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Azeem parked the car on the roadside and gasped for air, he took out his mobile and connected it to his banking application; checked his balance and then made a mental calculation of the value of his properties. He could comfortably live for about two years on his liquid savings and then another two if he disposes of his fixed assets. He will have to purchase a new car and that is the only exposure he will have. A new car? He has driven new cars now for years but now he can manage with a used one, it’s okay.
What would people say? What is his family going to say about all this? Why did this schism develop with Hakim in the first place, he was like a son to him, wasn’t he? His stomach again took a churn, if someone would be termed as “plumbing the shallowest of human depths”, then it would be no other than Amjad. How about this loser Zaem, I had hand fed him, what does he think of himself, LSE MBA, let him eat that MBA and then the rest of the crowd including the rascal, the fake Pir.
The movie of his entire career kept screeching past him at warp speed.
And then the phone started to ring, nonstop, these were his customers, one by one, they were calling, all of them; followed by my messages of compassion, of the debasement he had just experienced and how can they be of any help to him. That he was their brother and means more to them than their own family. He kept scrolling through these obituaries one by one and was surprised to see the main ones missing, the ones he had helped make, the ones who virtually had shops and he had made into multi-millionaires.
He invariably started typing a message, “Dear Hakim Sahab, I do not know what has transpired for you to take this action, but I wasn’t expecting this level of humiliation, after all these years of service, at least a courteous exit would have been suitable. However, I would like to wish you the best of luck and all the success in future. My regards to your family and although I am out of the story, there is a rot in the purchase of the Cricket Cola factory, do investigate if you want; this is a trait that I picked up working from you and under your guidance to tell the difference between fresh and spoiled meat from its looks. Thanks for all these years and kindly consider the payoff of my…
