There once lived two families inside the boundary of one house. The difference between the two was that one of them owned the house and the other one worked for the owner of the house.

Ahmed, the owner, and his wife Saira had two little children. Ali was their driver, who was given the servant quarter for himself, his wife and their young child. Ali’s wife, Maha, was the cook for the Ahmed family. The two families had been living together for five years, ever since Ahmed had employed Ali.

Saira was a very arrogant and mean woman, who was only good to her high society friends. She despised Ali and his family a lot. In fact, she despised everyone who she felt was of a lower status than her. Whenever Ahmed was not in sight, Saira scolded and mistreated all the Ali family and deliberately gave them food that had gotten spoilt days ago.

Ali and Maha, being very down to earth and grateful people, never complained about any of Saira’s behaviour to Ahmed. They were already so happy to have a roof over their head that they did not want to cause any problems by complaining. They thought that things would get better with time.

Then came a day when Saira crossed the line and told Ali to leave the house with his wife and son. Since Ahmed was not in the city at that time, Ali had to oblige to Saira’s order. The family was on the road, with no roof over his head. Days passed and Ali found a job at a kind man’s house, Mr Jamil. He was also granted a servant quarter in that house, which was big enough for the family of three. They worked with honesty, being eternally grateful for everything they had been given by their new employer.

Fifteen years passed peacefully for Ali’s family and by now his son had grown into a handsome young man. Not only was he achieving his higher studies through a scholarship programme at one of the most prestigious universities in the city, but he was also working part time after taking his daily classes. The couple was still working at Mr Jamil’s house and he treated the family like his own. Mr Jamil made sure to have dinner with Ali and his family at the large dining room of his house as if they were part of his own family.

One day, Mr Jamil had told Ali that the family of one of his college mates was going to visit them in a few hours. He asked Ali to bring some essentials from the market and he also asked Maha to make a nice dinner for them. So, she quickly went to the kitchen to perform her duties.

In the evening when Mr Jamil’s guests came, he greeted them and sat with them in the drawing room. Maha came and served them fresh juices. The guests, however, did not care to spare a glance towards her and absentmindedly took the glasses being served to them.

It was dinnertime when Ali, Maha and their son came to sit with the guests at the dining table. The guests were shocked to see the family seated before them. The guests that Mr John invited were actually Ahmed, his wife and their children. Everyone was eating except Ahmed and Saira. It was because Ahmed was happy to have been reunited with his old servants, whereas Saira had watery eyes. Guilt was eating her from the inside.

She remained quiet throughout the rest of the time spent at Mr Jamil’s, whilst Ahmed talked to Ali excitedly. As they were about to take their leave, Saira apologised to Ali, Maha and their son. She mentioned how she was never able to breathe peacefully ever since she wrongfully kicked the poor family out of her house 15 years ago.

Maha and Ali smiled at each other and told her that they had forgiven her long ago.

Since that day, Ahmed’s family paid weekly visits to Mr Jamil’s house and spent time with Ali’s family. Saira felt peace as she and Maha had become great friends.

The barrier of status that once existed between the families disappeared and, at the end, everything turned out pretty well.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 26th, 2020