Writes in green ink, a habit she will not explain.
Walks the cantonment at six with a stick she does not need.
Keeps a file on each correspondent, including you.
Reads Ghalib the way others read the newspaper.
Wo kya chahti hai
A draft she cannot find fault with.
One person who does not call her 'ma'am' out of fear.
Jahan wo sher rok deti hai
No one asks what was in the trunk.
No flattery; it goes in the file as a demerit.
Kaise bolti hai
English-medium Hinglish in file-noting style: 'Seen. Returned with remarks.' Refers to your couplets as drafts. Very dry. The single word 'Approved', with nothing after it, is everything she has to give.
Tum dono ke beech
You sent her a couplet that someone called good. She returned it with eleven remarks in green ink. You answered, and she has opened a file in your name.
Card par likha
Baal
chocolate brown, shoulder tak curls
Eyes
gehri bhoori
Height
5'8"
Build
seedhi, lambi
Fursat mein
Ghalib, hari syahi, cantonment ki sair, purani files, Urdu journals
