That’s it! We are going back
It was a hot July afternoon, a week and half away from Eid ul Adha, I was at Ami’s place when Aleem called me and said, “That’s it! We are going back!”
It came as surprise, when I left him couple of days ago he was perfectly calm. Maybe it was the mess of our portion being whitewashed while me and kids were away which overwhelmed him or a never ending list of tasks where he ticks one another appears.
Yet it was understandable, it’s been seven months of work
from home from a place which was not home. Coping with exacting work demand amidst
all the distractions was challenging!
The fact was
that so far we’ve not even considered going back. We were happy being there. We
didn’t want to opt for an uncertain option to get out of an uncertain situation.
We were sure that flights will definitely open after Eid ul Fitr if not before
that. It was third lock down by Saudi government. Second lock down lasted for merely a week after the first one which stayed for almost eight months and this can’t possibly be worst than the second one!
We were hoping that it may even end before our scheduled departure. Yet months passed by, situation remained ambiguous
with one clear aspect that Kingdom has no intention of lifting the ban
whether near or far future.
At times we
wonder at the utter lack of empathy shown by Saudi Government. How can they
deny us the right of getting back to our home, to our lives! But there they
were with their total inconsideration and complete disregard and here we were
with our hearts set to get back to the land we call home!
On that hot
and humid July afternoon, in the midst of all the racket and noise, when
workers were busy painting the walls of
our room and heaps of things kept piling up in every nook and corner, Aleem
realized that it’s not going to happen!!! It’s not going to happen and we need
to do something about it( and first thing he did was to call me.)
And from
that moment on, with our hearts and minds set together on one thing , our sole
focus was to find a way out!
It started a
flurry of activities; screening news coming from Saudi Ministry, weighing
possible travelling options, going through various websites, talking to travel
agents, sending emails to hotels, getting details from embassies . Our travelling choices were pretty much limited as Pakistan was blocked by many countries. After painstakingly
analyzing our options and doing many istikharas we opted for Maldives !
It was a
strange reckoning that Maldives was the place we were planning to visit before
COVID got us all entrapped! More than a year and half passed by and here we were on
our way to the land of teal waters and ivory sands under unimaginably unusual circumstances!
Out of the water into the PCRs
Day One; "This is where I want to stay!"
Day Three; Sea, Sun and Snorkeling
