," Imran said angrily. Then suddenly, he startled and muttered to himself, "La hawla wala quwwata... what do I care!"

"It's amazing that an extremely handsome young man would marry a one-eyed girl."

"Indeed, he must be the eighth wonder of the world," Imran said. "Do I know him?"

"I don't know! At least, I don't. And anyone I don't know can't be from a high family in this city."

"How long have you been seeing them?"

"For about fifteen to twenty days."

"Do they come here too?"

"No... I often see them at the Café de la Menu."

"Mirza Ghalib was right."

'Nala sarmaya yek alam wa alam kaf-e-khak

Aasman beizha qamri nazar aata hai mujhe'

"What does it mean?" Lady Jahangir asked.

"I don't know!" Imran said innocently and started drumming on the table thoughtfully.

"It will surely rain by morning," Lady Jahangir said, stretching.

"Sir Jahangir is not seen these days," Imran said.

"He has gone out for a month."

"Good," Imran smiled.

"Why?" Lady Jahangir looked at him meaningfully.

"Nothing. Confucius said..."

"Don't bore me," Lady Jahangir said irritably.

"Just like that... by the way... do you have any plans for tonight?"

"No, not really... why?"

"I want to sit somewhere alone and cry."

"You're a complete fool, even worse than a fool."

"I feel the same... will you give me a chance to cry under your roof? Confucius said..."

"Imran... please... shut up."

"Lady Jahangir, I am as sad as a plucked rooster."

"Come on, but leave your Confucius behind. I can't stand boredom."

About half an hour later, Imran was standing in Lady Jahangir's bedroom, staring wide-eyed at her. Lady Jahangir was only wearing a nightgown. She stretched and smiled.

"What are you thinking?" she asked in a husky voice.

"I was thinking why the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles."

"You've started talking nonsense again," irritation glimmered in Lady Jahangir's drowsy eyes.

"My dear Lady Jahangir! If I can prove that a right angle doesn't even exist, I could be a great man."

"You could go to hell!" Lady Jahangir grumbled, making a face.

"Hell! Do you believe in hell?"

"Imran, I will throw you out!"

"Lady Jahangir! I'm feeling sleepy."

"There must be a sleeping suit in Sir Jahangir's bedroom... put it on."

"Thank you!... Where is the bedroom?"

"The room in front!" Lady Jahangir said and began pacing restlessly.

Imran entered Sir Jahangir's bedroom and locked the door from the inside. Lady Jahangir continued pacing! Ten minutes passed! Finally, she got frustrated and came to Sir Jahangir's bedroom door. She pushed it, but it was bolted from the inside.

"What are you doing, Imran?" She started knocking on the door, but there was no response. Then she thought she heard Imran snoring and pressed her ear to the door. It was indeed the sound of snoring.

In the next moment, she stood on a chair and peered into the room through the upper glass panel of the door. She saw that Imran, fully dressed and with his shoes on, was sprawled on Sir Jahangir's bed, snoring, with the light still on. She pursed her lips into a tight circle and glared at him like an angry cat. Then, she broke a glass pane in the door with a swift blow. The servants, perhaps, were deeply asleep, otherwise, the sound of breaking glass would have surely woken at least one of them. Imran, however, was unaffected by the noise.

Lady Jahangir reached in through the broken glass and lowered the latch. She was already intoxicated and used all her strength against the door. As soon as the latch was down, the door swung open and she fell into the bedroom along with the chair.

Imran groaned and turned over in a drowsy voice, mumbling, "Yes, yes, the smell of synthal gas is somewhat sweet, isn't it?" It was unclear if he was awake or talking in his sleep.

Lady Jahangir sat on the floor, rubbing her forehead and sobbing! After two or three minutes, she stood up and pounced on Imran.

"You wretched pig... is this your father's house? Get up... get out of here." She was shaking him violently. Imran woke up startled.

"What? Has everyone run away..."

"Get out of here!" Lady Jahangir grabbed his collar and shook him.

"Yes, yes... everything's fine!" Imran freed his collar and lay back down.

This time, Lady Jahangir pulled him up by his hair.

"What... aren't you gone yet?" Imran sat up angrily. A full-length mirror stood in front of him.

"Oh, so it's you," he said, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He raised his fist as if he was going to attack and began to move slowly towards the mirror, as if stepping cautiously towards an enemy. Then, suddenly, he moved to the side and walked along the edge of the room. Reaching the mirror, he stood against the wall and looked at Lady Jahangir, put his finger on his lips as if he was standing at a door, not near a mirror, waiting for the enemy to attack him as soon as he stepped into the door. Lady Jahangir was watching his movement with her eyes wide open in amazement. But before she could say anything, Imran changed the stance and threw a punch on the mirror. When he got hurt in the hand, it seemed as if he had suddenly regained consciousness.

"La Hul Wila Qawat." He said with his eyes together and laughed!

And then Lady Jahangir laughed too. But she soon became serious.

"Why did you come here?"

"Oh! I may have forgotten... Maybe I was sad... Lady Jahangir, you are very good, I want to cry."

"Cry at your father's grave..... Get out of here!"

"Lady Jahangir... Confucius....!"

"Shut up!" shouted Lady Jahangir so loudly that her voice became heavy.

"Alright!" said Imran, shaking his head pleasantly! It is as if Lady Jahangir had given him some advice very seriously and gently.

"Get out of here!"

"Very good. Imran said and went from this room to Lady Jahangir's bedroom. He was about to sit on her bed when Lady Jahangir approached him like a storm. "Now I'll have to wake up the servants?" She said.

"Oh, why do you bother? I'll wake them up. Is there any special work?

"Imran, I'm going to kill you?" said Lady Jahangir, gritting her teeth.

"But don't mention it to anyone... Otherwise, the police... I am ready to die! If the knife isn't sharp, I'll sharpen it! If you intend to kill with a revolver, I won't advise it! The sound spreads far and wide. However, the poison will be fine."

"Imran for God's sake!" said Lady Jahangir helplessly. "For God? I can sacrifice my life even for his lowliest slaves... Whatever pleases you.

"What do you want?" asked Lady Jahangir.

"One of the two things..."

"What?"

"Death or just two hours of sleep!"

"Are you an idiot?"

"If you asked me, I'd have told you in advance that I'm indeed an indiot."

"Go to Hell" Lady Jahangir said, muttering something else as she went to Sir Jahangir's bedroom. Imran got up and closed the door from inside, took off his shoes and entered the bed with his clothes.