✨Prologue ✨
Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu AkbarAllāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar
As the Asar sun begins to soften,the chaos turns golden.
The air grows thick with the scent of dust and devotion, and somewhere, beyond the noise,the Azaan rises, slow, pure,spreading calm over the restless crowd.
Ash-hadu an lā ilāha illā AllāhAsh-hadu an lā ilāha illā AllāhAsh-hadu anna Muḥammadan RasūlullāhAsh-hadu anna Muḥammadan Rasūlullāh
The call for Azaan echoes softly in the distance, mingling with the hum of the crowd. For a few moments, the rush slows.
Ḥayya ‘alāṣ-ṣalāhḤayya ‘alāṣ-ṣalāh
Ḥayya ‘alāl-falāḥḤayya ‘alāl-falāḥ
For a heartbeat,hands pause over price tags,voices fade into whispers.
Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar
Lā ilāha illā Allāh.
Then life resumes,footsteps echoing, laughter returning,as faith and trade blend again,under the dimming Delhi sky.
Sarojini Market is a maze of narrow lanes lined with hundreds of tiny shops and stalls, each overflowing with clothes, shoes, jewelry, and colorful accessories. The air is filled with the mixed sounds of shopkeepers calling out deals,
"Two hundred last price madam!"
There was a small stall of accessories between a cloth store and a branded bags store, in which there were lots of necklaces, earings, bangles and hair clips. Because of the day is over the rush was slowly vanishing and there were very few accessories left in the stall.
There was a small stall of accessories between a clothing store and a branded bag store. It was filled with necklaces, earrings, bangles, and hair clips.
Since the day was almost over, the crowd was slowly disappearing, and there were only a few accessories left on the stall.
The shopkeeper had made good sales that day. He was thinking about it when, suddenly, out of nowhere, he saw two hands holding the same hair clip.
It was a comb-style clip decorated with roses and a few pearls.
They belonged to two girls. one with black eyes, who had gripped the clip from the left side, and the other with brown eyes, who held it from the right.
They looked at each other, then down at the clip they were holding. Both tightened their grips and turned to face one another, still holding onto the clip.
"I saw it first!"they both said at the same time.
"No, I saw it first!" they repeated, and soon they began pulling the clip back and forth.
"Leave it! I saw it first, and I’m going to buy it!"said the girl with the brown eyes.
"No, you leave it! I saw it first, and I’ll buy it!" said the girl with the black eyes.
The hair clip was starting to dig into their hands, but neither of them was ready to let go.
"No, Excuse me! I clearly picked it up before you, so you better find another one, look there are alot of other hairpins which will suit you , okay!!", Brown orbs girl said then called the shopkeeper, "uncle I am buying this packed it for me" she said with a smile. And pulled the hand towards her with which she was holding the pin.
"Oye who told you that you can buy it huhh, if there are alot of hairpins then why don't you buy it for yourself", girl with black orbs said and told shopkeeper, "Uncle I am buying it , tell me how much is it for" she said and pulled it towards her.
Uncle saw them awkwardly and said, "first you both decide who is buying then......"
"I have decided that I am buying, just tell me the price already", black orbs girl interrupted him.
"No!! Uncle, did not you see I was the one who picked it first" , brown orbs girl said while Black orbs girl interrupted her,
"No! Uncle I was the one", with that they both started pulling it towards each other while seeing each other angrily .
"Look, I am telling you just give it to me", black orbs girl said, and this time she pulled her hand with force, "No!! I won't ", now brown eyes girl pulled her hand with the same force.
"Please, both of you stop fighting and just decide who’s buying it. Look, there are plenty of other hairpins too," the shopkeeper said hesitantly, his voice trembling as he glanced between the two girls.
They both glared at him, their eyes fierce, hands still gripping the same hairpin as if it were a crown jewel. Then, with one strong pull from both sides, the hairpin suddenly flew up into the air, spinning once before crashing down on the road.
"Oh no!" they shouted in unison, their eyes widening in shock. Both hurried forward to grab it, but before they could reach, a bike sped past, crack! The delicate hairpin shattered into two pieces.
They froze. The sound echoed louder in their minds than on the street. The girl with brown orbs blinked twice, her mouth slightly open in disbelief, while the girl with black orbs stood stiff, her eyebrows twitching in irritation.
"Huh! Look what you’ve done!" the brown-eyed girl snapped, snatching one of the broken pieces from the ground. The hairpin had split right down the middle, each half holding a single rose and a few scattered pearls.
"Me? It’s because of you!" the black-eyed girl shot back, grabbing the other half and glaring at her like she’d just declared war.
The shopkeeper sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Both of you, listen," he said wearily. "I don’t care who’s at fault, but you broke it, so you both pay. Half the price each, understood?"
After a moment of silence, and a few dramatic glares, both girls huffed in defeat. Each placed half the price on the counter and turned away, clutching their broken halves of the once-beautiful hairpin.
